MYENGINEER, CHAPTER 66: Dad-Direk

[Bohn]

“You guys! Hurry up, please, our friends are waiting!”

“Damn, King is really harsh.”

“Yeah, I never thought he could do it.” I agreed with Bom. We were watching our beloved friend hazing freshmen with his hands behind his back. It’s been almost two weeks since the semester started. You might think I’d get the head hazer position, nope. I’m too lazy for that kind of thing. Plus, I hate dealing with complicated stuff, so our dear friend King had to take on the role.

At first, there was a fifty-fifty split on whether to make King the head hazer; everyone said he was too nice. I was one of those who opposed it too, but when he actually did it, he turned out to be quite ruthless, totally different from the artsy King we knew.

“At first, I thought for sure this position would go to Bohn. And King would be the one coddling the juniors…it’s the complete opposite, damn.” Trust me, many people thought like this. King is kind-hearted, he always helps out when someone’s in trouble. Who would’ve thought he’d do something like this?

“Exactly, and damn Boss too.” His annoying wife is one of the hazers, yeah. He said he wanted to try it once in his life, and it just so happened that the seniors chose him too. They said when Boss is serious, he can be really tough. And it’s true.

“Yeah…there’s no trace of the quiet husband and annoying wife from engineering anymore.” We looked at the quiet husband, standing with his hands behind his back next to his wife. They’re the same. After taking up these roles, they don’t tease each other in public anymore because they’re afraid the juniors will see, but when it’s just with friends, they still banter like before.

Rrrrrr

‘Duen’

I smiled when I saw who was calling. My life is so happy these days, it’s like we’re already married. My family gave Duen the green light easily. They even love their son-in-law more than their own son like me. Whenever I bring Duen home, Mom and Dad spoil him, stuffing him with food until he almost throws up, and they love him even more knowing he can cook. Even though he’s become a bit of a spoiled brat, I’m glad they love him.

Now, it’s just a matter of his parents on that side…

“What is it?” The people around me started making knowing faces. How could they not know? I was smiling so wide my cheeks hurt. Even when I try to act tough, you still give me that teasing look, you bastard, Boss.

(Want to eat something? I’m at the cake shop.) One of his daily routines is to wait for me at the faculty; he has a motorcycle, but he has to wait to ride back with me. I’ve told him to come with just one bike, but he won’t listen, saying it’s too complicated. I think this is actually more complicated…

“I want to eat.”

(What do you want?)

“you…Duen.”

(You bastard, fck!) His pronunciation is like a native speaker, fitting for being my wife. I bet you’re raising your middle finger right now.

“Give me…you?”

(Fck!!)

“Do you want some?”

(Hell! Shut up, you bastard. So what do you want to eat?) I chuckled to the person on the phone. There’s never a day he isn’t cute. Does he know how much I have to restrain myself from pinching his cheeks?

“Anything, whatever my boyfriend buys, I’ll eat it all.”

(Why are you so cute? Weren’t you more savage before?)

“The tough look is just an image; I’m only cute with my boyfriend.”

“I want to tease him so bad, but if I do, Boss and his crew would definitely lose their cool.” Bom spoke with his arms crossed. I think so too. Look now, even Duen’s Thai language teacher has started scratching his head. He wants to join in too.

“Yeah, I think the same. Let’s tease him lightly, okay?”

“How about it, Tee’s friend? Oh…I get it now.”

“Tease tease tease tease tease tease tease tease tease!” Saying “tease” repeatedly while tapping my shoulder all around, is this what you call light teasing? Uh…who taught you this? I’m going to go smack their head.

(Alright, up to you then. I’ll buy coffee cake and tuna bread.)

“Uh-huh.” You’re trying to please me, huh? All my favorite things.

I don’t know how Duen has been studying in his second year, but I think it’s tough…my boyfriend finds it tough. He puts his skull on the nightstand, and before sleeping, he has to recite something I can’t make out. I have no problem with that. Even if it sounds like a prayer…

The real problem is the skull…it glows. Initially, it didn’t glow, but I don’t know what the fool coated it with to make it shine so brightly at night like this.

“Phew, I’m exhausted to death, my cheeks are so tense they’re about to split, I’ve bitten my lips until they’re almost bleeding.” King walked over and sat down next to me. Classes are over now.

“Yeah, the weather’s insanely hot, the sun’s so fierce it’s almost blinding, damn, I think I’m sunburned, ugh, my dear husband, my wife hurts.” After saying that, he crawled onto his partner’s lap, Merk stopped drinking water, looked at his annoying wife, then reached up to wipe the sweat from Boss’s forehead. This scene…

“Drink some water.” He brought his own water bottle to the lips of his annoying wife. This is…an indirect kiss!!!

“Cheers, can I tease now? If not Bohn and Duen, then Merk and Boss will do.”

“But only for a moment, this volume is Bohn and Duen…”

“Two hours, sir.”

“Whose wife is here? Urgent attention needed.” I turned to look at the pathway, just from that, I knew who had come. Wait a second, Mom, did you buy snacks for me to snack on or is your son about to go to a Boy Scout camp? There are three or four bags all messed up.

“Duen, do you know you look like a ghost?”

“Why? am I that worn out, Professor…?”

“No…Duen looks like a ghost because every time I see you, I see the ghost of love.”

“Roooooooll, on, on, on!”

“No, I’m not shy, ghost ships are not exciting, sorry, Boss.” Plus one for Bom.

“Yeah, I’ll kick you off the table, you brat.” I lifted my foot in preparation, I knew it would end like this.

“Lebiad, talamiad, peeeeeep.”

“Translate that, dear friend, there’s a shortage of interpreters for this language. No, you’re the only one in the world who understands.” True, Tang…

“Isn’t that enough teasing, you jealous bastard?”

“Jealous, yes. Not being jealous would be strange.”

“Enough, here, your coffee cake.” Before things got any more drawn out, Duen handed over a big bag. You said you’d buy only two things, why are there almost ten items in this bag? Is that milk? And what’s that…

“Coffee in English is ‘coffee’, when will Duen call me ‘darling’?”

“I’ll slap you in a moment.” I raised my hand to pretend to slap the speaker, who pretended to be scared, shaking and running to hug Tee on the other side, probably picking up the annoying habits from Boss’s friend.

“Was today’s class tough?” I asked my lover. The other day, I was furious when he passed out from staying up all night studying. When I scolded him, he said, “I have to study to help others.” but shouldn’t you take care of yourself first? You care about others but not yourself; how can you be a good doctor like that? I’m worried about you…

“Not really, today wasn’t that hard.” He replied before fanning himself with a sheet. After living together for a while, I’ve learned something…Duen isn’t very organized. Our bedroom is full of his sheets and books scattered around. He never tidies up, and I’m too lazy to do it, so I just let it be.

“Really? Don’t overdo it like last time. Otherwise, I’ll lock you in the condo so you can’t go to class.”

“You’re harsh…And you, are you tired?” The other person took out the tuna bread from the bag for me. With service like this, how could I not love you?

“Tired…I’m tired from missing you.” After saying that, I leaned in to kiss his cheek, but he pushed me away, my head hitting the post. Sometimes, you’re too strong.

“I’m sick of people like you, mountain lovers, damn it!” Duen said irritably, playfully banging my head against the post several times. Haha.

“I mean…don’t just love from afar, come and hug me.” Bom’s friend said, arms crossed. Being around you guys, I’ve got so many lines to use on Duen.

“Oh, that’s how it is, huh, hehe.”

“Hell!” Brrrrrrrrrr!

Eek!

!!

We were about to laugh but had to shut up and widen our eyes in surprise when several luxury cars pulled up near where our group was sitting, maybe about five cars. Each car had some kind of flag on the front…the symbol looked familiar, like something I’ve seen on TV a lot, it seems to be…

…the symbol of the Air Force.

I’m not sure, but I think that’s right. The flag’s background is blue, with the symbol in yellow; I can’t quite make out all the details, but I see wings in the center. I think I remember it correctly; someone once said something about the Air Force…Who was it again?

‘Look at this! Cool, right? My dad has this symbol on his chest too. He’s an Air Marshal, you know!’ Eh…

Could it be

“Line up!!”

Before I could think any more about it, a man shouted loudly, loud enough to startle passersby, and over ten giant soldiers ran to line up in unison, oh my…

“Salute!”

As soon as the shout ended, someone stepped out of the second luxury car. He was as tall and imposing as those soldiers, his shoulders covered by a dark blue jacket adorned with ranks and badges, his gaze so fierce that he couldn’t be…

“Dad!”

…That’s right.

I watched Duen run towards that man. The place fell into silence; there were other people around, quite a few, but they were probably too scared of these guys to say anything.

“Why did you come, Dad?” Duen tilted his head, asking his father. We were all so tense we didn’t know what to do, even King sat up straight.

“Came to take my son back home.”

“Huh, is someone hurt?”

“Currently, no one is hurt…but soon someone might be.” After saying that, his eyes darted towards me. I’m sure…he knows about me and Duen.

“Who?”

“Who knows, maybe it’s one of the young men around here.”

“Don’t be mischievous, Dad, there aren’t any bad people here.”

“Huh, and you…do you have a boyfriend?” Duen’s father crossed his arms, looking at his son, his aura of intimidation sending chills down my spine.

Alright…

“…Uh, how did you know, Dad?” He looked very surprised. I don’t think he wanted to hide it; he just didn’t know how to start talking about it. Even I didn’t know how to tell my parents; I had to wait for them to find out themselves…like this.

“I have many connections, I know everything, and I know your boyfriend is in this faculty.” If Duen’s father is going to stare like that, he might as well point at me and say that’s me. Duen’s father’s gaze was terrifying, and with these bear-like soldiers as backup, it was even more frightening. They didn’t look like soldiers…more like terrorists.

“…Uh, yeah.”

“Go bring him over so I can meet him.”

“It’s me, sir.”

I walked up to confront him without fear…well, actually, I was very scared of him. Don’t think I’m weak; you try standing here.

“Hmm, I knew it.”

“…”

“You’ve got guts, thought you’d be too scared to admit it.” The person I was talking to crossed his arms, looking at me with unfriendly eyes. His actions and words indicated he didn’t like my damn face at all.

“Do you have something to discuss with me?” I tried to be nice, like fighting a tiger. I heard King say, ‘He’s got this,’ but I’m not backing down, my dear friend. I gritted my teeth and spoke…

“Straight or roundabout. Even if you tell me to be roundabout, I’ll be direct…I want Duen to have a wife and kids.”

“…” I felt like everything around me froze. Tell me he’s joking like my parents did last time. He didn’t mean that, right…

“Do you understand what I’m saying? If you do, then stop messing with my son!” The man in front of me shouted loudly and dragged his son towards the luxury car. What should I do? My head is spinning like I’ve been hit with something hard. What’s this all about?

“Dad, where are you taking me!”

“Home.”

“I’m not going! Dad, you’re not joking, are you?” Duenhaw tried to resist, but he couldn’t overpower his father. I wanted to help, to pull him out, but I didn’t because Duen’s father seemed to want to talk to me about something he didn’t want Duen to hear.

“Is this a game?”

“…I love Bohn!” The fool shouted at the top of his lungs. Hearing the word ‘love’ from this person always feels good.

“If you can love, you can also stop loving, take him away!” As soon as he said that, three soldiers came over to restrain my lover before stuffing him into the luxury car.

“Why didn’t you help? Are you scared?” Duen’s father said to me as the car drove off.

“Yes, I’m scared…but not because you’re scary. I’m scared because you’re my boyfriend’s father, scared that if I do something wrong, you won’t let me be with Duen.” I said with a serious expression.

“I won’t let my son be with any male partner at all!!” he shouted back. My friends stood up as a backup but didn’t intervene. Now, he had seven soldiers, including himself, making eight, while I had seven…it’s somewhat balanced if we were to go all out, but I wouldn’t do that.

“I’m serious about Duenhaw. I’ve already taken him to meet my parents.” The other person looked surprised when I said that.

“You’re quite handsome too. It’s not surprising you’d make a mistake.”

“My love for Duen isn’t a mistake. I love him because my heart and feelings tell me he’s the one.”

“Listen, young man, this kind of love doesn’t last long. At first, it might be good, but over time, it becomes boring, and when it’s boring, you’ll break up. If you’re going to break up eventually, why not do it now so my son doesn’t get hurt?” He said, hands on his hips.

“I’ll never get bored of Duen.”

“What makes you so sure you won’t get bored of my son?”

“My heart.”

“That’s a ridiculous thing to say. Do you think we’re living in what era? The era of chivalry or something? You have your heart, I have mine? No…this is the era of Big Boss and Dr. Kang, speak with some realism, young man.” Who are Big Boss and Dr. Kang?

“…”

“Why do you love him?”

“I don’t know either, I just know I love him. There’s no definition, but I…love him because he’s an idiot, love him because he’s cute, love him because he’s clingy, love him because he’s Duenhaw. I love everything about him.”

“…”

“Now, Duen isn’t just my lover, he’s my friend, my junior, my mother, my chef, my doctor, Duenhaw is everything to me…so please, let me continue my relationship with Duen.”

“What if I don’t agree and send Duen somewhere else?” He sat down on the marble table in front of me, his gaze still as calm and unchanged. Unwavering. Unbending. Nothing.

“I’ll find Duen and run away with him.”

“Tell me the truth. What would you do if I did that?” He crossed his legs, resting his chin in his hand as he looked at me. Damn, how did he know I was lying?

“I’d punch you.” There’s no hero who would just sit there waiting for the heroine’s parents to send her away. Heroes are the ones who confront those who think like that head-on. Wouldn’t you be angry if you told someone how much you love their child, but they did that? I’m one of those who won’t stand for it and would be very angry, angry enough to punch my future father-in-law without feeling guilty…

“Huh, do you dare? I’m your boyfriend’s father.” He asked tauntingly, the background of several stern-looking soldiers made the atmosphere feel like I was negotiating with a billionaire businessman or a powerful mafia figure in the country.

No…I’m just asking to be with his son.

“As you wish.” I shrugged.

“I’ll give you credit for your courage…fight me. If you win, I’ll give you

Duenhaw.”

“And if I lose?”

“Then get your head out of his life. You don’t have to fight…but I can’t guarantee you’ll see him again.”

“…” I looked at the man in front of me, puzzled. A fight to settle this? Isn’t that a bit too simple? Or does he think I’m not brave enough to hit my father-in-law? Dream on; for Duen, I’d even hit my own grandmother.

“…”

“…Bohn, don’t do it, man. The chances of winning are too slim. It’s not worth the risk.” Tang came close to whisper. Right…judging by his rank, it’s not just luck; he must have gone through extensive physical training, and he would definitely overpower me in terms of strength, not to mention strategy and experience.

“Do you think a soldier can be compared to someone who’s used to fighting?”

“Don’t do it; I agree with Tang.” Merk added, stepping in. I looked at the challenger. He was calmly picking his nails and cleaning his ears as if he didn’t have a care in the world. How laid-back can he be…

“Hey, you won’t back down! Real men love this kind of duel!” King; the current head of the hazing gang raised his hand high, and Boss did the same. In terms of physical prowess, I’d surely lose, but when it comes to heart…

I’m not so sure about that.

“Alright.”

“Sigh.”

Tang and the others put their hands to their foreheads as if to say, ‘I told you so.’ You all know what kind of person I am; I’m brave, especially when it comes to Duen. If I fight him now, I might get Duen back, but if I don’t, I might never see Duen again. I don’t think he’s joking…

“Huh, let’s do this then.” The man in front of me took off his jacket, letting it fall to the ground like it was nothing.

“Sure.”

“So…simple rules. Whoever falls first loses.”

“Understood.” Now, we stood in the middle of a wide open space, with an audience of engineering students from a renowned university. Most were upperclassmen since the freshmen and sophomores had already gone home. It seems Duen’s dad doesn’t care much that this is an educational institution.

Boss is really a good friend; seeing his friend about to fight someone else, he quickly ran to buy essential items, and what are these essentials? Not a first-aid kit or medicine, but popcorn. His husband was cool too; seeing his wife buy popcorn, he ran to buy Coke to go with it…

“You can still change your mind, I’m telling you, I used to be a boxer.” I already knew that. I could tell by his stance. But don’t forget, I used to be a street fighter too…or something like that, whatever, we’re both used to kicking and punching, should be enough to make it a match.

“No way.”

“Then come on.” After saying that, he waved his hand in a taunting gesture. I usually do this when I’m about to fight someone, but being on the receiving end, I just realized…it’s really annoying.

Whiff.

“Shh.” I clicked my tongue, thinking I was going to get hit, but he just missed. What the heck? I’m smaller, but I’m much slower. He must have learned more than just boxing.

“Wow, that was close.” I’m dead…

“You can give up, it would make things easier.” he continued talking while dodging my punches, so fast, is he human or a monkey?

“No.” I replied, dodging a punch he threw. Oof. If that had hit me squarely, I’d definitely be knocked out with one punch. The sound of the wind passing my cheek earlier showed how powerful his punch was.

“You’re really serious about Duen, huh?”

“Yes…more than anything in my life.”

“Well said, but don’t expect any brownie points from me.” As soon as he said that, he landed a solid punch to my stomach. It hurt, but I didn’t fall. I was prepared for pain, but not this much. What did he say just now, fatherin-law?

“Duen is my wife, sir.”

“Come on, my son is going to die of embarrassment. No need to be shy about the bottom position.”

“I’m the top.” I said with a serious face. He stopped moving when he heard that, was he that shocked? True, Duen is tall, but I’m taller. Plus, by the looks of it, I know the position.

Bang!

“…You bastard! Did you fuck my son!! Die, you dog!!!!” Thud!

Everything happened so fast I couldn’t react. Suddenly, the person I thought was shocked grabbed me and slammed me to the ground. Even though my head didn’t hit, I felt dizzy and didn’t know what to say.

‘Simple rules. Whoever falls first loses.’

‘Whoever falls first loses.’

‘Falls first loses.’ I lost…

“Stop messing with my son, leave!” He commanded with authority, and all the soldiers acknowledged the order and followed him.

He was about to leave…

“Give me one more chance, please!” I ran to block his way. I didn’t know if this was honorable or not, but at this moment, I didn’t care about anything else.

“No, I’ve given you one chance, and you lost!” He frowned back at me, like I’d been struck by lightning. I felt numb all over. He must be serious…he wants me to stop seeing Duen. Why wasn’t I more careful! If I hadn’t let my guard down, I wouldn’t have been thrown to the ground.

“But I…”

“I said no, then it’s no, can’t you understand that? Stop messing with my son!”

“Direk!!!.”

Silence fell over the area as everyone turned to look at the source of the voice, revealing a slender woman with a sharp nose, delicate lips, and piercing eyes that made it hard to guess her age; she was beautiful, as beautiful as when she was young, which I knew because I’d seen her pictures before.

…She is Duen’s mother.

“Dr. Kang…” the man who just shouted at me whispered softly, oh. I thought Duen’s mom’s name was Fon, is it Kang? Why is that name so unusual, and wasn’t she supposed to be an old model, not a doctor?

What’s going on?

“What are you doing, you crazy man!!!” The beautiful woman walked up and twisted her husband’s ear, I felt the pain for him; his ear turned bright red, oh…serves him right.

“Well, I was just greeting my son’s boyfriend.” he said, rubbing his ear gently. Where did the fierce general from a moment ago go? Now he was just an old, meek uncle. This teaches us that even the toughest man is still afraid of his wife.

“You fool, don’t make me scold you!! Lucky for you, I happened to sneak a peek at our son’s boyfriend.” After speaking, she punched him hard in the stomach, and I overheard a soldier mutter, ‘The lady is insanely tough,’ yeah, I think so too.

“Big Boss didn’t do what Dr. Kang saw; just now was just a man-to-man greeting.” the man said in a soft, sweet voice.

“Do you want to die?! I told you not to cause trouble! How could you throw

Bohn to the ground like that!”

“Uh, Big Boss just responded. I was annoyed, he was pressing down on our son, does Dr. Kang approve of that?”

“Whether they press or get pressed, it’s their business. We-Are-NotInvolved! Are you okay, dear…?” The first sentence was directed at her husband, the latter at me. This must be what they call the calm after Direk’s storm…

“Uh, hello.” I was all over the place, not even answering the question properly.

“Oh…you’re hurt. Does it hurt, son?”

“A little, not too much.” I gave a faint smile. The scratches on my face and from being slammed down aren’t that bad, but the punch to the stomach, that one really hurts…

“Your handsome face is all bruised…Should I punch you too, Direk?!” The woman in front of me turned to scold her husband. Damn…

“I…love Duen.” I quickly said before things got like they were before. She seems to have some martial arts skills too. If they ganged up on me, I’d be done for.

“Oh we know…don’t worry about that crazy protective father.” She gently touched my cheek. Just as Duen said, “My mom is kind but scary when she’s angry. As for Dad…he’s harsh but afraid of his wife.”

“Thank you for understanding us.” I raised my hands in respect. This means she’s on my side, right?

“Hmm, from now on, call me ‘Mom’…and you Direk… where is Duenhaw!?” Clearly, she’s on my side.

“Uh…he’s…”

“Answer!!”

“At…Tingting’s hotel, dear.”

“Give me the key!!” She extended her hand, and the other party hesitated but handed it over under pressure, giving me a resentful look too. Hey, what did I do?

“Go fetch Duen, son.” Mom Fon handed me the room key; it had the room number on it. Weren’t they supposed to take him home? So, he’s scared of his son complaining to his wife that they had to book a hotel?

“Thank you.” I bowed to her again. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t know how things would have turned out; there would definitely be drama between father-in-law and son-in-law.

“Why did you give in so easily? When I asked for your hand, I got it much worse from your father, didn’t you see?” The Air Marshal ran over to hug his wife, making a sad face.

“That’s why I don’t want him to go through the same!”

“…Uh-huh.” Hearing that, Duen’s father could only nod and grunt in his throat.

“Go home! You’re sleeping  on the wood couch tonight. Don’t even think about climbing through the window. If I even see your shadow, I’ll make you bungee jump out the window! Understand!?”

“Yes!” As soon as he agreed, she twisted his ear and led him to the vhicle. Not the luxury car parked there, but an old, peeling housemaid’s bicycle where the metal was visible. She made him sit at the back while she pedaled…Uh…

Not long after, only our group was left on the lot. We were still confused about what just happened, like we were in different movies.

“So, what now…is the family okay with it?”

“His mom is okay.”

“Little sister’s okay.”

“Only Dad isn’t okay…but it’s not a problem because Duen’s Mom is the head of the household.”

“Are you going to look for him? Should we go with you?”

“No need, I’ll go find Duen myself.” The Tingting Hotel isn’t far from the university, my friends must be worried about the three soldiers who were sent to guard Duen. Don’t worry, trust me, Mom Fon can handle it.

“Alright, then we’ll go. Call if you need anything, okay?”

“Uh-huh, see you.” After saying that, I immediately ran to my car. I had to go back home to get something. Since I got it, I’ve never given it to anyone. I thought I’d keep it at home and not give it to anyone because it was hard to come by…

…but now, I’m going to give it to Duen.

 

MY ENGINEER CHAPTERS HOME

MYENGINEER, CHAPTER 65: All of me

[Bohn]

“Bohn…ugh, I’m not ready.”

“Come on, it’s natural…don’t stress out.”

“How can I not stress out! School starts in four days!! Wah, I’m not ready!” After whining, he squirmed around. We were lying on the couch in front of the TV. Can’t believe school starts in just a few days. God…I haven’t adjusted yet, I’m still sleeping past midnight.

Duen has moved in with me. Ever since he’s been here, my rough life has become more adorable. We’ve been so sweet to each other that ants have started building nests…when did that happen? Since we’ve been living together, I feel like we’ve gotten more hardcore, with physical force and violence…I have to say, it’s just Duen, when he’s embarrassed, he likes to hit me, when we argue, he punches my stomach, I swear this is what lovers do.

Huh, you want to know where Duen sleeps?

…With his boyfriend, of course, hah.

“I feel the same, should we just be useless today?” My life with him has nothing to do, to the point that we’re just lying idly in front of the TV, when we realized university was about to start, our hearts trembled saying, ‘I’m not ready’, our minds said, ‘We can start doing something. Do something useful like reading books’, but our bodies protested, ‘I’m lazy, let me lie here and be worthless like the madmen under the red roof…’

And of course, Duen and I chose to listen to our bodies.

“Like you do every day?” the other person looked up and asked, their face unusually fair and smooth these days. I haven’t seen them use any cream or anything; it can’t just be because they haven’t left the house. I haven’t been going out either, and my skin isn’t as fair as theirs.

“Uh, hahaha.” I laughed out loud. Our daily routine doesn’t have much excitement: wake up, shower, brush teeth, eat the meal Duen cooks, laze around on the sofa, shower in the evening, and then at night, scroll on FB or Line, and go to bed at one in the morning…But of course, Duen, the healthconscious one, goes to bed at 9 PM, which is late for him.

“I’m thirsty, I’ll be right back.” After saying that, they got up. The heat was scorching everything, hellishly hot. One more minute and I’d be burnt…Please, sun, show some respect to the air conditioner at level twenty.

Rrrrr

I was about to doze off. Who’s calling at this time? If they’re calling to invite me out, I’m not going, no way. I’m hot, I’m tired, I just want to be alone with my wife.

‘Mom’

Mom?

“Yes, Mom.” I said into the phone before sitting up properly. How long has it been since I last called Mom? The last time was when I told her I was moving into the condo. I’ve been cut out of the inheritance.

Maybe.

(Tonight, bring your girlfriend home for dinner.)

“…Huh?!” …How did she know? Must be those three.

(No excuses, no running away. Otherwise, I’ll come and drag you by the neck myself.)

“I won’t run, Mom. I’m just a little surprised, that’s all.” I answered, looking at Duen who had just returned but didn’t say anything, probably seeing that I was on a call and didn’t want to disturb.

(Are you going to bring her?)

“Yes.” After saying that, I pulled my beloved into my lap.

“Ah…you bastard!” he muttered, lightly hitting my shoulder. Looking closer, his skin seemed even fairer. Are you secretly eating Omo behind the cabinet?

(Good, Mom hasn’t seen you in a while. I heard you moved to the condo. That’s why you’ve been out of touch.) Is Mom going to scold me for being too attached to my girlfriend? But it’s true, hahaha.

“You miss me, huh?” I teased, watching Duen to see what he’d do…but he just looked up and then went back to sleep as usual. Hey, normally, you’d be jealous like, ‘Who are you talking to, you cheater?’

(Heh, yeah, bring some friends too. I will arrange a small gathering in the backyard, so your girlfriend won’t be too stiff.) “Oh, sure, I’ll invite them too.

(That’s all for now, I am gonna go prepare the barbecue stuff first.)

Click

Wait a minute…you’re going to cook yourself, huh = = ?

==

It’s probably not that, huh…but wait, isn’t it common for parents to test their daughter’s husband with food? But in this case, I would be the wife, right?

“Hey.”

“Huh?”

“Aren’t you going to ask who I was talking to?” I asked the person lying on my lap, we use the same body wash, but why does Duen smell better, I have no idea.

“Shh. It’s your personal business.” He replied while we were still looking into each other’s eyes; now he doesn’t let me touch him much, the most I get is him lying on my lap, but if I want to do more, I have to wait until he’s sleepy because when he’s sleepy he becomes more clingy.

“Aren’t you jealous at all? What if I had a side chick?” I teased, knowing the person in front of me is reasonable, but sometimes I want him to be jealous…not like that silent treatment from before, it was scary.

“Do you have one?” He raised his eyebrows to ask. From his tone, it was clear he was just asking casually. Should I be happy that my lover trusts me or sad that he doesn’t express his feelings often?

“Huh, I only love you.” After saying that, I leaned down to kiss his cheeks several times until Duen burst out laughing. Whose boyfriend smiles so brightly?

“Ha ha, stop it, you brat!” He pouted, pushing my face away with his hand. I could see you were holding back your smile, don’t act tough.

“Soft cheeks…soft lips too.”

“What are you talking about?” He stopped smiling and turned his head away. Even if you turn away, I can still see your face is red, red all the way to your ears, Krit.

“They really are soft…come on, let’s go to the bedroom.” I shrugged, carrying him up before heading to my main bedroom.

“Hey! Why are you carrying me?”

“I feel like it, so I did. No big deal.” I answered expressionlessly. Not forgetting to raise my eyebrows at the end for extra teasing, the result was a big lump on my head.

“Bohn, let go, I’m heavy, man!”

