SOUTHBESIDETHESKY, Chapter 36: Typhoon’s Day

   Tonfah

   “You did it on purpose.”

“What?” I asked Jo while we were in the supermarket. Hill and Ter were selecting other items. Meanwhile, Jo and I were keeping an eye on North and Phoon choosing fish.

“You’re not slick.”

“Really? That’s too bad.”

“It’s fun seeing Phoon get embarrassed.”

“He’s cute when he’s embarrassed.”

“Yeah, so how was yesterday?”

“It was good. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about anymore.”

“Good.” Jo said this, though his face didn’t show any emotion, indicating he was somewhat irritated. I guessed it was because he had to wake up early.

“Why do you have to make such a scary face?”

“You’re sleepy, aren’t you?”

“I am sleepy, but I was sleeping, and you made Phoon get out of bed.” I said, turning to look at him, “Who came up with the idea to cook?”

“Ter.”

“Oh, but Hill…” I said only that and looked past Jo to where Hill was talking with Ter on the other side, “just sleeping would have been enough.”

“He’s not human, that bastard.”

“And has Arthit woken up yet?”

“Don’t know, if he hasn’t, he might as well be dead.”

Because after we finished the exams, we rushed straight to Japan. At first, we didn’t think they would come along, but it seemed North and Ter wanted to join, so they had to come. The state of medical students who had just finished their exams wasn’t exactly great.

“I never thought I’d do so much for someone,” I said, and the person next to me turned to look at me with a slightly surprised expression.

“What do you mean?”

“Normally, when I do something for others, I do it only to the extent I want to. But for Phoon, I never thought I’d do something like this. I brought him to Japan even though I hadn’t slept more than eight hours last week, yet I still managed to drive, and I didn’t even think about complaining.”

“Yeah, that’s really strange.”

I turned to look at Phoon, who seemed to be getting teased by North. His face and ears were red, sneaking glances at me. Once I looked back, he averted his gaze, then lightly hit North several times.

   “He hit him again,” I said, glancing at the person next to me.

“North said when Phoon is embarrassed, he uses force.”

“Yeah, I get hit a lot too,” I said. There have been many times when Phoon, in his embarrassment, would hit my arm or chest, but it doesn’t hurt; it’s like a cat’s strength. He’d turn red and threaten to hit, but who would be scared of that?

I don’t know if it’s because of his fair skin that he turns red easily; sometimes just touching him makes him blush.

   Speaking of last night, around midnight, I woke up with Phoon still in my arms, his unique scent filling the air. I’ve told Phoon that I like it, but he probably doesn’t know that it’s made me lose control several times.

   I wonder if Phoon has noticed the marks on his neck that have increased since last night; if he hasn’t noticed yet, that’s good. Otherwise, he might sulk again.

   “Phii Fah,” Phoon called me with a sweet voice. I turned towards the sound immediately.

Phoon has been calling me like this for a long time, but after we started dating, I really enjoy hearing him call my name.

“Yes?”

“Shall we make tonkatsu?”

“What about the fish?”

“I don’t want to anymore, I think I can’t cut the fish.”    “Okay,” I smiled back before we went to choose ingredients for tonkatsu instead. It didn’t take long to buy everything, and we returned to the hotel. Somehow, everyone had agreed to use my room for cooking, which I didn’t mind because I knew that the others’ rooms were definitely off-limits. They’re the type that doesn’t like anyone messing with their personal space.

We sat waiting on the sofa because we weren’t allowed to help.

Actually, I wanted to help, but Phoon wouldn’t let me, so I had to sit with Hill and Jo.

“Is today Phoon’s birthday?” Hill asked as soon as I sat down on the sofa.

“Yeah.”

“I don’t have a gift, but if you want me to buy something, just tell me.”

“It’s probably fine.”

“Birthdays are always a problem,” Jo grumbled, “Let’s ask North later.”

“Did you buy anything?” Hill turned to ask. I nodded in response,

“Any surprise?”

“I’m not good at that kind of thing,” I replied, “I’ll just give the usual gift.”

“What did you buy?” Jo asked.

“A camera, I saw Phoon wanted one. Phoon didn’t tell me, but I noticed he was looking up information on them quite a bit, so I decided to buy it as a birthday gift.”    “What kind of camera?” Jo asked.

“I don’t know, I showed a picture to the store clerk.”

“How much?”

“Over two hundred thousand.”

