SOUTHBESIDETHESKY, Chapter 41: Friend
Tonfah
Before Phoon sent the message about wanting to go out, there was no reason to stop him since he wanted to hang out with friends, and it’s just the zoo they were going to. The only thing I was worried about was him getting lost, hoping he wouldn’t get too caught up in taking photos to forget about his friends. But I told North and Ter to look after Phoon.
Time passed until lunchtime. I called Phoon who was out sightseeing, seeing that they were having fun walking around and taking photos. Now they were eating, and not long after, I hung up to go get something to eat too.
I came to the faculty’s cafeteria to eat because I was too lazy to walk far.
“Do you have more classes after this?” Jo asked. I nodded in response, “What’s the heavy subject?” “Still not used to it?” I asked.
“I’m used to it, but I want to complain.”
“Uh, finals are coming up soon.”
“Can we not talk about that, Hill? I’m discouraged,” Arthit complained, letting out a big sigh, “Even the food isn’t good, damn it, nothing’s going my way.”
“I told you that place isn’t good,” Jo said.
“It’s less crowded, I’m too lazy to wait.”
“Then just eat and don’t complain.”
“But Phoon, why would he suggest going to Suan Sathorn?” Hill turned to ask me.
“He probably likes today’s light, so he wants to go take photos, and he must be free too.” “Oh.”
“Uh, Jo, Hill.”
“What? / What?”
“Can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“Have you guys ever talked about kids?”
“Huh?” My question made both of them look a bit surprised before
Hill answered, “Yeah, Ter said he wants to adopt.”
“North asked me,” Jo replied, “but I don’t like kids, so no.” “Oh, okay,” I nodded to Jo, “Then, Hill, about adopting, did you talk about anything more than that?”
“No,” Hill shook his head slightly, “He wouldn’t answer when I asked.”
“Shy?” I raised my eyebrows in question, and the person I asked nodded instead of answering, “Ah, same here.”
“Why ask all of a sudden?”
“Last night, Phoon was drunk and started talking about kids, asking if I’d have time for them even though I work hard, and if I’d be a cute dad to them,” I explained, “The peak was when he said he’d run away with the kid if I scolded him.”
My words made everyone at the table burst out laughing together.
“Phoon would run away with the kid from you?” Jo asked, still laughing, “Holy shit, that’s pitiful.”
“I feel sorry for you,” Arthit said, “Getting run off with the kids, the heart of a father, huh?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Doesn’t he think about the heart of a father like me?” I said, laughing along with them.
“But have you guys talked about kids already? That’s fast,” Arthit commented.
“We haven’t talked about it seriously. Just casual talk,” I said, “But seriously, time flies, I’ll be twenty-four when I graduate with Phoon.” Because my degree is for six years, and Phoon took two gap years, so we’ll graduate at the same time.
“And have you thought about your future?” Hill turned to ask Arthit, who immediately looked confused.
“Why are you asking me? Uh, I don’t know, let’s graduate first.” “Will you work as a doctor after you graduate?” I asked. “I’ve studied for six years; let me put that to use,” Arthit’s answer made us all look at him in surprise, “Why, what’s so surprising? I am a doctor.”
“Just tell us which hospital you’ll be at, so I won’t drive by,” Jo said.
“One day, you’ll definitely have to come to me for treatment, Johan,
I’m telling you now.”
“Better if I die elsewhere. Don’t come to treat me, if the only doctor is you.”
“What’s so bad about me, huh?”
“You’re the one who always has Fah helping you with work, right?”
“Hill, you underestimate me too much.”
“Have I ever judged you wrongly?”
“Yeah.”
Before we could say more, I got a video call from Phoon. I quickly answered.
(Phii Fah)
“Yes, how’s it going, are you having fun?”
(Look, oh, everyone’s here, North, Ter, come here), Phoon turned to wave at Ter and North who were behind him, it looked like they were feeding giraffes, (Just now, North threw a carrot at the giraffe’s head, Phii Jo.)
