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  • WESTTHESUNFROMANOTHERSTAR, Chapter 2: Hanged Up

       WESTTHESUNFROMANOTHERSTAR, Chapter 2: Hanged Up

       Arthit

       I woke up irritably to the sound of my phone, fumbling around the bed until I found it. It was Tonfah calling.

       Half past six?

       Damn, I’m late.

       I jumped out of bed and answered Fah’s call immediately.

       “I’m up.”

    (Hurry up.)

       “K.” I hung up and quickly showered and changed clothes. Even though other faculties were not yet on break, we had to start our ward rounds. Once we hit the fourth year, ward duties got chaotic. Normally, I was used to the noises from next door, but last night was more annoying than usual, probably because someone new moved in and they had a party or something.

    Thinking about it, the sound of dragging the chair probably wasn’t Donut.    Because I only know Donut. No matter what kind of noise happens, I blame him alone.

    When he was alive, he was annoying, as a ghost he is annoying, stabbed to death by his wife, and he still doesn’t go anywhere, just stays in that room, appearing in my dreams asking for food, or for me to repay the money I borrowed from him before he died. I already gave it back to your mother at your funeral, what more do you want to claim? At your funeral, I drove tens of kilometers to help out at your home. What more do you want from me, you bastard?

    I’m complaining because I dreamt of him last night, saying he was hungry again, always hungry, I  have to study, do ward rounds, do paperwork, when do I have time to get rice to offer to you, you damn ghost, it’s so easy for you. Just showing up in dreams is enough to make me panic; he’s being too self-indulgent, isn’t he?    Because he keeps messing with my dreams, I couldn’t sleep well, so I woke up late. If the doctor scolds me, will you take responsibility, Donut?

    I quickly rode my motorcycle to the hospital. When I parked, I ran into Jo, parking next to each other, arriving late at the same time, and we ran up together. In the morning, it’s ward rounds, in the afternoon, there’s a lecture, and there are more ward rounds from evening until 10 PM. Once everything was done, I went back to my room.

    I flopped onto my bed, exhausted and bored. Studying medicine is damn tiring, and there’s a reason I’m doing it, but I’m not going to say what it is. I’m too lazy to explain, and if possible, I don’t even want to tell.

    I was about to doze off when my phone rang again, waking me up.

    Direk?

       “What’s up?”

    (I am your father, talk to me  nicely, okay?)

       “Direk.”

    (Are you trying to mess with me?)

       “We can keep talking like it’s a game, Direk you  is my dad, or if you want to be friends, then so be it.”

    (Sigh, I’m bored. I heard you’re not going to the race track anymore?)    “I’ve got no time, morning and evening ward rounds, I’m tired, Direk. I want to quit. Treat me to something.”

    (Hah, aren’t I already supporting you? It’s good you’re not going to the track, but it’s not great without you there, it’s boring, people are complaining.)

       “Huh. So, should I go or not? Last time I went, you got mad and blocked me on Line.”

    (I unblocked you, I want to talk to Johan.)

       “See, when it’s Jo, you want to talk. Your real son, you won’t talk.”

    (Johan speaks sense, and I blocked you because you kept asking for money.

    You must think I; your dar must be very rich.)

       “Huh. If you’re broke, just say so, I’ll borrow from Jo then.”

    (I am rich, but you don’t need to ask for money so often.)

       “Yes, yes, then why did you call?”

    (I didn’t have good dreams last night.)

       “Do I need to comfort you? Oh, oh, don’t worry, dad, bad dreams will turn into good ones, right?”

    (Fuck your dad, indeed.)

       “Oh, why are you scolding yourself, and what did you dream about?”

    (I dreamt of your mom.)

       “…Really?”

    (Why would I lie about that?)

       “What did she say?”

    (Nothing, just like always.)

       “Maybe you’re working too hard, take a break.”

    (Yeah, it must be it. How’s the ward work going? Don’t let anyone die or you’ll be sued into oblivion.)

       “Just the usual, manageable, I guess no one’s going to die.”

    (The haunted room is still the same?)

       “The room next door, well, someone new moved in yesterday, last night was like a class reunion, so noisy.”

    (Who moved in? How can they live there, you too, living with ghosts for years, are you crazy?)

       “Well, I’m too lazy to move my stuff. Moving would be like admitting defeat.

    No way.”

    (Still trying to outdo a ghost?)

    “I could move, but then Donut will be lonely.”

    (Do some good deeds for him, he’s your friend after all.)

       “I’ve never even been to a temple since I was born.”

    (You don’t follow Buddhism, anyway. Fine, if you can live there, then live there, save on rent.)

       “Yeah, Direk, I want to upgrade my bike, maybe for the race on the weekend.”

    (Upgrade what?)

       “I’ve already ordered it, just need you to pay.”

    (Let your fucking dad pa…Oh, right, it’s me. Here we go again, you’re good at ordering stuff and making me pay.)

       “I’ll hang up now, see you at home.”

    (Damn yo brat.)

       I hung up. Direk is my real father; we’ve been talking like this since we were kids, it’s just a habit. Direk once said he wanted to be more like a friend than a dad, so we could talk about everything, and he could feel young. Even though he’s over forty, he still has a youthful attitude.

    It’s no wonder why I turned out like this. Just look at my dad; I’m a perfect replica. Direk says I’m exactly like him when he was young, the only difference being he didn’t study medicine.

    Direk owns a company that imports all kinds of car parts. Not just importing, but manufacturing too, expanding to have large repair shops with branches all over the country. He’s already a huge importer so he did an IPO. No, not just going IPO but he actually did it a few years ago. You could say Direk is prospering and thriving, and since dad is rich, he needs someone to help spend the money, like me, who keeps asking for money until I got blocked on Line.

    Because I’ve been around cars since I was a kid, I love them a lot. If someone asks why I have to study medicine, I’ll say, “You bastard.”

    I’m not going to tell you yet, or else I might cry.

    Before I could even get up to do anything, someone called again. Why all these calls? I picked up my phone to see it was Jo’s wife calling.

    “What’s up?”

    (Brother, you didn’t reply to my Line.)

       “And then what?”

    (Let’s play a game.)

       “You want to play games with me.”

    (So, will you play?)

       “Yeah, I’ll play. Wait a sec.”

    I hung up. Jo’s wife is always inviting me to play games. I like playing, and I’m pretty good at it too, but I have to play more often because he likes inviting me. At first, I was surprised because I didn’t think Jo would be into someone like him, but they’ve been dating for nearly a year now. The downside is Jo no longer has time to drink with me, always sleeping with his wife.

    Fah has a wife now, Hill has one, everyone has one except me. Even though it bothers me a bit, their sweetness stings my eyes, but it’s not bad. It’s good that they’re happy.

    I entered the game. Less than ten seconds later, North invited me to play.    (What are you playing?) North’s voice came through the game since we talk on mic while playing, and he can only choose to open it for friends we’re playing with.

    “Whatever. What are we playing?”

    (I’ll carry, I’m going into the jungle.)

       “Who’s tanking then?”

    (My friend.)

    “Okay.” I only just noticed there was another person in the game room, but they hadn’t turned on their mic to speak.

    “Who’s your friend?” I asked when I saw the name wasn’t familiar. Most of the friends North brought to play were usually Duennao, Kyu, Skater, Gett, and others in that circle, but this person was completely unfamiliar.

    (Phipungto, your neighbor.)

       “Oh, right, can he tank? He better not suck, you bastard.”

    (You’ll be amazed by my friend’s tanking.)

       “What the hell are you talking about?”

    (You’ve chosen your character, damn it.)

       “I’m so honored.” I said, not taking the words too seriously since we were pretty close. I selected an assassin to farm in the jungle, North played carry, and the person playing tank chose one that complemented my farming character.

    He must be pretty good, judging by the character choice.

    Not just good, he was damn fierce. I’ve never seen someone tank this well before.

    “Damn, are you on a pro team or what? How are you not falling with a three-onone like that?”

    (Told you my friend is good, but it would help if you went to assist him, he’s almost dead.)

       “Look at my health, I’m not going to help you, bastard. Are you listening?”

    (He’s listening, Phipungto, what do you want to do, say something.)    (Yeah, retreat to the jungle, my health’s low, not worth the risk. Going back would be a waste, we’ll just cover for you to escape.)

       (He’s your senior, your neighbor, come on, if you live next door, why not play together? It would make talking easier.)

       “I think I can manage, just healed a bit.”

    (Going in again?)

       “Yeah, let’s get all three.”

    (Okay, ultimate ready, let’s go.)

       (Really? Shit, no blood, just spirit, huh?) North grumbled a bit.

    “Let’s start.” I said, before the tank moved in to engage the mage. I followed, and despite my low health, I managed to take down three enemies but at the cost of the tank covering for me.

