NORTHHOWMUCHISYOURLOVE, Chapter 28 part 2
“Who is that? He’s so handsome.”
“He’s my boyfriend.”
“Huh? Really? And that black Audi is his?”
I nodded in response, “Which means he must be very rich. He’s good, North. He’s really good, heh, and so handsome. Plus, he looks great, has a good body, and he’s rich too. I’m so jealous.”
I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know what to say, just gave a shy smile back. Honestly, I like it when people compliment Phii Joe; it somehow makes me feel shy too.
Then, Cartoon bombarded me with questions about Phii Joe. She even wanted to take a picture of him, but I wouldn’t let her. What would she do with a picture?
“North…”
“Yes?” I turned towards Phii Johan’s call, it seemed he had finished his business call. He walked over to me, and Cartoon looked all excited and flushed seeing Phii Joe up close.
“Uh, hello, are you North’s boyfriend?”
“Yes.”
“I’m North’s neighborly sister, my name is Cartoon.”
“Oh…yes.” Phii Joe gave a small smile but didn’t seem too interested in her. “Excuse us.” before he reached out to put his arm around my shoulder, leading me back into the house. I gave a small smile to Cartoon as a goodbye gesture.
Once inside, I found my mom setting up the dining table. We waited a bit until everything was ready, then we started eating dinner. I really missed Mom’s cooking. While we ate, we chatted about various things until Mom remembered something.
“Oh right, Young North, you’re such a show-off when it comes to his boyfriend.”
“Mom, please don’t.” I protested loudly. Since I started dating Phii Joe, I’ve been bragging about him to Mom all the time, it’s been like this for a while now. But the one thing I didn’t want to happen was for Mom to tell Phii Johan about it.
“Really?” Phii Joe asked with interest, “What did he say?”
“He said his boyfriend is very handsome.”
“Is that so?” The person next to me turned to ask me, revealing a slight smile. I quickly looked down and continued eating.
“It’s not just that…”
“Mom!” I started to whine a bit, making a pouty face, but it didn’t have any effect.
“He called to tell me, he’s so kind, he’s so attentive, he doesn’t know what to do, he loves him so much, you know…”
“Mom…” I called out in a hushed tone, this is why I didn’t really want them to meet. But it seems like Phii Joe enjoyed hearing mom’s stories, he was very interested.
“Do you know, mom, he’s the first person that made me want to better himself, I will study hard now too, and when we’re not together, I feel something weird, I don’t like it, I miss him so much, I’ve never felt like this with anyone else, have you ever felt like this with dad?” “Mom…I won’t tell you anything anymore.” I said, pretending to be sulky, covering my face with my hands, feeling the heat reaching my ears now.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“Phii…”
“Here, North, why don’t you tell him these things?”
“Mom…” Who would dare tell Phii Joe these things? Because of the habit of talking about everything with mom. When I was dating Jo, I talked like this with mom too, but she never told Jo these things.
“Go ahead, say you’ve even thought about marriage.”
“Mom…”
“Hmm?” Phii Joe raised an eyebrow slightly, “Marry me?” before giving a satisfied half-smile. Who let him smile like that!
“…”
“North gets embarrassed, doesn’t he?” Mom teased lightly, “Or is it just with him? Your ears are all red now, dear.”
“I don’t want to talk anymore.” I said quietly.
“North, he is quite the one to show off his boyfriend, I’ll tell you, especially with Joe.” Mom said, turning to Phii Joe, “He bragged about everything, seems to be very proud of you, huh?”
“…” I continued eating my rice, trying to ignore them. They can tease all they want. I feel like I’m about to explode!
After dinner, mom said she’d clear the dishes herself and told us to go rest. My bedroom is upstairs. I opened the door to my room, feeling embarrassed. I never thought Phii Joe would actually agree to sleep in my room.
“It’s a bit cramped.” I mentioned.
“Not that cramped.” “Just me here.” I mumbled. Phii Joe walked in and scanned the room with his eyes, a typical boy’s room with posters, comic books, a guitar, a study desk, and a bed that wasn’t particularly large, “Do you want to take a shower?”
“Shower together?”
“N…no.” I immediately declined. He gave a small smile at my shy demeanor, and then we went to take our showers separately since there were bathrooms both upstairs and downstairs. When I came back to the room, he had already finished his shower and was sitting on the bed.
“Ah!” I exclaimed in surprise as I was suddenly pulled into a hug from behind. Phii Johan tightened his embrace and nuzzled his nose against my neck.
I caught the faint scent of soap from him as I leaned back against his chest.
“Phii Joe, are you okay with my home?”
“It’s okay.”
“That’s good, Mom and Aunt seem to really like you.” I said with joy, snuggling closer to him, “They might end up loving you more than me. What if I am left behind?”
