NORTHHOWMUCHISYOURLOVE, Chapter 5 part 1
Chapter 5: Who is he?
“Did you go all the way to Chiang Rai to deliver coffee?” That was the first thing Ter said when I opened the door to the shop. I gave him a frustrated look before slumping into the chair next to the counter where Ter was practicing making coffee as instructed by Tharn.
Can we stop with the coffee making for now…
It’s Phii Johan, he doesn’t know what, but he kept telling me to make it again. I’ve made so much coffee I’m now drunk on the smell of it, and finally, after what felt like forever, it was good enough for him, that’s why I was allowed to come back.
“You were gone for so long, it’s like you skived off, can I dock your pay?” Phii Tharn turned to me with a teasing tone.
“Oh come on, Phii, don’t do this to me.” I said with the most pleading look I could muster. What’s this? When I come back here to work, Phii Johan wants to dock me, and when I’m over there, Phii Tharn wants to dock my salary…
Can I choose something else, please?
“Come make coffee with me, it’s fun.” Ter said with enthusiasm, which was in stark contrast to me who was already dizzy from the smell of coffee. T^T “No, maybe another day.” “Oh, North, I’ve asked my relatives about it.” Phii Tharn suddenly said as if he just remembered, and he handed me a small piece of paper with a phone number, “This is Phii Chain’s number, my relative who owns the shop. I asked, and Phii Chain said it’s okay, try contacting him first.”
“Oh, thank you, why are you so kind?” I said with a heartfelt tone before taking the piece of paper.
“When you’re going to work, just tell me, and I’ll drop you off.”
“Thank you, but you don’t have to trouble yourself, I can go by myself.” I said, feeling awkward.
“And what about Ter, will he go too?” Phii Tharn turned to ask Ter, who immediately shook his head.
“I’m not going, Phii Hill definitely won’t let me…just here, it’s already hard to get permission…”
“That’s typical of people with connections.”
“And can you handle it alone?” Phii Tharn turned to me with a slightly concerned look, “Should I pick you up and drop you off at first, since the place closes late?”
“Oh…it’s a bar, right?” I asked to confirm. I’ve never worked at a bar, “Like, an alcohol shop or something, Phii?”
“Not that kind of bar, it’s more laid-back, but let me drop you off, at least at first, you’re not familiar with the route yet.” Phii Tharn offered again. So I agreed, it’s also Tharn’s relative’s shop, so I wouldn’t feel too out of place.
“Alright then. I’ll call you when I’ve spoken with brother Shane.” I said, and he gave me a kind smile while ruffling my hair. I could only give a wry smile in return, why does he like to ruffle my hair so much? I’m not a dog! Ter looked at me with a similar blank expression, as if he found Phii Tharn’s head-rubbing gesture odd.
Ding!
Someone else has texted…
Please don’t tell me it’s Phii Johan again. Don’t tell me he’s going to make me do something else. I’m done with that. I’m exhausted from making coffee today, T^T
Oh. It’s not Phii Joe but Phii Hill. Phii Hill rarely texts me. No, let’s say he never has before, how could he? I’ve never had anything to talk about with Phii Hill.
HillRatchakit: Don’t do this again, please.
?
What’s that?
“Ter, what’s this?” I turned the phone screen to show Ter, who looked at it in surprise.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know, your boyfriend just sent it.” I said, confused.
“What did you talk about with my boyfriend? Are you trying to flirt with him?” Ter said, glaring at me suspiciously, making me give him a confused look before he burst out laughing, “What did you do?”
“What did I do?” I asked myself while trying to remember, “Maybe Phii Hill sent the message to the wrong person, he might have been talking to his flirt before sending it to me by mistake.” I said. Right after, Ter gave me a light smack on the head.
“You liar, always trying to make trouble in other people’s relationships.”
“Shh.” I shushed Ter, then turned to see Tharn smiling slightly at our playful argument.
“Cute.” “Huh?” “I mean the two of you, it’s cute how you play around.” “Cute what? If we’re in the same room, we’d kill each other. North is such a pain.” Ter complained before turning to wipe glasses grumpily.
“You’re slandering me.” I said, sticking out my tongue.
“Slander what? I have proof.”
“Let me see it then.”
“Bring out your car key.” Ter said. I laughed when I successfully annoyed him, then took out my car key as he instructed.
“What’s this?” Phii Tharn asked after I placed my car key on Ter’s counter, and Ter took out his as well, “Are they a matching set?” The keychains. Both mine and Ter’s were figurines of little boys, but they’re not really matching.
