HIS BOY

CHAPTER 14

PHAYU'S POV

It was raining that night — the kind of rain that bites through your skin and makes everything feel a little haunted.

My fists were raw from a fight. Blood mixed with rain, running down my fingers, staining the pavement. The world felt heavy — and then I saw him.

He stood outside a small store, struggling with his bags, hair plastered to his forehead. He looked too delicate for a night like that — too soft for a place like this.

When one of his bags fell, I walked over without thinking.
He looked up, startled — then smiled.
"Thank you," he said.

That smile hit harder than any punch I'd taken.

He noticed my hand. "You're hurt."
"It's nothing."
"Still."

He pulled out a small first aid kit and wrapped my knuckles, his touch light, careful — like I might break if he wasn't gentle enough.

"Hold still," he murmured.

I did.
Because for some reason, I wanted to.

The rain got louder, but all I could hear was his voice.

And when he left, I kept staring after him — some part of me knowing I'd just seen something I should've stayed away from.

---

A week later, I saw him again — in school.

He bumped into me near the principal's office.
"Ah— I'm sorry!" he said, looking up.

It was him.

He almost fell, and I caught him by instinct. For a second, everything went quiet.
His eyes, wide and unguarded, pulled me right back into that rain-soaked night.

Then he blinked, confused, not recognizing me.
That shouldn't have bothered me — but it did.
More than I'd like to admit.

Before he could speak, I walked away.

Later that day, I heard his name.
Rain.

And when he walked into my class, smiling like the sun after a storm, I swear my chest tightened.
He sat beside me. Just like that — too close, too bright.

I turned toward the window, pretending the view outside was more interesting than the sound of his laugh.

---

The next day, in the locker room, I saw him again.

He was laughing with First and Sky, and for a moment, the sound irritated me. It shouldn't have.
But it did.

I walked up, my tone colder than it needed to be.
"Move. You're in my way."

He froze, eyes wide, startled.
Cute.

When he sat beside me later in class, I introduced myself.
"Phayu," I said, offering my hand.

His touch was soft — too soft.
I held on a second too long before realizing it.
When he looked down at our joined hands, I let go fast, heat crawling up my neck.

He smiled, and something in me twisted.
I didn't like that feeling — losing control.
So I ignored it. Or tried to.

---

That evening, Pai found me behind the gym.

"Phayu," he said quietly. "Did you hear what happened in the bathroom yesterday?"

I frowned. "What about it?"

"Rain," he said, the grin gone from his face. "Something happened. He won't talk about it, but he looked... shaken."

My stomach went cold.
"Who?"

"He didn't say."

My jaw locked. "Then I'll find out."

"Phayu—"
But I was already walking away.

I didn't know who I was going after.
Didn't even know where I was going.
All I knew was that my blood was boiling, my fists tight, my pulse in my ears.

Why did it matter this much?
He wasn't mine.
I barely knew him.

So why did the thought of someone hurting him make me want to burn the whole damn world down?

I didn't have an answer.
Only the anger — and the fear underneath it.

---

Then came the party.

Someone messed with my drink — I didn't notice until too late.
The music thudded through me, my head light, the air heavy with smoke and perfume.

Someone told me Rain was waiting for me upstairs.
I didn't question it. I just went.

The door creaked open. A small frame stood near the window — soft hair, familiar shape.
I stepped closer, drawn like a moth to a flame I didn't understand.

And before I could think, I kissed them.

For a moment, everything fit — like it was supposed to.
Until the person gasped.

It wasn't Rain.
It was a girl.

My stomach dropped.

I pulled back, mumbled an apology, and left.
I didn't tell anyone.

Because the truth wasn't that I kissed the wrong person.
It was that I wanted it to be him.

---

The next day, Rain avoided me.
Didn't meet my eyes. Didn't smile. Didn't talk.

And somehow, that silence cut deeper than any blade.

I told myself I didn't care.
I'd said that before.
But every time he turned away, it felt like losing something I never had the right to want.

---