My New Neighbour

Chapter 13

Manee looks at Niran with a face full of surprise and asks him, "What did you say, P'?"

Niran says, "You are his Valentine and he should not have left you alone."

Manee looks down and starts thinking if Tae has said something like that to his brother in order to delay introducing Tee to his brother. Because of course, it is not an easy task to introduce one's boyfriend to one's family and come out of the closet all at the same time!

Niran looks at Manee as she seems to be in deep thought. Now Niran feels that maybe he has made a mistake! Instead of giving the appropriate response to his statement, Manee seems to be surprised to hear it and now was thinking deeply.

Niran breaks Manee's thought process and asks, "Are you not Tae's date for today?"

Manee still has not figured out how to reply as Tae had not told her anything about this line of questions! So Manee opens her mouth to speak but she does not know what answer will benefit Tae.

Niran assures her, "Don't worry, I approve of you as Tae's girlfriend. There is no one else who would be a better match for him. I have seen how you both have been inseparable since you both were kids. It is only natural that..."

Finally Manee says, "P', you are mistaken...."

Right at that moment, Manee receives a call. She looks at her phone and finds that Tae is calling her.

Manee smiles as she would be able to ask Tae as to how she should reply to P'Niran's question. Manee gestures to her phone and tells P'Niran that Tae is calling her and she moves aside to take the call.

Niran sits there sighing as he thinks to himself, "She says that I am mistaken but look at her smiling after receiving a call from Tae."

Manee soon returns and sits beside Niran. Manee smiles and says, "P', as I said, you are mistaken. I am not Tae's date."

Now it's Niran's turn to be shocked. 

In his shocked state, Niran speaks out his thoughts aloud, "All this while, I thought you are dating Tae and that's why I didn't confess my feelings!"

Manee is confused, "What feelings, P'?"

Niran's eyes go wide, "Did I just speak my thoughts out loud?"

Manee nods her head.

Niran curses under his breath and says, "I'm terribly embarrassed..."

Kim, who had been listening with great curiosity  to all that had been going on between Niran and Manee, jumps in the conversation and says a bit loudly, "Finally, Niran, finally you decide to confess to my li'l sis. But you are quite bad at it. I wonder if Manee will accept such a bumbling idiot at confessing his feelings."

All this caught attention of a few people sitting beside their table who start listening in their conversation and start smiling and whispering.

Both Niran and Manee get extremely embarrassed listening to Kim revealing everything in front of everyone!

Manee walks away from there, with a red face. Niran looks at Manee leave hurriedly and he gets pissed at Kim, "Why did you have to butt in between our conversation? See what you have done?"

Kim looks offended and asks his friends sitting nearby, "What did I do? I thought I was helping.."

Bas starts laughing followed by the involuntary laughter of the other guys at the table.

Bas tells Kim, "Whether you actually helped or not will be decided by the outcome of their conversation." And Bas gestures towards the retreating figures of both Manee and Niran.

Kim looks at their direction and smiles satisfactorily, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Bas pokes at Kim, "You seem to be happy with what you have done. Did you do that intentionally?"

Kim gives a crooked smile and says, "As you said, my intentions don't matter. What matters is my li'l sis being happy."

Godt and Copter also get a fair idea about what is going on by the flow of conversation. So Godt looks at Bas and says aloud, "Love is in the air .."

Bas looks at Godt and smiles gently with faint pink cheeks.

Kim approves of Godt's statement and replies, "Of course, when I throw a party so perfect, love WILL be all around."

Bas again laughs at his best friend's blatant self promotion. Godt's eyes do not leave Bas as he tries to shift closer to Bas as there is a lot of space left on the big table with the absence of the other four people.

Copter pokes his elbow at Godt and whispers, "I thought we decided to go slow."

Godt whispers back, "This is slow enough for me." And Godt sits closer to Bas.

Looking at the change in seats, Kim asks Copter too to come closer as that would be convenient to have a chat. Copter is very happy that without any effort on his side, he would be able to sit closer to Kim.

Sadly, one of the employees of the pub comes over just then and asks Kim to resolve some issue that seems to have cropped up.

Copter sulks without realising, as he sees Kim leave the table. Kim manages to catch a glimpse of the sulking face of Copter so he winks at Cop and whispers to him, "Be right back."

Copter gets surprised receiving a wink from Kim. On the other side of the table, Bas paid attention to Kim's side of the table as soon as the employee had come over to ask him about something. Bas asks Kim if he is needed to resolve this issue but Kim tells him that he will call him if needed and gives a smile to everyone on the table.

Then as Bas notices the surprised expression of Copter after Kim's wink, Bas tells him, "I hope Kim didn't offend you by his gestures. He is just a silly, old flirt. He does not mean any harm..."

Copter waves his hand and says, "No, no, he didn't offend me at all. And he is not silly or old..."

Godt interrupts and mocks his friend, "Just a flirt.."

Copter looks daggers at Godt while Godt flashes a wide grin while putting his arm around Bas's seat.