Chapter 24: A Glimpse into the Past

Phuwin returned home much later than he had anticipated. Especially, with Pond's taste still lingering on his lips and his shy smile still embedded in his mind. 

However…what he didn't expect was for his Pa to be sitting in the dining room, waiting for him while preparing for a 'midnight snack'.

"Aw? Is this a time to be returning home?" Newwie raised his eyes at his middle child, who was trying to sneak in through the front door, with his shoes in his hands so as not to make a noise. Too bad he had already been up and about, so he had the chance to catch him unaware.

"Pa?" Phuwin's eyes widened in horror as his shoes dropped from his hand in surprise. But when the shoe hit the marbled floor, it created a loud thud of a sound that made Phuwin cringe inwardly as he prayed that his dad wasn't still awake at this time.

"Be careful, will you?" Newwie scolded his son as he pointed his spatula at him from the kitchen counter. "Do you want to wake up the whole house?"

"Karthot khap, por…" He bowed in a wai as he quickly discarded his shoes and placed on his house slippers before heading to see what his pa was doing as he placed his guitar on the edge of the sofa.

While driving back, he had received a message from Gemini telling him that their dad's were back and that he should be careful while coming in, but he didn't think that anyone would be awake by now, since it was closer to 1AM and their dads went to bed early after getting exhausted by their day's work.

But now, much to his surprise, he found his Pa stirring a pot with instant ramen while the kitchen lights were set on dim.

"Where did you get the noodles from?" Phuwin asked skeptically…before he realized… "Shia!"

And then he was running towards the cabinet beside the pantry where he and his brothers usually hide their ramen stash. When he opened the cabinet and moved the large pots aside, he couldn't help but feel a gust of relief as he saw that their stash was still intact.

But then…

'Ai Hia Phuwin!' He cursed himself. 'Did you just giveaway your stash location to your pa?'

Wearily, he looked back at his pa, but he was still busy stirring his own noodles and adding cut up spring onions and brisket into the mix. The sight made his mouth water.

"Grab the cheese from the fridge." New said as he turned off the flames and took out a mat so he could place the hot dish on the table.

"Huh?" Phuwin looked at his pa in confusion.

"Get the cheese! Hurry!" New frowned at him as he went to the table. "The shredded one from the back, not the whole block! And bring your own chopsticks."

Not knowing what else to do, Phuwin followed his Pa's instructions and brought the cheese and chopsticks to the table and sat beside his Pa when he motioned at the chair beside him.

New took the cheese and spread it over the still bubbling noodles before covering the lid, letting the steam cook the cheese.

"I added the brisket that I got from the hotel." He grinned as he looked at his son. "It'll add a lot of flavor."

"So…how long have you know…about the ramen?" Phuwin asked sheepishly, shrinking back in his seat as he expected a reprimand.

"I'm you Pa, Phuwin." New shook his head as he opened the lid again and stirred the noodles with his chopsticks. "Why did you expect me not to know?"

"So…does dad know too?" 

"Nah, he rarely visits the kitchen or goes hunting in the cabinets." New laughed at Phuwin's shocked expression. "What? You didn't think I'd find out?"

Phuwin shook his head, only raising his chopsticks when he saw his Pa push the pan towards him a bit, indicating that he too was welcome to have it. Which for him was great news because he had hardly had anything for dinner and he was hungry.

"No…" he answered truthfully, a bit sheepishly. "I thought you'd be against it…"

"Well, I've been a teenager as well, and I've had noodles in the middle of the night sneakily just like you guys have." Newwie suddenly reached out with his hand to adjust Phuwin's collar, making him freeze in place. "Which is exactly how I know that the little red marks on your neck aren't 'mosquito bites'."

Phuwin sank further into his seat, not knowing how to react, as his cheeks heated up from embarrassment and that only made New laugh harder at his son.

"We've all been young and in love. How do you think I met your father." New grinned and he could see some of the tension leave Phuwin's shoulders as he sat up straighter.

