Sailub stayed in the instrument room for two days and two nights, attempting to fall asleep but never managing to do so.
He went out to buy food, each time climbing the stairs while staring at the signal indicator in the upper right corner of his phone.
As soon as the signal gradually returned to full strength, he began checking for received messages.
Yet Thanapon hadn't sent a single message.
On the third night at the instrument room, Sailub went out for a late- night meal.
His stomach was uncomfortably empty, so he found a convenience store and bought a bowl of instant noodles, but couldn't eat more than a few bites.
Returning to the instrument room, he climbed the stairs leading to the basement where there was no signal.
Before the last bar of signal disappeared from his phone, he glanced at it once again.
Still no messages. Not a single one.
The idea of breaking up emerged at this moment.
Until then, he had been waiting for Thanapon's message.
He thought that no matter what Thanapon sent, even if it was just a punctuation mark, he would send out that sentence, "I don't regret letting you record your fingerprint."
But Thanapon remained silent.
In the over seventy hours since their argument, while Sailub repeatedly stared at his phone, Thanapon hadn't sent a single word.
It felt like an unspoken standoff.
Sailub hoped that Thanapon would be the first to break the silence, to prove that Thanapon's feelings for him hadn't soured because of their argument.
But Thanapon stubbornly refused to grant his wish.
If being cheated on felt like being executed in an instant, the pain came swift and sharp. But now, this silent standoff felt like being tortured, with no end in sight. Every minute felt agonizing.
Maybe they should break up, Sailub thought.
Cutting ties quickly would be far better than slowly tearing oneself apart with a dull knife.
Yet as his thumb hovered over the chat box, ready to type "p," a sharp, piercing discomfort suddenly stabbed at his chest.
It felt like tiny needles were pricking his heart, penetrating every inch, making it impossible for him to type any other letters.
-"Don't want to break up. Don't want to part ways. Don't want it to end."
Those words screamed in his mind.
A few seconds later, Sailub turned off the screen and put his phone away.
The discomfort eased slightly, but the needles were gone, leaving behind their puncture marks.
Emptiness, with wind seeping in from all sides.
His heart felt suspended, each beat light and ethereal, with nowhere to land.
Closing his eyes, the dream of those disappointed eyes would come back.
Opening them, he would think of that day in the instrument room, how Thanapon touched him, embraced him, and kissed him.
It was like suddenly developing an addiction to Thanapon.
The withdrawal effect was more painful and acute than ever before.
Lost in thought for a while, Sailub finally took a step forward, but not towards the instrument room-he went upstairs.
It was past three in the morning, the sky dark, and snow was falling.
YOU ARE READING
TO SHOU WITH LOVE
FanfictionA reckless and prepared to sting instrumental performer (gong) x a gentle and mature mentor (shou). On Sailub Hemmawich's twenty-ninth birthday, his friends in the circle organized a small birthday party for him. Outside the window, the sound of ra...
