MYENGINEER, CHAPTER 26: Sunflower and Knight
[Bohn]
“Ah.”
“Sunflowers today?”
“Yeah, I’ve been liking them lately.”
“You haven’t been asking me what flowers I want lately, have you?” I asked before taking the large flower from him. Even if I told him to just bring roses, it seems like Duen enjoys choosing flowers, both roses and daisies. Oh wow…if I didn’t know better, I’d think you wanted to give them to me yourself.
“Every time I ask, you say, ‘Whatever you want,’ so why should I ask?”
“I want you to start a conversation sometimes.” These days it’s not like we’re talking; it’s more like I’m listening to a podcast…with exams coming up, Duen doesn’t have much time to hang out with me.
“It sounds like you’re lonely.”
“I am lonely.”
“If you’re lonely, go talk to someone who’s free. Don’t talk to me.”
“So cruel, huh? Let’s see what your heart is made of.” I pretended to pull at his shirt over his left chest, just looking for an excuse to touch him. Not touching him for a day feels like I’m going to die.
“Hey, hey, you bastard, let go!” Thump!
“Ouch, Duen, why do you have to be so violent…damn!” The slender figure brushed my hand away and stomped on my foot hard, oh my, I’m wearing flipflops while you’re in student shoes with heels. You don’t need to tell me how much it hurts, it hurts like hell.
“You speak like you’re so gentle with me.”
“But I’ve never been this rough, ouch…”
“Sorry…I was just startled.” You look so dejected…oh, cat.
“I’ll forgive you, for the sake of the size of the flowers you brought.”
“Really? So if I bring a bigger flower tomorrow, you won’t get mad no matter what I do?” With such a vile look, I knew he was seriously considering doing it. Hey, what do you have to be mad about? I’ve been so good to you.
“You buffalo…”
“Really? Next time I’ll bring a giant Chaivattana lotus, haha.” Those flowers are as big as dinner plates…
“What are you going to do to me?”
“I want to try smacking your head once.”
“On what charge?”
“For being annoying, having a smart mouth, having a bad attitude, flirting too much, being selfish, getting angry easily, throwing a fit when you’re jealous even though we’re not dating, having no manners, deleting my messages on my Facebook, and what else, oh! You use kids as tools to flirt with me, don’t think I don’t see through you, dad.” With such a long rant like a speech, I knew you were frustrated. I can see that.
“Sorry for being an asshole.”
“Forgiven, I understand that your nature can’t change.”
“Hey, why are you so harsh today?”
“When you’re angry, you’re way harsher to me.” Or maybe he’s actually mad about what I did the other day…He’s really holding onto that.
“Sorry again, you can punch me, but don’t bring the lotus.”
“No way, I need to plan, in case you get really mad, I’ll use the size of the flower to make amends.” The conversation partner smiled, pleased with his clever idea. “Delusional, normally I’m never really mad at you.”
“…”
“Have you ever seen me mad at you…just jealous, that doesn’t count.”
“Enough, I’m leaving, you jerk, I have to go to class.” The future doctor dismissed him, seeming annoyed as he tightened his bag strap…You’re acting strange, and I can tell you’re about to bolt, huh.
“It’s only nine, your class starts at ten.”
“I know!”
“I know, I have your schedule.”
“Shh, I’m so sick of you, I’m really leaving, sick of your face! Sick of your voice! Sick of your annoying eyes! Sick of you, you bastard!” He walked to his car while giving the middle finger in the air, shouting “sick of you” repeatedly, so funny. Actually, I want to keep him here, but it’s pitiful how he’s always stuck with me. Let him have a day to breathe.
I found a comfortable spot behind the faculty, today, alone. My electrical engineering classmates don’t have classes at the same time as me (except for CompSci). As for Boss and his gang, they’re on a national mission…or simply put, they’re retaking an exam. They failed hydraulics. If we talk about pure knowledge, I should have failed with them, but here, luck played a part, and my score passed by the skin of my teeth.
Lucky.
“Hey.”
“…What?” I replied while looking at the trio who approached. Their faces clearly showed they weren’t here to be friendly…it’s been a while since anyone came looking for trouble.
“Are you Bohn?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Nothing…just curious if you’re the same guy who’s messing with my girl.” “Huh, when?”
“A long time ago!” Oh. If it was long ago, there’s a chance.
“Then let me clarify your definition of ‘messing around’…If messing around means I had sex with your girl, then maybe that’s true, but if messing around means dating your girlfriend, then that’s not it, because I’ve been single for four years now. Oh, but I’m about to have a boyfriend soon.” I smiled at the last sentence; no matter how you look at it, Duen can’t escape me. Who could be so cruel as not to love someone as good as me…hey, but Duen is pretty cruel, isn’t he?
