Chapter 25: When will you return?

Chapter 25: When will you return?

The Saturday morning air was wonderfully cool. The cold wind blowing from the east, interspersed with the soft sunlight, filled the atmosphere with freshness. It should have been the perfect morning to snuggle under warm blankets and relax. But for Mangkon, that wasn’t the case.

“Nong Mangkon hitting the pavement this early? You must be feeling fit,” a greeting came from Fakfaeng as she saw the youngest police officer in a maroon tracksuit, reflecting the first light of day.

“Yeah, I felt kind of restless,” the handsome officer replied with a smile, but deep down he knew that wasn’t the real reason.

Because who would expect to wake up to the handsome face of his Inspector so close he could almost feel it? The warm breath constantly brushing against him made his heart beat so hard he thought it would explode from early in the morning and in order to find a way to make that crazy feeling go away, his maroon police tracksuit, including his favorite running shoes, were put on and he left the house while the sun was still below the horizon line.

My heart is working hard this morning. “I’m going for a run now, P’Faeng.”

“Go, go, run carefully, be careful you don’t fall in love.”

“Who am I going to fall in love with? You’re talking strangely.” “Isn’t it that person, behind you?”

Fakfaeng teased, pointing behind him. Mangkon turned to look, and as soon as he saw him, he almost immediately turned his face back. Light brown eyes flickered slightly at the sight before him. The tall figure of Inspector Thian appeared in his line of sight. A thin white t-shirt clung to his body, revealing his clear proportions. Short running shorts and running shoes looked well-fitted Together. It enhanced the appeal of the Inspector even to several extents.

“Why did he have to wake up so early? Ugh,” Mangkon muttered to himself under his breath before pretending not to care, but his heart was beating wildly and irregularly.

“Hurry up and go, someone will catch up.”

The slender legs quickly started running lightly along the path, trying not to look back. But before he could even complete one lap, footsteps are drawing closer as someone draws alongside him. But the guy wants to maintain his distance so he speeds up, before the person who’s following calls out.

“You got up and ran without calling me.” And why would I call you?

The younger man tried to ignore him, not speaking, and not answering the question, running a body length about in front of the handsome Inspector, but the moan that carried with the wind from behind him caused the slender legs to stop immediately.

“Ah, Oh!”

“Inspector!”

Mangkon looked back in surprise. The image he saw was the tall figure of Thian collapsing to the ground and showing a contorted face. Panic arose automatically. The slender legs quickly stepped back to him with concern.

“Are you okay?” “Well… I’m hurt again.”

“Where do you hurt, Inspector?”

His clear, round eyes tried to scan his body for wounds, but he couldn’t find any injured spots. And then… Mangkon was outwitted. The older man’s thick hand reached out, seizing his small hand and holding it against the left side of his chest.

“It hurts here,” he answered in a soft voice along with a smile that seemed intentionally designed to melt the listener’s heart.

“Why are you playing like this?” the younger man retorted, his voice laced with exasperation. “But it really hurts.”

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Thian was putting on a full display, pulling out all the stops of a lifetime of being a Casanova. His jet-black eyes gazed at the round face so sweetly, so gently, that the recipient couldn’t help but feel a flutter in his heart.

“I want to be in Mangkon’s sight.”

“D-don’t joke around,” Mangkon said, turning his face away. “If I’ve made you sad, I’m sorry.”

“Inspector, are you really alright? I’m going back to running. Excuse me.”

He didn’t want to hear an apology from this man. Besides, what was he even apologizing for?

The fluttering feeling returned, but he didn’t forget how notorious Thian was for his cunning and flirtatious nature. The ex-wife quickly composed himself, snatched his hand back, stood up abruptly, and immediately started running again.

Though he repeated fiercely in his heart not to care, red crept across his cheeks. His disobedient heart seemed to beat too strongly against the sweet words.

No, Mangkon. Don’t let your heart get hurt again.

His intention to run vanished entirely. His slender legs faltered and changed direction, heading straight home. But when he arrived, he was surprised yet again, because an abundance of food was arranged on the table before the very man who had been playing with his feelings moments ago walked in.

“I made breakfast for Mangkon.” “In case you’re hungry.”

The ex-husband was presenting himself to his fullest. His hand placed behind the younger man to guide him to sit, A colorful and palatable shrimp boil, aroma filled the air.

“Let’s eat.”

Why was the Inspector speaking so properly, so out of character? Even so, he didn’t want to ask, and to cut short on the bothersome topic, so Mangkon agreed to sit down and scooped

a spoonful of shrimp rice soup into his mouth. Though he didn’t want to admit it, the flavor was impossibly delicious.

Meanwhile, the person sitting across from him seemed overwhelmingly happy. His hands weren’t working in sync with his eyes, because his sharp eyes only stared at the person in front of him, smiling contentedly.

“Eat a lot, I made it with care.” “You didn’t need to.”

“But I wanted to make it for Mangkon.” There was no “you” prefixed as it used to be. “It’s alright. I can feed myself.”