    (The tank is dead.)

       (No worries, tank is traded for mage and carry, it’s worth it.) The calm voice from the game made me wonder how North could be so laid-back while he was excited and complaining about the game earlier, but he seemed fine with it, and his timing was spot on, reading the game perfectly, he was an incredibly tough tank.

    We played several rounds without losing, until North’s friend left the game.

    North said he had something else to do, so it was just me and him playing.

    (Hey, Phii, how was last night? Did you get haunted?)

       “Last night was more chaotic than usual. Why do you ask?”

    (I asked my friend, he said he encountered four ghosts, wasn’t it three at first? How did the woman who hanged herself get there?)

       “Huh, hanged herself? Oh, that woman was originally in my room.” I said, thinking back to when I first moved into this room. My room has a history of a woman who hanged herself from the balcony, but she’s gone now, “I wondered why the sound of the chair being dragged was now in that room, thought it was another ghost, turns out it was the one who hanged herself.”

    (Yeah, at the balcony, bro. The ghost told me she hanged herself around…what time, midnight maybe? So she was in your room before, and you chased her away?)

    “Not exactly chased, well, kinda chased her. She was dragging the chair, I yelled at her, she didn’t listen, so I had to take drastic measures.”

    (How, did you use a Buddha image to chase her away?)

       “No. At first, she was really harassing me, sitting on me while I was sleeping.”

    (Shit, like that? What did you do?)

       “She sat on me while I was sleeping, so I thrust my hips at her, bastard.”

    (You bastard, bro.) North’s laughter came through loud and clear, (Seriously?)    “Yeah.”

    (Damn, you’re damn crazy, Phii, you really tried to shag the ghost.)    “If I could, I would, a woman sitting on a guy like me while I’m sleeping, what was she thinking?”

    (Kick it, man…damn, ouch, wait, just imagining it gives me stomach cramps)

    North couldn’t stop laughing, (And what did that woman do?)

       “She screamed and then disappeared, probably out of embarrassment.”

    (I’d be scared to continue even if I were a ghost, so she went to another room?)

       “Not yet, she’s still dragging the chair every midnight. That night, I lost my patience, I knew at half past midnight she’d drag the chair again. If she was going to drag it, she’d drag it from the middle of the room to the balcony, passing by the bathroom. At twenty-five past midnight, I went and sat in the bathroom.”

    (Why go into the bathroom?)

       “To jerk off.”

    (Damn, oh my god, Phii Arthit, you damn senior, you jerk off to show a ghost?)

       “Yeah, if she’s going to drag the chair past, she’ll see me, I even left the door open.”

    (Damn, that’s damn funny, ouch. Even if she’s a ghost, she’s still a woman!) North’s laughter echoed, he was laughing so hard he forgot to play the game, which made me laugh along, still finding it funny just thinking about it. How pissed off was I to do something like that?

    It’s damn funny just imagining it.

    I admit it, I’m proud of myself.

    Because of talking to North, I had the courage to tell it straight, since North himself can be pretty vulgar.

    “It’s my room, I can do whatever I want in my room, what’s wrong with that?”    (It’s not wrong, man, but like, ouch, it gives me a headache, and what did that woman do?)

       “She disappeared, probably moved rooms since then.”

    (Yeah, that’s fair. If it were me, I’d leave too, with such a crazy landlord.)    “Crazy how? It’s a natural thing, aren’t you going to admit you’ve never done it?”

    (Ouch, it’s just natural, man, ouch, my stomach hurts, I’ve got stomach cramps now, damn, that’s the craziest in med school. How many doctors on Earth would jerk off in front of a ghost? I can’t take it) I heard something drop loudly from the other end of the line, (I laughed so hard I fell off the sofa.)

    “What’s so funny about that, are you that shallow?”

    (Yeah, I know I’m shallow, I feel sorry for that senior now, feel sorry for all the ghosts in that room too. Phipungto says he ignores the ghosts, he told me. At midnight, there’s a woman hanging herself, right? Around two, someone jumps off the building, the ghost in the bathroom just cries. And Phii Donut scratches the wall with his nails.)

       “Does Donut scratch the wall?”

    (Yeah, that’s what the ghost said, and why does he scratch, Phii?)

    “Donut’s got some kind of mental issue. Before he died, he used to say his fingertips always itched, so he liked to scratch his nails a lot, even when just sitting, he’d scratch on the table or whatever. I told him to stop, but he said he couldn’t. I didn’t believe he’d still be obsessed with scratching his nails after death.”

    (Seriously, that’s pretty creepy, bro. He liked to scratch his nails daily, and even after death, he still does it. The ghost said he scratched until his nails were all gone.)

       “So, your friend’s name is Phipungto, what kind of name is Phipungto?”    (No, no, Phii, his name is Daotok, but I think Daotok isn’t unique enough, it has to be Phipungto.)

       “Daotok? Yeah, that’s strange, why would a guy be named Daotok?”

    (Right? But that’s his name, Phii, I didn’t choose it for him.)

       “Yeah.”

    (So, how did Donut die? Was he really stabbed by his girlfriend while sleeping? Were you in the room?)

       “I was there, I was sleeping too, didn’t know anything, woke up to find out that the bastard Donut had been stabbed. Meen was his girlfriend, Donut probably had an affair, they fought a lot, Meen must have bottled it up, stabbed the cheating husband.”

    (That’s brutal, she left the corpse on the bed like that.)

       “She slept next to that bastard. Meen’s got some nerve, I tell you, she stabbed Donut dead, then slept beside him until morning, the whole bed was soaked in blood. In the morning, she called the police herself.”

    (Shit, that’s horrifying. So, what did you do, have you made any offerings for Donut’s spirit?)

       “Nah, too lazy, I don’t even follow Buddhism, don’t go to temples.”

    (Phipungto said Donut haunts dreams too, saying he’s hungry.)

       “Yeah, he haunts my dreams too, saying he’s hungry.”

    (And what did you reply?)

       “Want to eat my foot?”

    (You’re harsh, Phii, that was your friend, even if he’s a ghost.) North burst out laughing, what a thin line this guy has, (Why not light some incense, offer some rice a couple of times, he might stop bothering you.)

       “Then he’ll get too comfortable. Why don’t you have your friend offer it to him?”

    (My friend doesn’t have money, Phii, he spent it all buying rice for a cat.)    “Then just leave it like that, I’m going to sleep now, tomorrow I have to get up early for ward rounds, and Jo’s still asleep.”

    (Phii Jo is asleep, he’s really tired, isn’t he?)

       “Tired, of course, why ask without thinking? I’m out.”

    (Okay.)

       I logged off from the game, took a shower, and changed my clothes. It was past 8 PM, and we had played for quite a while. After changing, I prepared to go to bed. I didn’t usually want to sleep this early, but I was just too exhausted.

    …

    Daotok

       I was still working like the night before. It was past 8 PM now, with Emma watching nearby. Today, I hadn’t encountered anything strange or any annoying sounds, but I figured after midnight things would get hectic.

    In the evening, I played games with North. North loves playing games. I’m the same, a gaming addict. I like to play as a tank or support, and I only play one role well.

    The person North invited to play seemed to be my neighbor from the next room. He’s pretty good at the game, and North is too, so it felt more relaxing to play. It’s not a big deal if others aren’t skilled, but if they have a bad attitude, North would give them hell. He gets hot-headed over games.

    As soon as the clock struck midnight, I thought their energy would increase. I could feel their presence becoming more intense. I put on my headphones to ignore the wall-scratching sounds.

    When I couldn’t think of work anymore, I needed to rest my brain. I decided to take a hot bath because it’s the most relaxing thing, but there was someone in the tub acting like they owned it.

    “…I’m going to take a bath now.” I said beforehand, not exactly asking for permission, just stating it, “Don’t turn the water into blood like in the movies. Speaking of which, how would you even do that? A woman normally only has about four or five liters of blood, not enough to fill the whole tub.”

    I turned on the hot water until the tub was full and stepped in, sitting down to soak. The perfect temperature made me feel very relaxed, except for the chilling sensation at the back of my neck.

       A hand…a pale, slender hand was caressing around my neck, pressing harder with its nails, scratching along my skin.

       It hurts…

       “It hurts.”

    “I’ll get angry if you hurt me.” I said, not in the best mood, lifting one hand to lightly slap my own neck, hoping to hit his hand as punishment, “If you want to hit, hit my hand.”

    But I didn’t feel anything. I continued to soak in the water, inadvertently closing my eyes, and felt my hand touch something like a person’s head. I slowly opened my eyes.

    I’ve never seen her before…

    Her pitch-black, wet hair spread out. She slowly looked up at me. I quickly withdrew my hand that was touching her head. Her face was pale, her eyes devoid of light, her lips split to her ears in a grin before tightening into a grimace, and the sound of crying echoed throughout the bathroom.