“And you, North?”
“Huh?”
“Do you love me?”
“Uh…why are you asking that out of the blue?” I asked, stammering a bit, surprised by the sudden question.
“Answer.”
“I love you.”
“Hmm.”
“Just you; North loving me is enough.”
“…” I fell silent and let my heart continue to beat strongly. I’ve grown quite accustomed to and fond of Phii Joe’s hugs and physical affection, because it warms my heart a lot, but even so, it still makes me shy.
“I heard you’re a show-off.”
“…”
“When we’re not together, do you miss me a lot? Have you ever felt like this with anyone else?”
“Phii!”
“He’s the first one who made me want to change for the better.”
“…” I buried my face into the blanket to hide my flushed face. Why does he have to tease me and then whisper in my ear, stop it already, T^T.
“It’s the same for me.”
“Ha?”
“North, you are the first and only person who made me want to better myself.”
“…Ah, uh, yes.” I buried my face even deeper into the blanket, my words barely audible before Phii Joe pulled me closer, pressing his lips hard against my cheek, lingering there until I didn’t know what to do, “Ah…what’s this?”
“You let Gene kiss your cheek.”
“…I always let you kiss my cheek too.”
Phii Joe didn’t reply, just smiled with satisfaction and kissed my cheek again, holding it there for a moment before letting go. I turned to kiss his cheek in return, and we continued talking about today’s visit to my house along with other things.
Suddenly, my phone rang, and I saw it was Tiger calling.
“Speakerphone.” Phii Joe said in a calm voice, which made me jump a little. It seemed like he didn’t like it much when we were together and someone interrupted.
“What’s up, Tiger?” I answered, putting the call on speaker as instructed. (Duennao…)
I was startled by the noise of music and commotion coming from the other end, I barely had time to lower the volume. It sounded like he was outside, probably at a bar, I guessed.
(Duennao…)
“Are you drunk?”
(No.)
“Oh, what’s going on then?”
(Duennao…)
“If you keep just calling for Nao, how am I supposed to understand anything?”
(Duen…Nao…)
“I can’t take it anymore, my friend.” I said, letting out a sigh. There must be something wrong for Tiger to be this drunk, “Calm down, man.”
(I don’t want to be like this at all.)
“What’s wrong with you?” Phii Joe asked in a low, deep voice that gave me goosebumps. I don’t know why.
(Oh, you’re there too?)
“Yeah.”
(That’s good, you’re together.)
“Tiger, what’s going on?” I asked again.
(I don’t know, just leave me alone.)
“Come on, but you called.”
(Yeah, Phii.)
“What?”
(That bastard North owes me money, Phii.)
“…” (He swindled me out of hundreds of thousands, North, he threatened me really well about Duennao.)
“This is ridiculous, Tiger, what would I threaten you with? You’re just drunk and talking nonsense.” I said with frustration. What is he on about, owing him hundreds of thousands?
(I don’t know, Field, get me more drinks.)
(Annoying, and who did you call?) Garfield’s voice, a friend of Tiger, probably out drinking with him.
(Drunk and just talking shit, bastard.)
There you go, sounds just like me.
(Is this North?) Garfield’s voice got closer to the phone, he must have successfully taken the phone from Tiger.
(Sorry about that, Tiger’s a bit drunk.)
“Is it about Nao?” I asked.
(Must be it, it’s all messed up. Don’t know what happened.)
“Okay, take good care of him when you bring him back.”
(Yeah, sorry for the disturbance) and then he hung up. What was that about? When it comes to Duennao, Tiger gets so delicate.
“Are you going to fleece him?” The deep voice from behind startled me again, before Phii Joe made me turn around to face him and sat me on his lap.
This isn’t good at all…
“Tiger is just drunk.”
“But you do fleece him, right?”
“Well…yes.” I admitted with a slight pout. It’s not really fleecing, just asking him to treat me to some drinks or something.
“I’m curious, how scary are you to threaten him to get hundreds of thousands?”
“…” “Come on, show me how you do it.”
“Are…are you crazy?” I said, turning my gaze away, looking at him with an expression that clearly showed he was deliberately trying to embarrass me.
“Quick, I want to see.”
“I don’t really fleece money from him, just asks him to buy water or something sometimes.” I said truthfully. I’ve never outright asked for money from Tiger.
“And why don’t you ever ask me?”
“…”
I fell silent because I felt the situation was getting tricky after seeing the smile at the corner of his mouth.
“What did you say before? That you could get anything you want from me, right?”
“Well…um, I’m considerate of you, you know, oh!” His hand pressed the back of my neck down, and his lips met mine instantly. Phii Joe seemed not too fond of my being considerate, then his hot tongue darted in, pressing against my lips firmly. I responded to the touch, my breathing starting to get faster, before Phii Joe pulled back from the kiss.
