BLUE KISS CHAPTER 3

 

3

The Change Saturday

Kao's home

Kao hadn't been so drunk last night. He woke up early, as usual, to have breakfast with his in his family. There were three people in his family: his mother, his younger sister, and him. His mother was a teacher at a high school while his sister was a student in ninth grade. His father had died long a long time ago. Even though Kao and his sister were raised by his mother alone, he'd never felt that his family lacked warmth and affection.

"When did you come back last night? I absolutely had no idea," his mother asked as Kao helped her wash the dishes and Gib was responsible for wiping and putting them nicety on the cupboard.

"Around 3 a.m., Mom."

"Did Pete drive you home?"

"He did, but I told him to drop me off at the main street because it was late, then I took a bike taxi," Kao answered vaguely. He tried to avoid talking about the fact that he and Pete were fighting. Though he used to tell his mom about his problems with a friend at university, he'd never mentioned the name because he didn't want his mother to think badly of Pete.

"That's good. By the way, are you going out today?"

"No. I gotta do my homework. The deadline is Monday."

Kao didn't tell Pete about starting to work on the report and he didn't want to tell him. He was sure he could carry it out on his own. Telling Pete to come help would be awkward, Kao had no idea how to divide the work. And he didn't trust Pete working alone. Moreover, it would be difficult to finish the report on time if Kao had to wait for Pete to come here or if he had to go to Pete's place.

Perhaps they would beat each other up before getting their work done.

"Did you ask because you need my help?" asked Kao worriedly. He knew that his mother's health condition wasn't in a good state for the past few days, as a result of her hard work at the school. She hardly had time to rest.

"Nothing, son. Just asking."

"But you don't look good, Mom. Please, tell me if you need any help. I can help you prepare the handouts," he offered. "So that you can take some rest, otherwise you won't have the energy to work on Monday."

"Wait! Who's the mom, who's the son?" She joked, knowing her son was worried about her. Just having a cold and a headache wasn't that big of a deal for her. She could do it by herself just fine. "Work on your report. There's nothing to be worried about, son."

"But I'm worried about you."

"It's good that you're home. I need you to teach me math. The teacher sucks," Gib interrupted. "You're better than my teacher. No wonder you got in the Faculty of Engineering in a prestigious university."

"Perfect time to give me a big compliment, huh?" Kao didn't fall for that. He knew his sister was the kind of girl who flattered others to get what she wanted. "Your teacher sucks or you read comic books during class?"

"What?! I always study hard."

Their mother shook her head at them bickering. When they'd finished washing all the dishes, Kao walked to his room and brought a book, a handout, and his laptop downstairs to work on the report and teach his sister math as she asked. However… he couldn't find the handout with the information about the report.

I must've left it with June!

Kao sighed, realizing he had to waste his time to get that handout from June. Kao just remembered that he'd given it to him to make a copy and June must've accidentally taken it with him. Kao called June just to be sure. He told Kao that it was with him, but he had to meet with Sandee and Thada, so Kao had to come to get the handout before 1 p.m., otherwise, he had to go get it at Thada’s condominium.

"I'll go to your dorm. Don't leave first."

Kao decided to do that because June's dormitory was nearer than Thada's condo. He grabbed his backpack and smartphone after talking to June and left immediately. He didn't want to waste more of his time.

"Hey! Where are you going? You said you'd stay home and work on your report," Gib asked the moment she saw Kao was about to rush out of the house. How could he run away after agreeing to teach her?

"I left my handout with June. I'll go get it and be right back."

"What a relief! I thought you'd break our promise and wouldn't teach me math."

"I wouldn't. You have my word. Have I ever broken our promise?" He smiled. "You stay home and take care of Mom. She's not feeling well. And don't turn up the TV volume too high. It'll bother her."

"Got it. Aren't you in a hurry? Go, go!"

She waved Kao away since it appeared that he wouldn't stop ordering this and that. Kao got out of the house and took a bike taxi to the main street, then he took a bus to June's dormitory.