“Hmm. Not surprising, you’re that into him,” Jo said, raising his eyebrows at Hill, “We’ve been talking about watching you. At first, you teased us quite a bit.”

“How are things going now, Tonfah?” Hill asked.

“It’s no different from you guys. If Phoon says sun is rising in the west, I’d believe it,” I said, chuckling slightly.

“What does science matter anymore? Just believing your wife is enough,” Jo said, laughing as well.

“It’s good, you look more like a human now,” Hill said.

“Like a human? Wasn’t I one before?”

“You look like a normal person. At first, we were worried that your kindness would backfire and hurt you and Phoon, but seeing you now, it seems fine. Do you still keep in touch with the students you tutored?” Hill asked. I shook my head in response. Before, Hill and Jo used to complain about my kindness, especially towards the younger students with darker skin, but now I don’t tutor anyone anymore. “Who else am I supposed to tutor? I don’t even have time to sleep.

If I have time, I’d rather spend it with Phoon.”

“I’m really proud of you, Tonfah,” Johan said, but before anyone could say more, there was a knock at the door. I went to open it and found Arthit, who had just woken up, still yawning.

“Hey, are you guys cooking up a storm?”

“Yeah, come in,” I had messaged Arthit to come to my room if he woke up since we were planning to cook breakfast ourselves. Arthit followed me into the room and sat on the sofa, looking sleepy.

“So, where’s the food?”

“It’s not done yet.”

“Your wives made it?” Arthit raised his eyebrows, trying to blink away his sleepiness. I nodded in response, “Oh, and what were you guys doing?”

“Just chatting,” Johan answered, “Oh, this morning, Fah gave Phoon a morning kiss in front of us.” Hearing this, Arthit immediately looked surprised.

“Huh? Really, Tonfah, you did that?” Before I could answer, Arthit continued, “So, you’ve become another one of those wife-addicts, huh? I’m really fed up, all of you are blind with love.”    “Well, you don’t have one,” Johan said.

“That’s good,” Hill spoke up, “Arthit is better off without one, I feel sorry for him.”

“Tch,” Arthit grumbled softly in annoyance.

Before we could talk any further, the food was brought out. Mine and Phoon’s was tonkatsu, just as Phoon had asked when we went shopping. Ter and North had made different dishes for Johan and Hill.

   “Hey, where’s mine?” Arthit asked, noticing there was no food for him.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were coming,” North answered, “I’ll go get you some more.”

“Arthit, go get it yourself,” Johan commanded.

“Yeah,” Arthit said before getting up to leave. Meanwhile, we started our breakfast. Phoon seemed eager, watching as I took my first bite. Truth be told, I think Phoon is actually quite good at cooking; if he keeps practicing, he’ll only get better.

“How is it?” Phoon asked excitedly.

“It’s delicious.”

“Really?”

“Really,” I said with a smile, genuinely delicious for someone cooking for the first time, it’s pretty good. Phoon gave a broad, adorable smile. I couldn’t help but gently ruffle his hair. After that, we continued eating together.

…

Typhoon

   I took care of washing the dishes after everyone had finished their meal, with North and Ter helping as usual. At first, Phii Fah said he would help, but of course, we didn’t let him; we would do it ourselves.

“Today is your birthday, Phoon,” North suddenly remembered,

“Why don’t you look excited at all?”

“I don’t know why I should be excited. On your birthday, you didn’t seem excited either.”

“True, you’re twenty-one now, right?”

“Yeah, but I feel like I’m still a kid.”

“Well, today we have to go out, take lots of pictures as a memory, like a birthday trip for you,” Ter said, “Do you have a trip plan yet?”    “Not yet,” I shook my head, “Can you guys help me look? I’m scared I’ll plan something that’s not good.”

“You try first, we’ll wash the dishes,” North said. I nodded, wiped my wet hands, and took out my phone to check, but first, I saw a notification pop up. It was a chat from Daotok. I quickly opened it.

SS: Happy Birthday, cat

   SS: Sent an image

   It was a picture of me in watercolor. Of course, Daotok must have drawn it himself; there was his signature at the bottom right with the date.

“Guys, look at this,” I said excitedly, quickly showing it off to North and Ter.

“Wow, it’s beautiful,” North was stunned when he saw the picture I showed.

“So cute, he drew it for you,” Ter said.

“Yeah, it’s cute,” before I quickly typed back a big thank you and saved the picture immediately, “Whoever has Daotok as a boyfriend must be insanely lucky.”

“Why’s that?” North asked, “His spirit is strong; he can see ghosts, you know.”

