NORTHHOWMUCHISYOURLOVE, Chapter 11 part 1
Chapter 11: Whatever It Takes
“North, why aren’t you responding to my messages?”
As soon as Ter opened the door and came in, he started complaining just as I expected. I glanced up at him with a calm expression, hands clasped on the table with my phone in front of me, “I’m not going to respond to your messages anymore.”
“What’s up with you?” Ter asked, confused, as he threw his bag onto the bed, “You look stressed, is it because of Ja?”
“…”
“Yeah, it’s that.”
“Tell me quickly then.” He sat down next to me.
“I already told you.”
“Huh? Already told me what?”
“In the chat.”
“Are you crazy? You didn’t reply at all. “
“I did reply. Tell me what I replied to you. “
“Huh? What are you talking about? “
“Tell me what I replied to you. It wasn’t a wrong chat.” Damn it! I sighed again, realizing I had replied to the wrong chat, I had accidentally sent the response to Phii Johan instead of Ter. I then turned off the internet, trying to convince myself it wasn’t a mistake. But when the other side only replied with a question mark, I got goosebumps. I don’t know what he might reply with now.
“Did you reply to the wrong chat? Whose chat? “
“Yours. Why did you send so many messages? It happened just as Phii Joe texted me, so I clicked the wrong one without looking. “ “Oh, so what did you reply to Phii Joe? “
“Yeah. She came to ask for forgiveness, are you happy now? “
“Oh…Wait, did Ja ask for forgiveness?” It seems like Ter was more focused on Ja’s matter.” Did you reject her? “
“Yeah, I rejected her. “
“What did she say? “
“At first, she said she broke up with her boyfriend and wanted to start anew with me. “
“Bastard, start anew what? After doing that to my friend, no way. You shouldn’t have met her. “
“She was waiting right under the faculty.” I said.
“That’s too much, how could she do that? Will she stop now? What if she keeps following you around? “
“We’ll see.” Right now, I need to think about the wrong chat reply first. I haven’t replied to Phii Joe for almost ten minutes now, and soon I’ll have to get ready to go to work at the bar.
“Wait, you said you replied to the wrong chat. Did you tell Phii Johan that your ex came to ask for forgiveness? “
“Yes. “
“Disaster. “
“Yeah…I’m scared of the LINE notifications, so I turned off the internet. “
“Bastard, just running away from the problem.” Ter said, laughing. What’s so funny? It’s not funny at all.
“But why are you scared? “
“It’s scary…really.” I turned to tell him. Ter furrowed his brow, looking at me with confusion, “Why make that face?” “It’s just that I sent it to the wrong chat. Why? If he likes you and you said that, he’d definitely be angry, or has he told you he likes you?”
“…”
“Why are you silent?”
“Can I tell you?” I paused to consider whether to tell Ter about Phii Temp’s situation. Tiger didn’t seem keen on others knowing, but it should be fine, right? Ter’s good at keeping secrets, and even if he knows, it wouldn’t matter much.
“You’ve come this far, tell me.”
“Well…” And then I recounted everything from Jaw coming to see me to the story involving Tiger and Phii Johan.
“Oh…so your friend named Tiger likes Nao?”
Oh, damn.
Tiger, I’m sorry…T^T
“This is a national secret, keep it shut. If Tiger finds out I told you, he’ll kill me for sure.”
“I’m not like you, always letting secrets slip. I won’t tell anyone, I don’t even know Tiger, I only know Nao.”
“Wait, the main point is Phii Joe.” Ter said as if just remembering, “Shit, oh my god, he likes you, Phii Joe likes you, damn, I paired you up myself, finally!” Standing up with exaggerated excitement.
“Why are you so excited?”
“Oh come on, my ship, you idiot, my ship, that’s why. You’re the only one left. How do you feel about it?”
“Me? I already said I don’t.”
“You’re crushing my dreams here.” Ter immediately looked disappointed at me, “Don’t you feel anything, even just a little bit?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Feel sorry for him, won’t you?”
“Feel sorry for me first.”
“But that’s harsh. To the point of getting Temp’s dad transferred. And making Temp not want to stay here anymore. You can see how tough Phii Johan is, but didn’t know it was to that extent. You really feel nothing, with someone protecting you like this?”
“Huh…you’re serious?”
“Well…?”
Cringe…
I’m embarrassed.
“Anyone would feel good if someone stood up for them, right?”
“Bastard, embarrassed on your behalf.” Said Ter, slapping my arm once to break the awkwardness, “You might not be there yet, but starting with this kind of good feeling is nice. Ugh, my heart, my heart. I can’t take it anymore, I’m going crazy with embarrassment.”
“…”
“You’re not into me at all.” Ter wailed again, “Yeah, and you’re not quick to respond either.”
