The morning sun in Bangkok didn't rise with the sound of a rooster; it rose with the hum of traffic and the persistent ping of a smartphone.
In their cozy apartment, the air smelled like garlic and soy sauce. Phuvit was at the stove, his movements precise and rhythmic as he flipped an omelet. He looked like a painting of domestic peace—until the peace was shattered by a high-pitched scream from the hallway.
"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM! I'M LITERALLY GOING TO TURN HIM INTO FISH BAIT!"
Sky stormed into the kitchen, brandishing his phone like a weapon. He was wearing an oversized t-shirt and tiny gym shorts, his hair a mess of sleep-disheveled curls.
"Let me guess," Phuvit said, not turning around. " Your Cousin 'Great'?"
"Great? More like Great-ly Annoying!" Sky hissed, shoving the phone under Phuvit's nose. "I went to the store last night to buy those spicy noodles—the ones with the pink packaging. I was just minding my own business, enjoying the night breeze! And look! Look at what this snitch sent to my mom!"
On the screen was a blurry, zoomed-in photo of Sky at the convenience store.
The Caption from Great : "Auntie Nim, I saw Sky out late. Is it safe for a student to wear such short pants in the city? I'm worried he'll catch a cold... or a bad reputation."
"Look he is now getting on my nerves, he always tells everything to mom i hate him na " sky said dramatically crying -" He is so freaking annoying, he is teasing me from childhood. I think he started stalking people even when he did not learned to walk properly. " Before Phuvit could respond, Sky's phone began to vibrate with a video call. The caller ID showed a picture of a very angry woman holding a wooden spatula.
"It's her," Sky whispered, his face going pale.
"The Kraken has awakened."
He swiped 'accept' and held the phone at arm's length. Mae Nim's face filled the screen, her eyes narrowed into deadly slits.
" SKY NATCHA! ARE YOU TRYING TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK FROM THREE HUNDRED KILOMETERS AWAY?"
"Mom, it was just noodles! The store is literally two minutes away!"
"TWO MINUTES IS ENOUGH TIME FOR A RELATIVE TO SEE YOUR LEGS, SKY! Great told me you looked like you were going to a pool party, not a university! Cover up! Or I will send your father to Bangkok with a suitcase full of your grandfather's old baggy trousers!"
In the background, Somchai's voice could be heard faintly: "Nim, let the boy breathe, the city is hot—"
"SHUT UP, SOMCHAI! DO YOU WANT TO WEAR THE TROUSERS TOO?"
The line went dead. Sky dropped his head onto the kitchen table with a thud. Phuvit chuckled, placing a plate of steaming food in front of his friend.
"Eat, Natcha. Your 'pool party' legs need energy to deal with your cousin."
~The penthouse hangover~
Across the city, in a penthouse that cost more than Sky's entire neighborhood, the atmosphere was the opposite of "cozy."
The floor was littered with expensive champagne bottles, discarded silk blazers, and the heavy scent of expensive tobacco. Ace woke up with a headache that felt like a drum line was performing inside his skull. He pushed a silk sheet off his chest and sat up, rubbing his temples.
Nearby, on a velvet lounge chair, Rome groaned, his dark hair falling over his eyes. A few friends and some dancers from the club were still passed out on the oversized sofas in the living room, but the "Kings" were already awake.
"Never again," Rome muttered, his voice a deep rasp. "Until tomorrow night."
"Shut up," Ace replied, standing up and heading for the glass-walled shower. "I have breakfast with my father. If I'm late, I'll never hear the end of the 'responsibility' speech."
An hour later, Ace walked into his family's dining hall. The table was long enough to host a board meeting, and his parents sat at the head. His father, a man whose face was on the cover of every business magazine, didn't look up from his tablet.
"You smell like a brewery, Ace," his father said calmly.
"Good morning to you too, Dad," Ace sat down, waving away the maid who tried to pour him coffee. "I need a bath and a peaceful meal , not a lecture."
"You are twenty, handling millions in the stock market, and running three of my sub-companies," his father said, finally looking up. "Professionally, you are a lion. But personally? You're a stray cat. Partying until 5 AM with people who only like you for the black color of your credit card... it's beneath you."
"They're fun," Ace shrugged. "And they don't ask for much."
"They ask for everything," his father countered. "Find someone real. Someone loyal. Someone who doesn't care about the name on your building. Tell Rome the same thing before his grandfather loses patience with his 'Mafia Prince' antics."
Ace stood up, his chair screeching against the marble. "Dad, don't start. Loyalty is a fairytale sold to poor people. Everyone is a gold digger; some are just better at hiding the shovel. I'm going upstairs."
As he walked away, his father sighed, looking at his wife. "When will he grow up?"
Ace's mother chuckled, sipping her tea. "Leave him, dear. He's young, handsome, and rich. He'll find his way. Besides... he's your son. He behaves exactly like you did at twenty."
His father looked at her in disbelief. "I did not party like that. I was focused!"
"You once bought a whole bar just because they ran out of your favorite scotch," she reminded him with a wink. "Support me, honey. Our son is just a late bloomer in love."