“I won’t let go, I’m practicing.”

“Practicing what?”

“Practicing carrying the bride into the bridal chamber.” I said, stooping down to give a sly smile to my conversation partner.

“Get off me, you bastard!” Hearing that, he squirmed free. Where did he get that strength from, you asshole? Your jump was incredible, like an Amazon frog! You really don’t want me to carry you, do you? Are you upset?

“Wow, whatever.” I grumbled after him. Duen turned around to give me the middle finger before flopping down onto the big bed. Just a bit more, and we would’ve reached the bed. What a waste.

Normally, I sleep on the left, and Duen on the right. Even though we sleep together, he doesn’t let me hug or touch him. The most I can do is hold hands while sleeping. Every night, there’s a pillow named Supaprab between us, no crossing the border, no throwing away the pillow, no looking at each other, no sleeping without clothes, no no no.

Sorry, are we dating willingly or under coercion because we’ve been caught?

“Oh…I forgot to tell Boss and the gang.” I remembered after lying down for a while. They always arrange things well in advance. They’re always wandering around.

Bon Ss: Tonight, come to my house for dinner. This isn’t a request, it’s an order.

Phii Boss Now Upgraded: Let’s go, I have new slang to showcase.

Huh…knowing this, I really don’t want you to go, Boss, because you alone made my boyfriend pick up that shitty slang.

Bon Ss: It’s okay to reuse some, recycle…don’t come up with new stuff, I beg you.

The First moment I saw You, Phii Tang wanted to say…Buying You out:

I’m definitely going, since Bohn invited #TrustMeForFreeFood

I really hate your Line name from back then, ‘Thangty’. It was good enough, but now…what’s with “buying you out”? Are you out of names or what?

Bon Ss: Hehe.

Megha: What’s the occasion?

Bon Ss: My mom’s throwing a welcome party for the daughter-in-law. Thanthep King: Shit, my friend you are going to be settled soon!

Phii Boss Now Upgraded: Guess I should warm up my voice for some singing…

Thanthep King: What song, Boss, my friend?

Phii Boss The Same Guy but Updated With a New Twist: This song, anyone got kaffir limes to trade for fish sauce!

Bom: Who has Krit! Come trade for discussion!!

Phii Tee, a Foreigner With a Magnificent Job: Alright, alright, so my discussion friends can get doctor wives, la la la…

The First moment I saw You, Phii Tang wanted to say…Buying You out: Wow. Hehe, wow, hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

Thanthep, King: Woooooooooooooow

Megha: Heh…v

Damn, Merk…did you type this wrong or on purpose? If you’re going to leave that many dots, regarding the song…I have to comment, you guys planned this, didn’t you?

Bon Ss: I don’t know what to type, brat.

The First moment I saw You, Phii Tang wanted to say…Buying You out: Seems like he’s deeply touched.

Bon Ss: Very much.

Phii Tee, a Foreigner With a Magnificent Job: You invited us because your mom is afraid your daughter-in-law will be too nervous?

Bon Ss: Ah, good one, brat, you get half a baht.

Phii Tee, a Foreigner With a Magnificent Job: Wow, are you afraid I’ll use up all that?

Bom: Does Duen know yet?

Bon Ss: Not yet, I’m about to tell him.

“Duen, let’s have dinner outside tonight.” I moved closer to speak, he still hadn’t stopped playing his game, oh my…score, 100,000. You’ve gone mad.

“Huh, where?”

“My house.”

“Ha!” He held his phone up and turned to look at me.

“Mom wants to meet you.” This is the first time I’m introducing my boyfriend to my parents. In the past, they would secretly investigate. How many boyfriends have I had…not even four, I can’t remember their names or faces anymore.

“Are you…serious?” Duen asked softly, his face showing quite a bit of surprise, I understand.

“Yeah.”

“Why does your mom want to meet me?”

“Seriously, that’s a stupid question. Because you’re my boyfriend.” I flicked his forehead once, accusing him of being dense. Huh…he didn’t snap back like he usually does.

“…I’m stressed.” Duen said worriedly, his eyebrows knotted, biting his lip so much that I had to nudge it to stop because I was afraid he’d draw blood.

“Don’t be scared, my parents are kind.” Really kind, I assure you. I don’t know if they’ll accept me having a boyfriend who’s a guy, but deep down, I feel…they’ll definitely like Duen.

“But I’ve made their son gay.” He whispered so quietly it was almost a whisper, his eyes starting to well up with clear tears. Are you that stressed?

“Is it a crime?” I asked before pulling his face close to kiss his forehead in consolation.

“…I don’t know.”

“Well, if you don’t know, I’ll tell you: loving a guy like you isn’t a crime; I

love you because I want to. What others say or think is their business. They have no right or part in our lives. Don’t worry about anything else…just focus on the fact that we love each other, and that’s enough.”

“But we’re talking about your parents here. Won’t you care about your own parents at all? They raised you, you ungrateful child who values a lover over parents!” Can you not ruin this moment, damn it…

“Asshole. What are you thinking? I mean, if they can’t accept it, I’ll do everything to prove our love, to make them accept us.”

“…”

“They won’t really scold us, don’t make that face, I don’t like it.” I started to frown seeing his stressed expression.

“What if they don’t like me and tell us to break up?” The person in front of me said with a trembling voice, as if he was about to cry. I hate seeing his tears. I also hate when he makes that face.

“If that really happens, would you agree to break up with me?”

“No.”

“Then why worry about it? I’m always on your side anyway.” After saying that, I pulled his slender frame into my arms. I didn’t do anything more than hug him and stroke the back of his neck to help him relax.

That won’t happen…

Thanthep King: We’re waiting at the back of the house.

Bon Ss: Alright, Duen and I are on our way.

“Let’s go.” I said, turning to him and gently grasping his slender hand. Since we left the condo, Duen has been biting his lips all the way. Every time we passed by a fruit shop or a souvenir store, he asked me to stop at each one until now, our hands were full with gift bags – snacks, fruits, Thai fabrics, even back scratchers, it was all too much…but I didn’t want to stop him because his eagerness was quite adorable.

“Could you tell your mom that I got hit by a car suddenly?”

“Cut that out.”

“Like…you…I really don’t want to go in.”

“Calm down.”

“I’m…scared, my heart is pounding.” He took my hand and placed it on his left chest. My hand felt the strong beat of something inside, so strong it felt like it might burst out. I told him not to stress.

“Come on, your mother-in-law isn’t scary.” I teased. I didn’t want my lover to overthink it; I’ve said before that my mom is kind, and my dad…well, he’s the kindest.

“Here already, brother-in-law?”

“I’m going to smack your head.” I said, raising my hand in a mock threat. The person in front of us was Bihn, that idiot, still dressed in the same weird style…hey, this is a good occasion, can’t you dress better, you bastard?

Bihn was wearing an animal costume. Guess what…a crocodile, a green crocodile. Not just any green, but a light lime green. He was bragging to our dad that it could glow too. If I see you walking around at night in that glowing crocodile suit, I’d be shocked. I hate that tail, it’s too long, probably about a meter, what’s that? There’s something printed on the crocodile’s head, ‘Guk Gru’.

Oh, I’m tired…

“Eek, that’s scary.” I hate it.

“Bihn, your costume is nuts, ha ha.” Okay, I don’t hate it anymore. You made my boyfriend laugh.

“Are the others at the back of the house?”

“Yeah…watch out, my parents can be strict.” Before leaving, he leaned in to whisper in Duen’s ear, this bastard, I hate you, that’s right.

“Bohn…see, I told you it would be like this, let’s go back to the condo…” He’s really sensitive.

“Bihn, get lost, you bastard.” I kicked my brother away, but he didn’t seem to care, making a face before running upstairs at high speed.

“Your mom must not like me…”

“Don’t mind what Bihn says, he’s just messing around.”

“I…uh.” Duen seemed like he was about to say something but then closed his mouth and walked to the back of the house with me. Hold on, bird, I’ll deal with you later.

“What’s up, you guys are here now? Were you up to something, coming so late?” Tang teased us as Duen and I arrived at the back of the house.

“I stopped to buy some things, so we were a bit late.” I answered, scanning the area for Mom and Dad. There they are, standing and grilling barbecue. Dad must be the one cooking. Otherwise, these guys wouldn’t dare to eat it. Oh, it’s not just my friends here; there are Phii Tae and Ram’s gang too, quite a crowd. This is good; Duen won’t be so stressed.

“My brother-in-law is so handsome, damn.” Buhn said, holding barbecue in one hand and…what’s that smell in the other? It has a strange logo, ‘Natural Fermented Water by Hia Tee’, damn, Buhn!!

“Buhn, do you know what you’re holding?” I pointed at the clear glass with liquid inside, which looked nice, like syrup, but trust me, the taste must be terrible.

“Uh, yeah, I know, it’s Tee’s fermented water.” he said, pointing at the bottle on the table where the cook was sitting, the liquid matching what was in Buhn’s glass. Huh! Damn, Tee, you brought a whole bottle?

“Have you ever tried Tee’s food?” I asked. Duen looked at the glass and made a disgusted face; he was one of Patharawin’s victims. Seriously, Tee tries to trick everyone who passes by. That one day, a kid went to pick up a ball near him, and he offered sticky rice in bamboo. Not just any sticky rice but one flavored with red roselle and bael fruit. I got goosebumps for the kid, damn.

“Never, this is my first time. He said it’s naturally fermented, no machines or chemicals used, it’s interesting as hell, the smell is okay…damn, it’s pretty good, but this is what natural smells like! Oh!” No machines…so he used manual labor or feet…

“…”

“Forget about me, let’s go pay respects to Mom and Dad.”

“Okay.” I nodded before taking the hand of the person next to me, leading him closer to them. Duen seemed worried but followed obediently.

“Dad, Mom.”

“Oh, you’re here, Bohn. Where’s your girlfriend?” Mom looked behind me, squeezing my hand immediately…he’s right here.

“This is Duenhaw, my boyfriend.” I pushed my partner forward. He let go of the gift bag he was holding and raised his hands to pay respects to my parents, awkwardly.

“…”

“A guy…?”

“…I can’t accept this.”

“…Hey, Mom.”

“Break up with him.”

“Calm down, mom you don’t even know him yet…We really love each other. Even if you and Dad tell me to break up, I’m still going to be with him.” I said with a serious expression. My conversation partner was also looking at me with a serious face, arms crossed. What’s this about…

“How do you know he loves you?” My dad asked in turn. The person being referred to squeezed my hand even tighter, damn it. I hate this atmosphere, it’s so suffocating.

“He told me.”

“Oh. He might have just said it, words can’t always be trusted.” I had never seen my dad like this before. Normally, he’s the kindest and most understanding parent.

“I…I love him.”

“How can I believe your words?” My dad turned to ask my lover, his gaze scrutinizing through his glasses.

“Bohn brings color to my life. He makes me happy, makes me smile, makes me laugh, makes me feel good having him by my side. I want to continue loving Bohn as my boyfriend. I don’t know how else to convince you except to say I truly love Bohn.” Despite Duen speaking to my dad, my heart was racing. He was talking about me, ‘I want to continue loving Bohn as my boyfriend,’ this sentence made me smile, oh, my heart.

“…”

“Look, see? I told you, Dr. Duen is adorable. I liked him from the moment we met. Besides being kind and having a good character, he truly loves you, he’ll be my fourth son.”

Mom ran over and grabbed Duen’s cheeks.

Wait a minute…?

“Yes, yes, ouch…my cheeks hurt from holding in my smile for so long.” After he finished speaking, my dad exhaled in relief, and everyone around us continued eating as if nothing had happened…what was all this about?

“Dr. Duen, remember me, no, I mean, remember I; your mother in law and mom…Do you remember me from when we met? When Ben kissed Daonuea?” Mom patted her chest with one hand and held Duen’s arm with the other. When Ben kissed Dao…Oh. When that little troublemaker first came to Thailand, right? How long ago was that with Duen? At that time, I couldn’t even get Duen to like me yet.

“Ah…I remember.” He nodded lightly; he must be confused by what was happening, and not just him. I was confused too.

“I didn’t think the world could be this small, this must be fate, come on, let’s go have some barbecue, what’s this, gifts? So cute, you bought so much.” After saying that, she dragged my conversation partner away, wait a minute…that’s my boyfriend.

“What was all this about, Dad?”

“Oh, Bihn told your mom and me to pretend we couldn’t accept your relationship.”

“…”

I’m going to wring Bihn’s neck…

That’s why Boss was holding back his laughter so much that he was shaking; he knew about this, damn you, Bihn…You’re going to face double, no, triple the trouble, you cheeky bastard.

“Don’t be mad at him; he just wanted to see how your boyfriend would react when we couldn’t accept it.”

“There was no need to do this…my boyfriend is sensitive.”

“Oh, I couldn’t stand seeing him look so sad.”

“This is love…I want to see him smiling all the time.”

“…”

“Why are you silent, Dad?”

“I was just surprised. Honestly, I didn’t quite believe that you could love like someone like human.”

“I’m human too, Dad…”

“Not like that, I mean, you usually see these things as a bit of a joke. Not serious, you know. I even thought secretly that my second son would be single forever.”

“That’s harsh, Dad.”

“I don’t know how long this love of yours will last, but…thank you for taking love seriously.”

Wow, I’m speechless.

“Or maybe we should thank that person.” Even though it was mentioned vaguely, without pointing out or specifying ‘that person’, we both understood.

“We probably should.”

“Duen, try this one, dear.”

“Yes.”

“And this one too.”

“Uh…ha ha.”

“Eat this skewer too, dear.” Is Mom trying to fatten him up or what? Since we got here, he hasn’t stopped eating.

“Um, thank you.” The other party nodded before taking what my mom offered. If you don’t want it, just tell her, or else you’ll throw up.

“Is it good? I picked it out for you myself.”

“Mom, picking it out doesn’t affect the taste.”

“Shut up, Bohn…What do you say, Duen?”

“It’s delicious.” I could see he was sweating a little, well, this is my mom after all, the mother of Bihn and Buhn, she’s not an ordinary person.

“Dad asked me to come get you Mom.”

“Tell him I am not coming, I wants to stay with my son-in-law.”

“Daughter-in-law.”

“I didn’t know, I didn’t see!” Look at those gestures; who taught you that!

“So, you’re not going then? I heard Dad say something about pots, gas, or something.”

“Yikes! I left the food cooking! It’s surely burnt by now!” After that, she lifted her skirt and ran off like the wind. Was Mom actually a runner before?

“Phew…”

“Were you startled?” I sat down beside him and reached up to brush his hair back. He was sweating so much his hair was wet; he must have been really stressed. I was surprised too, thinking something was off.

“Yeah, my heart was pounding so hard, I thought your parents really wouldn’t be okay with it…”

“I really like what you just said.” I smiled teasingly, but I meant it. I don’t know how to explain the feeling, but I know it made me smile uncontrollably.

“Be quiet, forget about it!” Duen protested, covering his ears as if he didn’t want to hear more, his face slightly red…no, not slightly, as red as the cherry tomatoes on the plate.

‘Bohn brings color to my life. He makes me happy, makes me smile, makes me laugh, makes me feel good having him by my side. I want to continue loving Bohn as my boyfriend. I don’t know how to make you believe me except to say that I truly love Bohn.’

“Oops! My hand slipped; I must have accidentally pressed record earlier. That’s really bad of us.” the speaker shook his head pretending to be apologetic, but with a sly smile on his lips. You’re really evil, huh? “You…”

“:)”

“Ben, you imaginative kid! Give it back!” I just found out you call my younger brother that.

“No way. I’m keeping this to negotiate with Mom about Honey.” Ben grinned, shaking the phone in his hand like he was trying to tease his conversation partner. I swear I never taught him that.

“You! Bohn, handle your brother!” When Duen realized he couldn’t do anything, he turned to me. For you, I’d do anything.

“You little scoundrel, give it here…” I extended my hand towards him.

“Will you delete it?”

“Hehe, I want a copy.”

“Bohn!”

“Come on, let’s go find those guys.” I didn’t wait for an answer, dragged him along, and didn’t forget to whisper in my son’s ear, ‘Don’t forget to give it to Dad, you good boy’, the brat nodded silently saying, “Give me some money too.” oh, you money face.

“Go on, both of you, go to the gates of heaven,

Where holy water will pour down, by the hands of the elders,

Go to the bridal chamber, where hearts are awaited,

In this life, I will send you off, to the land of divine bliss, hee…”

“Stop that nonsense, swear that it was singing.” I pushed Boss’s head hard, he was being so vulgar earlier, wrapping the tablecloth around his waist like a skirt and spinning three hundred and sixty degrees, the fabric flying out and looking ridiculous.

“Indeed, our love is old.”

“Yeah, it’s old. Go back to your husband.” The husband was sitting right next to him, yet he’s still clinging to me, soon you’ll get killed by Merk.

“Listen, my husband is sad, Bohn sees new love better than old love like his wife, huh?” Boss clung to his husband’s arm, pretending to be in pain, almost dying.

“Why should I care? Do you care more about your ex, Bohn, than your new one, me…?” Bastard…enough already, I’m still not used to this version of you.

“Matapadidubpubpub.”

“What does that mean?”

“All my life, I only care about you, my love.”

“Sweet talker, heh heh.” The speaker lifted his wife’s chin before pulling him closer, and he didn’t resist, moving in closer himself.

“There’s an empty room on the second floor, the key’s behind the counter, do whatever you want but keep it quiet, my parents might hear.”

“Don’t play games, Bohn. If I do it for real, you’ll be in trouble.”

“—”

“Phii Bohn, hello, brother.” While I was dealing with Boss, my friends, including the idiot, came over to greet me. Actually, it’s been a while since I’ve seen them, but I haven’t gone over to them yet because I’ve been busy with my parents, ha ha.

“Hello, make yourselves comfortable.”

“We’re already comfortable, Phii, this is my friend’s bachelor party before his wedding.” That scoundrel, Phu, huh.

“Haven’t seen you in a while, Nong Duen.”

“Just a bit…”

“Attached to your husband.” Bihn, you…

“Language!”

“Anyway…you look different.” Tingting approached to inspect her close friend. The others followed, forming a circle around Duen like a gathering around a campfire.

“How so?” the person being circled raised his eyebrows to ask. If it’s about looking more handsome, I’d admit it; Duen has become so handsome I don’t even want to take him out anywhere. He’s not just handsome; he’s cute too.

“There’s a strange aura.” Phu touched his chin, looking at the slender figure and furrowing his brows.

“Bohn always says I’ve gotten fairer, and with this haircut, I look even better, hehe.”

“No, that’s not it…”

“What?” Duen raised his eyebrows, questioning the speaker. Tang moved closer to Duen until their faces were almost touching, looking deep into his friend’s eyes.

“It’s the aura of someone about to lose their virginity.”

“…”

“They say people who are about to lose their virginity often look especially alluring, with fairer skin and a pinkish glow. They look cute but will become more radiant and sexy after losing it.” Tang crossed his arms, smiling slyly. Is that so? I thought Duen’s fairer skin and pinkish glow were because he hasn’t been going out. Oh…so that’s what it is.

“Damn!!”

“We’re just saying what we see. Don’t believe us? Ask your boyfriend. He’s with you all the time; he should know better than anyone.” Now it’s my turn.

“Let’s see…Hmm…they’re right about that. You’re about to give yourself to me.” I turned my lover’s face left and right. There’s no such thing as a ‘losing virginity aura’. They’re just teasing Duen, haha.

“Phfft! Don’t mess with me!” He pushed my hands away and pouted. Everyone around burst into laughter at my boyfriend’s cute reaction.

“Ahem, well, today is a good day; my younger brother brought his husband to introduce him to our parents.”

“He’s my wife, damn it! Duen is my wife!!” I shouted to Buhn on what could be called a stage. Not really a stage, just an area raised slightly higher, where his friends were also present.

“My wife.” How many times have I been hit on the shoulder today?

“Forget it, the sound of birds and crows…Where are we at, Tae? Today’s a good day.”

“Oh, right, since today is a good day, I want to dedicate this sweet love song to my younger brother…the song ‘Grilling Snails’!!” God, tell me he’s just joking, Buhn isn’t really going to sing that song, right? I think so…the intro’s already playing.

Oh, my friend, just like we always do,

Gathering for fun, in our free time,

Let’s snack together, in this atmosphere,

Many came for entertainment…”

“Phii Buhn is so cool!” Boss shook my arm, no, no, that’s not it! You like the most vulgar things, it’s good that Phii Tae has already sorted out my brother’s fashion sense, otherwise, I’d have a huge headache…

“Yeah, Phii Buhn is super cool, drinking my natural fermented water and not affected at all.”

“Ugh, who is so cool that it’s heart-wrenching?” King…if you want a good husband, don’t choose Bihn or Buhn…

I sat listening to Buhn and his friends singing away, Duen didn’t stop eating. No, I should say everyone was eating non-stop. Right now, Tang has passed out; he ate so much his stomach got hard.

Ha ha.

“Come on, I’ll sing a funny song for you.”

What kind of song, is there anything worse than ‘Grilling Snails’? This is supposed to be a welcome party for your sister-in-law, not a village festival.

“Bohn, eat this, it’s super delicious, drink up.” The idiot came over holding four skewers of barbecue for me. Don’t they have a plate or something? What if you trip and the skewers stab me in the throat?

“Feed me.” I opened my mouth, and he pouted but complied…well, not really; he shoved half a skewer in, damn, almost stabbed my throat.

“You look like a serial killer, ha ha ha.” He hurt me and then insulted me, brat.

“You look like a criminal too.”

“Me, a criminal? What for?”

“You’re the worst kind.”

“Mon dod tamol mae, pa pa, A pa lang mahalai” Ha, what the hell kind of slang is this? If I heard the last sentence right, it’s ‘A pa lang mahalai,’ right?

“What does it mean, my dear friend?”

“These guys are really annoying.”

“I agree.”

“Leave them be, today is their day.”

“Yeah, that’s how it is with couples, always flaunting their love, walking arm in arm all day without ever pitying us singles. Do they know we secretly give them the middle finger when we see them together?” Don’t talk crap, you bastards. You guys have plenty of partners, especially you, Bom, you’ve got a collection for winter, summer, and rain.

Give your whole life to me

And I’ll give my whole life to you

You’re my end and my beginning

Even when I lose, I’m winning

Because I give you all, all of me

And you give me all, all of you, oh

Damn, pretending to sing to cover up, making me think it was just noise, but you’ve prepared a sweet song for me, huh? Now that’s what a brother should do.

“I brought you to meet my parents, you know what that means?” I took my lover’s hand and looked at it; his fingers are so slender and beautiful.

“I can guess, but I’m not sure if I’m right.”

“It means I’m very serious about you…and I won’t leave you.”

“Just try leaving. You’ll die for sure.”

“Ha ha.”

 

MY ENGINEER CHAPTERS HOME

MYENGINEER, CHAPTER 64: Family Day (2)

[Bohn]

“You know I’m fiercely protective of my sister.” Duen said with his arms crossed. Wow. Who wouldn’t see that you love and adore Daonuea from your expression.

“I know, that’s why I’m trying to talk to you about it.” I think age isn’t the problem because Ben, my little brother, wouldn’t do anything harmful anyway. The only issue Duen might have is about losing his sister’s affection, oh well.

“I’m protective of Daonuea! Very protective. I don’t want her to be anyone’s girlfriend at this age.” Wow, Duen, you’ve got a severe case of sister complex, this needs to be treated by coming to live with me soon.

“Come on, one day she’ll have a boyfriend anyway.”

“It’s too soon for that.”

“How fast?”

“I already told you, Ben and Dao are just in first grade.”

“I told mom that age isn’t a problem because no matter what, Honey and I will be together forever. We’ll get married in my hometown, have four kids, named…well, we’ll think of names later.” My brother spoke, his hands under his chin, daydreaming.

“Your brother…how far has he thought?”

“I don’t know either, but he’s serious.” His room is filled with pictures of Daonuea, from the pillows, blankets, curtains, to every towel, all printed with her face. Soon he might open a gallery with her pictures. Uh, I had no part in this. I don’t know how or when he ordered them, but by the time I realized, his room was full of them.

“Serious means what, like a kangaroo, Bohn?”

“No…seriously”

“Oh, okay…right. I’m serious.”

“You won’t give up, will you?” My boyfriend crossed his arms, looking at Ben. The atmosphere now feels like a son-in-law arguing with his motherin-law. So, am I going to be Ben’s father or Daonuea’s? Wait, this is like my son and daughter marrying each other…but whatever, neither of them is really my child anyway.

“Uh-huh.”

“Do whatever you want, but if you are going to date my sister, wait until she’s eighteen.”

“Hey, that’s eleven years.” I said, that’s like giving Ben eleven years to court Daonuea. Isn’t that too long? I don’t want to imagine my brother…loving her but with no relationship status, it’s painful.

“Uh-huh, can you wait? If you can’t, it’s your problem because I have no stake in this.” Ugh, your attitude is so irritating, Duen.

“Duen, calm down. Are you crazy? Who can wait that long?” Especially for a kid like Ben, their patience is almost non-existent…

“I can wait.”

“…you little brat.”

“Wow, you’re determined, but during that time, you’re not allowed to do anything more than holding hands.” Duen said before tapping the little rascal’s chest with his fist.

“Uh-huh, I promise.”

“Promise, damn it, it’s not good for a man to go back on his word.” The fool raised his pinky finger, are you a kid or what…but I like it.

It’s cute.

“Uh!” Ben nodded in understanding, linking his pinky with the other’s.

“Are you serious or hoping he’ll give up on chasing Dao because of impatience…” “Heh.” Evil…

“I’m here!” The main topic of our conversation ran over with a bright smile. I believe if Daonuea grows up, she’ll definitely be beautiful because even now, you can see hints of it from afar…tough luck for the little brother.

“What should we play next?”

“I wants to ride the duck.”

“Sure, but this time, I have to ride with you.”

“Okay!”

After agreeing, the four of us turned to look for the duck ride. This is clearly a family day, only missing Duen sleeping with me.

…

“Duen, are you coming to sleep at my condo today?” I turned to ask him; he was pointing out different fish to Daonuea. Hey…that’s a water bottle.

“No, in a few days, I’ll move in with you anyway. Can’t I stay with my sister for now?” He must think I’m clingy…well, it’s true.

“Then bring Daonuea too, your parents aren’t home anyway, right?” Duen said both are on their honeymoon in some country whose name I can’t remember; I just know there was news about a war there recently. I really don’t understand this family’s thinking.

“Yeah, with mom and dad away, I have to watch the house.”

“Then I’ll sleep at your place.” Ben looked up and gave me a thumbs-up. Honestly, I and the fool don’t want to play, but it’s not right to let the kids ride the duck alone. So now we’re sitting with the kids on our laps, and you can probably guess who’s sitting with whom.

“Crazy. No way.”

“Why not? Don’t you feel sorry for me and Ben? We’re alone with no one to cook for us.” The sly one turned with raised eyebrows, but when I winked at him, he went back to his innocent look. I really like your cunning intelligence, truly my son.

“Your parents aren’t home either?” Ugh, this is the kind of face I wanted to see, Duenhaw idiot mode, easier to fool than a three-year-old, heh heh.

“Uh, right, Ben?” The truth is…everyone at my house is here, even Buhn is here. I don’t know what got into him that he wanted to come home. He’s been holed up in the kitchen all day, having Dad teach him how to cook from morning till night.

“Right, huh?”

“This morning, we had instant noodles…”

“Yeah, yeah, meeting siblings like Bohn and Ben…”

“Not filling and not tasty at all, gave me a stomachache too…” Good job, son, well, in this world, there are hunters and the hunted, it’s just bad luck for siblings Dao and Duen to have to deal with this.

“What flavor did you eat, Ben?”

“Uh…what was it, um, Little Elephant.”

“Oh no, that’s so pitiful, Mom, can’t we let Dad sleep at home? To the point of boiling Little Elephant to eat?”

“Better not…I know you’re lying.” Duen turns to me and says this in the last sentence, caught me red-handed.

“Wow, whatever.”

“But I’ll make dinner for you to eat anyway.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“Look at that! That’s the happy family we saw earlier!!” Oh, those are the two moms we saw before, aren’t they?

“Quick, give me the binoculars! I want to check out Dad’s eggs!” Dad, you mean me, right? I hear Duen laughing quietly, well, wait a minute, you.

“No way! I’m checking out Mom’s eggs.” What, how dare you look at my wife’s reserved items, I’ll crash the boat.

