03: Too Much Tears

"I like you...as a brother,"

BLINK.

Phukong woke up from his usual nightmare.

He sighed as he kept looking at the ceiling.

Can't he just have happiness for once?

*

KNOCK KNOCK.

Phukong knocked at Sarawat's dorm, with his pillow in his hand.

He heard some shuffling and groaning inside before the door finally opened.

CLICK.

"Phukong?" Sarawat said, rubbing his eyes, "What are you doing here at one in the morning?"

"Phi," Phukong said, "Can I sleep with you?"

That's when Sarawat noticed the pillow trapped in his brother's hands.

Sarawat yawned as he spoke, "Phukong, I'm very sleepy right now. I don't have time for your pranks."

Phukong clenched hard on his pillow. "Phi," He said, softly, "You told me to only come here if I need a shoulder to cry."

Sarawat's sleep vanished in thin air, as soon as, he saw tears threatening to fall down from his brother's eyes.

He only moved away from the door and let his brother inside.

Walking slowly, Phukong sat down on the couch. He had his knees curled up and arms around it.

A few minutes later, Sarawat came back with two cups of hot chocolate and blankets.

Putting the cups on the table, he wrapped one of the blankets on his brother and gave him a cup from the table.

Sarawat then settled beside him and did the same thing.

"So," He spoke, taking a sip of the hot chocolate, "What happened?"

Phukong stared blankly at his cup. "Nothing, P'Wat," He said in a soft voice.

Sarawat sighed. "I'm your brother, right? Why are you hiding things from me?" He asked.

Phukong shook his head. "You might not like it," He said, drinking his hot chocolate.

"Fine," Sarawat said, "Tell me when you feel free to."

He put his cup away and turned on the television.

"P'Wat," Phukong said, putting his cup away, "You said you were sleepy. Don't waste your time on me. Go to sleep."

Sarawat smacked his brother's head. "Shut it," He said, "I'm not going to sleep until you do."

Phukong kept staring at the latter. His brother would be the most complex person in his mind.

Sarawat noticed the quietness of the room.

He turned towards his brother and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

That's when Phukong couldn't take it anymore. He hugged his brother tightly and cried on his chest.

"Phu—" Sarawat was too stupid to know what to do in this situation. He simply hugged back his brother.

"Why?!" Phukong cried, "Why, Phi?! What did I do to deserve this?!"

"I like you as a brother,"

"I like you as a brother,"

"I like you as a brother,"

"I like you as a brother,"

The voice he loved the most, now became his nightmare.

Sarawat was shocked to see his brother in this state.

"Phu—Phukong? What's wrong?" He asked, raking his hand on his brother's hair, "Please tell me what's wrong."

Phukong sniffed and removed himself from Sarawat's hug. "So—Sorry, Phi," He said, "I'll leave. I didn't mean to bother you."

He started leaving with his pillow when Sarawat grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the couch.

"You are not going anywhere until you tell me what's wrong," Sarawat said in a stern and angry voice.

Phukong flinched, hearing the voice tone of his brother.

Sarawat mentally cussed himself in his head for being angry. His brother was already scared and he made him more scared.

Without wasting time, he pulled his brother into a hug and said, "Sorry."

"It's okay, Phi," Phukong said, "I need to leave."

Sarawat shook his head. "No. You don't need to. You came here to sleep, then you'll sleep here," He said.

"But—"

"No buts. We'll talk in the morning," Sarawat said, throwing Phukong's pillow towards his bed.

He stood up and said, "Come on! Let's sleep now."

Phukong could only stood up in defeat and followed his brother.

*

In the morning, when Tine arrived at his boyfriend's dorm, the first thing he saw was Sarawat sleeping while sitting on the edge of the bed and Phukong was sleeping peacefully, having his brother's hand on his hair.

Tine chuckled. He nearly woke them up, before he saw the tear stains on Phukong's cheeks.

"Wat! Hey, Wat!" He whispered loudly, shaking his boyfriend.

Sarawat groaned. "What time is it?" He asked, feeling sleepy.

"Shush," Tine hushed Sarawat before his loud voice wake up Phukong, "Phukong is still sleeping."

