Niam hurried to the Uber taxi waiting for him at the university gates. At last, the fates had shined upon him and Marisa had agreed to go out on a date with him; provided he kept it a secret from his friends. Marisa's father would make his life a living hell if the news ever got out.

Honestly, he had been rather shell-shocked when Marisa had replied late last night to his message. He suspected Rachel or Monica had played cupid. Still, it was a step in the right direction. Once Danish confessed to Rachel, he would also come clean. It stung though, lying to his friends that he was headed to the karate academy for extra classes. When his phone rang, Niam picked it up without looking. "Hi. Are you already there? I am on my way."

There was a pause, and then Rachel replied. "Niam, you better come to the Student Council Room now. Something urgent has come up."

Niam looked at the phone confused. "Right now?"

Rachel sighed, "Yes, immediately. Let the other party know though."

Niam scowled heavily. He canceled his ride and shot off a quick message to Marisa even as he made tracks for the Council Room. He hoped Rachel had a good reason to make him cancel his first date with her friend.

Rachel let out another sigh as she put away her phone and gazed at an angry Luke standing before her and P' Day.

"Luke, why can't you apologize to Narong? You beat him up without provocation. In front of his faculty no less, before the eyes of a dozen students. We have shown you the CCTV evidence. Why do you insist on being so difficult?" asked P' Day exasperated. Not for the first time did he wonder if he had taken on more than he had bargained for when he put his name in for the Student Council elections.

"Never," replied Luke turning away.

Narong sniggered. "If the Student Council is unable to deal with such a trifle matter, maybe I should approach Professor Gabriel instead."

Rachel gritted her teeth. She hated the weasel-faced Narong but Luke was leaving her with no option. "Luke, could you please explain why you felt the need to bash Narong's face in? Explain yourself or we would be forced to suspend you."

Luke stubbornly kept his mouth shut.

There was a knock on the door. Before Day could muster a suitable reply, Niam pushed the door open and walked inside. He frowned at Luke before falling back on his usual neutral expression. "I was summoned."

"Luke has beaten up his fellow freshman- Narong, before a dozen witnesses on campus grounds. He refuses to tender an apology or divulge his reasons. As his mentor, we ask you to talk some sense into him or we will be forced to suspend him," elaborated Rachel.

"Suspension in the first year will look bad on his track record," argued Niam. "Are you sure he was not the one attacked?"

Rachel gestured to the screen behind and hit play. Niam watched in silence as the drama unfolded. It clearly showed Narong talking to his friends when Luke approached him from behind and began to beat him up before proceeding to snatch Narong's phone and smash it to smithereens; all before the eyes of a horrified crowd.

Niam let out a breath. "I apologize on behalf of my mentee. He is well known to be rather hot-headed. Kindly allow me a few days to convince him to apologize to Narong."

Day frowned, "Given your excellent track record, Niam. We grant you your wish. But since the apology has been delayed, Luke must publicly and unconditionally apologize to Narong."

"That would suffice," acknowledged Narong with satisfaction. "I have no problem waiting; besides I own several phones."

Luke muttered an expletive and stormed away.

Niam shook his head, "Hot-headed as usual. I will take my leave then."

Rachel watched the two depart, hoping matters would soon be sorted out. She really couldn't stomach the way Narong was buttering up the Student Council members.

.........................................................................

An angry Niam stalked into the gym having spent a tense 15 minutes searching for Luke. Uncaring of the basketball practice Luke was preoccupied with, Niam skilfully bounced the ball away. He glared at the freshman who stared at him in wonder. "Everybody out now except for Luke."

A stampede ensured as the gym emptied in record time.

"Why did you beat up Narong?" asked Niam through gritted teeth.

Luke looked away and shrugged. "He annoyed me."

There was frost in Niam's eyes. "Can you be more specific than that?"

An emboldened Luke glared back. "Why do you care?"

"Because I am your mentor. A smudge on your record would similarly affect mine," explained Niam coldly.

Luke muttered indistinctly under his breath.

Niam crossed his arms, desperately holding on to a last shred of patience. "You can't beat up people because they annoy you. If that was the case, I would have beaten you up every day since we met."

Luke scowled, "He earned that beating. You are not my father; I don't need to tell you shit."

Something snapped in Niam. "Yes, you do!" assured Niam dangerously calm. "I am worse than your father can ever be."

"It seems like you need to be shown your place." Luke's eyes flashed in warning before he aggressively charged at Niam.

Niam simply flipped Luke over. His movement was quick, efficient, and brisk.

Dazed, Luke lay on his back for a moment before springing up. This time, he aimed a series of kicks at Niam's abdomen.

