Chapter1 Heartbroken

The music from the bar made the atmosphere a bit livelier. Konprod scanned the crowd of dorm residents and university students eating and drinking in Nguang's Bar, a young dentist that girls dreamed of. Nguang not only worked in his father's clinic but also owned this half-bar, half-restaurant near the university.

It had become a landmark for the students here, especially for the older ones like Konprod's group.

"Cheeeers! Let's bottom up, buddies!"

"Drink until we forget we just had exaaams!" Pee and Tum, the non-identical twins and close friends of Konprod, who always encouraged Prod to confess his feelings to Pluem, hugged each other and drank merrily. Meanwhile, Konprod just sipped his drink and watched them with a fed-up look.

After the first day of exams, he should be resting, not waiting to carry these two back to their dorms.

And their dorms weren't even close to his.

"Prod, you should join us. Don't just sit there like a starving dog."

"I'm tired as hell. If you guys have some sympathy, hurry up and finish your drinks so we leave." Prod sighed at them, his eyes almost closed from exhaustion. But his friends didn't seem to care at all, even trying to get him to drink more.

"We have to celebrate passing the quiz today. Drink up. It'll make you feel better."

"Yeah, Prod. And let's also congratulate Pluem on his breakup. We should celebrate good news like this."

"Fuck you!" Prod flipped them off. What if Pluem's friends heard this? Wouldn't Konprod be ridiculed or glared at for the rest of the semester? This is why he didn't like drinking with these guys. Every time they got drunk, they would say all kinds of crude things. Last time, they almost got beaten because they mocked that the guy at the next table looked like a bulldog.

Luckily, that guy didn't take it personally. That was Kla, the almost King B of the engineering faculty.

Konprod threw ice cubes at his friends one by one before picking up his phone to play with. He sipped his drink a little, not wanting to look like a nerd.

College life was tough. If you didn't learn quickly, you would get bullied.

"Hey, Prod, did you bring your friends to drink?"

Huh?

The deep voice made Prod turn to look at the person approaching. He moved to greet the fourth-year group coming his way. The one who caught his eye the most was the one with a sad face.

Pluem's silent demeanor hid traces of pain.

"Perfect timing. We'd like to join you. Someone got slapped today."

"Sure thing. Feel free to join usss!" Pee chirped while Prod gave him a look. He didn't mind sharing a table with anyone, but having someone he liked sitting right in front of him made things awkward. The tall, handsome man sat down across from him, his eyes downcast, unlike his friends, who were eagerly ordering drinks.

Konprod glanced at Pluem, wishing he could sit beside and comfort him.

Unfortunately, all he could do was keep his feelings to himself. The only thing he could do was make sure his friends didn't speak too freely. Otherwise, everything he had been holding back would crumble in an instant.

"Get sloshed, Pluem."

"Sure," he responded indifferently, not caring what his friend had ordered for him. Pluem clasped both his hands between his legs, his eyes wandering as if he were on drugs. Even so, Konprod didn't dare meet his gaze.

He wasn't that brave.

"So, what made you come today? We rarely see you with these guys," Suea asked as he poured Pee's drink into a glass. Beside him, Jes was handling the ice. Being kind, he also filled Konprod's and his friends' glasses.

"I just finished my exams, so I came to celebrate."

"But it doesn't look like you really want to celebrate. You look so out of sap." Konprod smiled weakly. It was true what Suea said. Right now, he wanted to rest more than anything. If it weren't for the fact that he had to wait to take his friends back to the dorm, "But look at your friends. In a bit, I think they'll become club dancers."

He smirked at the two guys dancing in the middle of the bar. Some girls came over and started dancing with them. Konprod watched them with a sigh.

They didn't even say where they were going, leaving him alone with the senior hazers.

"Just let them be. They must be stressed."

"My friend is stressed too."

"..."

"Do you want to dance too, huh? Pluem?" Jes turned to ask the depressed one, but the other just shook his head. As soon as the ordered alcohol arrived, Pluem gulped it down quickly. Jes was there to stop him and pour it into a glass. At least drinking from a glass was more civilized than drinking from a bottle. Plus, he feared Pluem might grab and throw the bottle around.

When a heartbroken person drank alcohol, anything could happen, just like a miracle.

"Man, I'm so tired."

"Pluem."

"I've never been this tired before." As soon as they opened the second bottle of alcohol, the deep voice of the man in front of him began to stutter. Pluem was starting to get drunk because he was drinking heavily. He had a whole bottle to himself earlier, not sharing a drop with his friends or even the table owner who was watching.

But no one criticized him. They understood that alcohol might help at this time.

"You should move on. Someone better will come along."

"You say this every time I get dumped."

"Well, you find people to date so easily. You use and discard them more than toilet paper." Konprod wanted to applaud Suea for that comment because it was true. Even outsiders knew how often Pluem changed girlfriends since he started college.

He didn't date anyone in high school, but he became a womanizer as soon as he got to college.

"But it's not like I want to start over again and again."

"Ah..."

"I just want to find someone who's right for me. What's wrong with that? Everyone does it." He said while gulping down more alcohol like a fatally wounded person, causing his friends to sigh. Whatever they said now, the power of alcohol would probably make him lose his senses. In the end, they let Pluem continue drinking quietly. He didn't seem to want to talk much, or his subconscious told him to stop there.

His sad eyes dimmed even more, the light fading as if losing all hope in life. If Konprod could reach out and hold his hand, he probably would.

Because for admirers...

Seeing the person we liked feeling upset, we felt even more upset.