    Blood flowed from the split mouth, tears streamed endlessly, the naked body of the woman in front of me became clearer, with a cut on her neck, slashes on her shoulder, and I didn’t dare look any further. She sat hugging her knees in the tub in front of me, crying harder and harder.

    “Huh, sob, sob.”

       “…”

    “Huh, sob, sob, it hurts…it hurts, hurts, don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me.”

       Ah, she was killed by her boyfriend, her throat slit in the bathtub. She must have meant him.

    “I won’t hurt you.”

    “Huh, sob.”

       “Does it hurt? There, there.”

    “Sob, it hurts, hurts, it’s agony, I…can’t breathe.”

       “Well, your throat was slit, how could you breathe? But how can you speak?”

    “Sob, huh.”

       “You…no, Miss.” I decided to speak, extending my hand to shake her to bring her to her senses so she could listen to me, but when my hand touched the icy cold skin of the person…the ghost in front of me, she stopped crying immediately, the cries gradually quieting down, her eyes slowly moving to look at me.

    “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

       She screamed. I was slightly taken aback, before the woman’s figure disappeared.

    Did she scream to scare me, was she surprised that someone was there, or was she embarrassed because she was naked?

       Whatever.

    I soaked in the water for a little while longer, then got out of the tub when I was satisfied. I removed the plug from the bathtub, and as the water level went down, I saw hair stuck in the drain.

    Hair?

       “Long hair too,

    And it’s definitely not mine.”

    “Don’t make my hair fall out, how did this get clogged? I don’t want to keep pulling it out. Next time, tie your hair up.” I mumbled in slight annoyance. Why do I have to deal with someone else’s hair?

       I walked out of the bathroom since I wasn’t wearing my bracelet while showering, which allowed me to see the woman in the tub once. Now, I saw the woman who hanged herself walking by. I thought she would just pass me, but she stopped and slowly turned to look at me. I looked back, confused.

    “Uh…is there something you want to say?”

    ‘…Nothing.’

       Ah…she answered, her voice slow and strangely echoing.

    ‘Thank god…that you closed the door.’    ???

      

    WESTTHESUNFROMANOTHERSTAR CHAPTERS HOME

  • WESTTHESUNFROMANOTHERSTAR, Chapter 1: Friends

       WESTTHESUNFROMANOTHERSTAR, Chapter 1: Friends

       Arthit

       “Wow, this is a beautiful snake.”

    “It’s normal.”

    “Wow, why is this room so gloomy, Phii? Open a window, you’ve got one after all.” Jo’s wife walked around the room because he said he wanted to see my room, which was fine, let him look if he wants. He went ahead and opened my curtains quite boldly.

    “I just got back.”

    “Why does it smell like this? Did something die, Phii?”

    “It’s smelly as shit, but I’m fine.”

    “Really? So, what does it normally eat?”

    “I bought some meat for it, like chicken.” I answered, referring to the snake. I keep a snake, a light yellow ball python, in a glass tank.

    “How much was it, Phii?”

    “Two or three hundred thousand, I guess. This pattern is hard to make.”

    “What if it slithers out and falls off the building?”

    “Then it’s fucked.”

    “Are you really living alone on this whole floor?”

    “Yeah, why? But your friend moved in, didn’t he ?”

    “Yeah, there are two of you . Look after my friend well, okay?”

    “What’s that about?”

    “Man, do you know anything about the next-door room? They say it’s haunted.

    Have you seen anything?”

    “Ugh.” I sighed, bored at the thought of the next-door room, “I see it every night, damn it, it’s annoying. Tell your friend to tell it to stop dragging the table and chairs so I can sleep.”

    “…” North went silent for a moment before taking a deep breath to compose himself, “Wait, Phii? Every night? My friend won’t die of fear, will he ?”

    “If your friend is scared, why did he  move in?”

    “Phii, but he  said he wasn’t scared.”

    “If he is not scared, that’s good. But why move in? I thought I’d be living on this floor alone until I graduated.” I said, because ever since being haunted daily, everyone on this floor moved out except me because I was too lazy to pack and move, plus the condo owner, Pao, gave me a fifty percent discount.

    “Well, the condo owner gave a seventy percent discount, so my friend agreed to move in.”

    “Seventy? Why did he get a bigger discount than me?”

    “You live next door, you should get a big discount. Why not move into that room?”

    “Too lazy to move stuff, screw it. Get out, I’m going to sleep.”

    “Why sleep now, it’s still early.”

    “I’m going to sleep, leave, and close the door.”

    “Yeah, yeah, playing games tonight?”

    “Yeah, after I wake up.”

    “Got it.” North’s voice came before he walked out of my room, not forgetting to close the door. I hoped his friend who just moved in wouldn’t make too much noise because just the sounds of crying, laughing, dragging chairs, and things falling from the next room every night were enough.

    Why not move, you ask?

    Well, I’m too lazy to move my damn stuff, there’s too much of it. Why should I move? They should move. They’re already dead, why keep bothering me, damn it.

    Exhausted from a full day of classes, I drifted off to sleep.

    …

    Daotok

       I flopped down on the bed, feeling extremely tired after hours of arranging things. I looked around the room; it was quite nice actually. The condo owner had replaced everything with new items. From the sofa to the bed to the bathroom fixtures, it was all spacious too. I could put a lot of my stuff here.

    I immediately picked up my phone to call as soon as I remembered.

    (How’s it going? Moved into the new room yet?)

       “Yes, Pa. When can you send Mr. Jeon over?”

    (I  isn’t free, will next week be okay?)

       “Yes.”

    (You didn’t move into some weird room, did you? Heard it’s cheap.)

       “Don’t worry too much, let me talk to Dad for a bit.”

    (What’s up, son?)

       (When are you coming home?) a deep voice with a clear British accent came through the line. I responded in English.

    “I just got back to school, Dad. Send me some photos of Mr. Jeon.”

    (How’s the new room?)

       “It’s very spacious, convenient too.”

    (That’s good. I’ll come visit when I have time.)

       “Okay, that’s all for now.”

    (Okay)

       Then I hung up. The person I was talking to just now was Papa and Dad, to simplify, I have two fathers. Papa is my biological father, and Dad is his partner. My Dad is English, and they got married there before he moved to Thailand with Papa. We live happily together, the three of us. My mom has remarried too.

    Hmm, I’m too lazy to talk about home stuff, let’s leave it for now.

       The reason I moved to a larger room was because of Mr. Jeon. Mr. Jeon is a black Cat, with one blind eye. I found Mr. Jeon near the old dorm and decided to take him in. Since then, my life has had meaning, like finding the other half of my heart that was lost. I worked hard to move to a new room so I could bring Mr.

    Jeon with me.

       I checked the time and saw it was past 9 PM. I sat down at my desk, turned on the desk lamp, opened my tablet, grabbed my stylus, and continued working.    Time passed until nearly midnight. I got up, stretching lazily, intending to take a shower, looking at the bracelet in my hand with a slight hesitation because I wasn’t quite ready to deal with it.

       I have something different from most people, something I myself don’t know how to describe. I can sense strange energies that most people can’t, including the rather annoying feelings of others. If someone is sad or angry today, I can feel it as if it expands and rushes towards me. If they’re sad, I feel it too, which can be quite bothersome.

       But to pick up on these subtle emotions requires some concentration. So, I don’t have much of a problem with it since I don’t need to focus on reading someone’s feelings, except for some friends I genuinely care about, like when I’ve read Cat’s feelings before.

       The bracelet my grandmother gave me helps suppress my sensitivity. It stops me from seeing or feeling those strange energies. I’m not afraid, but seeing or feeling them doesn’t make me feel good. Even if I don’t see everything, I can still feel it.    I decided to take off the bracelet, and the weight of the sensations hit me immediately.

       Hmm.

       “Let’s talk then.” I said into the empty room, but it wasn’t empty in my current perception, though I still couldn’t see anything. I don’t know why, but I don’t really want to see either.

    “I’m the one paying the rent for this room, so I’m the owner. Check the contract if you want, so you have no rights here whatsoever. If you can, please leave.”

    “…”

    Of course, there was no response.

       But the sensation intensified.

       It seemed like I’d made her angry…

       Why get angry? I was just stating the truth, wasn’t I?

       This is exactly why it’s so annoying.

       I took off my clothes to get ready for a shower, walked into the bathroom where the floor was surprisingly wet. How did it get wet? I hadn’t even been in the bathroom since I moved in.

       “You are wasting water. Next time, please fetch water from somewhere else.”    I said that before turning on the shower. The sound and warmth of the water hitting my skin made me feel a bit more relaxed, but after a while, the bathroom light started flickering on and off. I sighed again, choosing to ignore it and continued my shower.

