Daeng ran into his room and closed the door slowly so Chim wouldn't hear.
He leaned his head against the edge of the bed and sat on the floor.
He didn't even notice the coldness of the floor as he thought about it today.
He slowly got up, wanting to go to the balcony to check on Kiat.
Since his room was connected to the balcony, he walked toward it slowly.
He just wanted to look. He touched the white curtains, but they didn't move because there was no wind.
He hesitated; as soon as his fingers touched the fabric, he pulled his hand away.
He ran back to his bed, lay down, and stared at the ceiling. Looking to the other side, he saw himself in the mirror and remembered what his mother, Waen, had said...
One year ago, after the incident with Thanat...
"Daeng, my luk... can you eat a little bit?"
He looked at his pale face in the mirror. He didn't cry; he was just silent.
Seeing him like this, Waen and Chim were the ones who hurt the most.
Waen reached out to touch his hair, but Daeng was scared and hit her hand away.
Then, Daeng worried that he had hurt her.
"It's alright, Daeng. Mother is okay."
"Why are you scared? Is it because you are hurt, or because of Thanat? Or is it because of us? Daeng, can you just speak one word, at least?"
Daeng, feeling even more pain, finally spoke.
"Is it love?" His voice cracked. His throat was dry from the pain. "Then what is it?"
Waen broke down. She cried as if she had been holding it in for a long time. Chim tried to be strong, even though her tears fell.
"Daeng... it doesn't matter. Love is just love. It doesn't have rules, as long as we don't hurt, lie, or cheat. As long as we love with our hearts, we will do anything for them. We will be each other's half. We will share even the pain. That is what love is," Waen said, even though it was hard.
Daeng's tears fell. "Then Phi Thanat... he didn't love me, right? Mae... it hurts!" He broke into her arms and started crying.
Finally, they all felt relieved because he was crying and making noise.
As Daeng remembered this, he cried. The tears fell onto the bed, even wetting his ears.
It was difficult to breathe as he thought: Is it love? He looked at his hands and placed them over his chest.
He held his breath and asked himself, "Did I love him? Kiat ... do I...?"
As he looked into the mirror and his tears fell, he closed his eyes. He didn't want to think about anything, but he couldn't stop.
While Daeng ran inside, Kiat stayed outside, lost in thought and spacing out.
From a distance, someone was watching; that person slowly moved closer to Kiat.
"Khun Kiat khrab..."
Kiat looked behind him, startled. "Niran, why are you here?"
Kiat wiped the sweat with his hands, trying to avoid Niran.
"Mmm..." Niran started to sniff Kiat all over. "Something is weird... You are weird."
Niran looked at him like a detective. Kiat smacked Niran's head and kicked him away.
"Khun Kiat, why are you... why are you hurting me?"
"You can't step in here. It's not for strangers," Kiat said.
"But I am not a stranger! I am your only friend. Don't look at me like that. What I mean is, you are my one and only friend."
Niran smiled, but his expression quickly changed.
" But how can you do that? Also, didn't you say you had something very important to do? You even abandoned me. Do you know how many things I had to do alone in the shop? It's hard," Niran said while wiping the dirt off himself from when he fell.
He had an annoyed face. Niran looked at the third mansion as if he wanted to say something.
"Niran... Let's go and don't come here. You understand, right? You are my friend, but the people here will find a reason to cause trouble."
Niran nodded. As Kiat and Niran walked toward the main mansion, Kiat stopped.
He touched his chest, closed his eyes, and thought: It's not normal... Isn't it weird, Nong Daeng?
Inside the main mansion, the light was still on in the study. Someone was writing there.
The smell of ink was heavy and the lamps were dim, as if they were tired.
Heavy footsteps moved toward the main room.
(This room was used to manage the many businesses of the Asawa family. Only family members could enter without permission from the Lord.)
The person reported everything about the young master Daeng and Kaew's cousin , Khun Kiat. That person told every detail to Thanat.
