Toffee was really tired, just crying more made him even more exhausted. His biggest frustration was that he wanted to go outside, but Artit never let him do that.
While he was thinking, footsteps entered the room and the door opened.
Toffee was relieved to see the one who entered.
"Oh... look who this sick one is..."
"It feels like it's been a year since I saw you," Mok teased and crossed his arms while scanning Toffee fully.
"You are wearing Artit's clothes, right? Oh... look... you are blushing! Oh... my eyes... I can't see anything... you are shining like a star, Toffee!"
Mok teased him more, while Toffee tried to hide under the blanket. He thought to himself, "Oh, I forgot Mok would come here. I hate it; crying was better.
He hid because he was too shy to face Mok.
Meanwhile, Mok thought, " What the... that liar Kao. Kao hadn't said that Toffee was this bad. He looked even more pale."
Mok wondered how he could manage to tell Toffee's family. Mok thought of an idea of how to cover it up.
While Mok was thinking of a way to cover for Toffee, he slowly sat on the bed and uncovered it quickly, being playful with him.
He always did that to annoy Toffee.
Mok touched Toffee's forehead, checking it again and again.
While it annoyed Toffee, he kept avoiding Mok's touch. "Oh... Mok, stop! Phi Artit is already doing this every minute, not you too! I hate it..."
"Oh, Toffee, we just want to be sure that you are okay," Mok said, his voice turning a bit cold.
"Mok... sorry, I... I just hate lying here for hours. It's boring," Toffee said with pleading eyes.
"Wait... no, not that look! No... you are staying here. Phi Artit will kill me..."
Mok said, knowing Artit would never agree to let him leave the room.
Suddenly, without realizing it, Mok looked at Toffee's right hand and touched the red thread that had been knotted by the Master.
"Oh... where did you buy this? Even if you couldn't buy a new one, this looks so old..." Mok looked at it, wondering what the hell it was.
Toffee looked surprised and said, "Oh... Mok, I didn't buy it. It's my first time seeing it. I didn't know it was in my hand. I think Phi did it," Toffee said with doubt.
Mok looked around the room and said, "Toffee, don't feel scared, but actually this whole mansion is so spacious and scary. If we get lost, that's it. Don't you think Phi Artit has been hiding something? Like the atmosphere of this whole mansion and this thread... something is... I mean, I am missing something," Mok said, trying to connect the dots.
"Oh... forget it. Phi is too good. Even if he hides things, he will tell me slowly. I trust him... but you know, Mok... I mean..." Toffee looked at Mok like he wanted something.
" Don't you think that makes it more thrilling ! Mok... let's have a trip! Let's go... I want to go!"
Toffee took both of Mok's arms and moved them like a kid who wanted his parents to buy his favorite toys.
"Mok... I want to go... let's go... let's go!" Toffee didn't stop.
Then he suddenly lay back down and said with an acting-sad face, "You are not my good friend. Go... go back. I will stay in this room without anyone. You don't like me anymore. What a cheater!"
Mok thought with a deep sigh, Did I kill someone in my past? Why am I always seeing things like this? "Okay, let's do it, Toffee. But let me warn you— just a sneak peek. Okay? You stay here, let me see if anyone is outside. I will signal, and then you go. I will follow you, okay?"
Mok signaled with his hand and went outside.
"Okay... good idea! No wonder you are a genius!" Toffee also made a hand signal while waiting for Mok's sign from behind the room door.
While Mok searched, he noticed Artit was nowhere to be found.
Outside, Kao was speaking to someone Mok didn't know...
"Phi Nut, when did P' Mix come back? It's been a while since I saw him," Kao asked Nut.
"I don't know. He didn't say when he was coming back," Nut replied.
"Then where is P' Rak?" Kao looked inside while asking.
"Rak and Artit are in the second mansion. Do you want to go?" Nut asked.
"Oh... it's okay. I just wanted to know. It's been a while since I saw everyone," Kao said, but he looked at the floor instead of facing Nut.
Nut slowly touched Kao's shoulder. "You,... we three are always here. You can come here anytime you want. Auntie Ja even misses you more than us," Nut said.
Kao nodded his head. "Khab... I will try to come here more."
Then Kao signaled with his eyes.
Mok saw that Kao and Nut were talking, so he slowly signaled to Toffee. They both got outside using the second door.
Meanwhile, Kao saw them in the distance and thought, "Mok, Toffee... these kids..."
