MYENGINEER, CHAPTER 13: What do you think?
[Bohn]
“Oh, you’re back already, Nang?” Finally, the girls return. They seem surprised to find more people at the table when they come back. The birthday girl looks at me as if seeking an explanation.
“Juniors from the university, we met, so I invited them to sit with us.” I answer. Nang nods and smiles at each of them, but her smile fades when she sees Duen’s sexy female friend. And she doesn’t look too surprised, probably because the drunken doctor is still absorbed in playing the game on my phone.
“What are your names?” one of Nang’s friends asks. She seems interested in Tee’s junior. I don’t see Ram around the faculty often; he likes to move around like a ninja. If I see that half-Thai guy more than three times in a day, buddy, that’s incredibly lucky.
“Ahem, I’ll introduce everyone myself, beautiful.”
“Oh…”
“My name is Phu, you can call me Phu, the handsome one, if you like.”
“And the foreigner next to me is named Ram.” The person in question nods in greeting and then returns to his stoic expression. I catch a faint squeal from the girls too. No matter how you look at it, Ram is definitely the type that girls these days go for, or am I wrong?
“This guy is Tang.”
“This girl is Tingting.” I’ll remember Tang and Tingting.
“And the one playing the game next to Phii Bohn is Duenhaw.” The one called looks up slowly, startled slightly, and everyone at the table is stunned by his good looks, but the most stunned seems to be the birthday girl. She sits frozen with her mouth open.
That’s exactly what I wanted.
Nang’s not the only one acting awkward; the guy playing the game looks nervous too. When he looks up to see so many people, he seems startled before shyly returning to his game, his face red, this time not just from the alcohol, I bet. “And…do any of you have a girlfriend or boyfriend yet?” asks one of Nang’s friends sitting close to Duen. She’s wearing a dress that’s quite revealing at the chest. From this angle, you can see almost everything. Duen, catching a glimpse of her, quickly hides his face behind my arm. Not only that, he grips my sleeve tightly with his free hand.
“What’s wrong?” I gently stroke his smooth hair.
“…Embarrassed.”
“Oh my god, so cute, are Nong Duen and Bohn close?”
“Are they close or not? Go answer him.”
“…” The other person didn’t reply but stared at me intensely, his white fist clenched as if he wanted to knock me down. His actions made me want to burst out laughing, but I had to hold it in.
“I guess they must be close. I’ve never seen Bohn act like this with any other junior.” Euan looked at Duen who had gone back to playing the game.
“Nong Duen has such a cute personality, I like it.” The same girl sent a flirty look towards the medical student. The one being flirted with turned to look before lowering his head again.
“Oh, with such cuteness, his partner must love him a lot.” When a woman says this, it translates to, “Do you have a girlfriend?” It’s clear Euan is helping her friend flirt with the guy. It would be hilarious if they knew how clueless he is, like when he brought yogurt into a club.
“Yes…that partner is very possessive too.” Tingting came and sat between Ning and Duen.
“…Are you two dating?”
“Yes…and I am very possessive of my boyfriend.”
This is clearly a battle for the idiot…
If they were really dating, it wouldn’t be surprising, but I think they’re not dating; they seem more like protective best friends rather than lovers.
“Aren’t you going to introduce yourselves to the juniors? Let’s get acquainted, ladies.” I hinted, looking at her. Of course, saying that got a good reaction out of her; my friend is mean…
“My name is Euan.”
“That one is Ning.”
“This one is Gink.”
“And this one is Biu.”
“And this one is Nang.” every time Euan pointed or called out someone’s name, that person would turn to greet everyone…everyone except the birthday boy who kept his head down, causing Euan to overlook him.
“Nang, are you okay?”
“Uh, nothing. Just a slight headache.”
“Oh…”
“I want to go home…” Is this what they call chickening out?
“Don’t go yet, let’s chat together first. It’s not even midnight yet, how can the birthday girl leave so early?” Boss says, half in jest, half serious. The one planning to get rid of her from my life isn’t about to let the main pawn escape.
“Yeah, come on, Nang…hang in there a bit longer.”
“What’s wrong? You were fine just now.”
“Oh, or is it…are you shy because there are so many handsome guys sitting here?” Biu teased Nang but still looked at me, probably wanting me to show some jealousy over his friend. No way…
“Crazy…” She says he’s crazy, but her eyes keep glancing at me occasionally, as if checking if I’m jealous, but I maintain my usual expressionless demeanor. The girls look disappointed before going back to drinking, but Nang was clearly not the same. She gets fidgety every time Duen looks up from his phone.
“Is it your birthday today, Nang?” Phu asked with a friendly smile. The birthday girl nods reluctantly, not really wanting to look up. The conversation at the table continues lively, but there are five people who remain silent, not part of the conversation: Merk, Ram, me, Duen, and Nang…Me, Merk, and Ram are naturally quiet. Duen, being drunk and playing his game, doesn’t feel like talking much. And her…huh, that’s just how it is.
