[นิยายแปล ภาษาอังกฤษ] A Tale Of Thousand Stars (นิทานพันดาว by Bacteria)

ลำดับตอนที่ #1 : Chapter 4 (The second half)

************************************************************

I DO NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO USE MY COPY TO TRANSLATE INTO ANY OTHER LANGUAGE.

I GOT PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR (BACTERIA) TO TRANSLATE THIS HALF OF THE CHAPTER ONLY.

THERE WON'T BE ANY OTHER CHAPTERS... PLEASE WAIT UNTIL THE OFFICIAL ENGLISH COPY FROM NABU PUBLISHER.

************************************************************

A Tale of Thousand Stars... นิทานพัน๸าว... Chapter 4 (The second half)

************************************************************

The big bus arrived at Chiang Rai Bus Terminal around 4:30 PM. Tian took his backpack down from the luggage rack above his seat and get off the bus. He spent some time looking around. The place, the people, and everything seemed strange and new for him. But then, Tian decided to follow other passengers walking to a station next by.

It was a very large bus station with a very high and open ceiling. Several benches had already taken by other groups of passengers coming before them. Not only luggage or backpacks but also other sorts of the wooden round basket with some fruits or vegetables inside. Some passengers were sitting and some were napping. Tian saw an old Jeep parking right in front of the station and it had a 'government property' license plate. Yet he wasn't sure whether it was a truck to pick him up or somebody else's truck. So, he tried to look around for the driver but saw no one.

The tall young man put down his heavy backpack standing and leaning against a pillow bar in that station, then took his cellphone out to search for the number of the emergency call from the foundation. But then he had to stop because someone greeting from behind. 

"Are you the teacher from Sang Thong Foundation?"

It was the first time somebody called him a 'teacher', which felt completely weird. Tian never thought he was a real teacher, but he had to take that title anyway. So he smiled at that person and replied.

"Please call me Tian. 'Teacher' sounds too formal."

Tian wai-ed to that older person, which was wearing a soldier uniform and he seemed just a little bit younger than his father.

Note: "wai" is a Thai traditional way of greeting consists of a slight bow, 
with the palms pressed together in a prayer-like fashion. 
Reference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_greeting

"Of course, Teacher Tian."

Yes, he didn't listen to Tian at all.

"My name is YodChai. I'm a sergeant at the camp. You can call me 'Serg Yod'."

He introduced himself with a slight accent.

"Only one bag? Please... Allow me to help you."

Tian didn't stop him from carrying his backpack up to that Jeep. It became a habit for Tian to have some sergeants or officers helping him doing stuff since his dad was a retired General from the Thai Royal Army. He only sat in a truck quietly. The Jeep was quite old, so when it started people could hear it from afar. The truck started to leave the terminal and went out to a street.

It was a soldier vehicle and had no air conditioner. There was only some wind blowing from the outside of the truck, and Tian sweated a lot. Serg Yod laughed at him out loud.

"It is a bit hot during the day, but after you arrived in the village tonight, it will be completely cold at night."

"I'm not staying at the soldier camp, right?"

He just wanted to make sure that he would get his place to stay, according to the information he received from the office at the foundation. Except, they didn't tell Tian where it was located.

"Your place is inside the village. Our camp is 3 kilometers further up to the hill."

Tian nodded and listened to Serg Yod providing him some details about the village they were arriving in the next two hours.

"Pha Pun Dao village is a small Uq Lor - Akha Tribe. They have been living in this area of Thailand for several generations. Those kids are all Thai citizens. They used to grow the opium, which was completely illegal. So King Rama 9 came to visit and helped them to use the farming system to grow some other fruits and vegetables.

Not only those, but there are also some tea farms, coffee farms, or flower gardens. You'll see it on the way there. Look over into the spaces between the mountains and you'll see their style of farming."

An hour after that, the old Jeep drove into a very narrow dirt road that filled with trees on both sides. Serg Yod explained this road was built by the soldiers and people from the village several years ago. Even though it was just a small dirt road, it became very convenient and helpful to shorten transportation to the village.

The sun started going down and the temperature dropped so fast. Tian sat right up and shrank himself tightly to the seat, while Serg Yod kept singing the songs and driving the truck along with the sound of the crickets from both sides of the street. Until he stopped at some location in the middle of nowhere.

