Secret Admirer

5. Past

"He was my senior," June said staring at the ceiling with an empty gaze as he lay on his boyfriend's lap. "Back then, I was new in Sweden and had a lot of issues adjusting there. When these issues started reflecting on my grades, one of my professors referred me to him to get tutored. We quickly bonded over the fact that we were both Thai."

Kayu ran his fingers over June's hair as he listened to him.

"It was in the middle of all the tutoring sessions that he asked me out. I had long fallen for him then and had been trying to hide my feelings from him so that he wouldn't feel uncomfortable around me. I was over the moon to hear that he felt the same as me and we started dating."

June recalled the butterflies he got when Buri had confessed to him. It had been a moment that he never wanted to forget in his life. Yet now he was trying hard to forget anything and everything related to Buri.

"Initially I was worried that my parents would be against us as he was a guy. But none of that happened. They were very happy for us when I came out to them and introduced him as my boyfriend."

"Wait! I thought that uncle and aunt were against you two," Kayu said in surprise. He had already met June's parents not too long ago. He had gotten along with them so well that they mentioned Buri on their first meeting itself.

They were really worried about their son and his love life. The previous heartbreak had pushed their son to the brink of suicide. As their only child, they couldn't even imagine having to live if something happened to June.

From the way the couple had been talking about Buri, Kayu had inferred that they never liked Buri since the start itself.

"They were not against us in the beginning. In fact, they used to love him. He was a senior student, had an amicable personality, was good-looking, and most importantly, he was Thai. My mom used to be worried that I would bring back some white chick home after going to study in Sweden." June chuckled softly recalling the excitement in his mother's face when he said that he was dating Buri back then.

"Then, what made them change their mind?" Kayu asked.

"He dropped out of the college. He wanted to open a tattoo shop by himself. I was very supportive of this idea as I knew how much he loved tattooing. Plus, he already had an undergraduate degree. I felt that it was not a bad idea to chase your dreams and explore more in his area of interest. If things didn't work out, with his credentials it wouldn't be difficult for him to join college as well."

Kayu nodded slowly.

"You know, I had a huge fight with Mom and Dad back then. They wanted me to break up with him after learning that he wanted to be a tattoo artist. I went all out on them and vice versa. They then told me that I had to choose between them and him. I was so stupid and blinded by love that I chose him. I cut ties with them and moved in with him."

All Kayu could see in June's eyes was regret. The regret of hurting his parents.

"Things had been tough for us. My parents cut my pocket money and I had to work to meet my daily needs. I didn't want him to spend his money on me because I knew that he was saving up for renting a tattooing parlor for himself."

"Didn't he work?"

"He did. At his master's tattoo parlor. But the money wasn't enough. I started taking on multiple jobs to support us so that he could put all his income into his capital for the parlor."

Kayu, having been in the industry for a while knew that opening a new establishment needed a lot of investment both as capital and human resources. The renting of the building, its renovation according to the need, the stuff that needs to be installed like air conditioners, fire extinguishers, generators, all these would cost a whooping sum, which might be a bit too difficult for a student to rise alone.

"Why didn't he look for some investors or something?" He asked. He was sure that they could actually apply for loans there as they were not citizens of the country.

"He did and he got it. I have never seen him being so happy than the day he came home to tell me that he is going to have a business partner." June smiled bitterly. "I was happy too."

He gazed up at Kayu who was listening to him attentively. "I didn't know that day would be leading to the end of our relationship."

"Don't tell me that the person he cheated on you with was that business partner!"

June sat up. "Unfortunately, yes. She is the one. His then ex-girlfriend, Yen. I had only met her once before that at a party by one of their mutual friends. She was pretty and totally the kind that men would swoon over. His presence made me feel a bit insecure, especially because she knew him a lot more than I did."

He stood up. "I need a beer before saying more." 

He headed to the kitchen and grabbed two cans of beer and came back. He handed one to Kayu and kept one for himself. 

He opened the can and took a sip. "At the end of the final years of my studies, I landed an awesome internship. All those part-time jobs I did hiked up my resume so much that the company was willing to pay for my food and accommodation other than my salary. It was my dream job. For me landing a job in such a company was no less than hitting a jackpot."

Kayu waited patiently as June grew quiet. He knew that it wasn't easy for June to open up like this. He was curious but didn't want to push June too much to speak.

"Six months," June spoke. "They wanted me to take a training program of six months before they officially made me an employee there. It was a reasonable proposal as I was still a rookie in the translation industry and had a lot to learn. The only problem was that the training program was done in another city. This meant that I would have to go there and live for six whole months for this internship."

He sipped his beer again. "Initially, I was very reluctant, not wanting to stay away from him for so many days. But he persuaded me to go, and I did go. The internship training was intense. It was as if I had stepped into a whole new world when I got there. I barely had any free time for myself."