Through time

Summer

Summer was uneventful for Krist. He spent time with his family, cousins, aunts and uncles as well as their group of friends but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There was no 'spark' to the gatherings. He went, he laughed, ate, had fun but at the end of the day, he went home. Alone.

True to his word, Singto called Krist everyday. They shared stories on Singto's adventures in Japan. The older promised to send a few souvenirs so Krist could relate. It became their routine. Krist and Singto would go about their days, always ending with Singto calling Krist, connecting via video call. They sent messages throughout the day, remembering to share experiences, and events that they found interesting. They even went on a tour of Tokyo together one time, all the while on video call. Singto went around Akihabara, visiting all the anime places, which he enjoyed with Krist.

It came to a point where their messages and calls were the highlight of Krist's day, the rest of the time he existed just to be. Their friends were concerned with Krist but chose to stay out of it.

New keeps in touch with Singto, though not as often nor as much as Krist does. He reports back to Singto whenever anything concerning Krist happens, that New was sure Krist would not share. There was a time when Krist tripped and almost sprained his ankle, he did not tell Singto about that particular incident, New however did.

One thing that New conveyed regularly to Singto was the times that Victor spend with Krist. As much as possible, one of the guys would be with Krist, tiring as it sounds. They all volunteered for the job, wanting to help out. They all knew how Singto felt about their Nong and how Krist felt about their friend.

As soon as Singto left, they saw more and more of Victor. He always found a way to be around them, no one knows how.

"He's a persistent bother, isn't he?" New voiced out one afternoon. Krist was out with his parents, leaving the guys to themselves.

"Yeah. How does he even know where Krist will be?" Off responded.

"It's like he has our schedules on his calendar!" Nammon interjected.

"Maybe he's stalking Krist!" Gun added.

"You've told Singto?" Ice referred to New.

"Of course I did."

"I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not that Singto knows, when he's so far away and can't do anything." this from Nammon.

"Let's see." Gun answered then turned to Off. "Hun, how would you feel if it were me in Krist's shoes and you were in Japan?"

"I'd want to know so that I can have guard dogs around my Honey all the time." Off replied.

"That's it then. I think Singto needs to be assured that we're on it." Gun concluded.

"You're right, of course. Since he can't do anything about this Victor situation, he trusts us to do our best to intercept." Ice added.

"Yeah. It's not like we haven't had four years' worth of experience or anything." Off stated.

"Hahaha! Yeah. What's with that?! He should've just laid down the law and claimed Krist our first year."

"Well Nammon, I asked him about that, as a matter of fact." New revealed.

"And?" Nammon.

"He said he was wary of bringing it up with Krist because of the different backgrounds." Ice answered. "And when he thought he was ready to broach the subject, the letters and gifts kept coming. You all saw how Krist reacted to those."

"Yeah. It's more like how he didn't react." Off answered.

"Exactly. He thinks Krist is not interested. He never showed any reaction, good or bad about that. So Singto decided to let it rest, looking out for the right moment." Ice concluded.

"But there were a lot of moments!" Off cried.

"But Honey, remember, Krist is innocent, unlike you. He might not get the subtle hints and all that." Gun answered off.

"Well, he does seem a bit oblivious. I mean how obvious can Singto be?" Nammon sounded outraged. "I mean, the hand holding, the daily Nomyen delivery, the graduation kiss! Come on!"

Ice answered "Not everyone is as obvious as your 'disco room persona' haha!"

"Well that was funny! Did you guys see Victor's reaction? Haha! Like he was hit by a ton of bricks!" Nammon laughed at that.

"Good job that day Nammon!" New and Nammon high-fived. "I knew you had it in you, but man, you had that boy whipped in 0.5 seconds!"

"Hey, what really happened to the Foundation Day confession?" Nammon asked no one in particular. Everyone knew that the confession did not happen, thought the details were unclear.

New answered "I asked Sing that night. He said he was walking to Krist to pick him up for the dinner we had that night and he was side-tracked by a group of freshmen. He talked to them and when he went to look for Krist, Victor was talking to him."

"That guy again! I swear..." Gun was restrained by Off's "Hun, chill.."

"So anyway, Sing heard Victor confess."

"What did Nong Krist say?" Ice asked.

"He's not interested." New answered.

"That's it?" Nammon.

"Yup. So Singto decided not to push, he felt like Krist wasn't ready or something." New finished.

"Ah....." This from everyone, save New who told the story.

"You know, Krist really is oblivious, isn't he? Which is weird!" Nammon exclaimed.

Each of the guys had a story for all the obvious things Singto did, to Krist's oblivious reactions. They made a pact (again) to help Singto out however they can.