EASTTAGYOUREMINE, Chapter  12: Eye to Eye

   I was dragged by Phii Meili to the front of the stage and told to get the camera ready, then left standing alone after she said, “Nong Ter, wait here for a moment,

I’ll go ask over there how they plan to proceed.”

The background music played in a soft, slow rhythm.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed standing alone in front of the stage area, I found a seat nearby and started to watch everyone lining up for the rehearsal. Phii Napdao was explaining the details of who should walk after whom since not everyone was present today; apart from Phii Thanmild who had just left, there were still some people skipping rehearsal. Phii Napdao decided they would walk individually for now, without pairing up as Moon and Star of the Faculty.

This gave me some time to think about what Christy said…about asking who Phii Hill likes, and before that, when Phii Hill mentioned he had liked me for five years. Maybe I haven’t been very observant as Christy suggested, but there have been times when I’ve tried to convince myself otherwise.

Because maybe I’ve been too scared as Phii Meili pointed out, but at least…on that day, he could have said something. Not just disappear after the incident. I understood he might not have been able to come to me, because even if he came to my house then, he wouldn’t have found me…but I waited for a message from him the whole week, and there were no responses to my calls, so finally, I closed my Facebook account and changed my phone number.

Who wouldn’t think they’ve been abandoned in that situation…

Next time, if there’s an opportunity to ask…that day’s events would be my question.

I just want him to explain why he suddenly disappeared.

And after that…just tell me he loves me again, that would be enough.

Because I have to heal the wounds you’ve left for nearly a year…and the ironic part is that one year feels almost meaningless. Every time I look at you, my broken heart still…

It’s not something that can be controlled, even if it’s your own heart.

Sigh…

I let out a big sigh, why does it feel like there’s smoke filling my chest?    “Oh…just give me a moment, just a second. I’d like to introduce the junior who will be taking photos today. Oh, where has our junior, Nong Ter, gone?” Phii Meili’s voice boomed from the speakers. I turned around to see her standing on the stage with a microphone in hand. She soon looked my way, signaling for me to come quickly, “Come here, come here, up on stage.”

I jogged up onto the stage at Phii Meili’s urging. Even though I was nervous, letting her keep calling my name would make it worse.

“Ah, do you see him? Everyone around the stage, pay attention. This is NongEaster, or Nong Ter, our emergency photographer for today, but might become our permanent photographer. He’s quite good, just so you know. I am introducing him in case we work together again. Now, for those who came to flirt with him…there’s Junior and Jijo Jo, from Engineering and Law respectively.” Phii Meili paused, the audience started to murmur at the last part. I caught Phii Junior giving a wry smile to those looking over.

“And one more person who wishes to remain unnamed…that person wants to say, stop flirting with Nong Ter, I’m warning everyone, he’s practically someone’s husband now. Junior, you can’t compete, and Jijo, don’t bother, that’s it, conversation over.” Phii Meili pulled me in to link arms with her, her voice softening at the end, leaving me to just give a sheepish smile to the onlookers.

Why does Phii Meili seem so moody and unpredictable?

“Oh, Meili, how could you do that?” Jijo complained as we stepped off the stage.    “What? That’s why I said no flirting. It’s annoying to see everyone trying to take him. Let’s just say he’s mine now, end of story.”

“Is Junior trying to flirt with Nong Ter too?” Jijo Jo raised her eyebrows in question.

“He asked for my Line, pretending to invite me to take photos, ha. Not subtle at all.”

“Does the junior need someone to take photos with? Are you looking for models?” Jijo asked me, and I nodded in response, “Then great, I can be your model. I guarantee lots of likes.”

“Sorry, the freshman already has a regular model to pose for him.” Phii Meili pointed towards Phii Hill, who was standing not too far, though he seemed not to be looking our way as he was talking with Phii Napdao, “That one, he’ll get more likes and shares than you could ever, Jijo.”

“How could Hill be a model for the freshman? He doesn’t usually like having his photo taken.”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care about you Jijo Jo, I’m tired.” Phii Meili waved it off before pulling my hand to walk away in another direction.

“So, what do I have to do to get your attention, Meili?”

That statement made both me and Phii Meili turn abruptly. It sounded like Phii Jijo was lamenting something.

