In the late afternoon, with the sun no longer harsh, Yod was busy tidying up his little flower shop. The flowers had sold out early today, so he took the chance to clean up and close shop a bit sooner than usual.
He was crouched down, carefully wiping the front glass door with a serious expression, when suddenly—
a shadow appeared on the other side of the glass.
— "Oh my god—!"
Yod startled and took a half step back, clutching his chest, then glared at the familiar face beyond the glass.
Faisal, wearing a gleeful grin like someone who had just pulled off a hilarious prank, stood there beaming.
— "Surprised?" Faisal asked, a mischievous sparkle in his eye.
— "Surprised your head! Are you crazy?!"
Yod all but shouted, and without hesitation, threw his cleaning cloth straight at Faisal.
— "Ow~ Why so harsh? I just wanted to boost your mood a little…"
Faisal dodged while pretending to rub his shoulder, playing the pitiful victim so exaggeratedly that it was hard not to laugh.
— "That was me being nice. Of all the ways to show up, you chose that? Do you have too much free time or something?"
Yod snatched back the cloth, gave Faisal a small but pointed tap on the chest, his eyes narrowing in a half-scold. Yet behind the irritation, there was a faint trace of amusement.
— "I'm sorry, okay~? Don't be mad."
Faisal switched to full-on puppy mode, grinning from ear to ear while rubbing Yod's shoulder like a child begging for candy.
Yod folded his arms and looked Faisal up and down.
— "So? No work at the company today? You seem very relaxed."
— "Nope, finished early. So I came here… to invite someone out to eat."
Faisal tilted his head up, smiling at Yod with a hint of hopeful anticipation.
Yod raised a brow.
— "Invite who?"
— "You, of course." Faisal replied without missing a beat, his tone confident and unwavering.
— "Sorry, I'm busy."
Yod answered without much thought, turning back to continue wiping the glass.
— "It's just tidying up… Did you really have to turn me down that coldly?"
Faisal mumbled, half to himself, half deliberately loud enough for Yod to hear.
— "Yup."
Yod gave a small nod, not slowing his movements.
Faisal stood there for a moment, then without another word, walked over and snatched the cloth from Yod's hand.
— "Give it here. I'll help."
Before Yod could react, his hands were empty, and all he could do was cross his arms and watch Faisal start wiping the glass.
— "Hey… Do you even know how to do that? You're always buried in meetings and composing music. Ever touched anything like this?"
Yod raised a teasing eyebrow, though his tone carried a tinge of genuine curiosity—maybe even a little warmth.
— "Hey hey~ Don't underestimate me, Mr. Faisal, okay? Watch and learn!"
Faisal was clearly having a great time, getting into the task with an oddly serious attitude.
His movements were clumsy, a little awkward, but undeniably endearing.
Yod stood back, arms crossed, watching the man in front of him.
Unconsciously, his lips curved into a soft smile.
— "Alright, alright. I get it. You're amazing.
Fine, you do that. I'll finish up inside, then we'll go eat."
Yod's voice tried to stay composed, but the glint in his eyes betrayed how much he had let his guard down—like he was already halfway convinced.
— "Mmhmm~ Go on."
Faisal didn't look back, just gave a small reply.
But the corner of his mouth had already curled into a satisfied grin.
Yod turned and headed back inside, rearranging the leftover bouquets, gently aligning them in neat rows.
Outside, Faisal continued wiping the glass with careful attention.
One arranging flowers, one cleaning the windows.
Each small action, each stolen glance between the two, painted a picture of quiet tenderness.
Amid the soft scent of blossoms, they looked like a newlywed couple preparing dinner together—no need for declarations.
Every gesture was already full of feeling.
And perhaps, this affection—though not yet spoken aloud—
wasn't far from blooming.
————————————————————
It was evening at Jay's house. He had just walked in when he saw Mr. Sakda sitting on the sofa in the living room, his expression somewhat contemplative.
— "Dad, you're still up?" Jay walked over, a hint of surprise on his face.
— "I was waiting for you. I wanted to talk with you for a bit." Mr. Sakda looked at Jay with somewhat tired eyes.
— "I also have something I want to say to you." Jay pulled a chair and sat down across from Mr. Sakda.
At that moment, outside Jay's gate, Ying was standing hesitantly. In his hand was a small pastry—likely the kind he remembered Jay liked best. He stood there for a long time, hesitant, before finally taking a deep breath and pushing the gate open.
