Pride Online

Chapter 596: The Secret Shop Part VI

“People have been giving me a weird look ever since I was young. I didn’t even have friends my age. The adults didn’t want to come near me. The word ‘genius’ is so far-fetched for me, Shin. You know what they called me?”

Suddenly, he went quiet. He moved his hand down to his eyes and gritted his teeth... The images of the past that he did not want to remember came into his head. He had been trying to get rid of them, but they never went anywhere.

‘Wisana, try solving this problem for me. ...N...No way. This is a university-level test.’

A math teacher in his sixth grade asked him to solve a math problem on the board because he accidentally fell asleep from the fatigue caused by his mom’s morning training session. He was hoping that Wisana would not be able to solve it and that he would be humiliated. In the end, it was the teacher who backed away because his mom had been teaching these kinds of problems since he was in fifth grade.

‘HAHAHA! I’m sorry, but I think you have to walk home barefoot. ....H...Hey, how did he jump that high?’

Or even when he was bullied by his classmates. They tied his shoes together and threw them on a 4-meter-tall tree. Wisana only had to jump to reach for it. They looked at him with surprise.

‘Hey, you, don’t stick your nose in other people’s business... O...Ouch... Please let me live.’

Even when he helped an upper-class girl from thugs, who were trying to lure her into something bad. Wisana could also take care of them very easily.

Every time he did these things, before he realized it, everyone seemed to look at him differently. The teacher, his classmates, or even the girl he saved, those images and their words would forever be imprinted in his mind...

‘You’re a monster.’

‘What kind of monster is this prick?’

‘W... Waaahhh! Don’t come near me, monster!’

Wisana let out a long sigh. His throat seemed so dry every time he thought about it.

“They called me a monster. A monster who can do everything.”

His voice was hoarse. Hearing that, Shin could not say anything more. He only bit his lip and started to understand why Wisana did not want to learn how to use the Signetic properly from Baron. It was not necessarily a good thing with too much uniqueness, especially if it drew all eyes on you and made you feel uncomfortable. Being ignored was sometimes a better option.

“And people are still calling you that, right?”

Shin asked cautiously. Wisana chuckled.

“You’re right.” He turned the other way. “I can’t really say that I’m used to it. Maybe it’s because it’s Pride. No matter how reckless I am, it’s only a game. They’ll even praise me for it. So, I thought I would be fine here.”

He went quiet again.

“And now with the Signetic, I’m different again. At first, it was nothing to me. I didn’t think that it’d matter, but no. The more Signetic is released, the more unconscious I am of what I do. People around me start to look at me like I’m a monster. I’m a little afraid that history may repeat itself. I just don’t want things to turn out the same way, that’s all.”

Wisana did not say anything again after that. He flipped to the other side. Shin did not understand how a cheerful man like him would possess such a traumatic past.

“I think we should sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll...”

Bonk!

He had not finished his sentence yet when a small stone was thrown at the back of his head so hard that he got startled and turned to the culprit, who had already turned his back on him.

“It hurts! What are you doing?” Wisana yelled at him.

“Do you think you’re alone?” Shin said. Wisana raised his eyebrow.

“Huh!?”

“That Signetic. Do you think only you have it?” Shin’s voice was harsh, even though he was not even looking at the man he was talking to. “I have it, too. And Waree, Angie, Baron, Mr. Sander. Do you think they’re monsters, too?”

Wisana halted. He, then, scratched his neck.

“...In a way, yes.”

Shin sprang up from his bed and grabbed another stone, ready to throw it at the boy in front of him. Wisana raised his arms up to guard as fast as he could.

“Okay, okay, I’m kidding. They may be brutal, but they’re far from being monsters.”

“Tsk!”

The quiet man scoffed and lay back down. He intentionally turned his back on Wisana again.

“No one thinks you’re a monster. You’re more like a crazy and nosy man.”

The crazy man scratched his neck.

