The Hating Game

[1. MR. Ron]

" KIM TANAWAT"

Dae flinched and jumped out of his bed in shock. It was Aroon, his stepbrother screaming his name from downstairs. Not even five minutes had passed since he went upstairs. He had just lied back on his bed, tired after doing all the works Aroon asked him to do.

Whenever Aroon calls him 'KIM Tanawat', Dae feels vexed. He feels like he belongs to some other world. Why can't Aroon simply call him Tanawat if he can't call him Dae. What's the need of 'KIM '? Dae don't even remember the face of his late south Korean Dad, whom he inherited the 'Kim' from. Neither has he visited south Korea nor has he actually met a Korean individual yet, even though there are lot of Koreans in Thailand especially Bangkok, the place where he lives with his Step Dad and Step brother.

Almost all his friends has wondered about his name. He is tired explaining his story to all those people who would ask. He always wanted to remove the 'kim' from his name but his Mom never let him. And after his Mother's death, Dae didn't think of removing it from his name. In every exam paper and in every official document, he still writes his name as ' Kim Tanawat Duangporn', just for the sake of his Mom.

" KIM TANAWAT..,GET YOUR ASS UP HERE RIGHT NOW. YOU NEED TO FUCKING EXPLAIN ME THIS. WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU TANAWAT ?"

Dae shivered hearing the harsh tone of Aroon's voice. 'what is the problem with him right now? I did everything he said properly. Oh my god! What did I do wrong now ?'

Dae immediately rushed downstairs as he didn't want to make his stepbrother angry again and get worse punishments. As he came downstairs he saw Aroon walking back and forth in the hall. 

The older stopped as his eyes met Dae's. He looked at the younger with anger filled in his eyes. Dae felt shattered just by the older's intimidating stare. 'Dae.., something really nice is on your way.' He said to himself. Dae could say how angry Aroon was just by looking at his face. He is pretty used to the older's anger. And he already has suffered a lot, that it dosen't hurt him so much when Aroon hits and punches him, though he is still too scared to take the blows. But what hurts him a lot is when Aroon calls him names and curse him and looks at him with pure hatred in his eyes.

"You....you worthless piece of shit... explain me how this happened. I swear you are going to get into so much trouble.", Aroon said pointing at his laptop. He was literally shaking in anger.

" P’Aroon..I- I didn't do anything. I didn't touch your l..laptop."

" SHUT UP TANAWAT. Explain me how you got rank 5 in the damn finals."

Dae was totally shocked hearing that. His legs started shaking because of fear. He understood, the results are out. But he couldn't figure out how Aroon checked his result. He couldn't understand where the older got his ID no. Before he could think anything more, he was harshly dragged by his wrist and thrown towards the corner with Aroon taking steps towards him, coming closer and closer.

"P'Aroon..p..please don't hurt me. Please don't...." Dae pleaded

"It's too late Tanawat. You wouldn't have been in this trouble if you obeyed me. But you..you didn't.", Aroon walked closer to the younger and made his strong grip around the younger's neck. He almost pulled him up on the wall by holding him on his neck. Dae couldn't breathe and he felt strong pain growing in his throat. He tried to scream but only some muffled cries escaped his throat. He tried to pull the older's hands but failed. Aroon is so much stronger than him even though he is only two years older than him. Aroon's grip around his neck only got more and more tight.

"Didn't I tell you to fail in the exam? How dare you..How dare you get A in all subjects? You are over Kim Tanawat. "

Dae felt like he was starting to become unconscious or maybe he was just going to die. He stopped pulling on the older's hands. He decided to give up, letting the older kill him. He decided to let everything end there. Death is better than a life like his. So he just decided to let himself end up in Aroon's hands for the absolute good of him, Aroon and maybe everyone. He is actually a burden to his step Dad, even though Dad would never say that. He has no relation with this family. But still his step Dad is loving both him and Aroon equally. He is spending a lot of money for him. Dae don't want to become a burden to their family anymore. So it's better if he die. And Aroon will be happy. 

But suddenly Aroon took his hands away and Dae fell down on to the floor. Aroon again didn't kill him. He heard the sound of a car rolling into the front yard as he gasped for air. He wrapped his both hands around his throat as he felt severe pain and suffocation. He coughed in an attempt to get more air.

"Crap...! Go to your room now." Aroon scoffed as the younger was trying to catch his breathe. " I SAID GET UP, GO TO YOUR ROOM, RUN UPSTAIRS". He yelled

Dae somehow managed to get up and run upstairs to his room. He burst out into tears as soon as he reached his room and slammed the door behind. He felt more and more pain building in his throat as he cried. He felt like it's already worn out. He tried hard to control his tears but he couldn't.

' Why the hell didn't I die? It would have been better if he killed me. I would have died a long before if I wasn't afraid to die.' 

Dae hugged 'Mr Ron', his teddy bear and continued to cry. More and more tears left his eyes as he hugged his worn out teddy bear. Mr Ron reminds Dae of his nice old brother. Actually It was a present from Aroon on his 9th birthday. So Dae named it 'Mr Ron'. But things changed right after his 9th birthday. 

Dae sat up and looked at the bear. It's ears and legs were all torn and it looked ugly. He remembered the day when Aroon tore it into pieces. Dae somehow managed to stitch it up because it was one of the few things which gave him memories of his good old brother.

Aroon loved him so much. Dae also loved him. No he still loves him. They both grew up together, played together, laughed and cried together and did everything together. That is all past. Dae remembered those days when Aroon used to fight with the guys from his primary school who tried to pick up fights with Dae. All those memories only brought tears into the poor boy's eyes.

' Aru, what did I do to you to hate me this much?'