MONSTERNEXTDOOR, Chapter 08: Attitudes Can Tell Us About Someone’s Character, But Not Their Story.
“Do you think we can keep talking like this for a long time?”
I asked while the creature next door switched to talking about movies he wanted to watch.
“Why do you ask that?”
“I don’t know.”
“What are you worried about?”
Worried? There are many things I’m concerned about.
“When I first met Phii Wan and Phii Beert, I never expected how they would feel about what I am like. I never expected them to make certain faces when I did something weird… but with you, it’s different.”
“How is it different with me?”
“I have… some expectations, maybe.”
“Expectations?”
“Yeah, it’s like when you meet someone from the internet, and you hope they’ll match the image you’ve built in your mind, but they don’t.” Phii Godt let out a thoughtful grunt.
“Right now, you might think I’m fun to talk to because I can converse normally, but if you were standing in front of me, I don’t know if I could speak this fluently. I might act repetitive or awkward, and you might not like me.”
“Hmm, that’s why I’ve said I’m not forcing you to do anything.”
“But…”
“And I know I can’t stop you from overthinking, but listen to me.”
“Yes.”
“It’s true that the first impression humans have of each other is through eye contact, but there are many people who become friends or lovers because their attitudes and thoughts align. In the end, no one knows where things will end up; humans are so hard to understand.”
“Oh.”
“Plus, I don’t feel uncomfortable not seeing your face.”
“Yes.”
“I like your thoughts more; because I’ve seen a lot of the outside world, met many people, when I met you, I thought, ‘Hey, that’s interesting.’ If I could enter your world, what would it be like? I wanted to know, wanted to try to understand.”
A smile broke out on my lips upon hearing that.
“I’m happy to hear you say you want to understand who I am, that you try to keep our promise of talking before sleep even though it might seem silly.”
“Of course. I’m handsome both in heart and appearance.”
Annoying!
We sat in silence for a while before Phii Godt turned to talk on the phone with a friend. As for me, I sat reading a book.
People often value external appearances first, but for me, being comfortable talking to someone is always my top priority. Many think the online world is scary, talking to strangers from different places and backgrounds, which is why some believe they need to see someone’s true identity before conversing.
On the other hand, the online world is a place where we can be ourselves without revealing our identity. We can do what we want to do, say what we want to say, without anyone caring about how we look. As long as the conversation clicks, that’s okay.
Therefore, many people want to talk to others without revealing who they are because revealing oneself can lead to disappointment. Some even create an entirely different persona online. This is why we see many cases of people using fake images because the other party expects them to look a certain way.
But should our value be determined by others… this question has been spinning in my head since I can remember.
Many like me, therefore, don’t try to expect anything from anyone, knowing that eventually, there will be disappointment.
Until I met Phii Godt, who made me start hoping again.
I expected him to understand what I am.
“Diew.”
“Yes,” I replied to his deep voice.
“I have a question.”
“Hmm.”
“Suppose one day, our agreement falls apart, what would you do?”
I choked a bit hearing that. I had no idea what to do. Perhaps go back to living alone like before, quietly, without the annoying sound of bells.
No one to bother me, go back to talking to the young master like…
“…”
But if I were to answer honestly:
“I don’t want it to fall apart.”
“And what if the one who breaks the agreement isn’t you but me?”
“Ha,” I furrowed my brows. If the one who breaks the agreement isn’t Phii Godt but me?
No waiting, no meeting, no overthinking.
Would I be the one to do any of these?
“If I’m the one doing it, it means you must be very important in my life.”
“Would we stop talking if it were like that?” “Can you stop talking to someone important to you?”
Phii Godt let out a soft laugh.
“But you’re the one who made up these three rules. If you break the rules, you have to accept it, right?”
“But…”
“Then can I add one more rule?”
“Yes.” Actually, I might have been too selfish to make an agreement without letting the other party have any say in it, so I’ll listen to one rule from him.
“If I’m the one who breaks the agreement, Diew can stop talking to me.”
“But if you are the one who breaks the promise, I will allow you to say one word to me.”
“One word.”
“If that word is good enough, I will continue talking to you.”
“And if it’s not good enough?” “Then I will stop talking to you.”
I will stop talking to you.
I will stop talking to you.
I will stop talking to you.
