You(r) Tuber Vol 1.

1 When Chop-khun is Angry

 

On the office chair, carefully chosen by its owner for maximum comfort and back support, sat 'Chop-khun,' a fair-skinned young man with shoulder-length brown hair. His bangs had grown so long that he had to tie them up with a small rubber band. His large, round eyes were fixed on the screen of the latest MacBook Pro, where a video editing program was left open. His slender finger tapped rhythmically on the wireless mouse as he pondered. Suddenly, a notification popped up in the bottom right corner of the screen from a YouTube channel he'd forgotten to unsubscribe from!

 

It was a YouTube channel that Chop-khun had once shared with his ex-boyfriend, whom he'd broken up with three months ago. Now, the channel had been taken over by his ex for the simple reason that: 'You're not good at speaking anyway, so you can't run a YouTube channel. I've always been the one in front of the camera. I'll take the channel.'

 

Those were the words of his awful ex before shamelessly taking everything-the studio, the team, and all the equipment. Because of trust, Chop-khun had allowed Tewit to sign off as the owner of everything. Chop-khun knew that fighting over it'd be a waste of time, and he disliked unnecessary complications. 

 

After the breakup, he decided to take only 'Kati', the dog he loved the most. His captivating brown eyes glanced down at the small white Pomeranian sleeping soundly on the floor, his chin resting on his foot. Seeing the little dog sleeping so peacefully, he turned his gaze back to the screen.

 

The thumbnail of the newly uploaded video showed two men holding hands and smiling happily at each other. To Chop-khun, it was particularly infuriating, and he couldn't help but sneer.

 

The video title read, 'Revealing My Special Someone as Requested,' which made his pink lips curl downward even more. The channel's hundreds of thousands of subscribers would probably be thrilled to see this video since it was the first time Tewit had revealed something personal. But not Chop-khun. Because the two men in the thumbnail were none other than ‘Tewit’, his ex-boyfriend, and 'Pluem', his most trusted best friend!

 

Yes. His ex-boyfriend had cheated on him with his best friend. Chop-khun decided to play the video. It was a Q&A video, the kind many YouTubers usually make. The questions were all submitted by viewers. As he watched the video to the end, he felt increasingly foolish for having stayed in a relationship with someone like Tewit for five years. Some of their answers made him roll his eyes countless times.

 

For example:

We've known each other for two or three years. Pluem is a simple person. Being with him makes me feel at ease. He's always been by my side, supporting me.'

 

Oh, really? Then who was it that said I was too simple, too boring, and that he wanted excitement when we broke up?!

 

Te made the first move. At first, I wasn't interested, but in the end, I couldn't resist his persistence and agreed to be his boyfriend.'

 

Didn't you say everything that happened wasn't intentional?!

 

Te had been asking me to make videos together for a while, but I was too shy in front of the camera and not good at speaking, so I  kept refusing. When he said he'd support me, I decided to give it a try and introduce myself to everyone in this video.'

 

Ew! They'd been running the channel together for two years, and Tewit had never once asked him to appear in a video. He only said that Chop-khun wasn't good at speaking and was better suited for behind-the-scenes work.

 

The more he watched, the more he wanted to slap that jerk!

 

‘Today, I've made a video as requested by everyone to reveal who the special person I've been mentioning in previous videos is. See you in the next video, where we'll celebrate reaching 900,000 subscribers. I'll come up with more fun content for everyone, just like always. Bye-bye!'

 

He has the audacity to claim he came up with the content himself, even though almost all the ideas were mine! And the 'special person' that jerk's been talking about in all those videos? It turned out to be my best friend, huh?

 

Didn't he say it was me?! Because their relationship had never shown any signs of trouble or infidelity, Tewit's betrayal left Chop-khun deeply scarred and disillusioned with love. Still, he was glad to have ended things with someone like Tewit, as well as with his former best friend.

 

The most painful part for Chop-khun was the day Tewit broke up with him. He'd called Pluem, crying and seeking advice, unaware that he was being stabbed in the back. Pluem had simply told him to move on, suggesting that maybe he'd done something to bore Tewit. Chop-khun had even asked his best friend if he should try to work things out with Tewit since they'd been together for so long. Plum's response was to let it go, saying Tewit must've thought it through and wouldn't have ended things otherwise.

 

At the time, Chop-khun blamed himself endlessly, thinking he was the reason the relationship failed. He only realised the truth and stopped being naive three days later when he went to Tewit's condo to collect his belongings.

 

What he saw was Tewit walking arm in arm with Pluem into the condo. Still, he stupidly convinced himself that his best friend might be unwell and needed help from his ex, who'd just broken up with him three days ago. Was he just being dumb, or was he fooling himself into thinking his best friend wouldn't betray him? 

 

With trembling hands, he called Pluem to ask where he was. Pluem replied that he was at home with his mother. But to be sure, Chop-khun stepped into the elevator, pressed the button for the 32nd floor, and headed to his ex's room, where he'd spent countless nights. As the elevator climbed higher, sweat began to seep from his palms. When he reached the door, he took a deep breath before scanning the keycard. 