“It’s just a minor thing. No one would take offense,” I said.

“Minor my ass, you freak, he saw ghosts!”

“You’re just too scared, North. Besides, didn’t Dao say it was just a slight touch?” I raised an eyebrow, looking at North who was wideeyed with panic, “Right, Ter?”

“How can someone who only works all day have a girlfriend?” Ter pondered, making me think too, “If Dao is going to get a girlfriend, she better be a good person. I’m not worried about Phoon since he’s with Phii Fah, just Foam and Daotok left.”    “Yeah, how’s Foam doing?” North asked.

“What do you think? He got tricked by a girl again,” Ter replied, which made North burst out laughing while also feeling sorry for Foam.

“Oh, poor Foam.”

“I wish there was someone to look after Dao too,” I added, “but it seems like he’s not that interested.”

“Yeah,” North nodded in agreement, “Can we pay off the motorcycle first, like the ‘Ghost Rider’ said?” North imitated Daotok.

Me and Ter couldn’t help but laugh because it was spot on; Dao often gives this kind of response when we ask if he’s thinking about finding someone.

“After paying off the motorcycle, it’ll be time to save for rent,” Ter teased, “We haven’t even paid the electric bill yet, girlfriend? What about the water bill? Tomorrow’s the work deadline too.”

“Life is a struggle, I really like it, what’s the big deal?” North said. I smiled along, then remembered we still had to plan our sightseeing.

“Should we get back to planning today’s trip?”

“Come on, I’ll help search; I’m a first-class guide.”    The three of us worked together to look up information about sightseeing for a while, completely forgetting that the doctors were waiting. Once we had a rough idea, we moved to the living room area, only to find the three doctors had fallen asleep on the sofa, except for Phii Arthit who must have gone back to his room.

   I couldn’t help but smile at the sight in front of me. I genuinely felt grateful to Khun Phii Fah for bringing me to Japan despite being so tired, especially after not sleeping much during the exam week. Then, I quickly pulled out my phone to take a picture.

   It wasn’t just me; North and Ter took pictures too. The three of us tried to suppress our laughter to not wake them up.

   So cute.

Really, really cute. Look, Phii Fah was sitting on the big sofa, arms crossed, leaning back and dozing off, with Phii Jo next to him in the same pose. Meanwhile, Phii Hill was on the single sofa.    But before we could take the picture, they opened their eyes and woke up, making the three of us barely able to put our phones away in time.

   “What are you guys doing?” Phii Fah asked.

“Uh…nothing,” I said, stammering. North nudged me with his elbow, as if to say I wasn’t slick at all, before Phii Jo and Phii Hill stood up.

“Let’s go, see you in an hour.”

“Okay,” Phii Fah replied. Phii Jo dragged North out of the room, and Ter was led out by Phii Hill, “Phoon.”

“Ye…yes?”

“Come here,” Phii Fah said, standing up to gently take my wrist, leading me into the bedroom. I followed in a daze, “Close your eyes.”

“Huh?”

“Close your eyes for a moment.” I slowly closed my eyes as he said, even though I didn’t quite understand. Then I felt something heavy being hung around my neck, “It’s a bit heavy, isn’t it?”

I reached up to feel it and immediately knew it was a camera, so I opened my eyes in excitement.

   This camera is!!!

   “This…this is…”

“Happy birthday to my wonderful person, now twenty-one. I wish every day from now on to be a good day for you Typhoon. No matter what you hope for, may it be fulfilled. I will always support you.”

“…”

“And here’s your gift. Thank you for being the best thing in my life.”

“…hic.” For some reason, tears suddenly welled up, and I couldn’t help but start sobbing. I tried to hold back by pressing my lips together, but it was no use because so many emotions were flooding out from inside.

It’s not just about the gifts.

   Yesterday with my mom was great, and other things too.

   Everything has been wonderful.

   “Hic…Th-thank you, thank you,” I let the tears flow, and Phii Fah gently hugged me to comfort me. After a moment, I stopped crying.

Because these weren’t tears of sadness like they had been for many years.

They were tears of happiness that I hope would last forever.

“Thank you, really thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Phii Fah smiled warmly at me and gently wiped away my tears, our faces just centimeters apart. I was captivated and fell in love with those eyes all over again.

I slowly moved my face closer, softly pressing my lips against his.

Phii Fah seemed slightly surprised before kissing me back.

