Roundabout Way to You

23. Daughter

"What is the most useless thing you own?" A girl asked Ayut.

Instead of answering her, he just turned his head to the side, where Boyo was stuffing her mouth with food. She was too busy with the food to notice his actions.

Everyone burst out laughing. That was when she realized that something was going on. Seeing that everyone was looking at her and laughing she looked at her best friend. 

Ayut mouthed 'I love you' and blew a kiss at her, making her roll her eyes.

"Aww! I really adore your friendship na." The girl who asked the question cooed seeing their interaction. "I wish I had a male best friend."

"I can be your male best friend," One of the male colleagues offered, wiggling his brows.

"No thanks," The girl made a playful disgusted expression and moved slightly in the opposite direction.

"I think having a girl bestie is the best," A male colleague commented.

"That is a very incorrect assumption," Ayut chuckled earning a glare from Boyo. "Having a girl best friend is like having a daughter who never listens to her dad. If you tell her that she has to go east she will go west. If you tell her not to date a certain guy, that very day she comes holding his hands, saying that he is her boyfriend."

"That only happened once, alright?" Boyo retorted

"Once?" 

"Okay, twice." 

"What about the bask~"

"Alright. Alright! Four times."

"Yes, four times." Ayut turned back to his colleagues. "Every single guy has advised her not to date, she ended up dating them."

"But I broke up with them pretty quick na," Boyo argued.

"That is not something to be proud of Bobo," Ayut said while Boyo made a face at him. "She is like a trash detector. She will only find trash out of all the seven billion people in this world."

"I think her current boyfriend is good, no?" The girl said. "He looks aren't bad too."

"Yeah. You are right." Ayut agreed. "He is a nice guy. He is good-looking and has a stable job. He is financially well-settled. Initially, I was worried that he won't be able to keep up with her madness, but now that I have gotten to know him a bit more, I realized that he is also a crackhead and they can be together, driving each other crazy."

"Thank you for the approval, daddy." Boyo hugged Ayut.

"Jaa. I am approving so please make this relationship work. I don't want to spend hours listening to you. Go eat his ears and stop eating mine." 

"Ho, P' Ayut. Isn't it fun to gossip about boyfriends?" The girl asked in amusement.

"No dear. It is not. I mean, it is not just the gossip. A few months ago, when she started dating Bern, she and Bern would talk over the phone for five minutes. Then, after ending the call, she would call me to talk about the call, which would last at least two damn hours. I have to hear the same thing going on repeat. That too in the middle of the night."

 "I just wanted to share my excitement, bitch," Boyo defended.

"If one day I go deaf, it will be from all the 'excitement' you show to me." Ayut tsked.

" I will still love you even if you go deaf na" Boyo pulled him close and kissed his cheeks.

"Did you wipe your lips after eating?" Ayut questioned as he could not see clearly in the dim light.

Boyo smiled guiltily. Her lips were smudged with oil from the food she had just eaten, and she transferred it to Ayut's cheeks by kissing him.

Seeing the smile, Ayut understood what had happened. "Ew, Bobo!" He pushed her away and started wiping his face. 

"Don't wipe it with your hand, phi. Let me help you," Anwit picked a tissue and helped Ayut wipe his cheeks.

"If I hadn't known that you two are phi-nong, I would have thought that you two are a couple. You two would look so cute together as a couple," The girl said as she stared at Anwit and Ayut.

"Me too. You guys care so much about each other." Another female colleague joined in.

Hearing the comments, Anwit stiffened. A lot of people had said this before and such thoughts by the outsiders had often put Ayut in a disadvantageous position. Of course, Ayut never minded that. But Anwit did.

Anwit always felt guilty that Ayut's boyfriends always misinterpreted their relationship and used it as an excuse to break up with him. He hated being the reason why his brother was getting dumped.

Ayut never blamed him and had always insisted that it was his ex's fault for not understanding their brotherly bond. It was true that Ayut was a brother-con and always prioritized Anwit over anything else, even his boyfriend.

The guilt that built up within Anwit through the years for being the reason why his brother had to undergo several heartbreaks and get insulted by the ones who dumped him, was the reason why he made the deal with Sarth.

It was a harmless deal. All he had to do was to put up a show in front of Sarth and Mihit's family and in return, Sarth would be helping him make his brother happy.

He did not doubt that Ayut was interested in Mihit and as far as he was concerned, Mihit fit in all the columns in the list of requirements he had for his brother's partner. He had to make things work in between them and he knew that he couldn't do it alone.

Sarth's predicament was a blessing to him. If not, he would have had a hard time making Mihit's friends join his camp, especially after he heard how Bern had behaved towards his brother.

From all the data he had gathered from Sarth, he knew that Mihit had only dated girls and was not very fond of gay men. But he had complete trust in his brother's charm to bend even the straightest steel-hearted man into becoming gay. 

He was confident in his phi. But the problem was that Ayut wasn't. Ayut lost his confidence after having been heartbroken too many times.

Anwit had long noticed that his brother had been restraining himself from meeting people or going on dates. It was as if his brother had shrunk his own life into a small circle that only included him, Boyo, and their parents.

He was dead set on changing that. He wanted his brother to be happy and that was when Mihit made his entry as a person who was the most suitable candidate for his mission.

Having roped Sarth into his side, his mission was even easier now.  Just as he was thinking of Sarth, he saw the latter standing not far away from them, along with Mihit and Bern, staring at them. "P' Sa?" He muttered.

"Huh?" Ayut followed Anwit's gaze and saw the trio as well. He wasn't expecting to see them there.