the way this one frame summarizes the main question and subsequent answer of nuengdiao and palm’s relationship.
nueng "orders" palm to not refer to him as "young master," in other words, to speak to him informally. palms responds with a question, from what position nueng makes this order, that of a boss or a friend.
while neung does take on the role of boss around palm, he do so not in the benefit of himself but rather that of palm. he uses his status not to reiterate the power disparity between them, but to lessen it so that both may be equals, more in line with that of friends.
we first see this when neung tells palm to eat breakfast with him rather than isolated in another room. when palm politely refuses, nueng reminds him of his promise to him, that he would do what he told him to. while neung does take on the role of the "boss" in this situation, he does so in order to get palm to eat with him rather than hidden away in the workers’ quarters. palm further mentions that aunt nid will makes him an omelette, a rather simple and ordinary dish, (and more so when looked at alongside the egg dish that she makes for nueng), one more "suited" to those of palm’s standing. in addition to the sense of normality of sitting at the dining table with the other household members, by "ordering" palm to eat with him, neung also offers him the opportunity to try new dishes that he wouldn’t be able to otherwise.
then we see nueng lie to his mother in order to obtain permission for palm to use their pool. while not an order in and of itself, nueng still uses his position, in this situation as the son of the owner of said pool, in order to aid palm in obtaining permission to use it. this is notable for a number of reasons. firstly, this marks a shift in nueng and palm’s relationship from that of the prior episode. while before nueng threatened to tell palm’s father that he had used the family’s pool, an apparent demonstration of nueng’s power and a harsh reminder of palm’s "inferior" position, he now lies to his own mother in order for palm to get to do what he wanted and had subsequently formed a rift between them, one that nueng bridges here.
when palm asks to return to his room, nueng stops him. while his "wait" is loud and demanding, what follow is the opposite. nueg asks palm why he doesn’t swim a bit longer. he knows that swimming is something that palm enjoys and he wants him to bask in that enjoyment for as long as possible. "wait" is an order, but one that is minimized by the question that follow it. neung doesn’t tell palm to stay, rather he asks him to. this, unlike his initial question of whether palm would be his friend, is not a mere illusion of autonomy. palm has the option to say no, but he doesn’t, not when both he and nueng know that he wants to stay. this demonstrates the growing understanding between the two in the progression of the relationship between them.
another time we see nueng ask palm whether he does or doesn’t want to do something is when he again offers him food. but unlike at the beginning of the episode, nueng doesn’t order palm to eat, rather he asks him if he wants to. this is also a step forward from the pool where he asked if palm would swim a bit longer. nueng phrases the question in a way that bears in mind palm’s own wants and desires, rather than one that, whether intentionally or not, predisposes him to answer one way or another. but in the same sense as before, nueng wants to ensure that palm eats when he does, and eats the same food that he does. that way, they are equals.
but perhaps the best demonstration of nueng’s desire for him and palm to be equals is his order for palm to go home with him, both today and everyday after that. nueng himself states that this is an order and thus one that must be followed. notable is that nueng makes this order not palm but to his father. at the beginning of the episode when palm’s father states that he shouldn’t eat with nuengdiao, nueng himself stays silent and allows palm’s father to take him from the dining table and rush him to the bus stop. this time, nueng refuses to allow palm’s father to keep his son in line, so to speak. instead, he orders that palm go home with him, going as far as to disregard the words of someone who while a subordinate to him nueng tends to follow in the lead of. palm needing to take the bus when he and nueng were going to and from the same areas was perhaps the greatest show of inequality between them, one that nueng rids them of by the end of the episode.
yes, nueng does still order palm around, but if this episode tells us anything, the position he uses to make these "orders" are those of a friend rather than those of a boss. that is the answer to palm’s question, and the reason is that all of nueng’s orders are in an effort for him and palm to be true equals in their relationship. for them to be friends rather than boss and employee.
