Chapter 01 Why We Kiss

Stand inside the airport in front of the terminal building. Santichai stared at Asnee's back. He watched Asnee drag his suitcase down the checkpoint. Asnee kept walking forward, without turning back to look at Santichai. Santichai can only go as far as airport security allows him to go.

Santichai knew that Asnee would not look back at him, since they had known each other for ten years, Asnee would always turn his back on Santichai in front of others.

Santichai wanted to stay at the airport a little longer, but in an hour the moving company would be at the home he shares with Asnee, so he put his hands in his coat pockets and walked slowly out of the airport. He waved for a taxi and got in. As the taxi started to leave the airport, his phone started vibrating. He took out his phone and got a text from Asnee: "Darling, stay home. I'll be back in a week at most, but if all goes well, I'll see you in three days." Santichai texted back, "O.K."

The drive back home is quite painful for Santichai, but he held back his tears. It should be a short drive home, but now it feels like the taxis take a long time before he parks on the side of the road. Santichai got out of the taxi and walked slowly upstairs to Asnee's apartment. He started duct tape in all ten boxes with his belongings. His clothes and personal belongings have been kept in a box since the day they lived together. A month and a half before Asnee broke the news that he was going home to visit his parents, Santichai was secretly packing his personal belongings. Since his stuff is always in boxes, it's not hard for him to pack. In the days when Asnee broke the news to him, they had a big quarrel. Their heated argument made Asnee rush out in the middle of the night and disappear for three weeks.

When Santichai put the small box into the big box, he accidentally dropped the box, and many of the photos in the box fell to the ground. He saw old pictures of himself and Asnee as teenagers in high school. This photo was taken at the beginning of the school year. He could still hear the voices of teenagers in the classroom.

(Memory)

Santichai walked slowly behind Mrs. Chantha, and when they reached the classroom twenty-two, he followed Mrs. Chantha in. The teacher tapped loudly on the blackboard and said loudly, "Listen, classmates. Today, we have a new transfer student." She waved to Santichai, who walked in. "This is our new student." She smiled. "Please tell us about yourself."

Santichai said shyly, "Hello, my name is Santichai Kittibun."

The fifteen students in the classroom waited for Santichai to say more, but after a long silence, Santichai did not say anything, so Mrs. Chantha asked him to take a seat.

Asnee patted Santichai on the shoulder, and Santichai turned around. He smirked, "Hey, I'm Asnee, but you can call me Nee." He pointed at one of the students to the right. "This is Ruangsak, but you can call him Run. Sitting in front of him is Somsak, you can call him Som."

Santichai said, "Nice to meet you. You can call me Chai."

During lunchtime, Asnee volunteered to show Santichai around the High school. Once at the cafeteria, they met Ruangsak and Somsak. They sat around the table and had lunch.

Asnee said, "Hey, you two, come here, let's take a photo together." Ruangsak and Somsak grabbed Santichai and Asnee behind them, and Asnee took out his phone and quickly took a photo of the four of them. He looked at Santichai. "What is your phone number?"

Santichai said, "I don't have a mobile phone."

Asnee said, "What? Everyone has a cell phone these days." He stuck his head out. "How am I sending you this photo?"

Santichai said, "It's okay."

Asnee said, "We'll be friends for life and it's okay to get this picture later."

Santichai has been hanging out with Asnee and his group of friends for four months since school started, and one afternoon after lunch, Santichai was walking the hallway, returning Asnee's sweater to him. As he walked around the corner, he overheard Asnee talking with his friends.

Somsak frowned, "Ai Nee, I don't understand why you asked Santichai to hang out with us. He's not suitable for this group at all."

Ruangsak said, "I agree with him."

"He's a loner," Asnee said. "Let him hang out with us. There's nothing wrong with having him with us. We need to give the kid a good high school memory."

A female classmate said, "Phi Nee you are so nice, this is why all the girls are chasing you."

"You two need to show more empathy for loners," Asnee said.

