Lil' Prince

Chapter 23

Kongpob: 21 Arthit: 13

3rd Person's POV
Kongpob was folding a few pieces of his laundry that he'd done earlier today and was getting ready for bed when his phone rang. He picked up his phone and he frowned a little as he saw an unknown number on display.

'Who would've called this late?' It was almost midnight and most would've already gone to bed. Kongpob thought at first that it might be an emergency and his heart tightened slightly when he thought that maybe it was from KhaoFang or even Prem.

"Hello?" He hesitantly said as he answered the call.

"Hello, is this Kongpob Suthiluck?" The man on the other end sounded a little unsure.

"Yes, I'm Kongpob. Do you need anything?" Kongpob couldn't figure out who the man was as his voice sounded unfamiliar to him.

"Kongpob, I'm Somchai, you can call me Som." The person said and he paused for a moment, and Kongpob almost thought he'd accidentally hung up the call, "I'm your father's lawyer."

The man finished and his word made Kongpob speechless.

"W-What do you mean? I don't have a father."

"I know that he'd abandoned you and I know his reason behind all this." Kongpob instantly hung up the phone, blocked the number, and tossed his phone on the desk as it landed on his stack of books.

'This is just a dream.' He said to himself as he lay on his bed.

'I'll just sleep, and tomorrow will be okay.'

But deep down he knew, it will never be okay...

He struggled to fall asleep and had one of the worst nightmares in these past few years last night as he woke with a throbbing headache. He felt uneasy the whole day as he proceeds with his studies and his part-time job. He wanted to shake off that feeling but he failed and his phone rang when nighttime rolled again.

This time, a new unknown number.

He wanted to hang up the call, but he couldn't resist the urge to know everything even if the truth may be ugly.

_______________________________________

Kongpob regretted picking up the call.

He shouldn't have felt curious about the truth. He should've been content with what he had at the moment.

Ruffling his hair as he grunts in frustration, defeat, and disbelief. This time, he couldn't help but call Aim even when it was already late at night.

"Aim." He called out, not realizing that his voice was shaking slightly.

"Kongpob? Is something wrong?" Aim noticed the tremble in his voice and dropped the pen that he was using to write some notes.

"Nothing, just that... are you busy right now?" Kongpob was afraid that he would impose on his friend since he could hear May talking in the background.

"No, no, do you need me to come over?" Kongpob could hear the chair scraping against the floor along with keys rustling, "I'll just come over right now."

And before he could protest, Aim had hung up the call leaving Kongpob no choice but to wait for his friend to arrive.

Aim on the other hand told May what was going on and she told him to stay by Kongpob's side to help figure things out for him. Aim was thankful that May understood his friend's situation and placed a kiss on his cheek before leaving his dorm. He'd also texted Prem about Kongpob's strange behavior when he was on the way to the latter's apartment.

"Kong?" He'd knocked on the door incessantly for a few minutes and he was getting worried. But luckily, the door squeaked open when he was about to rush to the office and get some help opening the door. He could smell a strong smoky and ashy scent and he almost coughed as the smoke entered his lungs.

"You're really loud, Aim." Kongpob said as he smiled but Aim knew it wasn't his real smile.

"Get inside." Kongpob ushered his friend to come in as he inhaled the cigar between his fingers. He sat on the couch and Aim settled on a bar stool not far away from his friend. Kongpob was taking puffs of a cigarette and he had a bright smile on but Aim was quiet.

He was waiting, waiting for Kongpob to tell him anything that was on his mind.

Being friends for more than 5 years, Aim knew that pushing Kongpob wouldn't make the latter speak to him, instead, would drive him further away.

"Aim." When Aim thought Kongpob wasn't going to speak for the whole night, he finally heard his friend calling out his name. He turned his gaze to Kongpob and found the man finally butting his cigarette, staring into space.

"Have you wondered who you are?" Aim was confused by Kongpob's question and he heard the man continue, "I've always thought that I'm Kongpob."

"And I should be Kongpob, a child abandoned by his mother who didn't love her child enough to let him stay with her."

"But I know I'm not Kongpob." Aim still couldn't figure out what his friend was saying but decided to just stay quiet and maybe let him vent out his thoughts so that he would feel better.

"I knew I wasn't just Kongpob... I could feel him in me, especially during nights when I was alone and everything is silent around me, I could feel him." But the man suddenly chuckled, "What am I even talking about?"

His gaze finally focused on Aim and his lips curved into a small smile, "I'm fine, Aim. Sorry for interrupting you and May with my ramblings, you should go back to her."

Aim wanted to stay but he saw the glint in the man's eyes and he knew he should leave. He stood up and went to the door, turning the knob but he stopped and turned to look at his friend that was relighting his cigarette with foggy eyes.

"Call me or Prem if you need us, Kong. You are Kongpob to us."

Aim left and as soon as he got out of the building, he took out his phone and gave a call to Prem.

A/N:
Happy 2023, guys! Wishing everyone a great year ahead. More mysteries will unfold soon so stay tuned and have a delightful holiday❤️