MYENGINEER, CHAPTER 20: Rain
[Duenhaw]
“We’re back.”
“What were you talking about with Praewa’s dad?”
“We’re talking about Conan. Praewa’s dad likes watching it too.”
“Oh…really? That’s great, haha.”
“Yes, he watches every episode.” Damn. He watches every episode too? It seems he’s not just watching to accompany his daughter, but more for his own enjoyment.
“Wow, that’s amazing. I’ve only watched a few episodes.” The person across from her said.
“Why? It’s fun, you know.”
“If Daonuea says so, then I guess I’ll have to watch it.”
“That’s good, so we can talk about it.” Don’t talk to him, Dao, this Brother Gym is so annoying, being around him too long, you’ll catch the smiling disease, no, you’ll get infected.
“Really? And how will we talk?”
“Damn!”
“Phii Yim you can come to my school, XXX.” Oh, Dao, why would you tell him that, dear? He’s going to come and take you away, being this naive.
“Sure, haha.” Don’t touch your neck like that, it’s annoying.
“Here you go.” The female server placed the ice cream we ordered on the table, seemingly saving my sister from the smiling lolicon. But Phii Duen noticed they were playing rock-paper-scissors behind the counter; there must be a lot of people wanting this table…of course, because of Smile. Why don’t girls like guys like me, for real?
But her serving us is good. We can escape the topic of contacting Dao.
“I am in first grade, room one.” Oh, Dao, forget it, let’s forget this part!
“Got it…but I am not often free, but I’d like to talk about Conan with you, Daonuea.”
“Uh…you can call!”
“Do you have a phone?” She’s just in first grade, how could she have one? But some of Dao’s friends do have them. I’m puzzled about what they use them for. If it were iPads or gaming consoles, I wouldn’t be surprised.
“Huh, no.”
“That’s bad…then how will I contact you?” Bohn, you bastard, you said at first you wouldn’t flirt because she’s too young, huh. Look at what you’re doing now. I gave the business guy a threatening look, and it seemed like he noticed. What do you think he’ll do? …Of course, he turned to smile at me, ugh!
“I know! You can take Duenhaw’s number.”
“…Phii Duen, will you give it to him?” I won’t give it! Use it to flirt with my sister, you dressed-up cockroach, rice waster, Tang’s smelly can, collarbone eater, shrimp carrier, swamp morning glory, skull of canned fish with Mother Tip’s chili paste!!!!
“You said you weren’t going to flirt with my sister.” I say softly, intentionally for only us two to hear.
“I’m not flirting, just making friends.”
“Hmm.”
“Phii Duenhaw, give him your phone, quick.” Okay, Dao orders, what can a brother do?
“And if your phone runs out of credit, how will me and Daonuea talk…”
“Hmm…”
“Give me all your social media, your Facebook, LINE, Instagram, WhatsApp,
Twitter!” I furrow my brows, handing over my phone sarcastically, and he actually takes it!
“Thank you, haha.” The other guy takes my phone with his right hand. His left hand is holding his own phone, tapping and scrolling for a while. The smile that once adorned his handsome face gradually fades, his beautiful eyebrows raised in confusion.
“Is there something wrong?” I ask while continuously eating the dessert in front of me. The person questioned looks at me again, seeming like he wants to ask something but ultimately doesn’t.
“Nothing.” What’s with that, whatever, the strawberries are delicious, Phii Duen likes sour things.
“Duen.”
“Hmm?”
Click
“Hey, Phii Yim, why are you taking a picture!” I protest when I turn towards the sound and find I’ve been secretly photographed. I wasn’t prepared and I’m not looking good!
“Looks cute, haha.”
“Let me see, is it ugly?” I extend my hand, watching the slender fingers type something on my phone screen. Soon, I get my phone back as I requested, but the picture is on Phi Gym’s phone.
“It’s not ugly.”
“Let me see.”
“Check it on Face.”
“Are you posting this on Facebook too?” I asked in shock. “Damn, you can take photos and delete them, but why do you have to expose my face to the world?”
“Tag me too, please. Ha ha ha.”
“Phii Yim!” I immediately opened the app, only to see hundreds of notifications like every other day, but the latest one was from my new friend on Facebook, who was the smiling face right in front of me!
Khorawit Kp
Had ice cream with the doctor:) with Krisda, Duennhaw
“Delete it!” I protested, pointing at him accusingly.