    Eventually, the bathroom light went out completely. I dried myself and stepped out of the bathroom.

    Locked?

       From the outside.

       “…”

    First question…why would a ghost lock me in the bathroom?

       Second question…how am I supposed to get out? My head’s wet, and I’ll catch a cold if I stay like this.

       “Open it.”

    “…”

    “Don’t be stubborn, please.”

    “Speak clearly. I won’t do anything bad, I’m still dealing with my own sikarma.”

    “…Hic, huh, hic.”

       I heard crying from behind me. I turned to look but saw nothing because it was pitch black. I remembered there was a woman killed in the bathtub. I squinted towards the tub, and after a while, my eyes adjusted to the darkness enough to see a faint silhouette.

    “Are you naked?”    “Huh, huh, sob.”

       “I’m naked too. Men and women shouldn’t be naked together in the bathroom. I’ll close my eyes then.” I slowly closed my eyes as I said, wrapping the towel tighter around myself to make sure the woman couldn’t see me, “Did you lock me in here?”

    “Huh, huh, sob.”

       “We’ll talk later. I’m cold now, I’ll bring my laptop into the bathroom to work, which will annoy you more is that okay?”

    “Huh, sob.” the crying got louder. I frowned, not understanding what she wanted. If she didn’t want to talk, why lock me in the bathroom? Then I heard the sound of the bathroom door unlocking.

    “Okay, I am going. So, do you want someone to talk to or not?”

    “Sob, sob, huh…sob.”

       “Okay, you can wash your face now, you’re allowed to use the sink, be careful not to get swollen eyes.” I said before opening the door, but how could a ghost in the bathroom lock the door from the outside? Did it go through the wall to lock it and then go back through the wall?

       Whatever.

       I quickly got dressed, dried my hair, put my bracelet back on, and continued working. The bracelet is good because it makes my senses as normal as an average person’s, meaning anything too strong for a normal person to feel, I can feel when I’m wearing it.

    I kept working, losing track of time as usual, since it wasn’t the start of the school term yet, I could work late. Once the draft was done, I sent it to the client right away. They sent it back with instructions on what to fix, and I tried to adjust accordingly.

    “Ah, for heaven’s sake, they want it smaller than this?”

    “Smaller.”

    “Hmm, any smaller and it won’t be visible.”

    “Then what? If you adjust it further, it won’t stand out. Do you want to add more shadow? It’s evening, how can I add more shadow? If you want a lot of shadow, why didn’t you brief that it’s noon? There’s no light in the evening.”

    I mumbled to myself. I’ve had the habit of talking to myself since childhood because I didn’t have many friends, leading me to talk to myself until it became a habit. If I don’t speak out loud, I can’t focus.

    And another important thing is:

    “What should I do?”

    ‘Adjust the position, there.’

       “Hmm, good idea.” I said, turning to look at the person who just appeared, a girl about my age with short, wavy brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a white dress with flower patterns, holding a ragged teddy bear in her left hand. She smiled at me kindly.

    Emma…

       Do you think Emma is a ghost?

       No, Emma is my imaginary friend.

       When you’re a kid, you often make up imaginary friends to play with, right? I don’t know why Emma didn’t disappear when I grew up; maybe because I didn’t have many friends even as I got older. But it’s not bad, I have someone to talk to, so I don’t feel lonely, and Emma doesn’t tell anyone about my things.

       ‘Michael.’

       “What?”

    ‘I like the new room, but it feels off somehow.’

       “Really? Hmm, my friends said the same thing.”

    “North wore black today, he looked so cute.”

    Emma is North’s hardcore fan, but I  can’t tell him that.

    Oh, right, Emma calls me Michael because people used to tease me that my name, Daotok, sounds feminine, often calling me a sissy since kindergarten. Out of annoyance, I told everyone my name was Michael when I got to primary school. But by high school, I realized that it was just the name my papa gave me. No big deal, it’s my name. I have no problem with it, and others shouldn’t either, except for North, because he’s North, so I can forgive him when he has issues with my name.

    So, if he  doesn’t like the name Daotok, he can call me Michael.

    ‘Is North close with the neighbor? Why does he spend so much time there?’

       “I don’t know, he’s friends with North’s boyfriend.”

    ‘North’s boyfriend is handsome, they suit each other.’

       “Yeah, Emma, be quiet for a bit. I’m working on something.”

    ‘Okay, you should tell Donut to stop staring at you  too.’

       “Hmm.” I replied without much interest. What Emma sees is what I see; Donut is the name of the political science senior who was stabbed to death by her boyfriend while she was still sleeping. She’s been standing there watching me work for a while now.

    “I’ve put on the bracelet, why can I still see flashes?”

    “Emma.”

    ‘What did you say? Michael you told me to be quiet, but you also called me , what should I do?’

       “I  should put on the Buddha amulet necklace, right?”

    ‘That might be good. If it makes Donut go away.’

       “Okay.” I said, standing up from my desk, rummaging through my bag to find the amulet necklace and put it on. I don’t know how much it will help, but it’s better than nothing.

    Why hasn’t he left yet?

       I don’t want to talk to him at all.

       To be honest, I’m angry.

       What kind of…ghost has no manners?

       Ah…finally gone.

       Donut walked away from my desk, heading to sit on the bed, probably where he died. I turned back to my work, catching him pacing around the room out of the corner of my eye, which was incredibly annoying.

       I was slightly startled when I heard a sharp, irritating sound. I found Donut scratching the wall with his nails, just standing there staring at the wall while scraping it up and down.

       Why do that?

       Ugh…I put on my headphones and turned on the rain sound to drown her out so I could ignore her. I didn’t want to curse or talk to her, focusing on my work even with someone…a ghost making annoying noises nearby.

       When I need to concentrate in a noisy place, I like to use this rain sound because I enjoy the sound of rain, plus if it were music, it would distract me even more.

       Almost an hour passed when I heard a knock on the door.

       Midnight?

       There’s only me and my friend’s boyfriend on this floor. He wouldn’t come knock on my door, would he?

       I turned up the volume on my headphones to ignore the knocking.

       …I stood up from my chair, my patience exhausted by the continuous knocking, my work wasn’t going well, the client was rushing me, for heaven’s sake.    “Stop knocking.” I said calmly through the door slot, hoping whoever was knocking would hear.

    “Open it.”

    “I won’t open it, stop knocking for once.”

    “Open it, damn it!” I was startled when the person on the other side started banging harder on the door.

    “Don’t be so violent, are you lonely?”

    “I’m fucking lonely then, I told you to open it, you bastard!”

    “Why are you such a rude ghost?”

    “Fuck you, calling me a ghost again, I’m a person, your damn neighbor, open the door!” The words from the other side surprised me. Oh, so it’s really my neighbor.

    I peeked through the peephole to see it was indeed that senior. Initially, I didn’t want to look because I thought it was a ghost, so I didn’t want to see. I slowly opened the door.

    “What’s the matter?”

    “Tell that ‘Do’ to stop dragging the chair, you bastard, I can’t sleep.”

    “Do? …Dragging the chair?” I was a bit confused. If he meant Donut, he wasn’t dragging a chair. He was just scratching the wall with his nails. I turned to look and saw him still in the same spot, his nails completely peeled back, blood dripping down the wall and floor. I hoped it wasn’t really staining. I didn’t want to clean it, “I am not dragging the chair.”

    “I’m not talking about you, you bastard, whoever’s in this room, tell them to stop making those weird noises.”

    “Okay, I’ll tell them.”

    “Yeah, these bastards, I can’t even sleep when I want to.” He cursed, scratching his head in frustration before turning back to his room. I slowly closed the door, looking around the room in confusion.

    Who’s dragging the chair?

    And why can’t I hear it?

    I took off my bracelet because I wanted to find out who was dragging the chair at midnight like this.

    …Who else could it be?

       From my research, there are only three bodies who died here, but who is the woman hanging herself right now? She’s in an old, crumpled student uniform, dragging a chair to the balcony to hang herself because there’s nothing inside the room to tie a rope to; there’s no ceiling fan like in the dorms, but there’s a clothesline on the balcony. She dragged the chair there, sobbing, tied the rope, put her head through the loop, and kicked the chair away.

       They say when people commit suicide, they repeat the act. That’s true, I guess.

       Hmm…how should I handle this situation?

       Okay, let’s go buy some coffee first.

       I left the room with Emma following me, heading downstairs to the 7-Eleven to buy coffee and a little snack to keep me going until morning. On the way back to the room, I pondered how to deal with the sound of the chair being dragged.

       Ah…I know. If there’s something standing there already, she won’t need to drag it, right?

       Once back in the room, I put an unused wooden shelf under the balcony railing, wanting to leave a chair there but unfortunately, there was only one chair in the whole room, which was the one I was using. Then I put on my headphones and continued working. I didn’t know if there was any more dragging sound because I wasn’t paying attention, but Donut, who was scratching the wall, had disappeared and gone back to sitting on the bed as before.