Inside the house, Jay and Mr. Sakda were talking. The atmosphere felt different from their usual conversations. Jay was the first to speak.
— "I'm getting ready to go back to France. Now that your health is stable again, I should return to focus on my career." Jay was calm, his voice unwavering, as if he had already prepared himself for this.
Mr. Sakda fell into a thoughtful silence. Jay noticed and tilted his head slightly, a bit puzzled.
— "Weren't you going to say something to me?" Jay asked, his eyes curious.
— "I want you to stay in Thailand." Mr. Sakda replied, neither fast nor slow, but his eyes were firm and resolute.
— "Excuse me? What did you say?" Jay was surprised by the statement. Until now, Mr. Sakda had always supported Jay's decisions and never interfered with his career path… But this time…
— "I want you to stay in Thailand, take over my work. And you can also start your singing career here." Mr. Sakda remained calm, but clearly unwavering in his intention.
— "Dad… what's going on?
You've never shown interest in this before. Didn't we agree that I would be free to pursue my own path?
What's happening today?" Jay was visibly stunned, unable to hide his emotion. His voice rose, tinged with frustration.
— "I may have never mentioned it, but that doesn't mean I never cared.
Jay, I'm being honest… I never wanted you to be alone in France. I've always wanted you to come back to Thailand, to carry on the work I've spent my life building…" Mr. Sakda's tone grew firmer in response to Jay's resistance.
Jay took a deep breath, trying to compose himself, though his expression had clearly gone cold. He asked slowly:
— "Then why now?"
— "Because I feel… here we have family, neighbors, your older friends—people who care about you." Mr. Sakda answered steadily.
Jay's face showed no reaction. He looked directly at his father.
— "The reason?"
— "What do you mean?" Mr. Sakda faltered slightly at the question.
— "What makes you think I have brothers, sisters, and friends here?" Jay repeated, more clearly this time, his tone ice-cold.
— "Then what do you think they are, Jay? Weren't they the ones who always cared for you, worried about you?" — Mr. Sakda began to sound displeased, seemingly trying to calm Jay down.
— "Cared? Worried?
Dad… do you even know what they did to me back then?" — Jay let out a soft, bitter chuckle, a mocking smile playing on his lips as he recalled the past.
— "…It was just childish stuff. Why do you keep holding onto those little things? Since when did you become so petty?" — Mr. Sakda blurted out, still thinking it was nothing more than typical childhood squabbles. He had never truly known what had happened.
But he had no idea… that his words just now had touched the very limit Jay had been trying so hard to suppress. Jay was disappointed—because not even the only family he had truly understood him…
— "You say that because you don't know what really happened to me. You don't know what I went through. You don't know… what they did to me." — Jay's voice trembled, and tears began to fall silently down that beautiful face.
Mr. Sakda was stunned—he never expected his son to cry over events from so long ago.
— "Then… what did they do to you, Jay? Aren't Ying, Faisal, and Chirawan treating you like a younger brother now? Like family?" — He still didn't understand.
— "What kind of family looks down on and shuns a child just because he didn't have a mother?
What kind of family scolds and pushes away a kid when his family's going through hardship?
What kind of family isolates a child when he's crying out for help, Dad?" — Jay lowered his head, not wanting his father to see the fragile, wounded side of him that he had buried for so many years. He had tried to forget, tried to hide it all, but today… everything came rushing back, and he was completely unprepared.
Outside the door, Ying had heard the entire conversation.
He clenched his fists—not out of anger, but out of shame. Regret. A suffocating guilt tightened around his chest as he heard Jay recall the past.
So Jay still remembered…
So all of Ying's efforts to make amends all this time… hadn't been enough to heal Jay's pain.
— "Jay… why didn't you ever tell me about this?" — Mr. Sakda stood frozen.
— "Because I didn't want you to worry." — Jay broke into sobs, no longer able to hold anything back.
— "Jay… I…" — Mr. Sakda choked up.
— "Back then… you were always so stressed. Every day you came home from work looking exhausted. If I told you all this, you'd worry even more. I didn't want to burden you…" — Jay's voice cracked as he forced the words out.
Mr. Sakda said nothing. He was remembering… it was true—back then, he had been buried in work, barely paying attention to Jay—a ten-year-old child, left to face the world alone.
Jay lifted his head, eyes red and swollen.
— "Do you know why my Toby died?"
— "…"
EndofChapter33.