“It’s all the same, it’s still cheating!”
“You’re so loud, it’s giving me a headache.”
“You!”
“Alright, what’s your girlfriend’s name?”
“Nang.” Who?
“…How long have you been dating?”
“Two years.”
“Wow…”
“Wow, my ass!”
“Wow, the way she ended things with you was impressive. Before, I was kind of seeing her for about half a year.” When we were together, I never heard about her having a boyfriend; I only found out today that she had one…And where were you when you just found out your girlfriend was cheating on you? Damn, I’ve sinned again. So, when I was with that idiot, would that be considered karma or something? I swear I didn’t mean it. When I was still a player, I asked everyone if they were single, and they all said they were.
“…”
“…!”
“Calm down. Now I have a potential boyfriend. I stopped messing around with Nang a long time ago. When we were just sleeping together, I didn’t feel anything.
I didn’t love her either.”
“You slept with Nang even though you didn’t love her?”
“So what? What do you want me to do? No matter how I answer, you’re going to be upset.”
“Yeah. You were messing around with my wife. Plus, you treated her like a toy, you bastard!!!” Loving his wife, being cheated on, but still defending her, like a soap opera hero…so pitiful.
“Have you broken up with her?”
“Are you cursing me or what…wait. You’re waiting to take her, aren’t you, you jerk, come on!” So, they haven’t broken up yet.
“Hey!”
“You dare mess with our senior’s woman? Don’t you care about your life?” The two lackeys were ready for a fight. The skinny one isn’t much of a problem, but the burly one could be trouble. I have to prepare for the volunteer camp today, I don’t want to waste energy on this.
“Calm down, you jerk, I don’t want trouble, but I’ll give you some good advice…break up with her.”
“Damn, you really are waiting to take her, aren’t you!!”
“Are you deaf? I already told you I didn’t feel anything. At first, my type was someone hot like her, but now I like the silly ones.” Ever since stepping into the world of liking silly kids, I haven’t been able to leave, which is bad, but it’s okay because I didn’t plan on leaving this world anyway.
“What are you talking about, I don’t understand!”
“Sorry, I got carried away talking about my fiancée.”
“You are asking for it!”
“Hold on, I mean well for you, I can see you love your wife too…I don’t know how Nang was with you, but with me, she was very upfront about being single, and I believed her because she seemed to love me a lot, hey!”
Thud!
I dodged the stick which was swung at me, which made everything on the table fall to the ground instead. Damn, he was aiming right for my head…
“You cheater. You have a weapon!”
“Shut up!”
“So, did you understand my good intentions?”
“I don’t need your bullshit. I can decide who’s lying on my own!”
“Don’t be an ass!” I shouted while dodging a punch from the first minion, followed by avoiding a kick from the other thug. What the hell, I was trying to be nice by warning them, but they’re just blind fools.
Grab…
In the midst of the chaos,
Someone’s foot stepped on something…I wouldn’t have cared if that ‘something’ didn’t have a long stem, yellow petals, and was named a sunflower. I couldn’t believe it. Just because someone stepped on what Duen gave me, my anger flared up like fire.
“Get your foot off…”
“What…oh, is this yours?”
“Yeah, now that you know, move your foot. If you do it now, I might still forgive you, promise I’ll only punch you five times and let you go.” I thought I could still control myself, since the other’s foot only stepped on the stem…no, it was moving closer to the flower itself.
“Heh heh.”
“I know what you’re going to do…but let me warn you, if you do it, things won’t end well for you.”
“Do I look scared?”
Click
“…You chose this yourself.”
“I warned you, but you didn’t listen…”
After whispering to the instigator, I threw him towards the other two lying still on the ground. The moment I saw Duen’s flower being crushed under the bastard’s shoe, I lost it, attacking them relentlessly. Of course, they ended up in bad shape…even after doing all this, I was still irritated. If it weren’t for the fear they might die, all three would have been completely out of commission.
“…Duen said he liked them too.” Now the once vibrant sunflower was in a sorry state, its yellow petals crushed by the dirty foot of the thug, the stem bruised, and all its leaves had fallen off.
I’m frustrated, but what concerns me the most is…how will Duen feel about this?
With that thought, I walked to a quiet place and called the medical student I was worried about. While waiting for the call to connect, my heart was pounding because I didn’t know where to start…but I had to tell him. If I let this go, I’d feel bad for the rest of my life.
(What’s up?)
“Duen…”
(Huh?)
“Well…”
(Don’t be dramatic, I don’t have all day, you jerk.)
