SOTUS: SevenTeen Again

SevenTeen Again (8)

Arthit took his stuff from the bags. As there were only few things he brought up here, it didn't take him long to arrange them in the room. He first hanged some clothes in the built-in closet and put the others in the drawers. "These are going to the shoe cabinet.", He placed two pairs of sneakers beside the door.

"And this one....", He picked up an old folding umbrella with a bottle tied around its handle with a string. The glass bottle had a cute pink lid and it didn't look 13 years old. He found this umbrella with the bottle in the corner of the attic, covered with dust. It wasn't even in a box. ".......How cute this bottle is.....", He undid the string and put the glass bottle on the drawers by the big window. As the sun was flooding in through the window, the transparent surface of the bottle shined in the sunlight.

"....Beautiful......"

After discharged from hospital, he restarted to keep his diary. He had filled his diary with not only his present days but also his past memories whenever things occurred to him. One day when he was craving sweets, something sprang up in his mind.

It was a few days before the accident when he was a 'real' 17-year-old boy.

After school that day, he went to the mall to buy his father's running shoes. Namtarn called him to suggest watching a movie with her and Jay. She said they were already at the movies. But Arthit had no choice but to refuse it, because he would have no money left if he bought the shoes he had selected for his father. In addition, Jay didn't mention it to him when they were together at school. Arthit felt deprived. Anyway, he bought the shoes and went outside the mall. It was raining heavily but he had no umbrella. At first, he ran few meters in the rain with the shoe box in his bosom. However he had to turn back, totally drenched with rain. Afraid of the shoe box being soaked in rain, Arthit sat at the outdoor bench below the huge porch roof of the mall. It was getting dark and he became very hungry.

" Yes. I gave it to grandma. Mom.....Why don't you meet her in person, she is your mom ......and it's her birthday anyway."

It was a tall and lean boy with a good appearance. He sat little away from Arthit on the same bench, putting his bag on it. He should be a similar age to Arthit but, unlike Arthit, the boy did cut a fine figure in his white shirt and black suit.

"No, you don't need to worry. Uncle Cherry will drive me home. Okay, See you later."

Arthit managed to hold back his laugh when he heard Cherry after Uncle. Those two words didn't match each other.

"He is a good, kind man."

The boy talked to Arthit all of a sudden.

"Sorry. I just....." Arthit apologized to the boy before he knew it. Arthit looked sideways at him. He didn't look angry but just serious.

"Shoes....? Are they yours ?" The boy threw his glance at the shoe box on the bench.

"........No, these are for my dad."

"Ah......a present...?"

"Yes....", Arthit answered him. The boy's gaze moved from his wet clothes to his shoe box, almost not wet. It was getting on Arthit's nerves.

".........Can anyone come here with an umbrella for you.....?"

".............No. hey, why do you keep asking me....?" And they both heard somebody's stomach growling. It was from Arthit's. Arthit immediately covered his stomach with the shoe box, which couldn't stop the growling sound from his stomach. "W...Why is it making noise...haha.....quiet! quiet!", Arthit hit his stomach with his hand a few times. The boy burst out laughing.