EASTTAGYOUREMINE, Chapter 21: Painting Club

   “Ter, calm down, don’t let your soul escape, hey.” North shook me and was making a fuss next to me, and I heard everything, but my consciousness seemed to have truly drifted away.

“I’ll take the best care of him. :)”

Ohhhhh, what can I say to someone like this, how can I argue back when I never win. There’s no embarrassment in saying something like that in front of thousands, huuuh. Even if he doesn’t say who it is, he could at least think about the listeners’ feelings, others must be stunned, but I’m the one who feels like I’ve died, T^T.    Ohhhh, that doctor is insane, did he really mean to give me a heart attack? I can’t take it anymore, it’s just too much. Can I really be with someone like that, ohhhh.

   A warm feeling spread across my chest. I don’t know what it is, but it’s both warm and feels like it’s burning my heart, making me afraid that one day I might really melt. Why does it have to deal so much damage, T^T.

   “Man, I’m embarrassed for you, what’s with this crazy doctor?” North said, turning to look at the screen where the live stream was playing. Both Emmy and Phii Napdao were screaming so loudly they didn’t care about the viewers, and the comments were coming in so fast I could barely keep up. I was somewhat relieved to be watching through a screen.

I can’t even imagine how I’d react if Phii Hill said this to my face.

But the problem is there are thousands of people watching.

“Screaming, I’ve screamed so much my throat hurts, doctor, if you’re going to torture my heart like this, are you planning to become a surgeon in the future? Could you please operate on my heart too, it’s just too much for me, I’m jealous. To the one who has Hill’s heart, did you borrow your luck from a past life? How did you get so much good karma?”

“Oh, the comments are coming too fast, I can’t keep up. Take it easy, let’s talk slowly, see, people are really dying from the doctor’s words. If anyone dies, what will you do to take responsibility?”

Emmy asked playfully, but Phii Hill just smiled without saying anything.    “Just now you said it was the last question, but it’s like…we can’t just leave it at that, can we ask just one more thing, okay? Can we delay the rehearsal just a little?” Emmy turned to ask Phii Napdao.

“Just a tiny bit more.” Phii Napdao said.

“Okay, just a quick chat then, please bear with us a little longer.”

I was starting to feel uneasy. At first, I thought it would end there, but then there’s this additional interview. Part of me wants to close the stream, but another part is dying to see more.

: Yeah, good, keep talking, I’ll just watch the doctor’s face, it’ll help with my longing.

   : Secretly sad, but I’ll support the doctor. Even though it hurts us, I hope she’s happy with him, ohhhh.

   : I wish to have Hill as my own, can I take Hill home with me? Where would you find another perfect and loyal person like him?

   : The doctor is my little junior’s boyfriend. I’m imagining myself as the owner of the doctor’s heart. I’m thrilled, rolling around three times, ><.    I must have really borrowed my luck from a past life to be this fortunate in this one, I’ll go do some good deeds for a bit.

: I’ll take Dr. Fah too, Phii Hill probably won’t be single anymore. Ohh, all hope is lost, isn’t it?

“All the comments are full of lamentations. Oh dear, you little monkey. I’m as heartbroken as they are, you know, I’ve had my eye on Doctor Hill since that freshman orientation.”

Suddenly, North’s hand slapped my shoulder so hard that I jolted and quickly turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow in question.

“Did you really save up from your past lives for this?” North asked.

“Are you crazy? How would I know that?”

“Then why are you so lucky? What did you do to make the doctor like you so much?”

“Are you interviewing me now? I don’t know, I can’t remember what he said for about five years, I didn’t even know Phii Hill back then.” I said, and North’s face turned sour.

“Wow, how come? But you’re really enviable to someone like me who’s heartbroken. Seeing you in love like this, it really hurts. I’ll leave it here for now, Ter.”

“What? Don’t make that gloomy face, you’ll find someone too, trust me.” I said, trying to console the person sitting next to me, understanding how it feels to be hurt in love, because when I was, I was annoyed by every couple I saw.

