Always

Chapter 3. Troubled

"You're living with my brother and YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?!" Technic's betrayed voice resounded in the car as Kengkla drives them to school.

"Your brother didn't even tell you." Kengkla replies lazily.

"Yeah but you're my best friend in this world I NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS!" Technic was heated up. He was asked by his mother to bring some food for Techno this morning on his way to school. He obliged because he can just get a ride from Techno and their mother threatened to cut his allowance if he didn't. But to his surprise as his brother opened the door he saw the one and only Kengkla casually laying on his bed playing with his phone.

"We're not even that close", was Kengkla's emotionless reply.

"Yeah right, I'm just the brother of your ex." Technic's reply earned him a kick from Kengkla.

"But seriously Kla how was it? You've been living together for weeks now, I want to know the tea." Technic clungs on to Kengkla's arm and annoyingly flash a teasing smile in Kengkla's face.

Kengkla was trying to get rid of the clingy Technic, "Get off me or we're gonna crash."

Technic sat up straight and spoke, "Funny isn't it? You won't even hang out with me at home anymore since you broke up with P' but here you are literally living in together. Is that what they call fate?"

"That sounded even more gross coming from you." But Kengkla wonders the same too, why is fate playing with him like this. If he can't have the man he loves the least fate can do is to get him out of Kengkla's life. But now everything just seems to return from the beggining.

🔼Throwback (17 months earlier) 🔽

"Dear, we're going out. Do you want anything?" Kengkla's mom calls out from outside his bedroom door. Kengkla had always been in his room, everytime he arrived from school he would go straight to his room and never come out until the next morning.

"No mom, I'm fine." Eventhough she's worried Kengkla's mother seens to be fine after seeing Kengkla eat, go to school, and respond. In Kengkla's mind his mother is assured as long as she sees Kengkla alive and moving

Kengkla's thankful his mother never questions him about his behavior for he won't be able to explain if she does. He can't explain how dead he feels. Or maybe not dead, just utterly numb. Or maybe not numb, he feels everything that it's overwhelming. He feels all the pain.

But he never cried. Or maybe that one time Technic told him a really funny joke to cheer him up. It was really funny that Kengkla started to tear up, his stomach was hurting because of all the laughing. But still it wasn't enough to cover up the hurt he feels in his chest that seconds later he was having a breakdown in front of a panic-stricken Technic. Technic never once saw him cry, a crying Kengkla was not even materially possible for Technic that he didn't really know what to do with the boy in front of him.

It's been three months and it hurts all the same. Fck

Since then, Technic tried his best to help Kengkla. They would go to different parties, go drinking, try every single video games, buy clothes as Kengkla is obssessed with them, play football eventhough Technic hated anything that involves physical strength. He even tried setting up Kengkla with other girls but Kengkla would always be uninterested with every single one of them.

Is my brother really that great?

For Kengkla, he never dated the girls Technic set him up with because he felt like he was cheating on someone which is really bullsht, wasn't he the one who was cheated on? But he was nevertheless thankful for everything that Technic did for him. It did distract him and as months went by he didn't feel the same pain anymore.

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But now everything seems to be going back. The moment he saw Techno again within that close proximity everything he tried to so hard to get rid of - the pain, the bitterness, his love for the older boy - everything was coming back. And Kengkla knows that for some goddamn reason he can't resist Techno.

If he were to answer Technic's question how it was living with  Techno he'd definitely say it's torture, having him so close by your side but never quite reaching him. It's hard having all these feelings yet unable to do anything about it. It's hard holding yourself back when every single fcking time all you just want to do is hold him again in your arms the same way you did before. It's hard realizing you're nothing to the person you would do everything for.

How was it so fcking easy for him to bring back everything I tried so hard for a long time to forget?

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Later that night Kengkla invited Technic to go drinking. It was saturday the next day and Kengkla just wanted to relax or maybe get away from Techno a little.

But of course fate wouldn't just let him live, Techno and his group of friends from his college is also at the same bar. It was too late to turn back as Type already called Technic over and all Kengkla could do was follow. Ironic how now Kengkla is there drinking with the person who's the reason why he decided to go drinking in the first place. For god's sake this isn't funny.

Soon they were out of drinks and Techno was the one who voluntered to get some. And while everyone was so immerse in a conversation while Techno went to get the drinks, Kengkla just carefully watched Techno walk towards the counter. And he saw how a maybe drunk person stumbled upon Techno who was struggling to hold three bottles of beer together which, because of the impact, was now spilled over the floor while some catched on to the other person's pants and shoes.

Kengkla saw how the man grabbed the collar of Techno's shirt and punched him then and there. Everything happened so fast that Kengkla was frozen for a moment.

Soon everyone's attention turned to the silver-haired boy on the ground holding his bleeding lips.

Type and the other taller boy among them who Kengkla didn't recognize immediately went to help Techno. The apparently drunk guy was escorted with two of his friends outside. Kengkla knew the other two guys, they were Kengkla's age and were from the same high school. Kengkla immediately followed them.

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Now Kengkla stood in front of a Honda Civic Sedan with a broken side mirror and windscreen struck by a bottle of beer.

"What do you think did you do huh?!" The guy who punched Techno, maybe a year or two older than Techno, was now charging for Kengkla but was stopped by his friends. "Who do you think you are?!"

"Here", Kengkla says as he throws a calling card in front of the guy, "Just call that if you want to ask for compensation, I can even buy you a new car."

"You're lucky this was the only thing I did. For what you've done I can even beat you to death right now. If you don't believe me, just ask your friends."

Kengla left but not without spitefully saying, "Lay one finger  on that boy again and trust me you'll regret living".

an: Thank you everyone for reading, for your comments, and for the votes. I appreciate it. Please do tell me if the pacing or story is okay and suggest some ideas lmao. I'm out here having a mental block. 😂 I'm not really a writer but I'm trying because Techno and Kengkla fans like me need to be fed since the series is literally giving us nothing hahahaha

peace