The Red Thread of Destiny

Chapter 29: It's time to confess

"With this confession, I hope to release the burden that has weighed on my soul."

Rain jumped on Phayu as soon as he returned. He had been desperately waiting for him since the morning. Pai had told him that usually Phayu came back by evening from Chiang Mai, which meant that he was normally done by noon. But when it was almost 2 and there was no sign of the two of them, Rain had started to panic. He had perked up at the sound of the car arriving and had waited with baited breath to see who it was. As soon as he had seen Phayu, he had run to him and hugged him by jumping on him.

Phayu laughed and hugged him right back. "Are you done with everything Phi?" he asked. Phayu. He nodded, smiling back at his cute little Rain. Sometimes he couldn't believe how quickly Rain had become the centre of his universe. "Yes, I am done baby. Now let's have fun the rest of our vacation, okay?" he said, patting Rain's butt. "Ai'Satt! Did you forget we are here?" Pete asked, hitting him on the head. "Sorry Pa," he said with a sheepish smile. "Did everything go well at the memorial?" Porche asked. Although he looked at Phayu when asking the question, everyone understood that it was directed towards Pai, Arm and Krist. "Yes Papa P, all went well," he said. "So, what plans for the rest of the evening?" Rain asked.

"Well..," Phayu began, when he was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. "Swasdi Khap P'Pakin, how are you?" he said, as soon as he answered the phone. "What? I see, hmm.. Khap Phi, khap, I will leave right away for Bangkok. Whatever it is, it needs to be done today itself. I am on vacation with the family right now. Khap Phi, see you in a couple of hours," he cut the call. "What happened Phi?" Rain asked, worry etched clearly on his face. "Nothing serious baby. Some issues with the garages. I will be back before you know it," he said, pacifying Rain. "Take the jet Phayu. It's here anyways. And you can come back as soon as possible. Also, Arm and Krist are coming with you," Vegas said. "Absolutely no arguments," he warned when he saw that Phayu was about to speak. Phayu nodded reluctantly.

"Phi, please do as Dad V said, okay? Just be careful everywhere you go," Rain said. Phayu looked at Rain's face and smiled. "Okay, I will be careful, and I will be back soon, okay?" he said, patting Rain on his head. He immediately strode out, determined to come back as soon as possible, not wanting to waste even a minute away from his Rain. After Phayu left, Pete immediately turned to Pai. "What happened at the memorial? Was everything okay?" he asked. "It was altogether very weird," Pai said. "Weird how?" Kinn asked. "I don't know Dad. There was this really strange feel to the whole thing altogether. Almost as if it was like a cover-up. The moment we walked in, the whole atmosphere changed. It felt like people were all hiding behind a façade. It was definitely altogether too bizarre," Pai said.

"Which means Rain was right," Sig said. Everyone looked at him. "What about P'Lhong?" Yihwa asked. "What about him?" Pai asked. "I mean, was he there?" Yihwa asked. "Of course he was," Pai replied. "Why do you ask?" "Well, Rain has always felt that there is something very strange about P'Lhong. And if Rain says something is wrong, then it is," Sky said, with complete faith on his best friend. "Well, with whatever we have discovered so far, I tend to agree with Rain. We have to be extra careful when it comes to Lhong," Porche said. "You haven't said anything yet Rain?" Type asked his son. "Rain?" Tharn called him, and snapped a finger in front of his face. "Huh? What? Were you talking to me Dad?"

"What is it Rain? Why are you so spaced out? Is everything okay?" Tharn asked. "I am okay Dad. Seriously. Let's do something guys, okay? Something fun," he said brightly, maybe a bit too brightly. Everyone in the room was concerned. They had usually never seen Rain so sad and lost. They clearly felt Rain's pain. But not even a single person wanted to call him out for it. They decided to do what Rain said. Enjoy themselves, so that Rain could take his mind off things. Right now, that was the least they could do.