Standing at the corner of the hallway, Santichai clutched Asnee's sweater tightly. Santichai saw Mr. Sichai walking towards him. He bowed his head and said, "Good afternoon, Teacher Sichai."

Mr. Sichai said, "Student Kittibun, lunch is almost over, go back to the classroom."

Santichai said, "Yes."

Santichai watched as Mr. Sichai walked past him as he slowly approached Asnee and Asnee's group of friends. Asnee was holding a female student inside Asnee's arm. He handed the sweater to Asnee. He said softly, "Here's your sweater."

Asnee took the sweater and covered the female student. He smiled and said, "You said you were cold."

The female student kissed Asnee by the cheek, "You are such a sweet baby."

Asnee suddenly said, "Hey, where are you going?" He quickly grabbed Santichai's left arm.

"It's almost over for lunch," Santichai said. "I'm going back to the classroom."

Asnee said, "Are you guys going to ditch class?"

Somsak said, "We are."

Asnee said, "You two go, I'll take Ai Chai back to the classroom."

"I know the way back," Santichai said. He walked quickly toward room twenty-two.

Asnee quickly followed and asked, "Hey, Ai Chai, did you hear our conversation?"

Santichai said, "Yes."

Asnee followed closely behind Santichai and said, "I can explain." He clung to Santichai's arm tightly.

Santichai said, "You don't need to explain. I understand. Go back to your friends."

Asnee pulled him into the men's room and quickly locked the door. He said, "Ai Chai, listen..."

Santichai said, "Student Siriporn, you don't have to force yourself to hang out with me." He is struggling to push Asnee towards the toilet. "I'm going back to class. There's a quiz this afternoon."

Asnee slammed Santichai against the door, clasped his hands tightly, and kissed Santichai forcibly. After a while, Asnee turned his face away from Santichai. He gasped, "Are you going to listen to me now?"

Santichai was still shocked by the sudden kiss. Apart from nodding, he did not speak.

Asnee let go of Santichai's hand, "Okay. I really want you to hang out with us because...because...if you're not around, I think I'm missing something. Our circle of friends is not complete." He realized that he was still too close to Santichai, so he took two steps back to the toilet. "It's not that you don't know Run. His mouth is so big that his mouth is faster than his brain. You don't need to care what others think, you only need to care what I think."

Santichai nodded.

Asnee sat on the toilet and stared at Santichai. His eyes followed the curve of Santichai's neck all the way to Santichai's lips, and suddenly he wanted to kiss Santichai again. He said, "Ai Chai, you can go, but next time you don't listen to me again, I will kiss you harder."

Santichai nodded and quickly left the bathroom stall.

Santichai has been trying to avoid Asnee all week. He wanted to distance himself from Asnee and his friends for three reasons. The first reason was that he recently learned that they don't like being with him. The second reason was because of Asnee's kiss, and he suspects in his heart that Asnee's kindness towards him is nothing more than a sinister act to achieve his goal. The third reason was that he felt like he was in a movie and Asnee made a bet with the other students to make fun of him.

It was a Friday afternoon, and everyone was packing their bags and preparing to leave school. Santichai had already packed his schoolbags quickly, and just as a large group of classmates were about to leave the room, he rushed out with them. When he got to the hallway many of the classmates had already left. He kept looking left and right, forgetting to look straight. Halfway down the stairs, he found Asnee standing on the stairs waiting for him. He had no choice but to walk slowly down the stairs to meet Asnee.

Asnee looked up at Santichai. He said, "Hey, are you avoiding me?"

Santichai's heart trembled, and he slowly walked down the stairs, "No."

Asnee said, "If you don't avoid me, why don't you hang out with us anymore?"

Santichai said, "I...I...I want to study for the midterm exam."

Asnee grabbed Santichai's right arm and said, "When you lie, you stutter." He grabbed Santichai's arm. "Let's go."

Santichai asked nervously, "Where are we going?"

Asnee frantically said, "Shut up and come with me."

Asnee drags Santichai out of the school's main gate.