Forget Me Not

Heat Rising

"He's not responding to me."

Once again, Boss and Man found themselves at Sarawat's place, listening to his endless complaints about Tine not answering his calls or texts.

"Have you tried email?" Man suggested.

Sarawat shook his head. "I've been spamming his inbox since yesterday."

"Well, you're probably in his spam folder then."

"Have you left a voicemail?" Boss chimed in.

Sarawat sighed. "I did. Why do you think he's suddenly ignoring me?"

Man pondered for a moment. "Maybe you're giving him mixed signals, and he's not sure what you really want. Come on, Wat, you're better than this. Stop using the phone and go see him!"

"Or we could hack his computer and see if he's seeing someone..." Boss's words trailed off as Man shot him a venomous glare.

Sarawat looked even more depressed. "You think he's hitting it off with that other guy?"

"Who's the other guy again?" Man asked, pulling out his tablet. "I've got names in this database, Wat. Just say the word, and I'll take care of it!"

Sarawat fell onto the couch next to Man, exhaling loudly. "The other day, I visited my parents and talked to Phukong."

"Did you tell him you know he quit his job?" Boss guessed, now back to working on his drone.

"Yes. Shouldn't I have?"

"I don't know. If you were my brother, I might punch you for being a stalker."

"I just want to make sure he doesn't waste his youth jumping from one job to another," Sarawat explained. "There's a lot of competition out there. Younger, better, wiser, more efficient people... Phukong thinks his popularity will last forever. He doesn't realize everything is replaceable nowadays. If he doesn't secure his place in society, he'll end up as a nobody."

Man placed a hand on his shoulder. "I don't have a brother, but I feel you, my friend."

Sarawat continued, "Then he had the audacity to remind me of Pam." He sighed again at the memory. "It's strange to be reminded of your first love and mistake, and the first thing that came to my mind was Tine."

A beat. Neither Man nor Boss reacted for a long moment. They knew Sarawat to be a sentimental guy despite his introverted nature. His ability to switch personas made him an effective secret agent, crucial to their covert operations' success. After his relationship with Pam ended, Sarawat had bounced from one relationship to another, none lasting more than six months. Since taking on the Thierry Renault case, he had been single for a year, rarely thinking about romance. All his past relationships were either flings or part of the job.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Man finally asked after a long pause.

Sarawat looked at his friends. "I'm not giving up. This isn't the end for us. I'll hold on to Tine until he himself doesn't want me anymore."

◇─◇──◇─◇

The next day, Tine sighed as he looked at his phone, finding several unread messages and texts from Sarawat. Sarawat had even resorted to sending emails, which now ended up in Tine's spam folder due to their frequency. Feeling foolish, Tine adjusted the settings so Sarawat's emails would go to his inbox. Despite his efforts to ignore him, Tine couldn't bring himself to block Sarawat. Seeing his name on the caller ID brought a strange sense of relief, knowing Sarawat was still there, waiting.

His friends noticed his mood, and Fong was the first to react. "If you're going to be a drama queen, at least do it effectively. Seeing you like this is just depressing."