NORTHHOWMUCHISYOURLOVE, Chapter 28 part 1
Chapter 28: Painted Blue
I felt a bit excited about bringing Phii Johan to my house. By the time we arrived, it was almost evening. My house is nothing special, not big or spacious. Within the same compound, there are two houses: the front one where I live with my mom, and the back one where my aunt lives, separated because they live as a family with Uncle. They have an older son in middle school named Knight, and the youngest son, Non, who was just born.
Initially, I thought we’d stop by to see Phii Joe’s grandparents first since we were staying at my place, but it seemed like his grandparents weren’t home. Mother Gene had come to see Phii Joe this morning, bringing gifts for my mom. Before leaving, she gave me a big kiss on the cheek, saying if I was going to meet Grandpa and Grandma, it would be better to meet Joes’Dad too at the same time.
So, it turns out next time I’ll meet Grandpa, Grandma, and Dad all at once.
Just thinking about it made me feel like I couldn’t breathe properly.
But above all else, I’m curious about how Mom will react when she meets Phii Joe. I haven’t even sent Mom a picture of him, thinking it’s better for them to meet in person.
The luxury car pulled up in front of the house. I got out and rang the doorbell, and after a moment, my mom came out looking like she had just finished showering, still with a towel draped over her shoulders.
“Oh, North, back home?” Mom called out, looking quite surprised.
“Isn’t that what you told me to do, to come back on Saturday?”
“Oh, did I say that?” I couldn’t help but think, why is Mom so forgetful? Before she walked over to open the gate, “Whose car is that? Why is there such a fancy car parked in front of our house?”
“It’s Phii Joe’s car. Mom, you said to bring my partner home. How could you forget?”
“…”
My mom’s eyes widened as she looked at the black car parked in front of us. Then the luxury car drove in and parked inside. Our house has space for two cars, one for my uncle, and the other spot was empty.
“Wow, how many millions is this car worth?” Mom walked up to me and asked. I shook my head slightly, indicating I didn’t know, “When Uncle takes his car out, he’ll have to be careful. If it gets scratched, what will we do?” Uncle is my aunt’s partner.
His car…? Then my mom froze when she saw Phii Johan stepping out of the car, she covered her mouth with her hand before a soft exclamation escaped.
“Wow, holy…”
“Mom…” I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at her words. That’s just how my mom is, very youthful, you can tell from the end of the alley who my mother is.
“Fucking-Handsome-st, North, hold me or I might fall.”
“Take it easy.” I said, catching her arm, pretending to hold her up. But when Phii Joe turned around, she immediately composed herself and draped her towel over my shoulder instead.
Wait a minute, Mom…this towel is wet.
“Hello.” Phii Joe greeted with a wai. My mom responded with a stiff wai, why is she so stiff? He should be the one nervous about her, “Mom asked me to bring this.” and he handed her a beautiful blue paper bag. I didn’t know what was inside either, but from Gene, it’s bound to be something special.
“Thank you, really, you didn’t have to go through the trouble.” She smiled sweetly, taking the bag. Then we all walked into the house and sat down in the living room on the sofa.
“North, come help me a bit.” Mom called out. I walked into the kitchen to assist her, “What snacks should we get? Does he have any favorites?”
“He doesn’t like sweets, but I do, let’s go with that.”
“I am not even letting you have any.”
“Oh, come on.” I pouted, looking annoyed.
“North.”
“Yes?”
“Why is your boyfriend so handsome? Is he really your boyfriend, not just some playboy?” My mom was still visibly excited since meeting Phii Johan for the first time, “Mom’s heart is really fluttering.” She said, placing her hand over her heart, her face slightly red.
“He’s not a playboy.”
“Really? He’s so handsome, is he an actor or something? How did you get him to chase after you? Did you play hard to get?”
“No, he came after me.”
“Hmm.” Mom dragged out the sound as if she didn’t quite believe me, “That guy dresses so well, my dear. I feel like sweeping the floor again, worried his feet will get dirty.” Oh, when I’m at home, I’m the one who sweeps the floor all the time, T^T.
“I hate when you say ‘that guy’.” I grumbled quietly.
