Slowly, we made our way back to our apartment.
As soon as we stepped inside, Chak looked at Anamarija with a small smile.
"Someone called me," he said. "And I think he wants to hear your voice."
"Could it be Vikran?" she asked, her voice carrying a mixture of excitement and gentle warmth.
Chak handed her his phone.
She looked back at us and smiled.
"I'll be in my room."
"Say hi to my future brother-in-law," Chai called after her teasingly.
Anamarija responded with nothing more than a small icy glare before turning around and walking into her room, closing the door behind her.
"Chai, stop teasing her," Malai said, shaking her head.
"What if I'm right?" Chai replied with a grin. "One day, Vikran really will become my brother-in-law."
Malai turned toward Suraphom.
"What do you think, Suraphom? Will Vikran really become her boyfriend?"
Suraphom took another sip of his strawberry juice before answering.
"It's difficult to say."
He smiled faintly.
"Miss Anamarija doesn't fall in love easily."
He paused for a moment.
"But perhaps Mr. Vikran will be the one to win her heart."
"And become her first boyfriend."
"First boyfriend?" Chai repeated in surprise.
"That's right," Suraphom answered.
"Miss Anamarija has never had a boyfriend."
"That's interesting," Chai muttered before looking at Chak.
"We have to protect our sister even more. No guy should be allowed within two hundred meters of her."
"I completely agree," Chak replied without hesitation.
"No man who doesn't meet both our standards and hers has any business getting close to her."
Kit couldn't help laughing.
"The Phansprasit brothers protecting their little sister from future suitors."
He chuckled.
"That could easily become tomorrow's headline."
The Phansprasit Brothers Declare War on Their Sister's Admirers.
"I think you two are going to have a lot of work ahead of you," Taeng said with a laugh.
"She already has far too many admirers in Thailand."
"Just remember Teerut, Phalin's brother," he continued. "The way he acted when he was trying to win her heart was unbelievable."
Everyone remembered it immediately.
Chai groaned dramatically.
"Don't remind me."
"I still remember the contract."
"And the kiss," Chak added a little angrily.
"The enormous teddy bear." I said.
"But none of it worked."
Suraphom smiled proudly.
"Miss Anamarija thanked him politely every single time and then turned him down just as politely."
"Poor guy," Taeng laughed.
"He never even stood a chance."
Chak folded his arms across his chest.
"He didn't."
"There was never a chance."
"If my sister says no, then it's no."
"And if anyone keeps bothering her after that..."
A dangerous smile slowly appeared on his face.
"...they'll have to answer to me."
"And to me," Chai added immediately.
Kit looked at me before whispering just loudly enough for everyone to hear,
"I almost feel sorry for the poor man who eventually asks for Anamarija's permission to date her."
I laughed.
"I don't."
"I feel sorry for the poor man who has to ask her brothers first."
The room instantly erupted with laughter.
Just then, the bedroom door slowly opened.
Anamarija stepped back into the living room, her cheeks faintly pink and a soft smile still lingering on her face.
Everyone immediately fell silent.
Chai raised one eyebrow.
"Well?"
"Did someone enjoy the phone call a little too much?" he teased.
Anamarija folded her arms and tried to keep a straight face.
"It was just a conversation."
"Oh?" Chai smirked.
"So... how long did this 'just a conversation' last?"
She glanced at Chak, who casually checked the call duration on his phone.
"Twenty- two minutes and six seconds," he answered.
The room exploded with laughter once again.
Anamarija covered her face for a second before looking at everyone.
"I hate all of you."
"No, you don't," Malai said warmly as she wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"You just miss him."
Anamarija didn't deny it.
Instead, the smile on her face grew just a little wider.
Anamarija let out a quiet sigh, still smiling to herself.
For a few seconds, no one said anything.
Then Chai leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
"So..." he said with a mischievous grin. "How's our future brother-in-law doing?"
Anamarija narrowed her eyes.
"I thought I told you to stop calling him like that."
"And I thought you said it was just a conversation," Chai replied innocently.
"It was."
"Twenty -two minutes of just a conversation?"
She sighed dramatically.
"You're impossible."
"So is that a yes?" Chai asked.
"No."
"But you smiled."
"I smile at everyone."
Kit raised an eyebrow.
"Do you smile at everyone the way you're smiling right now?"
The room fell silent as everyone looked at her.
Anamarija quickly realized they all had the same expression on their faces.
Waiting.
Watching.
She covered her face with both hands.
"You are all unbelievable."
Malai laughed softly.
"We're just happy."
Anamarija lowered her hands.
"Fine."
She sat down on the sofa, hugging one of the cushions.
"We talked about Slovenia... his work... my public image... our trip... and..."
She hesitated.
"And?"
"He said he misses me."
The room instantly became quiet.
I noticed the faint blush spreading across her cheeks.
"And what did you say?" Chak asked gently.
Anamarija looked down at the cushion in her lap.
"I told him..."
"...that I miss him too."
A warm smile appeared on Suraphom's face.
"I think that made him very happy."
She nodded.
"It did."
"He became completely silent for a few seconds."
Chai laughed.
"You stunned him."