I sat in the lab, stunned for hours after class ended, with Phii Godt’s words echoing in my head that if I were the one to break the promise of our bedtime chat, he would stop talking to me.
Unsure.
Yes. I started to doubt myself, wondering if I would be the one to break one of those three promises, because I was sure I wouldn’t wait for him, I definitely wouldn’t meet him face-to-face, and I wouldn’t think anything beyond…
The first two promises have almost no chance of being broken.
But the last one…
I’m not sure about myself.
The more we talked, the more I was enchanted by his voice, the more we talked, the more I discovered something new, whether it was his optimistic outlook on life, or his mature thoughts. Even though he seemed silly for twenty-four hours straight.
From saying he would definitely be in the friend zone, now I felt more than that, I felt like he had become like an older brother to me…
In just a few days, his status had changed. And I’m not sure if in the future it will change again.
And if it really happens like that, what would I say to keep him from leaving?
Human feelings are harder than chemistry exams. I kind of understand now why Phii Godt likes chemistry, because it has clear outcomes. We can experiment, observe, to get a definite answer.
But with people’s hearts, even if you experiment, observe… the answers can always change.
I packed my books into my bag and returned to my room feeling extremely exhausted. Last night I couldn’t sleep at all because I kept thinking about what I would do if it really happened.
My legs came to a stop in front of my own door, looking at the paper bag hanging from the door handle with a mix of curiosity and surprise.
Usually, it would be a 7-Eleven bag, but this time…
I picked up the bag and pushed the door open, quietly closing it behind me as I sat down on the bed to see what was inside.
The same pink Pocky box as always, but this time there was also a wind chime…
Yes, it was the glass wind chime I had once searched for online, a clear glass bell painted with a small green turtle. Additionally, there was a pink Post-it note stuck inside the bag, the signature color of the creature next door.
‘You can call me anytime.’
My lips pressed together tightly before I slowly picked up the green string of the wind chime, shaking it gently with my other hand until it made a clear, ringing sound next to my ear.
So cute.
I went to open the glass door and hung it on the balcony next to Khun Godzilla’s room, then slumped down onto a large turtle pillow, watching the wind making the chime ring in harmony with the sound from the neighboring room’s chime.
Then, I buried my face in my knees, feeling drained.
Why do you have to be this nice?
Godzilla should really be a building-destroying monster, you crazy guy.
I took a deep breath and returned to my room to read like I do every day, setting the young master down on the table to let him wander on the wide surface. I don’t know how long I sat at the desk, not wanting to let my thoughts wander any further.
Sitting here doing this and that. After that, I watched series, listened to music, read books, played with the young master, rolled around on the bed, did some jumping jacks, ate dinner, snacked, until it was almost nine in the evening. That’s when I heard the sound of a key turning in the door next door.
Why is he back so late today?
I went to open the balcony door, sitting there waiting for Phii Godt to come out and chat like we usually do, but today he didn’t come out.
No sound of the glass door opening. No loud ruckus, just the sound of the key turning, entering his room, and closing the door. Everything was eerily quiet.
For nearly half an hour, I sat there waiting, not knowing what Phii Godt was doing, if he was busy, taking a shower, or if he was so tired he had already fallen asleep.
Until I finally heard the sound of the glass door opening from the next room. I smiled happily, stood up, holding onto the balcony edge, about to greet him when I quickly shut my mouth upon hearing a woman’s voice…
“Uh, brought him back to the room… probably won’t make it to class tomorrow… The two seniors celebrated because they won, so they took us out.”
A small bell rang, indicating she was holding it, and it rang intermittently for a while before going silent.
“Yeah. That’s enough. Godt is vomiting again.”
She walked back into the room with the sound of the room’s owner vomiting, which I could faintly hear.
But what I didn’t hear…
Was the bell next door, which suddenly went quiet.
Along with numerous sounds that started ringing in my head.
Phii Godt’s friend… or his girlfriend…
No, it’s none of my business to want to know if the living being next door has a girlfriend or not. I already thought that the two of us wouldn’t be talking like this every day, there must be some personal time.
I closed the glass door, walked to collapse onto my bed, then looked towards the headboard, the wall adjacent to his room.
Is he that drunk… can he handle it? Normally, when he gets drunk, I’ve never seen him vomit like this, or maybe because he drank too much this time?
I tried to close my eyes. Not thinking about it any further.