“Quite cute, ha ha.”
“Man…” Actually, the picture he posted wasn’t bad. In the photo, I was smiling at the camera, with a bit of chocolate at the corner of my mouth, holding a spoon, with a large dessert bowl in front of me. Damn, I look super handsome.
“Smile.”
“Shut up.” I cursed and turned back to his post. Now people were starting to like it…no, actually, it was more like a flood of likes, because the number of likes was increasing rapidly. Fiji Yim isn’t ordinary…
Phoomrapee Ghongkit: Hiding, huh?
Lemon frungfrink: Where did you find this doctor?
Oat: Hey, take it easy, man. Playing with fire, huh? Be careful.
What are they talking about? I made a confused face at the messages I just read.
Whatever, there’s nothing harmful in the comments.
“Phii Yim is so cheesy with his smiles.” I said, turning back to my ice cream.
“Don’t you like it?” The person in front of me asked with a slightly hurt tone…but still smiling.
“It’s not that I don’t like it.” I shrugged and took a scoop of ice cream. Wow, it’s delicious. Normally, I don’t eat much of this; my mom says too much isn’t good for the body.
“Then let’s part ways here.” I decided to say goodbye in front of the ice cream shop after we finished eating because Daonuea was starting to get sleepy, and I had to take her home to sleep. Kids are like this; once their bellies are full, their eyes start to droop. When I was a kid…no, even now, am I just lazy?
“Oh, you’re leaving already?” Don’t give me that sad look. Don’t you have anything to do?
“Yeah.”
“Okay, see you.” Phii Yim waves goodbye before turning to look at the famous brand clothing store across the way. Seems like he wants to buy clothes from there; he’s been looking since we were eating ice cream.
“Want to buy clothes?” I follow his gaze; the store has a lot of clothes, but they’re not my style. I’m more into powdered milk shirts, that’s the ultimate trend.
“Well…yeah.”
“Then go buy some.”
“Can you come with me?” My eyebrows furrow slightly when I see the management guy making a sad face while clutching his chest and blinking rapidly.
“Phii Yim, are you lonely or something?” I tease. Ever since we were in the supermarket, it’s been ‘Can we walk together?’, ‘Can I come with you?’, ‘Can you keep me company?’ Are you so lonely you can’t walk alone?
“Not really, but I want you to help choose.”
“Sigh. Alright.” I sigh in defeat and walk ahead, not forgetting to lead the sleepy-looking Daonuea along.
“Thank you, haha.”
“Welcome, feel free to ask if you need anything.”
The lonely guy nods in greeting to the employee, then walks over to look at the shirts in front. Shirts, shirts, what the hell, that’s not Phii Duen’s style. Wait…that one looks nice. Let me check the price…
5,000! If I spend that, I might not have money to eat anything else, you profiteer.
Why are there still people buying this at such a price?
“Which one do you want to look at?” I go over to ask the one who came with me. He looks at several items, touches them, but continues browsing, probably not satisfied.
“Choose one for me.”
“Me?” Me! You’ve got it wrong, Phii Yim. Even Daonuea, who’s sleeping on the sofa, would be better at choosing than me…Daonuea has been a fashion leader since she was a kid, must be the strong modeling genes from our mom.
“Yeah.”
“You’ve got it wrong, let Dao choose for you.”
“No, she’s asleep. You choose for me.”
“…I’m telling you, I have no sense in this.”
“Are you lying?” He raises his eyebrows while looking down at the clothes on me, I didn’t choose these myself.
“Today, Mom chose the clothing for me.” If I had chosen it myself, it wouldn’t look this good…I’d look like one of those broke guys, surviving on rice husks day by day. Yeah, I know, but it looks chic to me.
“Really? No worries, come on and choose.” You…don’t care about your own image at all, do you? But then again…he looks good in anything, doesn’t he? Even today, with just ordinary clothes, he still looks like a Korean heartthrob.
“Don’t regret it later.”
“Come on, ha ha.” Get ready to open up to a new world of fashion, Phii Yim…
I walked around looking at clothes, picking up the nice ones to check the price.
If it was expensive, I’d pass. Until I stumbled upon one shirt…it’s so gorgeous!
Wow, and it’s not even expensive! This one’s the one!
