Chapter 06 A Favor For A Favor

When Santichai returned home, opened the refrigerator, took out a bottle of cold water, and sat on the small sofa to drink water. He reaches for his fan, but his old fan doesn't seem to work anymore. He turned the fan on and off a few times, but the old fan may have reached the end of its useful life.

Santichai sighed, "Tonight will be very hot." He took out his phone and checked the weather. It shows a very severe heatwave over the next two days. "I'm going to have to get you to fix or buy a new one." He sat down to finish his bottle of water. Santichai quickly checked his bank account and decided he would buy a new fan tomorrow.

Santichai lying on the bed after taking a bath. Tonight, he doesn't have a fan, so he tries to stay still so he doesn't sweat again. Santichai's apartment is on the third floor, and it's hot in summer and cold in winter, but he can't complain because he couldn't afford higher rents. The warm and cold air reminded him of his old house. The old hunting house that his adoptive parents bought for him, but in the end, they came and asked for the house back because they relocated. Later, Santichai found out that his adoptive father had been fired because he had an affair with a colleague. His co-worker's husband stormed into the company and created a big scene, so the company his adoptive father worked for decided to fire his father and the co-worker. Since it was a small two-bedroom house, they asked Santichai to move out. Santichai didn't think much about it, because it wasn't his, so he moved out.

Early the next morning, he went to the store with his fan, but the man told him it would be better for him to buy a new one. He walked to the shopping center, a thirty-minute walk from his apartment. This is the closest mall to where he lives. He doesn't want to go to the city to shop, so he usually comes to this shopping center to do his shopping. He decided to walk because parking was difficult to find on weekends. Plus, if he has too many things he can't carry, he can take the bus home.

Santichai walked into the shopping center, and as soon as he walked into the front door, he felt the cool air-conditioning wind passing by him. He has his day plan. Since it was the first day of a heatwave according to the meteorologist, he would stay late at the mall and walk home to escape the heat.

Santichai decided to go to the electronics department to buy himself a new fan first, lest the store run out of fans. When he arrived at the electronics department store, he didn't seem to be the only one watching the weather forecast. There are more than twenty people in front of him, and he doesn't know when it will be his turn and will there be any fan left for him.

As people pushed and pulled to line up, a voice startled Santichai. KK said, "Is you?"

Santichai turned to his left and he said, "Good morning."

KK said, "What are you doing?"

Santichai said, "Standing in line to get a new fan."

KK asked, "Is there no air conditioner in your house?"

Santichai shook his head. Someone from the back of the line pushed forward, which made the boy standing behind Santichai bump into Santichai's back, and Santichai bumped into the person in front of him.

The young lady turned around and yelled at Santichai, "What's the problem with you?"

Santichai quickly apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bump into you."

KK smiled and said, "Follow me. I'll give you one. You don't have to stand in line."

Santichai refused and said, "It's okay...it's my turn soon."

KK said, "There were only seventy-five fans that arrived this morning, and forty-four have been sold this morning, so by the time you is your term, the fan will be gone."

Santichai still rejected KK's offer, saying, "I'll try my luck."

The salesman came out and said, "Exactly nineteen units left." He began to count, and it happened that the nineteenth number ended in Santichai. "Others can consider our other air conditioning equipment. Our next shipment will be in two weeks."

KK said, "You are surely lucky."

Santichai said, "Um..." He looked to the other side.

The boy standing behind Santichai said, "Grandpa, they said that there are no more fans. We need to buy a different air-conditioning unit."

The boy's grandfather sighed, "But we only have enough money to buy this kind of fan."

The boy said, "Grandpa, it's okay, the heat wave will only last for two days."

Santichai turned and said, "You take my place. The last fan unit is yours."

The boy asked, "Pi... are you sure?"

Santichai said, "Looks like you two need it more than I do." He handed the ticket to the boy.

The boy smiled and said, "Thank you, Pi."

Santichai blurted out and left the electronics department. KK quickly followed Santichai.

KK asked, "How long have you been in line?"

Santichai, "Two hours."

KK said, "You waste two hours of your time and just let it go."

Santichai said, "That grandpa and the child need it more than I do." He stopped and stared at KK. "Sir, please stop following me."

KK smiled and looked at Santichai, "I just wanted to get to know you."

Santichai said, "I don't want to know you."

KK asked, "Why not?" He looked at Santichai, still smiling. "I think I'm a decent person to be friends with."

"Doctor, you know very well that people like you and people like me can never be friends," Santichai said. "We come from two different societies."

KK said with a smile, "Santichai Kittibun, before you knew I was a doctor, you spoke to and treated me well, but now why are you avoiding me?"

Santichai questioned, "How do you know my full name?"

KK smiled and said, "I asked with my mouth. I'm still waiting for the answer to my question."

Santichai said, "Because you and I are like two parallel lines that will never cross." He turned and walked in the opposite direction of KK.

Santichai spent the morning looking around the other stores, but all of them were out of fan. By the time he decided to stop looking for fan, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon. He stopped at the food court and ordered himself a spicy Korean chicken stew. He sat down to eat, when a fan was placed in front of him. Santichai looked up and he saw KK.

Santichai lowered his eyes to the table and said, "Take it back."

KK sat down across from Santichai and said, "I drove an hour to get this. So, you can't say no."

Santichai said, "Doctor, I don't need your pity."

KK said, "Stop calling me doctor. I have a name."

Santichai looked down at his bowl of chicken stew and said, "I don't want to know."

KK smiled and said, "Hinata Klaew Kla Suwannarat." He smiled. "But I allow you to call me KK."

Santichai said, "Doctor Suwannarat, I cannot accept your fan."

From KK's experience, Santichai should be the kind of person who rejects any kindness. He sighed and said, "It's not given to you for free."

Santichai looked at KK and asked, "What do you mean?"

KK said, "I have been working so hard recently, I hardly have time to eat, sometimes I would be so busy that I forgot to eat. I would like to ask you to remind me and send me food to my office for one month." He pushed the box towards Santichai. "Breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"I also have work to do," Santichai said. "HappyCare Clinic pays me to cook for everyone, so I can't just focus on you."

KK said, "Only lunch, I prefer home-cooked food to clinic food if you can."

Santichai sighed and said, "Okay, but..."

KK asked quickly, "But what? Are you going to back down?" He sighed. "What if I accidentally puncture a patient's colon with my shaky hand during surgery because I'm too hungry. If that happens, I'm sure HappyCare Clinic will be sue, because it's such a small clinic, all are likely to face bankruptcy."

Santichai said, "My home-cooked meals may not be as good as clinic meals."

KK said, "It's up to me to judge."

Santichai nodded his head, "Mmm..." He looked up and saw Asnee standing a few feet away, staring angrily at him. Santichai's heart sank. "I'm sorry, I have to go." He got up quickly, rushed out of the food court, and walked towards the exit.

KK grabbed the box and chased after Santichai.

Santichai ran to the bus stop just in time for the bus to leave. He had just gotten on the bus, and as the bus pulled away, he looked out the window and saw Asnee looking at him angrily. He heard the anger in Asnee's voice yelling at him from the open.