Shattered (PONDPHUWIN)

Chapter 7: The Unseen Betrayal

The night was cool, a gentle breeze rustling through the trees as Phuwin sat in his car, parked a few blocks away from Pond's office. His heart pounded in his chest, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as he waited. He had been sitting there for nearly an hour, his mind a whirlwind of anxiety and fear. Every passing minute felt like an eternity, each second amplifying the dread that had settled deep in his stomach.

Phuwin had never imagined he would find himself in this situation, trailing the man he loved through the city streets like some kind of detective. It felt wrong—like a betrayal of the trust they had built over the years. But as much as he hated himself for doing it, the gnawing doubts had left him no choice. He needed to know the truth, even if it shattered him.

Finally, as the clock ticked past 8:00 PM, Phuwin saw Pond exit the building. His breath caught in his throat as he watched Pond glance around, his expression unreadable under the dim streetlights. Phuwin's heart raced as he started the car, keeping a safe distance as Pond hailed a taxi. He followed closely, careful not to lose sight of the cab as it weaved through the city.

After what felt like an eternity, the taxi pulled up in front of a small, upscale restaurant in a quiet part of town. Phuwin parked a short distance away, his hands shaking as he watched Pond step out of the cab. His heart pounded in his chest as he saw another figure emerge from the shadows—a tall, handsome man who greeted Pond with a smile that sent a chill down Phuwin's spine.

Phuwin's breath caught as he watched them. The man had an easy confidence about him, his eyes shining with warmth as he stepped closer to Pond. The two men exchanged a few words, their expressions soft and familiar, and then the man reached out, placing a hand on Pond's arm in a gesture that was far too intimate to be merely friendly.

Phuwin's world tilted as he watched them together. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he didn't need to. The way they looked at each other, the way they stood so close, the way the man's hand lingered on Pond's arm—it was all too clear. The undeniable chemistry between them was a punch to Phuwin's gut, stealing the breath from his lungs.

His worst fears were unfolding before his eyes, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Phuwin's hands trembled as he watched Pond and the man walk into the restaurant together, disappearing through the glass doors. He felt as if the ground had been ripped out from under him, leaving him teetering on the edge of a precipice. Every ounce of hope he had clung to, every reassuring word Pond had offered, shattered in an instant.

Tears stung his eyes, but he couldn't bring himself to look away. He sat there in the car, staring at the entrance to the restaurant, his heart breaking with every passing second. The doubts that had plagued him for weeks were no longer just doubts—they were a reality that he couldn't escape.

Phuwin didn't know how long he sat there, frozen in place, before the door to the restaurant opened again. He watched as Pond and the man stepped back out into the cool night air, standing close together as they talked, their voices too quiet for him to hear. Phuwin's breath hitched as he saw the man laugh at something Pond said, the sound carrying across the street like a knife through his heart.

And then the man reached out, brushing a strand of hair from Pond's forehead, his touch tender and affectionate. Pond didn't pull away. Instead, he smiled—a smile that Phuwin hadn't seen in weeks, a smile that belonged to someone else now.

Phuwin's world crumbled around him as he watched them, the truth sinking in with a cold, merciless finality. The man he loved was slipping away, into the arms of someone else, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. All the doubts, all the fears—they had been right all along. Pond was betraying him, right in front of his eyes.

The tears finally spilled over, hot and bitter, as Phuwin's heart shattered. He wanted to scream, to confront them, to demand answers, but he couldn't move. He was paralyzed by the weight of his grief, by the overwhelming sense of loss that threatened to consume him.

Eventually, Pond and the man began to walk down the street together, their steps in sync as if they had been walking this path side by side for a long time. Phuwin didn't follow them. He couldn't. Instead, he sat in his car, watching as they disappeared around a corner, taking with them the last remnants of the life he had known.

Phuwin's world had changed irrevocably in those few minutes, and he was left with nothing but the shattered pieces of his heart and the cold, empty reality of what he had just witnessed. The man he loved, the man he had trusted with his entire being, had betrayed him in the most intimate way possible. And now, Phuwin was left to pick up the pieces of a life that no longer made sense.

Phuwin feels that the man seems familiar, so he tries to search for any clues on Pond's social media—any friends or photos that he can connect to him. After a while, he finds a photo: an old post from Pond's Instagram. The photo he found—of a smiling, confident man standing beside Pond at a school graduation—matched the face he had seen that night. There was a tag with the account name Dunk Natachai. Something about the way they leaned toward each other in every picture made Phuwin's stomach twist.

That's how Phuwin knew who Dunk was—the man who, knowingly or unknowingly, had come between him and Pond. And the realization tore at Phuwin's heart, deepening the wound of betrayal that he could no longer ignore.

He finally forced himself to start the car, his hands still trembling as he drove away from the scene of his heartbreak. The streets blurred as tears filled his eyes, and all he could think about was how everything had gone so horribly, painfully wrong.