Stories of LITA 2

II - The Lucky Charm (9. Broken crayons colour the same)

The four of them pounced on Rain as soon as he walked into his dorm room, as if they had been waiting for him. "So?" Sig. "How was it?" Por. "Are they nice? Sky. "Did you like them?" Ple asked, all of them talking together, like a tag team. Rain looked at them a little bewildered. "Umm.. what?" he asked. "Damn you Rain. Just tell us what happened," Sky said, getting irritated. "Well, I will tell you everything, but I want you to hear me out completely and not get angry or worried. Especially you Sky," Rain said. The others looked at each other. Was it that bad? What had exactly happened?

"His family is the Theerpanayakuls," Rain said, looking straight at Sky. "The family heads are Kinn and Vegas Theerpanayakul. P'Phayu calls Uncle Kinn 'Pa Kinn'. P'Phayu's twin brother is P'Saifah, who is dating P'Chai," Rain said, still only looking at Sky, as everyone else also did the same. "Rain," Sky's voice was not above a whisper. "Please hear me out completely, okay? Before you make any judgement," Rain said. At Sky's nod of assent, Rain proceeded to tell his gang everything that had happened from the time he entered the Theerpanayakul mansion to the time P'Phayu dropped him outside the dorm rooms. Everyone listened carefully. There was pindrop silence as they all processed everything that Rain had said.

"Are you sure they can find him?" Sky asked, looking at the floor, and the others moved in immediately. "Sky? Are you okay?" Ple asked. Rain didn't say anything. He knew that when it came to choosing between Phayu and Sky, Sky would be the one. Rain wouldn't even consider anything else. Maybe, that would mean a certain amount of heartbreak. But it's not like life would be over. "Sky? Say something na?" Sig said, looking around at the others, knowing they were as worried as him. "I am fine," Sky said, finally looking up, feeling the worry of his friends. "Sky..," Rain trailed off as Sky took his hand in his. "Rain, listen to me. I trust your words. I trust you. Do you trust them?" Sky asked, his voice direct, as he stared into Rain's eyes.

"I do Sky. I do trust them. I know I met them for the first time, but there was something about them seemed very trustworthy about them. The way Uncle Kinn spoke to me, the way Dad Vegas and Uncle Porche promised me, the way Pa Pete was comforting me and the way P'Pai and Uncle Arm had already started looking for him, it went a long way in making me believe Sky," Rain said, also looking Sky in the eye. If there was one thing they had learnt in being friends all these years, it was that they could blindly trust each other's judgement. They would never lie to each other, no matter what the situation, however tough the going got.

"Okay, then I will trust them the way you do. And until he is actually found, we are not going to talk about it anymore, okay?" Sky said. "Okay! Let's talk about how Rain has a boyfriend!" Por said. "Yes! Nong Fon has a boyfriend!" Sig pumped his fist in the air. Rain laughed at his shenanigans. "Is P'Phayu really coming to have breakfast with us tomorrow?" Ple asked. "Well, it's only fair. If I went through the 'meet the family', he deserves to go through the same," Rain said. "Well, his family liked you, so we will have to like P'Phayu too," Sky said with a mock sigh, and everyone started laughing. "Feel free not to," Rain said. "Oii! No way dude! I am going to smother him in like! He is the faculty God! Imagine the help we will get?" Sig said, pretending to shudder in ecstasy. "Okay, okay, off you all go to sleep. We have lots to do tomorrow. Since you both are useless in the kitchen," Ple said, pointing at Sig and Por, "the three of us will have to surpass ourselves. So you get the groceries."

Everyone was waiting when Phayu entered the house. Phayu rolled his eyes at them. He had been expecting this. His family was the deadliest mafia family in all of Thailand, their power known across continents, causing smaller gangs to tremble in fear. But they were all over dramatic; every single one of them. "So?" Pete asked. "So what?" Phayu answered. "Did he say yes?" Porche asked, leaning forward in his seat, Kinn's arm being the only reason he hadn't fallen face first yet. "Well.." Phayu began. "If he said no, maybe we should reconsider our decision to adopt you," Vegas said thoughtfully. "True! You have clearly not learnt the Theerpanayakul charm," Kinn said. "Pfft! What charm?" Pete asked. "You guys got us at our weak moments. Thank God our sons got our charms and not yours," Porche said, glaring at Kinn and Vegas. "What?" Kinn began.