“Bohn, look at this, I just broke your record.”
I turn my attention to the tug on my sleeve. He’s smiling broadly, holding up the phone in front of me, showing the screen with ‘New High Score’. The game he’s playing is one I play when I’m bored, it’s super classic…a bug-squashing game. His score is 63,300, damn…Are you pissed at someone or what, you fool? My highest was just over 4,000. No wonder. He’s been engrossed in the game since he was asked his name, huh?
“Wow, you’re really good.”
“It’s not that great.” I’m lying. You’re a damn pro…
“Liar, you only got over 4,000 yourself.” Little shit, if you weren’t drunk, I’d knock you down.
“Let me try.” I take the phone to start a new game, with the other person leaning in to watch me play.
“Can you do it?” He teases with a cheeky look, as if saying ‘you can’t do it’…You’re in for it, Duen.
Splat, splat! Splat!! Pop!
“Oh…Bohn, you died.” The slender figure exclaims, snatching the phone back to start a new game. I glance at him with interest. You’re drunk, dude, your vision should be off, so what’s this? How can you be so good?
“I was about to win.” annoyed by his smirking and irritating behavior, I reached out to poke his slender waist, making him drop his phone onto his lap.
“I didn’t see you win; ‘game over,’ you jerk.”
“Wow, you dirty cheater.” Duen pouted, furrowing his brows slightly. I ignored his attitude and grabbed the phone to continue playing. Heh, now I’ll show you who’s going to win, you doctor…
23
542
1230
Just one more, and I would have beaten Duen…if someone hadn’t bumped into my shoulder, making me lose my balance.
“Hey!”
“Damn, you’re dead.” Duan snatched the phone and started a new game without even apologizing.
“Cheating?” I whispered in his ear, intentionally blowing air so the slender figure had to retreat his neck, but his eyes didn’t leave the phone screen, his hands still tapping away continuously.
“You provoked it.” your voice is so irritating, Duen. If you don’t want to play, fine, whatever, it’s my phone after all. I turned to take a sip of my drink while looking at Boss, who was flirting with Gink. Each of his lines was pretty lame.
“Gink, can Boss have a mole?”
“Huh?”
“A bamboo shoot…to plant my heart, hee.”
“Uh…” What’s this about? Show some respect for your boyfriend, crazy…Without Tee’s group, there’s no fun in teasing the quiet husband and the feisty wife. Normally, they would be my wingmen, oh, my dear friends. They shouldn’t have left so soon.
“Bohn…”
“…”
“Are you mad at me?” The slender figure made a pitiful face like he was about to cry. I was taken aback and quickly turned to look, asking in confusion, what was that, you scared me.
“Huh?”
“Cause I cheated.”
“…”
“I want you to play…but I also want to play.” After saying this in a cute, playful manner, Duen rests his head on my shoulder. This is clearly him being coy, like a cat, a cat, a cat, definitely a cat.
“…”
“Then can we play together?” He looks up and asks…damn, why does Duen make my heart race so much? Do you know what he does? He gets up and sits down between my legs. Not only that, he leans back until his back touches my chest, nuzzling his head into my neck. Of course, everyone at the table turns to look at us, but the drunken doctor doesn’t care much because he’s currently trying to appease me…even though I’m not angry.
“Let’s play together.” The medical student looks at me coyly, still holding the phone in the same position.
I stay silent, waiting to see what he’ll do next, trying hard not to smile by biting my lip. I plan to pretend to be a little upset to see if he’ll do something funny, but I doubt I can keep that up…
“Please, Phii Bohn.”
You might as well kill me, you crazy guy, if you’re going to coo like that. And rub your head against my chin like that…
“Ugh…”
“Yay!”
Although we said we’d play together, in reality, it’s only Duen playing because I can’t concentrate on the game at all. The sweet scent of his body wafts into my nose, tempting me to lean down for a closer sniff, and I wrap my arms around his slender waist, hugging him tight until he protests about feeling cramped. Sorry, I got a bit carried away…
“Ouch…an ant bit me.”
“It bit me too.”
“Me too, heh.”
“I feel itchy too, must be an ant nest around here.” The voices of our companions start to rise, but I don’t pay much attention. Even though everyone at the table is looking at me and Duen, let them look…
“Phii Bohn, you’re not considerate of Duen’s girlfriend, Tingting, at all.” This is clearly teasing.
“Ah, I died…” The person in my arms turns to look at me, making a face like he might cry again. Hey! Why make that face for something like this, you scared me!
“It’s just a game, it’s okay, we can start over.” I comfort him, gently stroking his fluffy head.
“It’s not the same.”
“Huh?”
“This game, we played it together, just the two of us.”
“And then?”
“I feel like if you are here, I won’t lose.”
“…”
“But I lost…”
“Don’t be sad, you’re really dim. You know that?” I ruffled his hair affectionately. Do you realize what you’re saying? Being with you makes my heart work so hard, you damn kid…
“Bohn and Nong Duen are really close, aren’t they?”
