Distant Signals: The Love Between Us

Chapter Thirty

On Monday, Arthit woke up to another message from Kongpob telling him good morning, and just like the first time, he couldn't suppress the smile that spread across his face when he read it. Embarrassed that such a simple gesture could make him feel like a million butterflies were fluttering around in his stomach, Arthit typed a nonchalant 'morning' in response and sent it off. He didn't want Kongpob to know the effect he had on him, nor did he want him to know how eager he was to see him.

On his way to the bathroom, Arthit stopped by the vanity and grabbed a stack of yellow sticky notes and a pen. He brought up Kongpob's contact information on his phone and jotted down his number, then stuck it on the right side of the mirror.

Since childhood, all the adults in Arthit's life had emphasized the importance of memorizing important phone numbers. His parents—and later, Puen—insisted that he know their contact information in case of an emergency, and his grandfather frequently lamented young people's overreliance on technology and warned him of the potential danger of doing the same. "What if that thing breaks? Or runs out of battery?" His grandfather would say, jabbing a judgmental finger at his phone. "What will you do, then?" Arthit had to admit he had a point, so he'd taken to memorizing the phone numbers of those closest to him.

He read the number twice, trying to commit it to memory. In the back of his mind, Arthit wondered if Kongpob did something similar, or if he relied entirely on his phone. Probably not, he thought. The memory of Kongpob rattling off literally every piece of information on his friend's ID card without missing a beat caused him to laugh and shake his head fondly. It'd pissed him off at the time—seriously, who knew that much about their friends?—and so had Kongpob's heroics when he'd given that girl his nametag.

Kongpob must've thought he was such an asshole that day, but he'd never intended to leave that girl without a nametag just because one of her peers didn't know her name. Oh well. Slipping a new one into Kongpob's locker instead of hers hadn't changed anything, and he'd basically forgotten about it because of what happened at the next gathering, when that girl started hyperventilating. Shit. He'd gotten in so much trouble for that.

Arthit opened the vanity drawer and picked up Kongpob's gear. He ran his thumb over the engraved E.N.59 on its surface, thinking back on the past several months. How long ago had he stood across from Kongpob and held up his own gear, demanding to know what he'd do if he refused to give him one? Back then, the mere sight of Kongpob's face had annoyed him to death and that exchange, in particular, had infuriated him; now, however, he thought back on it with affection.

"Make me your wife?" he asked the gear, scoffing. "That can go both ways, Kongpob. I'll make you my wife too."

Arthit placed the gear back inside the drawer and stared down at it for a few seconds. The gear represented the hearts of engineering students, and by asking him to take care of his, Kongpob had asked him to take care of his heart. That night on the beach was a confession—Arthit understood that now. In that moment, he hadn't been confident enough to accept it for what it was despite overwhelming evidence of Kongpob's feelings, and he regretted the way he reacted once he did confirm the truth. He'd hurt Kongpob—badly—and he didn't want to do that again. From now on, he needed to take better care of his boyfriend's heart.

The drawer shut with a soft click. Arthit turned around and strode over to his bedside table, grabbing his wallet. He opened it and took out his gear. It was a lighter color than Kongpob's and had his own class number engraved on one side. This was the gear Kongpob so brazenly claimed he'd take by making the head hazer his wife.

To Arthit's chagrin, Kongpob had, in a way, lived up to his words. Still, the thought of giving him his gear caused Arthit's heart to flutter, and he smiled bashfully, already imagining how happy it'd make Kongpob to receive it.