“The flowers you gave me, they’re ruined…”
(Hey, how?)
“Stepped on by a buffalo”
(…)
“…I’m sorry.” After confessing, instead of feeling relieved, I felt even more guilty, leaving me at a loss for what to do. I scratched my neck and bit my lip, feeling like an idiot.
(Hey…)
“Go on…curse me, I really am at fault here.”
(Did the buffalo escape from the agriculture faculty or what?)
“…”
(That’s bad, I think they shouldn’t bring kids to raise in the dorms. Even if it’s spacious, the sound of car horns can startle them. I’ve always thought they would escape one day…Oh, you jerk. I didn’t think it would escape to come and attack you.)
“…”
(Maybe it thought you looked alike so it considered you a relative, haha.) I’m going crazy…
“Duen!” I smacked my forehead hard, feeling so exhausted by his cluelessness that I wanted to shout it to the world. Damn, flirting with him is hard enough, but making him understand what we’re talking about is even harder. Help me, please, send a translator for Duen!!
(Ha, ha)
“No, it’s not like that…damn, you idiot!”
(Hey…why are you scolding me, =, _, =)
“You bastard!!…The point isn’t about the thug, it’s that that asshole just crushed your sunflower, understand? The sunflower that you went out of your way to buy for me!”
(Oh, and then what?)
“And then what?…I couldn’t protect it, that’s what.”
(It was beyond your control, you’re acting like a thug, the buffaloes each weigh like 500 kilos, their hooves are hard, it’s not strange for a flower to get crushed, right, Bohn?) I’m about to lose my patience, really lose it!!
“Duen, listen to me, love…I couldn’t protect your flower.”
(I know…and what can you do about it? What’s the point of complaining? If you were the Hulk, then you could complain…understand that even though you’re right now, you don’t have the strength to fight a thug, it’s a different level…no, it’s a thug level.)
“…”
I give up.
I slumped down, hugging my knees in defeat. I really don’t know how to say or arrange words so that we both understand each other. I adore this cute, silly side of him, but at the same time, I feel…argh! Understand me, will you!
(But if we take the thug out of the equation, I don’t see why you should be stressed about it. From the moment I handed it to you, the flower was yours. Even if you stepped on it yourself, I wouldn’t be angry.)
“Stepped on it myself, my ass! Just seeing it get stepped on made me furious…where would I get the audacity, Duen?”
(I just said, ha-ha.)
Sigh
(Stop overthinking, you jerk. You’ll age quickly.)
“But I really feel bad about it…”
(Should I buy you a new one?)
“No, replacing it isn’t the solution to make me feel better.” On the contrary, it would just emphasize my mistake even more…should I go back and beat up that thug and his minions? Even if they die, it’s on them, they deserve it, those damn bastards.
(So, what do you want me to do, huh?)
“Tell me you forgive my stupidity, and then tell me to be more careful from now on…”
(That’s enough to make you feel better?)
“Yeah.”
(Okay…stop being sad, you jerk, Phii Duen forgives your foolishness. From now on, take good care of my flowers.)
“Yeah, I’m starting to feel a bit better.”
(Masochist…)
“Maybe, haha.”
(Yeah. That’s it, I’m going to get something to eat.) With that, the call ended. Looking at the time, it wasn’t his class time yet…I’ve been thinking, I don’t want to be away from him anymore. Should I surprise him at his faculty? I’ve never gone to see him there before.
“Phii Bohn.”
A familiar sweet voice stopped my thoughts; it was very familiar…Of course. It was the voice of the best friend of the person I’m courting.
“…Are you guys here to gang up on me, Tingting?”
“It depends on your answer.” The beautiful girl gave a sharp, cold smile…What’s this, can my life never be free from fights? It’s only been over twenty days since the last one, Sevana or Ares?
Do you want to know why I say that?
Because Tingting didn’t come alone, she was accompanied by three young men who weren’t strangers to me. Yes, Ram, Phu, Tang, and Tingting, all four of them were staring at me quite seriously, the atmosphere was quite tense, especially with that half-Thai guy…It’s no wonder Duen calls him the second father.
“Phii Bohn, hello.”
“You don’t need to greet me if you’re here to beat me up.”
“Hey, don’t think too much, haha…I told you it depends on your answer.”
“…” Wow…I’ve never seen someone so playful act this serious before. Maybe I should take back what I said about him not caring about Duen as much as the other three.
“How serious are you about my friend?” After a brief silence, Ram was the one to speak up, direct and to the point.
“What do you think?”
Punch!
Almost immediately after I finished speaking, the heavy fist of the rice-eyed guy hit me squarely at the corner of my mouth. No need to look, damn, that heavy and warm feeling, my lip is definitely split.
