IN THE MATTER OF MONTHS

12. A kiss under the moon

Sarawat had always prided in his self-preservation skills, he had a Business Tycoon for a father and a Philanthropist for a mother, both of them too busy to actually be the father and mother he needed them to be, the company he had while growing up was of the house help, when he was little he wasn't allowed to go outside to play alone, so he started finding hobbies for himself, one of those days he had discovered his grandfather's old gramophone and a stack of vinyl records, and he had spent the entire afternoon listening to Hey Jude, by The Beatles. He could not understand the language and did not even know that his grandfather was a man with diverse music taste but the "na..na..nas" of the melody hooked the Five-year-old Sarawat so much, he started spending all his lonely afternoons in the storeroom playing his grandpa's old records, he also discovered some Thai Solo artists and old pop bands, like The Impossibles. By the time he turned Six, he had moved the old Vinyl player to his room and listened to every record from his grandfather's collection. The boy had started learning English seriously and got himself a guitar with the help of his caretaker. He had started learning it when his class teacher had insisted that he join the school choir. His caretaker had arranged for a good music teacher for him, Everything he tried was for himself.

He wanted to be a part of the school choir but his painfully shy nature kept him at bay, he kept learning the guitar. He mastered it by the age of twelve but was too shy to show off. He remembered the first time he played the guitar, it was when he went to the twin's fourth birthday party at the age of 13 in his father's new chauffeur's house. P'Pat had recently joined his father and was escorting Sarawat back from his music practice, when he told the young heir about his twin son's birthday and immediately brought him to his home when Sarawat had hesitantly confessed that he had never been to a birthday party. Well, he did not consider those parties his father dragged him to as a birthday party or dinner, it was just a way of them socialising and bragging about their achievements. Sarawat had observed and understood.

The party was so warm and full of love, P'Pat had invited the Twin's friends and his family was also present, his wife had pulled Sarawat in a hug when he extended his hand politely towards her. Sarawat had never felt so full. The boys were glued to him, asking him different questions about his guitar and his music lessons, they followed him around like lost puppies, bringing him water or snacks, asking him if he wanted to lay down in their bedroom, if he was tired? If he wanted more food? Abandoning their friends and singing praises about how cool they thought Sarawat was with his guitar, At the dinner table they sat either side of him and kept filling his plate with extra food, even when he did not want it, this made the family chuckle. Sarawat had never received such undivided attention, his introverted nature had often kept peers away from him, and he was incapable of talking to people on his own, he just did not know how to. But his awkwardness did nothing to phase his little admirers, they were smitten, so that's why when they asked him to play something staring up at him with their big eyes, he couldn't say no and played them the birthday song. They cheered like he was some rockstar. Sarawat was so ecstatic to have met this family.

They opened their home for him and he opened his heart for them, he became a frequent visitor in their household. The family had tethered Sarawat just when he thought he was getting lost in the sea of hopeless loneliness.

Then Man and boss entered the picture and levelled up his experience with people, The two boys were popular kids in their middle school often joking around and making people laugh, but one of the days when Boss was storytelling about his epic experience with a petting zoo orangutan and how he had lost his phone to the little monkey, the whole class had cackled except Sarawat. The ice prince, a name given to him by his classmates, had just rolled his eyes and looked out of the window. Boss had taken this as an insult because.. Everyone laughed at his jokes.