Leaving Behind

4. Hotpot Room

PETE

True enough, I heard from Arm and Pol that Khun Noo make a scene since early in the morning on the next day, looking for me.

"It was awful. No one can stop him. He refused to go back to his room or anywhere else. He waited outside Khun Kinn's office, demanded Khun Kinn to call you over. Even Khun Korn came out of his office." Arm placed his hand on his forehead while shaking his head, reminiscing yesterday's event.

Hearing their story makes me want to laugh my head off. I feel bad for them, but it's about time for them to learn how to manage Khun Noo's temperament. They can't always rely on me to control Khun Noo everytime he lose his mind.

Pol grabbed both of my shoulders, turning me to face him while begging, "Pete, please. Promise me you will never leave us again."

"What? How can I..." I couldn't finished my words because I was interrupted by Pol.

"Promise us!" Pol shook my body. I let out a force laugh, answering with heavy heart, "Okay..."

"Let go of him." Arm saved me from Pol's gripped. "By the way, where did you went yesterday?" Arm asked me.

"Pete! Where did you sleep last night?" Porsche interrupted. He walked directly to us and sat on an empty chair across mine.

"You didn't come back last night?" Pol's eyes widened.

"I did! Porsche slept on my bed. I had to look for other place to sleep." I replied. I did returned last night at around four in the morning after roaming around the city without any purposes. I did that sometimes whenever I feel troubled and wanted some time to be alone.

When I arrived at our room, the room was filled with alcohol smell Porsche looked so wasted while sleeping on my bed. So, I decided to go to the gym to sleep although I couldn't even get a wink of sleep.

"You guys went to the bar and having fun without me." I continued, making them felt guilty.

"It's not our fault. It's Porsche's idea!" Pol blamed Porsche.

"I need to think of something to distract Khun Noo. If only Pete came back earlier, he would be able to join us!" Porsche defended himself.

"Seriously, where did you went, Pete?" Arm repeated his question that I thought had been forgotten by him.

"What are we having for today's lunch?" I asked them, changing the topic.

"We are having hotpot today! How can you forget that?" Pol answered excitedly.

"That was today?" I asked again, in shocked.

"Yes! Thanks to Porsche. We get to..." Pol wanted to talk more, but was interrupted by me. I already knew what happened between Khun Kinn and Porsche. I am happy for them, but there was something else I need to confirm.

"Are you guys going to sauna later?" I asked for confirmation.

"Yes, how did you know?" Arm looked puzzled. I left his question hanging.

"I should get going." I excused myself. Part of it was because I really do had to go before Khun Noo went berserk while the part of it was because I didn't plan to talk with them about my whereabout yesterday and I needed some time to prepare myself to what was about to happen later today. "Porsche, please don't stay too long in the sauna." I gave him a little piece of advice before leaving.

I contemplated whether I should join my friends for the lunch or not. They saved a spot for me, but I can always made up an excuse for not joining them. I sat on a bench in the garden near Khun Noo's fish pond, alone, secluded from others. The sun was right above my head, but this was the only place I can find to think without being disturbed.

I let out a heavy sigh. I don't even understand myself. I do not know why should I avoided him. Maybe the fact that I am no one for him right now does scares me. This Vegas is not the Vegas I knew. This Vegas is ruthless, cruel, and heartless. This Vegas is in love with Porsche. Am I that afraid of the pain of not being loved by him?

I glanced over at the watch on my wrist. It's already half an hour after lunch hour started. Vegas should be going back by now. I decided to go eat lunch or my stomach will start to growl. I expected the hotpot place to be empty. However, it turned out to be exactly opposite.

I walked to the hotpot room booked by Arm for us. I peeked into the family members' room. Khun Kinn and Khun Noo were still in there. Our room located across the family members' room.

"Aren't you guys eaten yet?" I asked once I entered the room. Porsche, Arm, and Pol turned almost at the time to look at me.

"Finally, he's here! My blood pressure is so low I could faint again." Porsche complained.

"He spent too much time in sauna that he fainted." Pol said while shaking his head.

"You never listen, aren't you?" I laughed at Porsche.

"Come and sit. We are just getting started." Arm said, gesturing to an empty chair at Porsche's left side.

"Why?" I feel like screaming, but I walked into the room anyway. All of a sudden, Arm, Pol, and Porsche stood up, looked at over my shoulder. I turned my body to see Vegas standing right behind me. I took two steps back, slightly bowed and greeted him, "Khun Vegas."

"Pete." He tapped my shoulder, causes me to flinch.

"Mind if I join you guys?" He asked looking at Arm, Pol, and Porsche's face. Then, he looked at me. I can feel his hand slided down from my shoulder to my arm. He lightly stroked my arm before moved his hand away.

I didn't know where did I got the courage to say, "Khun Vegas, you shouldn't be sitting here with us. We are just some mere bodyguards."

"Pete." I can hear Pol called my name, giving me a warning with worried tone. I can sense the sudden change in air in the room. Vegas and I were staring at each other.

"Khun Vegas, you can sit here." Arm quickly pulled out a chair located right in front Vegas that was previously used by Porsche. Vegas took the chair and sit while giving me a little smirked.

"Sit." He told us to sit down. I knew his real reason for coming here. He wanted to flirt with Porsche and mess with Khun Kinn. Arm, Pol, and Porsche moved towards their own seat. Instead of finding my way to the table, I stepped towards the door.

"Pete!" Vegas shouted. At the same time, I almost bumped into Khun Kinn that suddenly appeared in front of the door. I stepped back and greeted him with a slight bow. Porsche, Arm, and Pol also standing up and greeted him.

Khun Kinn tapped my shoulder. His eyes directed me towards the table, giving me instruction to take a seat. I followed his order and took a seat at Vegas' left. Khun Kinn proceeded to take a sit on the chair that was previously own by Pol at Porsche's right side.

"The auction is on this Saturday, right?" Vegas started a conversation with Khun Kinn. I held my breathe, my mind wandered thinking about how Porsche got into trouble that time. I should really reminded him not to drink any beverage offered to him. I used my chopstick to pick up the meat from my bowl just to put it back. I had been repeating the same gesture for a whole minute now, getting attention from the others.

"Pete!" Arm called me to get my attention. His eyes directed me towards Khun Kinn and Vegas. I shifted my head to look at them looking at me. "I'm sorry." I apologized to them.

"We met yesterday. No wonder I felt that you looked familiar." I can see a changed of expression on Vegas' face. He smirked while looking at me.

"I had worked in main family for few years now. That is probably why you..."

"No." Vegas interrupted. "We met yesterday at..." A loud BANG was heard. Khun Noo arrived and hit Vegas' head. I remembered feeling bad for Vegas when this happened before. This time, I feel like hugging and thanking Khun Noo.