"Teacher Tian. From this point, we have to walk."

Serg Yod smiled brightly to the new young teacher.

What? We are walking to where?

Tian smiled forcingly and asked.

"For how long?"

"Not that far. I'm using the shortcut to the end of the village because your house is around that area. If I drove to the front of the village, then you have to walk for 5 kilometers. But from here, it's only 2 kilometers. Very close."

Seriously?

A city boy couldn't believe what he'd just heard. He usually drove his car even if it was only 50 meters away, but now he had to carry this heavy backpack and walk for 2 kilometers?

Serg Yod saw Tian's upset face, so he added more information to confort him.

"Don't worry. It's only a small slope. Not that high."

And decided to help Tian carry his backpack. Letting Tian handle the flashlight.

It was getting darker and darker every minute, so the old soldier decided to start walking before any uninvited reptiles coming out. Tian used the flashlight to see the direction they were going. The walking path was quite narrow, but it was leading them into the village right ahead of them. Fortunately, Tian kept exercising regularly as the doctor's recommendations, so this quick walk seemed ok for him.

Serg Yod pointed to a shadow of a hut which was 10 more meters away from where they were standing. But Tian had already bent down, pushed his both hands on his knees, and panted repeatedly. 

"Almost there, teacher. Keep it up."

That old man didn't seem to be tired at all. Besides, he felt completely ok. Tian chined his head up and took a very deep breathe in and continued walking. He could smell some smoke coming on the way he walked there. So he looked around and saw a homemade campfire using some rocks and woods right in front of his new old-hut.

A shadow of someone was standing right in front of him between the campfire and Tian. He looked at that broad shoulder of a big guy from behind who's crossing his both arms and facing to the hut. Completely and quietly alone.

Although he's not carrying any gun or wearing a complete uniform, Tian could perfectly remember that manly and solid back.

That beautiful hand of Tian let the flashlight dropped on the ground. That sound completely called him to turn around. He looked right at Tian with those sharp eyes. It was like the world stop spinning. Tian's heart kept beating so fast and loud. It was hurting his chest again.

Suddenly, Tian dropped down to the floor, but that stranger came in to hold Tian's waist up before he touched the ground.

Tian's cheek at that moment touched on that soldier's solid chest. But then, Tian remembered he was hugged by a man, he blushed like crazy. Tian flowned and shut his eyes. He tried to control his heart to stop beating so fast, but he couldn't.

"Are you all right?"

That deep, low key and manly voice were whispering into Tian's ear. Then Tian remembered and pushed him away so fast and made himself falling back to the ground.

"Teacher!"

Serg Yod ran as quick as possible, but before he helped Tian, he never forgot to greet his boss first. Then he held Tian's tiny arms up.

Tian wiped some dirt out from his jeans and looked right at that GIANT right in front of him. What on earth was he thinking? To let Tian felt back like that.

"I'm ok."

Tian told Serg Yod, who looked absolutely worried about the new teacher.

"Teacher..."

Sergeant YodChai opened his hand to his boss and officially introduced the new teacher to the man standing right next to both of them. 

"May I introduce you to my boss? Captain PhuPha, the Infantry Company Commander 3307 at Pha Pra Pi Roon Base SIR!!!"

Tian squeezed his lips tight and looked at Captain PhuPha's face, which was looking at him like he was going to cause more troubles in the future for him.

"Do I have to 'SOLUTE' you too?"

Tian couldn't help being sarcastic, but the captain didn't get it.

"No. Just wai me. That was good enough."

And that stunned Tian and gave him no choice to wai PhuPha. Serg Yod, who was observing for the whole time believed it wasn't really a good start for their first time meeting each other. So he decided to say something to break that awkward silence.

"Sir. Teacher Tian comes to replace Teacher Aod."

YodChai was talking about the previous volunteering teacher, who surrendered in the third week since he arrived. And that was a month ago.

Captain PhuPha nodded and pointed to a hut close by.

"You can put your stuff in your hut. I asked people to prepare you with some necessary personal stuff. So you are all set."

He paused a little before adding a sentence that almost made Tian want to kick PhuPha's ass.

"... I hope you know how to use them."

