Vintage Diaries.

17. Lab

Noah stepped into Pakorn's lab with a mix of excitement and caution. It wasn't a grand, high-tech facility like you'd see in movies. Instead, it was a compact, cluttered space with a sense of purpose. 

Shelves full of books and papers were stacked almost chaotically against the walls, as if they had been put down hastily after a sudden thought. There were diagrams and calculations scribbled on every available surface. 

Noah took a deep breath, inhaling the faint scent of chalk and old paper. He had only heard about Pakorn's brilliance from Din and, of course, from Pakorn's future self, but being in the lab was an entirely different experience.

He glanced at the enormous blackboard that dominated one wall of the room. Incomplete equations sprawled across it, like a puzzle half-finished. 

Pakorn wasn't here—Noah knew he was out and had planned to wait for him to return. But the equations beckoned, pulling him in like a gravity field. He knew he shouldn't touch anything—Pakorn was notoriously secretive about his work—but something about the math seemed... wrong.

Noah hesitated for a moment before walking over to the blackboard, his eyes scanning the numbers and symbols. He could see where Pakorn had gone astray. It wasn't a big error, just a subtle misstep, but it would have taken Pakorn down the wrong path for weeks, maybe months.

 Noah couldn't resist. He picked up a piece of chalk from the tray and corrected the error. Once he started, it was impossible to stop. His mind raced, filling in the gaps as he went along, and before long, he found himself finishing the entire calculation.

He stepped back, surveying his work, and underlined the final answer with a flourish. He smiled, feeling a rush of satisfaction—until he heard a deep, booming voice from behind him.

"And who might you be?"

Noah froze, still holding the chalk. Slowly, he turned around to find Pakorn standing in the doorway, glaring at him with suspicion. 

Pakorn's broad frame filled the entrance, his graying hair slightly disheveled, and his eyes sharp and calculating.

"I, uh..." Noah stammered, his mind scrambling for an explanation. He quickly put down the chalk and bowed slightly, raising his hands in a wai out of respect. "My name is Noah. I am, um, a friend of Din's."

Pakorn's frown deepened, his brow furrowing. "Friend of Din's? Din has no such friends."

Noah straightened up, feeling his heart pound in his chest. Of course Pakorn wouldn't know him; he hadn't met Din yet, not in this time. "I, uh, I mean... I am here to meet you, actually."

Pakorn's eyes narrowed as he stepped into the lab, his gaze flickering from Noah to the board. "And what exactly were you doing with my equations?"

Noah shifted awkwardly, trying to keep calm. "I was just... helping."

Pakorn crossed the room in quick strides, stopping in front of the blackboard. He stared at the corrected calculations, his eyes scanning the numbers. 

"Helping?" he repeated slowly. There was a tense silence before Pakorn turned sharply to Noah, a sudden sharpness in his voice. "Are you from the future?"

Noah blinked, his blood running cold. He hadn't expected Pakorn to figure it out so quickly. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he managed to nod, almost imperceptibly. "Yes," he finally admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.

Pakorn's stern expression remained unchanged. "So it was my future self that sent you here, wasn't it?"

Noah felt his body relax slightly, realizing there was no point in hiding the truth anymore. He gave a sheepish smile and nodded again. "Yes," he said, his tone more confident now. "Your future self sent me to help you with this." 

He gestured to the blackboard, then suddenly dropped all formalities and rushed forward, wrapping his arms around Pakorn in an affectionate embrace. "Grampy! I missed you so much!"

Pakorn stiffened at the sudden display of affection, his arms hanging awkwardly at his sides as Noah clung to him. "Grampy?" he muttered under his breath, clearly uncomfortable. He gave Noah a sideways glance, bewildered by the boy's overwhelming enthusiasm.

Noah pulled back, smiling widely. "Yes! You told me to come back and help you with the calculations. You were stuck for a while, so you sent me here to help solve the problems you were facing with the time machine."

Pakorn's face softened ever so slightly, but his expression remained unreadable. He glanced back at the blackboard, then at Noah. "You are saying I sent you back to... help me?"

"Exactly!" Noah beamed, still brimming with excitement. "You said it was critical to get the time machine working, and I couldn't resist the chance to see you in person again."

Pakorn scratched his chin, still processing everything. Noah could tell he wasn't used to this kind of affection. After all, Pakorn had always been more of a cold, logical man, not one for emotional displays. 

But Noah didn't care; he was just happy to see him again, even if this version of Pakorn had no idea who he really was.

After a moment of awkward silence, Noah's face lit up with a sudden realization. "Wait... How did you know I was from the future?"

Pakorn crossed his arms, staring at Noah thoughtfully. "Because you are not the first one to visit me."

Noah blinked, confused. "What do you mean?"

Pakorn let out a small sigh and leaned against the nearest table. "My grandson...  he came to see me a few months ago, long before you showed up."

Noah's jaw dropped. "P' Yu? He was here?"

Pakorn nodded. "Yes. He arrived unexpectedly one night, just like you."

Noah was speechless. His mind raced as he processed this new information. 

Yu, Pakorn's grandson and Din's nephew, the man that owned the right to all of Sage's paintings after Din's death. 

Yu had traveled back in time before Noah had even met Pakorn in the future. And somehow, he had ended up in the exact same timeline Noah was now in.

"That's... that's incredible!" Noah breathed, grinning. "P' Yu really made it! He got to travel to the time he wanted to!"

Pakorn arched an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed by Noah's excitement. "It seems the future is much more chaotic than I anticipated."

Noah ignored Pakorn's dry remark, still buzzing with excitement. "Can I meet him?" he asked eagerly. "Is he still here?"

As if on cue, the sound of a door creaking open echoed from the hallway. 

Pakorn glanced toward the entrance and nodded. "Speak of the devil," he muttered, standing up straight. "He is here now. You will be able to meet him right away."

Noah's heart leapt in his chest as he turned toward the sound of approaching footsteps. The moment he had unknowingly been waiting for was about to happen. He was finally going to meet Yu—the boy he had heard so much about but had never expected to encounter in person.

The door opened slowly, and Noah held his breath as a figure stepped into the room.

When he saw the person, his jaws dropped.