The Next Prince, Chapter 32 pg3
The Next Prince, Chapter 32 pg3
Khanin headed towards the restroom. He urgently pushed open the door. His eyes widened as he immediately caught sight of the tall figure who used to shield him with unwavering strength. Now, that figure slumped against the restroom door, gasping for breath, with sweat trickling down his forehead.
Phii Ran!” The young man startled and hurriedly approached the figure on the floor, his small trembling hands reaching out to support the warm cheek, lifting it to meet his gaze.
“It's okay...”
“What happened? Are you hurt? Where does it hurt, Phii?” The warm voice mingled with anxious eyes, concerned about the trembling figure and unreliable voice.
He didn't want the younger person to worry further; thus, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and adjusted his complexion to appear normal, contrasting with the tumultuous state of his inner turmoil.
“Nin...”
“Yes....”
“It's nothing, just feeling a bit dizzy from driving.” The older person's voice softened, and he gripped the slender wrist, using a lighter tone to keep the truth from being revealed.
However, Khanin noticed everything. He remembered well that this wasn't the first time he had seen this look in Charan's eyes. If he guessed correctly, it seemed that the other party had a reaction to the rain, but just never spoke of it. What mattered most was that he wasn't sure...
“I understand, don't struggle. We can rest here together.” Khanin didn't want to add to Charan's distress.
He let the younger person support himself out of the restroom, trying to maintain a calm and gentle demeanor.
Because Charan's condition wasn't good. Khanin insisted on spending the night at a homestay, while Jirat's family warmly welcomed them, sharing the same sentiment as the prince—a night's rest was better than getting caught in the pouring rain.
The second floor of the homestay consisted of the guest rooms prepared for important guests. The decoration was simple, with a focus on local simplicity, rather than elaborate luxury, which gave it a somewhat unusual appearance.
Khanin settled himself on the large bed in the middle of the room and allowed Charan to go freshen up. Meanwhile, he found solace in lying on the soft bed, nearly ten minutes passed before the taller figure emerged. The prince had unintentionally fallen asleep, only to be awakened by Charan's call to shower.
The young boy didn't spend much time on washing and cleaning himself before coming out of the bathroom again, feeling more refreshed than before.
“Better now?” Khanin greeted the person sitting on the bed, fidgeting with their mobile phone. He noticed that Charan was absorbed in making phone calls, so he approached closer to get their attention.
“Oh...” Charan responded with a voice in his throat, raised his head to look at each other for a moment, before turning back to type a message on his mobile phone without thinking of acknowledging the person who walked up to stand beside him.
The name Chakri stood out on the screen, and the latest message Charan typed made Khanin understand why the other party seemed more interested in their phone than talking to him.
‘We'll return tomorrow morning. Please inform the Royal Office so that they won't worry.’
Looking at the content in the conversation box, Khanin already knew that Charan was referring to someone. The young boy allowed someone older than him to engage in a text conversation with Chakri. As for himself, he retreated and sat down on the side.
“Let's go to bed. We must hurry back to the palace tomorrow morning.”
The force of the bed motion caused Charan to hurry to finish the conversation with the person on the phone. The young man turned around and said something in a low voice, which made Khanin furrow his brows in confusion.
“Why don't you come and sleep here, let's sleep together. The bed is big.” Khanin called out when he saw the older person turning off the lights until only the bedside lamp remained.
“It's fine, sleep comfortably.” Charan declined without mentioning the reason he went to bed on the floor, but instead he stood there, looking at each other with a gaze that Khanin couldn't decipher.
Although they had slept together before, why...
Many questions arose in Khanin's mind, but before he could ask Charan fled to sleep first, lying down on the floor with his back turned, as if to force Khanin with no other options.
The young prince had to lay down on the bed. Because Charan's uneasy facial expression was still in his sight. Khanin tucked himself in the blanket, trying to sleep, but... it had been a long time since he couldn't greet even a little after lying down, listening to the sound of the thunder continuing for a while, the feeling of drowsiness didn't enter even a little amidst the confusion.
The lower the temperature dropped, finally, the cold air made the person on the bed raise their eyes again in the darkness, shifting slightly to alleviate the coldness from the lower temperature that made them feel uncomfortable even in thin night clothes.
The sound of rustling fabric called Khanin to move towards the edge of the bed, the light from the sky sneaking through the gap in the window curtains revealed the person on the floor hugging themselves in the darkness.
“Can't sleep?” A soft voice called out, making the older person turn back to look. For the minute that their eyes met, the rain outside seemed to fade away gently.
“Yeah...”
“...”
“Can't sleep either?” The muffled sound replied in the midst of silence.
Khanin shifted closer to the edge of the bed, cupping his ear to catch the soft sound, “Oh...”
“Still surprised?”
He didn't know what Charan's facial expression was like at this moment, the surrounding light wasn't shining much, so the young boy had to understand the other person's emotions through their voice.
“Not anymore.”
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