Love In The Air

Chapter 1

You are confused.” Rain excitedly ranted to his best friend. “Can you hear me? He was sooo cool” The admiration was clear in his voice and Sky couldn’t help but be slightly annoyed by his friend’s frantic rambling. “At first, I was terrified, the sound of the rubber exploding and then someone knocked on my window. I thought that was it. I thought I was a goner.” Sky rolled his eyes at how dramatic Rain was being, but this was nothing new. “Not only is he kind but he’s also got great skills and he’s sooo....”

“Drop-dead handsome that puts even idols and angels to shame.” Sky had heard the story that many times he had memorised Rain’s next sentence. “Right?”

“Oh” Rain responded with a disappointed look on his face “How do you know?”

“You know Rain!” He started to tell him with exasperation seeping through his voice. “I’ve listened to it three times.” He couldn’t help smiling at his friend. “Plus, each time you tell the story you upgrade the guy. I think your superbike guy is not a person this time, Rain.” Rain felt his face turn from a smile to a stubborn pout after being interrupted. Sky was probably the only person that he would let interrupt him like that and that was only because they were best friends. Rain felt the excitement and smile on his face turn sour and his face turned into the face of a toddler who didn’t get his way. His friend was indifferent to Rain’s ramblings about the handsome stranger and Rain could tell. He leaned back in his chair and continued to read the cartoon in his mobile phone. He grabbed at Sky’s arms.

“You bastard, listen to me.” He continued to berate. “I want to tell you. I want to tell you.”

“Do you know this is becoming really annoying?” Sky said while rolling his eyes hoping Rain would give him a break.

“And do you know” Rain started to scathe. “You’re mean?”

“Well then” Sky started to tease Rain. “If I am mean, you can go out with other people.” The more Sky chased Rain away the more determined he became. He wanted to tell the story of the handsome stranger on the superbike fully. But Sky was really not interested. He turned the other way tilting his face towards the sun to feel the heat radiate across it. He tilted his mobile phone screen the same way.

“Sky!”

“What?” Sky replied aggravated.

“You’re a mean friend.” Sky, who Rain had now deemed as a heartless friend turned to look to meet Rain’s eyes, then uttered a sentence that would probably have hurt his friend even more if he heard it.

“I can’t understand why you have been blessed with good looks” Sky returned the comment. You’re not even flirting with the girls.”

“BASTARD!” Rain told Sky furiously. “Don’t aggravate me” The more he said the more he sounded like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. He even thought that if he had to get on the floor to wriggle and writhe, he would have done.

While his friend aggravated him, Sky sighed. He put his phone in his pocket and looked straight at the person with the blistering cheeks. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes from his eyebrows to his nose whenever he insists that the other person is good-looking. With pupils larger than those with big eyes, a cute nose, the red mouth, and the white skin of a Chinese descendant, along with a slim body and a height of almost a hundred and seventy, it always made women look twice at him. Sky knew he was never going to hear the end of this rampage until Rain got everything out, he needed to. “Well, tell me then?”

“I knew you were listening” Rain exclaimed the anticipation of being able to talk about it again was emanating off of him like a bright light. “The other day my car’s tyres exploded. I mean like the whole loud bang, the car staggering and all of that. I thought I was going I was going to the underworld, but I survived because I was incredibly lucky. I met a hero riding on a white horse.” Sky raised his eyes towards the heavens as his friend rambled on. “At first, I thought that the man had robbed a bank with the way he looked. He was wearing a helmet that covered his face and eyes.” Rain paused for a moment and Sky looked to the side wondering why his friend had suddenly stopped the ranting. “Oh, hold on” Sky now turned towards his friend interested in what had caused him to stop the rambling. “But come to think of it where do thieves ride around on a Ducati worth a million plus baht.” Rain shrugged his shoulders.“Plus when you take off the helmet and you’re that damn handsome....” His rambling tailed off as he drifted off into his own world. Sky sat nodding as he listened because this would be maybe the fifth time, he had heard this story. He couldn’t help but think back to when he had first heard about what happened. Rain called him just after midnight to tell him what happened. Sky had to hold back from asking his friend if he liked that guy that much why had he not asked for his number.

