2013
(K 19, A 18)

The sound of the BTS trains can still be heard roaring down the block. It was still whether early in the evening, and many vendors were only setting up for their night shift. Foldable tables and chairs lined both sides of the street. Within the next two hours, the street will be bustling with people eating from one end to the other.

Kongpob pulled Arthit along down the street. Everyone waved and called him by his name. He grew up on these streets. He knew everyone down the famous five block stretch of street foods heaven. Kongpob waved, and smiled his brightest to everyone he passed by.

Arthit followed along with no qualms. He looked around from one food cart to another. There were some full blown restaurants, and some fruit stands here and there. Everyone was so friendly to Kongpob. Arthit has been here a few times in the past with his friends, but it's as if it's his first time. He has never paid this much attention to everything around here.

Kongpob slowed down, and turned around. Arthit watched as Kongpob turned to say something to him. It was as if it happened in slow motion. Kongpob tilted his head, and smiled softly looking into his eyes.

"We're here."

"Huh?" Arthit found it hard to focus on what was coming out of that bright smile of Kongpob's.

"I said, we are here. I hope you're hungry. My mom's fish cake noodles are very popular here. We should eat before it gets really busy." Kongpob said as he lets go of Arthit's wrist.

"Uh yeah, I'm hungry." Arthit said following Kongpob into the little restaurant.

Kongpob greeted the three aunties that work for his mother upon stepping inside. "Hello Aunties. I'm back. I brought a friend too."

Arthit waved shyly to the three ladies that smiled back at him.

"Kong! I thought you weren't coming today. Your mom is in the back making more broth. Are you hungry? Who is your new friend? I've never seen him before." Aunt Ranee asked smiling at the two boys.

"Slow down Aunt Ranee. This is my friend Arthit. We just came back from the movies. I'll go see my mom in the back. I will be right back."

Kongpob turned to Arthit, "Arthit, why don't you sit down, and look at the menu. You can decide what you want. I will be right back."

Arthit nodded, but then he wasn't so sure. "Kongpob, which table should I sit?"

Smiling, Kongpob stepped behind Arthit. He placed both hands on Arthit's shoulders, and pushed him towards the last table near the back of the restaurant.

"Here. Why don't we sit here. This is usually where I sit. Here. I will be right back." Kongpob pulled out a menu from the side of the table, and placed it in front of Arthit.

Arthit could feel himself blushing from Kongpob's simple touch. He nervously pulled out a chair to sit down, and avoided looking directly at Kongpob.

"Okay." Arthit answered softly to Kongpob, and then looked at the menu.

Leaving Arthit to look over the menu, Kongpob quickly went to the back kitchen to find his mother. It didn't take Arthit long to decide what he wanted. He wanted the house special with extra chilli. It looked really good. He looked around the restaurant, and there were pictures of celebrities that have visited the restaurant with their signed autographs along the wall. Arthit could recognize some celebrities, and some he didn't. In all the pictures, there was the same woman posing next to each celebrity. Arthit assumed it must be the owner, which meant that was possibly Kongpob's mother.

Arthit turned his back to look at more pictures on the wall. He noticed an older picture with the same woman looking much younger standing with a child. It was a little boy with a balloon crown on his head. He realized that must be Kongpob when he was little. A smile broke across his face seeing a cute mini version of Kongpob.

"Hey! Are you staring at me?"

Arthit quickly turned around, and found Kongpob's face right next to him. The tip of his nose grazed Kongpob's cheek. His breath hitched, and his heart pounded loudly at their close proximity. He quickly turned back to face the picture. "Sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

"For what? It's no big deal. I shouldn't have came so close behind you. It's actually my fault. Sorry." Kongpob smiled while still standing very close.

Arthit's heart was pounding so loud, he was afraid that even Kongpob could hear it. What the heck is going on with him?

Then Kongpob backed away to take his seat across from Arthit. "That was my mom and me when I was six. It was my birthday."

"Oh, happy birthday." Arthit automatically said, and immediately felt like an idiot. His face was blushing for all sorts of reasons. His heart was still pounding wildly, and he needed to take deep breaths. His stomach was feeling weird too.

"Hahaha.... it's not my birthday today, but my six years old self says thank you." Kongpob chuckled at Arthit's adorableness.

"Sorry. I just automatically say 'happy birthday' when I hear birthday."

"It's all right. So, do you know what you want to eat and drink?" Kongpob poured two cups of water from a pitcher, and gave Arthit a set of silverware.

Arthit pointed to the picture of a chilli fish ball and fish cake noodles. "I want this one with extra chilli, and water is fine."

Kongpob nodded. "Ranee, two specials. One with extra chilli."

"Okay. Coming right up." Ranee replied.

"So, are you a celebrity too? Since this wall is full of celebrities." Arthit asked trying to make conversation without looking directly at Kongpob. Only stealing glances when the other isn't looking up.

Kongpob looked up to stare at the picture with a little smile. "My mother likes that picture a lot. She likes to tell the story behind it every chance she gets."

"Story? What's the story?" Arthit asked looking from Kongpob's face back to the picture.

"Yes. I tell everybody about my baby." A lovely woman in her forties wearing a red apron with her hair tied up in a bun came walking towards them. The very same woman featured in all the pictures along the wall.

"Mom, don't embarrass me please." Kongpob said smiling, and shaking his head.

"I have to son. It's my duty. It's a written requirement to be a mother. Especially your mother." The woman came to stand next to the picture.

"So, who is this handsome boy?" Kongpob's mother asked.

"He is my new friend, Arthit." Kongpob answered.

"Hello. I'm Arthit Rojnapat. Nice to meet you auntie." Arthit said nervously with a smile.