"Any manual available?"

Tian tried to be sarcastic again.

"They are just simple and local stuff. But if you really need some manuals, I'll ask someone at the camp doing one for you."

Tian couldn't really tell if that's a sarcastic one or being serious about it. Since Captain PhuPha's tone seemed serious and sincere.

"Thank you."

Tian decided to surrender to this GIANT soldier. He took his backpack from Serg Yod, who's smiling at him all the time. Tian walked directly to the hut which was built higher from the ground and covered by the dry coconut or palm leaves.

Serg Yod watched the new teacher climbing up those broken stairs and turned his face to his boss asking.

"I thought you sent someone to fix it."

"We have been busy with those illegal logging cases. So I completely forgot."

PhuPha replied and didn't seem to care about this much, yet he paused.

"... Also... We might not need to fix it. Because he won't stay with us that long."

"Please, Captain. He might be ok. We never know. Look at Teacher Aod for example. He seemed to blend in with people from the village very well. But then he still left this job."

The old sergeant sighed deeply. His eyes looked like they were hiding something he shouldn't mention about it.

"So... You think a very young man who's just passed his 20 and wearing expensive clothes and accessories from head to toe will be able to stay until the end of the semester? 3 months?"

PhuPha repeated. Serg Yod laughed a little and kept quiet.

"By the way, how did you get here, sir? I took the Jeep and parked at the front of the village."

"I borrow a bike from the base."

Although the road path was kind of difficult to drive, naturally narrow and rough, and way too many turns with some slopes, it never was an issue for someone who worked there for more than 4 years like this young captain.

"Do you wanna go back to the base with me? Using the bike at night is not safe."

"That's ok. I've got used to it. I'll see you back at the base, Serg."

Captain PhuPha concluded and went directly to his bike. He started the engine and rode off, but suddenly he broke because he remembered something.

Forgot to tell that rich kid about what we have to do tomorrow.

Well... Then he changed his mind again. Tian didn't seem like someone who would get up early in the morning anyway. Coming to his hut again in a late morning should have enough plenty of time. Once Captain realized that, he rode that bike straightly back to the base.

************************************************************

At a bamboo hut, there is only a small porch outside with an empty square space inside. Tian was looking for some sort of a light switch on the wall, but then he remembered that he was staying inside of a 'forest'. There was no electric or water system here... but how could they live here? He put his backpack at a corner of the hut and saw a pressure lamp.

The youngest son of an ex-military leader sat down and tried to use some natural light from the moon to look at that lamp. And finally found some small text underneath the lamp. It was so small and there were a lot of them. He turned and looked around for his flashlight, then remembered he dropped it outside of the hut. 

Tian finally pulled out his cellphone and turned on the flashlight mode, since he wouldn't be able to use it anymore here inside this village because it was completely zero phone signal here. He tried to read on that tiny manual. It was his first time using this kind of device, but it wasn't that hard for him to understand those messages. It was only too small and kind of hurt Tian's eyes a little.

Those beautiful hands put the pressure lamp down on the bamboo floor, turned it around a little until he saw a plastic valve. He pulled out and pushed it back in for several times to put the pressure in, then pressed the switch to light it up. He turned the valve all the way to the right and that gave too much gas to maximize the light. It was too bright. Bright enough to make Tian shockingly step away from it.

He looked at that lamp for a few minutes, but it didn't seem to drop the brightness. And Tian started to worry that he was gonna burn down his own hut, so he decided to reach his hand to turn the valve to the left and the light went down a little by a little until it was enough for Tian to come closer to the lamp. The city boy caught his breath and felt happy he didn't burn down his wooden resident. He put that lamp in a corner to clear the space inside that tiny hut and started to take a look at what he had inside the hut. There was a small floor table, a futon with a very old and almost-torn-apart look, an old square handmade pillow, and an old mosquito net.

Luckily, the bamboo floor seemed clean. There must be someone coming to clean and prepare this hut for him. Tian wrapped his arms around his legs and looked around. He wondered what he should do with them. And he decided to set up the mosquito tent first. He used this kind of net before when he went to a military training camp in high school, but he never set it up by himself before. 