“I’m too scared to respond.”
“Like how we dragged you back to the dorm last time, I’m running away first. If that happens again, I’m scared.”
“I’m scared too.”
“Scared to the point you won’t even open the chat, how cute.” Said Ter, gently ruffling my hair. “There, there, little dog.”
“I’m not a dog.” I turned to glare at him. “But you look like one, go look in the mirror, North, the droopy dog, scared to death. Pity, but the longer you don’t respond, the angrier he might get, right? I say, respond quickly.” “My debt will reach a million if it keeps going.”
“It might if he wants it to.”
“I can’t even afford to pay back a penny with what I have now.”
“You haven’t been making payments at all?”
“Ugh, I haven’t come to terms with it yet, losing money out of nowhere without getting anything.” I said, picking up my phone, taking a deep breath before opening Line to read:
Johan: Where are you?
North♣: He came to make amends, satisfied now!
Johan: ?
Johan: Where are you?
Johan: Forget it.
Johan: Explain.
Johan: Are you going to tell me here?
Johan: Or should I come and pry your mouth open?
Damn, for real…
Last message three minutes ago…
“Ter.” I called out softly to Ter, showing him the phone screen.
“Wow, I can feel the anger through the text.” Ter said, then gently rubbed his arm, “Explain quickly, and explain well.”
“Explain what?”
“Just tell the truth, that should be enough.”
North♣: I told you, didn’t I?
Johan: Where have you been?
North♣: To the bathroom.
North♣: So, my ex came over.
Incoming call from: Johan_’
Whoa, does he not even wait for me to type because he has to call now? I was slightly startled by the notification sound before quickly answering.
“Yes?”
(Why did your ex come over?) The other person got straight to the point, his tone indicating he was very displeased…I’m actually scared…really scared. Ever since learning from Tiger, I’ve become ten times more afraid when he’s angry than I used to be, even though his anger is usually scary enough.
“She wanted to get back together.”
Phii Johan didn’t respond, as if waiting for me to continue.
“But I turned her down.”
(Isn’t she the one who got you into trouble with her boyfriend?)
“Yes, that’s right.”
(And what did she say?)
“Uh…well, she just broke up with her new boyfriend, and she wants to talk to me again, but I already turned her down.”
(I know. You told me.)
Why am I starting to feel anxious? T^T
(Is there anything else?)
“No, that’s all.”
(I’m asking if there’s anything else.)
“Well, regarding her new boyfriend, that Temp I had a fight with, he’s going to be transferred with another friend. She asked if I knew about it. I said I didn’t know, and then she said she suspects it’s because of you…and that guy, Tiger.”
Oh, why so quiet? Feeling uneasy now…are you going to get even more upset over this? It seems like Tiger doesn’t really want me to know either.
(Continue the story.)
“I went to ask Tiger.” (Okay.)
“Yes, aren’t you going to ask what Tiger said?”
(That brat probably told you everything, right?)
“Yes, he…”
Oh, he hung up.
“He hung up on me.” I turned and told Ter, before letting out a sigh, feeling completely nauseous, this is what it feels like to have trouble breathing, T^T.
“What did he say?”
“Nothing much. He just let me explain and then hung up, didn’t even let me finish my last sentence.”
“Didn’t he say he’s going to charge more or something like that?”
“He didn’t say that. Why would he charge? He came to me, I didn’t go to him at all, and I already turned him down.”
“I heard that one. You’ve told Phii Joe to reject it twice already.”
“Uh, why?”
“No ‘why’, it’s like you’re afraid he might get jealous, afraid he might misunderstand.”
“…”
“Fair enough, you’re right. Why do I have to keep repeating it so many times?”
“Well…if, as you said, he…likes me. If I get back together with Ja, wouldn’t he be angry?”
“Uh, and you’re afraid he’ll get angry.”
“Yeah, when he’s angry, it’s scary as hell.”
“This is called being cautious. So, as long as you owe him, you can’t talk to or date anyone else.” “Yeah, and what can I do about it?” I said with a sigh. What Ter said is probably true. I can avoid talking or dating anyone, at least for now. I’ve already said I’m not interested in romance.
“Isn’t that awkward?”
“Me? I’m fine with it.”
“Brilliant, it suits someone like you, others would be stressed to death. Or maybe not stressed, having someone like Phii Johan interested in you. You might feel lucky to be in debt instead. So, what’s your next move, now that you know he likes you?”
“…”
“Can you not talk like that?” I said, “It’s weird.”
“How is it weird?”
“It is weird, let’s just drop it. What am I supposed to do anyway?” Just let it be, whatever happens will happen.
From now on, I…don’t like him, but I don’t feel bad, and I actually feel a bit better because of what he’s done.