~In the distributive branch of The Akkarat~
While the families were clashing, a small event was happening in a suburban branch of Rome's distribution empire.
Manager liam ( Great's father and Sky's uncle) was bowing low to a regional director. He was a man who loved power, even if he only had a tiny bit of it.
"Everything is in order, sir," he said proudly. " You nowadays the young generation is so spoiled. But, My son, Great, is also keeping an eye on things in the city and helping me . He's very observant. He even keeps me updated on my nephew, who just moved here. The boy is... a bit rebellious, but we'll keep him in line."
The director didn't care. No one at the top cared about a small-town manager's nephew.
But as the month of summer vacation wound down, the world was shrinking. The scholarship students were learning the city streets, and the "Kings" were getting bored of their easy flings.
The collision wasn't going to be a coincidence. It was going to be an explosion.
~Back again to the apartment ~
The apartment was currently filled with a sound that resembled a dying bird. It was the smoke alarm.
"SKY! THE PAN! FLIP THE PAN!" Phuvit yelled, waving a dish towel frantically at the ceiling.
"I'M TRYING! IT'S STUCK! THE CHEESE IS BECOMING ONE WITH THE METAL!" Sky screamed back, poking at a very burnt grilled cheese sandwich with a spatula.
In a fit of "summer vacation productivity," Sky had decided he would surprise Phuvit by cooking a 'modern Bangkok lunch.' He had seen a video of a cheesy, buttery sandwich and thought, 'How hard can it be?' As it turned out, very hard.
"Move!" Phuvit commanded, sliding in like a professional. He grabbed the pan, slid the burnt offering into the trash, and began scrubbing the stove with military precision. "I leave you alone for ten minutes to study a bit about the university, and you almost turn our deposit into ashes."
Sky pouted, sitting on the counter and swinging his legs. "I was trying to be a good roommate! You're always the one doing everything. You work, you clean, you cook. I feel like a useless pet."
Phuvit stopped scrubbing and looked at his best friend. His expression softened. "You're not a pet. You're the one who makes sure I don't forget to laugh. Now, go put on a shirt that actually covers your stomach—we're going to the local market to buy real ingredients. I'll teach you how to make Pad Kra Pao without burning the building down."
"Only if we can buy those cute bear-shaped ice creams on the way back," Sky bargained, already grinning.
"Deal," Phuvit sighed, unable to hide his smile. "Go change. And don't let Great see you, or I'll have to listen to your mom's voice through the phone for another hour."
~ At the terrace of sirisawat~
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Ace and Rome were sitting at a private rooftop pool. The water was crystal clear, the sun was perfect, and the service was impeccable.
They should have been having the time of their lives. Instead, they both looked like they were attending a funeral.
"I'm bored," Rome said, tossing a 100,000-baht watch into the air and catching it repeatedly. "The club last night was the same. The girls were the same. The whiskey was the same."
Ace lay on a sun lounger, his eyes covered by dark sunglasses. "It's all plastic, Rome. I went on a date with that model my mom suggested yesterday. She spent forty minutes talking about her 'authentic' soul, and then asked me if I could help her brother get a CEO position at my tech firm."
"At least she waited forty minutes," Rome chuckled darkly. "Last night, a guy tried to slip his business card into my pocket while he was literally dancing on me. No one sees us. They just see the price tag on our shoes."
Rome sat up, looking out at the city skyline. "Everyone is so predictable. They bow, they scrape, they smile when we're mean, and they agree with everything we say. I want someone to actually... I don't know, tell me to go to hell for once."
Ace let out a short, dry laugh. "Careful what you wish for. If someone actually did that, you'd probably have them arrested for 'disrespect.'"
"Maybe," Rome smirked. "But at least it would be an interesting afternoon."
Ace stood up, stretching his lean, athletic frame. "University starts soon. The new batch of scholarship students will be arriving. Maybe there will be a new genius to crush in the exams. That's the only thing that keeps me awake these days."
Rome stood up too, looking down at the street below where tiny cars moved like ants. "A genius, huh? Let's hope they have some fire in them. I'm tired of winning against people who are already losing."
~ At Bangkok's famous street market~
An hour later, Sky and Phuvit were at a bustling street market. Sky was happily licking a bear-shaped ice cream, his face lit up with joy, while Phuvit carried a bag of fresh basil and chilies.
At that exact moment, a sleek, matte-black sports car with tinted windows roared past the market.
Inside the car, Ace was driving, and Rome was on his phone. They didn't look out the window. They didn't see the boy in the crop top laughing at his ice cream or the classy student holding a bag of vegetables.
"Did you see that car?" Sky asked, pointing at the disappearing tail lights. "It sounded like a jet engine!"
"Just another person with too much money and nowhere to go," Phuvit said, adjusting his glasses. "Come on, the ice cream is melting. Let's go home and cook."
They walked in opposite directions—the two who had everything and felt nothing, and the two who had nothing but felt everything.
The countdown to the first day of University had officially begun.