In Love With An Idiot

Chapter 18: Argument

“Acting Chairman of the Board of Araya Public Company Limited.”

 

“But... that's your position, P'Eurn!”

 

“Correct.”

 

P'Eurn was the Chairman, P'Erng was the Vice-Chairman, and now he wanted me to take over P'Eurn's position temporarily?

 

Didn't he say the previous person had resigned?

 

Wait a minute!

 

Can a company owner even resign?!

 

“P'Eurn, are you planning to sell Araya?”

 

“I'm not selling it. I just can't cope with managing it anymore. I'm not particularly good at running an organisation. I'm a doctor, Pei. Nobody can be good at everything. That's why I'm going to hire someone to manage it for me. Someone to act as my representative.”

 

P'Eurn had told me plenty of times that he didn't want to run Araya anymore. He wanted to hand everything over to P'Erng. But P'Erng always refused. He said that if P'Eurn had too much free time on his hands, he'd end up behaving like a chicken, running around pecking at everyone!

 

“But will P'Erng agree to that?”

 

“Erng has resigned. Here, look at his resignation letter.”

 

“WHAAAAT?!”

 

P'Eurn opened his briefcase and pulled out a resignation letter. It was covered in that ridiculously distinctive, messy handwriting I'd recognise until the day I died. He'd resigned himself, approved his own resignation, and even arranged for it to take effect in just seven days!

 

“P'Eurn... did you do something to tease P'Erng?”

 

Because there was absolutely no way P'Erng would simply abandon his own company. Without P'Erng, there'd be nobody left to manage Araya!

 

P'Eurn was practically just the owner in name. His responsibilities were mostly limited to signing certain documents as the company's owner. But P'Erng devoted himself completely to Araya. He worked late, attended endless meetings, and went out on site visits. There was no way he'd resign unless he was furious with P'Eurn.

 

And if P'Erng resigned, all those responsibilities would come crashing down on P'Eurn instead.

 

“Why are you accusing me like that, Pei?”

 

P'Eurn looked confused. But I saw it!

 

He definitely froze for a moment!

 

I knew it!

 

I was absolutely right!

 

“Well, P'Eurn is always complaining that P'Erng refuses to become Chairman. And now P'Erng has resigned and dumped all his work on you. That means he must be angry with you! Even someone looking down from Mars could work that out!”

 

“And now you're trying to put Pei in that position instead! You must have some kind of plan, P'Eurn! Pei couldn't manage anything! I can't even manage my own life properly!”

 

“P'Eurn, you're planning to use Pei to force P'Erng to come back to work, aren't you?”

 

“Don't be ridiculous! You're overthinking things, Pei.”

 

I might be a little slow at understanding things sometimes, but this was sooooo obvious!

 

I'd been around these two brothers for years. And I knew P'Erng's workaholic personality extremely well!

 

He was ridiculously dedicated. P'Eurn, on the other hand, was always the one messing about. P'Erng was constantly complaining that even though P'Eurn had bought a hospital, he still refused to serve as its Director. He was forever missing important meetings, claiming he had an emergency patient. And P'Erng would complain and complain and complain!

 

He's a psychiatrist, not a bloody surgeon!

 

“P'Eurn, you can't fool Pei about this. I've listened to P'Erng complaining about you far too many times! He even told me that one day you'd definitely find a way to dump the Chairman's position on him!”

 

“Erng gossips about me that much?”

 

“Yes! Once, P'Erng was so angry that he told Pei if I ever got ill, I wasn't allowed to go to your hospital. He said I should go to a competing hospital instead!”

 

“He was also angry because your hospital keeps getting inspected. P'Erng said he was starting to wonder whether you were an unethical doctor!”

 

P'Eurn looked as though his entire world had just collapsed. I knew P'Erng very well. And I knew P'Eurn very well too!

 

These two brothers had been playing mind games with each other for as long as I could remember. I usually tried not to get involved because I could never keep up with them. And I didn't want to get involved this time either!

 

What on earth was going on?

 

I was completely confused!

 

Even if I was someone the Araya family trusted, there was absolutely no way I could become Acting Chairman of the Board. P'Eurn had been worrying about the company's reputation. But surely promoting a receptionist straight into the Chairman's position would look even worse!

 

Everyone would hate me!

 

“I just want Erng to come back to work. And I want him to become Chairman too. You know I'm genuinely no good at this sort of thing, Pei. Besides, I've been having problems with my love life lately. If I have to manage Araya on top of everything else, I'll never get a boyfriend!”

