Beyond Us (KongpobxBeam) (COMPLETED)

Beam

I watched as Kongpob replied with a 👍 and he went offline. I just sat back and did my work, my eyes flickering to my phone periodically.

Pha had come back too but he didn't say anything. To be fair, I think he didn't know what was exactly going on either. I went through my day, spoke to Tew on the camp issues and then was heading back to dorm after dinner around 10pm when a message came in. I realized it was from Kongpob.

"Thank you for the message earlier. Had just reached my house so I couldn't text much."

That was all it took. I called him back instead. He was prolly stunned to see me call that he answered but didn't say anything.

"Kong, you there?"

"Hey yea.. I am. I was just surprised when you called.."

"Yea I figured it be easier to talk. Can you chat?"

"Yea I can. I just retired to my room for the night."

"You ok? You seemed very off. I just...wanted to make sure you are ok?"

"Soft spot for me eh Beam?"

"Idiot!"

He chuckled dryly. "I'm fine. I be I guess. Its just... Don worry."

"You know it's not good to keep things bottled up. Just remember I'm here if you need a listening ear. Sometimes all you need is one. No solutions needed."

He kept quiet for so long that I thought he had hung up. I actually looked at my phone to see if he did. But nope, he was still on the line.

I just kept quiet, waiting too. Finally I heard him say, "My father has cancer. He has only 6 months to live. He knew about it over a year ago but he didn't breathe a word to anyone. My sisters found out yesterday when they happened to chance upon some medical records whilst doing our insurance."

I was stunned. "Kong.."

"It's ok. I be ok. We be ok. Sorry Beam I got to go. I..bye" and he hung up before I could say anything. Fuck. This definitely explained the uneasiness in my heart. I looked at my phone for such a long while.

I then looked at my calendar. Tomorrow was Friday and I only had 1 class. No other classes till Tuesday and I had completed all pending work. I texted Pha asking if he could share Kong's address. Pha was quite stunned by my request but he eventually acceded but warning me that if I did anything to make Kong angry, I would be disowned. I chuckled but promised him. Come on, Pha disowning me is nearly impossible but you never know!

I packed a small backpack for a weekend trip. The next day, I completed class as usual then I took off. I took off to go see Kong. I finally reached his place around 2pm. He wasn't home. His parents were surprised to see me as I was a new face and Kong hadn't told them that anyone was coming. I didn't breathe a word that I knew the actual story. I pretended like I wanted to surprise him for a weekend jaunt before I went back to university. His parents warmly welcomed me.

If they had any underlying pain, nothing was exhibited as they played the perfect hosts. I smiled. I also kept them entertained with my uni stories, how Kong and I had initially clashed, my classes etc. Kong finally came back around 6pm after having gone to consult the medical team on his dad's condition. He didn't realize I was in as I was in the kitchen with his mother, busy cooking. I enjoyed cooking and especially Korean dishes. So i offered to cook and both his parents and myself were busy pottering away in the kitchen.

My antics kept his parents meaningfully occupied and there was only smiles and laughter as we whipped up dishes.

When Kong came back, we could hear his voice and asked him to come to the kitchen. There was pin drop silence when he saw me until he exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

I swear I never seen a woman move faster than his mother whom smacked him before I even registered her moving. Kong winced in pain and nagged but this only sent his dad laughing. Seeing that, all of us momentarily stopped for a bit and just looked at him.

It was heartening. I still don't know how to explain to Kong on why I was there but that's a story for later. Seeing his dad chuckle gleefully made the spontaneous trip so worth it.