Distant Signals: The Love Between Us

Chapter Nineteen

Kongpob had no idea what happened. One moment, he'd submerged himself under the water, and stayed there, seething about the fact that Arthit had treated them so unfairly, that the girls had gotten to hear Arthit sing while he had to sit in seawater, which he despised, and then, abruptly, he was yanked unceremoniously out of the water. Shock caused him to instinctively gasp for air, but all he ended up doing was breathing in water and choking on it.

"You can't die on me!" Arthit yelled in his ear, his voice strangled with panic. "Keep breathing!" A moment later, Arthit was sitting next to him as he coughed up water and wiped at his face. "What happened? Did you get a cramp? Did you get stung by a jellyfish?"

Confused and disoriented, Kongpob shook his head. "I'm okay."

"How can you be okay? You were in the water for a long time."

"You told me to cool my head down."

The look on Arthit's face transformed from worry to frustration in an instant. "Kongpob, have you gone mad? If I tell you to die, will you do it? Use your brain and think!"

But, for literally the entire semester, the hazers had emphasized the importance of listening to their seniors. Although he had no intention of throwing himself off a cliff if his senior demanded it, swimming in the sea wasn't that dangerous if others were looking out for you. He trusted his seniors to notice if something was wrong, and apparently he'd been right to assume they were watching. But...perhaps he had been reckless.

"What happened?" asked Cream, as she ran up to them alongside M, Oak, and Tew.

"Nothing!" Arthit stood up. "Call it a day!" And he stormed off, leaving Kongpob with his friends.

"Kong, are you okay?" asked M, kneeling down next to him and grabbing his shoulder. "Well? I saw P'Arthit rush over to help you. I was worried sick. I didn't even notice you go underwater. Are you okay?"

Kongpob twisted so he could see over his shoulder. Not too far off, Arthit picked up the shirt he'd been wearing over his white undershirt earlier and walked quickly toward the hotel. Bright called out to him, but Arthit didn't stop or look at him.

"I'm okay," said Kongpob.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded and wiped some of the water off his face.

"Okay, let's go to the room."

He nodded again, and M helped him stand.

"Take it easy."

A few feet away, Bright shouted at Knot that he'd go after him, which Kongpob took to mean Arthit, and ran off, clearly worried. Kongpob pushed M's hand off his arm. "I can head up there by myself. You should stay and help clean up." He smiled at Cream. "I'm sure they can use all the help they can get."

Although M seemed resistant to the idea at first, they'd been friends long enough that Kongpob only needed to give him a look to indicate that he needed to go alone. Thankfully, M always had his back. He ushered Tew and Oak away, claiming that there was a ton of cleanup that needed to be done and that Kongpob could handle himself.

Kongpob picked up his shirt. He needed to apologize, but he had no idea which room Arthit was assigned. He considered going to Prem or Knot to find out, but quickly nixed that idea when he tried to catch their attention. Both hazers looked at him with disapproval, and he had a feeling that they wouldn't tell him where to find the head hazer. So, he found Cream and, hesitantly, tapped her on the shoulder.

"Oh, Kongpob, do you need something? Are you sure you're okay?"

"Uh, yes, P'Cream. I'm fine. I just wanted to talk to P'Arthit. Do you happen to know which room he's been assigned?"