 

“P'Eurn, you need to talk to P'Erng about that. You can't sort it out by talking to Pei. I'm not P'Erng.”

 

“Then give me some advice as Erng's future boyfriend.”

 

P'Eurn looked thoroughly dejected. For about two seconds. Then his eyes started sparkling again, and he went straight back to teasing me!

 

I was beginning to understand why P'Erng complained about him so much. What sort of person had this many tricks up his sleeve?!

 

I wondered whether P'Eurn's romantic problems were because the man he was pursuing found him just as irritating as P'Erng did.

 

“Well, you should do what you once advised Pei to do. You need to have an argument! Why don't you try arguing with each other? You might understand each other better afterwards.”

 

“Erng and I argue all the time!”

 

“That doesn't count as arguing, P'Eurn! That's more like playfully bickering. Pei means a proper, serious argument!”

 

P'Eurn froze. Then he burst out laughing.

 

“You're a dangerous little thing, Pei! Looks like I'll have to buy you steamed snow fish more often. Would you like another plate of stir-fried cabbage?”

 

“Yes, please! Could I have two plates, P'Eurn? This restaurant is sooo good!”

 

I parted ways with P'Eurn outside my condominium, carrying Little Erng back up to my flat. But I couldn't stop thinking about P'Erng's resignation. If P'Erng had really resigned, surely everyone in the company would know by now. Even when the Purchasing Manager resigned, the whole company had been talking about it!

 

Pong was always telling me that someone from one department was planning to resign, or that certain departments weren't getting along. P'Erng held such an important position that Araya would definitely have to prepare for his departure. There'd have to be an executive meeting or something like that. I didn't really understand much about those things. But I'd spent so much time with P'Erng that I'd picked up quite a lot about how Araya worked.

 

Whenever P'Eurn, P'Erng, Khun Ta, and Khun Nid discussed business, they never bothered hiding anything from me. After all, they trusted me. Even though I couldn't always piece everything together, I was certain this entire situation had happened because P'Erng was angry with P'Eurn. Company policy required employees to give thirty days' notice before resigning.

 

P'Erng had complained many times about employees who resigned and then disappeared without following proper procedures. He hated people doing things incorrectly. There was no way he'd break those rules himself under normal circumstances!

 

I had no idea what P'Eurn had done to make P'Erng so unbelievably angry. Otherwise, P'Erng would never have pulled a stunt like this. I really wanted to ask him. But there was still another whole day left before I could see him!

 

Hmm... Maybe I should just ring him.

 

“Hello, Pei.”

 

Eeeee!

 

His voice was so soft!

 

As soft as Little Erng!

 

“P'Erng, Pei has something important to ask you. Are you going to bed yet?”

 

“Not yet. I was just about to ring you, but I noticed the lights were off in your flat. Where have you been sneaking off to? You went to the cinema yesterday too, you know.”

 

I hid behind my curtains and peered towards his balcony. A faint light was glowing through the curtains of P'Erng's flat. A moment later, the balcony door slid open. P'Erng stepped outside wearing nothing but a pair of pyjama bottoms, then leaned against the balcony railing.

 

“I went out for dinner with P'Eurn. Why aren't you wearing a shirt? Do you enjoy showing yourself off?”

 

“Someone's being strict. Are you feeling possessive over me?”

 

“Full of yourself... Pei isn't possessive at all!”

 

“Could you come out onto your balcony for a moment? P'Erng misses Pei. I can see you hiding behind the curtains, you know.”

 

“P'Erng has to put a shirt on first!”

 

“I thought you said you weren't possessive?”

 

“P'Erng, you're not allowed to negotiate!”

 

“Okay, okay. I'll listen. I'll do as I'm told. Give me a moment. I'll go and put a shirt on first.”

 

P'Erng disappeared for a little while before returning in a proper long-sleeved shirt. My satisfaction level shot up so high that if it had been a graph, the line would've gone straight through the roof!

 

P'Erng actually did what I asked!

 

How lovely!

 

“How was dinner with P'Eurn?”

 

“P'Eurn told me you resigned. P'Erng, are you really going to leave the company?”

 

“Mm. Aren't you shocked, Pei?”

 

It was already dark, so I couldn't see his face particularly clearly from where I stood. But I could tell he was looking at me, just as I was looking at him.

 

“I'm not shocked. P'Erng is a grown man. Pei knows you're the most careful person in the whole world when it comes to making decisions. You must have your reasons. Pei respects P'Erng's decisions, whatever they're about.”

 

“But Pei would still like to know why. Hehe.”

 

“What do you think happened, Pei?”