    I was startled again when I heard something fall from the balcony and hit the ground with a loud noise, so I took off my headphones and hurried out to check, in case the wind had blown something of mine off.

    I looked at the balcony to see if anything was damaged, but it seemed there wasn’t. The woman who had been hanging there was gone too. I looked down to the balcony below and saw someone lying there, covered in blood.

    Fell from the balcony?

    Oh, I read in the news that a senior medical student jumped from the balcony to commit suicide. With that in mind, I thought she might have to jump again, and as I thought, suddenly, a woman from who knows where came to stand beside me. She didn’t even look at me, her nightgown stained with blood, her face smeared with tears, before she threw herself down right in front of me.

    I looked down again and saw the body lay in exactly the same position.

    Okay…if I were to die, I wouldn’t choose suicide anymore, having to hang myself or jump off a building every day, it’s exhausting.

    I walked back into the room and continued working, letting those with duties do theirs. Around three in the morning, the sound stopped.

    ‘The person in the bathroom still hasn’t stopped crying.’ Emma came to sit beside me and spoke up.

    “Yeah, they’ll probably stop when they get tired.”

    ‘Go comfort them.’

       “I won’t go, I’ve still got work to finish.”

    ‘Michael you are so cold-hearted.’

       “Yeah.”

    ‘Okay.’

       I kept working until I felt my body couldn’t take it anymore; I stood up, stretched a bit, and prepared to go to bed. As soon as I lay down, I felt uncomfortable, guessing I might have taken the spot of someone who died there.

    Then I’ll move to the other side.

    I turned over to the other side, but I ended up flipping back because I couldn’t sleep.

    Whoever I’m on top of, let them be. If I don’t sleep on the right side, I won’t be able to sleep at all.

    With drowsiness, I easily drifted off to sleep. In the early hours while I was asleep, I dreamt of Donut sitting and watching me from the empty side of the bed, saying he was very hungry and asked for something to eat. In the dream, I replied:

    I have no money…

      

    WESTTHESUNFROMANOTHERSTAR CHAPTERS HOME

  • WESTTHESUNFROMANOTHERSTAR, Prologue Chapter

       WESTTHESUNFROMANOTHERSTAR, Prologue Chapter

       Daotok

       I looked outside where the scenery was changing with the strong wind blowing. The music in the car played softly – a familiar song because the same person always played it. I closed my eyes, feeling the exhaustion accumulated over several days; I had only slept for a few hours before this. The driver next to me glanced over briefly before speaking up.

    “Did you stay up late again last night?”

    “Uh-huh.”

    “Even like this, you’re still going to work.”

    “Yeah.”

    “Don’t fall asleep yet, tell me the way first.”

       “Turn right at the next intersection, and you’ll see the big condo.” That was all I said before I easily dozed off in the chaotic, fully loaded pickup truck. But I barely slept for ten minutes before someone gently shook my arm. I opened my eyes with difficulty.

       As soon as I opened the door and reached for the light switch next to it, I stepped inside to place my things in the middle of the room. Turning around, I noticed none of my three friends were following; they just stood there with blank expressions at the door.

       “What’s wrong with you guys?”

    “Uh, nothing. Just feeling…strange.” Cat beamed a wry smile, looking worriedly at Ter. Everyone then entered my room and put down their things. “Sorry, Dao, but we, uh…”

    “I can handle carrying my things alone, it’s okay.”

    “No, no. It’s not that we won’t help carry, but, uh…” Cat furrowed his brows, looking at North who was currently pale, “North, you…”

    “What, what?!”

    “Why are you yelling?”

    “Damn, my hands are cold, and I’m getting goosebumps. What the hell, it feels so bad, like something’s off.”

    “…”

    “Yeah, this room makes me feel not so good.” Ter said the same thing. I didn’t respond because I understood. I walked over to open the curtains, thinking some air might help.

    “There’s nothing to it. I promise.”

    “…”

    “It’s just that this room has been closed for too long.”

    “Uh, then let’s keep moving the stuff.” Cat said. We went downstairs to carry more things up, going back and forth between the truck and the room until everything was brought in. It seemed like everyone forgot about the initial feeling that the room was unsettling. Exhausted, we all sat or lay down, panting.    “Why do you have so much stuff?” North grumbled slightly, sprawling out on the bed which even I, the room’s owner, hadn’t slept on yet.

    “By the way, North.” I said, “Is that your pickup truck?”

    “No, I told Phii Jo I was helping a friend move but didn’t have a vehicle. The next day, Phii Jo gave me the keys to this truck.” North explained, and Phii Jo, or Phii Johan as he’s called, is North’s boyfriend.

    “Oh.” I nodded slightly, “Thanks for coming to help, it was quite a hassle, sorry for tiring you out.”

    “It’s okay, honestly, this is the first time you have asked us for help.” Ter smiled broadly, “We were more than happy to do it.”

    “Ask me again, ouch!”

    “You’re willing, North.”

    “Yeah, willing, but treating us to some hotpot would be nice. Ouch, Ter, you can hit me?” North turned to give Ter a displeased look.

    “I don’t know, it’s sharp and has horns.”

    “Don’t bite me, you dog face.”

    “You’re the dog.”

    “Don’t fight.” Cat interjected, “But Dao, this floor seems quiet, doesn’t it, or are we just imagining things?”

    “Hmm. This floor only has me and the room next door, that’s all.”

    “Damn, why is that? Is the rent too expensive?” North asked, frowning, even though he probably was scared out of his wits, judging by how he grabbed Ter’s arm and made that face.

    “Alright, how about we go down to the coffee shop downstairs?” Ter quickly interjected, probably wanting to avoid the increasingly eerie atmosphere. Not the atmosphere between us, but the atmosphere inside the room itself.

    “Okay.” Everyone agreed, and we went down to hang out at the coffee shop below the condo.

    “Tell us, tell us.” North started to pester me to tell the story after we left the room. North is scared of ghosts but loves to hear and watch ghost-related stuff, but because he’s such a scaredy-cat, he didn’t ask earlier when we were still in the room.

    “Hmm, my room has a history of many deaths, there are rumors it’s cursed.” I began to recount the little history I had looked up about my new room, everyone listening intently, “It probably started five years ago with a senior medical student in her fourth year who committed suicide, possibly stressed over her studies and her boyfriend; she jumped from the balcony.”

    “…”

    “Then two years after that, or three years ago, a working woman was killed by her boyfriend in the bathroom, caused by a drunken argument; he slit her throat right there in the bathtub.”

    “…Holy shit, two bodies already.”

    “North, don’t interrupt.”

    “Sorry, sorry.”

    “The latest was just a few months ago, a political science student was stabbed by his girlfriend while he was asleep in bed, and died without even knowing it, I guess.”

    “A few months?” Ter raised his eyebrows, eyes wide in shock, “Oh, right, I remember now, there was news about it; our university was talking about it a lot.”    “Oh, I remember.” North said, nodding vigorously, “Man, that’s scary, but her girlfriend is in jail, right?”

    “Yeah, she got arrested.”

    “So, that makes three people who died in that room.” Cat asked worriedly, “Hey, it’s not safe anymore, Dao. How could you decide to live here knowing the history?”

    “Because I know.” I smiled slightly before sipping my cold cappuccino, “Everyone on the seventh floor moved out; they couldn’t stand it. They were all scared off.”

    “Then the room next to yours must be pretty tough, living alone like that.” North remarked. I nodded in agreement, “Did you move in because it’s cheap? Aren’t you scared?”

    “I’m not scared. At this price, it’s worth it. They want me to stay for a year to improve the condo’s reputation.”

    “Oh, so like, having someone live in that room without any issues?” Ter asked. I nodded in response, “I get it, I get that you’re not scared, but…damn, I felt something off from the moment I opened the door. Are you sure you can live here,

    Dao? Think again?”

    “I’m sure.”

    “Ugh, jeez. If it were me, I’d be dead for sure, damn.” North said, rubbing his arms as if he had goosebumps, “Since it’s already haunted, if you see anything, ask for some lottery numbers for me.”

    “Sure, if they give any.”

    “Wow, you’re not scared of ghosts and still kind-hearted, you’re truly a fortuneteller.” I smiled a bit at North’s comment.

    “Does it relate?”

    “Yeah. Can you read my fortune today?”

    “Sure.” I nodded slightly before reaching into my bag to pull out a tarot deck. I always carry at least one fortune-telling tool every day because North could ask for a free reading at any time.

       I’m not lying or boasting about reading fortunes; my grandma taught me. She was really good at this sort of thing.

       I guided North through the process of selecting cards for today’s reading.

       “Hmm…North you might experience a small twist in life soon.”

