Accidentally Married

73. Surprise

Zo leaned casually against the hood of Pepper's car, lazily chewing on a piece of mint gum as he stared down the quiet road leading into town. The gum had long since lost its flavor.He still kept chewing it anyway. It was the closest substitute he had to a cigarette.

He desperately wanted to smoke. Unfortunately, the only cigarettes sold in the tiny village convenience store tasted absolutely awful. He had tried one on the first day out of desperationNever again.

He was convinced they had somehow managed to package dried grass into a cigarette box.

With no decent cigarettes available, chewing gum had become his only coping mechanism.

He glanced at the orange sky stretching across the horizon. The sun had already begun dipping below the mountains, painting the clouds in warm shades of gold and crimson.

The little town was slowly falling asleep. One by one, shopkeepers rolled down their shutters. Street vendors packed away their stalls. The handful of people still walking through town hurried home before darkness settled in.

Meanwhile...

Zo was still standing there. Waiting. And waiting. And waiting

He let out a dramatic sigh. "The VIP guests..." he muttered around the chewing gum. "They are very, very VIP." He checked the empty road again. "They have ve even made the young master of the Boonruang family wait for nearly an hour." He clicked his tongue."My patience deserves an award."

Since he had arrived early, there hadn't been much to do besides stare at the road.

To make matters worse, he'd left his phone behind at the village. There wasn't even a game to distract himself with.

The only silver lining was the car. Pepper had surprisingly lent him one of the newer SUVs instead of the ancient pickup trucks he usually drove around the village. Those old vehicles rattled so much that Zo sometimes wondered if the doors would simply fall off halfway through the journey.

At least this one was quiet. Comfortable. And had working air conditioning.

He absentmindedly tapped the hood with his fingers. Just as another sigh escaped him, headlights appeared in the distance.

Zo straightened.

A sleek black luxury RV slowly approached the entrance of the village road. Even from afar, he could recognize the brand. Expensive. Very expensive.nDefinitely not something an ordinary traveler would rent.

"So..." he murmured. "These are the mysterious VIPs."

His curiosity immediately replaced his boredom. Who exactly were these people? And more importantly... Who had enough courage to keep him waiting this long?

The vehicle rolled to a smooth stop directly in front of him.

Zo stood upright, hands tucked into his pockets, maintaining his usual relaxed posture while casually chewing his gum.

The automatic side door slid open with a soft mechanical hum.Someone stepped out.

The world seemed to stop.

Zo froze. Completely. His chewing stopped midway. His breathing caught. For several seconds, his mind simply refused to process what his eyes were seeing.

The man standing before him smiled warmly. "Wadee, Hia."

There was no response.

Zo simply stared. He wondered if he had finally become so exhausted that he was hallucinating.

The man laughed softly before closing the distance between them in a few long strides. Without hesitation, he wrapped both arms around Zo. "I missed you so much, Hia."