Bittersweet Love // #KaoEarth AU

42.5 (Kao's POV)

The clouds outside the small window were his only landscape view for more than 11 hours since he boarded the plane. He was all but sighing, feeling ache all over his body as he stepped out of the plane and set foot for the first time in a long time on the ground of his motherland. His brown orbs are swiping past the frenzied people inside the airport.

“How many years has it been since you were here, Kao?”

The man who just came out of the international board at the airport looked up front, where he saw a young guy holding out a sign written as ‘Kao Noppakao’ in his hands. Kao shrugged his shoulders and took off the sunglasses that covered his eyes. He placed them inside the long brown coat he wore before giving the single bag he was bringing to the guy who now stood in front of him.

The younger one took the bag and slid it on his shoulder, “How were uncle and aunty?”

Kao sighed, “Mom’s fine, and dad was his usual self. That old man was still trying to hook me up with his friend’s daughters, which irritated me to no end. As my cousin, you must have known how stubborn my dad is.”

“I know how crazy uncle can get,” the younger one replied, looking pitifully at Kao. “Forcing his only son to study abroad just to make you separated from the first person you felt attracted to in your life,” he slung the long string of the bag that was handed by his older cousin on the shoulder. He saw the shrewd look on Kao’s face and added, “Which was a man.”

Kao was silent at the reminder of his possibly first crush. Then, he looked thoughtfully at his cousin, “Do you have information about you-know-who?”

His cousin was looking at him in bewilderment and was laughing hard the next few seconds. When he stopped laughing at the glare Kao gave him, he replied, “Was he Voldemort? Why didn’t you just say his name?” He chuckled at the softened look Kao gave him. “And to answer your question, I have first-class information about him.”

Kao frowned, “What do you mean first-class? Was it that easy to get his information here?”

His cousin chuckled and nodded. At Kao’s questioning look, he finally answered, “I got them because he and I are in the same major at the university.”

At the answer, Kao pushed his cousin’s shoulder hurriedly out of the airport and to the parking lot. “You better tell me all you know before I smack you in the face for forgetting the respect for your Phi since before. I’m still way older than you, Gulf Kanawut, you brat.”

***

Kao was glaring daggers at his younger cousin, who sat across the table from him. He slightly and silently kicked Gulf’s sin with his long leg.

“Huk…!”

Gulf looked down at his feet and found Kao’s leg hovering over his own, threatening to kick him again if the younger one was still ignoring his glares. He gulped and looked around the table they were at, which was filled and had a good mood right now except for Kao, who felt betrayed at his lie this afternoon.

Kao looked down at his phone when Gulf motioned for him to open it when it vibrated in his jeans pocket.

“Just bear with this group blind date for a while, Phi. I picked you up at the airport yesterday, right? So keep smiling; you’re here to fill an empty spot anyway. I will take you to his workplace after this.”

Truly, Kao wishes to hit that brown head of his cousin so much. He looked out the window of the bar they were at and lazily looked around when he got slightly surprised when he saw a somewhat familiar figure walking outside, a rather nostalgic person. At the nudge on his shoulder, he averted his eyes and looked at the one who had to disturb him on identifying if his eyes were seeing right.