 

“Pei thinks P'Eurn must have done something to make P'Erng angry! He tried to sweet-talk me into becoming Acting Chairman of the company! How could I possibly do that? Pei doesn't know how to do anything except transfer telephone calls!”

 

P'Erng laughed and told me I'd done well not to fall into P'Eurn's trap.

 

“Pei told P'Eurn that he needed to apologise to P'Erng. You two need to sort things out properly. And P'Erng, please don't stay angry with P'Eurn for too long, okay? I feel sorry for him. And I feel sorry for Khun Nid too!”

 

“No wonder Khun Nid told me before I finished work that we might not get a minimum three-month bonus anymore. Pei was confused about why she was telling me that!”

 

“There have been rumours lately that Araya's making huge profits, so everyone was expecting a three-month bonus this year.”

 

“Khun Nid must be terrified that P'Eurn will run away from his responsibilities and we'll all lose our bonuses!”

 

“So you're telling me not to stay angry with P'Eurn because you're worried about losing your own bonus, is that it?”

 

“Hehe... Pei might be hoping for that just a tiiiiiny bit!”

 

“It's three whole months' salary, P'Erngggg! I really want it!”

 

“If Pei earned as much as Pong, my bonus would be over a hundred thousand baht!”

 

“Can I ask you something seriously, Pei? Do you ever feel upset that you're working in such a junior position? Even though P'Eurn and I own Araya, we've only given you a job like this?”

 

“Not at all! Pei might be stingy, but I'm not greedy!”

 

“I'm not particularly talented at anything. I think this kind of job and this salary suit me just fine.”

 

“If you gave Pei the same kind of work as Pong, I wouldn't be able to do it. And everyone would think I only got the position because of my connections!”

 

“That would be far too much pressure!”

 

“Pei has a job. I can support myself. I'm happy where I am!”

 

“It's comfortable, and I don't have to compete with anyone either.”

 

“My salary might be small, but that's why I'm putting all my hopes into the bonus!”

 

“I wonder if we'll really get three months' salary?”

 

And I genuinely meant everything I'd just told P'Erng. Maybe it was because P'Erng had spent so much time drilling into my head that I needed to look at things from a business owner's perspective. Employees often thought they worked terribly hard for very little money. But a business owner had to consider how much an employee's performance was actually worth in terms of salary. P'Erng had taught me lots of other things too.

 

Some of them I remembered, and some I didn't. Most of the time, I didn't really understand what he was talking about. All I could do was listen and nod along. Because whenever P'Erng started complaining or lecturing me about work, it usually meant something had already annoyed him!

 

I wouldn't dare ask too many questions. He might bite my head off!

 

“I've actually got another vacant position you could take, Pei. Good pay and a very generous bonus.”

 

“P'Erng! You're not going to trick Pei as P'Eurn did, are you? Absolutely not!”

 

“I'm not tricking you. My boyfriend's position is currently vacant. Although the budget might be a little tight at the moment, since I'm unemployed.”

 

“Pei doesn't dare date you anymore! P'Erng seems rather poor lately. You have to understand, P'Erng. Pei happens to like men with wealthy personalities!”

 

“You cheeky little thing.”

 

I chatted with P'Erng until he ordered me back inside because the air was getting chilly. So we carried on talking while lying in our respective beds, right up until I fell asleep with the phone beside my ear again. And it didn't cost me a single baht!

 

Because I used LINE to call him. I wasn't going to make expensive mobile calls like P'Erng. What a waste of money!

 

At three o'clock in the morning, Achitphon was woken by someone repeatedly pressing his doorbell. When he opened the door, he found his one and only older brother standing outside in his pyjamas, carrying a bottle of expensive, well-known wine.

 

“I was asleep.”

 

“Come and have a drink with me first. This is expensive wine, you know.”

 

“Whatever it is, we can talk about it tomorrow.”

 

But his older brother ignored him completely. He pushed his way inside, whistling cheerfully as he headed straight for the kitchen. The owner of the flat rolled his eyes in irritation, shut the front door, and reluctantly dragged himself after his brother.

 

“What the hell are you so angry about, Erng? You actually went and resigned?”

 

Tycoon Achi shook his head before sliding a glass of wine towards his younger brother.

 

“The person who's done something wrong has no right to complain. Have you really got that much free time, P'Eurn? Aren't you supposed to be busy being a doctor?”

 

“I'm only interfering because I'm worried about you! Can't you see that your wonderful older brother has nothing but good intentions?”

 

Achitphon picked up his glass and downed the wine in one go before pulling the bottle towards himself and pouring another.