Phii Meili didn’t respond, just gave a quick pout in the direction of the voice.    “Hey. They briefed us that for the first part, we should take individual shots, make them perfect. Then in the middle, they’ll start walking in pairs, which might be tricky to capture. I’ll tell you more about that later. For the finale, they want wide-angle shots, really wide, capturing the sunset. “

“Wow…then I’ll go to the front of the college to take the shots.”

“Around five or six in the evening, when the sun is setting, Nong Ter, go find a wide angle to shoot from. I’ll tell everyone to gather, imagine the background with the sun setting, and our stars and moon lined up in front. Oh my, it’s going to be majestic.”

“I’ve never photographed the sunrise or sunset before.” I expressed my concern. “It’s not hard, just focus on our stars and moon first, or you can focus on Dr. Hill, he’ll be leading.”

“Don’t tease, others might hear.”

“No worries, lovers can’t hide from the world forever.” I was about to retort, but

Phii Meili put her finger to her lips, “Shh, it’s about to start.”

The initially slow-paced music sped up a bit but didn’t turn into dance music; it was just enough to make you want to sway gently.

“Okay, first time, like yesterday, but wait, Dr. Hill wasn’t here yesterday, so let’s start over. Camera guy, don’t start shooting yet, I want the first round to be perfect.” Phii Napdao’s high-pitched voice echoed through the loudspeaker, which was almost as loud as the main speakers, “Dr. Hill, you walk out first, listen to the beat.”

Phii Hill, in his neat student uniform, his handsome face without any makeup, his clean white student shirt, not like the one I had stained with snot before, walked out from behind the curtain, perfectly in sync with the music.

How can someone make walking look so cool?

I don’t even want to think about what I would look like walking on that stage…    “Perfect, absolutely perfect, the timing of your steps is spot on, you got it after just one briefing, excellent, Doctor. Now, turn left for a pose. Here, the host will announce your name. Next, Thanmild, oh, she’s already gone? Alright, next person, come out, Dental Faculty Star.”

After Phii Napdao’s voice had faded for a while, no one came out, causing Phii Hill to glance back with a look of surprise.

“Oh, why isn’t anyone coming out? The next cue is for Dental Faculty Star, Nik.” Phii Napdao called again, “Nik, dear, why aren’t you here? Where have you gone?”

“Dao, Nikky isn’t coming.” a staff member shouted from below the stage.

“Oh, why? No one told me. Did she dare to skip?”

“No, Nikky has moved universities.”

“…” Everyone seemed stunned for a moment, “Well, I didn’t know. Oh dear, my

Nikky. Alright, next is Bass, Political Science Moon, come on the beat, dear.”    “On the beat, and for those next in line, follow the sequence. Let me tell you something, next time, choose your stars and moons wisely. Don’t just go for the most handsome or beautiful, choose someone who will stay with the department for a long time. The Dental Department doesn’t have a moon anymore, you know.”    “Look at Doctor Hill there, we didn’t choose him just because he’s handsome or capable, but because we thought he’d stay long, and indeed, he has. Four points to our medical folks, they’re the most dangerous, I heard Sky from the third-year medical moon has also left.”

“I was just kidding, Doctor Hill, we chose you because you’re handsome, purely handsome.” Phii Napdao started to banter through the loudspeaker, teasing one person after another. It seemed like she was no longer very concerned with the rehearsal march, just letting everyone walk to the beat.

“Oh no, girl, Fondao, walking like that, your heels will break before anything, step lightly, I’ve told you so many times.”

“Jijo, you haven’t even started taking photos, you don’t need to look at the camera that much, are you looking at the camera or the junior?” Phii Napdao’s words made me look towards Phii Jijo, feeling like she was indeed looking at me, “Stop being so annoying, Jijo, you might get your eyes popped out.”    But for some reason, I didn’t feel embarrassed or shy.

The song ended, and the first walk might have had many mistakes, but Phii Napdao didn’t seem too serious about it. She then ordered the music to be played again for another rehearsal walk.

“Mister freshman slash photographer, start shooting this time, it’s okay if it’s not perfect. If anyone makes a funny face, we’ll post it on the Cute Boy Cute Girl page.

DJ, play the music.” The DJ was none other than Phii Mot, who was sitting with her chin in her hand, looking bored by the audio equipment. It seems many of the staff had already left early, leaving the rest to work harder.

And Phii Mot looked like she had to do everything.

I bet there are a million complaints waiting to be vented right now.

