VII - Until Rain

893 39 7
                                    

Akk was 10 when his parents decided that he would move to Bangkok

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

Akk was 10 when his parents decided that he would move to Bangkok. They wanted their son to get the best education possible and they knew very well that it would be impossible to get it in their tiny, sleepy fishing village. At first, Akk was extremely reluctant. But then he realised that studying in the big city would have its advantages. He could learn whatever he needed to and then come back and apply it in his hometown. It was a win-win.

His father's sister, his Aunty Aya, lived in Bangkok with her husband Sorn. They had no children of their own and had been thrilled that Akk would be staying with them. Akk's parents knew that Akk was gay. He had told them that he finds boys more beautiful than girls. So, he had told his parents that even Aunty Aya and Uncle Sorn should know about it. He didn't want to find himself on the streets when they discovered his sexual preference. But it turned out that Uncle Sorn's brother, Uncle Kiet was married to a man as well. Even though same sex marriages were illegal in Thailand, they had made a promise to each other, in front of family and friends, that they would be each other's partners. And that made Akk relieved.

The very first day of school, Akk realised that cliques had already been formed and he was not likely to fit in anywhere. But probably, in a way, that was good. He could focus on his studies. Or so he thought, resigned to the fact that he would have no friends. That was before he met Rain and Kan. Also equal misfits, they seemed to be those people who would never fit a mould, never conform to the rules. Rain and Kan decided that Akk needed friends and that was that. Both the boys seemed goofy and silly, mostly playing pranks or lazing about. Both of them were good-looking. Rain was slender, clear-skinned, doe-eyed and even at such a young age, his Korean ancestry gave him an advantage in terms of his looks. Kan was the taller of the true, with deep-set eyes, beetling eyebrows and a dorky presence that he hid being snarky smiles.

But as Akk became closer to the boys, he realised that the school and their classmates grossly underestimated them. Rain was multilingual. He could speak five languages fluently and was passably decent in two more. Kan's brains were wired differently. He was, even at such a young age, an expert at computers, coding games for them to play with overnight. And while they didn't really look like it, they both were in the top 5 of the class. Which meant that, despite disgusted looks from people for having chosen these two as friends, Akk was happy that they were his.

Just as they were about to start high school, they begged their families to allow them the whole dorm experience. Rain and Kan got the permission easily, since they were alone most of the time and their parents couldn't care less. But for Akk it was a different story. However, everyone reached a consensus and Akk was given permission to stay for one semester. If everything went well, and he didn't allow any drop in grades, they would talk about continuing. And Akk was very sure that he could make that happen. His friends may seem like the epitome of no-gooders in the world, but they were both highly talented individuals and good students. Staying with them these past few years, Akk had also improved considerably, so he was not too worried about the condition laid down.

Stories of LITA 1Where stories live. Discover now