“You manatee! Send them over!”

“No!” They tugged at each other until the boat rocked, not that they’re light either. Should I help by throwing Duen’s Horizon slippers for them to hold onto?

“Hey, hey.”

“Stay still, you…let’s look with one eye each. You take the right, I’ll take the left.” They agreed and split sides just like that, huh? They can share that too?

“Damn…that’s epic.”

“Yeah…look between his legs…the zipper is so beautiful.” I immediately closed my legs even though Ben was sitting on them; can you still see?

“No, damn it, wow, the son is quite handsome too.” The person sitting on my lap jumped, how do you like it, bastard? You laugh at me, now you get a taste of your own medicine.

“Yeah, the daughter is cute too. Should we go get our uteruses removed tomorrow?”

“Don’t remove it yet. We need to keep it for future generations to see what a uterus looks like.” Does that mean there won’t be women in the future?

“Yeah, we’ll go up to the golden pole studded with diamonds together, sob.”

“Don’t cry, we still like seeing guys together anyway.” After saying that, they picked up some book to read, what is it…oh…yaoi manga.

I didn’t know about these things before, I only learned about them recently, probably around the first year when I met King. Phii Kamfah gave us these books to read, saying, ‘These books are good for the heart, young men. They are the good teachings of the world. More than half of the world has experienced and read these books! You guys should read them to learn how to live in this world correctly…read them! They will enlighten you, and you won’t want those monkeys as wives anymore!’. At that time, me and Boss had nothing else to do, so we each picked up a book to read. As soon as we read, oh, you bastards, we almost couldn’t throw them away fast enough. I was shocked from the cover with two guys on it. Back then, I didn’t want to read…but now, I guess I’ll have to look for a couple of books to prepare for something.

“What are those two saying, mom?” Daonuea looked up to ask her brother. It seems she’s gotten used to calling Duen “mom”. Ben is the same, but he doesn’t call me “dad” that often, mostly when he’s in front of his Honey.

“Uh…don’t mind them. Look at that fish, it’s so beautiful.” Duen changed the subject, pointing at something on the water’s surface. It was yellow, slender, a fish without a tail…wait, that’s…

“Duen…that’s corn.”

“Oh, really? Whatever, what do you want to eat today?” The other scratched his cheek to hide his embarrassment. Want to eat something, huh…

“I want to eat everything you make.”

“Father, you’re so good at cooking.”

“Actually…I want you to teach me how to cook.”

“That would be good-”

“Teach me too! / Teach me too!” Both kids raised their hands above their heads. This is straight out of the happy family handbook, the mom teaching the dad and the kids to cook, wow, my heart…just thinking about it feels warm and fuzzy.

“Hmm, do the kids want to cook?” Duen asked the kids. I don’t know when we ended up in the middle of the pond; the two girls are gone. They made disappointed faces when they had to leave, haha.

“Alright, I’ll teach you something simple then…what should we make?”

“Something easy.” And if it takes a long time, even better. I like spending time with the family.

“Pork, Cordon, Bleu, huh?” Excuse me…what is Pork Cordon Bleu? Why do Duenhaw and Daonuea look like they understand what this cheeky guy is talking about? Sheesh, I guess I need to learn a bit about menu items. Right now, I don’t understand what anyone is talking about, it’s pretty alienating.

“Pork wrapped with cheese?” Just say pork wrapped with cheese. Why make it sound fancy?

“Yep! Let’s make it.” My little brother grabbed Duen’s arm and blinked cutely, which is cute, but somehow I can’t feel happy about it, oh…because he’s messing with my partner.

“Dao also wants to try making it.”

“Ugh. Alright, it shouldn’t be hard, we’ll look up the recipe online.” Duen nodded, grabbing his phone to check something, which means he’s probably never made it either.

“…!”

“Want anything else to eat?” He asked while still looking at the screen of his phone, from what I can see, there isn’t much in the fridge at my condo, but I’ll have to stop to buy some stuff on the way back…you’re not coming home, Duen, heh.

“Squid, please.” Daonuea waved her hand, making a gesture similar to Ben but cuter, this kid is really adorable, no wonder she’s going to be my future sister-in-law.

“Fried sausage?”

“Yes!” Oh. I thought squid referred to actual squid, so it’s not that, huh…oh, is that what it is, the one I often see in Ben’s Japanese dishes, where they cut the sausage at the end into slits, and when fried, it spreads out like squid tentacles. I’ve never made it, it looks too easy, not challenging enough.

“Sure.”

“Lots, please!”

“Okay, what does Bohn want to eat?” After noting down what the kids wanted, she looked up to ask me, she really is a good wife. Not like that Boss, who expects her husband to cook for her.

“Something easy, ah, I want to make it with the kids.” And something that doesn’t involve knives, I don’t want them to cut themselves, blood is a big deal for kids. I don’t want anything to happen to them.

“How about bacon and egg cups? They’re very easy.”

“Uh-huh.”

We took the kids on a few more rides before heading back because the kids wanted to cook quickly, and as I mentioned, my fridge was empty. Now, the four of us are at a supermarket near the amusement park.

…so crowded, damn.

It must be a sale period, everyone looks so intense. Aunties, uncles, please, they’re just grabbing things before you, not stealing your husbands. I’ll name this CHAPTER, “The Fierce Battle for Supermarket Deals.” Housewives are hardcore creatures…

“Dad, can you lift me up? I wants to sit in the cart.” I nodded and placed her in the child’s seat. Don’t worry about the little rascal being upset for not sitting; he doesn’t like to sit anyway, he likes to walk.

“Hey, Ben, watch out for the carts.”

“Uh.”

“Hold my hand.” Duen took my brother’s hand, and we walked together. I pushed the cart behind them. Earlier, the little rascal almost got hit by an auntie’s cart; she was so focused on the discount section, pushing her cart at Formula One speed. I understand she’s in a hurry, but…if she hits my wife or kids, I’ll really slap some sense into her.

“Where are we going first, mom?” Every time these pronouns are used, I can’t help but smile. Can I adopt her and Ben as my children, ha ha ha?

“Hmm…let’s see. What do we need to buy? Pork shoulder, eggs, ham, cheese breadcrumbs, bacon, do you want French fries and salad too?” “Yes!”

“Then we’ll need to buy French fries, corn, carrots, salad greens, and peas.” After saying that, he led me to the fresh food section. The rascal looked around with interest; he doesn’t come to places like this often because usually, when mom cooks, she likes to go shopping alone.

“Mom, the meat is over there.”

“Pork neck…pork neck, here it is, yay, it’s on sale for thirty percent off.” Duen smiled happily; this must be what they call the joy of housewives.

“Dad, can you help me down? I wants to go buy vegetables.”

“Is Daonuea going alone?”

“Yes, Dao wants to choose them, do you want to come see Dao choose, dad?”

“I would love to, Duen, I’ll go with Daonuea.” I turned to tell the other one, who was busy choosing ham and bacon while still holding onto the little rascal’s hand.

“Ugh, what kind of ham do you want, Ben?”

“Uh…the delicious kind…”

“Very helpful, you crazy kid.” He pushed Ben’s head down while laughing, now that Daonuea isn’t around, he’s being nice, isn’t he…

“Mom said we have to buy carrots, peas, and salad greens, where are they…there they are!” As soon as she finished speaking, the little girl ran straight to her target, very quickly.

“You’re good at this.” I praised her when I saw how adeptly she chose the fresh vegetables, even checking them over. I can’t do it to this extent. I usually just pick what looks fresh. I don’t have such a selection method.

“Who taught you?”

“Mommy and Mom.” That would be Duen’s mom, huh?

“And do you remember how to choose each one?”

“Nope, I only remember the ones I like.”

“But you like to eat everything.”

“Yeah, heh heh.” Adorable.

After getting the vegetables we needed, Dao and I walked back to Duen, who was done too. Ben looked happy, hugging a big bag of ham, poor little kid…

“I’m going to give some to Dorton to eat too!” Uh, do you remember Dorton, Ben’s new friend? He’s still feeding it…in the morning, this cheeky kid sticks Dorton into the food, at night, he washes it in the sink, and late at night, he sleeps with it on the bed, please…

“Who is Dorton, a friend?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Daonuea never told me there’s a friend named Dorton in class.”

“Dorton doesn’t go to school.”

“Why not?”

“Dorton is a spoon.”

“…” The listeners’ eyes widened in astonishment. Everyone was stunned, even Boss was shocked when I told the mischievous wife that my brother was raising a spoon that doesn’t speak human language, ‘blah blah, blah blah, giggle, Mommy’s spoon, blah blah…your brother is very strange. No, all your siblings are strange…’ If there wasn’t a translation at the end, I’d think you were messing with me.

“…It’s a child’s imagination. We can’t say anything about it, right?” The fool ran his hand through his hair as if he had nothing else to say. See, my brother has a high imagination, right? I’m stunned, bastard, hehe.

“Do you want to meet Dorton? He’s cute.”

“Uh…”

“Let’s go to my house today instead of the condo.”

“Don’t try to drag me to your place. I can see through that.”

“Not even a bit.”

“Okay.”

“What a lovely family.”

An old woman spoke up. She wasn’t far from us; I’ve noticed her looking at us for a while now, smiling and laughing. ‘Family’, huh…

“Thank you.” I bowed slightly. Duen had an awkward expression, not knowing how to deny it. If he were to say it’s not a family, he couldn’t because Dao is his sister, and Ben is my brother. No need to deny it, it’s settled.

“So cute, let grandma take a closer look. Hmm…the girl looks like her mom, the boy like his dad.” She bent down to look at Daonuea and Ben. How could they not look alike? They share the same genes.

Ha ha.

“Well, it’s just…”

“Thank you.” I quickly interjected when I saw the person next to me about to object. There’s no harm in letting her think that way.

“Love each other for a long time, okay? Wow…both of you are so handsome. Did grandma guess right who’s the dad and who’s the mom?” “If you think this one is the dad, then you’re right.” The rascal pointed at me, and Daonuea nodded in agreement. Good job, kids, Bohn will buy you toys.

“I knew it. This one looks like a homemaker.”

“Ha ha ha.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the term ‘homemaker’. Honestly, although Duen isn’t as tall as me, he’s still quite tall, nearly 180 cm. No, wait, he’s over 180 now, I remember him bragging about growing taller for a while. How did you grow, you should have stopped growing long ago, you’ll be too tall if you keep growing.

“You’re quiet now.” The other lightly hit my shoulder. He probably wanted to hit harder but couldn’t because the kids were watching.

“Don’t hit me.” I pretended to be in a lot of pain to tease him.

We stood chatting with grandma a bit longer before I excused myself because I had to go back to cooking, we bought quite a lot of stuff too. When it came time to pay, me and Duen split the bill in half. Initially, I wanted to pay it all myself, but he wouldn’t let me, saying he felt it was too much, what for, I’m your boyfriend, man.

“Do you clean this place yourself?”

“Nope.”

“I knew it…it’s spotless.” Duen said as we walked in. How could it not be clean when my mom hires a maid to clean every week? Honestly, I could clean it myself, but I never have the time.

“Cook, cook!” The kids ran to hug Duen’s legs on both sides, he smiled at them before walking into the kitchen like that, looking comical as he had to lift the kids with each step. The kids were laughing, it was like they were on some kind of amusement ride. Being a good husband, I followed my wife carrying the groceries, not forgetting to snap some photos for keepsakes

(?).

“Let’s do the pork wrapped in cheese first, Bohn, grab some pork loin.” I went to get it for him. We decided to work on the table because the kitchen counter didn’t have enough space for the four of us.

“Now look…it says here to slice the pork loin into slices about two centimeters thick…who’s going to measure that, let’s just cut as we like, oh, there’s a note here too…you can use a hammer to tenderize and enlarge the pieces…Bohn, do you have a meat hammer?”

“I do.” I fetched all the tools he needed, my kitchen is well-equipped, I must say. I didn’t buy them myself though, my mom did.

“I’ll hammer it, heh heh.”

“You violent kid…no way, you’ll hurt yourself.” I said, picking up the hammer and looking at the meat thoughtfully, wondering how to do it. I don’t even know how to hammer it.

“Hey, I haven’t even cut it yet.”

Hammer, hammer.

Let’s just do it.

Oh, really…

“Enough, both father and son, just wait to wrap it up.” We nodded sheepishly. What, want to cut, want to hammer. Don’t you understand, violence and masculinity go hand in hand?

“Um…this thickness is good.”

I really don’t want to say this, but I’ve been watching Duen cut that piece of pork for half an hour now with the kids, and it’s making my hands itch to cut it myself.

“Daonuea, Ben, do you want to cut some too?” I bent down to ask the kids sitting on the table, looking at my lover to see if he would turn around. “Yes! / Yes!” Both spoke so loudly that I had to shush them with my finger. They nodded understandingly and lowered their voices. Okay…Duen still hasn’t turned around.

“Then listen to daddy’s plan…heh.”

“Mom, I want to cut it too.” Daonuea started following the plan. If it were me and the rascal, we definitely wouldn’t succeed with this cuteness, but trust me, if it’s Daonuea…there’s no resistance left.

“No, you might cut your hand with the knife.” He showed the sharpness of the knife.

“It won’t cut, we have plastic knives.” I pointed to the plastic knives for kids that my mom bought because they were on sale. Finally, they’ll get some use.

“Huh-”

“Please, please.” She moved to hug Duen’s arm from the other side of the table. Great job, my dear, Duen will definitely give in, he can’t resist Daonuea’s cuteness.

“Well…fine.”

“Yay!” The three of us cheered happily. We high-fived when the mission succeeded. Wow…working with kids isn’t always bad. I think it’s the best, hee hee.

“Don’t cut too thin, and be careful with your hands.” Duen said when he saw the rascal start to cut near his fingers. I handed Daonuea a black knife and gave Ben a pink one. As I’ve said, my brother loves watching Mai’s Little Pony, so he likes pink as much as white. As for Dao…she said she likes black, it’s an odd contrast.

“Is this thin enough, mom?” Daonuea held up the pork to show. Duen nodded with a smile. If you let us help from the start, it would have been done long ago. Why sit here cutting for half an hour, Bohn said it’s still not thin enough.

“See, I told you the kids would be fine, ouch!” I cried out when I felt the cold metal touch my skin, and suddenly, the pain started to shoot to my fingertips, damn…

“Yeah, the kids are fine. It’s you who got hurt.”

“Hiss…damn, that’s deep.”

“Does it hurt? I tried to be as gentle as possible.”

“Forget it, move on to the next step…”

“This conversation somehow sounds erotic, I don’t know why.” “How? Go watch cartoons with Daonuea, I’ll call you when we’re done.” Duen waved them off, he’s bandaging my wound right now, the knife cut was pretty deep.

“Ha ha ha!” The cheeky kid ran out, before leaving the kitchen, he turned back with a sly smile and mouthed slowly and clearly but silently, ‘Do whatever you want, take your time, I’ll be with my honey,’ oh that little rascal.

“You’re really careless. You don’t even watch yourself.” The idiot furrowed his brows and scolded. I was leaning with one arm on the table, and he was standing in front of me.

“Come on, I got a bit carried away.” I brushed it off, the truth is I was too busy looking at him to notice the knife in my hand. This isn’t the first time I’ve been cut by a knife, I could bandage it myself, but with my boyfriend here, I might as well use his services.

“Ouch! I feel the pain for you.” He said after looking at the wound.

“You feel the pain for me, huh? Do you love me that much?”

“…”

“Come on, you love me a lot, don’t you?” I pulled him closer and loosely wrapped my arms around his waist. The person being hugged didn’t respond but looked down at the floor, oh, damn, Duen, you’re going down.

“…”

“Hmm, what do you say?” Seeing he didn’t answer, I nuzzled against his cheek, his cheek was so soft, the faint scent from him was driving me crazy.

“Stop playing around, we won’t finish cooking in time.” As he said this, he tried to push himself out of my embrace, dream on, you idiot, heh heh.

“Answer me first, and I’ll let you go. Do you love me a lot?” I pressed my forehead against Duen’s. We were so close I could feel his warm breath. “I love you as much as you love me…” Duenhaw answered in a whisper so soft it was almost a murmur, his answer made me smile.

“Really? As much as I love you? I love you so much, man, I love you to the max.” I rubbed my forehead against his. At this point, I didn’t care about dinner anymore, let the kids watch cartoons.

“Yeah, I love you as much as you love me…”

“Such sweet talk, heh heh.” As soon as I finished the sentence, I leaned in to press my lips against his, exploring with my tongue. Duenhaw seemed slightly surprised by my action but didn’t stop me. Seeing that he wasn’t resisting, I tightened my embrace, pulling him even closer to me.

…He’s not good at kissing.

Of course, how could he be good when Duen had never kissed anyone before he met me? But I like him this way. He looks awkward. Clumsy.

…Cute.

“Uh, that’s enough. We haven’t even made dinner yet.” He spoke softly when I pulled my lips away, his face red with embarrassment, cheeks flushed…so damn cute.

“Forget it.” I bent down to nibble on his soft cheek, while at the same time, I slid my hand under his thin shirt to feel his smooth skin.

“Ah…Bohn, don’t, Ben and Dao are here.” His voice trembled, was he scared or embarrassed?

“If they weren’t here, what would you do?”

“I didn’t mean that at all, uh, don’t lick.”

“Heh heh.”

“Enough, you bastard!” He shouted and pushed my face away hard. Ouch, why so forceful?

“Wow, it’s just a little kiss, I’m your boyfriend, you know?”

“A little, my ass.” The person in front of me made an annoyed face, grabbing my finger and pressing hard. Argh, damn! That’s the finger that got cut!

“Ouch, that hurts my wound!” I groaned, in reality, it didn’t hurt that much, but I was just acting to see if Duen would have a good way to make amends…ahem, good in an adult sense.

“Oh.”

“Duen, I’m really hurt…” I said, looking at him with a pained expression. I’m not lying, it does hurt, just not that much, hee hee.

“Sorry!”

I was about to curse but had to shut up and freeze when the other kissed my finger. He didn’t linger, pulling back quickly before I could recover from my shock, then ran out of the kitchen. Hey…

“Get better soon, you jerk.”

“Come here so I can kiss you properly!”

“Dad, what’s wrong? Why do you look so grumpy?”

Daonuea asked after observing my face for a long time. Now we’ve returned to the family B.D. period and are cooking again. The number of people is still four, the same place, but what’s different is the menu and my mood; it doesn’t know the word “stuck” or what! You make others crave it and then leave; that’s a real sin, you know, Duen, here, chop the pork!

“Will you help your dad, then?”

“Of course, I will! Tell me what to do, I am ready to do anything!” Playing along, huh?

“Huh-”

“Dad, your wound hurts!” Before I could even trick the kid, Duen interrupted with a sly grin aimed at me. Don’t give me that grin, you bastard, I’m only mad at you for two seconds, come apologize to me.

“Oh, no worries, I will blow a magic spell on it, poof! It’s healed!” She blew on my finger, and I noticed some saliva, but whatever, everyone in this house is so lovable, aren’t they?

“Thanks, the spell really works, the pain’s gone.” I looked at the wound, pretending to be surprised, and the little rascal next to me pouted when I did that, probably jealous.

“Ha ha.”

“After laying out the bacon, we crack the eggs like…this.” The chef finished his sentence by cracking an egg into the mold. Now we’re making the last dish, cheese-wrapped pork and fried sausage. It’s pretty fun, Ben and Dao have been laughing all along.

“Wow, Duen’s egg looks beautiful!” The brat said when he saw the fool’s work. From his expression, he probably doesn’t know that “egg” has another meaning.

“…”

“Why?”

“Nothing.” The complimented one dismissed it, blushing a little. Blushing just because a kid says that? Isn’t that too easy? It took me so long to even get a blush.

“My egg is prettier. And bigger too.” I proudly declared, sticking out my chest. This is one of the few things I’m good at. Not for any big reason, just that mom used to make me crack eggs all the time. If they weren’t pretty, she wouldn’t accept them. Out of regret, I tried my best to make them as beautiful as possible, and somehow I became an egg-cracking expert. “Let’s see, oh! Really, it is!” My daughter clapped her hands, and naturally, the protective Duen had to…

“Well, mine is just okay. Yours is way prettier.”

“You’re lying.”

“Then look.”

I’ll tell you it’s long, one person doesn’t agree. The other one likes to tease and provoke. Both viewers have no idea that they are the ones fueling Duen’s anger, excellent. I really like it.

“Simple Ink, what’s this?”

“Try this, Honey, this piece was made by me.” my younger brother said, scooping a piece of egg-wrapped pork for Daonuea. That sly one, that’s mine, I remember, I even came up with the Thai name for you, Ben…you liar.

“Duen, feed me too.” I looked up at him, he was eating bacon, chewing loudly, you’re good at this.

“Have you no hands?”

“My finger hurts.” I pretended to look sad again.

“You brat, open your mouth!” My life is really happy, hehe.

I ate my meal happily, but every party must end. Now Duen and Dao are about to leave, why so soon? It’s only 9 PM, can’t you stay for another…ten hours?

“Really not staying here?” I grabbed his hand, this scene feels familiar, like we’ve been through this before.

“Yeah.”

“Stay, I want to sleep with you.”

“You’re breaking my heart, Bohn.” he lightly tapped my shoulder.

“It’s okay, it’s just your own boyfriend breaking it.”

“Pfft!”

“Stay here, I don’t want you and Dao sleeping at home alone, I’m worried.” That’s true, my boyfriend is so naive, when it comes to fighting, don’t even mention it, he’s terrible at it. If a thief breaks in, what can Daonuea do?

“If you’re so worried, why don’t you go sleep in front of my house?” Duen raised his eyebrows, teasingly, don’t challenge me, do you think I won’t dare?

“Really? Let’s go.” I pretended to walk to pack my clothes but the person behind held my arm back. I told you not to challenge me, I’ll go for real.

“Crazy, there are a lot of mosquitoes in front of my house, you’ll get malaria and die.”

“Then let me sleep inside.” I pouted, furrowing my brows into a small knot. “No, I’ll be living with you in a few days anyway. Don’t be so needy.” he poked his finger between my eyebrows to make them relax. Needy? That word shouldn’t apply to someone like me, use the word ‘self-indulgent’ instead, it’s not nice.

“Missing my left nut. We’ve never been apart for a moment.”

“Don’t know…I miss you all the time.”

“Ugh, I’m going to vomit, I’m leaving.”

“One last kiss, quick.”

“You bastard, you lunatic, you with smudgy eyes, you beardless goat, you wild rooster, you two-toned dog balls…why am I even cursing at you, we’ll meet in two days.” After saying that, he tiptoed up to plant a kiss on my cool lips.

“Ugh, love you.”

“Honey and I have to pretend not to see this, right?”

“Yeah, right, hah.”

 

MY ENGINEER CHAPTERS HOME

MYENGINEER, CHAPTER 63: Family Day (1)

[Duenhaw] Ping!

Damn Bohn: I’m at the shop already.

“Wow, you got there fast.” I muttered to myself, just finishing combing Daonuea’s hair. You said you were at home a few minutes ago, how fast were you driving, you bastard?

“Has dad arrived?”

“Yes. Shall we go then?” I bent down to ask my little sister, and when she nodded, we held hands and walked out of the house.

Bohn and I had planned to take the kids for a haircut and then head to an amusement park. It wasn’t out of any sudden burst of energy, but it started because my dad and mom went on their honeymoon. Do you know where my dad took my mom? To a country at war. Initially, I opposed it because I had just seen news about people dying there, but my dad said,

‘Let me and your mother go, Daonuea, last night I watched a Korean drama with Jung-ki, and after watching it, I wanted to take my beloved to experience that atmosphere. It must be super romantic…From now on, I’ll call my wife ‘Dr. Kang,’ and you my dear wife Fon must call me ‘Big Boss,’ understand, Dr. Kang? Saranghae.’ After saying that, he made a small heart shape with his thumb and index finger for mom. I hadn’t watched that series, but I saw Ting sitting alone, smiling and laughing, probably having a lot of emotions, haha.

“Are we waiting for someone?”

“Waiting for dad to pick us up.”

“Oh, is he coming back to get us? Didn’t he just say he arrived?”

“Oh, right, I forgot you have Supachai now.” I’m crazy, but I can’t help it, I’ve caught the bug, and it’s all because of that damn Bohn.

“Daonuea, sit in the front.” I lifted my little sister into the front seat before we set off. The barbershop where we’re taking the kids is near the amusement park, it’s Bohn’s regular place. I don’t really know about famous or trendy shops. Most of the time, I get my hair cut close to home…my hair is getting long too, let’s get a cool haircut, maybe a barcode style…

“When is mom going to follow dad?”

“Uh, Dao…we’re moving.”

“Oh, right, moving.”

“Probably three more days.” Talking about this makes me feel down. Why don’t my parents ever seem to care about their son? The other day, I was so tense when I told them I wanted to move in with Bohn, thinking I’d get scolded or questioned a lot, but no, my mom just said it was up to me. My dad said, “Huh! Finally, my son is going to be a man! We should close the street for a water party!” What the hell?

“This must be the store…” I looked at the sign, ‘K.mip’, the owner’s name is Mip? I’ve seen shops use ‘K.’ to mean ‘Khun’ (Mr./Ms.), so this must be ‘Khun Mip’. That point looks a bit strange, though.

Forget it.

“Daonuea’s here! Hello, mom.” The kid, Ben, ran to my little sister. He really hasn’t changed, still annoying. Just because he’s been quiet, doesn’t mean he’s stopped flirting with my sister. He’s playing it cool to chase after Daonuea at school, this little schemer! If I hadn’t gone to bring stuff to my sister at school, I wouldn’t have seen it, huh? His personality is just like his father, no mistake!! Stay ten meters away from my sister, you little Ben! “Yeah.” After saying that, he carried Daonuea to the sofa. There aren’t many people in the shop; Bohn said there are fewer customers in the morning…what?

“What’s this? Why did you say that to your kid?” The savage went to carry his brother to sit next to him. Are you that dressed up to make women who pass by on bikes turn their heads and get hit by cars, you sinner?

“He’s flirting with my sister.”

“How do you know? Did you see it?”

“Yeah, with my own two eyes, take your son away, you bastard.” When I went, he was writing ‘love’ in big letters on the board, with a rose in his mouth, doing the moonwalk to Daonuea’s table, damn!!! Where did the shy kid from that day go? You must be a good dancer, your ass was sticking out so much!!

“My kid is like that, too. Ben will be upset if you say that, he’s already sensitive.” The person talked about pretended to look sad, lowering his eyes. Huh!! This mischievous, cunning, cheeky kid!! You might not know what that means, it means pretending + acting innocent + faking it + being a show-off. I don’t know how Phii Boss put those words together, but I like it, it’s so cool!

“That’s his problem.”

“Oh well, I forgot to tell you, I’m getting a haircut today too.”

“Yeah, me too.” After saying that, I grabbed a magazine next to me and placed it on my sister’s lap. Daonuea, knowing what to do, immediately opened it to the hairstyle trends page. Whose little sister is this?

“What style are you going to cut?” Bohn asked, doing the same as me. Finally, I understand why he has a little brother…for stuff like this, truly profound.

“Hmm…I don’t know, something handsome so girls will look at me.”

“Then let’s cut this style.”

“Where?” I looked up at the hairstyle he mentioned, squinting to see properly. The light was in my eyes…huh.

“Pineapple style? …If I cut my hair like that, I’d never dare to leave the house.” On the picture, there was a caption, “Collection of the coolest hairstyles for young men.” Young man my foot, stay at home if you’re going to be young like that, don’t face the world, I beg you.

“It’s fine. No one would look at you…except me.”

“I’m asking seriously. If I really get this haircut, would you still love me?”

“I would.”

“Then I’ll get it, I’ll take this style-”

“Calm down…I was kidding.”

“Hah, and you said you’d still love me.” I stuck my tongue out at the liar, not to mention sweet words, just seeing my reflection in his eyes made me laugh. The vibe isn’t right, “Daonuea, which style do you want?”

“Will I get my hair done too?”

“Uh-huh, which style should I get?” I turned to ask my lover, he might know which style is cuter…wait, I have some fashion sense too.

“Let her choose for herself, Dao, which style do you want, my dear?” The other person bent down to ask his daughter…his daughter? No, no, Daonuea is my parents’ daughter!!

“Um…I don’t know, they all look pretty, which style should I get, Ben?” Why ask that kid? See how he’s grinning now. Doing this will make him think we’re interested, Dao!

“It doesn’t matter which style, they all look the same.”