Sarawat threw a glance towards Phukong and nodded. He got up his bed and went to brush his teeth, while Tine ordered their breakfast.

In fifteen minutes, Sarawat finished brushing and the breakfast was already here.

Phukong was still sleeping. Nobody turned on the lights or removed the curtains.

The room was dimmed.

"So," Tine said, "Why does Phukong have tear stains? Was he crying?"

Sarawat nodded. "He came here last night," He said.

"Why was he crying?" Tine asked, feeling worried.

Sarawat shrugged. "He didn't tell me anything and I didn't force him to tell me," He said.

"Wat! Open the door," Boss and Man whispered loudly.

Basically, Sarawat asked them to bring Phukong's things in his dorm and whisper when they arrive.

Tine marched towards the door and let Boss and Man in.

As soon as they entered, the first thing they saw was Phukong's tear stains.

Man gasped. "Wa—" He nearly shouted. "Was he crying?" He whispered, after clearing his throat.

Sarawat told them what happened at night.

It was now Boss's turn to gasp. "Pity, pity," He said.

The boys heard some shuffling in the bed, before Phukong finally woke up.

"Phi?" He said, rubbing his eyes, "What time is it?"

"Don't worry," Sarawat said, flatly, "You have no class today. Go back to sleep."

"Hm," Phukong said, "Then I'll be sleeping."

"Nope!" Tine interrupted, "Nope! Nope! Have your breakfast first, then sleep with a full stomach."

Boss and Man dragged Phukong out of the bed and threw him in the bathroom. They then threw his things inside.

*

"Phukong," Sarawat said, looking at his brother on the other side of the table.

"Yes, Phi?"

Sarawat coughed and said, "Wha—Who made you cry?"

Phukong froze for a decent moment.

"Phukong?" Sarawat asked, again.

"Phi, don't worry," Phukong said, "Nothing happened."

Boss smacked Phukong on his head. "Just tell him the truth!" He said.

"You know?" Sarawat asked in disbelief.

Boss nodded. "In the defence, Man also knows," He said.

Before Sarawat could yell at his friends, Phukong said something that shocked both Tine and Sarawat.

"I like P'Mil," Phukong said, "I love him, just like how you love P'Tine."

*

Meanwhile, in the other side of the campus, Mil was looking for something, or someone in general.

"Hey!" Mil stopped a boy, "You are Phukong's friend, right?"

The boy nodded.

"Do you know where is he?" Mil asked.

The boy shook his head and said, "Sorry, Phi. I don't know. We don't have any classes today."

"Oh," Mil said, in disappointment, "It's okay."

Mil went straight to his class, looking sulky.

One of his friends, Talay, smacked him on his head when he saw the latter being sulky.

"Oi! What's wrong?" He asked, "Missing Phukong?"

Mil scrunched his nose. "What nonsense? I'm not missing him! I'm just—" He said, taking a deep breath, "I'm just worried."

Talay sat down beside him. "Worried? About what?" He asked.

"I like his brother's boyfriend," Mil said, sighing, "I think he is angry because of that fact."

Talay nodded in deep thought. "I got a question though," He said.

"What question?"

Talay looked at Mil and asked, "Is Phukong angry because you like his brother's faen or is he angry because you like someone else?"

Mil was taken by surprise. Before he could answer, the teacher entered the classroom.

And Talay went to sit beside his boyfriend.

*

Sarawat choked on his food. "Who?! Mil?! You like that bast—I mean Mil?!" He yelled.

Phukong nodded, flatly. He was playing with his food.

Even Tine was taken aback.

"Why him?!" Sarawat whined, "There are other good looking boys in the campus if you were interested in the other game!"

Phukong looked at his brother, unamused. "Even P'Forth from engineering is handsome. Everyone is interested in him. He is a moon and even won the runner up. Should I go after him?" He said, sarcastically, "If not him, there's P'Beam from medical. He is handsome and cute sometimes."

Tine, Boss and Man gasped.

If Forth was the nightmare of all fathers, then Beam was the death.

Sarawat was stuck, between Mil liking Tine and Phukong liking Mil.

Where would that take them?

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