Autumn is a second spring

47. Agreement.

"Fluke, didn't you know that we are having the photoshoot for your new album cover? " Sammy glared at her new artist.

"It was an accident alright! I slipped and hit the vase by accident. It's not I enjoy going around breaking my forehead. " Fluke responded. He was unwilling to tell his friends about how he actually got the wound.

"Fluke, tell us the truth what happened? We would be fools to believe that you got yourself injured just like that." Prem said.

He had sparred with Fluke several times and he knew how fast the latter's reflexes were.

"I am really telling the truth na. " Fluke insisted. " When I slipped, I almost fell off the stairs.  I had dodged it and my head bumped against the metallic vase next to the stairs. " He made up a believable story.

"How many stitches are there?" Sammy frowned as she examined the bandaged forehead.

"Just twelve."

"Just twelve? How are you so carefree, you idiot?" Sammy was about to burst into anger.

"Relax Samsam, the wound is only an inch long. Mom is a professional, that's how I ended up having twelve stitches. It's not that big."

"Is this going to leave a scar?" She asked.

"Nah" Fluke smiled at her.

The next second he received a smack from her. "Why the heck didn't you inform me about this yesterday? I could have canceled the shoot today." 

"I am sorry. I was down and out yesterday." Fluke pouted.

"What do you mean down and out?" Prem questioned.

"I lost a bit of blood and fainted. When I woke up, it was already morning. So, I came here straight." Fluke answered.

"You" Sammy wanted to punch him.  She clenched her fist and controlled her urge. "I am going to inform the crew that you are injured and are not in a condition to shoot today."

"But~" Fluke tried to protest but was quietened by the glare that he got from her.

"You are going to go back home and rest," Sammy said firmly, ignoring the pitiful gaze Fluke was giving her. "I don't understand how your mom even let you out in such a condition."

"I snuck out by myself," Fluke muttered.

"You snuck out yourself? Are you out of your damn mind?" Sammy was trying her hardest not to yell at her injured friend. "Prem, take this guy back home. I don't want to see his face anymore."

"But I don't want to go back home. P' Ohm's not there. I will be bored." Fluke whined.

"Then I will take you to your parent's place," Prem said as he stood up and started packing his and Fluke's stuff to leave.

"No. They are no home either." Fluke mumbled. When he left home, neither of his parents were there. That was how he managed to sneak out. 

"Go home with me then," Prem zipped the bags.

"No. I don't want to be a third wheel."

"Trust me. You won't be a 'third wheel'. We already have one at home." Prem was referring to Bew. "Come, get up, let's leave." He grabbed Fluke by his elbow and dragged him along.

Two hours later.

"Here. I have made Chicken noodle soup for you. They said that it's good for recovering from blood loss." Prem placed a bowl of soup in front of Fluke. He had brought the shorter guy back home with him.

As it was working hours, Boun was at his office and Bew was at kinder garden. 

"Chicken noodle soup

Chicken noodle soup
Chicken noodle soup
With a soda on the side
Chicken noodle soup
Chicken noodle soup
Chicken noodle soup

With a soda on the side" Fluke started singing, wiggling his butt on the seat.

"Quit playing around and eat. I want the bowl empty." Prem threatened.

"Khrab Mae." Fluke flashed him a tooth smile. He inhaled the smell of the warm soup. "Smells so good! I am indeed a good teacher!"

Prem tsked.

"Thank you for the food." Fluke said in a Japanese style before he dug. "Waah!" He moaned. "This shit is so delicious."

Prem crossed his hands across his chest and watched Fluke eat.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Fluke asked seeing the untouched bowl of soup in front of his friend. "Eat. It will turn cold."

Prem picked up the chopsticks. "The meeting with your parents didn't go well, did it?"

Fluke paused for a second but resumed eating without a word.

"You are trying too hard to look as if everything is okay, Fluke."

"Everything is going to be okay. I am going to make everything okay." Fluke slurped the noodles in.

"What happened? They didn't like P' Ohm? Or do they have problem that you are dating a guy?" Prem asked the typical probabilities that parents of gay people would dislike meeting their son's partner.

"They have long known that I am into men." Fluke stirred the soup with the spoon. "The problem is that they want a grandchild."

"A grandchild?" Prem was surprised, yet not so surprised. "Does this have something to do with Fame and her pregnancy?"

"Partially. They hate Fame as much as P' Ohm does. Dad is furious that she will be giving birth to my first child."

"It was a donation, right?"

"It is. I have nothing to do with the child even though I am her biological Por. But Dad doesn't understand that. He says that as long as she carries my blood, she has everything to do with me."

"So, what does he suggest you do?"

"To hire a surrogate and have another child. The child needs to be acknowledged as my hire."

"Wow. I don't understand you rich people." Prem said in amusement. "Then? Did you agree?"

"Well, we had an old agreement."

"Old agreement?"

"Maybe it was because my parents had already figure out that I am into men that they were reluctant to send me back to Thailand. Me and Earth had to beg them every day for them to agree to let us study in Bangkok."

"Woah. Never expected that. Then, how did you managed to get them to say yes?"

"I had to make an agreement with them. They made me promise them that I won't get into any relationships and would focus on studies."

"In the end, you breeched the agreement and started dating?"

"The agreement was that 'I shouldn't get into relationships and focus on studies'. I did focus on my studies. I was the valedictorian of my batch, alright? P' Ohm happened after I graduated."

"Well, you do have a point there." Prem nodded in agreement. "But what does all this have to do with you having a baby with a surrogate."

"The baby was also part of the agreement. I agreed to them that I will be having my first child through surrogacy. It was around the time when Sirene launched its fertility and maternity care centers. I was young and naive that I thought that it was related to the new centers that they wanted me to get a surrogate back then. That's how I ended up agreeing to them. Now, I realize that I had dug my own grave."

"So, what do you plan on doing?"