“No, they’re not.” Ter said, “This North, what a bastard, always trying to meddle in other people’s affairs.”
“Yeah, so what? I went to the mountains and bought these keychains. What’s wrong with that?”
“The problem is you did it on purpose.”
“What’s going on?” PhiiTharn asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
“Well, Ter uses this keychain as a pair with Hill, right? When I went to the mountains and saw these keychains, I bought some too, and it just so happened that the last one matched mine, so I ended up using it as a pair as well.”
“You bastard.”
“Oh, so what if I use it too? It’s not like they only made two of them.”
“Because you did it on purpose, I wanted to use it as a pair with my boyfriend, and now I have to use it as a pair with you.”
“Just think of me as another boyfriend.”
“North, you bastard…I’m not surprised that Skater saved your number as ‘the bastard’. But really, why did Skater do that?” I don’t understand why he did that. Was he upset because I ate the snack he intended to give to a girl from agriculture? It was just a little bite. The agriculture girl didn’t mind anyway.
“Oh, I just found out that North you are this kind of troublemaker.” Phii Tharn said with a face that looked like he didn’t want to believe it.
“Hey…why am I suddenly getting ganged up on?”
“Serves you right, you always ask why people curse you out. It’s because of things like this.” Ter said before sticking out his tongue at me, “Change your keychain too.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier if you change yours? Get one that’s just for two people, custom-made or something.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“You have to change, I won’t.”
“See, you just want to win against me.”
“Ha, just wait until you get a girlfriend, you’ll see me, I’ll even wear matching outfits, I swear.”
“You’re so petty.”
And our pointless argument began again, until we realized how much energy we were wasting and stopped. Phii Tharn said that Ter and I are the most chaotic roommates in the world, which might be true. By ten in the evening, we finished work. The first day went well because I hardly did anything, just drained Ter’s energy.
“Drive safely, and let me know how it goes with you, North.” Phii Tharn said before driving off, leaving me and Ter at the parking lot in front of the shop, getting ready to head back to the dorm.
“Hey.” Ter called out while I was about to get on his motorbike as a passenger. “What?” “I…um…” “What is it?”
“Phii Tharn, he…what do you think, like…”
“Are you gossiping about the shop owner?”
“No! I was just wondering, sharing stories, like…he likes to ruffle your hair, so I thought…”
“Thought what?”
“That you look like his dog or something.”
“Bastard.” I sighed in frustration before starting the motorbike. Riding back to the dorm, “So, you’ve been talking all this time just to insult me?”
“No, no, seriously, it’s just weird that he ruffles your hair so much, he’s always ruffling your hair.” Ter said, “And he also said he’d pick you up and drop you off at work.”
“So, what are you trying to say?”
“He definitely likes you.”
“Pfft!”
“Hey, I’m serious. When you went to see Phii Joe, Phii Tharn didn’t seem too pleased, especially when you said you’d be late, he looked even more displeased.”
“Well, I am his employee, anyone would be mad if I skipped work.”
“Really…If it were me, I might not have been mad, admit it, you’ve thought about it when I say it like that.”
“…”
“Doesn’t it seem a bit self-centered?” It didn’t take long to get back to the dorm. We talked about this all the way until we got to the room, “It’s just…we’ve only just met. I don’t think so, and there’s nothing about me for him to like.”
“He might like assholes.” “You’re insulting me again.” “But he does say ‘cute’ a lot when he’s around you, you know that, right?” “I kind of know, but…it’s nothing, right?” I sighed slightly, why is Ter so intent on discussing this?
“Seriously. You know. You just don’t want to admit it.”
“Yeah. Don’t think like that, or it’ll just make things awkward for everyone, we still have to work together.” I said with another sigh. It’s not that I haven’t thought about it, but let’s say I’ve been trying not to think about it. I don’t know if Phii Tharn likes me the way Ter says. I also feel a bit odd about both his words and actions.
But I chose not to care, one reason being that he might not actually like me. Ter and I might have just imagined it. Second, I don’t like him either, and I think it can’t be anything more than a sibling relationship. I felt that way.
“So, you didn’t choose Phii Tharn, right?”
“Well…aren’t we like senior-junior?” I said, very puzzled by Ter’s reaction. Why is he acting so weird?
“Wow, Phii zone.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That means my ship isn’t going to sink, my Johan-North ship.”
