Love You Teacher
Chapter 10.
Pobmek found himself standing in front of the condo lobby with Jee and Sodchuen flanking him. His gaze followed the slender figure of Pranee, who seemed to have just recovered from a long journey, yet her face was still full of smiles.
"Thank you so much, Mom. You've gone to so much trouble travelling all this way. Are you sure you won't be staying overnight?" Pobmek asked, feeling a little embarrassed knowing his mother had flown across the ocean to see him.
Pranee shook her head gently and smiled. "It's alright, dear. Maybe another time. Mom has an appointment with the senior citizens tomorrow."
"What...? Your mother has retired, and she's going to run for office again?"
Sodchuen, who was listening, was stunned and exclaimed in surprise. Pranee chuckled softly, "She's an elderly lady, dear."
"If you don't reveal it, I'd think you're a fujoshi (female fan of BL)," Jee said,
Laughing good-naturedly.
"That's already the case," Pranee replied with a wide, mischievous smile, causing all three of them to burst into laughter. But then, Pobmek took the liberty of asking Pranee a serious question, his expression turning serious.
Both of his friends were surprised.
"Um, Mom... I'm sorry to be intrusive, but I wanted to ask to be sure."
"Hmm, is something wrong, dear?" Pranee looked at Pobmek with concern.
"So, did anything happen to Solar when he was a child? As far as I heard, Solar doesn't have a father, right?" Upon hearing the question, Pranee paused. The smile on her face slowly faded, but her eyes remained sincere before she answered honestly and calmly.
"Hmm... Sun's father, I mean Solar's father, he abandoned Solar since he was a kid."
Sodchuen raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Huh? Was Solar's name Sun when he was a child?"
"Yes," Pranee replied.
"Oh, then why did you change his name?" Jee asked in surprise.
"Solar changed his name himself. He probably heard it somewhere and liked the new name."
"I guess so. Mom doesn't remember either."
Just as everyone was nodding in understanding, a pink taxi pulled up. While waiting ahead, it honked its horn to signal that it was time.
"Mom's car's here. I'll be going now, dear."
Upon seeing Pobmek and Jee, along with Sodchuen, they both nodded and raised their hands in a respectful greeting.
"Yes, Mom." Pranee turned around to get into the car, but stopped short. She looked back upon seeing Pobmek again, and a gentle smile shone on her face.
"Mom believes that one day, Solar will definitely appear. Don't rush it. Don't be discouraged, my child."
Pranee's words made Pobmek feel as if a warm hand had stroked his shoulder. He nodded firmly, his eyes filled with hope.
"Yes, Mom..."
Pranee got into the taxi, which slowly drove away. Jee and Sodchuen exchanged glances before Jee gently patted Pobmek’s shoulder in a comforting gesture, letting Pobmek know of his friend's kindness through that warm touch.
The clock on the living room wall showed it was almost ten o'clock. Pobmek walked back into the room, his body exhausted as if he were carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He saw Sun sitting in the middle of the floor, covered with cardboard boxes of various sizes, unpacking the things Pranee had left there earlier.
"Just let me take a quick look. This time I won't break anything," Sun said.
"I didn't say anything yet," Pobmek chuckled softly, because he hadn't even had a chance to speak, but the other person had already preempted him. He walked closer and sat down beside him.
"Let's see. What did we like to play with when we were kids?" Pobmek peered into the box with interest before helping Sun rummage through it. Together, they unpacked, but most of what they found wasn't children's toys at all. Instead, it was Solar's high school and university belongings that Pranee had kept.
"This isn't a toy. Then what's this?" Sun said as his hand fell on an old CD. The cover read, "Sung by Me," in messy handwriting.
The sight of the CD made Pobmek’s heart skip a beat. He remembered what it was and never thought it would end up here.
"Wow, how did it end up here?" Pobmek muttered to himself in surprise.
"A music CD? Uncle, play it for me, please, please!" Sun exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with excitement as if he'd found some priceless treasure, even though it was just a music CD that Pobmek had made for fun back in high school. Pobmek could only reluctantly comply with Sun's request.
"Okay, okay, I'll turn it on," Pobmek said, connecting the headphones to the Discman in the box before carefully putting them on Sun. Sun then looked at the Discman in his hand, vaguely reminiscing about the past many years.
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In a messy, cluttered student dorm room, Mek was tidying up alone. He picked up a CD, one he'd found near the trash can, almost thrown away. He raised his hand to toss it in, but then someone's hand snatched it from him swiftly, as if protecting a precious treasure.
"I sang it myself... so why did you leave?" Solar asked. “I don't understand," he said, glancing at the CD cover in his hand.
"It's just a regular recording of me singing. I don't know why I'd keep it," Pobmek replied nonchalantly. For him, it was just a record of songs he recorded for fun during school break.
"Hey, you're going to sing it yourself? Are you really going to leave? I want to hear it," Solar said, giving him a pleading look. Begging like a kitten wanting a toy.
"Please, let me listen. I promise I won't tease you at all. Like, really not."
"Wow, that's what people who tease say. No way, I'm throwing it away!" Pobmek made a gesture and tried to retrieve the CD, but Solar immediately fled.
"Hey, it might not be a coincidence that it's still here. Otherwise, you would have thrown it away a long time ago."
After being pressured hard by Solar, Pobmek softened and reluctantly agreed to listen.
"Okay, okay, if you want to listen, go ahead... but don't make fun of me."
"Okay, I promise, big brother," Solar smiled broadly, showing all his teeth in delight, before inserting the CD into the DiscMan player and sitting down to listen attentively.