“What are you talking about?” A girl jumped in front of Rain suddenly.

“Ple!” Rain’s face lit up. The girl that stood in front of them was the most popular girl on campus and in the opinion of most of the straight guys in their department the most beautiful. Rain adjusted the way he was sitting with most of the guys that were sat behind him. They were all trying to get her attention. Sky realised what had happened and sat a little straighter to.Although he was not interested in her, she still beamed a smile at them. Sky laughed realising it was the girl that stood in front of them that Rain had been trying to flirt with for two full months and was getting nowhere fast. Sky couldn’t help but think that if you did not find this woman endearing then you didn’t have a heart. “Do you need anything Ple?” Rain asked

“No” She responded callously. She didn’t mean to sound as cold as she came across. “I do with the student body.” Sky looked at his friend with amusement on his face. Sky knew how excited Rain was every time that Ple approached him. Sky could feel the jealousy seeping from Rain. It was dripping out of every pore.

“Is there anything Ple?”

“It’s regarding next month’s student activities. Do you have the senior’s documentation?” She asked him. Sky looked slightly confused before realisation dawned on him.

“Oh, I do” He told her. “Last month I met Pee Thom. So, I got all the important documentation.” Ple made a dive for Sky’s desk and gripped the edge like a vice. Both guys did not think it was the documentation that was making her excited.

“You met Phi Payu too!” She asked excitedly. “Like Storm! Storm?”

“If you are referring to a storm” Sky joked. “That person could be compared to a type of storm.”

“Really?” Ple was close to hysterical. She had always wanted to meet Storm by had never had the opportunity. “How did you find him? He graduated!” She cried as she moved her face closer to Sky. Rain could feel his eye twitching, He found himself having to stop himself from jumping into the middle of them, but he didn’t want to upset her any. As soon as Rain heard this name Storm mentioned and saw how excited Ple was getting over this man he couldn’t help the jealousy and anger that began to bubble inside of him. He felt something inside him snap as soon as he saw Ple move even closer to Sky.

“Ple, you’re getting too close” Rain raised his arms to pull them apart.

“Hehe” She laughed out loud not realising she was nearly nose to nose with Sky now. “Sorry I got a little too excited.”

“It’s okay” Sky replied. “We understand.”

“But I don’t understand who Phi Payu is?” Rain asked. Before Rain could finish asking both set of eyes turned to look at him with condemnation and insult. Sky couldn’t help but think that Rain must have fallen asleep in the corner of the building to not know who Storm was.

“Phi Payu is the person whom teachers like to talk about the most often.” Ple began to tell Rain animatedly. “Every senior knows him. He won the AsiaStar Award and also represented Thailand in The WorldStar competition and came second. The only reason he came second was because he had to help with work at home and didn’t have time to participate fully.”

“He is the chairperson of our group for three years in a row” Sky interjected. “I thought everyone knew who Storm was.”

“The most important thing” Ple started with the passion seeping through her words. “He is very handsome.” She raised both her hands grabbing at her cheeks. “Rain think about it” She continued to tell him. “My older brother who never compliments a soul in his life is a diehard fan of Phi Payu. He kept talking about Storm to me at home and this made me want to join the architectural faculty purely because of him.” The tone in her voice changed from excitement to disappointment. “Unfortunately, he had graduated when I enrolled.”

“Brother Ple is gay?” Rain blurted out. “Why do you admire him so much?” The jealousy spewed from Rain’s voice like venom. Damn! He chastised himself hearing what he said back. The words slipped out of his mouth in an unforgiveable way. The look of hurt and disbelief of Ple’s face struck Rain to his core. The festive atmosphere had turned sullen. It made Rain unable to excuse himself from the situation he had caused and Sky to look at his friend while thinking that his blabber mouth just got him into trouble again.

“I think if Phi Som is gay then you have to be as well Rain” Sky snapped at his friend trying to make his realise his error. “So, what if he is gay, for a moment I thought you were gay the way you were talking about the big biker guy. I thought you were going to marry him and call him your husband!”

“HEY!” Rain protested. “I was just admiring him.”