Tian unfolded the old mosquito net confusingly. Then he found four cords tightened to all four corners of the net, which meant he needed to hang them up with something. He looked up to the ceiling and walls then found some old nails on the wooden bars which were perfectly on the four corners of the hut. Hence he hung those cords up to the nails, the tent looked a bit asymmetry, but it was finally up properly.

He sat down on the floor feeling tired and hungry. His stomach growled loudly and reminded him that he hadn't eaten anything since that noon. Tian felt a little bit mad at that giant captain. The captain should know he was traveling all day and had no chance to eat anything on the way here. At least he should prepare something to eat for him.

Tian got up and took some energy bars out from his backpack to stop his hunger, but then he saw a tall stainless metal lunch box with a few layers on top of each other and a bottle of drinking water standing around the corner behind the door, which he didn't see it when he got in here. Tian was really hungry and felt sorry for accusing TorFhun's dearest captain, so he unboxed the meal and found some Thai scramble eggs, Tofu soup, and some steamed rice, which were already cold.

... How did he know I don't eat spicy food?

He shook his head to get that idea out of his head because his stomach was growling even louder. And started to dig in. To be honest, if the foods were really spicy, he would eat them anyway.

Everybody who knows Tian SoPaDitSakul, the youngest son of a rich ex-military leader and Hi society boy. He always has the best and expensive food laying down for him on his table in every single meal, but look at what he had. Only an old spoon was digging up some cold foods, but he felt so satisfied while eating them. People would be shockingly surprised. He finished every single one of them. Not even a single rice was left in the box following by that bottle of water.

"Gosh... So full."

He murmured to himself. After sitting for a few minutes, Tian started to unpack his personal belonging from his backpack and looked for his toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, and towel, then realized it was totally dark out there. Where should he take a bath? Tian stopped everything and tried to think if Serg Yod or Captain PhuPha mentioned something about this and he forgot. But then he remembered certainly they didn't mention anything about this. It also didn't make sense to do some surveys outside of the hut at that moment. It was dark and he was living inside of the 'forest'.

Don't need to shower then...

Tian took out the futon and put it inside the tent. The musty scent from the futon didn't even make him want to lay down on it and forget about sleeping on it. But it was not possible to sleep in here without it. So he had to hold his breath and laid down on the old futon and pillow slowly. He looked upon the ceiling which was brightened by the light from the pressure lamp at one corner of the hut. Then turned to pick up his cellphone to take a look at it. Tian realized it was such an utterly desperation to use his phone here. Absolutely no signal. The expensive cellphone now became only a simple paperweight or a fancy rock. He breathed normally and sighed. The sound of some insects mixing with some chilling winds became quiet in a moment. Some tears started to leak out of both eyes.

What are you doing here? Tian. Why exactly are you here?

It was very late morning. Because the sun had already raised up above the mountain top. But the new teacher was still curling to himself and sleeping inside the asymmetry mosquito net. The big guy, in an olive military t-shirt and pants, was standing and looking right at Tian feeling a little bit fed up with this city guy. 

PhuPha put the flashlight he picked up from the outside of the hut right next to Tian. He saw the pressure lamp at a corner of the hut and it was completely out of the gas because the valve was still on. Clearly, it was on all night and of course, the gas tank was completely empty. Although Tian came from the city he was smart enough to know how to use this lamp, but he shouldn't leave the light on all night. It could light up the whole hut on fire. The gas inside that lamp was flammable.

PhuPha tried so hard not to get mad. He started to count from 1 to 10 in his head, opened up the mosquito net up all 4 sides, kneeled down, and shook Tian to wake him up.

"Tian... Wake up."

Tian turned his back to PhuPha and continued to sleep. So PhuPha bent down to whisper into his ear with the normal speaking sound.

"Why don't you go back to the city and sleep at home? What are you doing here being a volunteering teacher?"

Tian sat up immediately and remembered he wasn't home in Bangkok. But when he sat up his nose and face were touching PhuPha's rough cheek.

Did I just...!? No... I didn't touch his face... Was it?

That young and handsome face turned completely red, while PhuPha was stunned and didn't say or move an inch. But only a few seconds, PhuPha stook up slowly and spoke like an order to Tian.

"Get up... Take a baht."

Tian rubbed his face to stop his blushing and pretended to shout back.

