After rain comes the clear sky (Kaoearth)

19. Back

Kao was feeling nervous as he stood in front of the gate of St. Nicholas High School's gate. He was initially planning to arrive the previous night but an emergency came up and he missed the flight. He had to take the early morning flight to Chiang Mai to make it on time for Earth's performance.

By the time he got to Earth's home, he learned that Earth had already left for school early in the morning to get ready for his performance. Feeling a bit dejected, he went directly to the school.

The school was bustling with activities with students who were excitedly moving around.

As Kao walked in, he didn't see a single familiar face and he felt that it was natural as he didn't know many people in Chiang Mai.

"Boo!!" Kao heard a voice behind him and turned around.

"What a party pooper. You weren't scared." Fluke pouted making Kao roll his eyes at him. "Heard you missed the flight."

"Yeah, I did. I had to wait for five hours to get the next one." Kao sighed.

"You didn't get any sleep last night, did you? Your eye bags are so noticeable." Fluke's words made Kao touch his face. "There are still a few hours before the programmes officially. Earth's performance will take another hour as there will be speeches from the principal and other dignitaries as the part of inauguration ceremony. You can catch up on your sleep a bit in our hideout if you want." Fluke offered.

"No need. If I sleep now, I might miss Earth's performance." Kao shook his head forcefully to get rid of the sleepiness. He hadn't slept for three days straight to finish his work.

"Then, let's go do something about these dark circles of yours, Phi. Or else Earth will be worried seeing you like this." Fluke knew how much Earth cared about skincare.

Kao thought for a second and nodded. He knew that Earth would feel guilty if he saw him looking so tired.

Fluke led Kao to their hideout. He was greeting people along the way as he gave Kao a mini tour of the school before reaching the destination.

"Wow. This place is nice!" Kao said looking around the so-called hideout. The place even had a spare bed which was filled with plushies that Kao assumed to be Earth's.

"Cool. Right?" Fluke smirked proudly.

"Yeah." Kao could see a number of comic books on the wall-mount shelf.

"What will you have? Drinks or coffee?" Fluke asked.

"You guys literally have a kitchen here!" Kao saw a mini fridge, portable stove, utensils needed for barbeque and hotpot and even a coffee machine.

"We kind of snuck them in here. This place is isolated so not many people know of this room and those who know usually don't come here. We got the key to this place from the old guard. No one's been here since we took over." Fluke opened the cabinet to take out a mug. "I assume coffee?"

Kao chuckled and nodded. He looked around a bit and settled on the huge couch in the middle of the room. He picked up the uniform plushie, which was Earth's favourite while waiting for Fluke to make coffee for him.

By the time Fluke was done making the coffee, he saw that Kao was fast asleep on the couch, hugging the plushie. Fluke snorted at the sight and shook his head. He didn't know what to do with these two love birds.

He adjusted the table fan to Kao and brought out a blanket to cover him before texting Earth that Kao was there.

Half an hour earlier

"Earth, can you stop sulking? P' Kao said that he will be here before your performance starts. He will come in the next flight." Sammy said as she did Earth's makeup.

"But he said he would come yesterday, Sammy." Earth pouted. "If the next flight is late, maybe he will miss my performance."

"Don't worry about that Earth. We have already asked around. There is still a lot of time left. You guys are just getting ready earlier so that you can do the practice one more time in costume before you actually perform in front of the crowd." Prem reasoned.

"I know, Prem. But..." Earth knew that Kao was definitely coming, yet he was sad that he might not be able to see Kao before his performance started.

He was already nervous about facing the crowd and performing not to mention his plan to propose Kao tonight. He was afraid that he would mess up everything in the end.

"Breath, Earth. Breath." Sammy patted his shoulders. "Everything is going to be just fine." 

"What if I get rejected tonight?" Earth looked at his two best friends.

Sammy and Prem looked at each other and then at Earth.

"Just a second ago, you were worried that P' Kao wouldn't be able to make it here and now you are worried about your confession? You really can switch your thoughts pretty quickly." Prem scoffed.

"Don't listen to him Earth. Listen to me." Sammy smacked Prem's hands making the latter wince in pain. "If he rejects you, we will help you pursue him till he says yes to you."

"Sammy, now you are encouraging him to do shit." Prem wasn't really positive about the Earth-chasing-Kao plan.

"Shut up, idiot." Sammy glared at Prem. "I am sure that even Fluke has the same opinion as me."

"Speaking of Fluke, where is he?" Earth asked.

"He is with his 'P' JJ', helping out the school council set up everything." Prem snorted. "Don't you think that Fluke is being a little too close to P' JJ nowadays?"

"They are brothers-in-law, aren't they?" Sammy said.

"Don't let Fluke hear you saying that. He has already rejected Fame and her proposal. He won't be happy to hear that. Fluke had been close to P' JJ even before Fame transferred over to our school. He didn't even know that those two were cousins till a few days ago." Earth said.

"I seriously don't like either of them. Be it P' JJ or Fame, they are equally annoying and pretentious." Prem's face cringed as he remembered his encounters with the two people.

"That I agree with you," Sammy said. "I think we should keep those two away from Fluke for his own safety."

"As if it is within our ability. Don't forget that P' JJ's family practically owns this school. Every staff here has to listen to them." Prem sighed.

"Yeah, you are right. Or else how could have that bitch been able to make the principal command Fluke to take her as his partner in the inter-school dance challenge." Sammy groaned looking at the ceiling. "I wish I could tear off that bitch's fake face in front of everyone."

"Her fans would tear you apart even before you can reach her," Earth commented knowing that Fame had become the most popular girl after she transferred over.

"I know. But I can always wish for it." Sammy looked at her friends who nodded along.