BLUE KISS CHAPTER PROLOGUE

 

Prologue

(Hate) at First Sight

At the high school

"Shall we go?"

'Kao' walked towards his two friends who were waiting for him when he'd gone to the restroom. They'd planned to celebrate the end of the final exam at a barbecue restaurant today. Since that exam was the last one they'd taken as high school students, they'd graduate and go to different universities.

"We're waiting for you and Ren," One of his friends answered.

'Ren' was his other friend in the same group. He had an elder brother named 'Sun', who had graduated from the university and was planning to open a café. Kao heard that he was interested in a location near the school.

"What?! Ren's not here yet?" Kao asked in surprise.

"No! He said he'd go to the restroom a while ago."

"Damn it, why isn't he here yet? Did he die in the restroom?"

"He might be flirting with some girls. Will he leave us to hang out with girls?"

"Did you call him?" Kao asked after listening to his friends complaining.

"l gave him a call, but he didn't pick up."

"Wait here then, I'll go get him."

Kao walked back into the school and went straight to the eleventh-grade building. He remembered the floor where the girl whom Ren was 'talking to' studied on. He thought Ren might want to say goodbye or plan to see her before he graduated.

Classes were over for a while now. There was barely anyone left in the school. It was so quiet that Kao could hear his own footsteps. He kept walking until he reached the destination. And then! He heard a ruckus from a corner of the building. lt was like there was a fight. He halted in shock by that noise.

"I'm sorry! I had no idea she was going out with you."

"Sorry?! Isn't that too easy?"

"But I really had no idea. I'm sorry."

Ren's voice snapped Kao back to his senses. He ran to see what was happening. What he saw made him so shocked that he turned pale. A group of boys was beating his friend up.

Ren's face was swollen, blood seeping through the corner of his mouth and his uniform was dirty. A big-built boy was grabbing his collar while another boy who seemed like the leader crossed his arms and watched them, looking satisfied.

This is too much. Why do they have to beat him up like that?!

"Hey! Stop it!"

He shouted as if he wasn't afraid to get killed, but, seeing his friend in this state, he couldn't stand it. The whole group, especially 'Pete', the leader, turned to look at Kao immediately. Pete sneered. The way he looked at Kao was so intimidating that Kao felt scared, but he tried to work up his courage.

He'd gone this far, how could he get chickened out and run away?

"AII of you on one person isn't it too cowardly?!"

Those words slipped out without a thought. His shout filled those boys' eyes with anger. Kao took a step back and gulped because he was scared that they'd change their target to him.

If he hadn't wanted to help Ren, he would've run away already. Even if he could fight, there were five of them, so he wouldn't be able to beat all of them, plus they all looked intimidating,

The most important thing was Kao didn't know how to fight at all!

One more thing... Kao remembered that these boys had been called to the Student Discipline Office many times. His school life and theirs were like 'two parallel lines'. He'd never thought he'd have to confront them like this. He actually thought it was a shame for Pete. Pete was good-looking, rich, and had everything he wanted, but he'd chosen to be a rascal, to misbehave, and pick fights with other people. 

Pete's life must be so comfortable and free of problems. That was why he kept looking for them.

"Should we beat him, Pete?!"

The boy who was grabbing Ren's collar threw him to the other two of them to lock up his arms. He turned to deal with Kao, but Pete held out his hand to stop him, though it seemed like he had 'targeted' Kao.

"No need! A weakling like him will die if we kick his ass."

"Why are you doing this to my friend?" Kao clenched his fists after hearing the insult.

"Your friend messed with my girl! And you... stay out of this if you want to get hurt." Pete bellowed and stared at Ren who had been beaten black and blue as if he'd been run over by a truck. "And you, keep your mouth shut."

After he said this, he nodded to his friends and walked away without casting one last glance at Kao. The rest of them followed, not forgetting to warn Ren not to tell anyone about this if he didn't want to get hurt.

"Hey, are you okay?!"

Kao ran forwards to check up on Ren who had been thrown to the ground. He helped him up worried. Looking at Ren now, Kao was angry that he wanted to report it to the police.

They thought they could do anything because they were rich?!

"I'm not okay, obviously," Ren said, groaning.

"Should we report it to the police? They had the gall to do something like this to you. They might do it again."

"What good will it do if we report it to the police? His father's rich, he'd be bailed anyway. If he knows we report it, he's gonna kill me the next time," Ren said, wiping the blood off his mouth.

"You're sure scared of them, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. If I will stop seeing 'Mint', they'll probably leave me alone," Ren said.

Actually, Ren knew it was his fault for dating Pete's girl, but he hadn't had any idea she was dating Pete as well. If he'd known... he wouldn't have put himself in danger by going out with her. Everyone in the school knew that if they wanted to have good lives and a future, they must not get in the way of Pete's gang. 

"Whatever you say. But how can you have a barbecue with us in this state?"

"Can we take a rain check? Take me to the doctor first. I'm about to lose all my blood."

Seeing his friend could still joke, Kao shook his head. But it was good that Ren wasn't an overthinking or vengeful person, otherwise, Ren might try to get back at Pete until one of them were beaten up to death!

Time had passed by...

