SOTUS - The Next Chapter

7.

Arthit and his team are busier than usual with the preparations for the new project. They are almost done finding suppliers and the purchases have already passed the approval of the higher ups so they should be able to start production soon. He is glad that everything seems to be going smoothly and although he's working overtime almost daily, at least he has something to keep his mind off the fact that he misses Kongpob.

It's been a little over a week since he left. They only manage to talk at night, after Arthit is back home. He normally doesn't call his boyfriend during his own lunch breaks because he knows the other is in class at that time.

However, today he loses to the urge to text his junior and he types in a short "Hey! How are you?" while he's sipping on his pink milk, at the cafeteria. He can't help grinning when the immediate reply reads "Hi, P'Arthit. Not so good because I miss you like crazy!!"

"Arthit, what's so funny?" Todd asks, leaning in his chair to try and catch a glimpse.

"Todd, it's rude to invade other people's privacy like this. Besides, isn't it obvious he's chatting with Nong Kong? That's about the only time he's in a good mood, as of lately." Earth says.

"Okay, okay, sorry." the young man apologizes.

"How is Kongpob, by the way?" she then asks.

"He's fine. He said that he ..." Arthit is too embarrassed to continue so Earth finishes his sentence for him.

"... misses you, right?"

"Yeah ..." Arthit answers and bites his lip to suppress another grin.

"I bet he can't wait to come back home. I'm sure you are, too." Todd adds with a playful jab into his co-worker's side.

Later on in the afternoon, Arthit is walking down the hallway towards his office, some files he brought from the Production Department in hand, when he suddenly hears a familiar voice that makes him stop in his tracks and freeze on the spot.

He turns to see Kongpob's father with Khun Piroj a few steps behind and he greets them with a wai. Arthit tries his best to keep his composure, although his heart is beating so hard he can hear it in his ears. He needs to clear his throat before he can speak.

"Mr. Suthiluck, what brings you back to Ocean Electric?"

"I've decided to supply you with the plastic components needed for the solar-powered grill. My son told me about this new project of yours and the promotion video on your website caught my interest. I thought it would be profitable if we worked together again, so here I am. Sure, I could have sent one of my representatives but I wanted to see for myself just what this project is all about and how are things going at the moment."he explains.

Arthit has stopped listening to him after he heard the word website. If Kong's father browsed their home page, he must have also run into the video of his confession. Besides, almost if not all the employees know Arthit is dating this guy's son. If by any chance, Mr. Suthiluck has run into a big mouth like P'Durian, he definitely found out.

"Khun Arthit! Arthit!" Mr. Piroj waves his hand in front of Arthit's face and the young man finally snaps back to reality."What's wrong with you? Were you even listening? Khun Kerkkrai wants you to show him the progress you've made so far."

"He must be that happy to hear the good news." Mr. Suthiluk observes chuckling, which only seems to amplify Arthit's uneasiness.

"Oh, but I think we should ask P'Earth to do this because she is the leader of the team."