“Oh-”

“They’ll all be cute anyway.”

“Ah…you.” I was about to curse, but Bohn quickly put his hand over my mouth.

“Shh, don’t curse, the kids are still young.” Forget it! He’s teasing my sister. Don’t you see that!? Bohn must have taught him this, or Ben learned from when Bohn teased my hair, these siblings…

“Ha!”

We didn’t wait long before it was our turn. I and Bohn sent Daonuea and Ben to get their hair cut first. They’re cute, the female employee is very kind. She chatted and played with the kids to distract Ben, she’s really good…

“You, why did you say there would be fewer people in the morning?” I’ve been thinking about what he said since then, but I still don’t get it. It can’t mean that the sun is too hot so people don’t want to come, right?

“Oh, about that…yeah, it’s time, you’ll see soon enough.” He answered while looking at the clock on his phone screen, 9:59 AM. Why? What’s about to happen?

“Time for what?”

“He’s coming.”

“Who?”

“The shop owner.” Just as I was about to ask why it matters that the shop owner is coming, or if he’s very handsome, probably not, otherwise, the place would be packed like Brother Ta’s shop. Before I could continue questioning, the sound of the door opening rang out as the time on the phone changed.

10:00 AM.

Ding!

“Hel-loooooo, the big brother is here, kids, any heads need fixing? You two, come on, I’ll cut your hair well, my dear! Oh, isn’t that Bohn? Why didn’t you call to tell me you were coming? I would’ve come earlier, you know the time very well, don’t you?” I stared at the newcomer in shock…my God, what is that, is he really the shop owner? What’s with that outfit, red, yellow, green pants, a Teletubbies pattern shirt, hair shaved down to two buns with red bows, and is that an elephant trunk hanging around his neck? Where did you get that from? From elephant ivory poachers in the mangroves or what? And what are those shoes, why are they like that, any higher and they’d be skyscraper heels, right?

Sorry, this is Bangkok, not Shinjuku…

“Hello, Phii Fix.”

“Oh, it’s been a while since we’ve met, huh? Is that the doctor’s wife Boss told me about?” What’s his relation with my professor? Looking closely, they do have something similar…not in appearance. I mean their taste.

“Yes.”

“My wife, hello.” I elbowed the person next to me after the first sentence. The second sentence, I turned to greet him. I hate, hate, hate that red bow of his!!

“Wow, so handsome, I thought you’d be stunning, way ahead of your time.”

“See, you got it, big brother.” Isn’t that right? That’s what everyone says, hee hee.

“Heh heh.” Why? Why make that sound? Not satisfied, bastard? Just wait.

“Wait a moment, I’ll come down to cut your hair. In the meantime, pick out your hairstyle.” After finishing his sentence, Phii Fix walked upstairs. Is he really the shop owner?

“Who is he?” I asked quietly; after all, there are more than ten employees in the store. What if they all gang up on me?

“Your Thai teacher’s relatives, that’s why.”

“Huh?”

“Customers don’t come in the morning because Fix comes around this time…he’s quite eccentric, his personality is like King and Boss combined, boom, it creates an unstoppable level of wildness that even King would surrender to.”

“Uh…” I was speechless, looking up at the picture on the wall. How could he dare to put his own photo up there? And it’s as big as a desk, wow…a suit but with messy hair.

Daonuea has finished her hair. She braided her hair all around her head. Oh, my heart, Phii Duen’s little sister, everything she does is cute, my heart is melting.

Thud, thud, thud!

“I’m here. Who’s cutting first?” If you’re going to run down the stairs that loudly, bro, wow…I thought you were fetching something, like an apron with your own face on it? What kind of person are you?

“Duen, khrap.”

“Oh, why? You can go first, I’m not in a rush.” It won’t take long, Ben was done in no time.

“It’s not a big deal. I just don’t want you to wait.”

“This is annoying, choose quickly. Otherwise, you’ll get the same hairstyle as me, come on, one, two…” No, no. I don’t want to look like you, sir!

“This one!” I pointed randomly, but it looked decent at first glance. The shop owner chuckled before starting to cut. Daonuea and Ben ran over to watch from the chair next to me, very interested. Kids are like this, they like to watch anything, even if it’s not that interesting.

“Wow, with this haircut, you look even more handsome, you bastard.”

“Yeah. What kind of terrible haircut did you pick?”

“I don’t know, I just pointed randomly.” I ran my hand through my new hairstyle, looking at myself in the mirror, my heart racing. I look damn handsome…honestly, not just being conceited.

“Phii Fix, I’ll pay a thousand baht.”

“What do you want me to do? I’ll take any job, I’m short on cash these days.”

“Shave his head.” What’s with you, are you afraid girls will look at me or something…what, when the whole university looks at you, I don’t even scold you or tell you to shave your head.

“For real? Sit down.”

Squeak

“Stop, Phii! I’m jealous, damn it, Bohn, hurry up and get cut, the kids are waiting.” I urged the other immediately, look at Phii Fix! He’s already opened the clippers.

“What hairstyle do you want, little brother?”

“Any style that’s more handsome than him.”

“Alright.”

More handsome than me? Impossible.

I played with the kids. Not long after, Bohn finished his haircut, standing with his arms crossed, examining his new hairstyle. It’s not that impressive…just so-so. Not handsome at all. It just makes my heart beat faster.

Ah…I misunderstood the shop’s name, K.mip. It’s not ‘Khun Mip’ but ‘Khmip’, um…I didn’t dare ask further where the inspiration for the shop’s name came from.

“Are we in Thailand or hell?”

“I’m starting to wonder the same thing.”

“…It’s hot.”

“Let’s take the kids under the shade.” Bohn pointed to the umbrella in front of the drink shop, that’s a good idea, we can buy some water too. Me and Ben are so thirsty. Look, their tongues are hanging out.

“Where are you going?” I asked when I saw the other walking somewhere, damn it, I don’t know the way that well, caveman, you know?

Hey.

Not answering but smiling, what’s that about? Oh well, it’s your business.

I led the kids to the drink shop’s front; there weren’t many people around. It’s not the school holiday for elementary or high school kids. Most of the people walking around were foreigners and working adults, giving the feeling of a private amusement park. That old man playing on the ride by himself was so wild, he even had his legs crossed, haha.

“What kind of drink would you like?”

“What do Dao and Ben want to drink?” Hiccup, it’s so hot I don’t want to do anything, Phii Duen just got back from Phu Yod Dao less than a week ago, why is the weather so different?

“Som.”

“Okay…water for me, please.”

“Just a moment.” A moment here means less than a minute…wow, so fast, do you get employee evaluations? I’d give a full ten without deductions.

“…and where did he go, feed…” I sipped from my glass as an action, looking around for the scoundrel, wondering if he got dragged away? I shouldn’t have cut that hairstyle, poor him…well. If that were true, I’d have been dragged away first. I mean, I’m more handsome than he is, hee-hee.

“Exactly. My head is so hot.”

“I feeling like I am about to faint.”

“Calm down, kids, haha.” I chuckled softly when I saw what they were doing. Duenhaw and Ben were holding their foreheads with the back of their hands, pretending to faint, mouths mouthing ‘ow’ in pain. What’s hurting?

Here I come!

“I’ve been waiting here for ages. What took you so long!?..Ouch! It’s, hot, as, hell”

“Hey, kid, don’t, talk, that, way…watch, your, language”

“Sorry…but, it’s hot, and where did you go?”

“I went to buy umbrellas so we wouldn’t get hot.” Bohn said before opening the umbrellas. There were two, but both had large ears as decorations, one with Mickey Mouse ears and the other with Minnie Mouse ears.

“Wow, dad is the cutest!” Dao, don’t hug him! Don’t get too close to them, these siblings are not to be trusted!

“Give dad a kiss on the cheek, you smart kid.” Here you go! But I’ll allow it…he ran to buy umbrellas, sweating profusely, hey, his face is even red.

“Why didn’t you say so, we could have gone together.”

“It’s far, didn’t want you to be in the sun for too long, you might get a tan.”

“Care for others but not yourself, you idiot…are you hot? Your face is red.” I wiped his sweat with a handkerchief, then handed him some water to drink.

“It’s just a little, I’m fine.”

“Scream! Look at the happy family at four o’clock, they’re worth watching!!” One woman shook her friend’s shoulder to look at us. If I’m not mistaken, they should be over twenty.

“Family? Not interesting at all, I’m only interested in boys.” The woman in the yellow shirt dismissed it before going back to reading the book in her hand. What’s that…Doujinshi, yaoi? What is a doujinshi, yaoi? What kind of book is it, and why does she look so excited reading it?

“See!” The person in the green shirt pointed at us. I could pretend not to see, you know…

“Come on, you said family? How can they have kids if they’re gay men?

Are you high on seaweed or what, you little manatee?”

“Look, duck, you see!” The other grabbed her friend’s shoulder to turn her towards us. Daonuea and Ben started looking over there with curiosity about who was talking. Of course, the duck and the manatee weren’t speaking quietly.

“Look…scream!”

“I told you a happy family is worth looking at.”

“Huh!! I stood up for that, damn! So cute, they even have two kids together…damn, the parents are so handsome.”

“The kids are good-looking too, you know!”

“And who’s the dad, who’s the mom?”

Let me answer in my head…Bohn is the mom, Phii Duen is the dad.

“Sorry for only buying two umbrellas, that’s all they had.”

“That’s enough. Buying four would be wasteful…you carry Ben, I’ll carry Dao.” I was about to lift Daonuea, but Ben dragged my sister away first. Plus, he opened the umbrella and walked ahead, hey, you bastard, that’s my sister! Where are you taking the inheritance of the Ratanamok House?!

“I’ll go with Dao myself.” That damn kid shouted back as if reading my mind, wow, so disrespectful.

“Hey, no!”

“Let them.” Working as a team, huh, bastard?! And why are you holding my waist? It’s so hot, damn it.

“Look, duck, I know who’s the dad and who’s the mom, I love it.”

“You! They want to be together so much they let the kids hold umbrellas themselves?”

“Yeah, that’s how it should be, kids, go play far away, go, my child, let the parents have some alone time, so cute. Look, they’re even holding each other’s waists.”

“Are you doing this on purpose?” I made a face at the person next to me, you really like this service, huh? Where do you want to take the ratings, or do you want the whole world to know?

“Yeah. You’re handsome, I don’t want anyone looking too long.”

“They’re shipping us together.”

“I’m watching, aren’t I?”

“You’re jealous.” Before I had a boyfriend, I thought if a partner was jealous all the time like Bohn, it would be so annoying, but in reality…I secretly like that he’s like this, like that he cares and pays attention to my matters. What’s wrong with me, it’s like I have a bad habit.

“Don’t you like it?”

“Well…I don’t hate it.”

“If you like it, just say you like it, huh.” Damn! I really hate your teasing voice, and are we going to stay here until the park closes? Ben has already taken my sister to Surat Thani…that little kid with a life on wheels!! Are you in a hurry, you bastard?!

“Slow down, Dao!…phew, why do you have to walk so fast?” Ugh, it’s hard to keep up.

“I’m just walking normally.”

“…”

“= _ =“ we’re going to fall!

“Dad, I wants to play on that.” She pointed to one of the rides, it wasn’t very scary, just a small Viking ship that kids can ride.

“Sure.” Bohn nodded. I didn’t mind since there wasn’t much of a queue, and we got our turn quickly. Great.

“Honey, sit with Ben.” Bohn’s brother dragged my sister to sit at the far end and sat next to her. You’re so mean!

“…”

“Let the kids be.” He’s really protecting my sister! I wanted to bring her back but was afraid it would seem like I was too protective. So, throughout the ride, I didn’t say much. Well, except for ‘Hey, don’t!’ and ‘My sister!’ a few times.

Okay, listen, here, you, little, shit…touch, her, again, and, I’LL KILL

“It’s so fun.”

“Daonuea, go throw the trash over there first.”

“Should I go with you?”

“No…” He asked my sister, but I was the one who answered. Then I whispered for her to go alone, it wasn’t far, so it should be fine.

“You’ve been contradicting me all day, Duen.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You’re protective of your sister.”

“Admit it.”

“Oh. Why did you do that? Even if you object, the one who decides is still Daonuea.” That’s what I’ve been saying. You really are a matchmaker!

“She’s still young.” I turned to face the other; Ben was looking but didn’t say anything, just crossed his arms and watched me and Bohn.

“So what if she’s young?” Oh, damn, what can be done about it?

“If she gets him, Daonuea would have her first boyfriend since elementary school…if others find out, they might not look at her favorably.” Am I too old-fashioned…but, but at this age, they are really kids, love isn’t necessary yet, is it?

“No.”

“How would they not look at her favorably when her first and last boyfriend is the same person?”

“…” That sounds familiar…damn familiar.

“The genes don’t lie, heh heh.”

“Whether mom agrees or not, I’ll still pursue Honey.”

Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

“Let the kids be, come on, my sister is serious.”

 

MY ENGINEER CHAPTERS HOME

MYENGINEER, CHAPTER 62: Can I stay with you?

[Bohn]

“Bohn, Bohn, hey!”

“Hmm.” I furrowed my brows, closing my eyes tightly as I tightened my hold on what was in my arms. That’s definitely Bom’s voice. What’s he waking us up for so early in the morning, we were just about to sleep, I only got to sleep at one in the morning, doesn’t he have any sympathy?

“Bohn, if they’re this quiet, they must be sleeping deeply.”

“Then open the tent and wake them up, it’s just a regular zipper, isn’t it?” That was Boss’s voice. I remember it well. But what are they doing at my tent?

“Yeah, but I…I’m afraid to open it and see something.”

“See what?”

“Something like…what couples often do, you know.”

“Like ‘foreplay’ or something?”

“Damn, Boss, what kind of words are those? What do they mean?”

“They’re getting it on.”

“Then I guessed right. Merk, you wake them up. Tell them we’re leaving.” “Just open it then…” Merk, you sound sleepy too, don’t you? Your voice doesn’t sound any different from mine when I’ve just woken up. I bet you were forced to get up too.

“Zzt!”

“Hey!!”

Everyone outside screamed in surprise when Merk unzipped the tent open. The sunlight from outside shone in, forcing me to shield my eyes with my hand. I’m awake now, damn it…but it seems I’m not the only one waking up.

“Ugh…Bohn, my eyes hurt.” Duen pulled the blanket over his head, not visible anymore, and grabbed one of my arms to hug tightly, like a cranky cat…making a sound of annoyance in his throat.

“Jackpot…”

“You hit the good stuff.”

“I told you not to open it, look what you’ve done.” Tee hit the arm of the person next to him. When I looked outside, I saw everyone was there…I heard they were about to leave. “Leave” meaning going down the mountain?

“Are we going back to Bangkok already?” I asked but didn’t get up to talk to them properly since I was being held by some cat that wouldn’t let me move.

“Yes.”

“Why so soon? We just got here last night.”

“There’s supposed to be a storm coming or something, so the forest officers don’t want us to be in danger.” What kind of storm, it’s ruining my happiness, damn it.

“Uh, when are we leaving…” Can’t we go down the mountain in the evening? My legs still hurt; if we walk now, it’ll hurt even more.

“In about an hour and a half.” That’s still some time; there’s enough to apply some muscle balm and rest a bit more.

“Oh, I’ll go out in a bit, let me wake Duen up.” It looks like Duen won’t wake up easily. Actually, he usually wakes up easily, but he used up a lot of energy yesterday, so he doesn’t want to get up early. Even someone lazy like me woke up before him.

“You and Duen look exhausted.”

“Oh, Phu, it’s normal, isn’t it? Good weather, alone with your boyfriend in a tent…I bet last night was intense.”

“I told you to be loud. We like it.”

“Duen didn’t want anyone to hear, so I was gentle.”

“Damn, Bohn…you bastard, Bohn.” Wow, how are you awake? And you’ve got the energy to raise your fist to hit my shoulder, even if it’s not hard…his eyes are red, poor thing, but mine are redder because I’ve only slept for a few hours…damn, all because of you, with all the hugging, moaning, and that last touch you left, I was awake all night, just wait, you think because you’re a fool, I wouldn’t dare to sneak some sleep?

“Then we’ll wait at the water tank. Don’t take too long, you guys.” The people outside waved goodbye before leaving, not forgetting to zip up the tent for us.

“Ugh…why did you wake up before me?”

“I couldn’t stand your snoring.”

“Did I really snore?”

“Huh, I was kidding.”

“Wow, I knew it. Me, snoring? You liar…yawn.” He rubbed his eyes. Are you still going to sleep, man? The sun is almost above our heads.

“Wake up, let’s go shower.” I sat up, pulling him by the waist to follow, but since he was still weak, he leaned and buried his face into my shoulder. “No more waterfalls, I’m tired, lazy to walk.” Uh, I’m also lazy. Those guys must be bored if they didn’t say they’d wait at the water tank before leaving.

Yesterday, I checked it out; it’s a large steel tank full of water. To shower, you have to buy water from the seller, it’s not expensive per liter and it’s up to international cleanliness standards (?)

Bihn tried drinking it. He said, “Uh…I feel like I’m about to be enlightened, I’m turning into Father Bihnlee, the lover of the forest. The water flowing from the tap is so clear it hurts my kidneys, the taste and smell make me want to poop…all because I’m moved by the Dharma of this tank’s water.” You’re exaggerating. Frang didn’t go into such a rant after drinking it.

“Uh…morning kiss.” I touched my lips to his lips gently. I didn’t want to pull away so soon, but he pushed my face away. What’s that about? I’ve never gotten a morning kiss from you, only morning kicks. Can’t it be a long one for the first time?

“Uh…I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.”

“Whatever, I don’t mind.”

“You might not mind, but I do. I’m going to shower.” With that, he ran out of the tent. What was that?

I followed him out to find that almost everyone from the camp was up, getting ready to shower and change. Wow, so we really slept in late. But what can we do? They said we were leaving for Bangkok tomorrow.

“I swear, Bihn, stop it…”

We walked for a bit and encountered a group of macaques. They weren’t dressed like yesterday, but I think they looked a bit less mischievous, like a softer version. If I had to compare, it would be like Coke versus Pepsi, different but not by much.

Bihn and the gang, wearing checkered sarongs of various colors, looked like a parade of unemployed fathers. The more they stood scratching their bellies, the more they looked like they belonged there, honestly, Boss looks good in comparison.

“You’re here, newlyweds?” Always teasing, huh? But forget it, I’m in a good mood today, do whatever you want, I’d rather go shower with my wife. “Strange, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“Why are you both walking so awkwardly? Bohn, doesn’t your butt hurt?” Bihn, you’re a real mood killer.

“Fuck you, how could I be hurt?” Why wouldn’t I know what he’s thinking?

No, little brother, your brother will never be the bottom, it’s always BohnDuen, not DuenBohn.

“Oh, I thought you’d be the bottom, twist of fate, huh? Duen, does your butt hurt?” You should become a journalist.

“Hmm? Just a little, but it’s not that bad.” Duen gently rubbed his own butt, while Bohn muttered. If I didn’t know what this was about, I’d think deeper, because last night he kept tossing and turning, saying the place was unfamiliar, and the mattress was thin, so his butt hurt. That’s what happens when rich kids have never slept on the floor.

“Damn…”

“I told you Phii Bohn is the top.”

“Damn, did I guess wrong? I thought Duen was always the top.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions, they might be a reversible couple. There are plenty of those nowadays.”

“No, BohnDuen don’t switch roles.” I slapped their heads in turn to bring them back to their senses and to assert my position, stop thinking, you damn kids.

It didn’t take long for us to finish showering, with about an hour left, we asked Ting to take photos for us, and she was happy to do so. She said, ‘Photography is the life and soul of King…it makes my heart bloom with happiness. If I get to photograph ten handsome models, oh, maybe that basket I just finished weaving really has some magic. Shared, I should weave something else, what could it be…breasts, maybe? Just in case they appear,’ uh…

“Nong Phu, Tang, move, me and Merk are doing our pre-wedding shoot, dear, come here.” The mischievous wife bumped into the junior and senior who were standing in front of the camera. What kind of rivalry is this?

“Why steal the shot? Tang is having a moment with code junior.”

“Let them ship, Phu, let’s go over there, my dear.” Thanararit pushed his junior by the shoulder to walk with him. Of course, if they’re together, the goal is nothing but…

“Go for it, there are a lot of girls there, the forest loves it.”

“Wow, your legs are so beautiful, Tang gives you a full ten, no deductions.”

“I think…the boobs are a bit small, bro, not much to grab.”

“But I like cute ones. I don’t need big boobs, they have charm in their own way.” Stop it, you guys are really perverse. By the way, where did Duen go? Not coming to take pictures with his boyfriend? He didn’t get kidnapped by a grizzly bear, did he?

“Bohn, look at this worm, it’s so cute.”

“Hey!” I shouted in surprise when I turned around to see my lover. I wasn’t shocked to see him, I was shocked by the round thing on his finger. Where did you get that from?!

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…let it go, its parents must be looking for it.”

“Are you…scared of worms? Huh?” He gave me an evil grin. I’m not scared, but back when I was in first grade, damn Bihn put one on my pillow, and when I woke up, I was so shocked I nearly passed out. After that…well, I’ve been scared, damn it.

“I’m not scared, I just don’t like them.” I crossed my arms and looked away. I didn’t want to see that green thing hopping on my boyfriend’s finger, eww!

“That’s what we call being scared, you bastard Bohn, huh.”

“Hey!!! Don’t you dare, ah!”

You can probably guess what happened. Of course, Duen chased me around with the worm until I was out of time, so mean. I shouldn’t have shown my fear!

“We’re going back, huh…I don’t want to go, I still want to play at the waterfall.” Duen looked out the window of the bus, as the forestry department seniors came to say goodbye.

The descent from the mountain was much easier than the ascent. We hardly had to exert any effort walking down, just a little sweat and in no time we were back at the park office. It turned out we got back home much earlier than planned, which was a shame since we only got to spend a few hours up there before coming down.

“Did King leave already?”

“Yeah, I kind of miss him.”

“He went to visit his grandma. She’s not dead.” I watched my friend’s back as he left. His grandma came to pick him up. At first, the teacher didn’t allow it, saying it was his responsibility and duty. I don’t know what King’s grandma said to make the teacher agree to let him go.

“Uh. Do you want to sit on the outside or by the window?”

“Window.”

“Then take this neck pillow.”

“Yawn…I’m sleepy.” After agreeing, he used the neck pillow, this bastard likes to sleep with his neck bent, waking up with a sore neck. So, I bought him a neck pillow from the souvenir shop.

“Sleep then. I’ll wake you when we get there.” I positioned his head to lean on my shoulder. He resisted a bit but couldn’t fight my strength, so he sighed in annoyance before giving in.

“Did you buy this for me? I didn’t see it when we came.”

“Yeah, I got tired of hearing you complain about your neck, Bohn.”

“Then I won’t say thanks, since I didn’t ask for it.”

“It’s your business. I did it because I wanted to, not expecting anything in return.”

“I won’t thank you, but I’ll return the favor later, I don’t like owing anyone.” “Heh, you bastard.” I adjusted his head, so damn cute.

I looked out of the car window, damn, it feels like we just got here, why does it feel like we’re back so soon? But whatever, because I’ve done what I intended to do…create good memories with my lover. I don’t know if it’s a good memory for him. If you ask me…I can confidently say it was a very good memory.

Duen told me he loved me for the first time.

“Heh.” I smiled, turning to look at the person who just fell asleep, mumbling something with a jabbing sound. Hungry? We just had breakfast from the park before leaving, he ate two plates. I wonder where he stores all that food.

Squeak!!

Bump

“Ouch!”

“Hey, are you okay?” I lifted his head to check, concerned. The driver turned the car abruptly because a motorcycle cut him off, and the old driver yelled at the motorcycle rider very loudly.

“Just a little, but I’m fine.” The other gently rubbed his head, which was red. Of course, with a sound like that.

“Damn, go back to sleep.”

“Uh-huh.”

If I laughed, he’d definitely curse me out…hold it in, Bohn. Even if his red head and grumpy face just now looked like a child, ha ha.

…

“Duen. We’re at the university.” I nudged the shoulder of the person next to me. I don’t know why, but the road was very clear today. So, we arrived at the university earlier than expected. Why does everything seem to be faster than it should be today?

“Huh? Really…uh.”

“Don’t go back to sleep.”

“…yawn.”

“Wake up early, I’ll take you out for food.” I pinched my lover’s nose playfully. Everyone else had already gone home, leaving just the two of us on the tour bus.

“At Hia Ta?”

“Hia Ta’s place.” I heard Hia expanded the shop, so we should go support it…I lied, Hia renovates his shop all the time, but I’ve never visited. The reason I want to go today is to show off my boyfriend.

“Uh.” The sleepy cat nodded reluctantly, understanding. Seeing that, I carefully helped him off the bus.

“Lift your leg…leg, damn it! Duen!”

“Uh uh.”

“You just keep saying ‘uh,’ move your leg! Hey, watch out for collisions!”

Now it’s a question of whether I’ll introduce my boyfriend at Hia Ta’s shop or at the temple.

 

[Duenhaw]

“Will you spend the break at my condo?”

“Do you want me to?” I tilted my chin to look at him; he nodded eagerly, and I felt a little sorry for him when he said that long sentence back then.

“Uh, I want to be with you.”

“You’re very straightforward. No, I’m too lazy to go, I want to stay home with Daonuea.” After saying that, I took the last bite of rice. We really did eat everything. I’m not sure who between us ate more…or maybe it was both of us?

“What?”

“I said wait a year.”

“Yeah, yeah, I can wait. You’re so cruel.” Bohn muttered without much conviction. I was about to say something more when a loud voice interrupted.

“Uh…sorry to interrupt your happiness…tonight I’m going to confess my feelings to my girlfriend.”

There were cheers and teasing when he said that. The guy on stage seemed to have graduated, looking cheerful. His gaze was fixed on a girl with glasses at the front table. Squeak ddddd

“I…I’m not very good at speaking. So, I’ll sing to express my feelings, it might be bad, please bear with me for a moment…P.S…I’ll skip straight to the chorus.” I gave a playful smile. He turned to say something to the musicians, then turned back with an embarrassed smile to the girl with glasses. They look good together.

You are my true love. I’m willing to give up everything just for you.

Like fate has brought us together, you and I as one.

Let us walk side by side from now on.

Only you can make the world stop spinning, just by looking into my eyes.

Only you can stop my heart right here, right where you are.

You alone, just you, are all I need.

I will do everything, with my soul and heart.

That’s how I will love you, no matter when or where.

My whole heart belongs to you alone.

The song sung by the person on stage made everyone in the cafe quiet to listen. I love this kind of voice so much, it’s not particularly beautiful, but the singer puts their feelings into the song. That woman is incredibly lucky to have such a good boyfriend. No, I should say, from now on, she’s going to have a great husband.

“Bohn.” I called out to my lover while picking up a flower from the plate, looking at the rose…thinking about the time when I gave him flowers every day.

“Hmm?”

“Why did you make me give you flowers when we first met? Did you…like me already?”

“No, I just wanted to tease you.”

“Couldn’t you tease me in another way? Why did it have to be flowers?”

“Honestly, at that time, I didn’t know how to tease you, I just wanted to make things difficult for you, but after we argued about buying flowers from the street kid, I got the idea, ‘Hey, I’ll make you buy as many as you want.’ Genius, right?” Hearing that makes me want to punch something.

“…You bastard.”

“Thank you.”

“…”

“And this…”

“Bohn.”

“?”

“Can I stay with you?”

Did I make the right decision doing this? At first, I didn’t even want to sleep over at Bohn’s. It’s not that I didn’t want to, I’m just a private person. I rarely leave home, and even staying over at a friend’s requires a lot of thought. But now…I think I want to be with him, with this idiot.

“What’s the answer?”

“Of course, I’m so happy, everything today seems to go by so fast I’m shocked.” He grabbed my hand, his face adorned with a smile. You’ve been smiling a lot lately, Bohn.

“Huh?”

“?”

“Is it okay…I haven’t told my parents about us yet.” Every time I think about this, it’s stressful. I don’t want to stress my parents with this. Should I not tell them…No, that won’t do. I’ve already fallen for this idiot. Damn it! It’s all because of you, you bastard! Why did you have to make me love you?

“We can wait until you’re ready, I’m not in a rush.”

“But if you could choose, when would you want me to move in?”

“Today. Now, this very moment.”

“Then you go ask my dad.”

