Me After You ✔

009

Knott felt rather helpless about the entire situation.

Jamie's family had forgiven Jay, and simply viewed it a prank between classmates that unfortunately went overboard; although Namtarn was indeed on the receiving end of numerous bullying incidents, Namtarn's death was ultimately caused by suicide. Thus, from a legal point of view, there was no direct connection between her death and Jay's bullying incidents.

With respect to Jay's physical humiliation and bully of Namtarn, the forensic investigator had already pronounced that the injuries on Namtarn's body failed to meet the requisite criteria necessary to constitute an 'injury' under the law. Although procedure provides for Jay and his group of friends to be detained for a certain period of time, they had been released on account of their young age.

Although Jay was expelled from school, this was meaningless to Arthit.

Since Jay and his friends were no longer in school, they transformed into a bunch of wild, rabid wolves on the streets, and had absolutely no restrictions or restraint. They concealed themselves near the roads back and forth from school, and pounced on you the very moment you let down your guard.

There was no war between the wolves and the sheep on the food chain – a war implied that both parties had equal power; instead, the wolves hunted whilst the sheep were devoured.

Knott began fetching Arthit to and fro from school on a daily basis.

He treated Arthit extremely nicely. He would always purchase breakfast and dinner for him, and would occasionally bring him to various restaurants on the pretext that he was too skinny, and required additional nourishment.

Due to the nature of his job, Knott frequently worked irregular hours. As a result, Arthit gradually grew accustomed to sitting on the steps in front of his house whilst waiting for Knott. On several occasions, Arthit would even utilize the surrounding lights to memorize numerous vocabulary.

The warm glow of the early morning sun shone on his head and the back of his neck. Arthit saw his own shadow in front of him – the shadows around his head betrayed the tiny, unruly strands of hair that refused to be tamed.

Arthit glanced at his watch. He was going to be late once again. Redirecting his attention to the book in front of him, he simply continued with the calm memorization of his vocabulary.

The sound of approaching footsteps rang out, but it wasn't Knott. Arthit held his breath, and gradually rose from his seat. He gingerly placed his right foot on the step before him, and readied himself to run back into the house if the situation called for it.

The face of the youth appeared beyond the surrounding walls. Taking a seemingly unconcerned glance beyond the walls out of habit, Kongpob's gaze grazed past the metal gates and collided with Arthit's. The two of them stared at each other, the surprised and blank expression on their faces coloring the entire incident with a comical tone.

Arthit hadn't seen him for a long time. Kongpob's hair had grown longer almost like his during this period, and the bandage on his arm was now glaringly absent.

Kongpob took the initiative to begin the conversation, "What are you doing here?"

Arthit retracted his right foot in an inconspicuous manner, and straightened himself before explaining in a small voice, "This is......my home."

Stumped by his reply, Kongpob only managed to continue the conversation after a minute had passed, "What I meant was, what are you doing here now? Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

Arthit remained silent.

"I'm asking you a question." With his hand stuck in his pocket, Kongpob kicked the metallic gates with his foot, and was about to enter the yard when Arthit's voice rang out.