“Why do that?” Jo raised his eyebrows in question.
(Phii, North was surprised, out of nowhere he just stuck his neck out, is he crazy?)
“I told you to go have fun, not to go and mess around.”
(Serves him right, got scolded by Phii Jo), Phoon turned to tease North, who immediately made a grumpy face at Jo, (Hehe, have you eaten yet?)
“You seem so cheerful, yes, I’ve eaten, I’ll be heading back to study soon.”
(Ah, hehe, just showing off how much fun I had.)
(It was fun, weren’t you tired?), North said.
(You’re just bad at it, can’t help it.)
“What’s that?”
(At the hill just now, we played rock-paper-scissors. Whoever
lost had to let the winner ride on Phoon’s back, and I carried North like a horse all the way.)
“Oh, Jo, North must be tired,” I said.
“Uh, I never win at rock-paper-scissors anyway.”
(Phii Jo!)North suddenly appeared in full view on the camera, talking to Jo, so much so that nothing else was visible, startling me a bit, (Side with me! Phoon and Ter are ganging up on me, huh?)
(Why are you so loud?), Phoon’s voice came before the person holding the phone pushed North away, (Let’s stop for now, we’re going to continue our adventure.)
(Shh, Phii Fah, Phii Hill, pay up three million before I kill your partners and bury them in Suan Sathorn). I couldn’t help but laugh at North’s words, (I have the hostages with me. If this reaches the police, I’ll pinch Phoon’s arm until it bruises.)
“Oh. It won’t reach the police, I’ll transfer the money,” I said, “Give me the account number.”
(Phii Fah, you serious? I was just joking.)
“Really? But you always seem serious about money, was that a joke too?”
(That one was serious, but it’s different.)
“How is it different?”
(Uh…we are going now! Phii Fah, don’t transfer money, or I’ll get scolded for sure.)
“Eh,” I accidentally spoke out when North made a funny face and disappeared from the camera, leaving only Phoon’s image again, “Phii Fah you has to go to class now, it looks like it might rain, did you bring an umbrella, ah, no, I didn’t bring an umbrella.” “Ter brought an umbrella,” Hill said.
“Oh, so we can share it, right?”
(Yes, I’ll share the umbrella with Ter, but Phii Jo, there’s not enough umbrella. I’ll have to ask for permission to let North wear a plastic bag on his head), Phoon’s words made Jo laugh a little,
(Just kidding, we’ll take the zoo’s shuttle if it rains.)
“Okay. Take care of yourself and your friends.”
(Yes!)
…
Tonfah
“Is this the first time you’ve seen him joking with Phii Jo?” Ter asked with a surprised look after I ended the video call.
“Probably, I feel like Phii Jo can be playful, and today I’m in an excellent mood, let’s go!”
“Yeah, I believe it, you’re in such high spirits, what did you do last night?”
“I didn’t do anything!” I replied to North sternly, “Come on, piggyback ride.”
“I’m not giving you a ride, it’s embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing for what? There’s no one around.” I said. I wasn’t sure why, but the zoo wasn’t as lively as I thought; there were hardly any people, just a few tourists since we arrived.
“Let’s do rock-paper-scissors again, you win once and want me to carry you around the whole zoo?”
“Yeah, let’s go again!” I said cheerfully, we played rock-paperscissors, three of us, starting by eliminating one with the least good hand to leave two, the one who lost out just walked. The loser had to carry the winner.
This time, Ter had to carry me!
“Hehe,” I, the winner, grinned broadly with joy.
“You win again, did you cheat?”
“What? Come on, Ter, give me a ride!”
“Phoon, you seem off, I’m starting not to trust you,” Ter said, looking at me with surprise, “Normally, the good guy would be North.
Now he’s been drained of all his energy.”
“Be quiet, sit down,” and Ter had to crouch down so I could ride on his back, “Is it heavy?” “Heavy.”
“Really? Then run!”
“Shit, instead of feeling sorry for me because I’m heavy, you tell me to run.”