“When should I go? We can go right now if you want.” I was joking, but he took it seriously…

“My dad is tough, you know.” I pretended to threaten him. Though he might look rough, his heart is all fluttery, sir. He’s very sweet when he’s with…his wife, haha.

“…”

“He’s an air force officer, he even slapped a kid who tried to hit on Daonuea…do you have anything to fight my dad with?” I’m lying, he’s never slapped anyone except those who bullied his kids.

“I have nothing to fight with…but I love his son. Even if it’s just me, I’ll fight.”

“…”

I looked down and smiled under the table, is this a line from a shoujo manga protagonist? I should’ve rolled my eyes, why am I smiling, why is my heart beating, why am I happy, why am I blushing!!

“What are you smiling at?”

“I bent down to pick up a burned mushroom under the table, and when I found it, I smiled.” Don’t ask if he believes it…it’s all part of the act. He’s been teasing me with his smile the whole time we were in the cafe, and even now, in the car, he’s still doing it.

“So, you’re really moving in with me, right? Not like last time, okay?” His face was so funny, like a sad dog, ha ha ha.

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go.”

“Go where?”

“To buy stuff for the room, want anything more? I don’t spend much time at the condo, I’m not sure if the furniture will be to your liking. You like green, right? Let’s buy a green bed.” The other changed our route from my house to somewhere else…if I’m guessing right, it must be HomePro, wait a minute.

“Are you crazy? No way.”

“Why not?”

“You’ve got enough stuff. I can live with whatever. I’m not that fussy.” I’ve even slept in the forest. Why wouldn’t I be able to sleep in a fancy condo?

“Don’t you want anything?”

“Nah.”

“And your stuff?”

“Just need to get some clothes from home.”

“No need, you can wear my clothes, loose shirts, sexy…” Bohn raised his hand in a lewd gesture, your eyes are so wide open, you bastard!!

“Ew, you pervert!”

“Ha ha ha.”

Damn you!!!

 

MY ENGINEER CHAPTERS HOME

MYENGINEER, CHAPTER 61: Wrapped in Fog, Embracing the Cold. Watching Stars On the Mountain

[Bohn]

“Finally, the day has come!! The day we conquer Phu Sot Dao!!!”

“Huh.”

Boss raised his hand above his head with a determined look, others did the same. Today we will climb Phu.

“You sure you can do it, fool? If not, you can stay at the bottom.” We haven’t climbed the mountain yet, but we’re about to start walking up. Almost everyone is here, (except for Phii Sao who had to say goodbye because of asthma). Even though I’d like Duen to come along, health comes first.

“Do you see me as some delicate, small-framed girl…no, I’m a sturdy, strong man. Just walking up the mountain like this, easy!” I know you’re not a delicate girl, but you’re foolish, what I’m scared of is…you walking clumsily and rolling down the mountain.

“Well…okay, then. If you get tired, I’m not carrying you on my back, just so you know.” Such scenes happen often in dramas…seriously. Even though I love Duen, I definitely won’t carry him up there.

“Come on, I can roll up the mountain, ha ha ha.” Roll up the mountain? I can understand rolling down the mountain, but how do you roll up?

“Everyone ready? Let me warn you, the distance is very far. If we start now…we’ll reach the pine clearing at the top of the mountain just as it’s getting dark. It’s not a short distance. If anyone can’t make it, don’t force yourself.” Phii Sun, at the front of the line, shouted, the pine clearing is the place at the top of Yod on Phu Sot Dao.

“If no one turns back, then…follow Phii Yod. We’ll reach the top of the mountain together!” His words…somehow ambiguous. If someone else said it, I might think it’s vulgar, but since it’s Phii Sun, he probably just means what he said.

“Ba!”

“Walk, let’s walk, our Theamuang Tingtong is shining bright.” What kind of song is this? It sounds familiar, like from the sports day in grade 8, right?…But it’s not Theamuang Tingtong, every time I hear the group name, I feel like vomiting, it feels like getting stabbed in the appendix or something like that.

“My hands are cold, brr.”

“This ‘sunlight that isn’t hot,’ what is it, getsunova or something? I’m cold, you bastard!” The weather is as cool as they said, probably because we’re at a high altitude and the nature here remains lush. The trees spread their branches like a canopy, so we don’t feel the heat at all.

I just listened to a lecture; to reach the pine plateau, we have to go through five hills. As they said, the names of these hills are quite soulcrushing: the first is ‘Send Relatives Hill,’ the second is ‘Defeat the Masters Hill,’ then ‘Bamboo Grove Hill,’ ‘Tiger Leap Hill,’ and finally ‘Death Hill.’ It’s really disheartening, damn it.

“Duen, look at that butterfly, it’s beautiful…I’ll take a picture.” The only girl in our group, Tingting, lifted her camera to photograph a dark purple butterfly. Yeah, it’s really beautiful.

“Aren’t you tired, carrying all that, Tingting?” Duen grabbed his friend’s bag; it’s really big. Looks like she brought a lot of stuff. I only brought a little because Phii Yod said that Yod’s peak is two thousand meters above sea level. We’re definitely going to die, King…

“It’s heavy, but I can manage.”

“I believe you. You’re tough.”

After walking for a while, we started to feel the meaning of ‘tired.’ Even though the sun doesn’t reach us and the air is cool, we’re still sweating. Everyone began to take off their jackets and tie them around their waists. I did the same.

“Let’s take a break.” Thank you for being considerate…

“Oh, my legs.”

“Phew, I’m tired.” Bom slumped down on a log. No one cares about getting dirty anymore. We haven’t even reached the first hill yet; how much longer do we have to walk?

“Phii Yod, phew…how much longer until we reach ‘Send Relatives Hill’?” It’s like King read my mind. Even though he’s panting, he looks happy, smiling all the time. King is like that, he loves nature. Since we’ve been here, he hasn’t picked a single flower or leaf, while Tee has been pulling grass out, creating holes. I don’t know what’s wrong with him; when he’s idle, he likes to pull grass for fun…

“Not long now. Just four hundred meters.” Not long…

…

“Help me…I’m going to faint. How do the porters manage to walk up and down here every day?” Porters are people hired to carry tourists’ bags and luggage, with prices depending on the weight of the items they carry.

“Exactly, my legs are killing me. Just two hundred meters and I feel like

I’m dying, my body is drenched in sweat…let me wash my hands for a sec.” After saying that, he walked to the small stream. Boss…be careful not to slip, you must be crazy wearing flip-flops to hike. We tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen, he said, “I want the cool wind to seep into my toe crevices and rush past my ingrown nails, so my nerves know I’m on Phu Sot Dao.” damn, maybe you should take off your shoes when we get there.

After ten minutes, our camp group started walking again. Phii Yod was still walking as if nothing had happened, how does he do it?

“You leech.”

“Are you okay?” He looked out of breath, so I walked over to check. Not for any reason, just worried because he doesn’t exercise much, and recently he hasn’t been out much, I’m afraid his body won’t adjust in time.

“I’m fine.”

“Sure?”

“Yeah, trust Phii Duen.”

“Okay.”

“And you, are you tired?” We looked into each other’s eyes, sweat dripping down his clear cheeks all the way to his neck, would anyone mind if I dragged him to wrestle in the bamboo grove?

“A little, can I hold your hand?” I moved closer to my lover, it’s hot but I want to be next to him.

“…What if I say no?” With a sarcastic smile, are you turning evil now, Duen?

“I wouldn’t care anyway.” I grabbed his hand and held it, pretending to be aloof, ignoring the protests from the other side.

“Then why ask?”

“Sometimes I want you to agree willingly.”

“–”

“Keep it light, friend.”

“Just now, the bamboo shoot was green, but why has it turned pinkishpurple now?”

“Yeah, the teak tree I was looking at too, what’s happening!” You don’t have to act that much, Tang.

“Maybe…there’s someone falling in love around here, too sweet, isn’t it? Ask your heart.”

“Check it out. Look at their hands, Bohn, are you afraid Tang will steal your little doctor or what?”

“Hey, can’t you walk on your own? No need to hold hands, or is Bohn, our friend, secretly disabled, with hidden hernias or something?” I didn’t respond because I was tired, but instead of quieting down, seeing me like this only made them tease more. Only King didn’t tease or complain. She said she had made peace with it, so she just wanted to stay silent. Poor thing, really.

“I’ve reached the top of the mountain, yeah!!!!!!”

“Uh…Nong Boss, this is just the first hill.” Phii Yod went over to nudge my close friend who was standing on a rock, shouting so loudly it echoed through the forest.

“I know, sir, but I wanted to say it now in case I die, so I won’t have any regrets. My calves hurt, husband, give me a massage, my legs hurt!” After saying that, he walked to his quiet husband who was resting on a nearby rock.

“…No. You should massage me.”

“Useless husband these days! I bought you at a high price, Merk, massage me, now!” Bought a husband…?

“You’re the one who’s useless, what kind of wife doesn’t massage her husband?”

“Jeez!”

Let them be, haha.

“Bohn, if I die, tell Daonuea that I hid money in my underwear drawer, urgh.” The speaker slumped his face onto his arm before lying down on the grass.

“Very tired?” I sat down beside him, gently placing a wet cloth on his face. The sun was starting to reach us, making Duen’s face red.

“Just a bit. Aren’t you tired?” The person lying down lifted the cloth to look at me.

“I’m tired.” I admitted it like a man. Not just tired, but extremely tired. This is just the first hill, and we still have four more to go. Reaching the pine plateau isn’t even Phu Sot Dao, we still need to walk further to reach the real mountain top. The pine plateau is just a rest and camping spot. I’m really grateful that the seniors had mercy on us to only go up to the plateau. “Lie down and rest, they gave us ten minutes.” Duen pulled me down to lie with everyone else. Phu was already asleep.

“I won’t sleep, or I’ll be too lazy to walk later.” That’s me, when I’ve just woken up, I don’t want to do anything. If I’m going to sleep, I want a long sleep. I don’t like dozing off; it’s annoying.

“Suit yourself…I’m going to sleep, can I borrow your lap?” After saying that, he scooted over to rest his head on my lap, which was now stretched out instead of crossed. Is this being sweet or what?

“Sure, I’ll wake you up later.”

“Great.”

“Your nose is beautiful. Did you get surgery?” I poked the high nose of the person below, so beautiful it was enviable. Daonuea has a nose like this too, but since she’s still young, it’s not as noticeable.

“Fuck you, my nose is natural, given by the heavens.”

“Sure, sure.” I brushed it off before looking at the others. They’re really asleep, how do they do it? If you flew a drone over, it would look like a battlefield full of corpses, ha ha.

Huh…

I bent down as I was pulled by the hand, the person below pinched my nose to make me look at him. If you want me to look at you, just say it nicely. There’s no need to be so forceful, Duenhaw.

“And did you get surgery on your nose? It’s obviously done…if we have kids, will they have a flat nose?” The other pursed his lips before poking my nose, using such cute words, ‘if we have kids.’

“Originally, the kids will definitely have high noses, heh.” I rubbed my nose against the one below, and Duen laughed, lightly patting my forehead.

“Hope they get more of my genes, I’m scared if they get too much of yours, they’ll turn out like shit.”

“That’s harsh.”

“It’s not harsh, I’m telling the truth.”

“Then if they get your genes, they won’t turn out like buffaloes?”

“That’s really harsh…”

“It’s not harsh, I’m telling the truth, heh.”

“You’re good at teasing, bastard, I’ll hit you.”

“They’re going to have kids together, you guys…”

“I heard they already have two. Still want more? Me and Merk don’t even have one yet. Where are they rushing to?”

“Take the uterus, I; Ting am offering it.” Uh, um.

Time passed slowly. We walked, rested, until finally…we reached the last hill, ‘The Death Hill’. I have to say, I’m extremely tired. Now I just want to shower and sleep. Others look like they can’t go on either, Boss and Tee aren’t even joking around. Who would have the mood for that, so tired.

“Hiccup, just a little more, juniors! You see mountain top, don’t you? We’ll get to rest soon, yay!” Phii Sun raised his hand high, everyone’s sweatsoaked as if they’d fallen into water somewhere, hiccup.

“I can see it clearly, but why does it feel so far away!”

“The path…phew, it’s steep, you bastard.”

“Damn…I’m tired.” I turned towards the voice; Duen was standing with his hands on his hips, looking at the mountain top. I told him not to sleep. Since he woke up at ‘Send Relatives Hill,’ he’s been looking dazed until we reached the last hill.

“Can you manage?”

“Why? Are you going to carry me? Come on, carry me, I’m so tired.” He walked over to climb onto my back, trying to get up…I’ll kick you if you do.

“Dream on. Even though I love you, I’m tired too.” “Fine, then why ask?” Duen pouted.

“No reason. If you’re tired…I just want you to know that I’m tired with you.”

“…I’m touched, bastard.”

“Huh huh.” I grabbed his hand and held it. I might not be as romantic as movie heroes, but I’ll be a simple, everyday hero. No need for big gestures. This is enough to make the heroine embarrassed.

“I…phew. I don’t have the energy to tease anymore, you bastard. Take over, Bom, phew.”

“Phew, I can’t either, let’s leave them be.” I agree, let me be for a day or two, friends, I’m not bored, but I want you to save your energy for walking. If you collapse, I won’t help you.

It’s tiring to get here, but looking back makes me feel less tired. It feels like I’m embraced by the mountains, and today I’ve felt truly loved by nature.

‘Conqueror of the Pine Plateau pf Phu Sot Dao’

“You bastard!!!”

“I…really, really, made it! Yeah!!!!!!”

“Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, sang pala bai ya wai ta tao!!!”

“What does that mean, Boss?!”

“I’m so damn tired!!”

“Why are your sentences so long?!”

“I don’t know!! I just know that now I’m happy!!!” As the sentence ended, laughter broke out. I’m so glad we finally reached the pine plateau where Phu Sot Dao is! Damn, when we were at ‘Death Hill,’ I thought it would take ten minutes to get here, but no, it took almost half an hour.

Damn tired, very tired, but also very happy.

“Juniors, let’s set up the tents first. After that, you can do whatever you want. It’s the season for the Himalayan cherry blossoms. Anyone who wants to take photos, please go ahead, I’m going to sleep first…hiccup.” Phii Sun shouted. By Himalayan cherry blossoms, he means those purple flowers, right? They’re not just one tree, there’s a whole field of purple. Just the pine trees alone are beautiful, but combined with this flower field, it feels like we’re not in Thailand anymore.

“Bohn, let’s go see the flowers!”

“Hmm. Not sleeping? You said you were sleepy.” I held him back, he said he couldn’t go on and wanted to sleep, why does he suddenly want to go see the flower field now?

“I’m not sleepy anymore. I want to walk and see the flowers, let’s go.” In the end, I followed him to the purple flower field. Up close, they’re even more beautiful, it feels like a reward for our effort.

“Duen, don’t run.”

“The shape is strange, isn’t it? But it’s beautiful in its strangeness…let’s set up camp here.” Duen turned to talk to me, his face full of happiness. I’d like to do that, but…

“No, there’s no space here. We need to set up our tents in the open area.” There’s no space here, Phii Yod said the forestry department doesn’t allow camping in the Himalayan cherry blossom field because it would damage something, I didn’t catch all of it.

“Damn, what a pity.”

Not long after, I had to drag Duen to set up the tent. It’s not a communal tent now. These are small tents, Phii Sun said two people per tent. Of course, I’ll be sleeping with my boyfriend. Others paired up as they pleased, twelve people made six pairs perfectly, finally…I am going to get to sleep one-on-one with Duen!

“Let’s go shower, you guys…is there a waterfall?” King looked around for a waterfall, stroking his chin.

“There’s the Crystal Waterfall, Phii Yod said we can bathe there, but there’s also a water tank behind the tourist rest area, he said we can choose where to bathe…what do you guys want, where should we go?” If we go to the waterfall, we’ll have to walk a bit further. Not many people would go, they’re too tired. But trust me, these guys will definitely choose the waterfall.

“It’s decided then!! Let’s go to the waterfall.” I told you so…

Once we had our goal, we prepared our stuff to go shower. The forest officer said there’s not much water, so bring a bucket to scoop. Good thing I bought one before coming, otherwise, it would have been bad.

“Let’s go, you guys!!”

The speaker raised his stick before walking forward. We stood watching him go, no one else followed yet, Boss is still Boss to the end…

“Are you really going to wear that outfit, Boss?” Merk hugged his arms while looking at his wife. I thought I was chill wearing a tank top and boxers, but Boss, you take chill to a whole new level.

“Yes! Why… is it too sexy, my love? No worries, I promise not to look at anyone but myself.” The speaker walked back to his husband, striking a pose of fake embarrassment. Help…

“Huh, it’s not sexy…”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s ridiculous!!” We all said in unison. Look at him, this is the mountain top place. It’s starting to get dark, and the temperature must be below seven degrees, which is very cold, almost freezing enough for frost to form on eggs, but look at how my friend is dressed…he’s wearing a plain purple shower cap, red rubber shorts with a Songkran water-playing pattern, and flip-flops. Boss…I have no words.

“Whatever, let’s just go. I feel like I’m going to die if I don’t shower.”

“Okay, as you wish…”

We let Phii Yod lead the way. The path wasn’t too tough; we reached our destination after a short walk. The water was scarce, just like they had said, and as expected, no one was here except our group, haha.

“There’s a path leading up to the top of the waterfall too, you can go up but be very careful. Are we sure we can find our way back?” Initially, Phii Yod was going to stay and watch us, but seeing he had a lot of work, we decided to go back on our own.

“Yes, sir.”

“Then I’m off, be careful, kids. Nice outfit, Nong Boss, haha.” Before leaving, Phii Yod went over to Boss, who was sitting in the waterfall. Your pose is so sinful, Boss, squatting like an old man, one hand holding a bucket, the other with a parrot soap bar. I’ve seen your boxers, Boss, please stop.

“Thank you, sir…See, my outfit is amazing.”

“Don’t believe him, I still can’t see the beauty in your clothes-”

“Bihn, you bastard. We’re here to play in the water!”

Whose voice was that? It sounds familiar, like my brother’s voice. Oh, I’m going to faint. I should’ve told you that’s Bihn with his friend, Singh. I shouldn’t have let you study in this faculty. Back then, I thought it would be his happiness, but now I know I was wrong…I shouldn’t have sent you to study with this group, they’re a disaster waiting to happen.

Want to know why I said that?

Just look at them!

He has five friends, Singh, Gel, Kal, Noi, and Thap. If they stood still, they’d look like a decent boy band, but the moment they move, life changes. Just look at them now as an example. They’re dressed similarly; Bihn tied a small towel around his chest like an ancient person, showing off his ugly belly, wearing elastic rubber pants below, and a shower cap on his head. The rest are dressed the same, only differing in color.

What is it with tying your pants so long between your legs? I hate it!!! I can’t stand it!! Gel, you’re handsome but what are you doing!! What did you stuff into your chest!! Are those fake boobs? They’re bigger than a Premier League championship ball, you bastard.

Kal, your name suggests wealth, can’t you act like a gentleman a bit?! What’s with bringing a whole bunch of bananas, what are you trying to do, make a snail? Where did you cut them from, not from the park, right…you’ve been gone for so long because you went looking for bananas?! Noi, you’re so good at teasing, Thap…I beg you, can one of you just be normal? You don’t have to be smart, just not like your friends.

“Damn, I suddenly see Phii Boss looking better.” I think the same, Duen. I think Boss has had it tough, meeting these guys makes my best friend look mild in comparison.

“We’d like to shower with you, Phii Boss.” Gel went to sit next to my friend’s wife, grinning happily before making space for them to sit comfortably. There’s barely enough space, and they’re still fighting over it, you guys. When they sit together, it looks like a group of housewives waiting for their husbands to finish playing cards, so many colors and patterns on your sarongs.

“Kal, can I have a banana?” Gel waved for his friend Bihn, the more I look, the more I want to wash my eyes. Kal, if you’re going to be that low, just drag them all, make it a path, you bastard.

“No, Phii. I don’t want to get punched by Hia Merk.”

“He won’t punch you, it’s just one banana, I want to eat it.” Do you know what your junior is thinking, and you still play with him, you jerk?

“Really can’t, Phii. I’m sorry for doing this, here!” …That kid peeled the banana and shoved it into my best friend’s mouth hard, damn, Boss might choke to death on that banana. I was about to run over to check but stopped when I heard something from Boss…

“Ugh, oh.”

“Duen…let’s go somewhere else, staying here is corrupting us.” I grabbed his arm and pulled him to follow, this is the way up to the waterfall. Tingting’s group has already gone up to the third level. I caught a glimpse of them laughing down at us, they must have seen my brother’s friends, haha.

“I think so too.”

“Where are you two going? You can’t go anywhere!!”

“What’s your problem, Bihn?” I put my hands on my hips, looking at the demon who, seeing that my boyfriend and I were about to escape, quickly climbed up to us at high speed. I remember I never had a monkey for a brother…

“I want to talk to my brother-in-law.”

“Brother-in-law…what kind of brother-in-law, he’s your sister-in-law.” I was about to say, ‘Your father’s brother-in-law,’ but then I thought, no, that’s my dad too.

“Bohn, you duck-faced bastard.” The person next to me lightly hit my shoulder. Well, it’s true. You can’t control me; just look at our size difference. Even if you could, I wouldn’t let you.

“Whatever, you guys have to stay for my interview. Hello, viewers. You’re now with me, Bihn, the not-so-dark but very daring host. These two are our special guests, Bohn, who’s not slender but very tough, and Dr. Duen, the fool with a dazed look who gets cramps like an old lady. In this segment, we’ll revisit the embarrassing and funny moments of that day.” Why are you winking, are you a shrimp? And what’s with using a banana as a microphone, Bihn?

“Wow, I’ve been waiting for this moment, the host is so beautiful he could break hearts and underwear.” The kid ran over to the edge of the waterfall and started wiggling around. How much are you getting paid for this?

“May I interview you?” My brother, who now goes by Bihnnlee, walked over with a banana to my mouth. Did you already take a bite? There are still teeth marks, you bastard, don’t think I don’t know. Ew, there’s even saliva.

“No, we’re going to shower.”

“Come on, this is my show, broadcasting live worldwide.” In your imagination, this show has a name longer than the distance between Chiang Rai and Saturn.

“No, Duen, let’s go.”

“Play along, it’s funny, haha.” I think Boss’s virus has spread to your brain. Oh well…I’m sorry I made you like this, I shouldn’t have trusted Boss at all.

“…”

“Did you hear that, Bohn, who’s not slender but very tough, Dr. Duen, the fool with a dazed look who gets cramps like an old lady, they want to be interviewed.” The host smiled at me before biting into the banana. Oh, just from the description, I’m about to lose my mind.

“Duen, I’m all sticky, I want to shower…”

“You’ll shower after this, come on, play along.”

“Na.”

“Damn…ask away.” Hearing that, the audience from below and above started clapping and cheering with joy…damn it. Just one ‘pretty please’ and I’ll do anything…Seriously, is it some kind of spell? Whenever it comes out of his mouth, it’s like a binding incantation, I can never refuse.

“First question…where did you two first meet?”

“The university’s public park.” That’s where I first met him. I never thought there’d be someone like this hiding in the university; it’s strange how he’s been so invisible for so long, his skill at avoiding people is truly maxed out.

“Ooh, so romantic!” The audience made admiring sounds before nodding and smiling. Everyone sat on the ground, turning to look at us on the second level, it felt like being surrounded by a troop of baboons somehow.

“How did you two meet?”

“Your sister-in-law was sunbathing by the pond, I felt sorry for him, so I went to help, but he screamed, calling me a pervert, so crazy.” Thinking about it makes me laugh. If I hadn’t felt the urge to be a good person back then, I wouldn’t have gotten punched, but…if I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have met the guy next to me.

“I was shocked at that time! Try being in my shoes, waking up to see some stranger who looks like they’re about to kiss you. If you didn’t punch him, I’d slap him myself.” The other protested, face turning red. He wasn’t this red before, I remember when we first started dating, he only turned a little red, and that was because others were teasing, not because of me.

“Yeah, yeah.” I messed up his hair until it was a mess.

“Interesting, interesting, next question. Who hit on whom first?”

“I hit on him first.” Why don’t you answer, Duen? I didn’t want to answer these questions. Weren’t you the one who wanted to play with Bihn?

“How did you do it? Can you explain, please? We’re very curious.”

“Just…normal courting, you know, going out, dates.” It might be normal, but it wasn’t ordinary. What wasn’t ordinary was the person I was courting. I had to make a huge effort to communicate with him. I’m really good at making Duen agree to be my boyfriend, how did I do it?

“And who asked to be in a relationship, kha?” Actually, you don’t have to use “kha” when you speak, I got goosebumps, Bihn, your chest is so punchable, the balloon knot sticking out is so ugly.

“Me.” After saying that, I looked up at the sky, which had started to turn a light orange. We should hurry up and shower and get back to the pine clearing. Otherwise, we’ll definitely get lost in the forest since no one brought a flashlight.

“Damn, you did everything first, didn’t you? Are you the one who’s clingy or what, such a strong start.”

“Yay.”

“It was Duen who was clingy, giving him flowers every day and even agreeing to go everywhere with him.”

“Phu! Clingy your father.” The person being talked about showed his middle finger to his best friend, your face is red again, Duen.

“Please elaborate on this, may I invite our special guest, Pha Rueang Fueng Fu Shabuu, to explain? Did Doctor Duen really do that?” As the host finished speaking, Phu jumped down from the third level. Hey! Even though it’s not that high, there’s moss there, you could slip and crack your head, turning into a waterfall ghost, and I wouldn’t know.

“He really did that. Don’t believe me? Ask anyone in the faculty; everyone knows, even the teachers.” What he’s saying is true. The janitors, the cafeteria vendors, the street sweepers, everyone knows. How could they not? Duen comes every day.

“Wow. Are you flirting with my brother, Duen?” Bihn nudged the person next to me. How did you guys get so close? I had no idea about this.

“Shut up, I’m not flirting with him. Bohn told me to do it.”

“Oh, and what does the groom have to say about this?” Suddenly, we have another host. Where did you get that banana from, Phu? I’ll guess it’s from the usual suspect, Kal.

“That’s about it, I don’t want to say much.” It’s a long story; if I tell it now, it’ll be dark by the time I finish. So, no one understands my need to shower?

“Alright, alright, let’s move on to the second question out of eighteen…” Is that too many? Did you really plan for that many questions? If Buhn were here, what would happen?

“What do you like about each other? Both of you have to answer.”

“Bohn, let’s go shower, stop playing.” This is the perfect excuse to escape. Sorry, Nong Duen, this is a question Phii Bohn has wanted to hear for a long time.

“Don’t rush, you said you wanted to play along.” I held back the other person, and our friend knew his duty, helping to keep him from escaping by holding his shoulder. Good job, Phu, I’ll buy you a drink later.

“Well, I don’t want to now, see, it’s getting dark. What if a grizzly bear shows up? How would we escape?” What would a grizzly bear be doing at Phu Sot Dao was picked?

“No, no, Bohn, what do you like about Duen? Can you tell us from the beginning how you started liking him, when did you realize you liked him?”

“I like his innocence, his straightforwardness. He’s not quick-witted, I like his good nature, how he loves kids, how he cares for those around him. At first, I thought he was funny, kind of a rare find on this planet. I didn’t think much of it back then…but as time passed, I started feeling something special, began to see him as cute and worth protecting, even though Duen isn’t small or slender. When did I realize I liked him? I don’t know, I just knew I liked him when I already did. Now I love him, and I still don’t know when I started liking him.”

“Urrghhhhhhh, confession of love.”

“My friend here…”

“My brother!!…Alright, and you, Duen, what do you like about Bohn?” I turned to look at the person next to me. This is what I’ve been waiting for.

“…I, let’s stop this, it’s getting dark, let’s shower.”

“Don’t change the subject. Phu, hold him. I won’t let go until you talk, you bastard.”

“You damn annoying people!” After saying that, he covered his red face with his hands, embarrassed as hell. He just admitted he likes me, I

confessed my love to you earlier.

“…”

“Bohn is embarrassed too, look, his face is black!” Bihn poked my cheek with a banana, do you want to die, little brother? But whatever, I’ll allow it today.

“Just wait…tell me quickly, I’m not rushing you. I just want to hear it.” The first sentence I said to the host, the second one I turned to say to Duen.

“I…am embarrassed, damn it. I won’t say it!” The person being pressed looked sulky.

“Tell me quickly. If you only say it when you’re alone with Bohn, he’ll wrestle you.” What do you think of me, I’m a gentleman, right? Heh.