“He’s really handsome, you know. At first, I almost couldn’t believe it. When North bragged about him, but like…oh, Mom’s heart might give out, I thought, ‘Is this really my future son-in-law?’, he’s just too handsome.”
“Mom, you are overpraising him more than me now.” I chuckled again, before bringing water and snacks to the living room table. I sat down next to Phii Joe on the sofa, and Mom followed, sitting on the sofa opposite us.
“Your name is Johan, right? Can I just call you Joe?”
“Yes.”
“You’re in your second year, so you’re one year senior to North, right? Is he naughty?”
“He’s pretty naughty, very much so.”
“North, don’t be naughty with him, okay?”
“Ha? Me, naughty?” I protested slightly when suddenly I got scolded by my mom. I’m not naughty, I’m a good kid, easy to teach, almost to death. I looked towards Phii Joe, who just shrugged, indicating he didn’t really care. “Young North has been stubborn and mischievous since he was a child. You need to scold him firmly. If you don’t, he won’t stop.”
“Sure.” Phii Johan gave a slight smile. There was no need for her to tell him to scold me; I was already scolded enough as it was. T^T, “Was he stubborn even as a kid?”
“Mm-hmm, very stubborn.” my mom put down her glass of water, ready to roast me thoroughly, “Before, he got picked on a lot by others, came home with bruised knees sometimes, or bumps on his head, so I solved the problem by sending North to learn boxing.”
“Boxing?” Phii Joe raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise at my mom’s words, “He learned boxing?”
“Since middle school.” I explained. When other parents have issues with their child being bullied, they might handle it differently, but my mom solved it by sending me to learn boxing.
“Wow, so my little North was quite the tough guy.” Mom said, letting out a laugh, “Just like his father.”
“That’s right, Mom, the blood of the father runs strong. We walked the path of the tough guys before.” I said jokingly, “It was an all-boys school, fighting for supremacy at Suzuran.”
Mom told me that when she first met dad, it was during high school. He was studying at a nearby technical school, which has since closed down. I once asked what she liked about dad, and she said even she couldn’t find the words to explain it herself, and then they started dating. After high school, neither of them went to college because they didn’t have the money; my grandmother couldn’t afford to send them. Both my mom and aunt only finished grade six, then worked for about two years before I was born. My mom is only thirty-eight now.
When people ask why her son is so grown but she still looks young, my mom would answer, “Oh, I got married early.” and that’s my mom for you. I still find it funny, and there are still people who don’t know and try to flirt with her.
“By the way, about North liking to fight?”
“I didn’t like it. They came looking for trouble.” I said, “Mostly.”
“Everyone who had issues with North ended up leaving the school. I wonder if the teachers thought it was too much.”
“Probably.” I said without much thought. I’ve wondered about it too; many who picked fights with me ended up transferring, especially those who really bullied me, they didn’t last long.
Or maybe
I turned to look at the person next to me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Phii Joe asked, raising an eyebrow, but the slight smile on his lips confirmed my suspicions. I used to complain about these things at the game shop all the time.
Why do I feel a little scared of him now…
“At first, I thought sending him to boxing would change him into something fiercer, but no, North remained…North, just the same.” Mom said, letting out a sigh, “Still stubborn, mischievous, playful to a headache-inducing degree, and just not serious.”
“How do you eat and make such a mess?” The person next to me said, reaching out to wipe crumbs from the corner of my mouth. I unintentionally made a face at him, catching a glimpse of my mom watching us, looking a bit embarrassed.
“It’ll be evening before you know it. I’ll go prepare dinner first, do you want anything special?” She turned to ask Phii Joe. Wait, shouldn’t she be asking me? I haven’t had mom’s cooking in so long, T^T.
“I’m hurt.” I said, pretending to sulk. “Even if you sulk, I won’t coax you.” Mom teased.
“Oh, I’m crying now.”
“Kidding, kidding.” Mom squeezed my cheeks with affection, “What do you want to eat? I’ll make it.”
“Anything is fine.”
“Annoying.” Mom said with a sigh before letting go, “That’s why I didn’t want to ask North. And what about you, do you want anything special?” She asked Phii Joe again, who shook his head slightly to say it was fine, and then my mom disappeared into the kitchen.