"Arthit, that's a nice name. Very bright, just like your smile." Kongpob's mom smiled at Arthit, and then turned back to the picture.

"Arthit, do you want to hear the story behind this picture?"

"Yes. Please do tell."

Kongpob rolled his eyes. His mother never misses her chance. Like ever.

"This was my little Kong when he was six. It was his 6th birthday. So we went to the toy store, so he can pick out a gift. We went up and down all the aisles, and he didn't want anything. He didn't want me to waste any money. No matter what I picked, he would say no. Then there was a clown giving away free balloons. And since it was his birthday, the clown gave him two balloons instead of one."

"But Kongpob only has one balloon in the picture." Arthit interrupted.

Kongpob can't believe Arthit is actually interested in the story.

"Yes dear. You see back here. My Kong gave his balloon sword to another child that didn't get a balloon. The child was crying, so my little Kong offered his balloon to him." Kongpob's mother points to a woman holding a child in the background with a balloon sword in his hand.

Arthit moved closer to look at the woman and the child. He can't believe he didn't see it before. He recognized his little red jumper overall instantly. He wore it all the time because his mother liked it on him. He recognized his mother in the picture too.

"I never told Kongpob to give his balloon away. He just did it on his own. My sweet baby is always thinking of others." Kongpob's mother proudly said.

"Auntie, you might not believe me, but that's me and my mom." Arthit turned to Kongpob's mom, and then looked to find a surprised Kongpob staring at him.

"Really?" Kongpob's mom clasped her hands over her mouth.

"Yeah, I don't remember this part, but I recognize my mom and my clothes here. I also remember my sister crying about not getting a balloon that day too."

"Really? That was you?" Kongpob asked surprised.

Arthit nodded with a bright smile. Even he can't believe how small the world is. What are the odds?

"Oh, it must be destiny that you two should meet again. See. This story is getting even better. I'm going to tell everyone there's more to this story now." Kongpob's mother said excitedly.

"Mother. Can we eat peacefully? It's going to get busy soon. Shouldn't you go prepare?" Kongpob shook his head. His mother really likes to embarrass him.

"Fine. Fine. Fine. I will leave you two alone. Enjoy boys. Don't come home too late. Okay?"

Kongpob nodded. His mother kissed the top of his head before leaving to go back to the kitchen.

"So we have met a long time ago then. I can't believe it. If this picture wasn't here, then we would never have known." Kongpob said still amazed at the discovery.

"Yeah, it's such a small world."

"And we finally meet thirteen years later."

Arthit smiled. He wanted to tell Kongpob that he saw him at the car wash for elephants four years ago. He wanted to tell Kongpob that he had even joined Paws Cause in high school because of him. But he didn't. That would sound too odd. It was kind of stalkerish even to himself.

"Here you go. This one with extra chilli is for you young man. Just let me know if you need anything else Kongpob." Ranee placed the two bowls of noodles down in front of the boys.

"Thank you Ranee. I can help myself. No worries."

Arthit picked up his chopsticks, and stared at his bowl of noodles. His mouth started salivating. "This looks, and smells really good."

Kongpob looked at Arthit's excited expression and smiled. "Yeah, I eat it all the time, and I still love it. This is the taste of home for me. I'm going to miss it so much when I'm gone. Here, have more fish cake." Kongpob placed a few of his fish cakes into Arthit's bowl.

"Thanks." Arthit looked up to Kongpob slurping his noodles with his head down. He poked at his noodles with his chopsticks. The noodles still looked really good, but somehow he didn't feel so hungry anymore.

This is why he came along with Kongpob, right? It's to find out where Kongpob is going, right? Arthit wanted to know, but then he asked himself why does it matter? How does this concern him? Would it be weird to ask? More similar questions clouded his mind. Oh, screw it. He decided to ask anyway.

"So, where are you going? I heard you are leaving for two years." Arthit asked while trying to act as casual as possible. He wasn't even sure what all his emotions were about. He just knew he wasn't happy, and he wanted answers to his questions.

"Oh, you don't know? Uh, I'm going to New York University for their international business foreign exchange program known as IBEX."

"For two years? Uhm, I mean isn't two years kind of long?" Arthit quickly looked back down at his noodles, and took another bite. Slurping loudly like he didn't care what Kongpob was going to say.

"I have a reason for going, and it's a good opportunity to learn too. Two years will be hard to be away from home, but I'm sure I will make the most of it." Kongpob looked up through his lashes to see Arthit staring at him with a little pout.

"What kind of reason?" Arthit didn't care if they weren't close. He really wanted to know everything, and he didn't know what to do with himself. So he kept shoving noodles in his mouth until he choked a little, and started coughing.

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Slow down. Are you really that hungry? There's more if you want more." Kongpob gave Arthit some tissues, and handed him his cup of water.

"I'm fine. It just went down the wrong pipe. So, what's the reason?" Arthit didn't let it go. He still wanted to know. He didn't even bother to be embarrassed about his little coughing fit.

Kongpob looked into Arthit's eyes that were a little red, and teary. Was Arthit crying? No, it must be from the coughing, Kongpob thought to himself. Nobody knows his reason except his best friend Aim. However, Kongpob felt compelled to tell Arthit his reason. He wants to tell Arthit, but this was not the place to do it.

"I can tell you later if you want to know." Kongpob tried to smiled, and Arthit nodded his head. There was no way he was leaving without an answer.

~~~~~~
AN: Sorry for the late update. Wattpad was acting weird yesterday.

Arthit is starting to realize his feelings. Do you think Kongpob does too?

Facts: Singto says he is a light weight drinker. It only takes two beers to get him buzzed, and then he becomes the "Flirtatious Head Hazer." 😜

I'm in a bit of a gloom. Hopefully, you guys are having a better day than I.

Love you lots. ❤️