“…Bohn is okay. Not bad or anything.”

“That’s it?” I shouted, I went to all that effort to speak at length, and you say just ten words? Is that even a sentence? Oh, whatever.

“Yeah, let go now.” Duen nodded, trying to free himself from our threeperson hold. The others were watching like they were at the movies, and Gel was really into it. Watching while eating bananas, it’s more exciting than watching Star Wars.

“No, spit it all out. We want to know your feelings, keep poking him until he tells.” Bihn ordered, pointing his finger, and the accomplices complied, raising their hands in a salute before starting to punish the stubborn one.

“Damn- hahaha.”

“Will you tell?!”

“I, argh, hahaha.”

“Tell quickly!”

“I give up, hahaha!” Finally, you agreed to say it, I thought I’d have to use pliers to pry open your mouth.

“Okay, let him go slowly, don’t think about running away. There’s over ten of us. You don’t want to feel like a criminal running from SWAT, right?”

“Yeah, you damn bastards, why threaten me…you think you’re so clever.” Bohn muttered, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“So, what do you like about my brother?” I crossed my arms, looking at my lover with a smile. The other ran his hand through his hair in frustration. You really don’t want to say it, do you?

“How should I say it?”

“Say what you feel, it’s easy.”

“Bohn…he’s good, okay, how should I say this…at first when he said he would court me, I thought he was hallucinating from studying too much, so I didn’t pay much attention. But when he actually did what he said, I started thinking seriously, wondering if it was a prank or a bet with his friends. Coupled with the rumors about him, it made me distrust him. But as we got to know each other better, I realized he was sincere. Bohn wasn’t just playing around, haha…damn, this is embarrassing. Back then, I didn’t dislike him, quite the opposite, I really respected his effort. He said he wouldn’t court anyone else but me…and he did what he said. He said he would study hard…and he did. He was willing to read for exams even though he never did before, willing to do things he hated just to make me proud. Besides that, he always took care of me, took care of every little detail, picked me up, dropped me off, helped with everything, was always by my side…you’d be crazy not to love him, you bastard.” …help me.

“I love you too.” I leaned down to touch his cool lips gently. I didn’t do more than that. My heart was beating so hard, like it might burst out. Since we’ve been together, this was the first time I heard ‘I love you’ from him, felt like a mission accomplished somehow.

So happy…

“You bastards. You didn’t see us at all, did you? I was wrong…you get tackled no matter where you are, Duen. Okay, friends, let’s disperse. Let’s go shower, let the couple have their moment.” After that, they really did disperse. Everyone went up to the top floor, pretending not to see us. Good.

“Were we old rappers or something?”

“…”

“You spoke a lot, are you thirsty? I’m afraid your throat might be dry.” I kept teasing even though I was also feeling overwhelmed. Calm down, don’t get too excited…don’t let him know that he just scored a million points for satisfaction.

“…damn it.”

“Say it again, I want to hear it again.” I whispered into his white ear, wrapping my arms loosely around his waist. My face still had a smile that wouldn’t fade. I’m sure I’ll sleep with a smile tonight.

“What. No more. Let go, I want to shower.” The person in my arms struggled free. I saw that it was getting dark, so I let him go.

Not long after, we walked back to change our clothes in the tent. The sun was beginning to set now. Phii Yod led our camp group to watch the sunset from the cliff’s edge. From here, the sunset was incredibly clear, so beautiful you didn’t want it to end, but soon I had to think otherwise…

The sunset led me to see something even more beautiful – millions of stars shining brightly in the sky. I could see the Milky Way with my naked eye.

“Wow…it’s beautiful.” The twelve of us were lying down, watching stars on the wide pine plateau without worrying about getting dirty. We had a large mat, rented from the tourist rest area, twenty baht per sheet.

“Uh, it’s so beautiful here, glad we came here together.” I rested my chin, looking at the other, so cute, looks just like the mother of my child, oh…the mother of my child is you.

“Uh…I feel the same.”

“They probably forgot we’re still here.”

“Seems like it.”

“Let’s leave them be, don’t stick a crowbar in where pigs can find their own way…let them have their moment without interference.”

“We don’t mind if you’re noisy. We like it, hee hee.”

When we noticed the air was getting cooler and fog was starting to settle, we headed back to our tents. If you ask who’s the sleepiest, it would definitely be the fool, because as soon as he got to the tent, he collapsed and fell asleep without a word.

“Hey?”

“…”

“Duen, are you asleep already?” I lay on my side, looking at the other’s back, he was turned away from me. Normally, couples should face each other when sleeping.

“Uh.”

“Yeah, good night.”

“…Good night.” The other nodded sleepily, are you aware or sleep-talking?

“You’re really asleep…so fast.” I shook my head with a smile, getting up to adjust my lover’s sleeping position. I didn’t forget to cover him with the blanket up to his chest. You…really aren’t much like a doctor. Can’t even take care of yourself, how are you going to take care of others, you leech? “Duen.”

“…” Silence, huh.

“You know what…I was so happy when you said you loved me, my heart was beating so fast, hahaha.” Damn, I didn’t dare say it to your face, so I have to tell you when you’re out of it, you jerk…

“…”

“Here…I love you, you fool.” I moved to kiss his round forehead, then gently ran my hand through his soft hair. If you were awake, you definitely wouldn’t let me do this…what are you so possessive about, I’m your boyfriend, right?

After playing with his hair for a while, I started to feel sleepy. So, I lay down, using both arms as a pillow…I left the tent’s roof open so I could see stars outside. These stars are real, not effects or editing. Seriously, it’s unbelievable as it is. With the light fog, the pine clearing looks even more fantastical. Are there places like this?

Not only was it unlike Thailand, but it was unlike Earth…if

Kiss-kiss

The soft touch on my lips made me pause. When I looked up, I met the smile of the person I thought was already asleep.

“I love you too, now go to sleep…” After the sweet words, he lay down beside me, pulling my arm to rest around his waist and snuggling his head into my strong chest…which was me. Now we were lying in an embrace amidst the faint mist and millions of stars in the sky.

How am I supposed to sleep like this, you bastard?

 

MY ENGINEER CHAPTERS HOME

MYENGINEER, CHAPTER 60: The Person Who Gets Punished

[Duenhaw]

“We’ll find out soon, Bohn.”

“Alright…no group has been wrong yet, let’s reveal it one group at a time…King’s group first!” Good! That’s how it should be, Phii Chai! I turned to give a wicked smile to the person next to me before pulling out my phone to prepare to record a clip.

“Hah. If your group is wrong, you’ll be in for it, Duen.”

“Wow, Nong Bohn is definitely going to get it!”

“…”

“So, Frang, was King’s group correct?” Phii Chai walked over to ask. The person he asked didn’t answer yet. He gave a sinister smile to Bohn, who was about to say something but was interrupted.

“Oh, I think it’s not suspenseful at all, both of them…let’s get two more people to come out and guess the outcome, I’ll give a free jar of orchids to each if they guess right.” Wow, you said they were rare, do you have so many, Phii Chai?

“Me!!!”

“Move! The real one is coming, move!”

“Salty snail! Move, I and Shuchat will go ourselves.”

“You move! Don’t you see I was here before you, right, Foodfighter Chris?”

“That’s right, you bastard, just admit it.”

Chaos ensued when he said that. Are those jars that desirable? At first, I just glanced over, thinking they might have mold or moss on them.

“Kids, calm down, I haven’t said yet that it could be anyone.”

“Oh.” We all exclaimed in unison. The forestry department seniors laughed until they were in tears.

“The first person, I want someone born on December 31st, any year. If there’s more than one, I’ll let all of them come out.” So, you don’t just have two or three jars of orchids, huh? You can give them away like that.

“Screaaaaam, it’s me, me!! Oh yeah! It feels like I’ve won a crown. How about that, you losers, you can race in a boat, race in talk, but you can’t race in luck, can you?” Wow, what luck, and she’s the only one born on that day.

“Okay, your name is Maduey, right?”

“Yes, Phii.”

“What number do you like, Maduey?”

“Seven.”

“Then I’ll choose the 7th, July  anyone born on the 7th of July, please come out. Anyone born today, show yourself quickly.” Such a good number, seven Duen seven, wait…today is…

“…It’s me.”

“…You’re going to be lucky.” Phii Chai said into the microphone. How could he not be lucky? The person born on this day is a member of the group about to win the prize.

Ram.

“I won’t consider this void, it’s his luck. So, Maduey, what do you think the result will be?”

“Nong Tang’s group got it right.”

“Damn, I knew it, how about it, Bohn? I’m definitely winning, others think so too.”

“It’s just guessing, it doesn’t prove anything.” Bohn shrugged before giving a sardonic smile, damn! I hate your smile so much, you jerk.

“And what about you, Nong Ram, who do you think?”

“…”

“What do you say?”

“I think…well.”

Aren’t you going to support your own group, Vera? Like, ‘It has to be my group. We’ve trained for this moment for lifetimes. There’s no way we could be wrong,’ something like that, I see athletes say this before competitions.

“Okay, we’ve heard from everyone…Alright! Let’s see the answer, is Tang’s group correct, Oat!!”

I leaned forward to get a clear look at Phii Oat’s face. He scratched his head back and forth before opening his mouth, what is it! P as in bee, or T as in bag, open your mouth wide, Phii Oat!!!

“Correct.”

“Yay…I got the orchid!! And not just any orchid!! But a rare tissue-cultured orchid, screeeeeeeeeeeeeech!!!”

“Yay!!!” My group stood up and cheered so loudly it shook the forest. How’s that, you bastard, I answered correctly. You’re definitely pole dancing, Bohn. And you too, Ram. How can you not favor your own group, you deserve a head slap for that.

Heh.

“So, what now?” I nudged my lover’s shoulder; Bohn looked annoyed and flicked my nose in irritation. What’s wrong with you! Are you jealous? I told you I was lucky today, hee-hee.

“Just because your group was right doesn’t mean mine was wrong, you fool.”

“You scoundrel, I’ll watch the scoundrel pole dance.” I reached up to pinch both his cheeks, making the most mischievous face I could. It worked! Bohn was really annoyed, haha…

“Scoundrel” is another word my Thai language teacher taught me, derived from “don’t come.”

“Hah. We’ll see about that.” Sure, sure, I’ll watch…watch someone pole dance.

“Okay, Maduey, come get your orchid after we’ve revealed King’s group’s answers.” Alright, Phii Duen is not in a hurry. Whether I get it late or early, I’ll get it anyway. Phii Duen promises to take good care of the orchid; it won’t die, for sure!!

“So, Frang, was King’s group correct?”

“Seems like heaven is on my side, Bohn, huh.” There you go! I told you!

“So, was it correct?”

“Come out and pole dance with me, you bastard…it was wrong!”

Yay!!!!!!!!!!” I stood up and cheered, dancing around my lover. Wow, Bohn pole dancing, Bohn pole dancing, Bohn pole dancing, wow, what now, you bastard, I told you you’d get it.

“Wow, why are you so happy, huh?” Of course, Phii Duen is happy, what’s wrong with that? I’ve got to record this clip for the kids; Daonuea and Ben need to see what their dad, Bohn, has done.

“Shh.”

“Then don’t look so grumpy, smile.” I bent down to push his lips into a smile. He made a slight huff but didn’t push me away. Well, I understand the feeling. Who would want to pole dance, especially a guy? It’s so embarrassing.

“It’s okay, there’s another team to dance with you, please welcome the team of Oat and Frong.” So, no other team was wrong except for Bohn’s and Phii Frong’s. Poor them, let’s record everyone, huh, ha, ha.

“…I’ll…”

“Alright, go stand on the hill, I’ll play the music and…”

“Sorry…I said it wrong.”

Silence fell over the area when one man raised his hand and spoke that sentence. I wouldn’t care if it wasn’t…

“What did you say, Oat?”

“I looked wrong earlier, thought the bean filling was an eel, sorry.”

“…”

“That means…uh, you have to dance with the pole, huh, heh.” The person who had a world-weary expression earlier whispered in my ear, your voice is so punchable, but Phii Duen needs a moment to be stunned. “Please, Nong Tang’s team, come out to dance on the pole together.” Oh my God!!!!

“Don’t be sad. Even if both groups answered incorrectly, there’s one person who got it right…Please, Nong Ram.” Yes, before, Ram had said, ‘I think they’re both wrong.’ At that time, I thought he was so stupid, but now I must pay homage to his brilliance.

After that, our whole group walked out to the hill along with the other two groups who were also being punished. The pole was made of bamboo…a whole bamboo stalk, wow, and how do you slide on this pole?

“Don’t be afraid, everyone, I will lead.” It’s like you can read my mind, teacher. Only Phii Boss seems to be enjoying this, even someone as cheerful as Phii King is sad, probably really wanted that orchid, oh well, poor him…I also feel sorry for myself, haha.

“Okay, are you ready?”

“Yes…” It was the most disheartened sound I’ve ever heard. I was one of the people making that sound, damn it…this won’t be spread around, if anyone leaks this, Phii Duen will sever his head!

“At first, it was embarrassing to have to come out and dance, but when there’s someone you love dancing with you like this, it’s actually quite fun.” You don’t need to say who it is, right? Who else could it be but that jerk, Bohn.

“Shut up, bastard, damn it!”

“Come on, just dance. Follow Boss.”

“That’s easy to say.” Recently, he did a basic invert…oh wow, I can mimic that one.

“You told me to smile earlier. Now you’re not smiling, come on, smile.” He pulled up the corners of my mouth on both sides, teasing me?

“Damn. I don’t want to slide on the pole, it’s embarrassing.”

“Why be embarrassed? I’m the only one watching.” “Lonely man!” Look down at the people below!

“Alright, sorry for wasting time. If everyone’s ready…the music’s coming!!” As Phii Chai’s voice ended, the music started blaring from the big speakers behind us. Phii Boss has already started dancing. Oh no!! Just the beginning and I can’t handle it!

“If you don’t dance here, I’ll make you dance at the hill in front of everyone at the camp.” You’re so mean, Phii Chai, don’t you know this needs some emotional build-up!

“Follow Boss, everyone! Quick, or you’ll end up dancing at the office!” Alright, let’s do it then!!!

“Uh…what do you want with my bamboo? Do you want to be a panda, want to eat bamboo?” I tilted my head to ask my lover, who grabbed my bamboo. Hey! He threw it away. And he did it with such an innocent look.

“Oh, damn, Bohn, what am I supposed to use as a pole now?” Stealing mine, huh? The other seemed to catch on to my thoughts, pulling his own bamboo out and throwing it next to mine…wait! What are you going to use as a pole then? No, both of us, that’s what!

“I’ll be your pole.”

“Huh!”

“Uh-huh, I’ll be your pole, and you’ll be mine.” After saying that, he grabbed my waist and started swaying to the music. Aren’t you ashamed to do something like this?!

“Don’t be crazy, Bohn!”

“Oh, do those two want to dance at the office? Throwing away the poles like that, dance with each other then!” Phii Chai, did you bribe Bohn or something? I’m sure of it!

“Let go! I’m going to get another pole.”

“Don’t even think about it, fool.”

“Start dancing now. If you don’t start in three seconds, I’ll really make you dance in front of the office!” Damn it, TT [] TT!!!

“What have I done! Whoever recorded, delete all the clips, you bastard!!”

“Yeah, don’t let me see them, or I’ll…I’ll cry, please.”

“My manliness…”

The sound of lamentations and crying came from the group that went out to slide on the pole. We’ve been crying from the first station to this final one, how much time has passed, my disgrace hasn’t faded…

“Damn, so embarrassing, really embarrassing, I can’t face my wife and kids anymore.” I covered my face with my hands, so ashamed, sliding down a pole is bad enough, but this!!

“You don’t have a wife, you have a husband.”

“Shut up, bastard, it’s just lamenting my life.” I elbowed him in the stomach, screw it! I don’t care anymore. It’s over, so let it be!! Phii Duen doesn’t care, today Phii Duen will weave leaves.

“Wow…all the juniors look so world-weary, what have you been doing?” “Sliding down the pole…”

“Oh, ha ha ha.”

“Come on, we’re all men, let’s weave leaves to de-stress, you can choose whatever you like, any shape, any leaf, you can make more than one thing. We’re the last group.” The seniors…no, the uncles, there are five of them at this station, each with a basket beside them full of pandan leaves, coconut leaves, and many more. I’ll take the coconut leaves.

“Bohn, I’m going to weave the cupcake first, I’ll compete with Ting.” I just walked past Tingting’s group, and she ran over to mock me right there, sir.

‘Ha! Look at you, I won’t be single anymore because I’m weaving birds to break the curse!!! No one is smarter than me now. Heh heh, I’m not selling crickets anymore, I’ll sell birds! This time you’ll be confused!! Women with the same fate as me will come rushing to buy!!…Knowing this, I should weave a snail too, maybe it’ll come into my life. Actually, there are many snails around me, but they’re not used for…ugh…I’m stressed again. Because of you, damn Duen!! Because you got Phii Bohn as your husband, now all the other friends want one too, I’ll ban you for three seconds!! Come beg me too, ugh.’

“Uh, this is the nephew from yesterday…right, forgetful uncle?”

“Yes, yes, uncle, can you weave a cupcake?”

“I really want to weave one, the cupcake is small, should be easy to make. If it turns out nice, I’ll give it to Phii Thara as a gift!”

“Hmm. Can’t do that, how about an animal?”

“A cupcake is an animal, too…oh, I forgot that’s just a nickname.” Normally, I call it by name because I don’t want to say the species…just hearing the name gives me goosebumps.

“If it’s an animal, that’s fine, but what kind of animal is this cupcake?” “A lizard.”

“…”

“Why so quiet?”

“I want to hashtag ‘Bohn’s wife is funny,’ haha!” Everyone around us burst into laughter. What’s so funny? I really want to weave a lizard, come on.

“Okay, okay, I’ll teach you myself, haha.”

“What do we do first, uncle?” I asked. No one was doing it like me. Bohn excused himself to do something with Phii King’s group. Tang and his friends went to weave hats on the tree side. What the heck…

“Do you want a big one?” Uncle Cham asked. Big one? Actually, I’d like one big enough to hit King over the head, but given my skills, it would probably be tiny.

“Is it hard?”

“Just a bit.”

“Then let’s do a small one, so it looks more realistic.”

I sat down to weave the lizard with Uncle Cham. At first, there were a lot of people in the group, but somehow, as time went by, I was the only one left.

“Exactly.”

“And then tuck the ends here…done.” I followed what Uncle Cham said and then looked down at my work. It was really a lizard…life-sized too, damn.

I’ll name him…Supasit!

He’ll be friends with Chai. Once it’s dry, I’ll coat it with varnish to make it durable, waterproof, and resistant to wear. Then I’ll put it in my trophy cabinet, along with the trophy that Phu is most proud of, Supasri!

“Thank you very much, Uncle Cham!” I raised my hands to pay respects to the elder in front of me, sweating profusely, both Uncle Cham and me. Teaching me must have been quite a challenge.

“Yeah, yeah, keep it safe, my nephew.”

“Yes, sir.”

I’ve got to show this off to others.

“Ram!”

“?”

“What are you doing?” I looked down at what my close friend was doing. What is that, it even has a tail, so cute. Those white leaves, are they coconut leaves too?

“A platy fish.”

“Wow, it’s beautiful, why is it so big?” It looks plump and big. It’s nothing like the platy fish of the person next to me. What did you give it to eat, Vera?

“It’s a double-decker platy fish.” I raised my eyebrows before sitting down next to him, very interested. I can’t even make the first layer, and you’re already surpassing me, you rice pudding.

“There are layers too?”

“Do you want to learn? I’ll teach you.” I nodded and sat on his lap, as I’ve said, Ram is like my second dad, really. I like being with him; the atmosphere is very warm.

“How many layers do you want?”

“One layer is enough.”

“Tear off the palm leaves.”

“This pale one, right?”

“Uh, and then…” Ram taught me step by step; learning from him made me understand a lot more. When King taught, it wasn’t like this at all, he just kept saying, “It goes into that hole, yeah, that’s it…push it in. You see that long, messy line, right? Go for it.” In the end, I didn’t get anything done all day.

“Ram…why doesn’t it look like a platy fish?” Uh, is this fish sick?

“It does, in your style.”

“You’re good at comforting, damn.”

“No…really.”

“Thanks anyway, friends.”

“Time’s up, come sit here quickly.”

Uncle Cham announced over the microphone, oh well. I haven’t made that much yet; I still wanted to make a bird to compete with Ting.

We walked to our designated spots, Bohn came back, holding something, but I didn’t pay attention. Right now, I’m enamored with my two little ones.

It’s okay, kids. Even though we look terrible, dad loves us.

Clap-clap.

“Seniors, please take the knowledge you’ve gained today and use it in your daily life, do anything with it…like if there’s a coconut tree at home, if you want it to look nice, you can pluck the leaves to weave fish for fun or whatever. That’s all for today, thank you.”

“Thank you very much!” We all raised our hands to salute the uncles at the station before walking away in an orderly fashion. Each person carried one or two items they’d made. I think it’s a good way to spend our free time, definitely. When I get home, I’ll teach Daonuea…if I remember how.

“Duen.”

“What?” …his face is red, is something wrong, or is he about to faint, that’s why he called me? Oh no, the first-aid kit is with the senior at the front of the line. I guess I’ll have to run and get it. “Wait here, I’ll be back. Stay in the shade, okay?”

“Huh??” He grabbed my wrist when he saw me about to run off, gripping tightly. Don’t exert yourself so much! You’ll faint! “Where are you going?”

“To get the first-aid kit.”

“To do what?” Oh, I was just trying to help you, you ungrateful bastard.

“You look like you’re about to faint from the heat.”

“Who told you that?”

“Why do you need someone to tell me? I’m a doctor. Your face is so red, if it’s not heatstroke, then what?”

“…It’s not heatstroke, I’m just embarrassed.”

“?”

“Here, I made this for you.”

“…” I looked down at what he just handed me. It was green, smelled nice, not too big, not too small…and importantly, the craftsmanship was impressive.

“You did this to mock me! That’s going too far, Bohn.” You’re so mean, he must have seen my kids and wanted to mock them.

“Oh, come on, Duen, I swear…that’s not it!”

“Then what?”

“Let’s trade. You give me your rose plant, I give you this pandan rose.”

“Ah…Oh.” I responded awkwardly, raising my finger to scratch my cheek in embarrassment before looking away…I wasn’t prepared for something like this.

“Are you embarrassed?” You’re embarrassed too, you bastard! And you still have the nerve to poke my cheek, just wait! If I get too embarrassed, I’ll bite your neck off.

“Uh, no, I’m not embarrassed! Try being me, and you’ll know how it feels…I’m sorry I haven’t done anything for you.”

“You don’t have to do anything for me. You’ve already given me so much. It’s my turn to give.”

May I touch your chest for a moment? Just to make sure that the lump in front is still in good condition. Hello, heart, are you still in place? I saw it beating so hard, I’m worried it might pop out.

 

MY ENGINEER CHAPTERS HOME

MYENGINEER, CHAPTER 59: Teasing…

[Bohn]

“Serves you right for playing games, I’ve been patient for a while now.” If you’re going to look at me like that, Ting, you might as well come punch me. Everyone else too, what’s up…I just wanted my boyfriend to act sweet, where’s the fault in that? Everyone wants their partner to be sweet.

Last night, I didn’t sleep outside the tent like Duen ordered. I tried to make amends from midnight until two in the morning, but he didn’t soften…no, he was asleep long before that. Waking up, he was still angry, but not like before. This time he looked at me, he paid attention, he talked to me. When our friends found out what happened, they all thought I deserved it. Why, though? I’m pitiful enough, why add insult to injury?

“Alright, campers, today we have activities at various stations organized by our kind forestry department friends. There are ten stations. The first station is…” The senior continued explaining. I listened a bit, didn’t listen a bit, remembering roughly that the first station is crossing a rope bridge, and the last one is weaving leaves. I heard Duen really wants to go to that one. Oh, there’s also a station where we have to hike up the mountain to learn survival skills in the forest.

“Hey, you scoundrel, found the sign already?”

“Yeah, an elf brought it.”

“What elf? We’re in Thailand.”

“It was really an elf, man. After we showered, there was a sign on the pillow.”

“An elf or a forest spirit! Damn…that’s scary.”

“Don’t be scared of you, it didn’t mention there was a Post-it on the sign, saying, ‘Looking for you, you savage. If I hadn’t kept it, it would be gone by now’.” please, Tang, don’t mimic my boyfriend’s voice, my boyfriend’s voice is much cooler.

“Oh, ghosts love you.”

“Yeah, heh heh.”

“We have to go to Station Seven first…the ‘Digging Station’.” James said.

We follow the tent groups, 25 people per group, with a total of eight groups.

“Follow me…come on, kids, uh…I’ll personally take you there.” P’Ying waved for us to follow. He’s one of the guides provided by the forestry department, quite young, probably not less than eighty, healthy but…doesn’t have much speaking energy, though he’s quite funny. He won’t let us call him uncle, saying it’s not suitable for his youthful face, sure, P’Ying.

“Where is the station, P’Ying?” Bihn went to ask, quite interested in this guide’s fashion. My little brother said, “I want to study P’Ying’s fashion sense, he’s not ordinary at all! I asked what he studied, P’Ying said he graduated from grade 8 with a GPA of 5.90, damn…how do you get a grade above four? Plus, his fashion sense is so unique, he might have mastered fashion to another level, I need to apprentice under him. P’Ying, please accept me as your disciple.”

Hearing this, you might wonder how P’Ying dresses, ordinary…ordinary people wouldn’t wear this. He has an old man’s purple turtleneck sweater, yellow and green polka-dot boxer shorts, very tight and high-waisted, red flip-flops with pink pompoms in the middle, around twenty amulets hanging from his neck, and a big orange rose hairband on his head…God, which hospital did this guy escape from? Bihn, if you dress like this, I’ll kick you out of the house and make Ben my family third son…

“The station is at, uh, um…let me listen a moment…hmm…uhmm.”

“Listen to what?”

“Mom.”

“River?”

“Mom bought.”

“…”

“P’Ying, where do we need to go? Did they give us a map?” Seeing that we couldn’t rely on P’Ying, King went to ask P’Singh. He’s also one of our group’s guides, each group gets two guides. P’Singh is about the same age as P’Ying, slightly better because he has the energy to speak. He looks strong, but the downside is, his hearing isn’t great…

“Pantene? Heh. I don’t use Pantene, I use natural shampoo, extracted from rotting kaffir lime peel from the suffering, bitter, and sad Doi Pha Oed mountain. It’s good…good my ass, my hair is falling out in clumps, you bastard, just wait, I’ll go slap someone, sold me a fake!” P’…are you serious, just hearing where it’s from, I wouldn’t buy it.

“Uh…the map?” The person asking scratched his head as if he didn’t know what to say. We were all stunned too. So, the guide for our group probably isn’t going to make it…us too.

“Oh, oh, it’s in my bag…here it is.” The same guide pulled out the map to show us; it looked unusually large. The maps of other groups were only the size of a hand.

“…”

“Hmm, what’s wrong, little brother?”

“It’s really a map…but it’s a map of Thailand.” We all crowded around to look. Wow…it really is Thailand, including the whole country. Looking at this, we could study it until our eyes fall out, and we still wouldn’t find the station; there’s just a tiny bit of Uttaradit. I haven’t even seen where Phu picked flowers for Dao yet.

“Oh, what a curse, here it is.” Phii Singh pulled out the real map (sounds very grand).

“Is this the real one, sir?”

“Who’s Napir?”

“Sigh…! Where’s the station, sir?”

“The station…oh, this way.” Finally, we were on our way. The station’s supervisor might have fallen asleep, and I noticed that Thara’s doctor group had already moved to another station. Heh.

“Hey Tang, is this ‘blindfolded groping’ like what we did during the freshmen welcome?”

“Uh-huh.”

“There’s nothing weird or scary, right?” Duen whispered, do other groups do this? I’d like to play too; I’ve only played a couple of times. It’s fun, but watching friends scream is even more entertaining, huh.

“Duen, are you still mad at me?” I walked over to my lover, who gave me a disdainful look. Our friends chuckled at his behavior.

“Still.”

“How should I make it up to you?” I really don’t know what to do. I’ve never really had to apologize much in my life; usually, if someone was mad at me, I’d let them get over it themselves. If you want to be mad, that’s your business, something like that. Duen is the only one I’ve sat down to appease. Well…I don’t want to lose him.