“Should I help with something?” I offered to help.
“Please do.”
“What can I do?”
“Just sit still.”
“…Okay.” I said, returning to the same sofa.
“Your mom is so cute, isn’t she?” Phii Johan commented.
“Of course, she’s my mom.” I said proudly, then heard the sound of the back door opening. I turned to see my aunt walking while carrying the baby. I rushed over to my little cousin immediately.
“Let me hold him.” I asked, and my aunt handed the baby to me. I looked down at the infant wrapped snugly in a blanket, “He’s wrapped up like a little burrito.”
“See, and this…”
“Hello.” Phii Joe greeted her with a smile, my aunt looked stunned since she laid her eyes on Phii Joe, her face starting to go red, she pulled me aside a bit.
“Who is that?”
“My boyfriend, the one I said I’d bring home.” I replied while playing with the baby, making faces at the tiny burrito, his little hands so small, chubby cheeks that looked like they needed a nibble, and his arms all wrinkly. “Really!”
“Shh, you scared the child.” I said, soothing the baby in my arms, “There, there, don’t cry.”
“The one you said is the grandson of our landlord, right?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, he’s so handsome, North.”
“Aunt, calm down.”
“North, I think he’s not ordinary. He’s very handsome, my heart skipped a beat just now, I almost wanted to divorce my husband.” my aunt said excitedly, truly like my mom.
“I’ll definitely tell Uncle.”
“He’s not home, went drinking with friends, ha, I have a husband, but he doesn’t love me right.”
“He’s just gone out for drinks with friends, what’s wrong with that?” I said, “You don’t have to look at my boyfriend like that, he’ll get embarrassed.”
“Acting all possessive, tell me honestly, how did you manage this? When your mom told me North said his boyfriend is handsome, I almost didn’t believe it, but then I saw him, wow, holy cow.”
“Ya’s awake now, isn’t he, Non?” I said, bending down to nuzzle my cousin’s cheek, “Don’t want to stay with Auntie Nuch anymore? Better to stay with me, Phii North.” I said, before sitting back on the sofa with the baby.
“Your nephew?”
“Yeah, would you like to hold him?”
“No.” Phii Joe said, turning his attention back to the TV. I figured Phii Joe probably isn’t much of a kid person. “Phii Joe’s not interested in you.” I talked to the baby, feeling like I turned 500% cuter when talking to kids. Then I brought Non closer to Phii Joe, “Phii Joe, hold him, please, hold him.”
“…” He looked at me but still wouldn’t play along, until little Non reached out to touch the air.
“He wants to play with you.”
“Phii North.”
“Oh, Knight.” I turned towards the voice, then handed Non back to my aunt, “What brings you here?”
“Phii North, I missed you so much.” and then Knight ran in from behind and hugged my neck because I was sitting on the sofa. This is usually how lively our house is, and now with a new baby too, relatives come to visit constantly, “Who’s that?”
“My boyfriend.”
“Wow…he’s insanely handsome.” The words slipped out from the mouth of the middle schooler, Knight, without thinking. He quickly covered his mouth in embarrassment after realizing he had spoken too loudly. Phii Joe gave a small smile at his reaction, “Phii North, do you think he heard what I just said?”
“He heard it, or else why would he smile?”
“Damn, now I’m embarrassed.”
“Come sit properly, Knight.” I said, and Knight walked around the sofa to sit next to me, giving a respectful wai to Phii Joe.
“Is he really your boyfriend, Phii North?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Oh my, I was going to show off to Phii North.” Knight said, rummaging through his pocket for something, then pulled out his phone to show me a picture, “I am courting this one, I’ll show him off later.” “Who’s this?” I took Knight’s phone. The picture was super blurry, but if I’m not mistaken, he’s wearing boys’ school trousers, “A guy?”
“Mhm.”
“What’s his name?”
“Oscar.”
“Do you have a clearer picture?”
“I do.”
“Then why not show me that?”
“Too cute. I don’t want you to see him.” I turned to look at Knight with a slightly disgusted expression at the term ‘too cute, don’t want you to see’ and showing a blurry picture; it felt oddly familiar, just like that engineering junior who was annoying.