"I wasn't trying to."
"I know," Chai chuckled.
"That probably made it even more special."
Suraphom placed his now-empty glass on the coffee table.
"Miss Anamarija."
She looked up.
"Did Mr. Vikran ask when you'll return to Thailand?"
"He did."
"And?"
"I told him we'll still be here for a while."
She smiled softly.
"He said he'll be counting the days until I come back."
Malai placed a hand over her heart.
"That's actually really sweet."
"It is," Kit agreed.
Taeng reached for his camera, which was lying on the table beside him.
"I have to admit..."
He smiled.
"I've photographed everyone on this trip."
He looked at Anamarija.
"But I don't think I've ever seen you smile like this before."
Anamarija laughed quietly.
"Please don't start taking pictures now."
"Oh, it's too late."
Click.
Everyone turned toward Taeng.
He lowered his camera with a satisfied grin.
"Perfect."
"Taeng!" Anamarija exclaimed, laughing.
"What?"
"You looked genuinely happy."
"Delete it."
"No."
"Taeng..."
"Nope."
"I'm keeping this one."
"It's proof that someone in Thailand can make the usually calm and collected Anamarija Phansprasit blush."
The room filled with laughter once again.
Anamarija hid her face behind the cushion, shaking her head.
"I seriously need a new family."
Without missing a beat, Chak smiled.
"Application denied."
"You were born into this one."
"And we're keeping you."
A comfortable silence settled over the apartment, broken only by soft laughter.
I looked around the room.
Everyone was smiling.
For the first time that day, it wasn't because of a joke.
It was because seeing Anamarija this happy made all of them quietly hope that maybe...
Vikran really would be the one to win her heart.
For a while, the apartment was filled with nothing but relaxed conversation and laughter.
Anamarija had finally stopped hiding behind the cushion, though the faint blush on her cheeks hadn't disappeared.
Chai looked at her with a suspicious smile.
"I have one more question."
She sighed.
"I knew this wasn't over."
"When exactly did you two start enyoing each other company?"
Anamarija blinked.
"We... didn't."
Chai looked at Chak.
"Brother."
Chak immediately understood.
Without saying a word, he unlocked his phone, opened the security camera, and glanced at the screen.
"Hmm."
Anamarija's eyes widened.
"Chak!"
He ignored her protest.
He scrolled a little farther.
"One day before the wedding. He kissed her on the cheek, and then they talked."
"What?" Chai exclaimed.
"He kissed her cheek. " Chai repeated.
Chai slowly turned toward Anamarija with the biggest grin anyone had ever seen.
"And you still expect us to believe you're just friends?"
"We are friends," she replied firmly.
"Very close friends," Chai corrected.
Anamarija crossed her arms.
"Is it illegal to have a close friend?"
"No."
"But twenty-two-minute phone calls are becoming suspicious."
"They're not."
"They absolutely are," Torn laughed.
Suraphom quietly watched the exchange before speaking.
"I think the important thing isn't how often they talk."
Everyone looked at him.
"The important thing..."
"...is that Miss Anamarija smiles every time Mr. Vikran's name is mentioned."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Even Anamarija froze.
I smiled to himself.
Suraphom had always been observant.
He noticed things that everyone else missed.
Malai looked at Anamarija.
"Is that true?"
Anamarija opened her mouth...
...then closed it again.
Finally, she looked down at her hands.
"I..."
A tiny smile escaped before she could stop it.
Chai pointed at her dramatically.
"There!"
"There it is!"
"She smiled!"
Kit burst out laughing.
"Suraphom wins."
"He noticed it before all of us."
Suraphom simply smiled.
"I've watched Miss Anamarija for years."
"I know her expressions."
"When she's annoyed..."
"When she's pretending..."
"And when someone is becoming special to her."
Anamarija looked at him, slightly embarrassed.
"You always notice everything."
"I try."
Chak leaned back comfortably.
"So..."
He looked at his sister with an affectionate smile.
"Do you like him?"
The question hung in the air.
No one interrupted.
No one joked.
Everyone simply waited.
Anamarija took a slow breath.
"I..."
She looked toward the large window overlooking Ljubljana, where the evening sky was slowly turning shades of orange and pink.
"I don't know yet."
She smiled softly.
"But..."
"I know I feel happy whenever we talk."
"I look forward to his messages."
"And..."
She let out a small laugh.
"I always end up smiling when we talk"
Chak nodded slowly.
"That's a good start."
Suraphom smiled warmly.
"Love doesn't always arrive all at once."
"Sometimes..."
"It quietly finds its place in your heart."
The room fell silent again.
I instinctively reached for Chak's hand.
Their fingers intertwined.
I smiled, remembering how uncertain I had once been about my own feelings.
Now I couldn't imagine a single day without him.
Across the room, Anamarija looked down at the phone still resting in her hands.
The screen had gone dark.
But she could almost hear Vikran's voice again.
"I'll be counting the days until you come back."
Without realizing it, her thumb gently brushed over his contact name.
A tiny smile appeared on her lips once more.
This time...
No one teased her.
Everyone simply noticed it.
And quietly smiled with her.