Pobmek saw Solar sitting intently listening to music. At this moment, Pobmek’s face was tense and a little embarrassed when he heard his own singing coming through Solar's headphones. But then, unexpectedly, tears welled up in Solar's eyes. The tears streamed down his cheeks as he continued listening to the music.
"Hey, Solar. What's wrong with you?" Pobmek was so startled he didn't know what to do. He had never seen Solar in this condition before.
"I don't know. When I listen to your song, tears just start flowing." Solar wiped away his tears with the back of his hand and continued listening, even though he still felt strange about himself. Pobmek was puzzled by what he saw, but thought to himself that Solar might just be moved.
I guess a lot of people have listened to the songs he composed.
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The music playing from the Discman was as beautiful as if angels were singing to you. It wasn't perfect singing, but the sound was filled with a multitude of emotions and overflowing joy, and suddenly, tears welled up in Sun's eyes. Clear droplets streamed down his cheeks as he continued listening to the music.
"Sun... are you alright?" Pobmek asked worriedly, hesitantly reaching out his hand to Sun, unsure of what to do in this situation. But Sun didn't answer anything. He slowly leaned back, then rested his head on Pobmek’s shoulder, looking so exhausted it was heartbreaking, and eventually fell asleep.
Pobmek could only hold Sun's body in his arms, trying to wake Sun up. "Sun...Sun...Sun!" Suddenly, Sun woke up with a start, surprising Pobmek, and screamed.
"Hey! You scared me! What's wrong now, Sun?"
"You...it's me...Solar," Solar said in a voice that made Pobmek stop for a moment.
"'Ha...?"
Pobmek exclaimed in confusion. He looked down at the Disc Man in his hand, which was still playing music, and then at Solar, bewildered as to what had happened.
It was almost midnight when Pobmek and Solar were sitting there in bed, with a laptop open for a video call with Sodchuen and Jee. Both of them looked visibly shocked after hearing everything that had happened to Sun and Solar.
"Sigh... Doraemon, the episode about the sleeping CD..." he said in a disbelieving tone.
"Hey guys, you never know! Your song might be the key to helping Sun return to Solar faster!"
Upon hearing this, Pobmek was so overjoyed he almost jumped for joy. He cheered loudly, like someone who had won the lottery jackpot, "Yay!! Finally: I've found a way out!!!"
"Congratulations!" Sodchuen said in a calm voice, but her eyes shone with joy, just like Pobmek's. "But what kind of song is this? Why does it have a sedative effect?"
"It's the song he recorded back in high school," Solar smiled broadly, then gave his boyfriend a thumbs-up. "His voice is exactly like that. I'll have the members play it for him when I meet him."
Pobmek was found trying to open the lid of an old, almost-broken Discman.
But he just couldn't open it. It was so difficult and frustrating that he couldn't help but complain.
"Oh no, will I even get to hear it today?"
"Calm down, Solar," Pobmek replied with a frown.
"The machine is old, it's damn hard to turn on."
No sooner had they spoken than Pobmek managed to open the device, but the entire case came off along with the CD, which shattered into two pieces. Everyone on the video call was so shocked that they almost fell backwards in different directions.
"Shit!!!" Everyone shouted in unison, shocked.
"Oh, you Pobmek-faced idiot! What are you doing?!" Sodchuen shouted angrily.
"Hey, Pobmek! Do I have to go running with Sun again?!" Jee shouted after him.
All three of them sighed in exhaustion. Pobmek sat dejected, regretting his own actions. Seeing this, Solar quickly tried to comfort everyone.
"Um... I have to apologise on behalf of my boyfriend ... but it's alright."
"Okay, everyone, at least we know now that music is the solution, right?" Solar looked at Pobmek with eyes full of warmth and encouragement. Pobmek nodded in agreement, feeling discouraged. Sodchuen and Jee also agreed.
"Sigh... Okay then, let's go our separate ways for today. I'm sleepy."
"Okay, see you tomorrow, P' (older sibling/friend)," Solar said, feeling refreshed.
He and Jee waved goodbye simultaneously before hanging up, leaving Pobmek and Solar alone together. Pobmek felt dejected and threw himself onto the bed, exhausted.
"Oh... I'm so annoyed," he whined in a small, childish voice.
"Please comfort me!"
"Always needing comforting..." Solar muttered softly before slumping down beside him.
"Come on, let's take it slow, okay?" Solar smiled at Pobmek with a heart full of love. Pobmek nodded in understanding. Looking at his watch, which wasn't yet midnight, he spoke up.
"But since it's not even a new day yet... let's celebrate our anniversary! Can we continue?"
The petite teacher smiled shyly, his cheeks flushing, and nodded slightly. The taller teacher smiled with delight before leaning closer. His lips gently touched the smaller teacher's lips. The first touch was as soft as a feather floating in the air. Their lips slowly and tenderly pressed together, gently drawing sweetness from each other before gradually beginning to caress each other. They would merge into one, a surging feeling as the emotions began to overwhelm them. A hand began to reach beneath Solar's shirt, a touch. The surface is soft, but Solar is holding back for now.
"You... as we agreed... let's not do anything yet, okay? Until I recover." He was so annoyed by Pobmek that he almost wanted to disappear into the ground. He buried his head in Solar's chest.
"Oh, okay, then tonight, can I just cuddle you all night instead?"
"Okay, sure." Solar smiled sweetly before Pobmek leaned in and kissed Solar again. Then they lay there looking at each other, Pobmek hugging Solar and holding his hand happily.
In the midst of the anniversary night, the light from the lanterns shone on the old umbrella. A tattered cloud pattern hangs on the living room wall. It's still unknown when Solar will be fully recovered, but if we still hold hands and go together, I believe that time will definitely heal all wounds...