“You know even I admire Phi Payu as well and it doesn’t have anything to do with being gay.” Sky turned to Ple. “By the way don’t mind Rain, he didn’t mean it in a bad way” Sky started to explain to her. “He has just been a complete blabber mouth with a sharp tongue lately.” Rain could see Sky was trying to help him solve the situation.

“Can you just send the documents later on LINE?” Ple asked. As soon as Sky nodded Ple turned on her heels and made her way to a group of girls that were waiting for her outside of the classroom. Rain tried to grab for her to stop her and apologise again. But his hands could only grasp the emptiness.

“I don’t have a problem with anyone being gay” Rain turned to Sky desperately trying to convince him because he knew Sky had the same preference. “I just...”

“Spoke without thinking” Sky interjected. “I have three words to tell you Rain” Sky told him. “You are rejected!”

A dangerous looking black cloud began to sweep across Bangkok. The rain began to fall in flashing sheets of cold droplets. The coldness of each drop cut into your skin and watered the ground under your feet, but as the rain fell harder the lightning followed as a roar, the wind was blowing loudly through the windows of the restaurant that Rain and his classmates were sitting in. A senior class man was walking around to ensure that all of the juniors had eaten something before the meeting started. They were all gathered for the meeting for the Architectural club.Rain couldn’t help but notice that the tables were arranged that there were both seniors and juniors sitting at the same tables for them to interact with each other. The senior brother that was sitting at Rain’s table offered him a glass of beer. Rain looked at the glass. “Sorry Phi, I can’t drink. I drove my car.” He politely advised trying not to upset anyone.

“Come on” The senior encouraged. “A little bit won’t do any harm.” Rain was entranced by the amount of people that had attended the meeting. It was a faculty gathering he knew that, but he wasn’t prepared for everyone from freshmen to Alumni to be there. When he thought about it further, he realised that it was a tradition that was continued for the last twenty years so why wouldn’t there be quite a few people there. Rain was already nervous about sitting with the seniors that he knew. How was he going to interact with people he didn’t know? He felt a slight relief when the girl that was ssitting at their table was more interested in the workings of her mobile phone than having a conversation with him.

“Don’t force him” The second senior that was sat with them interjected. “He has to drive back and if that guy comes and finds out that you have been encouraging him, he may curse you out.” Both seniors started to laugh. Rain however instantly looked nervous.

“No!” He told them worried that they had gotten the wrong impression of him. “No Phi, I will never curse you out.” Rain was shaking his head hurriedly.

“Oh Rain” The senior replied laughing. “I am not talking about you. I am talking about the cocky senior guy from our chapter.” Rain looked at both men sitting in front of him confused at who they were talking about. The other chapter members heard the conversation and decided to interject.

“Do you mean the guy who was offered probably the best employment contracts to be offered to a graduate and he turned them down?” One girl asked from behind Rain.

“He was called a diamond in the rough and was highly recommended” The senior replied to the girl. “He never paid any attention to any of the praises.”

“I heard” Another female started to explain. Rain wondered where this woman had come from because she appeared out of thin air. “When he graduated, he never had to worry about job interviews because as soon as they say his name, he was offered the job.” Rain couldn’t help but look around wondering who this senior was that they were describing, and he questioned were the describing a man or a superhero. All of the tables were beginning to pay attention to this conversation.

“He is a complete badass. He is constantly boasting about himself” The senior replied. “But everyone loves him.”

“He is a prince.” One girl interrupted with a lovelorn look in her eyes. “Who would hate him?” Rain looked around at everyone sitting discussing this faculty celebrity, but he didn’t know who they were talking about. He thought he looked like a lost puppy and that irritated him.

“Who are you talking about?” Rain asked.

“Oh Rain!” The senior said with shock on his face. “You don’t know the faculty celebrity?”

“The prince had already graduated when Rain enrolled.” The senior sat next to Rain informed them. “He hasn’t arrived yet eitherI don’t think?”

