Giving up any pretense of eating, I sit back in my chair. “Part of the reason I agreed to do this series is that I want to take over my own expenses. I don’t like being a burden on anyone.”
“Your parents accepted that burden the day they conceived you. I say let them carry it, but it’s up to you.”
She tilts her head to the side, studying my face. “Are you okay now that you’ve remembered that day at Kaeng Krachan?”
I nod. “I’m sorry I spent years making you worry.”
Mae sighs. “First of all, young man, you can’tmakepeople worry about you. We worry because we love you. It wasn’t your fault that your parents were neglectful. It wasn’t your fault that you were scared and lonely and very attached to Sud. Anyway, most of the time, you were a very happy kid. You weren’t any trouble at all.”
I stare at my plate. “I’ve always sensed Sud’s worry.”
Mae chuckles. “Well, Sud’s a different case entirely. He’s always been extra focused on you.” Her smile fades. “Mee Noi, I promise this is the last time I’ll ask, but are you sure this is what you want? Not just the acting, but to be with Sud this way? I know that if it isn’t, he will back off and, although it might take some time, eventually things will go back to the way they were.”
I look her in the eyes. “I’m sure, Mae. I love Sud. More than a friend. Different than a brother. I want to be with him.”
“Okay then.” Her smile is genuine. “Do you believe he feels the same way about you?”
“Yes.”
“And you trust him?”
“Of course.”
Reaching across the table, she pats my hand. “Then, stop worrying about the girl in the photo and eat.”
I guess that makes sense. I pick up my fork and spoon.
Chapter Thirty: Sud
Ididn’t want to leave Noi in Hua Hin, but Pah insisted. He was the one who called Khun Intapong, who evidently can’t say no to my father. She told him it would be fine, that we would film around Noi’s scenes and do the rest tomorrow.
On the drive to Bangkok, I keep thinking about how broken Noi looked when he remembered the day in the forest. He thought I left him. Abandoned him like his parents did.
“He’ll heal now,” Pah says quietly, sensing that I’m thinking of Noi. Maybe he’s been thinking of him during this quiet ride, too. “It’s all come out, like a poison. Now, he can heal.”
“I hope so,” I say.
When we get to the studio, Pah drops me off and says he’s going to call Mae.
“Maybe she and Ten can drive Noi here in the morning, and we can take Ten somewhere fun while we’re here. I’m going to be leaving again next week to start filming on a new project.”
I hug Pah goodbye and enter the building.
P’Sign greets me with a smile when I enter his open office door.
“Nong, good to see you. I hear Mee Noi’s down with a migraine.”
I nod. “He should be back tomorrow.”
“Well, P’Tee is with the crew, setting up for a scene. Khun Intapong says it’s going to be a push, but they should get the majority of the series filmed before the school year starts back up. Then it will just a lot of touch-up stuff.”
The rest of the afternoon is busy, and I’m glad because it takes my mind off how much I miss Noi and how worried I am about him.
During breaks from filming, Cora chats with me, and I make an effort to listen and engage, remembering how I brushed her off in Kaeng Krachan. When she tries to get me to go somewhere with her to eat after we wrap up for the day, I beg off, though, and head back to my apartment.
Pah texted me earlier that Mae told him Noi was feeling better and she and Ten were driving him to Bangkok tonight. Still, I don’t expect him to be waiting for me at my apartment. When I walk in, he’s sitting on the couch with Ford, watching a horror movie.
“Sud!” Noi jumps up and runs to me, flinging himself into my arms. It’s so unexpected, it takes me a moment to recover and hug him back.