“You don’t have to console me, how do you know I will?”

“I can feel that in past lives, you must have accumulated enough good karma alongside me.” I said playfully, making North chuckle a little, his sad expression fading.

“Wow, so you and I have been close for many lifetimes, huh?” North said, laughing while giving my shoulder a hearty slap.

“Anyway, let’s ask the grumpy doctor for fun.” Emmy’s voice redirected our attention back to the screen, “You said you liked him for five years, and has he known for long or just found out?”

“I think he just found out.”

“Five years, did you know each other before?”

“Yes.”

“And why didn’t you tell him? Why keep it for so long?”

“Well…” Emmy’s question made Phii Hill go silent for a moment, looking pensive. Yeah…if I had known from the start, things might have been better…no, wait, that might not have been good either, yes…because back then, Christy still liked Phii Hill.

“Back then, nothing was settled, including me not having enough courage.” Phii Hill said.

“Ah, I understand. When you like someone a lot, you fear disappointment even more. Sometimes, just watching over them is good enough, right?” Emmy said,

“So why do you have the courage now?”

“I just thought…I don’t want to lose him again…that’s all.”

Gasp! Damn it. If he hadn’t looked at me with such serious eyes, the damage wouldn’t have been this severe, right? Ohhh.

   “Aye! The more I ask, the more my heart feels like it’s thinning out, no different from tissue paper now. It’s like every question just confirms that I have no chance with you, doctor. Why are you so committed in love?”

“Because you said you’ll take the best care, so we don’t need to ask how it would be if we were dating, right? Can you help me ask something, Joke?” Emmy turned to ask Joke who was sitting on the other side.

“Well, hey. You’re the representative of the page interviewing, what should I ask?”

Joke already knows it’s me, T^T, everyone in the Star Moon contest crew knows.

Plus, with so many hints, it won’t be long before everyone finds out.

“Then let’s have the doctor talk about the latest photo he posted, the one with the caption, ‘Not smiling at the camera, but smiling for the photographer.’ What’s the meaning behind that, Emmy? I heard you don’t like taking photos much, right?” Emmy turned to ask Phii Hill again, whose face showed signs of being tired from work now turning into slight annoyance, as far as I could tell.

“It depends on who’s taking the photo.” Phii Hill answered, making both the interviewer and us listeners, like me and North, drop our jaws at the same time.

Wait, did he just imply…

“Screaming, Doctor! Are you saying that if it’s not your junior taking the photo, you don’t want to take pictures? Ohhh, so you’re not going to care about anyone else’s camera? You hardly post any photos on the page as it is, who will dare to take your photo now?” Emmy said while twisting in her seat.

“Then we’ll have to bother that junior to send us photos of you, otherwise, our page won’t have any pictures of Dr. Hill.” Emmy added, more in jest than anything.

: Ohhh, the doctor is just too much, T^T, we know you don’t like photos, ohhh, but to specify the photographer like that is too much.

   So, we’ll have to sneak photos then. It’s okay, we usually sneak photos anyway, LOL.

   : Doctor, what’s this feeling of being left out?

   “Nothing more to ask then. Plus, we’ve bothered the doctor enough, let him rest now. Just one last thing. If the doctor stops being single, half of our university girls will be devastated, but thankfully, there are still three other good doctors. Camera, pan over there.” Emmy ordered, and the camera turned towards Phii Johan, Phii Tonfa, and Phii Arthit, who were sitting at another table.

“We still have some eye and heart candy, I’m sure you all know them already. Next time, we’ll try to talk to these three. There are still comments asking for more with Dr. Hill, but our time’s almost up. Thank you, doctor, and sorry for taking so much of your time.” Emmy thanked Dr. Hill, who also thanked her back, then gave a brief closing remark before ending the interview.

Watching the interview with Phii Hill was just a few minutes long, but those few minutes were enough to ‘kill’ me, sigh. I let out a heavy sigh.