“But I heard that he still comes to the faculty”

“He comes sometimes at the right place and at the right time.” Rain still was confused about who they were talking about. He continued to play it cool hoping it would make itself clear in time. “The faculty budget gave the council some problems earlier in the year. They went to him for help, and it was resolved in less than half an hour.” The female continued to talk about this celebrity as if he were invincible while the two seniors looked at each other and laughed. “Outsiders called him the Faculty of Architecture’s Hottie, but council members worship him like a god. They even call him ‘The Messiah’.”

“He sounds majestic.” The girl that was sitting next to Rain on her phone included. Rain was shocked she was able to rip herself away from her phone. A loud crack of lightning sounded from the storm that was in full swing outside of the restaurant. The rain was raging with no signs of stopping.

“Damn” The senior sat across from Rain let out. “That’s one heavy storm.” Rain was frustrated now, not knowing who they were talking about, and he gave up trying to figure it out. All he wanted to do was to go home, get into bed and play his video games but he didn’t say that out loud. He wouldn’t dare. He wondered what time he would get home. “I guess the rain is paving the way for the late comer.”

Another loud crack of lightning struck causing Rain to jump a little not expecting it to be as loud as it was, but he was even more surprised when the restaurant door opened, and a man dressed in all black entered with the rain barrelling in around him. The restaurant erupted in a chorus of cheering and clapping for the tall figure that entered. As he made his way into the restaurant, he swiped the long locks of hair that was clinging to his face, clearing what was the dazzling visual that was his face. As he got closer Rain recognised the light-coloured shirt and helmet, the realisation dawned on him as he watched the drop-dead gorgeous man swipe the water from his shoulders. Rain couldn’t help but think that the man was a superhero walking into the restaurant with the lightning streaking in the background the way it was, he was entranced by the man moving his way. “Do you realize what time it is?” The girl turned and asked. “Everyone is about to leave.”

“Thunderstorms!” The handsome man said while smiling at Rain. “Do you think they set appointments to show up?” This time the storm flew around Rain’s head. This was the man who had helped him before. This was his hero. The girl that sat next to Rain had leapt from her seat rushing towards the newcomer to greet him. They both raised their hands to pay respect to the other in a humble manner.

“You are Phi Payu!” Rain exclaimed suddenly slamming his palms on the table with a loud bang. All eyes in the room turned to look at Rain and Payu at that moment.

“Yes” Payu confirmed. “That would be me. Can I know who you are Nong?” At that moment, if you listened very closely, you could hear the loud shaking and shattering sound that was Rain’s consciousness. Rain had to fight the urge to raise his hands to his mouth to bite his fingernails. This was his stress release. Why did he feel like he was going insane? He had shouted in a restaurant and fought with his classmates over the man who stood in front of him, but now he had to fight everything inside of him not to show the embarrassment when he realised that Phi Payu did not recognise him.

“Urgh” Rain couldn’t help but wonder if Phi Payu thought that he didn’t need to remember a person like Rain because he had all of these wonderful, interesting people around him. His rogue thoughts were playing havoc with him. He kept glancing at the table that Phi Payu was sitting at and there were a couple of occasions where Phi Payu would be gazing back. He was confident in his own memory and his eyes were as sharp as a hawk’s. He knew by the shape of the prominent nose, the thin lips and sharp framed face that this was the same man. It had to be him. “Huh” Rain though stubbornly. He was thinking very carefully about what moves to make next because he had to thank him. Frustrated with himself he couldn’t help but scold himself. “Urgh Rain don’t act like you have a secret crush on him! Just thank him, get it over with and move on.” Rain turned his head to try and catch Phi Payu in his eye line again when both sets of eyes locked with each other. This was insane! He dodged his eyes to try and stop his heart from beating out of his chest.

Rain tried to console himself. He had been brought up by his mother to always thank the people that went out of their way to help you and that you should always be grateful to those who have been kind enough to help you and Rain really did not want to be indebted to this guy. So, he kept looking for an opportunity to thank his saviour. He had to admit he was embarrassed about the way he had behaved.