"So…how did you and dad meet?" Phuwin asked curiously, because this was probably the first time he had heard either of his dad's mention their past. "Was it in college? Or did you guys work together before starting your business?"

"It was actually in high school." New looked ahead as if he was looking out the windows, but in reality, he was reminiscing about his past in his head. "Did you know…we actually punched each other before we even shared our first kiss?"

Phuwin looked at his father in shock, but Newwie could look back to that day very clearly, the day that he had met Tay Tawan for the first time.

"He used to be just as hot tempered as he is today. But at the very least, he doesn't throw random punches anymore." Newwie chuckled softly as he unconsciously stirred the noodles around with his chopsticks. "He was actually helping a girl from our class who was being chased after by a senior. She hadn't wanted to be in a relationship with him, but the senior kept insisting, and started to harass her when she said no. So your dad intervened. But I thought he was bullying the boy instead."

"So…is that why you punched him?" Phuwin asked astounded, wondering how many layers there were to his dad's personality that he still didn't know.

"No." New laughed. "I went to stop the fight, and Tay punched me by mistake, because I pushed the senior out of the way, but couldn't get away fast enough. But me being me, I punched him back when I saw him trying to chase after the senior once again."

"Then…did the misunderstanding get resolved?" Phuwin's eyes sparkled with curiosity, and he wanted to know more about his parents. He wondered if Gem and Dunk had any idea of this…or was he the only one blessed with this privilege of finding out more about his dad's life.

"It did, but it took a while." New shrugged. "It was the girl who came and told me what had really happened, so I went to apologize to Tay later on. And we slowly started to become friends."

Finally, after taking a few more bites of the noodles, Newwie got up from the table. "Eat the rest and wash the dishes before you head back…unless you want your dad to find out about your stash."

"No, no!" Phuwin protested immediately. "I'll clean it all up."

"Good boy." New smiled as he leaned down to press a kiss to Phuwin's forehead and ruffle his hair. "Don't forget to shower before you head to bed. You reek of alcohol."

Leaving a shocked and flustered Phuwin behind, New headed back to his room, and slipped into bed soundlessly after closing the door behind him.

"Did Phuwin return home?"

No matter how soundless he might have been…unfortunately, he wasn't able to beat Tay's super-senses.

"Sorry," New whispered as Tay turned on the bed to face him, his eyes half closed with exhaustion. "Did I wake you up?"

"The bed was cold beside me." Tay shrugged sleepily, before rubbing at his eyes. "I didn't want to come down to find you, so I waited."

New reached out to move a few strands of hair out of Tay's forehead. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"I heard you tell Phuwin about our first encounter."

"I thought you were waiting for me in bed."

Tay gave him a lazy smile, his eyes opening wide as he looked at his husband. "I never said I was waiting in bed."

"So…how much of our conversation did you hear?" Newwie smiled at him, pulling the covers over his own form. "Are you uncomfortable?"

"No." Tay shook his head immediately. "This story…it's about us. It was a glimpse into our own past. Why would I be mad?"

Even though Tay didn't say it out loud, New understood. He understood because Tay said it was 'our own' past. Because he knew how hard it was for them to still talk about some of the incidents…

"It's been ages since we took a break, don't you think so?" New rubbed at his hair slowly, almost in a comforting manner. "Should we go somewhere together? For a couple days? Or should we take the boys with us and make it a family tour? Just like old times."

"The boys have school they can't afford to miss." Tay said after some thought. "We can go together."

"We shouldn't always be so hard on our boys." New told him now, his fingers still petting Tay's hair in that same familiar, comforting manner. "I feel like…we have somehow disconnected ourselves from them recently. And I don't want them to feel like we're pushing them away."

"Maybe it's for the best." Tay sighed, closing his eyes and moving away from New a bit, even though he reached out to touch his hand inside the blanket. "I want them to be emotionally strong as well…so that when a time comes when they would need to face the hardships of life…they won't break down like I did…"