 

“You could've just told me the truth. Why did you have to drag Khun Ta into it? And why did you have to interfere in my relationship with Pei?”

 

“If you knew from the beginning that everything was a misunderstanding, why didn't you just tell me directly? If I'd known the truth back then, I could've sorted everything out myself ages ago!”

 

“Because it was between you and Pei! How the hell was I supposed to interfere in that? It's a relationship between two people, not three! There's supposed to be a husband and wife, not a husband, wife, and the husband's bloody older brother!”

 

This time, it was the tycoon's turn to empty his wine glass before snatching the bottle back and refilling it.

 

“If you didn't want to interfere, then why did you interfere?! You've meddled in every single bloody step of it! You've stuck your nose into absolutely everything! Even now, you've gone and dragged Pei into this mess again!”

 

“Grow up, P'Eurn! Stop behaving like a child!”

 

“And resigning just to run away from your problems is what grown-ups do, is it?”

 

“Then why does someone your age keep skipping meetings? Why don't you manage your own bloody hospital? And why are you turning up here at three in the morning? What happened? Weren't you supposed to be hanging around waiting for that bloke from Chofa Bank to finish work? What a load of nonsense!”

 

“YOU LITTLE SHIT, ERNG! YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR! I'M YOUR OLDER BROTHER!”

 

“So what?! You're an older brother who does nothing but mess about! Aren't you even a little bit ashamed of yourself?!”

 

The tycoon lunged forwards and seized his younger brother by the collar, gripping the fabric tightly. But Achitphon was no less furious. He grabbed his older brother's collar in return and yanked him closer.

 

“I DID IT BECAUSE I WANTED YOU AND PEI TO TALK TO EACH OTHER, YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE BASTARD!”

 

“You were planning to ask him to marry you when you didn't even know whether he loved you or not!”

 

“You didn't even know how Pei really felt about you!”

 

“You were so bloody stubborn that I had to get involved because I was terrified the two of you wouldn't last!”

 

“Pei's like a younger brother to me too!”

 

“THEN IF YOU KNEW, WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!”

 

“I could've fixed everything right then and there!”

 

“Why did you have to go and saddle Pei with debt?!”

 

“As far as I'm concerned, what you did to me isn't even the worst part, P'Eurn. But have you stopped to think about how Pei must have felt?!”

 

“Pei only has me! And he only has you!”

 

“Having to move out and live on his own was already painful enough for him, and then you went and tied him down with all that debt!”

 

“Why the hell did you have to separate us when you weren't even there to look after Pei while he was hurting?!”

 

“And who was the one who looked after Pei all those years?!”

 

“I DID!”

 

“I've always taken good care of him!”

 

“Even when Pei thought I had someone else, I never let him go without anything!”

 

“You weren't there the day I found him at the supermarket!”

 

“All he had was instant noodles and tins of fish!”

 

“He didn't even dare buy himself a cabbage!”

 

“When he was ill, he was too afraid to spend money on medicine!”

 

“Were you there to see any of that, P'Eurn?!”

 

“Can you make up for all the pain Pei went through?!”

 

“I let him go because I wanted him to have his freedom!”

 

“I wanted him to be able to live his own life!”

 

“That's why I bought him a flat and a car!”

 

“I didn't do all that just so he could lie awake at night, stressed out of his mind because he was drowning in debt!”

 

“So terrified of spending money that he wouldn't even dare buy himself a decent meal!”

 

“And then there's that ridiculous three-year commitment!”

 

“We're company executives, P'Eurn! How the fuck are we supposed to know whether Pei's working environment is going to be good or absolutely bloody awful?!”

 

“What if he wants to change jobs?!”

 

“What if he wants to move somewhere else, somewhere with better colleagues and a healthier working environment?!”

 

“All you cared about was finding a way to tie Pei to me!”

 

“BUT THAT'S NOT HOW I LOVE HIM!”

 

“Pei deserves to have his own life!”

 

“HE'S NOT SOME BLOODY CABBAGE IN A FLOWERPOT THAT YOU CAN PICK UP AND PUT WHEREVER YOU LIKE!”

 

“He's not something you can just hand over to whoever you want!”

 

“Pei's already suffered enough because of what happened to his parents!”

 

“And then you went and made things worse by burdening him with debt!”

 

“HOW THE HELL ARE YOU EVEN A PSYCHIATRIST?!”

 

“You took someone else's emotional wounds and made them even deeper!”

 

“And the next time the Medical Council turns up to inspect your hospital, don't bother wondering who reported you!”

 

“IT WAS ME!”