“That was quite a sigh.” North said before getting up from the table, stretching lazily, and then flopping back onto the bed.

“What if everyone finds out it’s me?” I asked, with a slightly worried look.

“Why does it matter? You don’t have to do anything about it.” The person on the bed responded with a tone of disinterest.

“…”

“…” I didn’t reply because I didn’t know what to say. Indeed…why should I do anything? If everyone knew it was me, there wouldn’t be anything wrong with that.

I had already told myself not to overthink about what others think.    Then, my laptop screen, which was still on the Facebook page, showed a notification that someone had sent a message.

Hill Ratchakit: Did you watch earlier?

   Easter Panupong: Watched.

   Easter Panupong: Who told you to say that in front of so many people?

   I started to complain to Phii Hill via chat. After all, how could one not complain?

He just spoke without considering the listeners’ feelings.

Hill Ratchakit: Are you embarrassed?

   Easter Panupong: Not embarrassed at all!

   Hill Ratchakit: Really? But I bet you must be blushing right now.

   Hill Ratchakit: I really want to see.

   Easter Panupong: Not blushing.

   Easter Panupong: sends angry sticker

   I sent an angry sticker too. Does he have some kind of clairvoyant vision to know I’m blushing? Even though I really am blushing…

Hill Ratchakit: Even though I’ve said it already, let me say it again.

   Easter Panupong: Say what?

   Hill Ratchakit: I miss you. 🙂

   Ohhhh, he doesn’t spare me even in chat, huh? And now how am I supposed to reply to this, T^T

Easter Panupong: Uh…yeah

   Easter Panupong: Not rehearsing?

   Hill Ratchakit: About to start rehearsing, have you eaten yet?

   Easter Panupong: Not yet.

   Hill Ratchakit: Make sure to eat something.

   Easter Panupong: Same to you.

   Hill Ratchakit: Okay.

   Hill Ratchakit: Sorry, I’m not very free today.

   Easter Panupong: It’s okay.

   Really, you don’t have to apologize, Phii Hill is already studying hard and being the president of the club, plus with the term starting, I guess you’ll be very busy. I understand, it’s no big deal.

   Hill Ratchakit: I’ll go rehearse now.

   Hill Ratchakit: See you tomorrow.

   Easter Panupong: Okay.

   Easter Panupong: Sends a sticker

   Even though I replied like that, I didn’t understand what Emmy meant by “see you tomorrow.” It’s not like he’s going to surprise me by picking me up at my dorm or waiting for me at the faculty, right?

THE NEXT DAY

   I finally understood what Emmy meant by “see you tomorrow.” Today is the day for first-year students to sign up for clubs, for which North had already preregistered. It’s like reserving a spot, but you still need to come and confirm your registration to show you’re really joining. If you don’t show up today, your name will be removed, and you’ll have to find another club later.

Whether it’s for unity or chaos, the university decided to have all faculties sign up at the same location. Even though the times are different, it’s still crowded.

Today, in the afternoon, it’s my faculty and about three or four others.

Luckily, North’s engineering faculty is also there, so we came together.

“Listen up, all freshmen.” The voice of one of the professors came over the speakers, “Now you have to choose your clubs. I’m giving you time until exactly 3:00 PM. If your friends haven’t arrived yet, please chase them down. At 3:00 PM sharp, we will stop accepting applications. If you miss this, you’ll have to come later to sign up, but once you’re at the university, you need to take responsibility for being on time.”

“You need to choose one sports club and at least one non-sports club. I say ‘at least’ which means you can choose more than one non-sports club if you wish, understand?”

“Here in this area, there will be booths set up by various clubs from your seniors. If you’re interested in any, go and ask for information. If you want to join, queue up and sign up in an orderly fashion, and remember, each club has a limited number of members they can accept.”