"Master Thanat, do I need to keep following young master Daeng? If someone from the family finds out..." The servant was scared of the truth, and the air in the room turned cold.
"Are you teaching me what to do?"
With a cold voice, Thanat didn't stop writing.
He wrote even harder until the white sheet was filled with black ink.
"Master..." The servant tried to speak, but then Thanat yelled with a dominating voice, "Get out! Didn't you hear? Get out! I won't say it again."
Scared of Thanat, the servant left, trying not to make any sound with his footsteps.
Thanat looked at the ink. "It's a pity. I can't use this paper. What a waste. Paper is expensive."
He clenched his hands over the ink-covered paper. The black ink stained his hands and the table.
"Didn't you say we would always be together? How can you forget that promise, my Daeng? You will be mine, even if death can't tear us apart."
The air in the room went cold as Thanat smiled. He was far more dangerous than anyone knew.
As morning came, the third mansion was noisy because of Nong Aung.
The small kitten ran around and made a mess again, increasing everyone's workload.
Only one person was as blank as a canvas.
It had been hours since he sat outside to paint.
Then he went to his bedroom and lay down, but he couldn't sleep.
He went to visit his "babies"—his garden—but he didn't feel good.
He even ignored Aung, which shocked the kitten. Aung wondered if this was a new type of protest against her.
Chim was the only one who had a vague idea of what was happening. She slowly entered the balcony where Daeng sat, completely lost in a daydream.
"Young Master..."
Chim woke him from his dream. As he woke up, Daeng said, "It's already morning. Okay, let me go visit my garden."
As he stood up, Chim blocked him. She walked to the curtains, slowly moved them, and said, "It's dark... completely dark."
With a shocked face, Daeng asked, "Where did the sun go? I saw it just a moment ago..."
He looked like he was still dreaming.
Chim sighed deeply. "The sun has been gone for hours. You are the one who didn't wake up."
Chim didn't move her hands from the curtains. She looked outside before the fabric fell back into place. Suddenly, she looked surprised.
"Young Master... Young Master! Come here... quickly! Come here!"
Daeng approached her, wondering why she looked so surprised.
Daeng looked—Kiat was standing outside.
Kiat looked up at the balcony and saw Daeng looking back at him.
Chim cleared her throat. "I'm going now. Someone won't need me here... Chim is leaving. Chim has been abandoned by her own master..." She acted sad as she walked out, while Daeng didn't even have a chance to explain.
" What? Chim... why did she..."
Kiat slowly entered the balcony.
"Why are you here? Didn't I say no to strangers?" Daeng said in a low voice.
"Chim already let me in. I didn't actually plan to come inside."
" Also, I am hurt, Young Master. How can you say I am a stranger?"
Kiat whispered, " Especially after the good day we had yesterday."
"What? Did you say something?" Daeng asked, because he thought he heard something.
"So, did you decide what to paint for me?" Kiat asked.
"No... I thought about it, but..." As Daeng said that, he realized: " Wait, I thought about him all day, so I forgot about the painting, Daeng, you messed everything up."
"Young Master..." Kiat called to him. "Did you draw this?" Kiat stepped toward a painting, looking fascinated.
"Mmm... I painted it," Daeng said.
"It's beautiful. It's like I'm seeing it in real life ," Kiat said, looking at Daeng.
Slowly, Kiat walked closer.
Daeng stepped back and almost fell because of the chair he had been sitting in.
Kiat caught him by the waist and whispered, "You will get hurt..."
They looked at each other. Kiat asked, "Can you draw me?"
He leaned close to Daeng's ear and whispered, "Can you draw me?"
Their noses touched. Both of them were breathing hard.
They could feel the heat, the sound of their heartbeats, and the scent of each other's bodies.
Their ears turned peach-pink.
Just then, a cold wind blew inside, and the white curtains moved between them, creating a distance.