In the end Rain didn’t get to thank or express his appreciation to Phi Payu the way he wanted to. Each time he moved to try there was always a crowd of people around the celebrity. There was also the girl that sat next to Rain originally that had stuck to the senior like glue for the whole evening. She was probably trying to mark her territory. Rain couldn’t help but raise his eyes to the heavens and call her some names under his breath. Everyone started to leave the party and disperse in their different directions. Rain was still trying to find the handsome biker but couldn’t even make out his shadow when the restaurant turned out all of the lights. “Urgh, when did you come out or have you already left?” Frustrated he wanted to close this chapter and move on, but he wasn’t going to get to. “Well, whatever!” Rain cursed as he broke out to a run to get to his car. “There is no need to thank him when he doesn’t remember me” he decided. He would move on no matter what. He didn’t care if he got to thank Phi Payu anymore. As he got into the car, he shook his head and reiterated to himself how cool his biker guy was. He had been talking about him for the better part of a week, but he will go on with his friends and forget about him. He pushed the engine start button on his car only for it to start complaining again. The engine wasn’t starting. “EH???” Rain exclaimed. He began to panic. First the tyre burst and now the engine wasn’t starting, why was his luck so bad. He could feel his heartbeat in his ears. He tried to console himself. “It’s okay Rain” he told himself. “Try it again; maybe it’s just a glitch somewhere.” He tried to start the engine once more, to the engine sounder angrier than it did the first time and the red lights showing up all over the dashboard. His stomach hitched. “GOD DAMMIT” he shouted. “I seem to have no luck when it comes to cars.” Rain kept cursing himself and once again the storm was hammering at his car windows loudly and he had no way of helping himself. He struck his head against the steering wheel harshly which caused the horn to sound loudly. “OUCH”

He looked around to see if he could spot any of his classmates to see if anyone could help him, but they had all left. He was definitely in trouble now because he couldn’t call his parents. They had flown to Europe in the afternoon, and he didn’t want to ruin their holiday. He picked up his phone and started to scroll through his phone book, trying to find someone that he could call to help him. He wasn’t sure if it was a problem with the engine. Should he look for a mechanic? Should he call the insurance company? He didn’t have a number for the insurance company so that was not a possibility. He ruled out getting out of the car and looking under the hood because he didn’t have a clue at what he was looking at. Just as he began to fall into a full-blown panic attack he heard a knock at the window. This didn’t scare him this time round. His eyes widened with excitement seeping from them. He looked up at his saviour for the second time. The hawk like sharp eyes gazed back at him for the second time. “PHI PAYU” Rain shouted with eagerness spewing from him. He rolled the window down in an urgent manner. Rain couldn’t help but praise Payu in his head. “You see? He is the coolest person on the planet, and he is my saviour”

“What’s wrong?” Phi Payu asked not knowing what was happening in Rain’s head. “I heard the horn.”

“The car isn’t starting.” Rain explained. “It was good when we went into the restaurant and now it’s just stopped working.” Rain hadn’t realised he was whining now. He looked up to Phi Payu with hope and admiration in his eyes. He couldn’t help but to try and garner more sympathy from the man who could save him. Rain grabbed for Phi Payu’s arm. Payu couldn’t hold back from staring at Rain anymore. “Phi you are an expert in cars” Rain started to try and flatter him. “Please help me out one last time?”

“You’re Rain right?” Payu asked.

“Yes” Rain replied puzzled why he was asking his name now. “Help me, Phi Payu. Please.” Payu leaned into the car to see if he could see the warning lights on the dashboard and came face to face with Rain. Rain could feel the warmth of Payu’s breath on his cheek. It gave him goosebumps and made his whole-body tingle in a way that he was not used to with men. Phi Payu and Rain both sat staring at each other with intensity. Rain could feel the heat rushing to his face. It was cold outside but both men could feel the heat rising between them the closer they got to each other. Rain could feel the s****l energy between them rising and the feelings he began to feel for the handsome stranger unsettled him. He had always been attracted to girls and this man was making him question that. He abruptly turned to face the front to try and hide the sound of his heart hammering against his chest.

Suddenly he felt the warmth of Payu’s breath next to his ear. “If you are trying to seduce me, try to do a better job at being subtle about it.” The prominent nose that Rain had been admiring most of the week trailed across Rain’s cheek bone. Rain let out a gasp with the shock and heat he felt by coming into contact with Payu.

“What did he just say?”