His strong hand reached around my waist, lifting me so he wouldn’t have to bend down. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and when Phii Fah lifted me, I leaned down to kiss him. Our lips touched, turning into the familiar taste of a kiss.

   Sweet, fragrant, and tender, just like every time.

   Phii Fah placed me on the table. I was slightly startled, opening my eyes in surprise as he kissed me deeply. Soon, his warm tongue invaded, exploring everywhere, my eyes tightly shut as his warm breath tickled my ear. One of Phii Fah’s hands pushed the back of my head closer as if feeling we were not close enough.

   It felt like all the energy was being sucked out of me, my heart beating faster and faster, almost like it was going to explode, the emptiness in my stomach rising. I was breathing heavily, my chest heaving, but the intense rhythm of the kiss didn’t stop, showing no signs of slowing down. He kissed harder until it hurt.

   More than ten minutes passed.

   “…More.”

Phii Fah slowly withdrew from the kiss as if he didn’t want to let go. I gradually opened my eyes to meet those beautiful eyes again.    I was slightly startled when Phii Fah suddenly pressed his thumb against my lips. Even though it wasn’t hard, I was surprised by the pain.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rough.”

“…Uh, did my lip split?”

“Yes, sorry about that.”

“…” I felt numb both inside and out, still feeling like Phii Fah was kissing me. I tried to calm my heart, “Is it…very split?”    “Just a little,” Phii Fah smiled.

“I…I’ll go change,” I quickly said with a shaky voice, still embarrassed from what just happened. Phii Fah seemed to understand and gave a satisfied smile. I walked past him, picked up a shirt, set the camera down on the table, and went straight to the bathroom.    Looking in the mirror, I saw my face was very red, so red I thought I might be sick. My lips were also red and swollen, with a slight cut on my lower lip that was bleeding a little.

   Ah…why was it so intense?

   I took off my shirt to shower, and seeing the red marks on my shoulder reminded me of the evening when Phii Fah left those marks.

That’s when I was about to turn towards the shower.    Wait…

   These marks…

   Where did they come from?!

   There were red bruises on the back, just below the shoulder, and there were quite a few of them.

   Phii Fah!

   This is insane! Don’t tell me it was while I was asleep!

   After the shower, I quickly got dressed and went out to confront the suspect, no, the accused.

“Phii Fah,” I called out. Phii Fah, who was playing with his phone, looked up at me with a smile as if nothing had happened, “I found more marks.”    “What kind of marks?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know.”

“You won’t see them once you put on a shirt.”

“That’s not the point at all,” I said with a pout, and then Phii Fah stopped smiling, which made me feel uneasy.

“Go change your shirt,” said the person sitting on the bed in a low voice. I paused for a moment.

“But this shirt is fine, isn’t it?” I said, looking down at my own shirt, a black one I had just bought, but it didn’t show much, just a regular tshirt.

Phii Fah didn’t respond, instead, he walked closer, pulled me up a bit, and bent down to kiss my neck where the shirt didn’t cover. I felt a sharp pain immediately, making me frown and tense up.

   “You can’t wear this shirt anymore,” he said with a sly smile, while I wanted to protest but was too embarrassed to say anything, so I had to go find another shirt to change into. In the end, I wore another regular t-shirt along with a long-sleeve shirt that Phii Fah had bought for me back when we were still writing letters to each other.

The first gift Phii Fah ever gave me.

“I’ve never seen you wear it before, I thought you forgot about it,” Phii Fah commented as I walked back into the bedroom.

“I wear it on special occasions, like today, for my birthday,” I said before Phii Fah went to shower and get dressed. While waiting, I took the opportunity to test my new camera thoroughly. It was a camera many photographers dream of, with its high price, KhunPha had to match the cost. From the moment I saw it, I fell in love with it, both for its external design and its capabilities.

   I tried out various angles in the room with the camera, thinking that today, this would be the one to capture the day’s photos. I needed to get used to it quickly.

   Soon, Phii Fah came out of the bathroom, fully dressed. Normally, Phii Fah wears shirts or t-shirts with jeans and Tiger sneakers; even with just that, he looks very good. I’ve never seen Phii Fah style his hair, guessing it’s not his style, but today he was wearing a jacket too.

   “Secretly taking photos again, huh?” the person I was secretly photographing turned around and asked after I took the opportunity to snap a picture when Phii Fah turned to grab something.

“Just a little, it’s a new camera,” I smiled broadly.

“Can’t help it, having a photographer for a boyfriend.”

“Yeah, it’s really unavoidable.”

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