Autumn is a second spring

5. Communicate

"I am sure that something might have come up or else we all know that P' Boun wouldn't have missed the finals." Fluke sensed his friend's foul mood.

"Something came up? Something my ass. He had time to go attend that concert, travelling full twenty-four hours in the plane all the way to Sao Paulo, but he had something to do when he had to show up at my game? Wow! Bravo! Hats off to him." Prem said sarcastically.

"Turn the camera on, idiot. Let's talk face-to-face. " Fluke could obviously feel that Prem needed someone to talk to at the moment.

"Er. Give me a minute. " Prem turned the camera on, holding the phone away from his face.

Fluke mentally sighed seeing Prem sulk. The couple would one day be the end of him.

"Let me ask you something seriously, bub. Are you upset because he didn't show up today or because he went ahead with his plan to attend the concert despite you not going along with him" Fluke asked as the video call got connected.

"Both," Prem huffed. His friend just knew him too well. He didn't find it necessary to hide the truth from Fluke

When Boun had planned to attend the concert, he had gotten tickets for both of them.

Prem, despite not being interested in the concert, acted as if he was excited about the plan, just to make Boun happy. All he wanted was to spend some time with his Hia and nothing else.

But at the end moment, something came up and Prem couldn't afford to leave the country at that time.

When he informed Boun about the matter, the older was very disheartened. Seeing his lover's face, he couldn't help but tell him to go ahead with the plan without him.

He had said it out of formality. Little did he expect that Boun would actually go to the concert without him and have fun.

The thing that frustrated him more was that the ticket that was brought for him was given to Boun's secretary who happened to be dying to attend the concert but couldn't get the ticket.

"If he had planned on being here like the way he planned on being at that concert, he would have been able to make it here. Maybe he just didn't think that I could cut the mustard and win the games that he thought he wouldn't have to fulfil the promise he made me. "

"Prem, you know it's not like that. He trusts your abilities more than anyone else. He would never even think like that. " Fluke was fully aware that it was Prem's anger doing the talking right now.

"Just admit it, Fluke. Both me and you know that he had no plans on being here. " Prem gripped tightly onto the pillow cushion on his lap. 

He wanted Boun to be there to see his achievement. He wanted Boun to be proud of him. For him, Boun's presence was the biggest award he could get for his achievement. 

"Don't tell me you are doing this to get his validation." Fluke had always known that Prem had very low self-esteem when it came to his relationship. 

"It's not just about, Fluke." Prem's eyes looked empty at the moment. "You know ever since he had taken up his family business he had been getting busier. It was bearable when I was yet to rejoin the team. But, once I did, we barely had any time for each other. It feels like we are drifting apart."

"Now you are starting to sound like Earth. I totally understand your fear. It is normal to think that your relationship will grow weaker just because you guys can't stick hip-to-hip with each other because a lot of long-distance relationships do fail. But there are couples who had made such relationships work as well, Bub. You have to put in few effort. Both of you."

Prem scoffed. "Easy for you to say. P' Ohm treats you like the most precious thing in the world. You won't understand what I am feeling."

He stood up and headed to the mini refrigerator in his room. "P' Ohm still calls you every day even when he is in Seoul for the shoot, right? And I am sure he texts you whenever he gets a break."

Prem chuckled as Fluke didn't retort to his statements. He sat back on the bed with his beer can.

He opened the beer can and took a sip. "P' Boun hasn't contacted me for almost a week, Fluke. How busy is he that he can't even send a text to me? It's okay if he doesn't have the time to come over or give me a call. Can't he even send a congratulatory message? Am I asking for too much when I expect a little bit of consideration from him?"

Fluke took a long breath in and exhaled slowly. "Let me ask you a question, okay, you said he didn't give you a call, but did you give him a call? Did you send any texts to him in the past few days?"

It was Prem's turn to stay quiet.

"You didn't right?" Fluke was confident that he had hit a raw nerve. "Why? Your internet connection was weak? Or were you so busy that you didn't get time to touch the phone?"

"I was..." Prem stuttered. "I didn't want to appear too clingy, Fluke."

Fluke facepalmed. "But you are clingy, Prem. You both are. Have you seen P' Boun ever being shy to act clingy even when you guys are in public? Then what are you so shy about?"

Prem took another big sip of his beer, failing to find a perfect answer to Fluke's questions.

"Look Prem, I am not saying that it is wrong to feel this way. Everyone does feel disappointed at some point in their relationship. Everyone has their own expectations and grievances when those expectations are not met. Even I do.

Do you think that my relationship with P' Ohm has been a walk in the park just because he is always willing to give in to me? No buddy. It had been a very difficult journey. The more caring and adjusting he is, the more caring and adjusting I have to become so that he feels as loved as I do in this relationship.

You and P' Boun had been together with each other way longer than me and P' Ohm. You guys had been the supporting system to each other at the toughest point of your life. You have seen yourselves at the best and the worst. What are you afraid of, Prem?"

Fluke paused to take a breath. "Whenever a problem arises in your relationship, you just have to sit down, talk to each other and you will be able to figure a way out. Analyse your problems together and the solution will show up by itself. All you have to do is communicate with each other."