“Flirt a bit, like asking him to reduce the debt.”
“Screw that. No way.”
“By the way, do you know why he likes you?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head, “That’s what I’ve been wondering about, but I’ve stopped wondering. Too lazy to think.”
“Oh, why did it end so easily? When Phii Hill said he liked me, I almost died thinking about it.”
“And did you figure it out?”
“No. In the end, I let Phii Hill tell me.” “You see, we still don’t know if he really likes me.” I said, thinking to myself. Someone like Phii Johan can’t be figured out, and there are rumors he’s quite the flirt, aren’t there?
“If he didn’t really like you, he wouldn’t have gone through all that trouble with Temp. It’s not easy to get someone like him transferred, you know.” Ter said.
“But if he could make someone like you like him, he must have put in considerable effort. That probably proves whether he really likes you or not.”
“You’re thinking on my behalf again.”
“Sometimes you don’t overthink enough.”
“With a debt of two hundred thousand and at risk of failing, I don’t want to think about anything else.” I said, sighing. Recently, I’ve been most afraid of failing. If I bring home an F, my mom will definitely give me a piece of her mind, and if she finds out about the two hundred thousand debt, I’m in for another lecture. But why are we talking about failing when the term just started? My mouth isn’t lucky, I guess.
“By the way, how did you end up dating Ja?”
“I courted her.”
“You? Why would you court her?”
“She’s cute.”
“You courted her because she’s cute?”
“Right, what’s the problem?”
“Nothing, just a simple reason, very you.” I nodded slightly to the other person. Yeah, I should ask Tiger about it.
North♣: Sua
North♣: I have a sin to confess
North♣: Please reduce the punishment by half
Tg.: What’s wrong with you? Tg.: What heavy thing have you done with me?
North♣: Can I call you?
North♣: It’s a long story.
Tg: What sin is this?
Tg: You.
Tg: Don’t tell me.
North♣: Even NASA doesn’t know this secret.
North♣: But my roommate knows now.
North♣: LOL
Tg: Asshole
Incoming call from: Tg.
“Speak.”
(You, oh fuck, who’s your roommate? I’m going to kill them to silence them.)
“Calm down, I accidentally told them, and I accidentally told them about you too, but they won’t tell anyone, they’re good at keeping secrets, better than me.”
(Anyone is better than you. Sigh, can I talk to your roommate for a bit?)
“Huh? Sure, but don’t threaten my roommate, their boyfriend is fierce.”
(Who?)
“Phii Hill, do you know him?”
(Oh, the second-year med student, so I can’t threaten him then.)
“Exactly, Ter, Tiger likes to talk to you.” I said, handing the phone to Ter.
“Put it on speaker.” Ter took it, looking confused.
“What?” Ter growled into the phone.
(Yeah…this is Tiger.)
“Oh, uh, what’s up?”
(Don’t tell anyone, okay? About Duennao, do you know him?) “I know him, he’s North’s friend, he used to visit the room often. I won’t tell anyone. I am not the kind of asshole like North.”
“Damn.” What’s with the sudden insult?
(Okay. Don’t be like him then. Are you Phii Hill’s boyfriend? Never met him, but I’ve heard the Star and Moon team talking about him, how could you be rooming with an asshole like North?)
“They randomly assign roommates at the dorm. Do you know Phii Hill too?”
(I know, I’m the Moon of the Engineering Faculty, we met at the Star and Moon competition.)
“Oh, Tiger from Engineering, I’ve heard of you too, in our faculty you are quite famous.”
(Famous for what?)
“You are said to be very handsome, but a bit arrogant, cool and all that.” Outsiders think Tiger looks arrogant and cool, but let me tell you, if you see him when he’s deliriously calling for Duennao, the word ‘cool’ will vanish.
(Oh, don’t tell anyone about Nao, okay? Help shut that asshole North up too) oh, speaking nicely to Ter. Look at how he talks about me.
“Alright, alright, North didn’t mean to tell. He seems really worried about this.”
(Yeah, that’s right. Don’t want too many people knowing.)
“And how did North find out?”
(He was eavesdropping on my conversation with a friend.)
“Damn, what a scumbag.”
“Bastard.” I blurted out, then asked for my phone back from the other person, it seemed like they were done talking. “Feeling better now?”
(It’s fine, he seems like a good person. Shouldn’t be hanging out in the same room with you.) “Well, just a little slip-up, but Ter is trustworthy, that’s why I told him. With others, I’ll keep my mouth zipped tight.” I said confidently.
(Yeah. Otherwise, I’ll sew your mouth shut myself.)
“Ouch, that’s harsh. But anyway, the point is, I replied to the wrong chat.”
(Whose chat?)
“I replied to Phii Joe’s chat, saying she came to ask to get back together.”
(…)
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