“How should you? Let’s see, you try to act sweet to me.”

“Huh, how?”

“However you want me to act sweet, do that.” How should I do that…like a cat rubbing against someone? Just imagining myself doing that gives me goosebumps, damn. But if it’s hugging, kissing, or touching, that’s doable.

“…No way.” Even though Duen isn’t fragile, when he does it, it’s cute, but when I do it, it’s…kickable.

“Why?” Duen raised his eyebrows, asking. I just noticed we were walking at the back of the group, just the two of us, while the others probably wanted to give us space to talk or were just tired of our lovey-dovey behavior.

“I look ugly doing it. You look cute doing it.”

“Really? Now I want to see even more…beg me, little brother! Or Phii Duen won’t stop being mad at you.”

“Duen…when I do it, it’s sinful. Don’t you understand, wow?”

“That’s your problem. If you don’t do it…I won’t stop being mad.” After finishing his sentence, he walked off to join his friends. My friends turned around to look at me before running over. They weren’t worried about me, they were here to tease. You can tell by their faces…

“Wow, your wife’s mad at you.”

“That’s how it is. Show-offs, pranksters, how does it feel to be played by nong doctor, huh?” My two best friends, Bom and Boss, came over to nudge my shoulder. I hate it when you guys are together, normally, you’re fine when apart, but when you’re in duo mode…I don’t even want to walk near you.

“From my preliminary diagnosis and observation, I think Bohn has a condition.” King, the genius, stroked his chin thoughtfully. Where did you get those glasses from?

“What condition, King?” Tang asked.

“Uxoriphobia.”

“I thought so too, the smell of being scared of your wife reaches the front of the line, you coward.”

“Wow, damn, Bohn, the coward.”

They all joined in the mockery, their voices so loud that the people in front turned around…to laugh. Even though not all of us are engineering students, half from other faculties, you guys still tease, damn it, just wait, I’ll slap you all in line.

“Shut up, you bastards.”

“Are you going to say it’s not true?”

“Because it is true, that’s why I don’t want to hear it…come on.” I made a face and quickly walked forward, but my ears still caught the teasing from behind. Your voices are loud enough to shake the forest. You damn microphone…

“Welcome, juniors, to the Digging Station. Let me introduce myself first, my name is Chai, and over there is…” We soon reached our destination. At this station, there are five seniors, but I only remember Phii Chai, the one holding…

“This station has simple rules. You need to divide into five groups, with five people in each group. Then take turns reaching into the bag, guess what’s inside, and tell your friends. You can feel around for as long as you like, until the song ends. The group that’s the fastest and guesses correctly will get this jar.”

“Hey…that’s…”

“King, calm down.”

“How can I calm down? Look at that, it’s amazing stuff.”

“Some might not know, but in this jar, it’s the tissue of this rare wild orchid…”

“What about the group that’s the slowest and answers incorrectly?”

“Easy. They just have to go out and pole dance on that hill over there.” Phii Chai pointed to a high hill where there was a pole stuck in the ground. Let’s not call it a pole; it’s bamboo…a whole bamboo stalk.

So, each group has five bags, meaning one person per bag, right? This means if one person can’t guess, we lose. Damn, I don’t want to go out there and pole dance. Just imagine a tough guy like me out there doing something like that; it gives me the creeps.

“Phii King, my group is missing one person, want to join us?” Duen and his friends came over to ask. Besides Tang, Duen, and Ting, there aren’t any first-year medical students at this camp. Luckily, they have close friends like Ram and Phu. Otherwise, they’d look pretty pitiful.

“Uh-huh.”

“No.” I interrupted King; he can’t join Duen’s group. If he does, they’re sure to win. If they win, I won’t get to see Duen pole dancing.

“?”

“King is already with us.” I winked at my friends. They nodded, understanding. That’s what comes from being friends for a long time, they really get me.

“Oh, then, does anyone else have an extra?” Nong Tang asked.

“Boss.” Boss is the best choice here.

“Huh, uh-huh, me.” At first, he looked confused, but when we gave him the look, he understood immediately. He nodded with a smile and walked off with his arm around Tang’s shoulder. That’s how it should be, my dear friend…but you understood my look, right?

“Wow, Thai language teacher.”

“Let’s go, my dear student, our team is definitely going to win.” We’ll see, huh.

“You’re confused, the prize is an orchid, and it’s even tissue-cultured. I want it, I want it, I want it. Look, this species is very rare, it only grows in the North! I want, I want, I want.” the forest guy, oh! King shook Tee’s arm back and forth, really wanting it, huh.

So, in my group, there’s King, Bom, Merk, James, and me.

What do you think…I’ve selected only the cream of the crop for this, heh.

 

[Duenhaw]

“Our team will definitely win, my dear juniors, trust me, I’m a master at this, hee hee.” That’s how my Thai language teacher should be!

We’re about to play the jar-digging game, and the prize is quite interesting. Tang wants to give it to his father, saying this plant is very rare, hard to grow, hard to find, and expensive. I want one too, to try growing it. I remember the last time I planted something was in grade 9, when my agriculture teacher made us grow bean sprouts, but they never grew, no matter what I did…

“I don’t want to go out and do pole dancing, bro, it must be so embarrassing.” Tang rubbed his arms. I don’t want to do it either, picturing a muscular guy sliding down a pole…brr!

“We won’t lose, kids…but if we do, it’s no big deal, I’ll lead the dance myself, it’s super easy, there’s even a move to tease your husband…husband, I miss you, we’re apart but our hearts aren’t, quiet one, kiss kiss!” He raised his hand to send kisses towards Phii Merk as part of the choreography, the other just looked up, smiling and even pouting slightly. Even if it’s just a little.

“Let’s plan first, I have a plan.”

“You really want it, huh…usually, you never have a plan.”

“I do want it. If I get it, my dad will definitely give me his inheritance, heh.” “= =“

“So, what’s your plan then, tell us.” We moved closer, just noticing Phii Boss’s name tag reading, ‘Boss, Merk’s wife, late at night, very good, very fast’, the first sentence makes sense, ‘Phii Boss, Merk’s wife’, but the next one, what does that mean…I guess I haven’t mastered Thai language yet, I need to study more.

“Just dig in without fear, there won’t be much in there, grab whatever you find, and we need to keep track of time. Otherwise, we’ll definitely have to go out and slide down the pole…” We nodded in agreement with Tang’s idea, no one wants to slide down the pole, except for Phii Boss, who has a mischievous smile, somehow.

But the one with the worse smile is that leech…

This morning, I gave him back his name tag. I’ve kept it since the first day; he left it at the waterfall. If I hadn’t kept it, it would have been gone long ago. See how good it is to have me as a boyfriend! Honestly, I’m not really mad at him. Just annoyed and a little irritated, he must be crazy, pretending to be mad to make me beg.

I mean…I’m a man, not some delicate girl, but a burly giant who can break a wild boar’s neck with bare hands…!

“Are you all ready? Don’t forget, the fastest gets it. Feeling around for too long wastes time, but if you feel too quickly, you won’t know what it is…Ready! Go!!” As Phii Chai’s voice ended, the music started. What kind of song is this, it’s so suspenseful…

“Go, Ram!” We sent Ram first, followed by Tang, Phii Boss, me, and finally Phu. Ram and Tang are quite detail-oriented. We should win this.

“Damn!!!”

“Aaaaah!! It’s moving, you bastard!!”

“Oh my god!! It’s squirming, scream!!” Hang in there, bro, hang in there! You…uh, whatever, I just know you are a lion.

“Tang, go!” We all shouted in unison when Ram came back; he did good time because besides Phii King and Ram, no one else had returned yet.

“What was it?”

“…I think it was an egg, but I squeezed too hard, and it broke.” I think he’s right…it burst and left yellow goo on his hand. Good thing he walked back smoothly.

“So, the first thing was an egg.”

“Phii Boss!” Wow, Tang, do you want that jar that badly? He came back really fast, even faster than James from Bohn’s team. It’s not like you don’t know this stuff.

“Why did you come back so fast? What was it?”

“It was squishy like jelly, and it smelled sweet. It must have been grass jelly.” We looked at his fingers stained with dark syrup. I think so too…

“Aaaaah!! What the hell!! Your father, what is this, ewww!! It’s the grossest thing ever, Boss, you can’t handle it!!”

Phii Boss sat down on the floor with his legs crossed before crawling back to us. I don’t know what he encountered, but I have to go now! Orchid tissue, wait for Phii Duen!!

“Oh, they came out together…maybe they’re meant to be.” “Nonsense.” Do I have to say who it is?

“Be careful…it’s scary, huh.” Bohn nudged my shoulder. You’re trying hard, aren’t you, even though we’re far apart…no, actually, we’re not that far apart. We’re in adjacent groups; he’s in the third group, and I’m in the fourth. The distance is between the bags.

“Don’t mess with me, Bohn.” I raised my eyebrows teasingly before I started reaching into the bag. Before I even touched anything, the person next to me spoke up, making me pause.

“I’m not messing with you. Since you’re my boyfriend, I’ll tell you. It makes a ‘thud…thud, thud, thud’ sound, my love.”

As soon as he finished the sentence, he blew air into my ear. I was stunned for a while until he ran back to his seat, then I realized, you leech! Are you wasting my time?! So evil, once I composed myself, I quickly reached into the jar, how much could be in there!

“Hey, argh!…Oh, it’s not that much.” I yelped for a moment and then ran back to my seat. I didn’t want to waste more time; that’s all I needed to know, squishy, soft, a bad feel, there’s only one thing like that.

“Phu goes.”

“Oh!”

“…Damn, Bohn, you tricked me.” I punched the shoulder of the person sitting next to me, so annoying.

“I tease you because I love you.” Bohn lifted his hand to pinch my cheek softly, thinking it’s cute, huh…he deserved that if he didn’t use the hand that went into the jar to pinch me, the smell stuck to you.

“Don’t touch me, you liar, you clearly fooled me.” Punched him again, that’s right!

“Come on, it was just a little.” After saying that, he hugged me and rocked left and right. This…are you begging? So, you want me to beg like this? I shook my lover off when Tang waved for us, not knowing if all the items in the jars were the same, so we had to keep it secret in case someone was eavesdropping.

“Yours is what? Mine’s jelly, Ram’s is an egg, Phii Boss’s is lemongrass.” Lemongrass? That’s what made you scream like that. I thought it was a python…Oh, was that to trick the competitors, Teacher? I salute you, Master!

“It’s probably Tae’s tofu, damn, Phu’s here.” Mine from the jar was indeed

Tae’s tofu, I’m pretty sure of it because why? I saw Tae’s white tofu on Bohn’s finger; the smell from earlier made me certain it had to be Tae’s tofu…If Phii Chai put the same items in each group’s jars, we’re lucky, but if not…well, um.

“What’s yours?”

“Eel.”

“Huh?!” We all exclaimed together, the person who answered nodded before continuing to eat his snack, unconcerned. If it really was an eel…you haven’t washed your hands yet, have you, Pinchan?!

“Actually, I caught it with my hand…you run to answer quickly!” Phu nudged Tang to stand up when he saw Phii King walking towards Phii Chai.

“Argh, my inheritance!!” I’ve never seen you run so fast before, Tang…the spirit of a true son, this is what father-son love looks like, I’m really moved.

“Oh, two teams have arrived. Who came first or second…let’s say you both came at the same time, so the fastest two groups are here.” Here we go…

“Let’s review, the group that answers correctly…I’ll give this jar to the whole group, but if you’re wrong, you have to go stand and pole dance there. In the case of these two guys coming out together, if both answer correctly, both groups get the plant. I have plenty, hee hee…but the last group, be careful, you’ll have to pole dance, don’t forget.” Frong’s team sat up straight. Not for any reason, they just took a long time feeling around, and one person didn’t even want to reach in; he was praying, probably scared.

“Yes…sigh.”

“Alright, let’s hear it, guys…King and Tang.” Phii Chai read the name tags before holding the mic to Phii King’s mouth. I noticed they bumped each other; did it hurt? Instead of saying it hurt, he just laughed. Phii King is really strange.

“Who’s going first?”

“Nong King first, come on, go to your group’s bag. What’s in there?”

“Jelly noodles, sticky rice, banana, Tae’s tofu, and a wig.”

“Uh-huh, you’ve answered them all.”

“I won’t reveal the answers yet; let’s wait for Nong Tang’s answers first, then I’ll reveal them together. What’s in the bag, Tang?”

“Egg, grass jelly, lemongrass, Tae’s tofu, eel.” That’s right for sure! Trust me…mine, Tang’s, and Ram’s were correct because they had the stuff on their hands. But the other two, I’m not sure about. It should be fine, though.

“Uh-huh, both groups have answered completely. Which group is the last?” Phii Chai asked while looking at Phii Frong’s group. Oh well, they ended up being the last group after all, Phii Frang, you’re going to pole dance!

“Pole dance, guys; I need two representatives from that group to come up and check if their friends’ answers are correct.” The ones who came out were Frang and Phii Oat. I know Phii Oat because he often comes to Phii Fang’s shop; he’s a nice guy. Even if he seems strict, wow, angels tend to hang out with angels, right? So…why is an angel like my brother friends with that cupcake?

“Why are there only good-looking people at this camp? I feel outshined.” Thanks for the compliment, but we know we’re good-looking, but believe me, I’m the best-looking. I’m not being conceited; Daonuea tells me every day, hee-hee.

“Can you introduce yourselves?”

“Uh, but the name tags already have our names-”

“Come on, consider it service for the ladies.” Phii Chai handed the mic to the newcomers. Honestly, this mic doesn’t even amplify sound; it’s more like you’re just holding it, whispering would be louder.

“Alright, my name is Frang, second year in Management.”

“My name is Oat, same year, Management.”

“Screeeeeeam, Phii Oat, Phii Frang!” That wasn’t a woman’s scream. I told you, this group is all tough guys. The scream just now came from their friends, who are quite dramatic. I would have hooted too if the person next to me wasn’t glaring at me when I raised my hand to cover my mouth. Oh, I won’t do it then…

“Oh, guys this handsome, do you have girlfriends yet?”

“Uh, no, both of us.”

“Really? Are you playing coy, juniors? Anyone you like?” Why are you asking so many questions, Phii Chai? Hurry up and reveal the answers, please, are we right? I want that orchid.

“I used to have someone, but now she has a boyfriend.”

“Someone didn’t want you?”

“Yeah, I guess she doesn’t like cheerful, well-off young men like me.” He said jokingly.

“Really? Is she pretty? What’s her personality like?” She must be pretty. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have hurt my brother that much.

“She’s cute, kind, and…uh.”

“That is my wife, you bastard!”

The person next to me shouted, ‘my wife’, referring to whom? The speaker is my boyfriend, it can’t be me, can it? Wait…

“I know that, damn it. I won’t steal her!”

“Even if you wanted to steal, you couldn’t, she’s mine!”

“Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwww”

“Knowing just one province isn’t enough, you bastard!!”

“What? Who’s your wife? Do you have a secret lover, Bohn?” I asked not seriously, maybe it’s his ex, because when P’Frang was heartbroken, we weren’t even dating yet.

“Pong.”

“And who is the person P’Frang likes?” I raised my eyebrows to ask my conversation partner, definitely his ex, believe me, I heard she’s amazing, friends told me, I’ve never seen her, though.

“You, you bastard.” He flicked my nose lightly, but it still hurt! Wait, just now…what did he say?!

“Huh? Me?” I widened my eyes in shock.

“Yeah. You didn’t know anything and still went to hug and comfort him, do you know how mad I was back then?”

“…Damn.”

“Damn what?”

“Do you want to go check your eyesight? Both you and him, what’s wrong, there are millions of beautiful women out there you don’t like…yet you’re blind to all of them and like me.”

“Haha.”

“Oh…it’s a university-level secret that outsiders can’t know, right? Alright, alright, I won’t ask more; we don’t want any fighting. Just one more question…is he at the camp?” I almost forgot about Phii Chai. Hurry up, sir, I want that orchid already!!

“He’s here.”

“And…where?”

“Right here!” Bohn pointed at me. You bastard, are you afraid others don’t know?

…dot dot, I have no idea what to say, what he meant by women having no standing, now I understand. Let’s get back to the game, guys, so we can move to the next station; otherwise, we won’t complete all ten. Ahem.” The senior should have realized this long ago. I can’t even remember where we left off.

“Alright, I’ll have both of you check if what’s in the bags matches what your friends said. Frang, check King’s group’s bag. Oat, check Tang’s. I’ll repeat, King’s group has jelly noodles, sticky rice with banana, tofu, and a wig. Tang’s has an egg, grass jelly, lemongrass, tofu, and eel in that order. Don’t reach in, just look normally…go ahead.” As Phii Chai finished speaking, both walked over to the glowing bags…what’s with mine? Whatever, they went to inspect the bags.

They mumbled to themselves, things you could barely hear. Ah…Phii Frang furrowed his brows and kept looking into the bag. Once he was sure, he looked up and gave Bohn a wry smile. I think we’ve got this.

“Bohn, you’re definitely pole dancing.” I gave a wicked smile. Not only will I get the orchid, but I’ll also see Bohn pole dancing. I’ll record a video for Ben and Dao to see what their dad did. This time, I’ll be the one to be promoted to dad, hee-hee.

“No way, my group’s all top-notch. You’re the one who’s going to be in trouble.” You’re really confident, aren’t you? Believe me, you’re the one who’s going to be in trouble; my intuition tells me so, huh.

“It’s fine. It’s just pole dancing, I promise to record it in HD for our kids.”

“Record away…because you’ll be the one in the video. It’s okay, you can be the mom, the kids will understand, huh.” Oh, wait and see, you bastard.

“Alright, you’ve looked, let’s go through it one bag at a time. Oat, Frong, the first bag, did King and Bom answer correctly?” Why do you have to make it suspenseful, do you know I’m getting anxious? My pants are all wet from the dew on the grass. If I stand in the damp area a bit longer, mushrooms might sprout.

“They got it right.”

“Yay, what do you say now, I was right!” I looked pleased, as if to say, ‘The first bag was right, the others will always be right too’, who’s the egg-layer? Whatever.

“I’m right, aren’t I, bastard?” I knew it, but I just wanted to mock.

“Bohn, if you answer wrong and have to slide down the pole, I’ll stop being mad at you.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah.” I rested my chin, looking at him. Even though it seems like we’ve made up now, why am I so soft? I should have stayed mad at him for a year or two, that would be nice.

“Then…if you answer wrong and have to slide down the pole, I’ll…”

“What?”

“I’ll love you even more than I already do. Ha.”

“Uh, you…” Damn, always with the silly humor, but why do I always react like this? It must be because of his annoying charm, why are you smiling so smugly? Are you on drugs, (cool), or what, you bastard, damn!

“Will they know we’re not alone in the middle of the wilderness?”

“Exactly, and will they know how jealous I am?”

“I want to try eating the grass they’re sitting on to see if it’s as sweet as his humor. Let’s boil the grass to survive, you guys.”

“That’s a good idea, let’s export it instead, you guys, ‘Savage Idiot Sweet Grass’, the slogan could be, ‘Not sweet enough, and the seller will show you his eggs’, that would be good, wouldn’t it?” What are they talking about…is this gossip or what, and they’re even looking at us while saying it.

Better focus on the event, we’ve reached the last jar. Neither team has made a mistake yet, trust me, my team is all correct! The last jar for Bohn’s team is the one Phii Frong is eyeing repeatedly.

“Okay, are we right…?”

“Ha, I’m not mad at you anymore, I love you even more now.” I and Bohn said at the same time, oh, you bastard. Do you think you’ll win? You won’t fool me, bastard.

“And you’ll be heartbroken.”

“We’ll find out soon, Bohn.” I shrugged, gave a wicked smile before turning my attention back to the front. Phii Frong made a throat-slashing gesture, mouthing, “You’re sliding down the pole.” and then made some annoying gestures. You’re definitely in trouble, you leech. Look, Phii Oat hasn’t shown any reaction, which means my group isn’t wrong, right? Let me set up the camera for a moment, heh.

 

MY ENGINEER CHAPTERS HOME

MYENGINEER, CHAPTER 58: Because…

[Duenhaw]

“So, you’ll really sleep next to me?” I turned to ask the person beside me. He had already lain down and covered himself with a blanket. Did you even ask for my opinion? The others really are considerate, moving to give us space at the edge without even being asked.

Thank you…I am very touched.

“Yeah.” Bohn nodded frantically, lifting his phone to press something, definitely not surfing on the internet or checking Facebook since there’s no signal here, whatever.

“Sigh, whatever you want.” I lay down, the bed was a military one, borrowed by the forestry department guys, but some people brought their own blankets and mattresses. As for me, I’m on the “whatever” team because I’m too lazy.

“Apemong Kero Kero, Momo Pimple.”

“What language is that, Boss?” That must be Phii Tang’s voice, and laughter erupted in the tent. I laughed too, the word genius, smarter than Phii Boss, there isn’t anyone. Who could invent words every ten seconds? No one!

“It means, ‘Good night, friends.’“

“You liar, ha ha ha.”

“You.”

“And what do you say for ‘Good night, husband’?” I sat up to look. Not for any reason, just that an ant was biting my heel, itchy as hell, I had to scratch, huh…it’s big, what do they eat here? Why are these ants evolving so fast, are they Pakistani ants?

“Good night, husband…there’s no such thing.”

“Hey, if you do this, Merk will be upset.”

“No sweet dreams for the husband, just this…mumble mumble.”

“What?”

“May I have your number, kind sir?” After saying that, he flopped down to lie on his side, winking at Phii Merk who was watching. The one who was teased smiled and flicked his forehead lightly in jest.

“Urrghhhhhh.”

“Do whatever you want. We’ll watch from a distance, worrying a bit…damn, Tiger, set up the camera!!” As soon as James finished speaking, Tiger rolled from the corner like a tank, jumping up to sit in a prayer-like pose before setting up a large camera at the feet of Merk and Boss. Oh my God…that’s a Cinema EOS, the latest model, right?

“I’ve prepared for this well, my friend, and I have another one specifically for Bohn and Duen. They’re definitely going to do something, trust Tiger, I can sense it.” Tiger with his sixth sense…oh, come on, man.

“Don’t…” The person next to me sat up to speak, yeah, that’s how it should be, act like my boyfriend for once, tell them, ‘Don’t do this, I don’t like it!!’ Make it clear!

“Don’t set up the camera?”

“Don’t forget to send me the files, I want to use them to improve myself.” The speaker gave me a sly look, thinking what I would do if it wasn’t just blushing, oh, come on…I’m tired of you!

“Urrghhhhhh.”

“Time to sleep, students…”

“We’re asleep, sir, that was just sleep-talking.” Seeing that the teacher had entered the tent, everyone immediately lay down without any prior agreement. Those standing fell to the ground as if fainting, and those sitting slammed their heads against the pillows with force. I could hear the sound of wings…whoever hit their head on the ground, tell me, I will give first aid.

“Hmm, the teacher can believe that if he wants to. Don’t make too much noise, we’re in the forest, I’m leaving now.” I remember him. He’s the one who teased me back then, remember the day I went to study with Bohn?

This is the teacher who teased me, I think her name was Professor Pakorn. After she left, no one got up again.

“You guys, I’m turning off the lights.”

“Go ahead, friend, I’m sleepy.”

We need to conserve our energy because tomorrow we have to play games at the stations with the forestry department folks. They’re really nice, teaching me a lot, like how to weave leaves into different shapes. I heard we’re also doing coconut leaf weaving tomorrow. Me and Ting are really looking forward to it, but…I guess we’ll get teased just like today.

“Wow, Duen, how do you like that? I might not be as good with men as you, but in this…I! Win!! Ha, what do you think? Check out my work, see how beautiful it is. I should win an award for excellent craftsmanship. Ah…we’re really good, huh? Have you seen my cricket’s tail? Look, it’s even waving in the wind. I don’t care about men anymore. I’ll sit and sell crickets, my brand is, ‘Tingting, the eternal husbandless monkey, No.1’, I’ll make a collection, export it to sell abroad so the world knows my woven cricket brand, I’ll have money coming out of my ears without needing a husband!” You…

Are you looking down on me, you bastard? Watch me! Tomorrow, I’ll weave cupcakes! I’ll compete with your brand!! Called, ‘Phii Duen, do you have any beans in your jar?’, it’ll be a hit! Phii Duen, the disciple of Daonuea, son of Dad-Direk, can be beaten but not mocked!

“Wow, I missed setting up the camera, what a pity.”

“Damn you.” I made a face; even in the dark, I could see his cunning expression, Phii Duen’s face twitched…my foot twitched wanting to kick him in the face.

“Heh heh.”

“I hate your laugh.”

“Have we kissed goodnight yet?” The other moved closer. I pushed his face away with all my strength…don’t expect to get a taste of me, you rainbow leech.

“I’ll kiss you with my heel, go to sleep. Good night.” After saying that, I turned to the other side. I definitely won’t be able to sleep looking at his face. The sensation from the kiss still lingers, I feel my face heat up every time I think about it, Bohn kissed me…

We kissed.

I understand that couples do this kind of thing normally, but…how should I put it, that was my first kiss, and what’s more special is that it was the first kiss with my first boyfriend at my first volunteer camp. I’ve seen scenes like this in foreign movies. I thought I was embarrassed then…now, I’m a million times more embarrassed.

We kissed. We kissed. We kissed. We kissed. We kissed. We kissed. We kissed, we kissed. We kissed. We kissed. We kissed. We kissed. We kissed. We kissed. We kissed, we kissed. We kissed. We kissed. We kissed. We kissed. We kissed.

Aargh!!! I’m going crazy.

“Ugh.” I groaned in embarrassment, lifting both hands to cover my face and wriggling around. Bohn took my first kiss. No…he didn’t just take one kiss, he took a lot, my heart, my attention…everything, damn it.

“What’s wrong, huh?”

“…Nothing.”

“Can’t you sleep?”

“I’m asleep.”

“…”

“Are you sick? Did I keep you in the water too long?”

“Let go.” Don’t touch my forehead, you bastard! Every time you touch me, I think about when we were at the waterfall, damn it…and why is my face so hot? What’s wrong with your body? After dating for how long, little Duen, you only start showing symptoms now?

“What’s wrong with you?”

“…Ouch! My eyes!” I raised my hand to cover my face when the other person turned on their phone screen. The light was brighter than a spotlight; he must be doing this on purpose to tease me. Otherwise, he wouldn’t shine it right in my face.

“I was shocked, thought something was wrong…huh.”

“What’s so funny?”

“Laughing at how your face turns red when you’re embarrassed.”

“It’s red because I’m hot.”

“Hot? It’s four degrees now, my feet are numb.” Not just your feet, my spleen is cold too.

“I…I’m just hot, turn off the light. Others are trying to sleep.” I grabbed his phone and put it on his head. I don’t know if everyone else is asleep, but right now, I want to sleep to escape from Bohn.

“Perverted fool.”

“I’m not perverted!” My heart beat fast hearing that sentence; the person lying next to me chuckled before moving closer. No way! I’m trying to escape!!

“Don’t lie. You must be thinking dirty thoughts.” He said this and then blew air into my left ear, making my fine hairs stand up. I quickly pulled my neck away from the hot breath.

“Not at all…don’t move closer…” I pushed his chest away and turned my face aside. Strange, this time he let go easily.

“What are you thinking about? Tell me, huh, huh?” The rogue ran his hand across my cheek.

“I’m not thinking about anything, I’m going to sleep!”

Cut it off, arguing won’t win against him. It’s not fair, even though I’ve upgraded my language skills from Phii Boss, why can’t I beat him? Not just in dirty humor, in arguments, and now this…I guess I need to study for a master’s in Thai with a language teacher. A bachelor’s degree isn’t enough to deal with this banter.

“I’m so damn sleepy…” I mumbled, blinking slowly as my eyelids grew heavier and heavier until I finally closed them. It’s insanely cold here, even with a thick blanket…

I heard the sound of fabric rustling, accompanied by a warm touch on my forehead. It felt like I was being pulled into something warm and safe.

“Good night, you fool.” Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Gasp!

Was that the sound of a gecko just now? I’ve told you before, right, that I’m scared of lizards and geckos to the point of being paranoid. The only lizard I can get close to is the cupcake one, but not to the extent of touching…let’s just go to sleep.

Waking up in the middle of the night feels awful…even someone like me who isn’t afraid of ghosts feels scared. Sleep, Duenhaw! Close your eyes, count sheep, pick your nose. Do whatever it takes to fall asleep!

