Stories of LITA 2

XI - The stupid (cute) boy 3 (Finale)

Rain? What the fuck? What the hell was Rain doing here? Phayu could feel his jaw hanging to the ground. The person he had been looking for, for almost a week and a half, and had asked Uncle Arm about, was calmly walking in, talking animatedly with Uncle Khun, and looking completely different from the last time he had seen him. Auburn hair had been replaced with ashy blond, styled back. He was dressed in a similar style as Phayu, white linen trousers, with a soft baby pink shirt, his eyes sparkling with joy as he listened to something Uncle Khun was saying.

"Rainy boy!" Saifah said, as Rain rushed into his open arms for a hug. "Hey P'Fah! Hey P'Chai!" Rain said, earning a bop on his nose from Chai, making him giggle. "Rain?" Phayu whispered hoarsely, and everyone turned towards him. "You know him Yu?" "You know him Rain?" Pete and Vegas asked him at the same time. "Yes!" "No." Phayu and Rain answered at the same time. Phayu gaped at Rain at his refusal. "I mean, I know of him. He is supposedly our senior at Chula. But that's it. He is not exactly the kind of person who would be interested in someone like me," Rain said, completely nonchalantly. "Someone like you?" Pete asked, something dark in his tone. "Someone stupid. He is The P'Phayu, beloved of all faculty members, students, both seniors and juniors and his colleagues. And I am stupid, air-headed Rain. How could I even try to know him?" Rain said, his smile mocking Phayu and breaking his heart.

"Did he say that to you?" Vegas asked, something in his tone alerting Phayu that his parents, and the rest of his family, already knew what had happened. His heart stuttered. "Well dad, why would The P'Phayu even deign to talk to someone like me?" Rain laughed bitterly. Thankhun immediately put his hands around him. "Then I would say it's his loss Rainy, because lots of people said the same thing about me, and look where they are now," he said. "Where are they?" Rain asked curiously. "Buried six feet under," Saifah cackled loudly at Rain's alarmed face. "Kidding Rainy! You look adorable by the way!" he added, now making Rain blush. Phayu watched all the interactions and by-plays happening, and realised that he was part of none of them, and it somehow made him feel really strange.

"So Venice, looks like you know our Rain?" Vegas asked. Although it was framed as a question, it was clear that it was completely rhetorical. Phayu nodded, unable to form a sentence. "Can I talk to you Rain?" he asked, even though he somehow knew the response. "Talk to him about what? Hurt him? Spank him? Or touch him without consent? Is that what we taught you Venice?" Pete asked, in an extremely disappointed voice. That voice, plus the use of his real name, it was enough for Phayu to know how badly he had messed up, even if he didn't know it before. His father rarely, if ever, used that tone of voice, and Phayu felt appalled at hearing it.

"It's not like that Pa," he whispered, unable to look at the man who had raised him. "Then what is it Venice?" Vegas asked. "I was wrong, and I accept it. I have been wanting to apologise to you for a while now Rain. I have been desperately looking for you. I know I called you stupid, but the truth is, I was the stupid one. I did everything my Pa said, and worse, I humiliated you. I was so scared at that moment Rain. The guards didn't know who you were, and if they had caught you..," Phayu trailed off, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat before talking again. "If they had caught you, anything could have happened," he said. "Aren't they races run by Dad and Uncle Porche? They don't seem such terrible people that they would hurt me to that extent Phi," Rain said.

Phayu was shocked. Rain knew about his family? "How do you know that Rain?" he asked, aghast. "Because we told him," Porche said. "Rain has been living with Dad and Pa since he left the garage that night Ven," Saifah said, looking pointedly at his elder twin. Phayu stared at the rest of the family, and saw how everyone had surrounded Rain. He felt properly chastised, and decided to talk to Rain again. "Please Rain, may I talk to you? Just once maybe? Please?" he asked. Rain looked at him, eyes moving over Phayu's face, trying to figure out what he was seeing there. Finally he nodded, and stood up. "Are you sure Rainy?" Thankhun asked. "Yes Uncle Khun, I am," Rain smiled sweetly at him, but when he turned around to look at Phayu, all traces of the smile was gone.