“The Faculty of Medicine’s Moon, Dr. Hill, everyone [scream]!” Phii Napdao’s shrill voice came through the loudspeaker again, accompanied by her own scream. I started to raise my camera to shoot, focusing on the person who had just walked out from backstage.

The tall figure moved naturally, not at all stiff, probably because his physique was suited for modeling. Dr. Hill himself looked at the camera without breaking his gaze, giving a slight smile as if he was ready for every shot.

“Dr. Hill, look at the camera, not your lover, why the sweet eyes? Who’s making you look like you’re about to fall in love over here? There are ants on the stage, oh my.” Phii Meili teased in jest. “Whenever it comes to the doctor, there’s always something to gossip about. Let’s wait for the ‘mom’ from the page to come interview him.”

Why does everyone have to tease…His gaze wasn’t that much anyway.

“Look around you a bit, okay?”

I tried to observe Phii Hill as much as I could, as my senior suggested…His hairstyle was the same as when he styled it in the morning, quite different from his high school days. Back then, just having a slightly tall hairstyle was considered very cool, but once he got to university, he had more freedom to choose his hairstyle, which made him look even better.

Because he’s very tall, even though other moons are nearly as tall, Phii Hill still stood out. And sometimes, he had this habit of keeping a straight face which made people hesitant to approach him. Despite that, Phii Hill has never been rude to anyone.

And his eyes…Every time he looked, they always had this warm gaze. Many times, those eyes seemed to draw me in.

That kind of gaze was what made my heart flutter every time.

“Wait, wait, stop the music, stop…what are you two doing? You can’t just stare at each other like that, camera guy, camera guy.”

“Yes…ma’am.” I quickly turned to the voice calling.

“Why aren’t you taking photos? Why are you just staring at Dr. Hill?”

Huh? Me, staring at Phii Hill? How? I was just taking pictures a moment ago. Oh no, I’m sorry, T^T. And why did Phii Napdao stop the music? The silence just made the atmosphere worse.

   Oh my, I’m dead.

   Everyone’s looking this way now, boo-hoo.

   “The same goes for you, doctor, why aren’t you walking? Why play a staring game? Look, everyone’s lost the beat now.” Phii Napdao’s voice started to scold.    But it seemed like her scolding had no effect on him at all, as he then gave a gentle smile.

“The photographer…is so cute, I can’t take my eyes off him.”

As soon as Doctor Hill finished his sentence, everyone, including me, was struck speechless.

A silence enveloped the activity area as Phii Napdao’s voice quieted, and even the chattering crowd around us fell silent. The staff members further away, though not fully aware of what was happening, noticed the unusual quietness and turned their attention towards us.

   Everyone turned to look in our direction simultaneously, their eyes fixed on the tall figure standing prominently on the stage, who was staring at me without looking away. Soon, a buzz of excitement rose like a swarm of bees, the stars and moons waiting backstage rushed out to surround Phii Hill as if a miracle had just occurred.

   Yes…it truly was a miracle!

   With the ghost, that is!

   Oh my god, Phii!! …What have you done!

   I was completely flustered, not knowing what to do. Phii Meili started shaking my arm, probably embarrassed for me, my body went rigid like it did back in elementary school when the teacher called me to the front of the class.

   Please…someone…help me!

   “Everyone, please remain calm…calm down, stop crowding around Doctor Hill. Regain your composure, everyone. Even though what just happened was as significant as a meteor hitting our university.” Phii Napdao announced, trying to quiet everyone down. The shrieks from the girls, the staff, and the stars and moons all asking what had happened continued to grow louder, despite her efforts.    Phii Napdao then activated the siren function on the loudspeaker to quell the chaos.

“All staff, return to your positions, calm down. Everyone on stage, stop crowding the doctor, or he’ll faint from all the questions. No need to interrogate him.” Phii Napdao said firmly, and the stars and moons began to back away from Phii Hill slightly after their earlier rush to ask questions.

“Wow. I didn’t even have time to react. True love can shut out the world for a moment.” Phii Meili said, playfully covering her mouth.

I didn’t know how to respond; I could only give a slight frown and place my cold hand on Phii Meili’s arm.

“Ouch! You scared me. Just one flirt from the doctor and your hand is as cold as a corpse?”

