Chapter 3

    Joseph Armando, a half-Thai, half-German man now aged twenty-seven, was Tithnuea's closest friend.

    Their bond had roots stretching back to when they were just twelve years old. Back then, Joseph was a blue-eyed boy with a jealous streak and an impulsive nature. One day, he dramatically pointed at a classmate, accusing him,

    “Someone like you isn’t even worth my toenail. How dare you steal La-ongjai from me!”

    Joseph lowered his finger as he growled before storming toward his target.

    “You little punk. Let’s settle this!”

    Thud! Whoosh!

    Joseph swung his leg in an attempt to kick high, aiming for the head, but stopped abruptly mid-motion. His shiny blue eyes quivered with uncertainty.

    The moment a sudden gust of wind brushed past his ear, a hand shot up to block the kick with precision.

    Tithnuea barely turned his head, his heightened reflexes astonishing everyone. His other hand still gripped a pen firmly, though it trembled slightly from the force.

    Without much thought, Tithnuea glanced briefly at Joseph before twisting the boy’s ankle slightly, pushing him off balance. Since Joseph’s stance was already unstable, the maneuver caused him to stumble backward, landing hard on his backside with a loud thud!

    Joseph sucked in air through his teeth. “Damn it, Nuea!”

    Confident that he hadn’t used excessive force, Tithnuea shrugged nonchalantly. “What?”

    His voice was calm, almost indifferent, and tinged with a peculiar flatness. His tall frame, comparable to that of a high school student about to come of age, made him stand out, garnering attention from the other students. His composed demeanor only elevated his presence further, making him seem unshakable.

    Looking calm and collected…

    Tithnuea looked down briefly, his posture bordering on arrogance. He couldn’t even remember taking someone else’s girl—his focus had always been on books.

    The two twelve-year-olds, dressed in expensive school uniforms, stared at each other in silence amidst the hum of surrounding voices. Ultimately, it was Tithnuea who decided he couldn’t be bothered to argue with someone acting so irrationally.

    He shook his head slightly and sat back down to resume his homework.

    This dismissal only infuriated Joseph further, causing him to grind his teeth. His fingers pointed accusingly, trembling with a mix of pain and embarrassment. To make matters worse, their surrounding was now filled with other students.

    In their international school filled with the elite, the surrounding kids whispered to each other in various languages, their muffled laughter dripping with pity at Joseph’s failed confrontation.

    Joseph’s face twisted with shame, his pale cheeks turning bright red. Even standing up felt like a monumental effort.

    But at that moment, in a surprising twist, Joseph never expected that Tithnuea would sigh audibly.

    He then turned back toward him, saying,

    “Come here.”

    Suddenly, a clean, pale hand extended toward Joseph. Joseph hesitated, unsure whether this was a revenge or some form of mockery. He locked eyes with Tithnuea, searching for an answer.

    The confusion in Joseph’s blue eyes mirrored the tumult of emotions within him.

    Joseph himself didn’t understand Tithnuea’s intentions. In a dilemma, he could only awkwardly extend his own dirty hand. Grasping Tithnuea’s, he used it to spring himself upright.

    The warmth of Tithnuea’s palm lingered briefly, making Joseph bow his head and mumble shyly once the other students had dispersed, “T-Thank you.”

    That moment marked a shift in Joseph’s perspective. From then on, he often stuck close to Tithnuea, bragging incessantly.

    “I’ve got so many girls lined up. I could hand them all over to you!”

    Tithnuea, with his calmer nature and distinct tastes, was almost the opposite of Joseph. His life was defined by his individuality, and he was rarely without a book in hand.

    Turning to page three hundred of his current book, Tithnuea adjusted his glasses and replied dismissively, “No thanks.”

    Smack!

    The loud slap to his back startled Tithnuea, making him flinch and furrow his brows. A burning, itchy sensation spread across his shoulder blades. Not content with just that, the overly energetic Joseph grabbed him by the neck and pulled him closer.

    Joseph, ever the happy-go-lucky type, had already moved on from their earlier conflict and shifted to a new topic.

    “This weekend, let’s ask my dad to take us somewhere!” Joseph pondered, “What do you think? Water park?”

    Tithnuea shook his head firmly, his answer requiring no deliberation. “No. Exams are coming up.”

    Joseph, having anticipated this response, grinned slyly and declared, “Okay! Water park it is.”

    Tithnuea was confused. “Didn’t you hear what I just said?”

    Joseph stuck out his thumb. “Deal!”

    “....”

    At that moment, Tithnuea realized he was more accommodating than he liked to admit. Instead of staying home to study for exams as he had planned, he ended up at the water park over the weekend, floating around with a duck-shaped pool float, just as Joseph had insisted.

    That was how it always went. Now, at twenty seven years old, Tithnuea found himself staring at Joseph’s overly cheerful face with thinly veiled boredom.

    “What now? Where are you dragging me this time?”

    Joseph, mid-bite into a fried banana, paused. Seeing his friend’s unimpressed expression, he dramatically clutched his chest as if mortally wounded.

    “Nuea, my dear, beloved friend. Do you have any idea how boring my job is every single day?” Sniff sniff. “I’m just asking you to drink plain water with me, and you’re already dodging me like this?”

    The blond melodramatically shook his shoulders as if about to cry, but no tears appeared. Tithnuea narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Somehow, he had become the reluctant one just for asking a question.

    But he couldn’t argue since it was true most of the time.

    Tithnuea grabbed the bag of fried bananas from Joseph, seemingly to help carry it. In reality, that wasn’t his intention.

