My Moon, Chapter 24 pg 2
My Moon, Chapter 24 pg 2
“Pie…”
“What’s up, Klai?”
“I’m going to swing by Panli’s house for a bit… Can you let Mai know for me?”
“Is Panli’s dad not getting better?” Pie knew about it because Klai had told him when he arrived at the university. He asked with a concerned expression.
“I don’t know yet… but Panli isn’t answering the phone.”
“Then go, go! I’ll handle everything here.”
“Thanks a lot, Pie…”
“No problem!”
“You don’t need to come find me… I’m already here for you, KhunKlai.”
The moment he heard that familiar voice, his heart, trembling with worry, began to race even faster. Klai knew it wasn’t beating hard out of embarrassment. The reason his heart was pounding was because…
He was relieved that Panli was okay…
Klai turned toward the voice coming from behind. He saw Panli stepping forward to stand in front of him, flashing a bright smile. Klai let out a quiet sigh as a large hand reached out to ruffle his hair, as if soothing his trembling heart.
“Panli… why didn’t you pick up the phone? I was worried sick.”
“Sorry for making you worry… When you called, I was arguing with Phii Fah.”
“…”
“Can we find a place to sit and talk?”
“Mhm, sure.”
“Pie… I’m borrowing Klaijai for a bit.”
“Take him away~”
Panli gave a small smile and nodded lightly before wrapping an arm around Klai’s neck, leading him away from the area. Klai walked quietly beside the taller man, saying nothing. He stole glances at the side of Panli’s face. Even without direct eye contact or seeing the emotions in his eyes, Klai could sense that Panli was uneasy.
Because he’s the one I love.
How could Klai not notice something like this?
“Panli!”
It wasn’t just the owner of the name who turned toward the call—Klai, still in the taller man’s embrace, looked too. A good-looking guy from the architecture faculty booth was walking toward them, smiling warmly. Panli and Klai stopped to wait for him.
“Yo…”
“Heard you beat up that Merk from engineering on Monday, huh?”
Klai’s brows furrowed instantly at the question from someone he assumed was Panli’s friend from another faculty. When he looked up at the owner of the thick arm around his neck, he saw Panli pressing a finger to his lips, signaling the other guy to drop the topic.
“Pup… is that true?”
“...”
“I-I don’t know… I’m sorry, okay?”
Panli let out a heavy sigh while glancing at his friend from the other faculty. But when he turned and saw Klai staring at him intensely, he quickly flashed a wide grin. Klai knew he was using that bright smile to cover up the matter.
“What your friend said… is it true, pup?”
The puppy, now being pressed for answers, pursed his lips before nodding lightly. “It’s true.”
Once Panli admitted the truth, Klai, who had never noticed anything unusual on the other’s body, began scanning his face and arms. He spotted faint bruises on the back of Panli’s right hand, likely visible because that arm was wrapped around his neck.
Klai wasn’t surprised he’d only now noticed the bruises on Panli’s hand. From what he’d heard, the incident with Merk happened on Monday, but on Tuesday, the two of them hadn’t seen each other all day. And yesterday, when they did meet, Klai had fallen asleep for hours. By the time he woke up, Panli had to leave, so Klai hadn’t had a chance to notice anything.
“Think I’d better go… you two sort this out, then fill me in later, yeah?”
“You’re such a jerk, Pao… dropping a bomb like that and bailing.”
Panli’s friend from the other faculty gave them a sheepish smile before heading back to the Architecture booth. Klai looked up at Panli again. The latter raised his eyebrows and put on a cheeky expression, as if nothing had happened.
“I think we need to find a place to talk, Sasin.”
“Am I gonna get chewed out for this?”
“Let me hear your reasons first, then I’ll decide.”
“KhunKlai, you’re so small…” Panli paused, giving him a pitiful look, before continuing, “…but why do you seem so scary when you look at me like that?”
“Panli, you are not really scared…”
The listener’s laughter after hearing his words confirmed their truth. The smaller man shook his head slightly, then reached to remove the thick arm around his neck, instead taking Panli’s hand. Klai led the taller man toward the parking lot, where it was less crowded.
“Come on, little pup, tell me the whole story...” Klai said as he led the other to stop in front of his car, speaking in a gentle tone. “And after we’re done talking about this... we’ll talk about your Dad.”
The tall figure flashed a faint smile while looking at him. He crossed his arms and leaned his hip against the car’s hood, making Klai feel like the one about to be scolded wasn’t Panli, but himself instead. “I’ve never seen you this heated before.”
“...”
“Even though you are using the same tone as always, but...”
Panli’s words trailed off as he stepped closer. Their eyes met for just a split second before Klai rested his face on the broad shoulder. He figured this was the only way to calm himself down.
Yes... Klai admitted he was exactly as the other described. Normally, he wasn’t the least bit hot-headed, and very few people ever saw this side of him. Only someone with a strong influence over his emotions could make him feel this way—like Panli, who worried him so much he felt like crying.
“...I’m really worried about you, Panli.”
“...”
“Worried about everything... whether it’s your Dad’s situation that might be upsetting you, or you getting into fights with others and getting hurt, and who knows how many other things I don’t even know about.”
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