Catch Me If You Can, Mr. President! [Skynani] - Book 1

Wongravee Residence - 5:45 p.m.
Somewhere in suburban Bangkok

The moment Sky stepped through the front door, he was hit by three things at once:

1. The smell of curry.

2. His father's dramatic voice yelling from the living room.

3. The sound of something breaking in the kitchen.

"Skyyyy!" his dad called out, sticking his head around the corner, eyes wide with excitement and glasses slipping down his nose. "Tell me-is this sentence better with 'glorious' or 'magnificent'? I'm writing a scene with a three-headed llama entering battle. It needs impact."

Sky closed the door behind him, loosened his tie, and let out a sigh. "I just got home."

"That doesn't answer the question!"

Before Sky could reply, a loud crash came from the kitchen.

"Sammy!"

"I didn't do it!" a voice yelled back. "It fell on its own!"

Sky walked into the kitchen to find his little sister crouched beside a fallen rice container, pretending she wasn't panicking.

He crossed his arms. "Really?"

Sammy stood up, arms crossed just like his, eyes narrowed. "You're not the boss of me. Just 'cause you wear a tie to school doesn't mean you're the president of the house."

"I am the president of something."

"Yeah, of people who have no life."

Sky raised an eyebrow. "Says the one who just broke a bucket of rice."

"I said it fell!"

"On its own?"

She turned red. "Shut up."

Before Sky could say anything else, a soft, high-pitched mrowww echoed from the hallway.

A round, fluffy black cat waddled into the kitchen like he owned it, tail flicking, eyes narrowed in judgment.

"Kuromi," Sky said with a small smile, crouching down to scratch behind his ears. "Come here, buddy."

Kuromi sauntered over, but not before making a pit stop to sniff Sammy's shoes and hiss dramatically.

"Seriously?" Sammy glared. "You like him more than me?"

"He has standards," Sky replied smoothly, scooping up the fat cat and cradling him like royalty.

Kuromi purred loudly, kneading Sky's chest with content little paws.

Their dad popped in again, still holding his notepad. "Alright, I've rewritten the scene. Instead of a llama, it's now a flamingo. Less expected."

Sky didn't even flinch. "Flamingos don't fight."

"Which is exactly why it's brilliant!" Mr. Wongravee shouted, running off to his study like a man possessed by his muse.

Sky shook his head, still holding Kuromi. "Remind me why I come home again?"

"To keep the cat from becoming feral," Sammy mumbled, already on the floor picking up rice.

At that moment, the front door opened again.

"I'm home!" called a warm, calm voice.

Mrs. Lily Wongravee, still in her white coat, stepped inside, placing her handbag down. She smiled the second she saw Sky. "Sweetheart, how was school?"

Sky, now with Kuromi climbing up onto his shoulder like a sleepy koala, answered simply: "Eventful."

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Trouble with the council again?"