Soon he reached the destination…

June's dormitory had a similar pattern to other regular apartments. It was an apartment consisting of a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, a sofa for guests, including furniture and facilities as needed. It was a mixed dormitory. Some people shared rooms with their friends or lovers. As for June, he shared a room with King a high school friend who had come to study at a university in Bangkok. Kao had met King several times, so they were pretty familiar with each other.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Kao stopped in front of June's room and knocked on the door, waiting for June to open it.

"Oh! Hi, King."

Kao greeted King as he was the one opening the door because June was taking a shower. But the change of the person in front of him made him surprised and curious.

King used to dress casually like other teenagers, but today he looked like a rich boy since his shirt, trousers. watch, shoes, and bag were all high-end products.

"You look nice. Going on a date?"

"Well, a bite"

"This is not a bit. This is full options."

"Come on! I'm one human being. Gotta make it count when I've got a chance." King shrugged and feigned acting cool. "I'll get going. You come in and take a seat. June's showering. He'll finish soon."

"Alright. Good luck, dude,"

Kao walked inside and sat on the sofa after King left. He thought about King skeptically. June used to tell Kao that King wasn't rich or anything, but how could he buy all that expensive stuff? As his mind was wandering, June came to him.

"You're fast."

June said while wiping his hair with a towel. He'd already put his clothes on.

"Didn't you tell me to hurry up? It's good that the traffic isn't heavy today,"

"Hope it's really not. Sandee will cut my head off if I get there late. She always says that I slack off," said June, giving Kao the handout. "By the way, where will you and Pete go to work on the report? At your place? Or at Pete's?"

"Uh…"

Kao hesitated since he had no idea how to answer June. He didn't want to tell him that he'd work alone, or else June would think Pete was taking advantage of him. But if Kao told him that they'd work together, June would ask more - what had happened? When were they on such good terms that they could work on a report together?

"You're gonna work alone, right? Pete's so damn lucky."

"Don't blame him. I don't want to tell him to come. Plus, I don't trust him to do his own part, in case we divide the work."

"I got you. Pete is as stupid as I am. You'll never know what you'd get if you let him do his part. And your score could be deducted for that. I wouldn't risk it too if I were you," June said amused.

"By the way, King looks like he's got some big money. Did he win the lottery?"

"I'm confused too. He'd spent stacks of money this month." June frowned. "He just borrowed my money last month, but he already paid me back this month. When I told him my mom hadn't transferred my allowance, he said he'd cover the rent first. Not to mention all that expensive stuff he bought. He also went out every single night and paid for girls like a sugar daddy."

"It wasn't a normal lottery if he went to that extent."

"And he tried to dodge my questions."

"And he didn't share the money with his friends," Kao said jokingly, then he changed the topic even though June still looked suspicious of his roommate. "Are you going to leave now?"

"Yup. About to. Let's head out together."

June walked to his room and grabbed his backpack, then they left together. After Pete was mentioned, Kao felt worried about him… He had no idea how Pete was doing, beaten up like that. Kao hadn't called or texted him, and Pete hadn't replied to their LINE group's messages since morning.

Hope he wasn't seriously injured to the point he couldn't get up!

Pete's House

Pete woke up with pain shot through his body. Both his face and body parts were full of bruises from all the punches he got. It wasn't his first time getting into a fight, and it'd been a while, he could handle the pain. And this morning, he could get up and continue his daily life without too much difficulty.

Pete took a shower and walked downstairs to the dining table, seeing a housemaid standing by and his father reading a newspaper while having his breakfast. Pete was familiar with this view.

"What's for breakfast today?" He asked the housemaid.

"l made shrimp congee, but if you prefer bread and sausages, I can make them for you."

"Congee is fine."

Pete sat on his chair, and 'Pon' his father, put down the newspaper and looked at him.

"Is there anything wrong, Dad? Why are you staring at my face?"

"How can I not? What's wrong with your face?!" Pon growled, pointing at the bruises on his son's face. This brat kept giving him a headache. "What a mess. You got into a fight again, didn't you? You told me you'd stay out of trouble and wouldn't get involved in fights again, don't you remember? We've just lost your sister. Stop making me worried about you."

"l didn't want to get into a fight," Pete quickly explained. He was tired of listening to his father's complaints. "Look! I haven't gotten into a fight for almost half a year. They started it this time."