Niam calmly stepped to the side with his back foot and skilfully turned his hip and shoulders away from Luke's harmful strikes. He then flawlessly executed a front thrust kick, driving his heel forward into Luke with crushing power. Luke landed on his back again, completely winded.

Sensing his opponent's momentary weakness, Niam held Luke's head down. "Have you had enough?" he asked breathlessly. "We can continue but I rather not waste my time."

"Let go of me," rasped Luke in a hoarse voice. "I am done."

Niam helped Luke to his feet. "Now tell me why did you attack Narong?"

Luke let out a deep breath. "Narong has a video clip that he is using to blackmail Kris. I only wanted to warn Narong off but when I heard him boasting to his friends about how he had Kris wrapped around his finger. I couldn't take it anymore."

Niam frowned, "What was in the video?"

Luke hesitated, "Kris confessed that he was gay."

Niam quirked his brow quizzically. "Even if he is gay. What does it matter?"

Luke's mouth dropped open. Not only had P' Niam not reacted derisively. He didn't even consider it a big deal. Respect for his mentor soared in Luke's wide eyes.

"Well, many people are not as open-minded when it comes to homosexuality. Kris's father is very orthodox. He definitely wouldn't take kindly to his only son being gay."

Niam sighed and rubbed his face. "Isn't Narong and Rawat from the same faculty?"

Luke nodded, "Yes, they are. But Narong is a freshman whilst P' Rawat is a sophomore. Besides, what does that have to do with Kris?"

"Everything. What does Narong want from Kris?"

Luke grimaced, "What else? He wants Kris to be his slave. Do his assignments, help him cheat in the exams but mostly......."

"Provide sexual favors," supplied Niam distastefully. "I get the picture. Don't worry, Kris's secret will not come out nor will he suffer any indignity. Just grant me some time to figure this out. In the meantime, try not to get into any more trouble"

Luke gaped as his mentor stormed out of the gym. Thoughtfully, he wiped the blood from his split lip. Had he broken the old promise he had made to Kris?

......................................................................

The previous evening:

Kris grinned as Luke slammed shut the drawer of his study table. "Be careful, Luke. That study table belongs to the university dorm."

Luke glared at his roommate before moving on to slam shut his tiny cupboard.

Resigned, Kris took off his glasses and neatly laid them on his desk. "Okay, Luke. What bee have you got in your bonnet? I can't study if you continue to rage around."

Luke frowned at his childhood friend. "You will not believe what my mom told me. My parents are threatening to stop my kickboxing lessons if I don't improve my grades."

Kris let out a yawn and stretched. "Rightfully so, you are barely obtaining pass grades. If this continues, the university might sidetrack you to a non-honours course."

"Hey! You are supposed to be on my side," grouched Luke.

Amused, Kris raised his brows. "I am. So are your parents."

Luke stomped over to his bed. "Traitor."

Kris burst into a fit of giggles as he watched his well-built muscular friend pout like a toddler. When his phone pinged, he casually unlocked his phone and glanced at the new WhatsApp message. Kris's smile died and his face turned white as a sheet.

"Kris, please help me study for the upcoming exams. Even if I score average grades, it would be enough to have my parents off my case." Luke looked at his friend expectantly. Observing Kris's pale face, he scratched his head in surprise. "Kris, what happened? Is everything okay?"

Kris swallowed the lump in his throat, his voice laced with dread. "Come over and have a look."

Luke took the phone from Kris's limp hands and quietly read the message before playing the accompanying video. Stone-faced, he watched Kris confess his biggest secret to P' Milan. "When did this happen? You never told me that you had been attacked!"

Kris wiped his dripping nose on the sleeve of his floral print shirt, tears slipping down his devastated face. "A few nights ago. P' Milan saved me and in a moment of weakness, I let slip my biggest secret. To his credit, P' Milan has been as protective of me as you have always been."

"Narong has sent you this. Isn't he from the Faculty of Industrial Engineering? How does he know you?"

Kris shrugged, "I have no idea how he knows me or how he got hold of this video. All I know is that I have two options. Either I come out and declare my sexuality to the world or yield to this bastard."

Agitated, Luke paced the small room. "No, man. Both those options are bad. If the truth comes out, your father would shoot you dead with his licensed gun. And if you agree to be Narong's slave, he might ask vulgar favors of you."

Kris shook his head in resignation. Lowering his face on the table, he sobbed in earnest.

Luke wrapped an arm around his friend, patting his head in comfort. "Tomorrow morning, I shall go over to the Industrial Engineering faculty and seek out Narong. He has no right to do this to you."

Kris continued to cry, unaware of the tears that dripped from his face, and splotched his assignment paper. The nightmares he had endured in his humble school had followed him to Bangkok's premier university.