WHYARU, Chapter 01:
“See you later, Tor.”
“Yeah, later,” Tutor nodded, waving goodbye to his close friend sitting next to the driver.
Fighter watched the scene for a moment before rolling up the driver’s side window and driving off. In the rearview mirror, he saw a guy with a lonely aura. Yet every time he looked at him, Fighter sensed an underlying strength within.
“What should we eat today?” Hwahwa asked, pulling the attention of the guy beside her.
“Up to you, Hwa.”
“Hmm, how about BBQ then, Phii Fai?”
“Sure, whatever works,” he replied. Hwahwa smiled happily. Honestly, she was adorable—her personality and everything else. If he was being real, she was the person he liked most. But for some reason, something about her feelings never quite reached him. “I just found out Tor does tutoring too.”
“Oh, right, besides tutoring, Tor also works part-time at Phii Kae’s cake shop. That place is super cute, just a bit past our university in an alley. The vibe’s really nice. I’ve been there a couple of times myself,” Hwahwa said.
“Really?”
“Yeah, and the black uniform with the faculty garage’s apron looks so good on Tutor. It makes him look so handsome that I kinda fangirl over my own friend a little,” she added with a chuckle.
“Uh-huh,” Fighter barely registered what Hwahwa was saying. His mind was stuck on her earlier comment—that besides tutoring, Tutor was working a part-time job too.
Someone like Tutor, doing something like that?
“Why the face?” Hwahwa raised an eyebrow, curious about the guy next to her. “Surprised that Tutor’s doing this kind of thing?”
“Nah.”
“Or wondering why he didn’t tell his mentor group about it?” Fighter gave a reluctant nod.
“Don’t be shocked. Tor’s not the type to talk about this stuff with just anyone. Even when his family had financial troubles— his parents’ business failed, went bankrupt, and they had to sell their house and move to live with relatives out of town—it took me months to find out,” she explained.
“They sold their house?”
“Yeah. That’s part of why Tor’s staying in the dorm. His parents had to sell the house to fund a new restaurant out of town. The money they send him isn’t enough, so he’s been tutoring and working part-time. Lucky for him, our university has that A5 program where top students don’t pay for credits. It helps with his tuition a bit,” she said.
“…”
“But still, engineering tuition isn’t cheap. Even with the credit discount, there are tons of other fees in the tens of thousands. So Tor’s been hustling like you see—covering food, dorm, everything,” Hwahwa sighed helplessly. She’d discussed this with her own parents, who were ready to help without expecting repayment. But being Tutor, he didn’t outright refuse; he just said he’d let them know if he was really in trouble, which was basically a polite rejection.
“So, that means your friend took time off work to come eat with you today?” Fighter asked.
“Oh… I totally forgot about that,” Hwahwa’s face visibly fell. “But it should be fine, right? If there was an issue, Tor would’ve told me from the start.”
“Hmm.”
“Isn’t my friend cute?” she asked.
“Huh?”
“My friend, Tutor. Isn’t he cute? He’s a good guy, Phii Fai. Smart, super hardworking too. Seeing him like this, don’t you want to get closer to him? You’re in the same mentor group, after all.”
“…” Fighter didn’t respond right away, as the car started moving. But something clicked in his mind, prompting him to speak up.
“Hwa.”
“Yes?”
“Today, Tor said something to me.”
“What was it?”
“He talked like you and I were a couple.”
“…” Hwahwa fell silent the moment Fighter finished speaking.
He remembered it clearly and was even a bit surprised that Tutor would say something like that.
If you paid a little attention, you’d know what your partner likes. Not like this.
Honestly, he wasn’t bothered by it. He wasn’t about to deny anything to Tutor, but he just wanted to make sure the person sitting beside him now understood where their relationship stood.
“It’s just that…”
“Look, I’m not making a big deal out of this. Let people think what they want. As long as you and I know where we stand, that’s enough.”
Fighter’s tone wasn’t angry—it was calm, reflecting his true self. He wasn’t stressed about it, which meant he genuinely wasn’t. He only brought it up to clarify and reinforce the nature of their relationship, as they’d discussed from the start.
Hwahwa stayed quiet, her hands on her lap squeezing lightly with a hint of anxiety. It wasn’t that she didn’t know their relationship had always been just “talking.” Phii Fai had been clear with her every time, even saying from the beginning that if she found someone better, she could tell him and walk away anytime.
Hwahwa didn’t know why Phii Fai was like this. She couldn’t help but wonder if he was doing this to find someone he could truly call his love. If that happened, he’d probably tell her himself that he’d found the one.
For now, things were more than okay for her. Phii Fai never pried into personal matters she didn’t want to share or asked about exes she didn’t want to talk about. He took care of her the way a guy should for someone he’s “talking” to.
As for a deeper connection—like even a kiss—Hwahwa had never gotten that from Fighter. With others, she knew it could go further, but with him… she didn’t understand why.
And maybe that’s why she always felt drawn to Zon, this other guy.
She wanted Phii Fai to say something like asking her out officially or to do something—anything—that would make Fighter feel defeated, completely knocked out in a way he’d never been before. It wasn’t that she hated him, but it was this urge to “win” over Zon that drove her.
“Alright, I’ll just tell my close friends that we’re not a couple. We’re just talking for now. Because if I suddenly get with someone new, they might get confused and say I ditched Phii Fai.”
