(Dis)order (A Never Let Me Go Fanfiction) (Bilingual Book)

Chapter 15 - Privileges

(One week later)

On that evening, as he was returning to his room after getting a glass of water in the kitchen of the huge house where him and his father were being fed and housed for an indefinite period of time, Palm noticed a light under the door of Nueng's room, prompting him to halt his walk, which he originally intended to be short. Nevertheless, as every time he passed by this room, his curiosity proved stronger than his good intentions. Sometimes, too frequently in fact, when no one was looking, Palm would stop in front of that door and start listening to what was going on behind it. Often he would be faced with a long silence, and at other times with indistinct noises that were hard to interpret. But Palm enjoyed challenges. He liked trying to guess what Nueng might be doing or planning to do. Anything would do, if it would help him make sure Nueng was okay. That he was recovering, little by little, from recent events. With patience, he even managed from time to time to perceive a piece of music, and started to smile when he remembered having heard it before, a sign that it was a song that Nueng was particularly fond of. And that he liked to hear now, too. He even found himself singing along with it more and more often, without even realizing it. Tonight was no exception. Nueng had selected this old Thai standard, which he had originally had little interest in but which he had now learned by heart. Since Nueng had hummed it, Palm had started to listen to it too, all alone in his room. But it was the version that Khun Tanya's son sang that was his favorite. The one he thought no one would ever hear, except him. Once again, as he heard the chorus through the doorway he had been leaning towards, Palm smiled and sang along, drawn in by Nueng's melodious voice, his musicality. He had been so focused on the melody, and on keeping to the lyrics of the song, that he hadn't even noticed that Nueng's voice had been replaced by the singer's on the old vinyl. When he did realize it, Nueng was already in front of him. The young man, wearing nothing but a white bathrobe, had opened the door wide and was staring at him with an intensity that made him lose his composure immediately.

"Khun Nueng..." he stammered before taking a step backwards out of reflex, almost losing a slipper and, in the process, his balance because of the sudden peak of stress he was experiencing.

Nueng looked down at his feet, before looking up at Palm's face, which had turned bright red.

Had he heard him singing? He assumed he had been discreet enough.

"What are you doing here?" Nueng asked, crossing his arms. "I thought you had a basketball game tonight."

Palm twisted his mouth, before answering, scratching his neck quickly:

"I changed my plans. If I feel like doing sports, I can always use the pool."

"What are you talking about?" Nueng replied, staring at him with a confused look. "You love basketball and you haven't had a chance to play for a while."

When Nueng's lips stopped moving, Palm realized that his eyes might have lingered on that danger zone a little too long, which gave him even more reason to feel embarrassed when he had to explain himself.