"All right. I know. Where is the bathroom? You didn't tell me anything last night, so I have to sleep like this."

"It's not that far, but I wouldn't recommend you to use it during the night time. And if you want to use a toilet, there is one pit toilet at the back of the hut. You can use it."

It was the first time for Tian to hear the word 'Pit Toilet'. It sounded strange but Tian thought it should be ok to use. He grabbed some basic bathroom accessories he nearly unpacked them last night, while PhuPha looked at Tian's stuff for a second and said.

"Follow me..."

Tian had to run after that Giant Captain because PhuPha left the hut immediately right after his order without waiting. Outside the hut, the sunlight was so strong and it was the first time Tian clearly saw the whole village. As a matter of fact, his hut was surrounded by people's houses. Only 10 meters or more. And they were all huts in the different sizes.

It was also the first time a city guy like Tian saw children in their Tribe cloaths, but some of them wore regular t-shirts. It was a very mixed culture between their tribe tradition and culture from the outside, which means this village had already opened themselves for the outside village.

Tian felt awkwardly shy because everyone was looking at him as a stranger for their village, but when he looked back at them some of them were smiling, laughing, or even blushing. PhuPha led Tian to the biggest house in this village.

"Is there a bathroom here?"

Tian naively asked.

"No."

PhuPha was still a man of little words.

"... Just wait here. I'll be right back."

He left Tian standing there hiding from the strong sunlight and climbed up the stairs to that house. It took only a few minutes before the young handsome captain coming out of the big hut with a kind-looking old man.

"Tian. Here is Uncle Biang-Lare. He's the leader and this village headman. They are also calling him 'Ka-Ma'."

Tian wai-ed to the old guy.

"Sawadee krub."

"Sawadee krub, teacher. Do you have a good sleep last night?"

Ka-Ma, AKA the wise guy, knew everything that happened inside his village and also an interpreter to connect people from the village to the people from the outside officially.

"Pretty well. But there were so many mosquitoes."

Tian showed mosquitoes bites on his arms to Biang-Lare.

"That because you didn't fold your mosquito net underneath the futon."

Captain PhuPha added and that triggered Tian to be mad at him a little.

"How do I know? You told me that you'll give me some manual."

PhuPha was paused a little before replying back to Tian with a serious voice.

"... I'm sorry. I never thought you needed it for real."

Tian smiled evilly and felt like he was winning.

"Actually, you can just show me. No need to write a manual or something."

"Ok. I'll teach you tonight."

PhuPha strongly promised to Tian. And that was stunning back at Tian. 

What kind of guy are you? Mister Giant.

Biang-Lare stopped the light argument between these young men by handing a plastic bowl to the new teacher.

"You should take a baht before the noontime. The sun will be too strong."

Tian took the plastic bowl from Mister Ka-Ma and looked confused. Inside that bowl, there were a big black soap and a plastic bottle with some brown liquid.

"What are these?"

"Charcoal soap and herbal shampoo."

Tian looked at the village headman and needed more explanation. He didn't think he needed them because he had already prepared everything. 

"You'll understand why you need them when you see the 'bathroom'."

Captain helped Biang-Lare to answer that question. And, if someone can see that reaction for one second, we would see a little smirk at a corner of PhuPha's lips. It was like he was waiting to see something fun and funny.

Both men greeted the village headman and left the hut. They walked to the next location and the sun was so strong burning Tian's skin a little. Tian started to sweat and looked at the large strong back of PhuPha. He felt so annoyed by the fact that the way to the 'bathroom' was too far away.

"Why do they need to build a 'bathroom' this far? They will be sweating like crazy again after they have a shower, you know?"

PhuPha heard the complaint from behind but didn't say anything and pointed his finger to a corner of a forest. Tian looked at the location PhuPha pointed to and opened his eyes widely. Tian ran to that location and left PhuPha followed him instead. Tian stood there right in front of a beautiful waterfall in complete awe. The waterfall is naturally beautiful with layers and super clear water. It is clear enough to see some leaves laying down underneath the big pool down below.

Tian had no idea what to feel. He turned around to Captain PhuPha and asked. 

"Where is the bathroom?"

It sounded so stupid because he knew for sure that he had to take a bath at this waterfall. 