‘There are many reasons for waking up at night…but mostly, it’s because someone is watching.’

Damn you, Tang!! Why did you have to say something like that to me, and why do I have to think about it now? The atmosphere here is just too perfect for it. Before coming here, I just watched a horror movie in the jungle, an old movie about lizards or something, but that was a gecko just now, probably nothing…

Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.

You’ve got to be kidding me. If you can tell the time like this, you damn lizard, why not come out and fight me! Ugh, why does my brain have to picture movie scenes like this? And it’s a scene where a lizard falls down.

Sigh.

“Hold me!” I tightened my embrace…hug? Am I hugging Bohn? Wait, you’re taking advantage of me again, you jerk. Forget about that for now, I’ll allow it for one day.

Trust me, that wasn’t a lizard, there’s nothing there, I’m just overthinking it. Have you ever felt like something was falling when you thought about it, even though there was nothing? That’s called hypnagogia, and I’m experiencing it now. Even though I know it’s just my imagination…Phii Duen is scared.

“Sleep, sleep…why not wake up in the morning? Why does it have to be now?” My heart was beating irregularly when I realized no one else was awake except me. What’s worse is…

I need to pee!

Forget it, I’ll get up to pee in the morning…but I can’t hold it anymore, damn it, Duen.

“Uh…Duen, why are you awake in the middle of the night?” Did I hug so tight that I woke Bohn up? But honestly…I’m really glad he woke up.

“Uh…sorry, did I wake you?”

“It’s okay…let’s sleep.” The other person tightened his embrace before planting a kiss on my dark hair. What should I do? I didn’t want to bother him, but I really needed to pee, and I was too scared to go alone.

Tap, tap, tap, thud, thud

You bastard, are you rushing me!?

“Bohn…”

“…Huh, yes?”

“Come with me to the bathroom.” In the end, I disturbed him. I promise I’ll pee with the speed of a NASA rocket. I won’t make you wait long, so…please come with me.

“Now?” He asked sleepily.

“Yeah, I need to pee.”

“Scared of ghosts?”

“I’m not scared of ghosts; I’m scared of lizards and geckos.” Does it sound funny to say that? But Bohn knows I’m really afraid of those cupcake relatives, scared to the point where I don’t even want to get close to them. “Sure.” Yay!!

We walked out of the tent quietly, trying not to make any noise to disturb others. Ram is very sensitive to sounds; he wakes up as easily as I do, but he didn’t seem to move, so he must still be asleep.

“Wait outside.” I nodded in understanding and quickly ran into the bathroom. I could have peed outside, but I didn’t want to do that; after all, I’m going to be a doctor, a clean lover…even if the dormitory is a mess.

Me and Bohn didn’t go to the main bathroom but chose a smaller one not far from the tent; it only had two rooms, divided between men and women. Close your eyes, Duen! Don’t look around, or you might see those relatives.

Chirp, chirp, chirp

Ahhh! I knew you were here, I was quiet, so why make that sound! Do you know the international rule? I don’t greet you, you don’t greet me, fair and square!!!

I closed my eyes and ears with high speed, cleaning up in less than a minute before running out. It gave me goosebumps. I didn’t even want to think about how close that lizard was to me just now, ugh.

“Oh!”

“Done already? Why the face? Was there a gecko inside? Ha ha ha.” the person waiting on the log laughed out loud, damn it!

“Don’t laugh, you bastard.”

“I need to pee, wait a sec…If you’re scared, I can come in with you, Duen, heh heh.”

“No way!” I made a face; the other nodded understandingly before walking into the bathroom. It’s damn cold, even with my thick jacket on, and with the cat-patterned socks borrowed from Daonuea on my feet.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

Ouch, can I change what I said? I want to go into the bathroom with you! Did you call your friends to scare me, invincible, eternal, honorable!! Bring them on!

Think of something else, think of something else to forget this.

What should I think about…

As I was thinking, I heard a sound, not an animal sound, but the sound of the waterfall, Phu Yod Dao, not far from here. Waterfall…Bohn and ‘him’ also kissed at a waterfall.

I admit, before this, I was really mad at Bohn, mad like I’ve never been at anyone before. Yesterday, I ran after him, but just for a moment, we lost each other. At that time, I felt incredibly guilty. So, I went for a walk, trying to relieve stress, but ended up more stressed. The image of him kissing that pretty-faced guy was still stuck in my mind. I didn’t know who he was, but I heard others say he was forceful…probably was forceful.

I don’t know, it seemed like he knew I was watching from above. Not just my imagination, it hurt so much…honestly, I never thought he would dare to cheat. But if you stood there, watching them kiss…

I really couldn’t control my thoughts.

After running away, I sat to calm myself down behind the waterfall. I didn’t want anyone to see my tear-stained face. When I felt somewhat better, I acted normal, smiling to cover everything up, no one knew…I was amazed at myself for being able to do that. Normally, I’m not good at lying, but when it comes to something heavy, I can lie well instantly.

Another thing I dislike, apart from lizards and geckos, is people who lie.

I asked Bohn where he had been. At that time, I wanted to hear the truth, anything true, ‘went to the waterfall behind the office’, ‘went for a walk’, or even ‘went to kiss someone else’, anything, we could deal with the matter later, just don’t lie…but Bohn lied, my heart squeezed tight, breathing became difficult like there was something stuck in my throat. If I had said anything then, tears would have definitely flowed.

The more he acts like he’s bored with me, the more he seems like he doesn’t want to look at me, the more it makes me think, ‘He’s bored with me.’ I cry in my sleep, feeling so pitiful. I’m always the one comforting friends, telling them it’s okay, not to care about those who make us sad, but every time I look up, my eyes go straight to Bohn. Even if he says he was forced by that handsome guy, why do I still feel bad? Maybe because of how Bohn acted…

Is he bored with me?

“Duen, what’s wrong?”

“Huh? Nothing.” I answered the person coming out of the bathroom. Was he in there long, or did I just imagine it quickly? Duen, the worrywart, haha, sigh.

“Nothing? Why do your eyes look red like you’ve been crying? Are you that scared of lizards?” Red eyes, huh?

“…Yeah, they’re so scary, haha.” It was the most forced laugh I’ve ever made, what can I do when there’s a lump in my throat? Being able to speak at all is impressive…

“…What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, let’s go, it’s cold.” I grabbed his wrist and pulled him to walk with me; I didn’t want him to look at my face right now. Even though it’s all over, why do I keep thinking about it?

“Let’s talk first, what’s wrong?” The person behind resisted, refusing to follow.

“…”

“What’s wrong? Tell me, you good person.”

“Are you bored with me?” I asked softly, blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay. Please don’t say it, damn it…I beg you.

“…”

“Are you bored because I’m a fool, bored because I don’t have much time for you, bored because I’m not very jealous, bored because you have to think a lot about me, bored with how I am…” Is my personality annoying to him? Someone once told me that people like me are annoying, but I didn’t take it to heart because it was someone else. But Bohn isn’t…he’s my lover. I don’t want to annoy him…

“I’ve never been bored…”

“…” I couldn’t hold back my tears when he said that. He came over to hug and comfort me; it was warm, so warm it made my heart race.

“…”

“I’ve never been bored with you being a fool…I fell for you because of that foolishness. I’ve never been bored with you not having time…I understand you study hard.” Bohn flicked my nose before smiling.

“…Hic.”

“I’ve never been bored of you being you, I love you being you.”

I hugged the person in front of me back, tears flowing uncontrollably. The more I’m with him, the weaker I become. How many times have I cried today?

“Don’t cry, I’ve said I don’t like your tears.”

“Hic…then don’t look.”

“How can I not look when my boyfriend is sad…I have to comfort him.”

We hugged like that for I don’t know how long. I didn’t even know when we sat down on the log, I didn’t know anything…I only knew that every time a tear fell, Bohn would kiss it away until it was gone. He kissed all over my face, from my eyelids, nose, cheeks, chin, and ending at my lips.

“Why do you think I’m bored?” The person beside me asked while pressing my face into his shoulder. There was a faint, pleasant scent coming from him…

“Because yesterday and today, you acted like you were bored, I tried to make up but you wouldn’t stop being mad.” Normally, a little begging would make it go away, but this time was different. I begged, I cooed, I did everything, but he paid no attention.

“Oh, that’s what you’re talking about…”

“Speak, but don’t get mad, okay.” Saying this means what he’s about to say will definitely make me mad…the way he looks and speaks is so suspicious.

“Tell me first, I’ll decide later.” I had to give a neutral response; otherwise, he wouldn’t tell me.

“Duen, don’t do this, I don’t want to see you mad again.” After saying this, he nuzzled me like a kitten, don’t be cute, you liar!

“Then just say it, I’m reasonable enough.”

“The reason I acted like I was mad is because…”

“?”

“Because I wanted to see you appease and coo to me.”

“…”

What did he just say…

You acted like you were mad, not looking at me, not talking to me because you wanted me to beg?! Damn you, Bohn, you devious person, you water dipper, you problematic molar, you cataracted eye, father of Ben!!!!

“Everyone wants their partner to be sweet, and when you do it, you’re so cute that I…I pretend to be mad because I know you’ll eventually act sweet.” He spoke so softly it was almost a whisper, his large hands plucking grass and rolling it around like a child who’s done something wrong and doesn’t know what to do with themselves.

“Should I keep being mad at you? I think I forgive you too easily…”

“I already told you last evening to stay mad for longer, alright…and then we made up, isn’t that enough? Come on.”

“Hah! I’m tired, I’m going to sleep!” I got up abruptly and walked back to the tent in a huff. What the hell, did I spend the whole day worrying over something as trivial as this? Jeez!

“Duen, are you mad at me? I’m sorry. Well, you know, I just wanted to have some cute, cute moments with my boyfriend too.”

“Which means you’re not afraid of me killing you, right?”

“Bohn! Tonight, you sleep outside the tent!!”

 

MY ENGINEER CHAPTERS HOME

MYENGINEER, CHAPTER 57: Switch

[Bohn]

“What’s going on between you and Mai?”

“Just a little issue.” I avoided answering that, the fact that he had everyone wait outside shows he doesn’t want anyone to know. What would I gain by talking about it?

“Really just a little?”

“Whether it’s little or not, let’s just go shower…Today’s the day, you!!! I’ve prepared myself mentally!!! I’m going to jump into the waterfall!!” So, this morning, Boss didn’t jump because the water was too cold, so he chickened out, but King dared to; he was trembling. Instead of getting out quickly, he stood there laughing and playing in the water until we had to call him to get out. “I chased after a water kangaroo and caught up…no, it got washed away by the water, haha.” Help, my friend…

But…despite everything, Duen hasn’t come to apologize to me. No, he hasn’t even spoken to me today, or does he think I’m really mad and doesn’t want to come close because he’s afraid I’ll lash out at him? Damn, how did I come across?

“Bohn…”

A pull from behind made me turn around; the one pulling me was none other than the person I just mentioned…

“Slow…oh, King.”

“Who did you think it was?”

“Who else could it be…” I turned to look at my best friend; King was watching Mai’s retreating figure until he was out of sight, then he turned to me. Our eyes met, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“I think Duen is really acting strangely.”

“I think so too, but he’ll probably go back to normal soon.” I shrugged. If he doesn’t want me to be alone or he’s afraid I’ll lash out, maybe he hasn’t figured out how to apologize because he’s never had a girlfriend. Come kiss me then; it would solve everything.

“Maybe…by pretending to be mad, you might have made him think you’re bored with him, especially combined with the Mai situation…”

I didn’t stay to listen to anything else; my legs ran quickly to the waterfall, my heart racing as I thought about what my lover might be thinking. I had never considered this before; I only pretended to be mad to see how he would apologize. I didn’t want it to be like this; deep down, I secretly hoped my best friend was wrong…

Don’t be mad at me, Duen.

“You’re here, Phii Bohn? I thought you weren’t going to shower.” Phu, who was sitting on a rock, said with a laugh. I didn’t bother to respond; my eyes scanned the area for my lover’s slender figure, but there was no trace of him.

“Phew…where did Duen go?”

“The fool? Oh…I think he went to be a model for Ting. What’s up? Oh…you want to play in the water with your ‘wife’?”

“Where?”

“I don’t know, probably up there…Hey, where are you rushing off to?”

Once I got the answer, I immediately ran to where he mentioned. The path wasn’t very high; it was a slope with steps made of earth. I ran up the earthen steps. I didn’t know where Duen and Ting were, but I didn’t want to sit and wait there. I wanted to see him, talk to him, wanted him to smile at me…

“Sit there…ah, hold it. Lift one leg up, yeah, yeah…okay.”

“Is this good? I feel like I’m posing like a dork, haha.”

“Not good…it’s perfect, I love it.”

After running for a while, I heard the voices of the two close friends. The place they were at was on the upper terrace of the waterfall, where there was no one else but Duen and Tingting. I stared at the one I was looking for; on Duen’s head was a crown of skeleton flowers…their petals were as thin as my feelings at that moment, and perhaps as thin as our relationship too.

“Duen.” I walked over and stopped where they were taking photos. The one I called paused for a moment but quickly returned to normal. He didn’t even look at me…King was right after all, wasn’t he?

“Can I talk to Duen for a bit?” The female photographer didn’t look at me either. Right now, even a dragonfly perched on a tree seemed to have more presence than me. Tingting must certainly know about this.

“Keep shooting, why stop? I came all the way here to be your model, you know. My fee is high, man.” The model sitting on the rock said jokingly…I would have laughed before, but not now.

“No matter how high your fee is, I can pay it…lift your hand to hold it between your legs, yeah, yeah…and raise your knees on the rock…”

“Put on a blank expression…you look cool, my friend, go find yourself a beautiful wife.”

“Tingting, please…I want to talk to Duen.” I walked closer. She still acted like she didn’t see or hear me, and so did Duen.

“Duen, put your hands and feet on the rock…yeah, yeah, you can even sleep there, my Nong Duen is the most ‘Yod’ ever.”

“Ting…don’t you feel sorry for me? Duen looks at me like I’m invisible.” I said in a weak voice. Ting bit her dry lips, troubled, and the sweat on her cheeks was evidence that she was starting to soften.

“Duen…I want you to look lively, smile a bit.”

“Tingting…let me talk to Duen, please.” This was the first time I used such a pitiful voice; it wasn’t fake…it came from my heart.

“Nong.”

“Ting, keep shooting, I’m only giving you an hour. Almost half an hour has passed already. I don’t agree to do this often, you know.” Seeing that his friend was about to give in, the model told her to clamp her lips shut tightly. “Uh…”

“Please.”

“Ting.”

“Alright! I won’t interfere anymore, do whatever you want!!”

She took off her slippers and carried them while slinging her camera over her shoulder, walking away in frustration. She probably wanted to help both her best friend and me. I promise that when we get back to Bangkok, I’ll introduce her to some handsome guys.

“If you do anything to my friend, Phii Bohn, I will kill you for sure!! Damn, not only do I not get to enjoy men, but now I have to mediate between fighting couples, God is cruel, this year on my birthday, I’m going to get my breasts and uterus removed, fly to New Zealand to get a sperm transplant, go to France to build some muscles, and get a mustache in London! This time, you’ll see! I’m going after every man in the world!!” She mumbled all the way, I couldn’t hear much but knew it was pitiful.

“Duen…are you mad at me?” I walked into the water to stand between the other’s legs, my hands loosely around his slim waist. The water wasn’t deep, only knee-high, but I felt like I was drowning…it was suffocating like I couldn’t breathe.

“…”

The person I was talking to didn’t turn around. He lifted his wrist to take off his watch and gently rubbed it. I didn’t like it being like this at all. Normally, I would be the one getting angry, but this time it was reversed. He was the one mad at me, and I was truly at fault…

“I’ve come to beg for forgiveness, please stop being mad.” I took his hand and pressed it against my cheek, rubbing it back and forth. How long has he been here for his hand to be this cold? He never cares about his own health, what kind of doctor is he?

“How did you know I was mad? Don’t tell me you just knew, I won’t believe it.” Duen looked up at me with a gaze I didn’t like at all. He was looking at me…but there was no me in his eyes.

“King told me…”

“Huh, nice. Phii King isn’t even my boyfriend, yet he understands my feelings, while my actual boyfriend knows nothing. Who’s supposed to be my boyfriend here?”

Damn…it hurts so much. He’s right about everything; King isn’t Duen’s boyfriend, but he understands and knows Duen is acting differently, while I couldn’t see it. And I was foolishly waiting for him to apologize just to see him being sweet, how stupid of me.

“Should we break up?”

Everything around us slowed down when he said those words, words I never thought I’d hear from him. My heart seemed to stop for a moment. I stared at my lover’s face; it looked just as pained as mine, with clear tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes.

No way…

“If you’re bored with me, I won’t hold you back. You can go find anyone you want, do whatever you want with whoever…but we need to break up first.”

“Don’t say that…”

“What…hey!”

I pulled Duen’s face close before pressing my lips onto his beautiful ones, using the moment when he was in shock to slip my tongue into his mouth. I crushed his lips with mine, hard…it hurt, but I wanted him to feel how much I was hurting too, hurting from the words he just said.

“Ugh!” Duen tried to turn his face away and push me off, but I wouldn’t let go…

I moved my hand to lock his neck, not letting him escape, my tongue seeking the sweetness inside, while he tried to avoid it. I wasn’t annoyed by his actions…on the contrary, it felt good.

Even the initial harsh, painful contact softened over time. Finally, the person in front of me let out a small moan. I smiled when I saw Duen like that.

“…”

“I don’t want to hear ‘break up’ from your mouth.” I pulled back from the kiss, pressing our foreheads together. His face was flushed, I couldn’t tell if it was from anger or embarrassment.

“Then what should I say! My boyfriend is cheating on me! Should I say, ‘Oh, please, go ahead, do whatever you want, I won’t mind,’ is that it?” He hit my chest with a thud, it hurt, but I didn’t complain or stop him.

“I’m not cheating.” I gently kissed the corner of his mouth; he made a huffing sound, pushing my face away forcefully.

“Anyone can say that.” Seeing that I wasn’t going to let go of Duen, he gave in, sitting still, allowing me to hug him. From initially sitting on the rock, now we were both in the water together. Was I really that harsh?

“I didn’t cheat on you, really, Duen.” I wrapped my arm around his slender waist, lifted him back onto the rock, and immediately squeezed between his legs.

“…”

“I’m sorry.” These words came from my heart. Now, there were no other words in my head except “sorry.” I didn’t like us being like this. I didn’t like him not caring. I didn’t like what he said, his expression, his demeanor, I didn’t like everything he did before.

“Sorry? Do you even know why I’m mad…you probably don’t, even when I’m mad, you still don’t get it. If Phii King hadn’t told you, you would never have known, right?”

“You saw it yesterday, didn’t you?” I rested my head on his shoulder, raised my hand to comb through his hair, not wanting him to be stressed, although I had thought this wouldn’t happen. In the end, it did, damn Mai…it’s all because of you.

“Yeah, I saw…”

“It wasn’t like that, me and him-”

“Are you going to say you didn’t kiss? Probably not, I was standing above, watching clearly.” So, he was watching from above. No wonder I didn’t see anyone when I looked back.

“No…I’m not saying I didn’t kiss.” As soon as I finished my sentence, I moved my other hand to stroke his back. I didn’t want to talk about this at all; it felt heavy on my heart somehow.

“…”

“It was like this…I didn’t want to kiss Mai. It wasn’t even a kiss. Our lips just touched. I didn’t tongue him like I do with you.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t do this, talk to me, I’m telling the truth. Mai did that when I wasn’t prepared. I was shocked, so I couldn’t resist. Our lips touched for less than four seconds…I kissed you much longer, look.” I leaned down to kiss him again, another time he resisted though he knew he couldn’t match my strength.

“Ugh, damn!” Eventually, I had to pull back because the person in front of me seemed like he was running out of breath. When our lips parted, he was breathing heavily, gulping in air.

“Duen…talk to me, please.” I hugged him tighter, rocking him like soothing a child. Normally, Duen would crack a smile when I did this…but not this time.

“…”

“…Duen, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what? You said you weren’t cheating.” Why does he get so sharp-tongued when he’s mad? I leaned down to bite his white cheek playfully; he’s quite fierce when he’s upset, this fool.

“I really wasn’t cheating, sorry for not telling you, sorry for everything.”

“Why apologize if you weren’t going to tell me in the first place!”

“…I didn’t want you to know, to avoid causing problems.” I was taken aback by his yelling. Normally, Duen is the calm one, and I’m the hotheaded one. I’ve never seen him like this before…look at what I’ve done.

“That’s not a good answer, Bohn, it’s just an excuse.”

“It’s not an excuse…how should I put it? I thought you wouldn’t get jealous or angry, so I didn’t tell you.” I said the last sentence softly, scratching the back of my neck, not knowing how to explain.

“Idiot! You’re my boyfriend! How can I not feel anything? Doing this means you don’t care about my feelings at all, Bohn!!” I was shocked by the shout, but even more shocked when I saw clear tears streaming from my lover’s beautiful eyes.

“I do care, I care about your feelings more than anyone else’s, don’t cry, Duen…I’m sorry.” I gently wiped away his tears, afraid of hurting him.

“You’re crazy, sob, stupid as hell…are you a buffalo or what? I’m your boyfriend! How can I not be jealous…”

“Don’t cry, be quiet for a second…”

“Fine…”

“Please stop being mad at me, I only love you, Duen.” I pressed our foreheads together again. We were so close I could feel his warm breath. I wondered what my face looked like now, all I knew was that my cheeks hurt…was I smiling that widely?

“You dumbass, sob. If you do this again, I’ll break up-, ugh!” Not letting him finish his sentence, I bent down to bite his lower lip softly, then let go, making a sound that sent shivers down my spine.

“I told you not to say that word.”

“Let go! I need to change my clothes, damn it…I’ve already showered and gotten dressed.” I only just noticed he had showered and dressed. At first, I was going to let him go, but then I thought…

“You don’t need to go yet, I haven’t showered either, come shower with me.”

“No…you have no respect for nature.”

“The spirits won’t mind, they want to see lovers, not angry people.”

“…”

“Make up.”

“I wanted to be mad at you longer…to match what you did yesterday.”

“Okay, it can be as long as you want, but there must be a day when you forgive me. In the meantime, don’t even think about anyone better than me…okay?”

“…What if I accidentally find someone better than you?”

“…”

“What will you do?”

“I’ll sit here and cry, and see if you choose them or me, who is heartbroken.” I rested my head on his round shoulder, feeling strangely empty…what should I do? I don’t like it, but I feel it’s deserved. At the same time, I feel it shouldn’t be, he should be mine alone, but I’m too much of a mess too…damn it, what can I do other than cry?

“Stay with me. Even though I’m a mess, I love you the most…”

“If there’s a next time, there won’t be an ‘us’ anymore.”

“…”

“Thank you for loving me just as much. I can’t stand seeing you look so down.” After saying this, the other person leaned down to hug me back, as if to make sure he wasn’t thinking of going anywhere, …damn, my eyes are getting hot.

I love you to death.

“Bohn and Duen are back from their honeymoon!!”

“Yayyyyyyyyy!!”

“I bet you’re pregnant for sure, damn, Bohn, your water’s good!”

“Shit, with wildlife and nature as witnesses to love, so romantic!!”

Before Duen and I could even walk into the tent, there was cheering from all directions. Huh, honeymoon…? Oh, I get it now, I guess Phu and Tingting told everyone.

“Oh…you look all wrinkly and pale, go dry off, come on! Where did you guys go to bathe?” Tang came over to tease us. How could we not be wrinkly, we were in the water for nearly an hour. I’ve never bathed for so long before, but this time…I think it made me the happiest.

“Duen my friend, are you okay? Why are your lips so red? Did you eat something spicy?” When Phu, Tang’scode junior, came over to check on the lips of the person next to me. Me. It was spicy, I even hissed…I was the one who got slapped on the shoulder until I hissed.

“Shh, be quiet, Phu, go grab my clothes, I need to change.”

“Oh, oh. Didn’t you already shower once? What did you get dirty with now, huh, huh?”

“That’s my business! Go get them!” You’ll see Duen in his divine form. It’s not ordinary, I’ve seen it before. Scary as hell.

“Alright, alright.”

“Bom, get me some clothes.” I called to my close friend who was reading, not wanting to go in because I might get wet. To tell the truth, no one ever goes in there wet…except for that idiot.

Snap

“Are you going to change with your ‘nong’?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Oh my, showering together and now changing clothes together, is there anything more awesome, Bohn?” Boss smirked; before it was just playful…but now I think you’re really starting to get bold, huh?

“There is…tonight, I’ll sleep with him.”

I gave a sly smile, wrapping my arm around the waist of the person next to me, who was looking bored with the world. I’ve been arguing with him since we were at the waterfall. Duen wouldn’t let me sleep with him, claiming the friends would be upset if they didn’t get to sleep with him. I didn’t pay much attention to his excuses…my heart has been weak since he said we should break up. Now I need some attention.

“Urrghhhhhh.”

“This isn’t a volunteer camp anymore, damn it, this is clearly Bohn and Duen’s wedding.” I’d like it to be like that, waiting for that moment, waiting to share a room. We can’t do it in the tent because others will see. I’m quite shy too…sigh.

“There’s no one in the bathroom…where did everyone go?” Eo looked around the bathroom. There wasn’t a single person there, the atmosphere starting to feel strangely eerie.

“It’s six o’clock now. They must have gone to eat.” All our meals are prepared on the high hill, where there’s a small wooden canteen set up by the forestry department.

“Because of you, damn Bohn, we’re stuck here.” Got scolded again…

“Come on, you wouldn’t be eating dinner anyway, right?”

“I’m not eating, but you should, eating at odd hours will give you a stomachache.” Whose boyfriend is this, so adorable, thinking this, I went to kiss his cheek repeatedly until his face shook, which was funny, he glared at me.

“You!! You’ve gone too far, you leech.”

“Gone too far with what?” I pretended to ask, even though I knew exactly what the person in front of me meant. Seeing that I did this, the other side made a frustrated huff.

“Ugh! Don’t come near me, stay away, don’t come within ten meters of me, don’t look, don’t smile, don’t, don’t, don’t, I forbid everything!” Duen furrowed his brows, one hand holding his cheek where I had kissed it, the other pointing back and forth.

“Haha.” I grabbed his slim waist to hug him, swaying playfully. It’s strange, though he’s not that skinny, his waist is surprisingly narrow, really surprising…actually, it’s quite nice, he’s easy to handle.

“Let go! I need to change clothes.” Oh, damn, Duen, you hit me with your elbow, why do you always resort to violence when you’re embarrassed? If you’re not hurting yourself, you’re hurting me.

“Change together-” “Dream on, you bastard!” Bang!

“Come on, Duen, let me in!” He used the moment I was distracted to push me away and ran into the bathroom at high speed…like a cat, when they want to escape, they run just like that.

“Go die!”

Fine, I give up.

There’s no way he’ll let me in, damn it…I’ll just use another room. Why not save some bathrooms for others, so they have options when they come in?

The bathrooms here are quite clean, but there are a lot of Phii Thara’s spider relatives. I’m not scared because I’m bigger than them anyway. But Duen is scared, really scared…aren’t you afraid to go into the bathroom alone? Let me in with you, I’ll kill every one of them.

Knock, Knock

“Duen. You’ve been in there for a while.” It must have been ten minutes. I got dressed faster than you, or maybe he’s been done for a while but doesn’t want to come out because he’s afraid of me?

“One second…I’m done.”

“…”

“…” 18:10 PM. “Let’s go eat.” He grabbed my hand to walk together, but I resisted, holding back. The person in front turned to look at me with confusion.

“Your shirt’s neckline is too wide…” His white V-neck shirt was deeply cut, really deep. I could clearly see his collarbones; he looks good in it, but I don’t like it.

“I didn’t choose it, Phu did. But it’s fine, I’ll be sleeping soon.” Phu, you’re going to get it from me for choosing this shirt. Why did you bring this one, you have plenty of clothes at home?

“I don’t like it, it’s too revealing.” That damn wide-necked shirt, looking down, you can see everything, I see your chest. I understand you’re tall, people shorter than you might not see, but there are plenty of people taller than you, you jerk.

“Who gives a damn, I’m a guy. Who would look?”

“Me!”

“Then it’s just you.”

“It’s not just me-”

“Forget it.” The other brushed it off before dragging me to the canteen. You never listen to me, do you? I said I don’t like it!

I don’t like others looking at you!!

 

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