From Something To Everything (Bounprem)

32. Left

Boun was standing under the shower head letting the water run down his body. Prem’s words were echoing in his ears. He was trying his best to unsee the care and concern he was showing him.

‘It is just a matter of two days. You won’t see him again. Boun, be level-headed. Be level-headed.’

Boun told himself again and again.

Boun was damn sure that he had developed feelings for Prem, which wasn’t actually a good news for him.

Once bitten twice shy. Boun’s previous experience in love had taught him a very big lesson. A lesson he would never forget, ever in this life. He had sworn to himself that he would never give love a second chance to destroy him.

He had to get rid of these feelings that seems to be growing with each second. He had to end everything with Prem.

But he couldn’t bare to. It would be a lie if he said that he wasn’t enjoying it. He hadn’t been this happy for a long time. When he was with Prem, he didn’t have to put on his fake mask. He could be himself.

Call him a pessimist, Boun was afraid that none of this would work out and he might end up in a much worse state than he had in the past.

Boun closed his eyes, trying to clear his head. But all he could see was Prem and the moments they spent together. His smile, his pout, his lips, his chubby cheeks, and last but not least his body. Boun found himself hard just by the thought of Prem’s body.

Last night, he had indeed gone a little overboard. Not that he meant to do so. But he was trying to convince himself that Prem was nothing more than a partner in bed. Yet the sight of Prem lying under him begging him to stop had stimulated his desires. He could never forget how beautiful Prem looked at that time with teary eyes, red tinted cheeks and plumb pouty lips gasping for air.
Boun looked down at his member who was wide awake by now.

“Looks like I would need a cold shower,” Boun mumbled and turned the knob to cold water.

Outside the bathroom, Prem was going through the photos they had clicked today on Boun’s phone. A smile involuntarily crept to his face as he zoomed into Boun’s face.

Prem knew that he had completely fallen for Boun a long time ago, around the time they started staying together at his condo. He didn’t have the guts to confess his feelings to Boun, who was known to be a Casanova.

He was afraid that if he did, Boun would find it uncomfortable. After all, ‘no strings attached’ was Boun’s style. He didn’t want to ruin what he had with Boun at this point. He cherished each second that he got to spend with Boun. He didn’t want Boun to feel uncomfortable and keep a distance from him.

He secretly wished that Boun would still keep in touch with him after they go back to their respective homes like before. He wanted to ask Boun but was not confident enough to do so.

Prem had never been lucky when it came to love. That was one of the reasons he was hesitant to take a step forward.
He selected a few photos from the gallery and sent them to his phone.

Not receiving any photos, Prem rechecked Boun’s phone. That was when he realised that he had accidentally sent the photos to someone else. He hurriedly withdrew the message.

‘Manman? Sounds like a Chinese name.’
The chats were using English syllables, but the content was Mandarin. As a student who had studied in China as an exchange student for a year, Prem was fluent in Mandarin. He could understand what was in the chat.

Prem put the phone away. He didn’t want to invade Boun’s privacy.

But curiosity got the best of him. Prem picked up the phone again and started reading the chat.

He saw that Boun had been chatting with the girl almost every day. He didn’t bother to read the contents of the chat. He just skimmed through it. He noticed that Boun had even sent the pics he had taken of the elder when they were at the beach to the other party.

Prem felt an unknown feeling within him. He scrolled through the chat a bit and decided to check the gallery of the chat directly. In the gallery, he saw photos of a beautiful young girl smiling at the camera. There were photos of her with Boun on the red carpet as well.

Prem felt his whole world crash down. He had always known he wasn’t the only one for Boun. But seeing it with his own eyes made him realise how big of a fool he was to think that he might even have a chance to be with Boun.

Tears came raining down his cheeks. Putting the phone away, he clenched his chest and cried. He hadn’t felt so much pain before not even when he caught his ex-girlfriend Kate cheating on him. He started feeling breathless from crying.
Prem heard the bathroom door open. He hurriedly wiped the tears and got under the duvet and acted as if he is asleep.

Boun who had come out of the bathroom saw that Prem was already asleep and was a bit disappointed. It was a long day for them and he felt that it is only normal that Prem had fallen asleep without waiting for him.

Boun climbed onto bed and switched off the lights, preparing to sleep. He lay on the bed looking at the back of Prem’s head, thinking about how to end everything.

Prem was having a difficult time controlling his tears and lying still.
Almost an hour had passed. The room was pin-drop silent. The silence was interrupted by the ringing of Boun’s phone.

Boun picked it up as soon as he could, worried that the sound would wake the younger up.

“Manman? What happened why are you crying?” Boun was talking in Mandarin.
Prem’s ear perked up when he heard the name.

“Wait…wait… take a breath and tell me everything.” Boun got off the bed turned on the lights and went to the balcony to talk on the phone.

Prem who had calmed himself over the last hour started sobbing again. Even when Boun was with him, he still cared about the girl. He really was nothing special to Boun. The thought was killing him from the inside.

“Manman, don’t worry. Just stay there.

Gege [1] will come there.” Boun said in a hurry as he re-entered the room and started packing. He hung up the phone and gathered his stuff.

Prem felt dumbstruck at the moment.
'He is actually leaving?)

[1] Gege- Chinese word for elder brother (similar to Oppa. It is also used by girls to call their lover/husband who are older in age.)