At the Faculty of Engineering

N University

Even though the first semester hadn't started, the second-year students arranged the ice-breaking activities for the freshmen. Kao went to university early in the morning. When he got out of the bus, he followed the sound of congas and singing to the front of the faculty, then he looked up at the sign on the building,

Kao smiled, feeling happy because he got into this university as his family had expected. His scores were also high. It made him and his family feel so proud.

Thinking of the exam, Kao felt very lucky. After he'd almost gotten into a fight with Pete's gang and seemed to be targeted, he'd been afraid that he'd never find peace in life and be harassed by them. Fortunately, after that day, they'd been busy getting into a university that Pete hadn't had time to pick a fight with him.

Even though Pete used to be a rascal who had caused trouble every day during high school, Pete's father wouldn't allow his only son to misbehave to the point that he couldn't get into university.

"Hey, you!"

Kao turned to the guy who had called and poked him. He seemed to be the same age as him and dressed in casual clothes as well. Kao guessed he was his fellow Engineering student.

"What's the matter?"

"Are you also a first-year Engineering student? I'm June. What's your name?" June introduced himself with such a bright and friendly smile that Kao had to force a smile back even though he thought June was a weird person.

How can someone be so outgoing?!

"Kao."

"Kao that means prosperous, right? What an auspicious name."

"Kao... as number nine. What about June? June that means to get a hold of yourself?"

"Are you messing with me, fucker?"

Kao was taken aback because June called him 'fucker' just about two minutes into their conversation as if they were so close. June ignored his reaction, wrapped his arm around Kao's neck, and walked into the faculty's building without care. June kept talking to him as if they'd been friends for years. Kao was a bit confused but still walked with June. June was from the same faculty, so Kao thought it was better to make friends, not enemies. They had to be together for four years anyway.

The ground floor of the faculty building was bustling with activities. The second-year students were waiting to welcome the freshmen. The sound of singing and congas were so loud as if it was Sports Day. A group of seniors was dancing to the activity songs. Since everyone was having fun as if they were drunk, June asked Kao to stop to take a look and made funny comments. 

After a few conversations, they felt closer to each other. June was amusing to talk with and very funny. He told Kao that he comes from a southern province. He shared a room near the university with 'King', his high school friend. King went to another university in this area. 

"Do you see that handsome guy standing by himself over there?'

June asked as they followed the seniors to get their nametags at the registration table. Kao followed June's eyes to a guy who was standing alone. He was tall and very good-looking.

"Is he a half-breed? His nose bridge is so high."

"He's not alone. Those seniors are talking to him."

"Right! That's the point!" June sounded frustrated because Kao had interrupted him. "He's a good-looking half-breed. We should get to know him. If he becomes our friend, it'll be great for us in the future."

"How?"

"Look at him. The seniors are all over him since his first day here."

"So what?"

"It means the seniors are fond of him. It'll be more convenient if the seniors are fond of you."

June grabbed Kao's arm and dragged him to the target, not waiting for his opinion. The seniors left when they reached their target, June took this opportunity to greet him.

"Hey, you!" June greeted that person exactly the same as what he'd done to Kao. "I'm June. This is my friend, Kao. What's your name?"

The guy who had been asked looked so confused that Kao had to stifle his laugh. It was the same expression he had before.

"Thada," That person answered.

"That's a Thai name. I thought you'd have a foreign name since you're a half-breed" June blurted out without care. Kao poked him in a warning. "But I think it's cool. You have a good name. Did you get your nametag? Let's go get it together."

June took 'Thada' to the line to get their name tags together, then he kept talking to them as if they'd been friends for years. Thada and Kao didn't talk much. June was the only one who chattered away.

Thada and June got their nametags. Kao was the last one of the group. He was putting his name down when he saw a girl putting her name down beside him. She was tall, dressed smart, and looked manly. Even girls were looking at her.

And she looked up at that moment.

"Kao? Do you have a sibling named 'Ten'?"

"No, my sister's name is 'Gib.' What about you? You're 'Sandee.' Do your siblings' names have 'San' in their names as well?"

When Sandee has teased his name with a smile, he'd done it to her, too. Then they both walked out of the registration area together. June and Thada who were waiting outside came to join them.

"You'll be amazed." Sandee said. "l have four bigger sisters: Sanseuy, Sanson, Sanruk, and Sanwan."

Kao, June, and Thada looked like they couldn't believe it. Sandee laughed.

"Didn't my mom give us such cool names?" Whenever she told someone her siblings' names, everyone would always react like this. Sandee thought it was funny. "We're the San Sisters. 'Kao' sounds so simple comparing to this."

"If 'Kao' is simple, then 'June' is incredibly simple," Kao said and turned to June then they introduced themselves to each other. Unexplainably, all of them felt comfortable around each other.

"Oh! I'll introduce my friend to you. Be right back."

When Sandee left to get her friend, June immediately looked at Kao.

"You're flirting with a girl on the first day? That's dope." 

"I'm not flirting. She's a friend."

June was about to speak when Sandee dragged her friend here to meet them. At that second, Kao's eyes widened. He was stunned, and he was sure the other person felt the same.

Because the friend Sandee was going to introduce to them… was Pete, the one who had targeted him!