"P' Nut, I think you need to call Artit. Look, Mok and Toffee are outside."
Nut was surprised. He signaled to Kao, "Can you follow them? I will come with Artit."
"Okay, khab. You can go," Kao said, and he slowly began to follow them.
Toffee was smelling every single plant as if he hadn't seen the light for years.
"Toffee, stop it! You look like a village boy who is seeing the outside for the first time," Mok said, even though his own hands were full of flowers.
"Oh, look who is talking! Look at your hands before you speak. You are the one..."
While Toffee was teasing Mok, he looked up and saw Kao following them. "Mok... Mok... Mok!"
"Oh... why are you calling me like that?" Mok asked, annoyed.
"Phi Kao found out..." Toffee looked at Mok and smiled with a worried face, thinking the trip was over before it had even started.
"Mok... go and stop him... oh, Mok!"
"Okay, okay. You stay here," Mok replied.
As Mok walked toward Kao, Kao stopped and waited for Mok to come to him.
"Kao, why are you here?" Mok asked.
"Look at you, not even calling me 'Phi.' Oh... forget it. You two kids were planning to run off, so of course I had to follow."
"Who tried to escape? We just wanted to see the garden. Look, it's full of beautiful flowers!" Mok stretched out his hands, which were full of blossoms, toward Kao.
"Oh... I think you are the one who is more beautiful," Kao said, looking at Mok.
Mok's ears started to blush. Kao slowly moved closer. "Mok... your heart is beating so fast... right?"
While the flirting was happening, Toffee thought," Oh... Mok forgot about me. Is that what they mean when they say love can make everything invisible?"
Becoming impatient, Toffee slowly walked toward the orange jasmine garden— a place full of jasmines and orange blossoms.
The smell filled the air. Toffee loved the scent. As he stood in front of the garden, wondering how beautiful it was, someone slowly approached him.
He looked really beautiful. He looked like Toffee, with only a few differences.
He wore white clothes that made his skin look even fairer. He smelled like jasmine, and even his smile felt warm. It was as if the whole garden had been waiting to blossom just to see him.
Fascinated, Toffee saw the person was holding a small bouquet of freshly plucked lotuses. Water still dripped from the stems.
He called Toffee. "Toffee... can you come with me?"
It was as if Toffee was hypnotized by that person. Toffee nodded his head and reached out.
They held hands and walked toward the pond— a lotus pond that looked even more beautiful in the sun.
Toffee slowly reached the edge of the pond, standing right at the peak.
Mok suddenly turned and saw that Toffee was gone. "Kao, where is Toffee?"
Kao also panicked. They both began searching for Toffee, feeling the panic rise.
"Toffee... Toffee!" Mok called out so loudly that his voice seemed to fill the entire garden.
Toffee suddenly woke up from the hypnotic trance.
He saw he was standing at the edge of the pond. He quickly looked back as he heard Mok calling.
As Toffee started to walk back, he thought, What the... why am I standing here? Didn't I... forget it.
Toffee slowly tried to move away from the edge,but then he turned to go back to Mok, only to find himself facing the person again.
The person was standing very close, but now he looked different. He was pale and soaking in blood. The lotuses were already dead, looking as if they were soaked in something black.
The figure said, "Toffee... can you come with me?"
Toffee froze. He was too stunned to speak and too scared to breathe. He started to sweat more. Toffee tried to speak while struggling, "Wait...who... I..."
" Toffee... come with me... I have been waiting for this moment... you are the only one..."
Red tears drifted from that person's eyes.
The person pushed him, pushed him really hard. Toffee fell as hard as a rock into the water.
His eyes didn't blink; instead, they were filled with trembling. Toffee fell like a beautiful petal losing its final breath.
Inside the pond, the water was cold and dark, as if the light had never existed. The roots of the beautiful lotuses were so thick that it was hard to see or swim.
Toffee struggled to breathe.
He tried to swim, but underwater, the lotus roots grabbed both of his feet. Then, they grabbed and wrapped Toffee's whole body.
Slowly, the bubbles from his breath faded.
Toffee struggled. In those moments, he thought, I... forgot... I didn't... say... I... already... love him...
The water swallowed Toffee slowly, trying to take him.
He slowly drifted into the depths of the pond, pulled down by the roots.
"Slowly his eyes closed. His hands stopped struggling and his heat drifted away.
His movements stopped as his heart beat slowly... it was like a flower that had already withered completely.
He was already floating, as if he were already saying his goodbye.