“How are you feeling, Doctor, after that…scene? Were you overwhelmed by the flock of chicks?” Phii Napdao asked teasingly, and Doctor Hill gave a polite smile while adjusting his shirt that had been pulled by his peers.

“Wow, you guys…did you see the shot just now with our friend? He’s got guts, so is this the one you’ve been courting?”

“Hill is the real deal, I’m embarrassed for the kid, man.”

“Got to hand it to him, daring to pick up the freshman in front of everyone, with all his friends watching.”

“Hey, is this the freshman that Nea and Jijo were after? The one Meili mentioned? Hill’s really making moves, huh? What’s up, Nea, Jijo, are you going to fight for him?”

“What are you talking about? There’s no way I can’t compete, Nong Ter, right? I can’t take my eyes off you either.”

“You’re not looking at Jijo, you’re in a damn mess. Step back, let’s let Hill’s friend walk.”

“This morning was peak enough. Now, this is even more peak, he’s officially introduced him, and all our mystery-solving almost killed us, for what?”    “Well, you’re all quiet now, Hill, embarrassed? So, is it this freshman?”    The friends from the Faculty of Medicine were all asking and teasing Phii Hill loudly, but when this question came up, everyone quieted down, probably waiting for Phii Hill’s answer. I found myself holding my breath without realizing it.    “Yes.”    !!!!

“Yessss, our friend’s here, let’s celebrate, which bar tonight? You’re paying, right? We’ll call and reserve now, call Jo, Sky, and Arthit too.”

“Wait, we’re just teasing each other. Look at the freshman, is he mad?” Gasp!!

And then everyone on the stage turned to look at me again. No, I’m not mad, but you guys are making me feel out of place, could you stop staring, it’s so pressuring.

I moved closer to Phii Meili, hoping for some help.

“Phii…Phii Meili…help me.” I whispered softly while avoiding the gaze of several pairs of eyes from the stage. Phii Meili gently patted my head in a comforting manner.

“Calm down. You guys are wild, making so much noise over everything. Let Phii Napdao ask him questions, Phii Napdao is getting angry and her blood pressure is rising. Staff, get some blood pressure medicine for her.”

“Yeah, good idea, blood pressure medicine is good, spit! Meili, I’ll come down and slap you soon, alright. So, doctor, is this the one, the owner of the watch?”    Phii Hill didn’t respond. Instead, he let out a small chuckle.

“Let me just say….I won’t say.’ Did I say that fast enough?”

“Not fast enough, now that it’s come to this, tell us.”

“Well…” Phii Hill hesitated for a moment and then turned his gaze back to me, “It depends on the junior whether…he likes it or not.” And with that, the crowd erupted into screams and teasing from the other moons.

“Oh my god, be quiet, girls, it’s up to the junior, right? So, junior, what do you say? What’s your name, junior…what is it, Meili?”

“Nong Ter, khrap.”

“Nong Ter…what do you say? Do you like it?” Phii Napdao asked me, causing all eyes to pressurize me again. I swallowed hard, only managing to give a weak smile, oh my, if I could, I’d hide inside Phii Meili.

Sigh, Doctor, you crazy senior, what are you doing, T^T

“Uh…I don’t know.” I said quietly, still hiding behind Phii Meili.

I thought you said it would be clear but didn’t expect it to be this clear, sigh.

“Huh? What did Meili’s junior say?”

“He said he doesn’t know.” Phii Meili answered for me.

“So, what’s going on, haven’t you guys started dating?” Phii Napdao asked, slightly surprised.

“Not yet…” Phii Hill replied, “I’m still pursuing him.” And as expected, the crowd buzzed with excitement once more before the star told everyone to quiet down.

“Pursuing? Someone like Doctor Hill has to pursue? Goodness, will I ever get a husband this lifetime?” Phii Napdao said, rolling her eyes, “But this is the junior you posted about, right?”

Phii Hill didn’t say anything more…but that was enough for everyone to understand.

“Why didn’t you say anything when we asked before? Now you suddenly want to tell me? What’s the deal?”

Phii Hill was silent for a moment, looking thoughtful before he looked at me with a serious expression.

“Actually…”

“…”

“…I’ve been waiting for a long time.”

“…”

“So from now on.”

“…”

“I won’t let you go anywhere again.”

!!!!!

“And then…”

“…”

“So that some thieving cats would know…”

“…”

“Nong Ter…”

“…”

“Is mine alone.”

 

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