And it appeared that Pluem truly did love Soi. Otherwise, he wouldn't be this sad. Konprod observed the feelings conveyed through his facial expressions and eyes. He didn't say anything or tell the older man to stop feeling sad.

He just took a deep breath and sipped his drink.

Then he stood up.

"I'm going to the bar. I'll be back to pay."

"Huh, why don't you sit with us? Why are you going to sit alone?" Suea asked.

"I think I saw an old friend, so I thought I'd say hi."

"..."

"Take care of your friend. I'll be back." Konprod gave a faint smile and walked away. He had to leave because he didn't want to see the expression of pain. Pluem didn't realize how torturous it was for Konprod to see this and not be able to do anything. So, walking away and then returning at least made him feel better.

Another reason was that he didn't want to tire himself out any more than this.

"Pae, I'll have the usual, please."

"Sure thing." The young bartender, who he knew well, gave him a nod and started preparing his drink. While waiting, Konprod ran his fingers through his hair and sneaked glances at Pluem occasionally, unable to resist.

Even though he couldn't do anything, he still cared.

And it was a distant, genuine concern.

"Here you go, Prod."

"Thank you."

He turned his attention back to the handsome guy before him and the sweet-colored alcohol. It was not strong enough to knock him out in one glass. Konprod liked to drink slowly, savoring each sip, even though he had urged his friends to drink quickly earlier. He lifted his glass, took a sip, and continued to watch something while sighing.

Suddenly, his gaze landed on the person next to him.

Soi was also sitting and drinking.

"Soi?"

"Oh, Prod." The said person turned to look at him, slightly surprised to see him. "I didn't notice you were here. I thought you were still with your friends."

"Oh, they went to dance. I was alone, so I came to the bar."

"I feel the same way. It's just that my friend went to flirt with a guy, not to dance." They laughed a little. Konprod knew Soi because they had participated in faculty activities together, which had just recently passed.

If asked whether they were close, the answer would be a little.

But no one could be close to the lover of the person they liked, even if she was now an ex.

"So, how's it going at the faculty? You're welcoming the first-years these days, right?"

"Yes, it's as usual. The new generation is more stubborn than the old one, so we're trying to find new ways to deal with them," Konprod answered nonchalantly. As a member of the hazer team, he didn't have much right to say. It was a measure of this faculty's hazers. "And how about you? Is your world bright and shiny these days?"

"Ugh," she sighed as soon as he teased, causing Konprod to fall silent. "I just broke up with Pluem. The world is probably not so bright, Prod."

"..."

"I think my story must have spread all over the university. You probably heard it too, but you must have forgotten." He didn't respond because he really had forgotten, being more interested in other things she said, including the nearly finished liquor. When he got that kind of response, he just gave a weak smile, unlike the person in front of him, who exhaled heavily.

He had no right to intrude, but he wanted to know why...

Why did these women decide to leave a perfect man like Pluem?

"If something bothers you, you can vent to me."

"..."

"I won't tell anyone." He spoke earnestly, as was his nature. Konprod was not a gossiper. On the contrary, he was an excellent listener. Soi had consulted him about something before, but unfortunately, Konprod had forgotten. "I will listen to you. Only the two of us will know."

"Thinking about this makes me so tired, Prod."

"..."

"To be honest, I don't feel guilty at all for breaking up with Pluem. Who knows, I probably feel much better," the listener winced, even though he wasn't the one who experienced the situation firsthand. "Throughout our relationship, Pluem was so damn possessive. He was always jealous, thinking I would like this person or that person. I'm the campus belle of my faculty. What's wrong with having many people interested in me?"

Gulp!

"I didn't like anyone. I was just being friendly," the campus belle furrowed her brows intensely as she lifted her drink. She was almost too drunk to properly speak. "But Pluem was so annoyingly jealous. He was jealous of everything. It made me feel uncomfortable."

"He was jealous because you were his girlfriend."

"But I'm not a bird to be caged."

"..."

"I want freedom, too. Who can tolerate such a mess? And that's not even counting the friends who liked to stir up trouble. It was unbearable when we were together." Soi ran her fingers through her hair in frustration, ordering another drink as if she planned to drink herself to death today. "I was hardly happy when I was with him. Annoyed with him and then his friends too."

"Didn't he ever make you feel good?"

"Well, yeah, but the annoying stuff outweighed it."

"..."

"Honestly, I feel like I made a huge mistake dating him. It's like I threw my life into a pit or something," she exhaled heavily for the hundredth time as Konprod processed what the other was saying. The Pluem he knew wasn't a baselessly jealous person. He was reasonable. He might be a bit childish at times, but he thought everyone had that side to them.

People sometimes wanted to act childish when they were in a relationship. What was wrong with that? But Soi was the type who wanted freedom, liked to socialize, and got along with people easily.

It wasn't surprising that Pluem would be so jealous it hurt.

But one thing that the alcohol was turning Konprod into a villain.

It was when he lifted his drink, drank it, and then stared silently at the person next to him.

"You weren't satisfied with dating him, were you?"

"Hell no, I wasn't satisfied one bit."

"So, the love he had for you didn't mean anything to you, did it?"

"Ah...?!"

"If it's worthless, then I'll take it," Soi frowned at the man who spoke like that. However, Konprod just smiled, moved to stand right in front of her, and looked into her eyes before his serious and determined shine came out for her to see. "I think I've let you play with his feelings enough, Soi. It's time for me to do something."

"What do you mean, Prod?"

"I mean, from now on, I'm going to be serious."

"..."

"If you weren't satisfied, can I be his new boyfriend? Because I'm totally into him."