“What did you say just now?”
“No…no.” I averted my gaze, feeling my heart start to beat faster again.
“Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
“Hmm. That’s good.”
“But next time, I won’t ask.”
“Hmm?”
“I will just steal, when you’re asleep, I’ll steal your wallet, I’ll even take your room keys, the TV, the fridge, the sofa, all your expensive stuff, I will take it all. And when you wake up, I will have vanished without a trace.” I said with a playful smile, and the person in front of me responded with an indulgent smile.
“Will you disappear too?”
“Yes. You definitely won’t find me.”
“Then take it all, but North, don’t disappear.”
Cheater…
Why are you so good at sweet-talking…
I immediately pouted when I heard his words, my face suddenly feeling hot, I knew it must be turning red. I lowered my head to hide it. Phii Joe seemed quite pleased with my reaction.
“Why are you so good at getting embarrassed?”
“It’s because of you. Don’t tease.”
“Then why are you so good at being cute?”
!!
“Uh…stop it.” I protested a bit before Phii Joe made me sit up and kissed me gently on the lips. When he pulled back, I rested my forehead on his shoulder as if needing a moment to catch my breath.
“Oh, right, do you want to hear me play the guitar?” I asked, remembering. I had always thought if there was a chance, I’d like to play the guitar for Phii Joe once, especially a song I would sing for him.
“Will you play?”
“Yes, but I’m not very good at it.”
“Hmm, I want to listen.” Phii Joe said. I gave a wide smile before getting up to fetch the guitar leaning against the wall, “Since when have you been playing?”
“Since high school, actually, but it’s been a while since I’ve played.” I said, strumming the guitar strings to check if they were out of tune, “There’s one song I’d like you to hear, by the way.” “What song?”
“‘Fix You,’ but, um, I can’t play it.”
“That’s okay, you have been wanting me to listen to that for a long time.”
“What do you mean?” I looked puzzled by his words, but Phii Joe didn’t seem too keen on explaining further, “If that’s the case…consider that I have played it for you, even if I’m not actually singing it.”
“Hmm, play another song then.”
“Oh, let’s go with an easy one then, just a moment, let me find one.” I said, pulling out my phone to search for a song that was both pretty and easy to play, “Come to think of it, we never had a proper courtship moment, so North will sing a song to court you.”
“Hmm?” Phii Johan raised an eyebrow, surprised by my words, then let out a small laugh, making me laugh along, even though I was embarrassed by what I said.
“What are you laughing at?”
“Let’s hear it then, I’m eager to listen to your courtship song.”
“I’ll make you blush, just watch.” I said, chuckling again at my own words. Being together for a while now, I’ve started to feel more confident joking around like this with him.
I found a song I thought was easy to play and fitting, though I haven’t played for a long time, I was worried I might mess up the chords, so I checked the lyrics and chords on my phone several times.
“Found a song?”
“Yep.”
“Which one?”
“‘Everything Has Changed,’” I said. I already liked this song, and when you look at its meaning, it fits, feeling like everything has changed since meeting him. I started to play somewhat awkwardly because I was out of practice, but after a while, it got better.
While I was playing, I looked up from the guitar to see Phii Johan holding his phone, recording me. I gave a small laugh to the camera.
“…Please don’t record.” I said, but he didn’t stop filming.
I played on with a slightly annoyed look until I finished the song.
“Posted on Instagram, have you?” After we started dating, Phii Joe has been posting on his Instagram stories more often, mostly about me. The news of us dating had spread throughout the university. But since I’m not one to care much about comments, I let them talk.
As for the people who added me or sent messages, I didn’t pay them any mind either. Whenever I went out, I often got strange looks, but I didn’t care about that either.
“Yeah, posted it.”
I checked to see what he posted, and found a story video of me playing the guitar just now, with the caption, “Someone said they’d play guitar to woo me: )”
I couldn’t help but smile when I saw that, it was really cute.
Phii Joe’s Instagram used to be all black and white from the very first post, but recently it’s turned to color, and mostly it’s pictures of me. If not my pictures, it’s photos related to us, like hand-holding, gifts we’ve given each other, or places we’ve been together.
I really like this kind of thing…
The latest picture was of me playing the guitar, with the caption from a line in the song:
‘Making Up For Lost Time…’
“Can I post some photos too?” I asked.
“Sure. No need to ask.” “Can I hold your hand for a moment?” I smiled. Phii Joe extended one hand towards me, not quite understanding. I took a photo of us holding hands, with the guitar resting on my lap visible as well.
I posted the photo on my own Instagram, adding a caption from another part of the song:
‘All my walls stood tall, painted blue
I’ll take them down, and open up the door for you.’
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