“That’s pretty harsh.”

“And because you’re like that...” Shin breathed in. “...No one can ever leave you. At least Maysa won’t. Are you afraid that she’d be scared and wouldn’t want to get close to you because you’re too good?”

“Maybe not?” Wisana smiled awkwardly.

“That’s it.” Shin’s voice was harsh. “You just overthink things. Even though you have everything, you still build up a drama for yourself. If anyone thinks you’re a monster, just let them. You have so many friends who are willing to die together. You have a good girlfriend who loves you very much. You have a loving family, even though they may be a little weird at times. If you hate yourself just because you’re too good, you can hit your head with tofu and die.”

Wisana’s face was frozen in place. He had never heard this guy talk this much before. Even though his words were harsh, he did not feel bad about it. It actually strangely cheered him up. He was so good that he wanted to kick him in the ass if the bonfire was not in the way!

Wisana pouted for a while before he scoffed and lay back down again. He put his arms behind his head like a pillow and glanced at the quiet boy, who was pretty talkative tonight.

“Don’t hate yourself because of the words of haters, but love yourself because of the words of those who love us.”

A smooth voice sounded, making Shin halt. He did not think that he would continue.

“What?” Shin asked.

“Someone used to tell me that before I moved to Bangkok.” Wisana smiled. “Her words have given me strength. She was right. Ever since I moved here, everything seems to be better. Her words save me.”

Wisana giggled before he shook his head wearily.

“Hit my head with tofu and die?” He laughed cheerfully. “I’ll remember it. This stimulates me so much.”

“....”

Shin did not say anything more. Wisana was only there chuckling.

“Who told you that?” Shin asked.

“Hmm?”

“Don’t hate yourself because of the words of haters, but love yourself because of the words of those who love us.”

The perfect repeat of the sentence made Wisana raise his eyebrow a little and smile.

“My first girlfriend.”

The quiet man halted and glanced back at him with a wry face.

“Waree told me that Maysa is your first?” He said.

Hearing that, Wisana gave him a gesture that said, “This is a secret.”

“You should know my May.” He grinned. “And that girl and I were together for less than a month before we parted. She’s saved my life a lot of times, even though not as many times as May did.”

“Your life’s so melodramatic somebody should write a fiction off it.”

Shin gave him a sarcasm before he sank back down and turned his back on Wisana as usual. Wisana let out a laugh and closed his eyes slowly.

“Do you want to know more about the life of this main protagonist after moving to Bangkok?”

“....”

Shin was quiet. Wisana glanced at the man and saw that he was lying still. Maybe he had been talking too much and it wore him off.

“No melodramatic scenes this time?”

However, the low voice asked back before Wisana turned the other way. Even though Shin did not turn to look at him and seemed to be very cold towards people around him, Wisana knew that this guy cared much more than he showed it. Wisana smiled cheerfully.

“Nope. After I moved to Bangkok, my life’s been so hectic, especially the first day in high school when I met Tun....”

Then, the two boys chatted among the fading light from a small bonfire. Even though one man was almost always quiet, being a listener was not bad. Another boy got to talk so much about what he had in mind as if he had not talked in ages.

The polar opposites did not seem to be a problem for them. They knew that the wall between them had been thinned down so much from before. Even though they could not really say that they were ‘friends’, they were still far from being ‘acquaintances’ now.

“Tun got me in trouble on my very first day of school. Think about it, I was almost crushed to death by over twenty seniors!”

“And you gave in because you didn’t want them to know that you were a monster?”

“Are you crazy? I’m not a masochist who likes being stomped on. Of course, only a minute, and those seniors were knocked out by me and Tun. One of them even lost three teeth. Another one got his ribs cracked. The rest were only wounded.”

“And Tunwa wasn’t scared of you?”

“Huh! He’s only scared of two things in his life: heights and ghosts. He’s mad, I tell you.”

“Personally, I think both of you are.”