    “What?”

    “A small twist, something that changes you but not your whole life. Not sure if it’s good or bad, but it will have some impact.”

    “…You don’t know if it’s good or bad? Can’t you just tell me if it’s good or not?”

    “You never know, just be prepared, it won’t be long now.”

    “I’m stressed out.” North said, rubbing his temples, “Come on, you guys try it,

    Ter you should have a look.”

    “Okay, let’s see.” Ter said. I proceeded to read Ter’s fortune.

    “Your life will be smooth, everything’s going great, congratulations.” I smiled in happiness as the fortune reading came out perfectly well, “How about you, Cat, want to try?”

    “Nah.”

    “See, you always avoid it, Phoon.”

    “Whatever. If it comes out ambiguous like yours, I’ll be stressed again.” Cat dismissed, “Dao, can you read your own fortune?” Cat’s question made me shake my head gently as an answer.

    “Pity. If I could, I’d do it every day, damn.” North made a disappointed face, looking ready to steal Ter’s cocoa to drink, which earned him another hit from Ter. These two really like to tease each other, “Hey Phipungto.”  [1] Phipungto is thai for falling meteorite or falling star, daotok literary means falling star Dao means Star Tok means to fall so Phipungto=falling star=Daotok. I am just a translator na khrap

       “?”

    “Can you talk to ghosts?”

    “Asking again, why do we even need to talk to them?” I asked back.

    “Eh. You’re supposed to have the ability.”

    “Well…yeah, but why would I talk to them? I don’t see anything interesting about talking to them.”

    “Yeah, right, why would anyone want to talk to ghosts?” Ter seemed to take an interest in this topic, “Why do you think ghosts can give lottery numbers when they couldn’t even win while they were alive?”

    “What you said makes sense.” North started to stroke his chin, “Yeah, why indeed?”

    “Sigh, forget it, thinking about it won’t do anything.” Cat said, “In a blink, it’s already four o’clock, time flies.”

    “Yeah. What time do your boyfriends get off class?” I asked because all my friends’ boyfriends are friends with each other, so they all have boyfriends who are friends and study medicine like them.

    “Four.”

    “Then we can head back.” I smiled, “I’ll treat you to coffee as a thank you for helping move my stuff.”

    “Hey, what about the hotpot?” North asked.

    “Ask Ter about that.” I teased, which made Ter look puzzled.

    “Dao wouldn’t lie to me, right? Dao is pretty kind-hearted.” Ter turned to ask Cat, who just shook his head slightly. It was unclear whether that meant he didn’t know or didn’t want to get involved.

    “How about we go for some more hot pot next time, okay?”

    “Okay.” Everyone stood up from the table together. I went to pay at the counter where Ter was waiting. While waiting for the change, I heard North shout from outside.

    “Phii Arthit!”

    “…”

    North called out to someone passing by the coffee shop. The person turned around with a busy look, a tall figure with tanned skin, dressed in what seemed like a not-so-strict student uniform.

       Phii Arthit…?

       Oh.

       Oh…that’s him, Phii Arthit, the friend of my friend’s boyfriends who are senior class doctors, the one who stole Cat’s snacks that day, even though Cat had bought them to court Phii Tonfah, marking his first attempt at giving someone a gift, only to have it snatched away right in front of him…

       “Oh, what are you doing here?”

    “Helped a friend move stuff, Phii. Do you live in this condo?”

    “Yeah.”

    “Really? Which room are you in?”

    “701, why?”    701?

       That’s the room to the left of mine.

      

    WESTTHESUNFROMANOTHERSTAR CHAPTERS HOME

  • SOUTHBESIDETHESKY,  Special Chapter: Sweet: )

       SOUTHBESIDETHESKY,  Special Chapter: Sweet: )

       “Phoon, can I have some of that snack?”

    “Yeah, can I stop you? You’ve already taken it.”

    “Phoon, I want some cocoa.”

    “Make it yourself, or should I make it for you?”

    “Could you please, bro? I can’t let go of this. Otherwise, North will definitely hit me.”

    “Ter, focus a bit, you bastard.”

    “Yes, yes.”

    I slid off the sofa and got up to make cocoa for him. Today is a holiday after they finished their finals, so they came to hang out in my room. Of course, the medical students haven’t finished their exams yet, even though they started earlier than other faculties. Today, Phii Fah had an exam in the morning.

       I set down two cups of cocoa on the table in front of the sofa where these two were playing a game.

       “You guys,” I called out.

    “…”

    “You guys.”

    “Phoon, wait, Ter, I’m counting to three and then attacking,” North said, his concentration fully on the phone screen, “Three!”    “Damn it! You can’t just count to three like that, shit, don’t attack yet, tank, North, wait for me.”

    “Okay, okay, I’ve got the carry, damn, the mage is about to die, Ter, tank the tower, don’t let him escape.”

    “No, damn it, I’m about to die.”

    “Yeah, you support, it’s a mage, it’s worth the trade.”

    “Here we go.”

    “Yeah.”

    “Damn, you survived, how did that happen? And you even managed to kill him.”

    “See, I told you, what level are we at?” North raised an eyebrow at Ter. I could somewhat understand what they were talking about because North had taught me a bit, but I’m not good at playing, so I don’t like to play much, “You’re too slow, Ter, if you were quicker, the whole team would’ve died.”

    “Isn’t winning the fight enough? We’ve taken the middle tower, don’t be greedy.”

    “Yeah, yeah, you haven’t written anything yet, Ter, been in ghost mode for a while now.”

    “Right, you play with Dao a lot, you guys sync like what,” Ter said. “It’s all about timing, I can’t explain it, but for me, ghost mode is number one for tanks, it’s so thick, playing with him feels safe knowing there’s always someone protecting.”    “Is Dao good at games?” I interjected.

    “Dao is like fabric softener, how could he be good at games?”

    “…”

    “…Okay, let’s keep playing,” I cut in with a sigh, the humor isn’t necessary, focus on stressing the friends out. Once they finished playing, they picked up the cocoa I had just made to drink, “Can I ask something?”

    “Go ahead.”

    “What are your plans for the holidays?” I asked.    “I’m going home, waiting to go back with Phii Hill.”    “To Rayong?” North raised an eyebrow to ask.

    “Yes, my parents, my sister, everyone is asking about Phii Hill.”

    “Didn’t your dad not like Phii Hill at first?”

    “He likes him now, they get along well. What about you guys?”

    “I’m probably going home, Khunying keeps complaining about missing Phii Jo. Not a single mention of missing me, what about you,

    Phoon, do you have any plans?”

    “Yeah, I don’t know yet. Aside from taking on photography jobs, I don’t have any other plans.”

    “Yeah, how’s the photography going for you? I heard you’ve started doing it,” Ter asked.

    “Yeah, the first time I was super nervous, but once I got used to it, it was pretty good, fun even. When they complimented my work, it boosted my confidence a lot,” I said honestly, thinking back to my first job. I was so nervous I almost messed it up, but once I got the hang of it, it was fun. The earnings might not be much since I’m not a professional, but I’m gaining experience.

    “That’s good for you, doing what you love is nice,” North said,

    “What do you usually do when you’re in your room?”

    “Just tidy up, clean, use the computer, watch movies,” I said while North got up to look around the room.

    “I always thought Phii Fah’s room would be full of books, and it is, damn,” North said, scanning the bookshelf and picking up some books to look at, “It’s like a library, even with books not related to studying.”

    “Phii Fah has all sorts of books, general knowledge, history books. Sometimes, when he’s tired of studying, he reads European history to relax his mind,” I explained truthfully. I was surprised the first time I saw it too, who rests from reading by reading more, but Phii Fah said reading history was enjoyable in its own way.

    “I’m impressed,” North said, raising his eyebrows in surprise as he walked over to the balcony area, “Wow, it’s beautiful, did you put the bed here?”

    “Yeah, I did it myself, almost killed me with the effort.”

    “What do you do when it rains?”

    “The rain doesn’t reach here, the awning is huge,” I said, having calculated the distance so that even if it rains, it wouldn’t reach where I placed the bed because of the wide awning.

    “That’s romantic of you.”

    “I thought it looked nice, some nights Phii Fah reads outside here, the atmosphere is quite nice, feels good to have done something for him,” I said before turning to see Ter looking at the bookshelf, “What are you doing?”

    “Hmm, lots of books, it’s exciting.”

    “Exactly, I haven’t even read half of it.”

    “You read too?”

    “Yeah, when I have free time, I read to keep Phii Fah company. It’s not that fun, but it’s not bad either, just leisurely reading. General knowledge stuff,” I said, “What about your rooms?”

    “Phii Hill’s room is mostly textbooks, hardly any other books.”    “Phii Jo’s room has nothing much, textbooks, work-related stuff, documents like that. Your room has a lot of stuff but it’s wellorganized, Phii Fah’s books are plentiful, not to mention your camera equipment.”

