Eyes on me

007

Ever since Kim's confrontation with Mrs Tip, things have become a lot smoother for Porchay. He was no longer picked on for the smallest of things. On the contrary, it was like he was granted immunity and even his friends thought that it was weird the elite kids stopped bullying him and tried to befriend him instead.

Porchay supposed it had definitely something to do with Kim coming from the Theerapanyakul family but he didn't want to probe further if it wasn't his business. The brunette had made it very clear that there were boundaries Porchay should never overstep, and digging into his business was one of them.

Nevertheless, it was owing to the man that he was able to focus on practicing for the upcoming concert so even though it's late in the evening, Porchay was still on his guitar trying to work out the last few bars he always seemed to struggle with. He was using the school's guitar that was badly maintained, so it didn't help that the strings were turning rusty either because it made it more difficult to play.

"Oho..Porchay. You're still up?" Pete asked. The bodyguard was on his usual night patrol duty when he caught sight of Porchay practicing on the guitar on the balcony.

Porchay nodded slowly, as he settled his guitar down to his left. "Trying to get these few bars right. I hope I'm not being too noisy."

"Of course not." Pete dismissed the boy's worries. "Why don't you ask Khun Kim for help?"

Porchay hesitated, then replied. "I-I don't want to trouble him."

"Trust me, you're not." Pete reassured. "Khun Kim loves music so I'm sure he will be more than willing to help."

Porchay gnawed onto his bottom lip. He recalled asking Kim to tutor him for his college entrance exams too which were in less than 3 weeks. Although Kim said he would consider it, Porchay never took the initiative to ask him about it ever since. It wasn't because of ego, no, rather Porchay felt bad having to bother the man especially when Kim's already stuck with him due to the unforeseen predicament.

"Actually...you could ask Khun Kim right now. He's in the studio. I can give you a ride." Pete proposed, only to have Porchay shake his head. Kim was busy working, how could he trouble him? But with the music festival in less than 3 days, Porchay could seriously get some help.

"I don't see why you need to be so afraid of bothering him all the time. Khun Kim's your partner." Pete reminded, seeing Porchay's uncertain look.

Porchay sighed. He had 2 choices - he was either going to man up and learn how to accept rejection or not ask and flung the concert. At this point, it appeared that the second choice was rather corwardy. His best friends had high hopes for his performance, so he can't afford to mess it up. Hence, after what appeared to be a rational debate, Porchay agreed and so Pete dropped him off at Kim's studio as promised.

By the time Porchay had made it into the studio, it was already dark outside. The lights in the studio were dim, except for the one behind the glass panel where Kim appeared to be testing chords on the guitar until he heard the door squeak open.

"Hello, Phi Kim." Porchay greeted the brunette, who only shot him a 'what-do-you-want' look as if he already read his mind.

"I didn't wish to bother you, really. But you see...I have a concert in less than 3 days and I am struggling so hard with the last few bars of the piece. I can't seem to get the notes right and am honestly at my wits end." Porchay explained, as he held his guitar in one hand and the score in the other.

Porchay wasn't expecting Kim to help him but to his surprise, the brunette asked for the score so he could see what the problem was. Kim told him to play it once through, which Porchay did haphazardly while Kim sat in silence waiting for Porchay to finish.