“Ah, this one.” I walked back to Phii Yim, who was playing on his phone on the same sofa where Daonuea was sleeping. When he heard me, he looked up, then froze in surprise. See? I told you this shirt was beautiful, Phii Yim’s eyes were wide open.
“Why did you choose this one…?”
“Want to know?”
“Yeah.”
“I like it, and it’s the cheapest in the store.”
“…” There was a moment of silence after my sentence ended, my conversation partner’s mouth agape, staring at me in disbelief. Why? “You’re funny, ha ha ha.”
“Ha, I might not take this one then.” I had already anticipated this; my taste isn’t good, I’ve been criticized by friends and parents until I’m used to it. I grabbed the shirt back, ready to put it away, but it was snatched away first.
“Hey, come on, take it.”
“Would you dare to wear it?” I wear this kind of stuff all the time, so I don’t care much about what others think, but if he wears it…
“If I have the guts to choose it, I dare to wear it too, ha ha.” Oh, he’s daring to wear it too. I once bought something similar for Phu; he put it in his closet and never let it see the sunlight again…it was actually quite nice.
“Alright, buy it for sleeping then.”
“Ah, I was thinking of wearing it for the holiday.” The person speaking held the shirt up against themselves in front of the mirror. Why does it look so good on him? Like he just stepped out of a magazine. This world is so unfair.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then…I’ll buy one to wear with you.” I smiled and picked up an identical shirt but in a different color. This color is nice too.
“I’m telling the truth.” He follows behind with a smile, leaning on the clothes rack nearby. Why does everything you do look good, it’s annoying.
“Yeah, I feel sorry for you, afraid of people staring, haha.”
“So, you’ll walk with me?”
“Yes, haha.”
“So that people will stare even more?”
“Better than being stared at alone.”
“Okay, up to you.” In the end, I actually bought it. It didn’t take long to pay and walk to the parking lot. At first, I was going to pay, but Phii Yim said he would pay as compensation for making me accompany him, okay, you said it yourself.
“We’re here, we’ll part ways here, Phii.” I say when we reach Supachai. I should mention, I carried Daonuea all the way. She’s fast asleep, snoring, what should I do, let her hold on from behind or sit in front…better in front, if she sits at the back, she might fall off.
“Uh-huh, see you at the university.”
“Will we meet?” I study medicine, you know. I don’t go out much usually, (except recently, I’ve been going places other than home and faculty a lot). And he studies management. The distance between our faculties is like from Betong to Mae Sai.
“We will. If you come to find me at my faculty.”
“Ha. Why would I do that?”
“To see me, of course.”
“No way, too lazy.” Don’t mess with the Thai sun, every step out of the medical building, I think twice.
“Then I’ll come find you.”
“For?”
“I want to see you.”
“Huh, up to you.” Welcome to the world of tanned skin.
“Okay, then I’ll go.”
“Bye.” I wave goodbye to Phii Yim and ride off with Daonuea sitting in front.
The sound of the bags flapping in the wind grows louder as I speed up. I hate this sound, it’s so annoying, but at least with the helmet on, it’s not too loud.
Tomorrow, I plan to finish the work I’ve left undone, so I won’t be like a pig with mud on its tail. There’s a lot to do, and with exams coming up, it’s super stressful. Tang always works hard, but I don’t know how he manages to get such good grades.
King is another guy with very good grades. If we’re being honest, all three of us have good grades, but the way we achieve them is different. Tang can do well without studying or reviewing, unlike me who needs to read and memorize to get good marks. As for Phu, just a little review is enough for him to score well. I don’t know how Phu and Ram do it since we’re in different faculties, I heard that-
Pat, pat, sizzle!
Damn! It’s raining. Not just raining, it’s pouring down, with huge drops. Rain, are you picking a fight with me?!
Normally, I would brave the rain without fearing a cold, but today I have Daonuea with me. So, I decided to park the car at a nearby bus stop where there weren’t many people.
“Daonuea.” I nudged the little one awake when the bike was parked properly. She woke up groggily, oh my, still sleeping in this situation, Nong PhiiDuen.
“Huh?”
“Let’s take shelter there quickly.” I used one hand to carry her into the bus stop and held our recently bought items with the other. Why does it have to rain on the day I have so much stuff!
“Got wet…” I mumbled, shaking my shirt. Luckily, Daonuea wasn’t too wet because I shielded her, but I was completely soaked…Sigh, and it’s a white shirt too.