“Why? I just want to be a good husband.”

*Cough cough!*

Those words resulted in immediate choking. Mangkon quickly grabbed a glass of water to remedy the situation before looking at the speaker with incredulous eyes.

“Ex-husband!”

How dare the Inspector say he’s a husband? We’re still divorced! Has his brain reverted? “That hurts to hear,”

“That’s the Inspector’s problem,”

He didn’t want to talk anymore. He still felt angry about the scolding he’d received that day, the one he couldn’t forget.

The homeowner bowed his head, returning to his meal without paying attention to the person sitting across from him, refusing to even glance up for a split second. But then, his gaze was suddenly caught by the silver ring on the other man’s left ring finger.

Why is he still wearing it?

His fine eyebrows furrowed without him realizing it. Furthermore, there was a noticeable green bruise on the back of the Inspector’s left hand, making it suspicious.

He wouldn’t ask. Even if he wanted to know, he wouldn’t ask… but someone saw right through him.

“Mangkon is curious about something?”

“Or are you looking at my hand?” Thian said in a calm voice, deliberately raising his hand to make the ring even more visible.

“I don’t want to take it off. It makes me think of you,” he confessed.

Speaking the words “think of you” so directly caused Mangkon to freeze for a moment before his eyes darted away, unwilling to look at the scene in front of him. Many questions raced through his head.

Why is he saying things like that? What does the Inspector want?

“As for this bruise,” the deep, low voice faded until it was almost a whisper while stating. “I hurt myself to make it hurt less than what my heart feels.”

There was one day when he sat on the wide bed. It was so empty, as if something was missing.

No smile. No laughter.

No Mangkon.

To vent his unstable emotions, the owner of the thick hands brought it and punched it against the wall repeatedly, hoping to feel pain in his body, But it turned out that it was the mind more painful than the body.

Is this what they called misfortune? The memory of his ex was more than expected.

He couldn’t remember how many girls he had, but now he was dying because of the junior he used to train.

“And why would you do that?” He knows it hurts.

“It does hurt but in the end, it doesn’t help because I miss Mangkon very much.”

Mangkon could only sit there stunned, unsure how to respond. A variety of emotions crowded his head. The resentment he felt began to be replaced by something he didn’t dare call a waver.

“It’s over. Let it go.”

Thian looked at the image with unmeasurable feeling. The sharp eyes once steady, swayed. Guilt overwhelmed him until he couldn’t stand it.

He didn’t want to wait any longer. Even though he was someone who liked to create atmosphere, if he waited until then, he might die.

“I didn’t want to divorce Mangkon. I just thought it would keep you safe. I thought I was doing the right thing, but in the end, it’s the thing I regret most in my life.”

“I’m sorry, Mangkon.”

“There’s no need to apologize. We would have divorced in six months anyway.” Yes, it has to be as agreed…

The younger man replied in a calm voice, not even looking up. The congee in the pretty bowl was poked around. His lips pressed tightly together, trying to prevent the emotions that were crashing in from turning into tears.

“I know I’m not a very good person. I may be a flirt, I may be cunning, but with Mangkon… I’m the most serious I’ve ever been in my life,” the Inspector continued, his voice starting to shake.

“I don’t know when it happened. I admit I didn’t want to get married, but ever since Mangkon came into my life, I haven’t thought about looking at anyone else. I’m not interested in even the pretty girls,” he said. No matter how hard he try, it can’t be done.

“Especially when Mangkon took that bullet for me, I almost went crazy. If anything had happened to you, I would never have forgiven myself.”

“Also when Saming took you away, I was so afraid of losing you. So, so afraid. My fear made me think that I was the one who caused you to go through all of this.” Thian paused to catch his breath before uttering the sentence that had been lingering in his heart all along.

“I don’t want anything else to happen to you, Mangkon. I love you. I love you so much I’m dying.”

The thoughts bottled up were all let out, no longer holding onto the playboy image. There was nothing left to remain. He wanted the person in front of him to know all his truth and all his feelings.

“I fell for Mangkon. I fell for my destiny-fixing wife.” “I really do love you.”

His round eyes widened at the outpouring of words. The heart that he was trying to keep strong was crumbling. He slowly raised his face to look at the handsome face with a mix of confusion.

He fell in love with me, huh… Inspector Thian, of all people.

“Will you give me a chance?”

The look in his eyes and the earnest tone could no longer be concealed. In Thian’s heart, he was just as scared. Mangkon remained silent, not saying anything afterwards. If the younger man wasn’t ready, he couldn’t force him.

“Mangkon?”

His little heart was racing with a good feeling. He couldn’t deny that he, too, had fallen for this cunning Inspector. Many thoughts spun in his head. It was difficult to put them into words.

Sadness welled up in his beautiful eyes. He wanted to try opening his heart too. But he couldn’t be sure if a flirtatious man, a cunning man, could really stop. “Are you going back to Chiang Mai today, Inspector?”