When the teacher finished explaining, everyone dispersed. It was now two in the afternoon, which meant we had one hour to claim spots in the clubs we wanted to join before they filled up, and with so many people, it got chaotic. Everyone was checking out the different booths, but the area was spacious enough to avoid too much crowding. The seniors were loudly advertising their clubs as if they were selling goods.

“Come on, Ter, let’s go, the football club might take a lot of people, but it fills up fast.” North said, pulling me into the crowd.

“But we’ve already pre-registered, right? They should at least reserve our spots.” I asked.

“They do reserve, but if you’re not there within half an hour, they’ll remove your name and take new people.” He explained.

“Oh.” I nodded in understanding. I was about to ask why the rush since we still had half an hour, but looking around…we really did need to hurry because the lines were long.

“And what about the Art Club?” I asked, unsure if we’d have time to sign up there after finishing here.

“We should make it, I’ve checked, it’s not likely to have many sign-ups.”

“Let’s hope so.” I said, thinking of Phoon. He had said he wanted to join the same club, so I called to tell him to hurry up. Soon enough, Phoon arrived, and as expected, Foam, who had abandoned us, was nowhere to be seen. The three of us then lined up together to sign up.

When we got near the front of the line, I learned that Phii Arthit was the head of the football club, as third and fourth years generally don’t get too involved in university activities due to projects and internships, so second years like him manage the freshmen.

“Hey, you’re here to join football, right?” Phii Arthit greeted me cheerfully as I filled out the long application form. Even though there were several tables for filling out forms at the same time, it still took a while.

“Yeah.” I said with a smile.

“Do you like football?”

Uhh, is this like an interview question?

   “Oh, yes.” I wanted to say I didn’t know what else to play, but I figured I couldn’t say that.

“I thought you might go for basketball with Hill.”

“Uh…no, thank you.” I gave a strained smile and continued filling out the application form. Why does this application have so many questions? It’s like an exam or something, T^T.

“Sigh, how annoying. Now I’ll have to see him loitering around the club often.”    “Loitering?” I repeated what Phii Arthit said.

“With someone as possessive as Hill every year. If anyone bothers you, he’s definitely in for trouble.” His words left me speechless. Would Hill come to watch over me at the club? No, please, T^T. Then who’s going to have fun?

“And what club are Phii Jo and Phii Fah in?” I asked.

“Jo is in the basketball club with Hill. Jo doesn’t care about anything, so it’s easy for him to just stick with Hill. As for Fah, he’s in tennis…speak of the devil, here he comes.”

I turned to look where Phii Arthit pointed. There was a crowd, but if you looked closely, you’d see the brother we were just talking about walking this way, attracting attention from everyone around, their eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Hey, look, it’s Hill, the doctor!” said a girl from the volleyball club nearby.

“Where?”

“There, the one walking towards us.”

“Oh, I see him now. Wow, even from far away, you can see how handsome he is.”

“Too bad he’s taken, but it’s okay, Phii Johan walking with him is also super hot.

I call dibs.”

“But I like Phii Fah, he’s so cool.”

Then the girls started screaming. I wonder if the brothers are used to this. I don’t know if Phii Arthit could hear them, but I certainly did, being right next to them.

Wow, they’re really popular.

“Ter…your boyfriend’s here.” Phoon, who was filling out his application next to me, whispered, causing me to shoot him a glare. What are you talking about?

They’re going to hear you!

   “I’d be happy if I was just half as handsome as him.” North said.

“Yeah, I wish I was that tall.” Phoon turned to North. North looked back, as if they both understood the silent agreement of short guys.

I, being about the same height as those two, understood completely, but that wasn’t the issue at hand. The issue was Hill was coming, and I was here filling out a football club application. Ugh, I’m so confused, especially since Hill just told me last night that he missed me.

Uh…More importantly, every word he said yesterday still echoes in my ears, T^T    “Are you guys all set?” Phii Arthit seemed to greet three friends who stopped standing next to me while I was looking down, not raising my head to look up.

“Umm, we’re full.”