 

The first thing he saw on the floor was Plum's clothes, the same ones he'd seen him wearing earlier, scattered everywhere. Underwear lay in front of Tewit's bedroom door, and the moans coming from inside made Chop-khun take a deep breath before pushing open the slightly ajar door. What he saw was exactly what he'd expected. It felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown in his face, leaving him numb.

 

The two of them were in the bed he bought, completely absorbed in each other, oblivious to his presence. Chop-khun stood at the foot of the bed, watching as they indulged in their pleasure, each sound cutting deep into his heart.

 

"Since when?" His icy voice broke the silence, startling the pair on the bed. They immediately pulled away from each other. When they saw who was standing in the room, both Tewit and Pluem turned pale.

 

"How did you get in?" Pluem, regaining his composure, quickly wrapped himself in a blanket and ran to his best friend. "It's not what you think," his voice trembling as he clung to Chop-khun's arm. He knew how soft-hearted Chop-khun was and hoped that with a bit of pleading, he wouldn't be too angry.

 

"Not what I think? Then what is it?" Chop-khun pried Plum's hands off his arm. Breaking up with his boyfriend didn't hurt as much as being betrayed by a best friend of nearly ten years. The more Pluem stammered and failed to explain, the more it confirmed everything.

 

"I asked, since when?" His calm voice filled the silent room as he glanced at the two people who couldn't even meet his gaze. Disgusting.

 

"Why aren't you answering? You had the guts to do it but not to admit it?" His irritated tone made the guilty pair squirm. They both knew Chop-khun was usually calm and rarely got angry. They'd never seen this side of him before and didn't know how to handle it.

 

"Since last year. But we didn't mean for it to happen. We were drunk," Pluem finally admitted, his voice shaking as tears streamed down his face, making him look even more pitiful in Tewit's eyes.

 

"Didn't mean for it to happen, yet you let it continue until now, Pluem?" Chop-khun let out a bitter laugh, his eyes filled with fury. He didn't want to fight over a man with his friend and would never do such a thing, but he felt deeply betrayed for being lied to all this time.

 

Seeing the fiery look in Chop-khun's eyes, something he'd never seen before, Pluem turned to Tewit for help.

 

"If you want to blame someone, blame me. I'm the one who started everything," Tewit said, walking over naked to wrap an arm around the trembling Pluem.

 

Slap!

 

"At least you admitted it. Now, choose-him or me?"

 

Chop-khun slapped Tewit hard enough to leave a red mark on his face. Then he turned to Pluem, who was still crying. Shouldn't he be the one crying here? Over a lousy man, he didn't care. What hurt more was losing a best friend he'd shared so much with.

 

"I... I'm really sorry, Khun. But... but Tewit and I love each other. We've decided to be a couple. Please don't be mad at me. At first, we wanted to keep it a secret, but you ended up seeing it yourself," Pluem said, holding Tewit's hand tightly.

 

Hearing those words only made Chop-khun's anger boil over. Was it his fault for finding out they loved each other while he was still in the picture?

 

"Are you satisfied now? If you are, leave. Don't make this a bigger deal than it needs to be," Tewit said, clearly annoyed. He wanted to end this as soon as possible. His selfish words made Chop-khun glare at the two people he'd once loved and trusted with utter disdain. Now, there was no trace of those feelings left-only regret for the time and feelings he'd wasted on them.

 

"Is that your final answer, Pluem?" Chop-khun asked again.

 

"I've made my decision. You need to face the truth, Chop-khun. You and Te are done. Even if it weren't because of me, Te would've ended things with you anyway."

 

That was the answer Chop-khun received.

 

"Don't worry. I'm not taking him back. Someone like that? I wouldn't want him even if you begged me. If you're so eager to have him, he's all yours. Consider it my gift to you," 

 

Chop-khun said before turning and walking out of the room, leaving Pluem standing there, fists clenched in humiliation. Chop-khun's words made it sound as though he was handing over trash, even though Tewit had loved him for years.

 

By the time he reached the parking garage, his once-clear vision was blurred by tears. His brown eyes blinked rapidly, trying to clear the moisture as he fumbled to fit the key into the car. His pale cheeks were streaked with tears that wouldn't stop falling, forcing him to wipe them away with the back of his hand. This wasn't the crying born from heartbreak, or sorrow-it was the crying fueled by rage!

 

Chop-khun never thought that such a clichéd, soap-opera-like scenario would ever happen in his twenty-nine years of life. He'd been played for a fool by both his boyfriend and his best friend for an entire year, never suspecting a thing. 

 

And that was three months ago. Watching today's video reignited the fury that had been buried deep inside him, like a volcano waiting to erupt. He'd been the one to come up with the idea for that channel, creating the content, editing the videos, and promoting it from zero to hundreds of thousands of subscribers. And yet, Tewit had the nerve to mock him, claiming he couldn't run a YouTube channel on his own.

 

A celebration video for reaching 900,000 subscribers? Fine. I'll make sure my new channel surpasses that number. You'll see soon enough!

 

But first, I need a team.

And the one I need the most is a cameraman!