Jakk & Piriya: The Untold Story

(After Three Years)

It’s strange how some stories begin without fireworks,

but end up burning in your memory anyway.

You might think that Jakk and Piriya bonded over Bitcoin.

You’d be wrong.

If anything, what tethered us together wasn’t Bitcoin.

It was something softer, something far quieter:

A shared rhythm of living,

a way of understanding the world without needing to race it.

When I first reached out to Piriya.. back when he launched the Thai translation of The Bitcoin Standard..

I was just another unseen ripple in the ocean of notifications he got every day.

I wasn't special.

Just a nobody who dared to declare openly..

"I want to help. Anything, everything, whatever you allow."

It took months, half a year maybe, to even get noticed.

But somehow... somehow, paths aligned.

We didn't bond over charts or technical debates.

We bonded over games.

Over echoes of the '90s childhood, over tired hands holding Nintendo Switches after long days,

over silly arguments about which RPG had the better plot.

Through all of that, I realized something:

Piriya didn't need another follower.

He needed a friend.. someone who understood without demanding,

someone who saw the quiet struggles between the words.

And in time, I learned something even deeper:

Behind all the knowledge, behind all the books and talks,

Piriya carried a dream far simpler, far purer, than any accolade could ever touch.

He dreamed of doing what he loved... slowly.

Without rushing, without competing, without being judged.

Just pouring himself into something with quiet joy..

and having someone he loved smile at him for it.

That dream wasn't about Bitcoin.

It wasn't about changing the world overnight.

It was this..

To stand behind a counter, hands steady, crafting cups of coffee as a free barista.

Not for profit.

Not for applause.

But for the sheer, unhurried joy of doing something that felt like breathing.

When he told me that, after three long years of walking alongside him,

I understood everything.

The work we do, the networks we build, the noise we make..

they are just vessels.

What matters... is the unseen soul we pour into them.

Today, we are different.

We have a thriving community, real friendships, collaborations blossoming in unexpected corners.

We have partners, ideas, dreams bigger than either of us ever imagined.

And still,

I hold closest the memory of something no photograph can capture:

a simple embrace, after BTC2023, between two men

who once were strangers and now were simply... brothers.

Maybe you can’t make true friends by standing still.

Maybe you have to risk stepping first.. offering your value without guarantee.

And sometimes, if you’re lucky,

what you’ll receive in return isn’t applause, or fame, or gratitude.

It’s belonging.

It’s being seen by someone who doesn’t need you to be anyone but yourself.

When you give enough, without keeping score,

when you live slowly enough to listen,

when you believe deeply enough to trust..

the world answers back.

That is what Piriya taught me.

That is what Bitcoin could never quantify.

That is what remains, long after the numbers fade.

And if someday, somewhere, you walk into a small café and find a man humming softly behind the counter,

brewing coffee as if he were painting a quiet masterpiece..

know that you're witnessing a dream come true.

In the soft aroma rising from the cup,

you'll taste it too:

Freedom.

Love.

And a life lived — truly lived — without haste.

#InTheQuietWeFindEachOther

#Citadel #CitadelCafe #Siamtr