The Next Prince, Chapter 10 pg2
The Next Prince, Chapter 10 pg2
Experienced people don't dare to speak, but Charan knew very well how risky Tattanai's actions were. If lucky... sometimes miracles could happen, but if unlucky both Khanin and Tattanai might have to part ways without even having a chance to say goodbye, and that thought was suffocating.
It's no different from the incident that Charan encountered before…
“Where are you going?” The movement of Khanin stopped all wild thoughts in the older man's head. Charan was about to say something at first, but when he saw the direction the younger boy was walking, he changed his mind and decided to follow silently.
Khanin wasn't going home, but had another destination in mind...
The numbers on his wristwatch showed one thirty. Khanin had a new goal in mind, which was a park far away from his home. His thin body hurriedly ran along without paying attention if anyone was following him or not.
“Nin listen to me, don't follow and stay here by the third pine tree. Do you remember?”
“Dad, please don't go.”
“Wait for me there until sunrise.”
The third pine tree... it was a place where he and his father often went on weekends, a little flicker of hope in the darkness. Khanin thought Tattanai might have gone ahead and waited there. He quickened his pace.
The young man walked along, carrying his hopes with him, but what he saw in front of him now blew out the light of hope he once had.
The park was empty, and there was not even the shadow of a person in sight.
The atmosphere around was eerily quiet and empty.
Khanin took a deep breath, his eyes hiding behind his bangs, but he told himself to wait patiently.
Wait for an hour, his father must come...
Tattanai had never broken any promises he made... his father would always keep his word, and Khanin hoped this time would be like every other time.
The clock hand passed from minutes to hours. Khanin used to think that waiting for something in life was annoying, but he never expected... waiting could turn into fear.
Three or four minutes passed, and a clear drop of water slowly fell. Khanin's eyelids were hot, and the scene in front of him seemed to blur, but he stubbornly refused to let his vulnerability show.
He told himself that he wouldn't cry. There was nothing sad about it. The sun hadn't even risen yet. His father said he would be there before the sunrise.
No matter what, his father had to come... he had to come for sure.
The white-bodied house owner comforted himself and waited. Khanin used to enjoy watching the sky and waiting for the first light of day, but this was the first time in his life that he didn't want the sunrise to arrive.
The morning air in the capital city of England was not cold enough for snow to fall, and the temperature wasn't below freezing. However, the heart of the young boy who was waiting for the arrival of his beloved person was cold and painful.
The color of the sky above had changed. The lump in his left chest beat slowly. Khanin tried to hold back his tears, but they slowly fell. When the young boy looked towards the road ahead, all he saw was emptiness, just like before...
Tattanai didn't come... he really didn't come.
“Why... damn it...” His father never broke his promises and kept his words, and Khanin knew that better than anyone. The weak body of the young boy collapsed onto the ground, as if he had no energy left. A voice inside his heart screamed at him to accept the truth.
The truth that Khanin never wanted to accept...
The truth that Khanin never wanted to acknowledge...
The truth that no matter how many candies he ate, his father would never come back to be with him again...
“If your anger is less, eat candy, my child...”
He tightly held a small piece of candy in his trembling hand. Khanin let his tears flow freely, and the first light of day warned him that this long wait must end here.
The young boy raised his shaking hand and took the small piece of candy, savoring its sweetness and swallowing it. A faint whimper was carried away by the wind. Khanin wondered if his father had finally come to find him.
Charan looked at the young boy in front of him, and the image he saw almost overlapped with his memories of the past. The tall figure moved closer and placed his palm on the boy's shoulder, feeling the shudder of sadness from his body.
He let him be, let Khanin sink into his grief for a moment before uttering some words as a sign that they... still had to move forward. “Let's go, you...”
Even though Tattanai would not come back...
“What do you want to eat? I'll order it.” Charan said to the silent man. They were currently in a small hotel room near Heathrow airport.
Khanin sat quietly on the queen-sized bed, staring at the sunset which was shimmering through the window. The golden color from the outside sun mixed with the tears in his eyes.
The slender figure did not respond or show any acceptance, only silence that spread around and covered the small rectangular room, forcing Charan to move closer to the young man. He peeked sideways at the boy who kept looking blankly out the window without any target.
Charan couldn't possibly guess what Khanin was really thinking. He only knew that now the other side was in such a weakened state that he seemed to not want to think about anything anymore. This could be seen from the fact that he easily agreed to come here normally he would resist all the way.
When it was still dark in the morning at the park, Charan could understand everything that had happened himself. Tattanai must have said something to Khanin, so he decided to go there. He waited silently for the boy while thinking about the next step. If something bad happened to.... Tattanai.
He didn't look at the world in a negative way, but stood on the basis of reality. Charan had the duty to keep Khanin safe. He evaluated the situation that had arisen quickly in his head and then came to the clear conclusion that from now on, the house was no longer safe.
Those men in black...intentionally harmed Tattanai. However, this assumption is not yet clearly proven. But no matter who those people belong to or what their intentions are, his mission and responsibility will not change.
Charan had to take Khanin back to Emmaly, and he spent the dark morning planning everything from booking the hotel to getting the plane tickets. Luckily, when they retrieved Tattanai's backpack yesterday, he had everything he needed, so he didn't have to prepare anything else for Khanin except for some clothes.
However, Charan realized that buying some things outside of the hotel might be a good idea. After all, hiding the Young-Prince of Atsawathewathin was now his top priority.
Bringing Young-Prince back to their country safely was their most important mission, but there was another thing that was equally important now...
“I don't know what you like to eat, so I ordered a variety of dishes.” Various international food boxes were lined up. Charan received no response from his roommate, so he decided to buy four or five dishes to bring back to Khanin.
In truth... wasting food wasn't good, but sometimes in situations where someone's mental state was fragile, it was better to let things go.
“I'm not hungry.” The younger boy refused with his eyes fixed on the floor, making it difficult for the older man to decide what to do.
“What do you want to eat? Otherwise, you won't have any energy.”
Charan was doing something out of character.
“...”
He chose one of the food boxes closest to him before handing it over to the younger boy to look at.
“Do you not understand what I'm saying?” Although his sentence structure was awkward, Khanin's voice sounded vulnerable.
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