Before He Met Bright Vachirawit (Prequel to Bright for the Win)

Chapter 9

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Third Person POV

During the graduation reception at the banquet hall, Sapol's father pulled his son aside.

"Tricia looks really unhappy," Sapol's father chided him. "You're not even trying to give her any attention. What's your problem, son? This is your graduation party. You're sitting all by yourself in that corner table looking utterly miserable. You should be celebrating and mingling with your guests, especially Tricia your special guest."

Sapol was very tempted to tell his father that he did not consider Tricia as his special guest but he did not want to displease his father tonight. After all Sapol was sure that his father had spent a sizable amount of money for this graduation party to take place.

"Go and join Tricia at her table, son," Sapol's father said, giving Sapol a slight nudge towards Tricia's table. "Her parents are expecting you to give her special attention."

"Yes, father," Sapol said with a downcast face but dutifully walked towards Tricia's father while Sapol's father walked back to the table where he and his wife and Tricia's parents were sharing a table.

The pout on Tricia's face turned into a bright smile when she saw Sapol approaching her table.

As soon as the graduation party was over Sapol drove home and ran upstairs to his room and did what he had been wanting to do all throughout his graduation reception.

He made a frantic call to Win.

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Win jumped when his phone rang. He had just finished a miserable dinner without his parents who had gone to attend Sapol's graduation reception upon Sapol's parents invitation and he had just finished to shower and had brushed his teeth and was getting ready for bed.

He knew from the ringtone that it was Sapol calling and that made him really nervous because earlier when he got home from Sapol's graduation ceremonies he had carefully rehearsed in his mind how to tell Sapol that he was breaking off his friendship with him.

Going through his carefully rehearsed break up speech during dinner made him lose appetite and he could barely eat three forkfuls of the pad thai with crunchy beef strips that the housekeeper, Chariya, had laid out for him on the dining table.

Chariya looked worried when she put away the barely touched plate of pad thai but did not say a word. She could tell that Win was unhappy about something and it was interfering with his appetite.

Win tapped on his phone screen.

"Hello," Win's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Can I come to your house?" Sapol asked.

Win noticed a slight quiver in Sapol's voice but Win ignored it.

"No," Win replied.

"Why?" Sapol's voice sounded agitated now. "Why won't you let me see you, Win? If it's because of Tricia I barely gave her attention at the party. I came home as soon as the party was over. I did not even wait for my parents to leave the banquet hall."

"It's not because of Tricia," Win replied, throwing out the window all the things he had planned to say to Sapol, all the carefully rehearsed words that he had wanted to say to him.

"Then what is it, Win? I'm all ears," Sapol's voice sounded frustrated now.

"I ... I just think that it would be best to not keep seeing you," said Win, trying his best to keep his voice steady.

Before Sapol could ask him why, Win continued, "We have a big age gap and pretty soon we will have to part ways anyway because I will be going to university which is in another city."

"Why can't you go to our local university?" Sapol asked.

"Because I have been awarded a scholarship by an out of town university," Win replied, which was true. Of course it didn't have to be an insurmountable obstacle to their seeing each other but why continue seeing Sapol for whom Win had fallen when Sapol had been promised by his parents to someone else.

When Win gave him the name of the university, Sapol exclaimed, "But that's only a three hour drive from here! I can go and see you at your dorm every weekend!"

"Sapol, please, no," Win was almost pleading now. "I really think it's best that we stop seeing each other before ..."

Win almost blurted the words "... before I get hurt badly."