    “Yeah, so I always try to keep it organized, it makes it easier to find things. Hey, do you guys want to watch a video, from my birthday in

    Japan?”

    “I thought you wouldn’t show us. You never mentioned it,” Ter said.

    “I forgot, come on.” I sat down at my desk and opened the video from my birthday in Osaka for both of them to see. Mostly it was Phii Fah throughout the video, with some others appearing, I added some music to it. The video was only four minutes long, “How is it?”    “Good, you’re good at editing,” North said.

    “I learned from YouTube and stuff, in case I get to do more editing in the future.”

    “Good work, keep it up, Phoon,” North patted my shoulder gently,

    “Whose phone is ringing?”

    “Mine,” I said before getting up from the desk and walking over to the sofa where the phone was making noise. I found it was a client who had previously hired me for photography and had scheduled a new shoot with Arthit. I quickly answered, “Yes, Phii Mew?”

    (“Phoon, are you free, dear?”)

       “I’m free, what’s up?”

    (“Can we move the appointment to this afternoon, the one we scheduled? The model rescheduled.”)

       “Oh, one moment please.”

    I muted the call and turned to ask for advice from North and Ter.

    “Guys, the person who hired me to take photos wants to move it to this afternoon.”

    “Yeah, so what’s the problem?”

    “How am I going to do it? Phii Fah isn’t done with his exams yet.” “I’ll drive you there,” North said, “Go ahead and agree, or you’ll lose the job.” North’s words made me unmute the call and speak back into the phone.

    “Okay, I’ll be there an hour early as usual, at the same studio, right?”

    (“Yes, yes, thank you for the trouble.”)

       “Yes.”

    (“Thank you.”)

       “You’re welcome.” I hung up the phone and immediately asked

    North, “How are you going to drive me? By car? It’s quite far.”

    “Can’t you drive now?” North raised his eyebrows in question. I made a slightly troubled face; I can drive, because I just learned at driving school and got my license, but I’ve never driven on the road. Not counting the practice sessions with my instructor.

    Initially, I couldn’t even turn left or right properly, so I had to memorize it; otherwise, I wouldn’t pass. Being able to drive is better because once I’m in my first year and Phii Fah is in his fourth year, our free time won’t overlap much. At least, I’ll be able to go places safely without Phii Fah worrying, and maybe I could even pick him up or drop him off. So, I practiced driving very diligently.

    “Will it be okay? I’ve never driven on the road. Not counting with the instructor, that is.”

    “Be a bit braver. If you’re not brave, you won’t learn.”    “You’re not driving, North, you’re good at it,” I said. “And when will you get good at it?”

    “Okay, okay, I’ll tell Phii Fah first.” I looked at the time, it was just past eleven. I wasn’t sure if Phii Fah had a break from his exams yet, so I left a message on LINE saying I would take the car out to the studio. After a while, he read it and called back.

    (“Are you going out?”) That was his first question after I answered the call.

    “Yes, can I borrow the car…please?”

    (“Will you be driving?”)

       “Yes.”

    (“Okay, then drive carefully, drive slowly, don’t speed.”)

       “Yes.”

    (“Are North and Ter going with you?”)

       “Yes, I will drive carefully. I won’t let your car get a single scratch.”

    (“A little scratch is okay, but don’t crash or cause an accident.”)

       “Yes, at what time is your exam?”

    (“The next one is in the afternoon. Send me some encouragement, will you?”)

       “Okay, do your best.”

    (“I feel like it’s not enough somehow.”)

       “So, what do I need to do?”

    (“I really want to see your face, send me a photo please.”)

       “Okay…sure, I’ll hang up then.”

    (“Okay.”)

       I hung up and took a selfie to send in the chat with Phii Fah.

    Typhoon: sends photo

       T.fha: Cute

       T.fha: Can I get one more sweet smile?

       Typhoon: I doesn’t like taking photos, TT

       Typhoon: sends photo

       T.fha: But you always take them for me 

       T.fha: Drive safely, okay?

       Typhoon: Okay, yes

       Typhoon: You’ve reminded me several times already

       T.fha: I’m worried

       T.fha: I’m about to fail the exam because I’m so worried

       Typhoon: Nah, I am fine, really

       Typhoon: I’ll take care, North and Ter are here, so rest easy.    Typhoon: Focus on your exam, okay?

       T.fha: Yes, I’ll focus on the exam.

       T.fha: And come back to me soon.

       T.fha: ♥

       Typhoon: ♥

       I put my phone in my pocket and hurried to prepare my camera equipment. It took some time to get everything ready, and then it was time to go to work. I grabbed the keys Phii Fah had mentioned and left the room with North and Ter.

    “I’m a bit nervous, no idea why,” I sighed, “First time driving on the road without an instructor, really.”

    “Come on, we’re here with you. It’ll be fine.”

    “Will you guys be of any help?”

    “You won’t die alone.”

    “You’re such a dog,” Ter said, giving North a playful smack on the back as we were in the elevator heading down to the first floor, “Do you drive often, North?”

    “Quite often, I like to take Phii Jo’s car for a spin, it’s fun.”

    “Isn’t Phii Jo’s car dangerously fast?” I asked because someone like Phii Jo, who loves cars, only has sports cars. Phii Fah, on the other hand, isn’t that into cars; he just has his regular car and another for backup, parked in the VIP lot below the condo.

    “Super fast, just touch the pedal and it takes off. But which car is it?”

    “This one,” I said, pressing the remote to unlock the door of a black Porsche whose model I didn’t know. I also didn’t know the price, and I thought it was better that way. Otherwise, I’d be too nervous to drive. I opened the driver’s door, sat down, adjusted the seat, and set the mirrors as my instructor had taught me. North got in beside me, and Ter sat in the back. “Put on your seat belts, guys.”    “We know,” Ter said while pulling out the seat belt.

    “Phoon, let’s go already.”

    “Okay, just give me a moment to calm down, I’ve got a cramp in my leg.”

    “Huh,” North, sitting next to me, sighed. I sighed too to ease the tension, slowly released my foot from the brake to move the car forward, pulled out from the parking lot, and stopped in front of the condo.

    “Which way?”

    “Go right,” North looked at the GPS on his phone and gave directions because he wasn’t very sure of the way to the studio, so he decided to use GPS for certainty. I checked left and right to see the passing cars until I was sure it was safe to turn, then I turned according to North’s directions, “Am I in the right lane?”    “Yeah, you’re in the middle of the lane, the motorcycle on the left can go,” North replied.

    “OK.”

    “Speaking of which, Phii Fah is just like your dad, Phoon,” Ter, sitting in the back seat, chimed in.

    “How so?”

    “At first, I thought someone as caring as Phii Fah, if he were with someone as childish as you, Phii Fah would be very protective, not letting you out of his sight, but turns out, he lets you drive by yourself, lets you go to work by yourself.”

    “Hmm, Phii Fah once said he wanted to make sure that even without him, I could take care of myself, he encouraged me to learn to drive, if I wanted to work, he let me, like he was pushing me to grow up, but he still worries, like today, if I were alone, I wouldn’t be allowed to go, but with you guys here, he lets me.”

    “That’s the way it should be,” said North, “My Phii Jo, he doesn’t let me work at all.”

    “You still haven’t learned,” Ter shot back immediately, causing

    North to frown slightly, “If you were to work part-time at a restaurant,

    Phii Fah wouldn’t let Phoon go there, it’s dangerous, he almost didn’t make it last time.”

    “Enough, stop talking, don’t bring that up.”

    “You’re so heartless.”

    “It makes me mad,” North pouted immediately.

    “Should we pick up Dao?” Ter asked, “Dao just finished his exams.”

    “Sure, tell Dao to wait in front of the faculty,” I agreed, before heading into the university to pick up Dao as well. There was a bit of traffic in the university, but we managed to get through. I drove, parked in front of the Faculty of Science, and saw a small figure in a baggy student uniform, carrying a backpack, looking dazed in front of the faculty. I rolled down the window and called out, “Dao.”

    “…” Dao turned towards the sound of the call, slowly stepping towards me in the car before going around to sit in the back seat next to Ter, “Is the cat driving?”

    “Uh, it’s safe, don’t worry. Even though I’m a beginner.”

    “And where are we going?”

    “We’re taking the cat to work, a photo shoot,” Ter said, and Dao, sitting next to him, nodded slowly. I glanced at the rearview and side mirrors, ensuring there were no other cars, then slowly drove out from the Faculty of Science. “How was the exam?” Ter started talking to Dao.

    “I didn’t do that well, but I should pass.”

    “Good, and was it your last exam day?”

    “Tomorrow is the last day, has everyone finished their exams?”