“!”
“Hey, hey, Ram, calm down…”
“…”
“I asked what you think, and you punched me like this? …Do I not look serious about it in your eyes?” I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and asked back. I just wanted to know if I looked serious to others, and if the answer is no, I’ll have to get more serious about flirting with Duen…shit, but I was secretly surprised. I didn’t think I’d get punched.
“…”
“Being silent like this, what does it mean? Answer me.”
“…Phu.”
“Huh, oh, I see…Okay, he said, ‘I know you’re serious, I saw when you hit those guys.’“ The owner of the dream-catching tattoo whispered to his friend before the message was broadcasted by the other. I didn’t have a problem with that, but there’s another issue.
“See, you know that, so why did you punch me?”
Can’t you say it yourself! If it’s beyond your speaking quota, won’t your mind refuse to utter that sentence for others to hear?
“He said, ‘Because I let your flower get stepped on.’“
“…Damn.” If it weren’t for the fact that it’s true.
“The thing is, we accidentally overheard everything. Okay, I see you’re serious about it to a level I’m satisfied with…but there’s still something to worry about. If you really plan to flirt with Duen seriously.”
“Say it.”
“With Nang, have you really cleared everything up?”
“All cleared. None left.”
“Phii, words are cheap, anyone can say them…it’s not very credible.” Tang spoke, crossing his arms. In my eyes, these kids look like knights protecting their prince, and they’re fierce knights too. So, what am I then…if we consider the context, am I like a bandit from the woods?
But it doesn’t matter what it is, I’m here to take the prince to make him my wife.
As for readiness, there’s no need to discuss it.
One hundred percent.
“The phone number is the only way they can contact me now, since I’ve unfriended everyone on LINE, Instagram, and Facebook…They still try to message me, but I haven’t talked to anyone since I met Duen. I can even delete the apps if you don’t believe me.” I pulled out the SIM card, broke it in half, and threw it away right there. Everyone seemed quite surprised, “If I get a new SIM, I’ll only give the number to Duen, because now I only use it to talk to him anyway.”
“Wow, Phii, you’ve got the strongest husband energy in the world.”
“Heh…Is that okay now? Anything else?”
“There’s the matter of fighting.”
“This isn’t something I can control, is it? Even if I don’t mess with anyone, they come looking for me. You’ve seen it today.” It hurts, damn it. It’s been a long time since I’ve been hit this hard by anyone…
“If one day someone comes to pick a fight with you when you’re with Duen, what will you do?”
“…”
“If they do something to Duen-”
“They’ll die.”
“…”
I crossed my arms and looked at my conversation partner quietly. I really can’t do anything about people who come looking for me, but I think if I don’t get involved, no one would bother me either…But if there are, and they do something to that idiot, there’s only one outcome for them, which is death.
“Well…okay then.”
“So, does that mean I pass the criteria to be Duen’s potential boyfriend?”
“…”
“Oh, uh…Ram says, ‘You pass, but just barely.’ Seriously, you’re like his right hand, Phu. And he’s like the Italian mafia boss.”
“…”
“I hope if in the end Duen doesn’t like you, you’ll let him go.”
“I don’t want to let go…but if that’s what he wants, I guess I’ll have to back off.”
“You don’t have to back off far, just step aside a bit, it’s fine, I’m still single.”
“Huh…”
“King, that’s enough, huh? I guessed you’d get hit like this, so I brought this…actually, I prepared another one, but it wasn’t used, what a pity.” The medical student handed me an envelope labeled, ‘Name: Pain relief from being punched by Ram,’ and showed another one labeled, ‘Name: Bruise relief from being ganged up on.’ …Hmm, I believe now that they really planned to gang up on me.
“Thanks, I’ll take it.”
“Lastly, I have one request, bro.”
“…What?”
“If you’re serious about it, if you genuinely have good feelings for my friend.” “…”
“Please don’t send two of us to repair him, haha.”
“Heh…”
“Oh, Phii Bohn, don’t smile like that, we did it out of love for our friend, right,
Ram?”
“Mm…”
“I haven’t said anything yet…ten.”
“?”
“Go run ten laps around the field.”
“Phii…”
“Twelve.”
“Oh, come on, Phii, be serious ; -;”
“Fifteen.”
“Alright, alright, I’m going!!”
I’m not mad that they care about their friend. I just wanted to get a little revenge on Ram for the injury at the corner of my mouth…as for Phu, I just find him annoying for no particular reason.
Alright then.
With this, I’ve officially become the contender for Duen’s boyfriend, with his knights officially handing over the position.
I’m so tired of this…
Leave a Reply