“Well, okay. How’s the courting going?”
“By secretly looking at him.”
“Secretly looking isn’t courting, Knight.”
“That’s all I can do.”
“Night…” I called out to him with a hint of pity, then gently patted my little brother’s head, “Have some courage, soon you’ll be like my friends. If you can’t get a boyfriend now, it’ll be hard even until university.”
“How should I ask him out?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head slightly, “Have you talked to her at all?”
“Yeah.”
“What did you talk about?”
“About Oscar, and where the bathroom is.”
“Asking for directions, huh? When did you start talking?”
“First year of high school, when he was new and didn’t know his way around the school.” “Night…” I patted my brother’s head affectionately, why am I surrounded by such cases, it’s so disheartening, T^T, “Fight for him, Phii.”
“I want to give him a gift. What do you think I should give, Phii North?”
“I don’t know, how about flowers?”
“But he’s a boy, who gives flowers to a boy?”
“Just give him a Gundam model then.” I said with resignation, “I’ve got some old Gundam models in my room, I can give you one.”
“Wow, what’s that? I’m giving a gift, and it has to be yours?” Night said, looking quite forlorn, because my uncle is quite strict, so Night doesn’t often get permission to buy things. So I often give him my stuff. After chatting for a while, it seemed like Night really wanted to talk to Phii Joe but was too shy, just kept looking at him, clearly embarrassed.
Then Phii Joe excused himself to go outside for a phone call.
“Phii North, is your boyfriend an actor or a model or something? Why is he so cool, and tall too? I want to be that tall, how can I look that good?”
“He’s not, but you will probably grow tall, Uncle is tall too.”
“His name is Phii Johan, right? Even his name is cool; what does he study?”
“He’s in his second year of medical school.”
“Wow, then he’s super smart too, why is Phii North so lucky?”
“Exactly.” I said before petting Night’s head affectionately once more. Everyone in the house really seemed excited to meet Phii Johan. It wasn’t like this when I brought friends over before.
“Here, Night, a snack allowance from me.” I handed some money to Night. His eyes widened with joy, and he quickly gave a respectful wai to thank me before taking the money from my hand.
I’ve been giving Night snack money since before because I do part-time work. If Night behaves well or gets good grades, I would buy him things or give him some money. Since I hadn’t been home in a while, I thought this would be a good opportunity.
“Thank you so much, Phii North; you are the best!”
“Night, it’s time to go back.” Aunt Nuch called out.
“What? I want to play with Phii North some more.” Night said, coming in for another hug.
“You’re still attached to cousin North. You need to go back; you haven’t done your homework yet, have you? And the baby needs to sleep too.” Aunt said. I suddenly remembered something and stood up to fetch something from my bag.
“Aunt, here, I got this as a gift for the new baby.” I said, handing her a box containing gold. She looked puzzled as she received it, but her eyes went wide when she opened it.
“Wow, gold like this? North, you’re amazing, thank you so much, my nephew is really something, at this age, buying something like this, come here for a kiss.” Aunt said happily before leaning in to kiss my cheek. I gave her an embarrassed smile. “You’re really something, Night, take your cousin as an example.”
The gold for the baby was from Phii Joe’s money, so by praising me, they were indirectly praising him, T^T.
Before I went to see Aunt and Night off back home:
“Is your boyfriend staying the night here too?” my aunt asked.
“Yes, he’s staying.”
“That’s good, take good care of him, he’s not easy to find. I’m even jealous.”
“Ha ha, yes.” I replied with an embarrassed smile, watching as my aunt led Night back into their house. I returned to my own home, seeing my mom busy with preparing dinner, which seemed almost ready. I went outside to sit at the marble table in front of the house next to Phii Joe, who seemed to be in a serious conversation, probably about work. I sat down beside him quietly, looking at him with concern, wondering if something was wrong.
“North.” I heard a whisper calling my name, turned around to see where it came from, and found it was Cartoon, my neighbor Mrs. Kaew’s daughter, whom mom had told me about. I saw Cartoon leaning over the wall, waving at me, so I walked over.
“Yes?”
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