And that night, I heard Phii Godt vomiting all night.
What did he eat so much?
The next morning, I rushed out of my room to go to the 7-Eleven next to the dorm, scrolling through the internet for a while to see what hangover cures people should eat. There were all sorts of recipes to cure hangovers, but if I bought them all, it would look like I was piling stuff in front of his door, and Phii Godt’s door would turn into a small spirit house.
The first thing that would be most necessary for someone hungover and vomiting all night would probably be painkillers.
I grabbed a pack of paracetamol. According to Pantip, hangover is due to dehydration. To cure a hangover, you need to drink water, mineral water, or fruit juice, but Phii Godt probably has plain water in his room already. I didn’t know what mineral water to buy, so I chose a small box of fruit juice. I didn’t even know which flavor he liked. Personally, I don’t like the smell of celery, so I bought berry flavor, thinking it would be okay for him.
Or maybe carrot juice? I stood there, looking back and forth between the orange and pink juice boxes. Godzilla probably wouldn’t like the smell of carrots… in the end, I chose berry.
Then there were snacks like chocolate. Does he like chocolate, or not?
Or should I buy jelly? I stood there, hesitating for quite a while. Finally, I picked up a KitKat… and decided to take some Jelly Bears too.
Besides that, he probably wouldn’t be able to come down to buy breakfast… by the way, what does Phii Godt eat for breakfast?
I stood there, staring blankly in front of the vending machine selling sandwiches, sausages, and lunch boxes. He once said that the lunch boxes were high in sodium, so I decided to avoid those. But does he eat bread, or bao buns, sausages, ham, or bacon? He seems to be into health since he’s always exercising, maybe I should buy him some chicken breast instead?
Ah…
I really know nothing about him, damn it.
Because I’ve never had to take care of anyone like this before, I never paid attention to what he might like in particular. But since it’s Phii Godt, I want to return the favor for buying me Pocky every day even though I never asked for it. Plus, he even gave me a wind chime.
Come to think of it, he did say the sushi near the dorm is delicious…
Maybe he likes sushi.
I grabbed some sushi from the shelf and put it in my basket, walked around the 7-Eleven for a while before stopping when I saw a pink Postit note hanging on the stationery shelf. Without hesitation, I grabbed it and put it in my basket, checked to make sure I had everything, then went to pay. The cashier gave me a small smile, but I avoided eye contact and handed him the money.
“Would you like to add a custard bun? It’s reduced from thirty to twenty-five baht.”
“Uh… no, thanks.”
“Thank you for shopping with us.”
After paying, I hurried back to my room, staring at the pink Post-it for a minute before deciding what to write:
‘Saw you were drunk and threw up, so I bought some food in case you’re hungry.
I don’t know what you like to eat, so I bought a variety.
Eat something first, then drink lots of water to recover from the hangover.
And don’t forget to take some painkillers.’
Having written it, I stuck the note inside the bag, then slowly opened my door and hung the bag on the door handle next door. I stood there, looking left and right for a while, worrying about what would happen if he woke up late or if he didn’t see the food I left until evening, or if he had a headache without any medicine.
So I decided to knock on his door and then dashed back into my room at light speed.
Silence… No response from Khun Godzilla.
I ran out to knock on Phii Godt’s door again, this time with more force, then dashed back into my room, listening intently.
It worked.
Because after a while, I heard the sound of his door opening and then closing. I slowly peeked out of my door; the bag I hung was gone.
Seeing that, I couldn’t help but smile.
At least I did something to repay him.
I went back to sit in my room, preparing my things for class for a while before I heard the sound of the door next door opening again, along with a woman’s voice…
Again.
“Yeah, I was about to go down to buy some food, but someone left a bag of snacks hanging in front of Godt’s door, with a Post-it note too…
Oh… but Godt doesn’t eat chocolate.”
“…”
The sound of the door closing was accompanied by the woman’s voice going silent.
I turned to look at the clock on the table, which showed half past six, and I, who had been awake since six, had just heard the door opening, which meant that the woman had stayed in Phii Godt’s room…
The content feeling in my heart from earlier began to wilt as I sat at the edge of my bed, glancing towards the young-master in the fish tank.
“Young-master… we didn’t know he doesn’t like chocolate.”
Even though my mouth was talking about chocolate, In my mind, there were only thoughts about that woman.
Who… is she?
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