Within My Stratosphere • SOTUS

Chapter 3. Red Spider Lilies

This wasn't reality. No, he refused to believe it. Nothing about this situation made any sense. Had he dreamed up Arthit's existence? No... that also couldn't be it.

[Kongpob]

10 years had passed.

He was now 28 years old and both the Chairman and CEO of his father's company. As soon as he graduated from university, he took over Industry Enterprise & Co. If the company had been doing well to begin with, now, it was flourishing with success. A genius in business and commerce, he was impossibly perfect to a fault.

The company originally focused on parts and machinery for common industries and special electronics. Now, it was branching out with multiple different departments that were well into and developing new projects. The employees couldn't have been more proud to have him as their company president.

Kongpob Suthiluck was perfect in the public's eye. He practically had no flaws; however, if someone put a knife to their neck and forced them to answer, 10 out of 10 would have reported, "his love life."

As famously accomplished and incessantly gorgeous as he was, for someone who's entire being screamed 'perfection,' Kongpob never officially dated.

He went on dates; too many to count. He's slept with innumerable amounts of women and men. Every week there was a different face that was attached to his side, and he never slept with the same person twice.

It was a maelstrom of a fault. Yet, no one took heed to it. As skillful as one had to be to land a top position in the world of business, Kongpob was a master of all trades. The one's who were fortunate enough to spend a night with him, could not find it in them to enunciate or voice out a single complaint. There were only exclamations of praise as they writhed in ecstasy. Kongpob was great in bed. Rather than bad-mouthing the strikingly handsome bachelor, those who'd already had a taste could only clamor for more. The one's who hadn't; waited hopefully, anticipating their turn.

Compared to his youth, Kongpob's personality had formed a hard layer around the outer edges. He showed fewer emotions than before and didn't bother with meddlesome matters. Meddlesome matters such as, valentine's day.

It was a well-known fact that Kongpob did not bother with valentine's day anymore. He didn't accept gifts or see anyone. For one full day every year on valentine's day, Kongpob seemingly disappeared from the public eye. No one, expect for a close friends knew where he went or what he did. On valentine's day, Kongpob Suthiluck went AWAL.

Kongpob didn't believe in love or romantic relationships. Romance clouded the senses and rendered people into despairingly, incapacitated mannequins. He didn't have the time or desire to induce himself into falling into such a pitiful confinement.

What he had felt for Arthit was as close as he got to love. He possessed no desire to ever feel that way again.

Ten years ago, due to Arthit's status as a minor and being unenrolled from school, it was near impossible to track and locate him. As a part-timer, Arthit had always been paid in cash, and he possessed no form of personal identification. It was safe to say that Arthit was inadvertently living off the grid.

When Kongpob finally receive any form of news regarding Arthit, 2 years had almost passed. In addition, the very first information concerning Arthit; the single individual that kept Kongpob imprisoned on the edge of his seat, was that... Arthit was cohabitating with a female. A female who was not his blood relative.