“Ter run, Ter run.”
“Sigh, I’m not running,” Ter said, and he didn’t run after all, just slowly walked with me on his back, “Feels like I’m looking after a seven or eight-year-old kid.”
“A demonic kid at that.”
“North, you’re bold,” I said, frowning a little, “Ter! Go catch him,
I’ll deal with him.”
“Sigh, can I catch him while carrying you?”
“Oh, come on,” I mumbled a bit, “Let me down, I want to take photos.”
“Yeah, yeah,” and Ter let me down. I took photos until I was satisfied and then we continued walking, “I want to ride on someone’s back too.”
“You want to as well?” North asked.
“Look, there’s another hill,” Ter said before we played rock-paperscissors again. This time, Ter got to ride on my back. I crouched down so Ter could climb on, gripping his arms tightly to make sure he wouldn’t fall, before starting to run until Ter started pounding on my back, “Damn, don’t run, Phoon, I’m going to fall!”
“You won’t fall.”
“Aaah, Phoon, I’m falling!”
And our silly back-riding game continued a few more times until we were all tired from taking turns carrying each other. I still didn’t understand why we were doing this, but due to exhaustion, we had to take the park’s tram and get off at intervals.
“Damn, why do I have to be this tired just from coming to Suan
Sathorn?” North grumbled a bit.
“Come on, it’s a day off after all,” I said.
“Isn’t a day off supposed to be for resting?”
“Look, now we’re resting.”
“I’m already tired after resting, how can resting make you more tired?”
“Let’s get off here,” I said when the shuttle stopped near the Snow
Dome, “I want to go into the Snow Dome!”
“Yeah, yeah, let’s go,” and Ter and North had to follow me into the Snow Dome. We paid the entrance fee, and the staff handed us winter coats and boots. As soon as we walked in, the cold hit us. Of course, there was no one else inside except us, and the ice was all frozen to the floor. There was no loose snow to throw around.
“Seems like not many people come here,” Ter said, “I thought we could throw some snow around.”
“Yeah, it’s just cold,” North added. I frowned in disappointment because the inside wasn’t that spacious either, “There’s only that,” North pointed to a high slope where we could slide down with inflatable rings.
“Let’s play, play, play,” I said excitedly.
“Alright, alright, today is your day, Typhoon.”
“Yay!”
“Really like babysitting, I’ll charge Phii Fah for this.”
“Babysitting what? Just inviting you to slide!”
“Watch out for slipping, Phoon!” North shouted. I grabbed the rail just in time before I slipped because almost everything was ice, “Damn, what if you slip and crack your head, you idiot. Watch where you’re going, will you?”
“No need to get so angry.”
“Ter, make sure he doesn’t get hurt.”
“Go, Typhoon, or your dad will scold you again.”
“Is North my dad?”
“Yeah, your dad.”
“Why scold me?”
“No reason, just saying, call me dad.”
“Dad, give me some snacks,” I teased, shaking North’s shirt playfully, and he sighed immediately.
“Dad doesn’t have any snacks left, son.”
When we decided to go on the slide, the staff came to help because going down alone could be dangerous. They made us sit on an inner tube and pushed us off. North went first since I was still hesitant.
Once I saw that North slid down safely, I followed and sat on the tube.
After sliding down, it felt strange but fun until Ter bumped into me.
“Why did you bump into me?”
“I can’t steer or brake at all.”
“Did it hurt?” North asked. I slowly got up from the tube.
“It didn’t hurt, it’s rubber; what’s there to hurt? Let’s go again!” After going into the snow dome and coming out, we felt a bit damp and sticky. Since there was no car, we had to walk. We kept walking until we saw the bird zone and immediately went inside.
Inside, it looked like a simulated forest, and you could hear birds but couldn’t see them.
“Where are the birds?” North asked while looking around.
“Just on the trees.”
“But I don’t see any, just geese.”
“Seeing those makes me want to eat foie gras,” Ter said, causing me and North to turn and look at him at once, “What?”