Euan looked at me then at the person in my embrace; Nang looked back too but seemed speechless. She subtly glanced at Duen and quickly turned away in shock when Duen looked up and met her gaze.
“Huh…”
“Is there something wrong, Nong Duen?” Tang asked in his usual manner, but trust me, he was smirking inside.
“…”
“Do you know Nang?” I asked hurriedly as she flinched, making Euan go over to ask something. After that, both of them looked our way. I told you so, Euan…
“Hmm, looks familiar.”
“Ah…the woman from back then.”
Suddenly, a voice spoke up. Not Duen’s voice as I was expecting, but it was from the quiet young man all along…Nong Tang.
“Do you know her?” Phu asked his close friend.
“…No way.”
“Oh, I figured. You wouldn’t know such a beautiful girl. If it were me or Duen, that’d be a different story, haha.”
“Uh, I don’t know her…but if it’s Duen, then who knows, huh?” Oh. I think we’ve got another conspirator here, and this junior seems pretty smart. Plus, he seems to know something about this matter too. He looked at her and gave a gentle smile, but from Nang’s perspective, it probably wasn’t a good smile.
“What does that mean, Duen? So you do know Nang?”
“Hmm…”
“Probably met her at the university.”
“Nong Duen is at the same university as me.” Boss says with a straight face, but unlike Ning, she’s got a sly smile inside.
“Oh, really? And where did you meet him, Nang?”
“…”
“They must have met here at the club, Nang’s friend comes here often, haha.” Seeing the conversation wasn’t going well, Euan quickly changed the subject to something closer to home, but she doesn’t realize that’s a colossal mistake.
“Duen, my friend, this is his first time here, haha, but…if we just met today, that’s how it is, right, Duen?” Everyone goes quiet after Tang finishes speaking; this young man keeps saying things that are so ordinary yet hit the mark every time.
“Is Nang…your girlfriend, Bohn?” Duenhaw looks up and asks me.
“No.” I reply, making him look at me with disbelief, wrinkling his nose in a way that makes me want to pinch his cute, upturned nose gently.
“I thought you were surprising her or something.” Phu adds.
“Friend…right, Nang?” I ask her.
“…Fi”!!
“Good…” Suddenly, Duan’s slender figure says something odd, and before I can ask anything, Duen moves his face close to my ear…too close. My heart skips a beat when he does that, the natural scent of his body, mixed with a faint smell of alcohol, is so enticing that I catch myself sniffing the scent at his fair neck, forgetting that we’re not alone here.
“Good. I just wanted to say…do you understand?”
I know now what Nang said to him that made her look annoyed…
“Nang. I think we shouldn’t get involved anymore.” I didn’t want to say, ‘Let’s break up,’ because it would sound like we were dating.
“Why!?” The beautiful birthday girl exclaimed in shock. She stood up so quickly that she bumped into her best friend.
“Because…”
“Nong Duen said that I was flirting with him, didn’t he! I didn’t do anything, I just thought he was cute and went to tease him. I didn’t have any other intentions, really.”
“Nang!” No need to raise your voice to cover up for your friend. Everyone at the table heard it all. Wow. I didn’t think the matter would end without me saying anything, and the other side just let it all out.
Like this.
“Ah…”
“Is that so? Nang flirted with me too. I didn’t mention this earlier. I just said…” “…”
“Mom wouldn’t want a daughter-in-law like this…and she also said if you don’t listen to your wife, you’ll die.”
“…”
“Understand what I’m saying?”
“Heh.” my friends chuckle. They stand up, knowing that I’ll leave the place as soon as the matter is settled.
“Bohn…”
“That’s it then, don’t get involved anymore. I don’t want to make this a big deal, let’s go back.” I lead the slender figure out of the bar. My friends and Duen’s friends follow us too. Of course, everyone knows that staying longer would only lead to more annoying chaos.
“Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeam” That’s exactly what I meant.
“And where are you taking Duen?”
“Home, of course.” I settle the slender figure into the passenger seat, adjusting the seat for him to lie down because I see his eyelids fluttering as if fighting sleepiness. Duen must have brought his car, but in this condition, he wouldn’t be able to drive back. I’ll have Phii Diao take care of his car.
Thud
“Where are you taking my friend…”
“…Taking him home.” I say plainly, staring back at the speaker without backing down. Your friend is quite protective, you little one.
“We’ll take him ourselves. No need to trouble you.”
“I never said it was trouble.”
“But he’s my friend, what does he have to do with you?”
“…”
“If there’s nothing special between you, I’ll need to take my close friend back.” I watch as the two juniors of my best friend help the drunk man out of the car, their backs getting further and further away until they’re out of sight.
“Well, you got what you deserved.”
“…”
“Tang seems nice, but his words are harsh.”
“Ram isn’t easy either. He almost swung at you just now.” Boss watches Ram’s luxurious car drive away, with the figure inside that makes my heart work overtime…
“Can the word ‘special’ develop into something else, you guys?”
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