Stories of LITA 2

II - The Lucky Charm (8. Dinner with the Theerpanayakuls)

Phayu could see every single member of his family falling under Rain's spell. His boy was too cute for his own good. And after the initial jolt, he could see Rain becoming comfortable with his family too. In a way, Phayu was happy that the fact that his family was mafia, was out in the first go. If it had come out later, maybe he would have lost Rain for good. But now, there would be no secrets between them. And that would be beyond perfect, in Phayu's opinion. But he would have to warn Rain not to discuss anything with his other friends for now. He knew how close they were, so he was not sure if Rain would listen to him. His fear was not that others would come to know. It was more to do with the fact that Sky may not believe him and that would mean that Rain could also withdraw. And that was not something Phayu was going to allow. Rain was not an object, that was true, but nonetheless, Rain was his.

"So what do your parents do lu?" Pete asked Rain, and Phayu's head snapped towards Rain. He already knew everything, but he had not wanted to share anything with his parents, wanting it to be Rain's choice whether or not he wished to share about himself with anyone. "My father has a business mostly based out of Korea. Mom stays with him," Rain said, seemingly nonchalantly, but his pain was clearly visible to the family. They had trained all their lives to read the undercurrents, and Rain was not very good at hiding his sadness. He was too open and transparent. "And where do you live?" Porche asked, his heart going out to the loveless boy. His eyes met Pete's over Rain's head and an unspoken exchange went through the two friends. "Until last week, I stayed partially at home and partially at my friend Sky's dorm. But now we have all moved there," Rain said. "We all? Who are we all lu?" Vegas asked. "Well, my closest friends; Sky, Por, Ple and Sig," Rain said, smiling sweetly. Just the thought of his friends made him so happy.

"Ple sounds like a girl. Is a girl allowed to stay with boys?" Chay asked. "Sky and I and Sig and Por have a double unit and Ple has a single unit on the same floor in the same dorm," Rain explained. Everyone nodded. "So, why did you choose to do architecture?" Kinn asked. Rain looked at him, and while not completely sure about the man, he answered readily enough. "I always loved art. At first I thought that that's what I want to do. Then we all went for a trip from school, a trip to Angkor Wat. Something about that place was just so..," Rain trailed off, unsure of how to explain what he had felt there. What they had all felt there. "None of us had any idea as to what we wanted to do when we went there. But by the time we came back, we knew exactly which faculty we would join. Just then Ple's brother got into Chula for Architecture, and we started researching there as well. P'Som was not exactly a supportive person, but at least we had some idea by then. So there we were. And plus I got secret encouragement," Rain said happily. "Secret encouragement?" Phayu asked, curious. "When we had gone for the Open House, I left my pencil case and my pamphlet on one of the tables at the faculty. When I came back to look for it, there was an architectural triangle with a storm sym..," Rain stared at Phayu. "Storm," he whispered, awe-struck.

"You were the Nong who wanted to ace the test?" Phayu asked, shocked. Rain nodded, tears filling his eyes. "You have no idea what you did that for me Phi," he said, surreptitiously wiping his tears. "What do you mean lu?" Pete asked. "I had fought with my parents about going into Architecture. They obviously wanted me to go into business. So that day, I was in such a foul mood and unable to figure out what I wanted. I was almost tempted to take up business and to hell with the world!" Rain's eyes widened as he slapped a hand over his mouth. "Sorry!" he whispered, pulling back, wondering what reactions he would get. "It's okay lu. We are usually worse than that," Porche grinned. "We are just behaving because you are here," he added, a twinkle in his eye. "Well, that triangle sort of became my beacon and my lucky charm. I aced the test. Sky and I tied in scores," Rain smiled, looking with wide eyes at Phayu.

"Wow! That means you are brilliant!" Khun said, speaking up for the first time. "No Khun Thankhun. I am someone really average," Rain said. "That's your family speaking Rain," Khun immediately said. Rain stared at him. And as he looked into Khun's eyes, he realised that he knew exactly what Rain was saying. Rain was surprised. Who would dare say anything to the oldest person in the family? "Fathers are not always 'all that', isn't it?" Khun asked, looking sad. Rain immediately reached across the table and touched Khun's hand. They clung together for a moment, thousands of unsaid things linking them together. "Okay, okay, enough of this," Khun said, as they both drew back at the same time. "Let's talk about you dating my poor nephew," he said, as both Rain and Phayu blushed. "Uncle Khun!!" Phayu hissed. "What? Am I wrong? Don't you want to date this cute boy?" Khun asked, playing gremlin as usual.