“Really, why did the basketball club fill up so quickly?”

“With Dr. Hill’s level. Especially the girls’ basketball, it was full within the first five minutes.” said Phii Johan.

“Great, our football club only accepts boys, it would be annoying, what about tennis?”

“Also full. Your football club does take in a lot of people though.”

“Yeah, and Hill-”

“Ter, are you signing up for the football club?” Phii Hill’s voice made me have to look up to see who was speaking.

“I’ll take good care of you, :)”

It was the same voice from yesterday that said he would take good care of me. I don’t know why this sentence keeps repeating in my head like that.

“Uh…Yes.” I answered, stuttering.

“Hey, he just asked you, you don’t need to blush.” said North, making me turn around to glare at him again. Is this the time to tease?

“I’m starting to want to switch to the football club, Joe, Fah, want to join?” Phii Hill asked with a slight sly smile to his two friends.

“Sure/ sure.”

Phii Tonfa and Phii Johan answered in unison. I furrowed my brows, puzzled at the conversation, but then I remembered there were still many people waiting in line behind me, so I quickly finished writing and soon handed the application to Phii Arthit. He took it and then reached out for the applications from Phoon and North.

“Have you signed up for any other clubs?” Phii Hill asked me. We moved behind the registration table to not block the queue.

“Not yet.” I replied.

“Have you thought about which club you want to join?”

“Uh, the art club.” I answered, believing Phii Hill must be surprised since he knows I’m not good at drawing at all, and as expected, he seemed surprised when he heard that.

“Are you going to join the art club?” Phii Hill paused for a moment. “Jo, do you know the adviser of the art club?”

“Oh, Professor Patmavarn, why do you ask? Don’t tell me you’re thinking of joining the art club.” Phii Johan raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Uh-huh.” Phii Hill nodded in response.

“Who came up with that idea?” Phii Johan asked.

“North.” I answered, pointing at North. He shot me a slight glare when I implicated him. Upon hearing it was North’s idea, Phii Johan immediately put his hand to his forehead, looking stressed.    “Sigh, don’t do it, nong, I’m telling you.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“Well, it’s just that…oh, never mind.” Phii Johan brushed it off, which only made us more curious about what he meant. If you’re going to say something, just say it all.

“It’s fine, I’ll take you there.” Phii Hill said. I wanted to ask Phii Johan more, but I had to keep my questions to myself and walked towards the back of the booth where there weren’t as many people.

“Why do you need to escort me?” I turned to ask Phii Hill, who was walking beside me. It’s just nearby, he didn’t need to come with me.

“I said I’d take care of you the best I can.” The tall figure turned and said with a gentle smile, the kind he always gives. His words made me catch my breath for a

moment.

Wow, I can hardly breathe, that’s more damaging than watching a live stream.    “Didn’t you say if we were dating, it wouldn’t be like this? We’re not even dating yet.” I said, remembering that Emmie asked if we would be dating.    “Then, Ter, why don’t you be my boyfriend?”

“…!!!”

“Your face is red again.” The tall figure said while gently pinching my cheek.    “Stop it…” I said with a slight pout. Phii Hill smiled indulgently and slowly let go of my face. “Who made me like this, always saying things out of the blue.”

“Hmm…I’m courting you, Ter. It’s not strange at all.”    Oh man, saying that so nonchalantly again.

When I turned to look behind, I caught North and Phoon giving me disapproving looks intermittently, even waving their hands in front of their noses as if to say,

‘Love is in the air and it stinks.’

“Can I hold your hand?” Phii Hill asked.

“Are you crazy? There are so many people around. People are already staring enough as it is.” I said. So, he really meant to keep it a secret from others, huh?

T^T

“That would be even better.”

“Better how?”

“If there’s anyone still eyeing you like this.” Phii Hill leaned down to whisper softly, “it would be quite annoying.” His cold tone gave me goosebumps.    “Who?” I furrowed my brows, wondering if someone was actually eyeing me.

