CHAPTER TWO

Chaiwat POV

(TEN YEARS AGO)

It was late afternoon when I arrived at Korn's apartment. I was supposed to be home, but I preferred spending the little time I had after school with Korn.

He was a final year student and a boarder living in a small furnished house built closer to the school by his father to avoid having to struggle to school.

Korn's parents were rich, they owned million dollar companies in various countries and even more they were among the most influential people in Thailand.

When I got to his door, I took a deep breath and knocked. He opened the door quickly like he had been expecting me. On seeing his tall huge frame, I left out a huge smile and threw my hands around his neck, pecking him all over his face.

“Missed me?” I asked.

Korn nodded slowly. His dark long hair covered part of his face.

He was not happy, I could feel it and just when I wanted to ask him what's wrong, he cupped my cheeks in his hands, bringing his face closer to mine.

I closed my eyes and waited as his lips crashed into mine, his tongue slipping into my mouth gently and sliding with mine.

Then he slid his hands under my shirt, his hands caressing my body as we both moaned. I ran my hands through his hair and down his lower back until I was at the shorts he was putting on.

When I was about to slip my hand inside, he paused and held my hand, stopping me.

“We shouldn't do this.” he said as we disentangled ourselves.

I looked at him with a surprised face.

Was he kidding?

“What do you mean?” I asked as he walked back to his bed.

“This is wrong. Everything we do is wrong.” he said.

I furrowed my brows.

I cannot imagine this was coming from the same person who had confessed his love to me. The same person who had told me he was willing to keep our relationship a secret.

“You're kidding, right? You don't mean it.”

“I mean every word, Chai. We should stop this.” he insisted.

I could see him fumbling with his fingers. He wasn't maintaining his gaze at me which means he didn't mean it, right?

I walked to him without thinking, gave him a gentle push till he was lying on the bed, then I positioned my legs but his sides and sat, resting my butt on his manhood.

“What are you doing?” Korn asked.

I ignored his question and bent in to kiss him. Our tongues were on fire and each twist and curl was filled with passion that none of us can deny not feeling.

And just when I was about to get deeply into it, Korn pushed me aside and sat up.

“You should get going. Your parents would be worried.”

“Oh really?” I asked, raising my voice in anger. “Can you deny you don't want me? Can you deny you don't like me?”

“Chai, please.”

“You have never cared about my parents opinion in my life so why now, Korn? What is wrong? You even avoid looking at me.”

“Just go.”

“I am not going till you tell me what I did wrong! I love you, Korn. You even said you loved me too. Was it a lie? Were you–”

“–my parents found out!” Korn shouted as he stood up and paced around in his apartment.

“What?!” I said out of shock.

“They found out and now I have a lot to lose if we don't end this.”

“So that's the reason?”

“Chai, I'm sorry.” Korn said as he neared me, “I don't want to do this, but I have to. My father is looking up to me and so is my mother. If the public finds out that I'm in a relationship with another guy, it could cause a lot of problems which will affect us.”

I nodded slowly, holding back the tears in my eyes. “So it has always been about you. The secret relationship, everything has always been about you.”

Korn reached where I was sitting and squatted in front of me, holding my hands in his.

“It is not–”

I raised a brow, expecting him to take his words back, to say it was all a mistake and that it was a prank. But he shook his head instead and said, “nothing.”

I felt my heart shatter into tiny bits as I watched him rise and pace around.

Tears filled my eyes, but I bit my lips to hold them back. Nothing has prepared me for this heartbreak, it was unbearable. Since he had nothing else to say, I rose from the bed and headed for my bag which was lying on the little reading desk.

“Chai, please–”

I did not wait to listen to his remaining words as I opened the door and disappeared from his sight with a tear finally streaming down my face.

***

“We had a visitor.” my mother said as I entered the house.

It was a little apartment, almost the same size as Korn's, the only difference was that I lived with my parents while Korn lived alone.

“What did they want?” I asked as I set my bag down on the bed.

“They came to warn us, Chai.”

I paused and turned to look at her.

“Warn?”

She nodded slowly, her almost aging face looking sad even though she forced a smile.

“See, I know you are into boys. It is normal at this age for you to explore and I am not against it, what I am against is not knowing your place.”

“What happened, mom?”

“Some group of men came here to threaten us. They said they never want to see you near Korn again and that if you are caught with him, it could lead to something disastrous.”

“They said that?” I asked in shock.

“You need to let him go.”

“But I love him, mom. We promised to stay by each other's side.”

“You are young, Chai. Love is bound to change.”

she told me.

I shook my head in refusal. It was not true, I knew what I had for Korn was real, it can never change.

“Your teacher called.” my father said as he emerged from his room.”

I averted my gaze to him, my heart beating as he stared hard at me.

My father was known to be a disciplinarian so I made sure to always be on his good side. But now, and with the tone of his voice, something was definitely wrong.

“Your grades are dropping drastically. Is there a reason for that?”

I looked to the floor, wishing an answer would come from there.

“None, right?” he said, then nodded.

That was not an ordinary nod.

“Since you have decided to prioritize your relationship over studying, I would like to make it clear to you that from now on, you have been prohibited from seeing Korn or being in any relationship till you graduate.”

My heart began to beat fast.

“You will not go against my order and that's final. This will be a good opportunity for you to get back on track.” he said to me.

“But–”

“–no buts, you are not meeting him again and that's final.” he concluded and walked out of the room.

When he was gone, I sat at one edge of the bed and sniffed hard.

Everything was going in a different direction. A few months ago Korn and I had been glancing at each other during PE and lunch until we bumped into each other in the dressing room. It has been filled with heart-thumping moments leading up to our secret relationship. Now, when I just thought everything was going to fight direction, it all shattered, leaving me to fix the pieces all by myself.

I laid down on the bed, thinking of everything that had happened so fast within a few hours and when it was hard for me to bear, I decided to let out a cry.