Backing

Sud didn't reply immediately, but when he did, he told Anurak to first go back to class. He had expected Anurak to have some encounters, but he never thought he would be needed this soon. It wasn't even a week yet.

"The school doesn't go easy on scholarship students. If you fail to make the benchmark set for you as a scholarship student, you might have to forfeit everything. No matter what happens to you, your studies must come first, Anurak." He admonished in a stern voice.

"Krab," Anurak mumbled.

"When is your last lecture?"

"2 pm."

"So you should be done by 4?"

"Chai."

"Good. Meet me on the first floor of the faculty's main building."

"Krab."

"Now go back to class. This should be the last time I will hear of you skipping classes."

"Krab."

By now, Anurak had calmed down a little, and he had gotten his senses back, so he took Sud's words seriously.

By the time he disconnected the call, he was already off the escalator, but when he wanted to go back upstairs, he saw New with an ugly expression on his face, climbing down. So he waited.

"Anurak!"

Now that Anurak seemed calm, and they were no longer among their classmates, New couldn't stop himself again. He grabbed Anurak's hand and started dragging him along, ignoring how people were looking at them.

Remembering how he had waved New off in front of their mates, Anurak remorsefully allowed himself to be dragged.

The students found it cute and took their pictures. A few even made videos that they posted online asking if anyone knew this adorable couple.

Just like that, while New was dragging Anurak to the nearest male toilet, their pictures, and videos were already circulating on the campus.

Once he found a restroom, New opened its door and dragged a remorseful but bewildered Anurak inside.

"Get out!" New snapped, the moment he saw that everyone inside were people he could handle.

This was the second time Anurak would be seeing this side of New. He knew he fucked up. That was why he wanted to see Sud. But he didn't think it should get New to be so worked up…

"New…"

"Don't say anything. Just listen to me." New cut him short then locked the door after the last person left.

Anurak could only nod and wait.

"I don't know where you are coming from. I don't know why you hate rich kids, but after your outburst about rich kids being good for nothing, I will advise you to expect the worst." New said.

Anurak's eyes widened in shock. He had no idea everyone heard him. He was angry at the time and just wanted to vent.

"I… I"

"Secondly, Anurak, this is not your small town. This is Bangkok and here, money speaks. Until you know who is who, can you just lie low? Please?"

Anurak realized something and his face darkened. "Is this about yesterday?"

After meeting King, Anurak didn't even remember what happened at the park until he got home. Maybe this was a good time to get some answers…

"Yes and no," New replied. "The only reason we got out of that incident unscathed was because that guy was just a street urchin. A small-time gang member. I took the risk to interfere because I was hoping he would back down. If he didn't, and we dragged it, things could have gone out of hand, and we could have landed in real trouble. You, too, think about it. That he had the guts to do what he was doing in that place shows that someone inside was covering for him. If not, he would have been afraid of being caught on camera. Moonlight is not a place where you do anything, anyhow. He had someone on the inside watching his back. Since he took my favor, then it means whoever gave him the job was as irrelevant as him and the person watching his back was also ordinary. But what if that wasn't the case? We would have dragged ourselves into issues that were none of our business." New paused to see if Anurak was really listening.

Throughout New's admonitions, Anurak, who felt like a fool, kept his head down. It wasn't that he was that naive. It was just that where he came from, he had the clout to do as he liked. Especially after he and Sophea dealt with that gang and sent them packing. As New pointed out, Anurak hadn't taken into consideration the fact that he wasn't in his own territory anymore.

When New called his name, he looked up with guilt-filled eyes and nodded. "I understand. Thank you."

"It's okay." New patted his shoulders. He felt that he had said too much when he saw the guilt in Anurak's pretty eyes. But what has to be done must not be delayed.

If I don't orientate him on time, things might get out of control.

"One more thing." New continued. "We have to find out P'Payu's best wine."

"Who?" Anurak was confused.

"The guy you fought in class."

"Who is he?" Anurak's eyes flashed with anger again, once he remembered the way that guy addressed him.

New smirked mockingly at Anurak's cat-like eyes. They hid nothing.

"P'Payu is not someone you can disrespect like that, Anurak. I have apologized to King and he has let this go, but it can't happen again."

As New spoke, he remembered that smirk on King's face and prayed that King would really not pursue the matter.

As long as we apologize to P'Payu, everything should be fine. He reasoned.

New's voice was filled with respect as he spoke about P'Payu, making Anurak more angry and curious.

"Who is he?" He repeated impatiently.

"He is King's right-hand man. Whatever he says goes."

No wonder. Anurak mused.

"I had no idea he was King's man. I just…"

"I know. That is why I said you shouldn't be confrontational until you know who is who in this school. That way, we can avoid trouble. If you offend the wrong person, losing your scholarship could be the least of your worries. Your life might be in danger, too."

"What?!" Anurak's eyes widened in shock, fear, and disbelief.

"Good for nothing, rich kids like to be respected. You have to give them a 'face' as long as they are more powerful than you. Failure to do so can lead to freak accidents that can lead to death." New explained.

He really didn't want to frighten Anurak like this, but after witnessing Anurak's fiery temper, he felt that he had no choice. If Anurak should get into any trouble, New would be obligated to help him and if he helped Anurak, he would be defiling his Dad's order.

Even though New planned to do so, he felt it would be too early to start. After all, it took a lot of begging before his Dad allowed him to come back to Bangkok for his studies. If he was going to break any of the rules his father made for him, he must at least wait until the second semester.

"Are you trying to scare me?"

Noting that New was avoiding his eyes, Anurak snorted at him.

Isn't he exaggerating too much? This is just a university. Who takes things this far in a school?

"I am dead serious, Anurak. Your pride as a man wouldn't mean much if you die. Stay down until you have a strong backing."

"Don't I have you?" Anurak tried to joke to dispel the unease he was feeling.

Even though he sensed that New was exaggerating, he was also convinced that New was serious. Everything was too tense, and Anurak doesn't do tense.

"Once you join one of the biker's teams on Saturday, you will be considered as one of the elites. Bangkok bikers are revered, just like American high school football teams. They are the elites of the elites. Once everyone knows that you now belong to one of the teams, they will think twice before messing with you."

A breeze of relief washed over Anurak on hearing this. His heart had become heavy since New started making him see how treacherous things could get in Sunny-Uni. He couldn't afford to lose his scholarship, and he would rather not become some rich kid's lanky. If the biker's team gives him the kind of backing New spoke of, then everything should be fine.

"Thank you, New."

"Sure. Any time." New patted his back. "So, what now?"

"Let's go back to class."

Shai! I thought we were ditching class.

New scratched his head as he demurely followed Anurak back to class.

By the time the two boys made it back to class, the lecture was already underway. The mid-age lecturer would have dealt with them, but experience had taught him to be cautious.

Sunny-Uni was one of the best-paying schools in Bangkok, and he didn't want to lose his job simply because he tried to straighten out some rich kid. Until he figured out who was who, he wouldn't do more than what was expected of him, which was; to teach.