“Nothing, never mind.”

I gave a pouty face to the person walking beside me, but before I could ask more, we had arrived at the art club booth. It seemed there were far fewer people compared to other clubs.

“Joining the art club?” A guy sitting in front of the registration table asked with a cheerful smile. He looked more like a freshman.

We nodded in response and immediately filled out the application forms.    “Thanks for joining our club. We meet every Friday at the old arts building, starting at four, and we finish by six at the latest.” The guy explained in a clear voice.

“Can you introduce yourself? We’re going to be club mates after all. My name’s

‘Daotok’, a first-year in the science faculty.” He said, revealing a broad smile.

“I’m North, a first-year in engineering.” North introduced himself. The name ‘Daotok’ sounds quite feminine for a boy. I guessed it must be because his parents wished for a child from a shooting star; otherwise, they wouldn’t have chosen such a name.

“I’m Easter, you can just call me Ter, from the veterinary faculty.” I said.

“I’m Phoon, nice to meet you, from the vet faculty too.”

After some time, as we were about to leave, Daotok spoke up to Phii Hill. “Uh…Hill, the doctor, right? Would you like to join the art club too?” Daotok invited, which seemed odd since someone like Phii Hill joining the art club was unusual. I had never seen him draw even once.

“Sure.” Phii Hill accepted, which stunned me. He then proceeded to fill out his name on the application form, “Can I write the names for my friends too?”

“Oh, sure.” Hearing that, Phii Hill went ahead and wrote down three more names. No need to guess, they were definitely Phii Johan, Phii Tonfa, and Phii Arthit.

“Thank you. If Dr. Hill joins our club, there will definitely be a lot more interest in it.” Daotok said with delight. Phii Hill accepted the thanks with a smile.    Once all the business was done, Phoon excused himself as he had other matters to attend to. I was supposed to go back with North, but it seems someone didn’t want me to go back just yet.

“Shall we grab something to eat before heading back?” Phii Hill asked, though it sounded more like an order than a question. “Nong North, would you like to come with us?”

“Huh…uh, better not. I don’t want to intrude.” North, who usually loves free stuff, suddenly turned polite.

“It’s no trouble.” Phii Hill said, so North had no choice but to tag along. Before that, we stopped by to meet Phii Arthit and the others. It looked like the football club’s booth was still up, unlike the other clubs which had already started packing up.

“Are you guys leaving already?” Phii Johan asked while sorting through some documents, looking rather annoyed. He was complaining about how Phii Arthit made him sort out the papers.

“Yeah, are you guys heading back too?”

“Yeah, let’s go back. But Arthit is using me like a slave, sorting out some documents. You do it instead.” Phii Johan grumbled.

“Don’t use Hill for that. You have to do it because you didn’t do your group work.” Phii Tonfa said. “Hill, you can go back, but don’t forget to do your work.”    “Got it, Dr. Tonfa.”

“Hill.” Phii Johan called out, “Call me later, okay?” And Phii Hill agreed.    Then the three of us got into the same fancy car. North seemed very excited about the ride. I felt somewhat reassured with North there; at least, Phii Hill might not flirt too much with me.

Reassured with a ghost!

These two are getting along a bit too well!!

“Hmm…Really?” Phii Hill asked North with interest, not even looking at the food the waiter was bringing over.

“Really. At first, Ter came to me for advice, Phii. He seemed so worried when you said you were going to pursue him. He said he felt troubled, but his face was as red as a tomato.”

“North!” I felt like strangling my mischievous roommate. You talk too much, don’t you think I might feel embarrassed? You jerk, T^T.

“And he also said…that he’s actually had a crush on you since high school.”

“…”

Upon hearing that, the tall figure sitting across from me revealed a wide smile before turning to look at me with a delighted expression.

“I just found out.”

“…”

“That Ter had a crush on me since high school.”

!!!

   Oh my God, North, you traitor!!!

   

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