“Damn, what’s your heart made of, looking at a goose and saying you want to eat goose liver?” North frowned, “You guys, this fat one will eat your livers if you don’t run.”
“North, shut up!” Ter said, hitting North’s back, and then I heard the sound of birds again. I didn’t know what kind they were, but they were flying above, so I quickly raised my camera to take pictures.
“You guys, I think Jon is harder to find,” North said. I turned to look, and he was waving for me. I hurried over.
“Where?” I asked excitedly, leaning in to look and saw…“A chicken?”
“Yeah, it’s the bird zone, isn’t it?” Ter said, looking a bit disappointed.
“Well, I paid to come to Suan Sathorn just to see a chicken, how hard is that to find?” North said sarcastically. The oblivious rooster continued pecking at papaya. We walked around, looking at the birds until we were satisfied, then walked back out, “What’s next?” “That’s right,” I pulled out the map I had grabbed at the entrance. “You should give it to me, Phoon, you shouldn’t even look at the map,” Ter said.
“Oh.”
“Just look at your camera, Phoon,” North said, “We have to keep an eye on you all the time while walking around; if you get lost, me and
Ter will be in big trouble. If possible, I’d put you on a leash.”
“Oh, that’s cruel, dad’s so cruel.”
“What, I’ll whip you if you keep this up.”
“You always resort to force with your son,” I playfully pouted.
“Oh, North, you’re such a terrible dad, your son is about to cry.”
“Oh, oh, don’t cry.”
“Huhuhu.”
“Then you can have a piggyback ride.”
“Yay!” And North bent down for me to climb onto his back. I don’t know why I was in such a good mood, feeling very happy and warm too. The important thing was that I felt cared for, probably because these guys took me out and watched over me, “Run then!” “Yeah, yeah.” And North started running, not going too far, then circled back to Ter and let me down, “Happy now, son?” “Happy! But if there’s a dad, why isn’t there a mom?” I made a serious face, “If there’s a dad, there must be a mom.” “Phoon, if you say it like that, you want me to be the mom?”
“Please, just for one day.”
“Uh…I don’t want to be the mom, can I just be the dad? North, you be the mom this time.”
“Dream then, I’m already the dad, but I don’t want a wife like you.” “I want a boyfriend like you, then!”
“Then we’ll have two dads,” I suggested.
“Yeah, yeah, that works.”
“Hehe, I’m hungry now.”
“We should treat them, right?” North said.
“You don’t have to treat, but let’s go eat.”
“Okay, then let’s go wait for the tram,” Ter suggested. After looking at the map for a while, he led us to wait for the tram to get off at the restaurant area. I ended up treating both of them to a meal since they went through the trouble of bringing me out, especially since it’s after that, we headed to the aquarium.
“The moon fish, no matter how many times you look at it, it’s strange,” North commented while staring at the moon fish through the clear water, “Doesn’t look like it should even exist on this planet.” “They call it the moon of the sea, have you ever studied biology?”
“What’s biology?”
“Phoon, look at your ‘dad’ North. He doesn’t even know what biology is.”
“Being called that, I don’t know how to respond,” North grumbled slightly. I couldn’t help but laugh at that, “And what am I supposed to call it then, Phoon, son, like this?”
“Yes, dad!”
“Shit, why do I suddenly have a son?”
“Have you made someone pregnant without taking responsibility?” Ter said.
“Is this your son too?”
“Yeah, your son, behave well.”
“It’s like you can’t decide whether to call him ‘son’ or ‘you’,” I said, laughing again and lifting my camera to capture the moment.
“Why don’t you try calling Phii Fah ‘dad’?” Ter suggested. I immediately turned to look at him, thinking he was crazy! Remembering the conversation from last night about what pronouns to use.
“Are you, are you crazy?!”
“See, you’re blushing, getting all flustered, I hit the nail on the head, didn’t I?”
“Ter! You bastard.”
“You were just calling him ‘dad’ a moment ago.”