    Joseph’s pale eyes darted between the bag and his friend’s face, confused. He watched as Tithnuea raised the bag just so, then, with affection, whacked it down on Joseph’s head with a loud thud!

    Joseph’s head bobbed from the impact.

    “Ow, Nuea! That really hurt!”

    The hardened bits of batter knocked against Joseph’s scalp, making him yelp as he clutched his head, throbbing with pain.

    Tithnuea wasn’t fooled. His brows furrowed in mild irritation. “Your so-called plain water is spiked with alcohol. I’m not falling for that again. Take it back.”

    He returned the bag of bananas to its rightful owner. Some of the fried treats had broken in half, and crumbs scattered across the ground.

    Joseph pouted, flailing dramatically, torn between regret for the wasted bananas and pain from the hit.

    “Come on, man. That was ages ago. Just a bit of fun with the gang—don’t take it so seriously. Chill out.”

    “You know I don’t drink.”

    Joseph waved his hand dismissively, ignoring the bump on his head. “You should loosen up and have fun. Do you even know what relaxation is? Ever heard of it?”

    Joseph continued, “There are twenty four hours in a day. You work for twenty three hours and fifty nine minutes, and the one remaining minute you spend sleeping. For crying out loud, Nuea, you’re a machine.”

    Tithnuea’s eyebrow twitched.

    Who on earth sleeps for just one minute…?

    Still, Joseph’s pleas did nothing to sway the workaholic man. Sighing softly, Tithnuea replied, “I’m not going. I still have work to oversee.”

    Joseph’s face twisted further into a grimace.

    Tithnuea, tired of the back-and-forth, turned on his heel to head back to the office. There was still so much to sort out this month, and if he let Joseph keep talking, it would never end.

    Joseph’s head dipped slightly before he hurried to fall into step beside Tithnuea, whining in a drawn-out tone.

    “It’s been so long since we went out to relax. Are you still holding a grudge against everyone? Still mad? Really?”

    That line stopped Tithnuea dead in his tracks. The sea breeze stirred his Hawaiian shirt gently.

    Sensing an opportunity, Joseph pressed on with genuine curiosity. “Or are you sick, Nuea? Is that why you keep isolating yourself? Are you seriously ill?”

    Tithnuea frowned, thinking the situation was spiraling out of control, so he refused.

    “Then what’s wrong, hmm? Come on, tell me.”

    Tithnuea remained silent.

    Joseph, unwilling to push too hard, squinted mischievously and blurted out recklessly, “Or did you get someone pregnant?”

    Whack!

    The second the words left Joseph’s mouth, the resounding slap echoed loudly down the street. Passersby turned in unison to see what was happening.

    The chatterbox staggered backward, clutching his head and groaning. He raised his voice dramatically, “I’m seriously going to lose brain cells at this rate!”

    Tithnuea, ever serious, scanned the area with sharp, dagger-like eyes. His piercing gaze sent people scurrying to mind their own business in a hurry.

    Turning back, his brows furrowed so tightly they nearly touched. “Don’t spout nonsense like that. Who jokes about something so serious?”

    Joseph rubbed the spot where he had been smacked. “But it’s true. Even the doctor asked if you had a wife during the diagnosis.”

    Though it had been a year, Joseph vividly remembered the time he had to rush his best friend to the hospital.

    Joseph continued, “You take care of your health, eat only the best foods, and avoid anything questionable. Yet you’re stuck hugging the toilet three times a day without any apparent reason. If you weren’t an Alpha, I’d swear you were an Omega. You were like that for two whole months. What kind of normal person has symptoms like that?”

    Joseph panted slightly after his tirade, pulling out his phone to check his reflection. He then let out a dramatic wail.

    At that moment, Tithnuea’s sharp eyes suddenly widened and flickered.

    Joseph’s temper flared, and his mouth ran off again. “Or maybe you really did leave an egg somewhere?”

    Before another second passed…

    “Hey, hey!? I’m kidding. Just kidding!”

    The half-German was already ducking to avoid another slap, shielding his already tender head as Tithnuea raised his hand, ready to strike.

    “Don’t say things like that. I don’t like being judged unfairly,”

    Tithnuea’s handsome face twisting into something fierce and intimidating. Joseph shuddered visibly. “Alright, alright. I get it, no more jokes.”

    Tithnuea let out an exasperated sigh. Normally, he rarely resorted to physical action. In all his twenty seven years, he had never struck anyone—except for Joseph, who was the sole exception. Their close friendship made it easier to joke around, and Tithnuea knew exactly where to draw the line with him.

    He dropped his raised hand slowly to his side.

    As Tithnuea stood there, his mind went blank, his body frozen in place. It seemed like he was listening to the wind and the sand around him, but in truth, his mind was processing a fragmented memory.

    It was blurry, shrouded in shadows, yet one thing was vividly clear:

    That beautiful face, streaked with tears and etched with ecstasy.

    If someone asked him if he wanted to forget it?

    His answer would be a firm no…

    He wanted to see that person again.

    Not because he felt a bond or attachment, but because he needed to know who were they? And why did they run away…?

    “Hey, Joe, do you remember the last year?”

    Joseph paused, thinking for a moment before offering a wry smile. “Yeah, I remember. That was the day I got you drunk.”

    His laughter did nothing to lighten the heavy atmosphere. Even Joseph could sense the shift in the air.

    His smile gradually faded.

    The corners of his mouth flattening into a straight line.

    “What happened?”