“No need for that, Hwa…”
“Come on, Phii Fai, this is fine. It’ll keep me from feeling guilty too,” Hwahwa said with a wide smile, directed at Fighter, who nodded back lightly.
Honestly, Fighter didn’t care whether Hwahwa told anyone about their relationship or not. The key point for him was that they both understood they “weren’t dating.” That was enough. So damn tiring.
It wouldn’t be wrong if that phrase looped in his head for the millionth time. He was genuinely exhausted, so tired that sometimes he just wanted to lie still, not thinking or dealing with anything that cluttered his mind.
Like right now… he’d just collapsed onto the bed without even taking off his socks. His eyes, on the verge of drifting off, snapped open when his phone, placed not far from him, started vibrating.
Tutor buried his face in the pillow, pretending not to hear the phone’s persistent buzzing. But, of course, he couldn’t ignore it forever. Finally, he sat up, rubbing his head in resignation, reached for the phone, answered it, and spoke in a bored tone. “Yeah?”
(Phii Tor, it’s Ja, your high school junior.) Ja was the one planning to continue language classes with him.
“What’s up, Ja? Something up with me?”
(I’m calling to talk about the course starting this Saturday.)
“Oh, what’s that? Not free on Saturday? We can move it to
Sunday, Ja.”
(No, Phii Tor, it’s just that… me and my friends want to cancel the course for now.)
“…”
(Is that okay, Phii?) Ja’s voice sounded so worried that Tutor let out a small smile.
“It’s fine, you can cancel. I’m not stressed about it.”
(Ugh, I feel so bad for Phii Tor. We had it all planned from the start, but my mom and my friends’ moms suddenly signed us up for a language course at school… so it turned out like this.)
“No worries at all, Ja. Don’t overthink it.”
(God, I’m gonna die because you calling me nicely like that! Ugh, I already missed the chance to cancel the school course too. Next time, I promise to come study with you, and I’ll drag ten friends to stare at your face.)
“If that’s the case, I might not teach then.”
(Haha, Phii Tor, I’m just kidding. Whether I’ll actually do it, we’ll see. Anyway, let’s call it a day for now. I don’t want to bother Phii Tor anymore. Sweet dreams, Phii!)
“Alright.”
Tutor hung up and let out a sigh. He flopped back onto the bed, feeling frustrated that a chunk of money was gone, but he understood that these things were bound to happen eventually.
He opened the Notes app on his phone to check how many students he still had left to tutor. Right now, there were only two, and their courses would end in a few weeks.
Even though he had enough in his bank account for food and rent for now, it wouldn’t last forever. His family sent money every month, but it wasn’t enough to cover living in Bangkok.
So exhausting.
Tutor closed his eyes again. He tried to gather his thoughts and figure out where to start. Life wasn’t that bad, and he never regretted it being this way. His parents weren’t to blame; business always came with risks.
Finally, he opened his eyes and decided to call Phii Kae, the owner of the cake shop where he worked.
“Phii Kae… it’s Tor.”
(What’s up, Tor?)
“I was wondering if I could ask you something.”
(What’s that? You can tell me anything, even if it’s about money.)
“It’s not that, Phii Kae. I wanted to ask if… maybe I could work full days on weekends?”
(Sure thing.)
“And maybe part-time in the evenings after classes too, Phii
Kae?”
(Hold on, Tor… don’t you have tutoring anymore?)
“I still do, but it’s not much. It’ll probably be done in a week or so, so I was thinking of working at your shop instead. If I need to take leave for something urgent, I’ll let you know in advance.”
(Nong Tor…)
“Is that not okay?”
(It’s not that it’s not okay… but isn’t it too much? You’re so small but carrying all this responsibility.)
“Not at all, Phii Kae. Once I get used to it, it actually becomes kind of fun.” Kae, the cake shop owner, couldn’t help but be impressed by Tutor’s sheer determination. But what weighed on her mind was how long she could keep helping him. A new cake shop had opened at the end of the street. It hadn’t affected business much yet, but she had a feeling it would soon.
(Alright, see you then, Tor. Go get some rest.)
“Thanks a lot, Phii!”
(You’re welcome.)
From here on, it’s just about pushing forward… just keep fighting.
Brrt, brrt.
Tutor picked up his phone again. It was Hwahwa calling. He wasn’t sure why, as she usually didn’t call him at this hour.
“What’s up, Hwa?”
(Tor, you asleep yet?)
“Not yet. Something up?”
(I’ve got something to tell you.)
“…”
(It’s about Phii Fai.)
“Oh, alright. I’m listening.”
What Tutor heard from Hwahwa was something he hadn’t expected.
So, those two aren’t actually together? Then why have they let their relationship drag on like this?
Deep down, Tutor couldn’t help but revisit his initial suspicion: that Fighter was only pursuing Hwahwa to mess with or get at Zon. The thought crept back into his mind.
But maybe that wasn’t the case. If it were true, their relationship probably wouldn’t have reached this point.
So, they’re not actually dating? Then why let the relationship drag on like this?
Deep down, Tutor couldn’t shake that earlier suspicion: that Fighter was only pursuing Hwahwa to mess with or get at Zon. The thought crept back into his mind.
But maybe that wasn’t the case. If it were true, their relationship probably wouldn’t have reached this point.
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