Longing for You - a PangWave fanfiction

two

Wave arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Monday morning, only to figure out that his grandmother had forgotten that he was arriving that day and couldn't pick him up. He was stuck. He couldn't just walk to her house, so he decided to take the bus as far as he could then get off close to her house.

When he got off the bus, his stomach growled. He hadn't eaten in over twenty-four hours, opting out of eating the disgusting airplane food. He found a cafe near the station and decided to stop for something to eat.

He ordered a black coffee and a sandwich in unpracticed Thai. He hadn't spoken it for a while, only during infrequent phone calls to his grandmother, who always thought he was still in high school at Ritdha. He's pretty sure that when he leaves Thailand after his summer vacation, she'll be gone soon after. Thus is life, he always told himself. He will be sad when she dies, but he knows that it'll happen sooner rather than later.

He sat down and was going to read the news on his phone until he noticed a familiar person on the other side of the cafe. He knew that the university was close by, but he never imagined that he would see him again after four years in a random cafe in the middle of Bangkok, one of the largest cities in the world.

Pang was sitting on the other side of the cafe.

Wave knew that he couldn't say anything to Pang. They didn't know each other, technically. Pang would never remember Wave. They never spoke, except when Wave would trip him in the cafeteria or call him stupid under his breath. He never meant it, not after he lost his memory. Pang was a different kind of smart. He was people smart, an intelligence that Wave had never been able to hone, not even after four years in a new country. Not even after he'd lost most of his jaded personality to fear of speaking unintelligible English in an unfamiliar place. Wave was smart, but after years of mulling over his actions, or lack thereof, in high school, he knew that Pang had always been smarter.

So Wave ignored him. Didn't even look at him. Silently panicked about what could have been and what wasn't now.

The news was depressing, as it always was. He read the New York Times to practice his comprehension and vocabulary. Now it just made him sad.

"Hey."

Wave jumped and looked up to the deep voice directed at him. Pang had grown taller, and his voice was much deeper. He looked like he was working out too, much to Wave's dismay. His arms were much more muscular than Wave's noodle arms. He never could gain any weight.

"Hi?" Wave said. He tried pretending like he didn't know Pang.

"Do you remember me?" he said. "We went to high school together."

"Um," Wave started. Did Pang remember him? Wave didn't remember talking to Pang again after he lost his memory the last time. "I guess you look familiar," he lied.

Pang scoffed. "I would hope so. You made my life a living hell. Don't you remember calling me stupid? Or pushing me around? Or hacking into my computer to download porn so I would get in trouble?"

Yes, I do remember. "No? I try to forget high school, to be honest."

Pang, to Wave's surprise, sat down across from him. "You try to forget high school? Class one Gifted golden boy wants to forget high school? Was it because you weren't valedictorian or because you had no friends?"

"Look," Wave started. "I don't want to argue with you. I'm sorry for picking on you all those years ago. It was wrong of me. I still think about it sometimes," he said. "I've learned from my mistakes. Now can you please leave me alone?"

Pang didn't move. He could only stare at Wave. "So you do remember me?"

I do, Pang thought. You're the one who doesn't remember me. Wave didn't respond. He tried to read the news, but he couldn't help but notice that Pang had already left. Pang had left him again. Was this supposed to be his closure? He and Pang were close, closer than Wave had been to anybody he'd ever met. If this was supposed to be the end, then why did he still feel empty?