"Are you sure you didn't do something that got on their nerves, and they beat you for that?"

"It was because one of their friends took a liking to my friend. They didn't look very trustworthy, so I made them stay away from her. Who would've thought that they'd gang up on me?" lt still pissed him off when he thought about how they beat him up last night.

He would never lose if they came to him one by one.

"Who are they? Should we report this to the police? In case they come to get you again."

"It's fine, Dad. Not a big deal."

The housemaid brought him a bowl of congee just in time. Pete turned his attention to the congee that he didn't have to talk to his father about this matter anymore. He knew that his dad had started to expect a lot from him after the day his sister had died in a car accident. Having no intention to worry his father, Pete had promised he wouldn't get himself into any trouble and would study hard. He'd been keeping his promise… until last night. But Pete wouldn't get into a fight unless someone started it first.

"Don't be worried. I've made a promise. I won't let you down."

"Keep that in mind! By the way, will you go out today?"

"Nah, don't think so."

"Great! Stay home. Stop bitching around for a sec."

Pete wouldn't go out to see anyone looking like this. He'd stay home and apply a cold compress on his bruises. He didn't want to answer any questions about his bruised face on Monday when he went to university.

However… He suddenly thought of Kao.

Even though Pete wasn't one of those smart students, he still remembered the report that he and Kao needed to submit this Monday. Kao needed to start working on it today if he wanted to get it done before the deadline. Since Kao hadn't called him or talked to him about the report, Pete knew Kao would work on it alone.

Now that Pete thought about it, he started to feel guilty.

Yesterday, Pete hadn't driven Kao to his house, and they'd also argued with each other. Even so, when he'd gotten beaten up by Mork and his gang, Kao had still come to save him. Pete might've really been beaten up to death if Kao hadn't been there. And now… He was leaving Kao to work on their report alone. Wasn't he being too selfish?

No matter how much Pete disliked Kao, he wasn't such a jerk that didn't feel grateful for what Kao had done.

"Er… l think I'll go out to do my homework at my friend's house." Pete suddenly changed his mind.

"Are you sure it's about your homework?" asked his father doubtfully.

"Of course! Call Sandee if you don't believe it." Pete mentioned Sandee since she was the most reliable person among the five of them. Pon nodded his head in approval because he used to meet Sandee and knew she was a good girl.

Kao's House

Am I really coming to see Kao right at his house?

Pete thought while parking his car in front of Kao's house. He hesitated for a while before getting out of his car. Now, he was standing reluctantly in front of the gate, unsure whether he should ring the bell or not.

The angel in his mind told him to ring the bell since he was already here so he could help Kao complete the report, but the devil in his mind disagreed because he didn't want to lose his pride. Since he'd dragged his ass to see Kao at his house, Kao would definitely be shocked as if he saw a ghost.

Plus, Kao would ask why he suddenly came.

Unless other friends accompanied him, he would never come here!

"What do I do?"

Pete was thinking hard. Nothing troubled him as much as losing his pride. But, in the end, the angel in his mind won. He raised his hand towards the bell.

But then…

"Mom!!!"

The noise shocked Pete that he stopped short. He remembered it was Gib's voice, Kao's only little sister's voice. But why was she screaming in panic like that? What was going on?

Pete decided to try opening the gate which turned out to be unlocked. He rushed into the house and was startled by the view.

Gib was crying while holding her mother on the floor.

"Gibi what's wrong with her?" Pete asked worriedly as he charged forward to help support Gib's mother. He got anxious when he saw that her mother was unconscious and her head was bleeding.

"Please help her." Gib was crying so hard and panicking.

Pete wasn't sure what caused her mother to be in this state, but when he touched her skin, he guessed she had a high fever which made her faint, and she fell down from the stairs.

"Where's Kao?!"

"He's not back yet. He went out to get his handout from June."

"I think we should take your mom to the hospital first. You can call him later."

"Okay."

Pete carried Gib's mother and headed out of the house while Gib, feeling so worried, hurriedly closed the door and followed them out. They both hoped that her mother was going to be all right.