“Spit, I’ll launch torpedoes at your ship.” I said, annoyed, now understanding his exaggerated reactions. He was trying to pair me up with Phii Joe!
“Don’t, captain, or I’ll drown. I can’t swim.”
“Annoying. If you knew what Phii Johan did to me, you wouldn’t say that.”
“What, what? So, what exactly did you do at his place for so long?” Ter asked eagerly. What’s with him? So, I told Ter everything. From delivering the coffee, Phii Johan making me watch him work, me accidentally falling asleep, until I had to make coffee until I was dizzy. “You suddenly feel dizzy, huh?” Ter said, furrowing his brows. “What’s wrong?” “Seasick, I guess the ship was sailing too fast today.”
“Sigh…If you’re happy, then I’m okay.”
Start of the semester
Just a few days had passed since then. I haven’t talked to my creditor again; Phii Johan didn’t message me, and I didn’t see the point in messaging him either. Only Phii Prang, Phii Johan’s secretary, added me on LINE, saying she would handle the accounting of my debt. If I wanted to pay back, I should tell her, or if Johan deducted my money again, she would keep a record because Johan is too lazy to remember.
Phii Prang was complaining a lot about being used, but there was nothing she could do because of the words ‘salary’ and ‘bonus’ hanging over her head.
Not much different from me, huh…T^T
MaPrang: Last time Joe deducted twice, six hundred and sixty-two baht, so that makes a total of one hundred ninety-nine thousand four hundred twelve baht and fifty satang.
MaPrang: It’s a lot, the numbers are scary. Don’t let it reach two hundred thousand, North.
North♣: Wait, how can you break it twice? I only remember once.
MaPrang: I don’t know, I’m going back to work. Study hard, I heard the second term has started. Good luck!
North♣: Yes, Phii~, TT
I told my three friends everything. They seemed troubled too, saying they wanted to help but I refused, and they teased me about my new phone. At first, they thought I had stolen it or found it and didn’t return it to its owner. But when I told them Phii Johan had thrown away my old phone and bought me a new one, they were all stunned.
“Our North’s friend has someone paying for him.”
“Should we call him ‘Daddy’ then? I feel like crawling to him on my knees, oh my.” I hate Skater’s teasing, can I throw him away?
“How mad does someone have to be to throw away someone else’s phone? And then buy a new one, that’s beyond words, especially when he threw away mine.” Said Duennao.
“I think there must be something…ever since he picked up North.”
“Enough with the teasing. No need to brew coffee for that animal.”
“Can’t not brew it now, your Ter is on your North-Johan boat, right? We’re here too, we’ll help row the boat.”
“You bastards, I’m about to fall off the boat.” I said before shaking my head slightly.
“Oh, so you admit there’s a boat now?”
“You guys!” Before I could complain any further, my phone rang.
Phii Tharn is calling…
“What’s up, Phii?”
(Today’s your first day at work, right?)
“Oh, yes, how did you know?”
(I asked Phii Chain, what time do you finish class today?)
“Around four o’clock.”
(Then I’ll pick you up, you study at the engineering building, right?)
“Yes, but the shop opens at six-thirty.”
(I could pick you up for dinner, is that okay?)
“Hmm? Yeah, that’s fine.” (Study hard, and see you later.) “Yes, you too.” “Who was that?” Skater asked immediately after I hung up, his curiosity was piqued completely.
“Phii Tharn.”
“Which Phii Tharn?”
“The third-year business faculty student, he owns the cafe where I do part-time work.” I replied, “He’s going to pick me up and drop me off at my new workplace. He’s related to the shop owner.”
“Why would he pick you up? Normally, he doesn’t do that.”
“I don’t know, he said he would.” I said, pulling a slightly annoyed face.
“So how will you get back to the dorm? Will he wait until you finish work and then take you back?”
“Yeah, that’s what he said. If he doesn’t take me back, how else will I get back?”
“Is Phii Tharn hitting on my friend or what?” Skater said, “Choose between a second-year med student and a third-year business student, North.” and he held a pen to my mouth like he was conducting an interview.
“…”
I didn’t respond, just gave him an annoyed look. It felt familiar, like Ter had interrogated me like this before.
“North, look at this.” Skater whispered beside me while I was trying to study. Studying doesn’t last long anyway, just during the first week of the semester. Skater was always sneaking looks at his phone. I turned to look at the screen he was showing me.
“What?”
“Look at this.”
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