“Not anymore!”
And so we walked all around the aquarium until we were tired and didn’t want to walk anymore, so we waited for the shuttle to take us back to the entrance. It didn’t take long for the shuttle to arrive. While I was staring absentmindedly out of the window as the zoo shuttle drove by, my mind was wandering. I glanced at Ter and North, who were also looking at the scenery, and I smiled without realizing it. I felt like something was swelling up inside my heart, and as the rain started to drizzle down, it made the surrounding atmosphere even cooler.
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what?” Ter asked.
“For going along with me to come here, I’ve wanted to come for a long time, it’s so close but I’ve never been,” I smiled, not looking at the two beside me because I was embarrassed, “Thank you for playing along with my silliness.” “…What’s with you, suddenly?”
“I don’t know, thank you for approaching me that day, Ter, if you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have known where to find friends like you, thank you for always being there. I used to not like myself at all. I didn’t like who I was, didn’t like what I was doing, didn’t like it to the point where I wanted to disappear, but you guys came into my life and said you liked me just the way I am.”
“When I cried, you were there holding my hand, when I was lost, you came looking for me, when things were bad, you made it better. Maybe I have bad luck because I used all my luck to meet good friends like you.”
“Phoon, Ter is crying,” North said, but I didn’t turn to look because I was also starting to tear up a bit.
“Hick. I’m not crying!” Ter sniffled.
“Ter, you’re such a crybaby.”
“Without you guys, there wouldn’t be me, really, damn, what’s wrong with me, getting all sentimental in a zoo,” I said, wiping my tears gently, “Forget it. I won’t talk anymore, or I won’t be able to stop crying.”
“Yeah. Don’t talk then, hic! you idiot!” Then Ter slapped my back hard, making me choke a bit, “You know I’m sensitive, why make me cry?”
“I didn’t mean to make you cry, I just felt like saying it, can’t I be sentimental?”
“You don’t need to say it, I already know! I feel thankful for you guys too, you know!” “No, I’m more thankful.”
“No, I am.”
“Phoon, don’t argue with me.”
“Why are you arguing with me, Ter?”
“…You guys,” North seemed to try to mediate, looking somewhat helpless, “Why argue? What’s the matter with you two?”
“You have a heart colder than ice, North.”
“Now I’ve become the cold-hearted one,” North sighed slightly, “I’m just not affected by it, it’s just something we’re supposed to do for each other, isn’t it? No need for all this sentimentality, we’ll be together for a long time. Besides, if I cry, who’s going to comfort you guys?”
“Wow, that’s a very cool thing to say, but your attitude sucks a bit.” “Damn, Ter, what’s with you?”
“Just kidding,” Ter said with a dry smile, “Thanks, though.”
“Thanks for what?”
“For always being there, and for protecting us. Whether it was when
I got picked on or when Phoon was hurt, you were our hero.” The time when Ter was picked on was probably back in our freshman year, when Ter had just started dating Phii Hill, and some senior girls started trouble. North was there, and instead of Ter getting angry, it was North who got furious. Ter had to hold North back from going to punch them. After that, he told Phii Hill, and once Phii Hill sorted it out, no one dared to bother Ter anymore.
Ter said that when he was picked on, North got more upset than when he was picked on himself.
“Yeah.”
“Hey, North is blushing.”
“Damn, I’m not!”
“Actually, you’re embarrassed, aren’t you? You always act tough with friends,” Ter teased. North frowned, his face starting to turn a slight shade of red.
“Yeah, I don’t like this sentimental stuff. Don’t do that.”
“See, pretending to be cool but you’re embarrassed, aren’t you? You really are our hero. No matter what happens, you’re always the positive energy for everyone. Let’s stay together for a long time, come on, say ‘I love you’ to make us feel good.”
I smiled broadly at the cute scene I was seeing now because, on the outside, North might seem rough, but inside, he’s very gentle.
“I won’t say it!”
With friends, when they get really embarrassed, this is what always happens.
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