"Here it is. A 'natural' bathroom."

"You mean I have to get naked and shower here in public? No way!"

"There is another way. You have to borrow some equipment from the village and carry this water back to your hut. Then you can shower there."

Tian looked at PhuPha straightly like he wanted to say 'Are you fuxking kidding me?' And PhuPha seemed to understand the message.

"I'm serious."

He nodded to Tian.

"Any one of them, whoever wanted to use the water at home, they have to carry it back by themselves."

"Why don't they use the underground water system?"

For Tian, he believed everywhere should have at least the underground water system. But for Captain PhuPha, he shook his head and felt like he had enough of babysitting this rich young man.

"We do not have enough budget from the government."

"How do you guys live inside your camp?"

"They completely come from different budgets. At the Pha-Pra-Pi-Roon base, we have a groundwater system and electric from the power generator machine."

Tian felt annoyed and sighed.

"... That's so unfair."

"So... What are you saying? I don't have all day to babysit you."

PhuPha used a more intense voice tone. 

The new teacher squeezed his thin lips and squeezed that plastic bowl tighter. It was a very harder decision than choosing between buying Gucci sunglasses or Tod's shoes. After thinking for a few seconds, he finally made a decision.

"Fine... I'll take a bath here."

"Do not forget to use the Charcoal soap and Herbal shampoo that Uncle Biang-Lare gave to you. This waterfall is the source of natural water for the whole village. Please do not use anything chemical from the outside here."

Tian gave a disgusted look at those products. One of them was technically made from wooden dirt and the other one was 'herbal'?!?! And that made PhuPha mad a little.

"Don't you dare looking down on these local products. It has been developed for generations from this tribe."

"I know... Got it."

The rich young man waved his hand to stop the argument and started to go into the water, but then he remembered of something that was awkwardly strange for him.

"... I'm about to get naked... I hope you won't sit here and stare at me, right?"

"Nope. I'll be sitting right here. Looking at you."

PhuPha strongly confirmed. 

"You are a new guy for this village. And it's quite risky for you to do something disrespectful to this village. And if that happens, then I would be..." 

... so much in trouble.

But PhuPha didn't complete the sentence. But seems like Tian didn't quite get or understand anything. So he still yelled back at PhuPha.

"Okay. Even though I'm a guy and you are not even a friend of mine or a family member, being naked right in front of you would make me so uncomfortable. Again, even if you are ok, but I'm not ok."

PhuPha tried to understand that rich people do not want to lose their face, so he, as a manly military, would be so ready to show his spirit."

"Of course, I can turn around, but you have to be fast. Ok?"

"Thank you. Very appreciated that."

Tian was being sarcastic to the handsome captain which walked to a tree nearby and sat underneath it waiting. So he started to take a bath with a deep sigh. The musty scent from the futon was stuck with him all that morning. He wanted to wash it off so bad. So he started taking his graphic t-shirt out and pulled down his skinny jeans.

At that moment, he only has one boxer left with him. He was hesitated to take it off. The sun was getting stronger and stronger and starting to burn his very light skin. He sweated and started to feel itchy on his body. So Tian dipped his foot into the water first, then half of his body, and used the plastic bowl to dig up some water to pour on his head. He reached his hand to grab the strangely dark soap and rub. The scent of Jasmine came out and surprised Tian. It did smell so good than the way it looked.

... Not bad at all... Very lovely scent.

Tian took the plastic bottle and squeezed it out a little. It also smelled nice. He squeezed for more and started to rub his hair comfortably. The water made him feel so relax and fresh, but then he came up with some fun ideas. So he pushed himself into some area deeper inside the pool. The shampoo bubbles flew through the tide and Tian was swimming comfortably. It was totally different feeling he had from the beginning. 

Meanwhile, PhuPha was waiting and waiting. He kept looking at his watch because he left the camp for too long now. It's the weekday and he decided not to be in his office. He felt bad about it.

So the young captain stood up and wiped out some dirt from his pants and walked back to the waterfall to see some cloths laying down on a rock, but couldn't see the owner. He tried to look for Tian and saw the young trouble maker swimming in the middle of the pool. 

"Tian!!! Come back. Don't go to that area. That is the whirlpool area."