“Duenhaw, can we go home?”
“Yes, we can. The rain will stop soon. Are you cold?” I pushed my little sister closer to where I was standing to avoid the splashing rain. Oh, I bought a new shirt today, didn’t I?
“Uh-huh.”
“Here, cover up with this.” I took the shirt out of the bag and draped it over her small shoulders. Damn, the rain is so heavy I can barely see the road, it’s all white.
My dear Supachai, I was going to give you a bath, but now you won’t need it…
Rrrrr
Huh…who’s calling now? With this rain, I’m not really in the mood to answer the phone.
‘Mom’
“Yes, Mom?”
(Really raining, huh?) Mom probably didn’t think it would actually rain. I didn’t think so either; the weather was fine at first.
“Right now, we are taking shelter at the bus stop near XXX.”
(Damn, that’s far from home, have you just come out from the mall, son?) We should have been done shopping a long time ago if it weren’t for Phii Yim. “Yes, I met someone I know, so we went to buy some clothes.”
(You bought clothes?) I automatically pull the phone away from my ear when Mom screams in surprise, even Daonuea gets startled by Mom’s voice.
“Yes, why?” Thinking about it, I don’t really buy clothes often; usually, I only buy study materials and books.
(What kind of shirt, what brand, which store!)
“Store XX.”
(Brand-name stuff! What kind of shirt did you buy, son?)
“Mom, you will be surprised when you find out, hehe.” I smile like Phu, looking down at the shirt I just bought today. It’s nice, even Dao likes it…right?
(Tell me, I want to know what shirt caught your eye.)
“A shirt…”
(…Come on, Duen, say it again, what shirt did you buy?) My sentence must have been drowned out by the rain noise earlier, so Mom didn’t hear. I cough and repeat slowly.
“A Songkran flower-patterned shirt.” (…)
Silence
“Hello, Mom?” I look at the screen to check if Mom hung up because she went silent as if the call dropped. Oh, she’s still on the line, why has she gone quiet?
(Son…)
Honk honk!
What car is honking so loudly? I can’t see clearly because it’s far, but…is it honking for Dad?
(What was that sound, Duen?)
“Some car, Mom.” I say while squinting to look at that car. Wait, it looks familiar, I think I’ve seen this white car somewhere.
Beep beep
(Look to your right). I furrow my brows in annoyance, looking in the direction the person on the phone mentioned, only to see that white car…wait, the more I look, the more familiar it seems, or is it…
(If you know the driver, get in.)
“Hey, but I brought my bike!”
(Are you going to brave the rain coming home?)
“No, but I…”
(Hang up and go with him.)
“What about Supachai?” Phii Duen won’t leave the bike for the police to tow away. Even though it’s not worth hundreds of thousands, Phii Duen loves Supachai.
(I hate the name of your car to death. Alright, I’ll get someone to pick it up, son.) Crap, you’re filthy rich.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’ll wait for the rain to stop.”
(Will you go by yourself or should I come there and carry you into that car?)
“Mom, huh!”
(If that’s the case, then get in.)
“I’m wet, the car-”
(Get in.)
“Very bossy, Dad Hitler!” As soon as I cursed, I hung up, I’ll go then!
LINE message? Now?
‘Bohn’
“Mom, that’s all for now.”
(Okay, be careful not to get sick.)
“Yes.”
Ai-Hia Bohn: Get in the car.
Huh? Which car are you talking about? Are you drunk, Bohn? I thought to myself as I was about to type a reply, but I was startled to the point of almost dropping my phone when the person who sent the message called.
“ga-”
(Get in the car.) Oh, can’t you let me finish my sentence?
“Which car? Right now I-”
(You’re at the bus stop near XX with Daonuea…right?)
“Yeah…how did you know?”
“What’s wrong, Duenhaw?” Daonuea turns to ask me with curiosity, pulling my shirt tighter around her shoulders. I’m cold too, but as the older brother, I have to sacrifice for the younger…I’m so cool.
“Nothing, I’m just talking to a friend.”
(You don’t remember my car, you fool?)
“Huh?”
“What’s the matter?”
“We’ll go get in that car over there.” I say, pointing at the rascal’s white car. Looking closely, it feels like I can see the driver resting his chin, looking this way, huh, what a tease.
“Huh? Who is it?”
“A crazy person.”
Pfft
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