PhuPha yelled out worried. The top layer of the waterfall is so high away from the pool, so when the water comes down to the pool. It creates a whirlpool underneath. And it seemed like Tian couldn't hear PhuPha at all. Only at that moment, Tian's body started to disappear into the pool and not coming up at all. It took only a split second before PhuPha decided to take off his combat shoes quickly.

"Fuxk!"

He swore loudly and jumped into the pool. He saw Tian stay silently underneath that pool. He dived to Tian's body and wrapped his strong muscular arm around Tian's skinny waist, then tried to swim up to get the air. While Tian started to move and pushed PhuPha, it was like Tian tried to make PhuPha drown too. But PhuPha had more experience so he tried to wrap both Tian's arms and swim-up, so Tian locked PhuPha's neck with both arms.

The strong Thai military guy swam up to the surface of the pool yet was so mad at the naughty soul hanging on his neck and back. As soon as PhuPha got up to the surface, he turned his face to the guy who was putting his chin on PhuPha's shoulder. The nice scent from the natural soap and shampoo made PhuPha realized how close they are to each other at that moment.

Only a nose touched on the other nose.

PhuPha looked up at those sparkling and naughty eyes. He was completely mad at Tian, but he had to stop that extremely mad feeling.

"You... tricked... me..."

That deep tone of voice paused on every single word. Those pink and thin lips smiled widely... That lovely smile blurred PhuPha for a split second.

"Even if there was no whirlpool, my leg was still got a cramp."

"... Oh really?"

PhuPha spoke slowly and tried to believe the 'boy who cried wolf'. Yet, he could hear Tian giggled at him. While Tian smiled and felt so happy to trick his giant to get wet from diving to help him. He didn't even try to swim by himself but still wrapping his arms around PhuPha's neck until he swam back to a shore area."

"Get up."

PhuPha ordered Tian while he was getting up from the water, but then Tian grabbed his wet t-shirt. So he looked at Tian and saw the sad face.

"I have a cramp."

PhuPha looked at Tian and tried to catch if he's lying again... But then he decided to hold Tian's body up to with both arms... Like holding his bride on a wedding day. The big and strong captain walked up from the pool with his both strong legs with a naked light color body on his arms. Tian was shocked by what PhuPha was doing for him.

His heartbeat was rising up like crazy... His face was crazily blushed... Say goodbye to his manhood... He had no idea what to react. Should he be mad or embarrassed? So Tian hit on that strong and board chest for a couple of times and yelled out.

"What the x?!?! Put me down!"

"You said you have a cramp, don't you? So, I'm holding you like this back to your room. Isn't that a good idea?"

That pair of eyes was saying that he was not kidding.

Going back nakedly in your arms? What do you think you are doing? You, crazy Giant. 

Tian wrapped his arms around PhuPha's neck again, but this time he yelled into PhuPha's ear.

"It's gone... Put me down!"

Suddenly, PhuPha dropped Tian to the ground and Tian was almost falling down. Tian looked at PhuPha madly and forgot to cover the big surgery scar on his chest, which PhuPha had already seen it. Instead of talking about it, but PhuPha decided not to mention about it. He grabbed a towel and threw it to Tian's sexy body.

"... Dry yourself and get dress."

"What about you?"

Tian started to feel sorry after seeing that wet and tight t-shirt and pants of PhuPha.

"I'm ok. I'll go back to the base, right after dropping you back at home."

PhuPha spoke like it wasn't a big deal for him and started to order him to dress up quickly again.

The city guy turned around, dried himself, and got dress so fast because he started to feel cold and started to be shivering. While they were walking back to the village, Tian kept looking at that handsome pure-Thai-blood face several times. He almost offered the towel to PhuPha, but then he changed his mind.

Why is his heart beating up so fast like this?

Stop confusing me, please. TorFhun.

************************************************************

I DO NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO USE MY COPY TO TRANSLATE INTO ANY OTHER LANGUAGE.

I GOT PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR (BACTERIA) TO TRANSLATE THIS HALF OF THE CHAPTER ONLY.

THERE WON'T BE ANY OTHER CHAPTERS... PLEASE WAIT UNTIL THE OFFICIAL ENGLISH COPY FROM NABU PUBLISHER.

************************************************************