    “Everyone’s done, so you will be on break soon.”

    “Yeah.”

    “Any plans for the break?”

    “Uh, I’m fully booked,” Dao said, still as hardworking as ever.    “And didn’t you bring your motorcycle?” I asked, because if Dao had brought his motorcycle, he wouldn’t have had us pick him up.

    “I did bring it.”

    “Oh, then what are we doing?”

    “I don’t know either, I saw Ter said he would pick me up, so I forgot to think about it.”

    “Oh well,” North sighed heavily, “We can just drop you back at the faculty, won’t anything happen to the bike?”    “It shouldn’t, there’s a security guard.”

    “Why do you look more lethargic than usual?”

    “I…just finished the exam.”

    “Yeah, yeah.”

    I drove carefully along the way, with North directing me to the studio. It took a while to get there. I parked with difficulty, barely breathing because I was afraid of hitting another car. I asked North to park for me, but he told me to practice by myself, it was going to drive me crazy, but in the end, I managed to park without any issues.

    “I feel like I’ve aged ten years less,” I said after getting out of the car, I was holding my breath while parking earlier, and now my stomach feels all twisted.

    “Told you, you can do it.”

    “Yeah, jeez,” I said, feeling annoyed.

    “You did well, Cat,” Daotok complimented. I couldn’t help but feel good, even though we’re both guys, I found Daotok really cute; his laid-back attitude and slow speech have become his charm.    I carried the camera equipment, with North helping to carry some as well, and we went in to greet Phii Mew, the owner of the clothing brand. This was a new collection that had just been completed, but it wasn’t a famous brand since it was just starting out. Previously, they hired me to shoot their first collection, and the feedback was quite good.

    “Phoon, prepare your camera in a bit, okay?”

    “Yes,” I nodded in acknowledgment before going to prepare my part.

    “Phoon.”

    “Yes?”

    “Go talk to the model about how you work, your style, what you’re good at, work it out with him, but he’s a pro, he’s done a lot of shoots already, so don’t worry. It won’t be like last time,” Phii Mew said because last time the model wasn’t very good at posing, which made things a bit tough for photographers like me, but it wasn’t a big problem.

    “Wow, hiring a pro like this. Not bad at all,” I teased a bit, and Phii Mew gave a small smile.

    “This guy is getting quite famous, it was tough to schedule him, he’s a bit demanding as celebrities tend to be, rescheduling at will.

    Anyway, don’t forget to talk to him; he’ll be done with makeup soon.”

    “Okay,” I smiled, scanning the room to check the lighting and the setup, then sat with my friends for a while until the person who seemed to be the model walked in.

    “Looks familiar, doesn’t he?” Ter furrowed his brows, looking at him, “Hmm, isn’t his name Mek, the one who acted in that short film?”

    “Which short film?” I asked, as I don’t really keep up with these things, but Ter still follows some local news.

    “I can’t remember the name of the short film, but he’s famous, even though he’s still in high school.”

    “Oh,” I nodded to show that I understood. Even though we didn’t know each other, I left my seat and walked straight to the guy named Mek. If we’re the same age, there’s no need to be too tense, “Hello,

    I’m Typhoon, the photographer for today.” I smiled and greeted him, Mek turned to look at me before giving a slight smile.

    “Mek, the model, nice to work with you,” he extended his hand. I reached out to shake his hand in greeting, “Sorry, but how old are you?”    “Twenty-one.”

    “Oh, the same age, you look young,” I was a bit surprised that Mek said we were the same age, wasn’t Ter saying he was still in high school?

    “Thanks,” I smiled a little, “What kind of style are you good at,

    Mek?” I started asking and we began talking about today’s work, once everything was okay, we started shooting. He must have been telling the truth about having a lot of experience because he was really good at posing and angles, so the first half of the shoot went well until break time.

       “How’s it going?”

    “It’s good,” I replied to Ter while accepting the glass of water he handed over.

    “He was looking at you weird,” North said with a serious expression.

    “Mek?”

    “Yeah, Mek, the model.”

    “Really, how?”

    “Like he wanted to devour you, like he wanted to swallow you whole.”

    “…Really?” I furrowed my brows at North who still looked serious. I didn’t want to believe it too much, but since North said it, I couldn’t help but think about it. Probably not, right?

       “Trust my sharp eyes, tiger sees tiger.”

    “Oh, you dare say that, are you the tiger?” Ter turned with a look of disbelief at what he just heard.

    “Ah, well, just know that I can see it, let’s just finish work and go home quickly, don’t talk to him.”

    “Uh, there’s nothing to talk about anyway,” I said, before hearing Phii Mew’s voice sounding like she was arguing with another woman, who I didn’t know, but from the situation I saw and what I heard, I guessed that woman must be Mek’s manager.

    “We’ve paid in advance already, you suddenly delaying it again is unacceptable, let’s finish the shoot first. There’s no professionalism at all.”

    “Oh, since you are a new brand, we decided to lower the price. Normally, with what you paid in advance, you only get the model’s rate for two hours, and now there’s some urgent business, urgent work, so we’ll have to reschedule the shoot for another day.”    “What other day? We’ve already paid for the studio rental.”    “It’s not my problem anymore. What do you want to do? If you want Mek to continue shooting, you’ll have to pay more.”

    “How can you suddenly ask for more payment like this? That’s awful. You should have announced to everyone that this new model, who just got famous, is already scamming people.”

    “Watch your words. Scamming? The rate was set like this from the start.”

    “You yourself said you’d lower the price.”

    “I’m not lowering it anymore.”

    “Oh, come on!” Phii Mew looked quite upset, clearly because of the issue with the model’s fee, “Okay, okay, give me some time.”    “Uh, how about this, Phii Mew?” Suddenly, Mek, who had been quiet for a while, spoke up, but I couldn’t hear clearly because he was speaking very softly. After he finished, Phii Mew looked even more stressed, but Mek smiled.

    “This isn’t going to end well,” North whispered. I looked at him, “Such a villain, that guy will come for you soon, look, there he comes.”

    “Are you some kind of fortune teller?” I raised my eyebrows to ask.    “The real fortune teller is right here, can you predict anything, ghost whisperer?” North asked, Dao shook his head slightly but said nothing. I turned around and saw that Phii Mew was indeed walking towards us.

    “Typhoon.”

    “Uh…yes?”

    “Can we talk for a moment?”

    “Uh, yes.” I got up and followed Phii Mew not far from where we were standing, “What’s the matter?”

    “Sigh. I didn’t want it to be like this, but I told you, didn’t I? Mek is very self-centered, there are lots of rumors about him with girls, you can guess what I’m going to say, right?”

    “…”

    “He said he’ll lower his fee back to normal, but in exchange for your LINE contact.”

    “LINE?” I raised my eyebrows, repeating what he said, “Why does it have to be me?”

    “Maybe he likes you, I know you already have a boyfriend, but I’m really in trouble here, you can give your LINE and then block him if you want.”

    “…” I furrowed my brows, looking tense. I didn’t want to give my LINE, but I understood that Phii Mew was in a difficult situation, “I’ll go talk to him myself.”

    “Oh, don’t say anything bad, consider it a favor for me.”

    “Sure,” I agreed. What bad thing could I say anyway? I walked over to Mek, who was calmly eating his snacks, “Mek,” I called out his name.

    “Yes, what is it?”

    “It’s like…I know now, you shouldn’t do this, work is just work.”    “I know, but if I don’t do this, you wouldn’t give me your LINE, right?”

    “Even so. I still won’t give it.”

    “Why?”

    “I have a boyfriend.”

    “I see. I’m pretty used to this kind of rejection,” Mek gave a halfsmile, looking at me with sly eyes, just like North had said about this guy not being ordinary, which made me sigh.

    “I don’t care if you want to abandon this job.”    My words made the other party stop smiling.

    “Because I’m just a photographer. I’m fine with getting paid only half. I just feel sorry for Phii Mew, that’s why I came to talk, but if we can’t talk, I don’t care.” I said firmly, then turned around to leave but was grabbed by the wrist first, “Don’t touch me.”

    “Okay, okay, Phoon. Can we talk again? I’m really interested in you, I liked you from the first time our eyes met.”

    “Let go.”

    “Alright, alright, I’ll let go, but don’t go anywhere, please.”    Ugh…so annoying.

       He was giving me those pleading eyes like a tiger conceding defeat, but it wasn’t going to work on me.

       “I have a boyfriend, I’ll say it again. I won’t give you my LINE, don’t touch me. Don’t bother me, and if you don’t want to work, don’t work. I’ll leave, and if you touch me again, someone will get mad,” I warned, guessing that North, having seen the scene earlier, must be getting pretty heated by now.

    “Oh, a boyfriend, huh? The one in the black shirt, he’s been staring since earlier, like he’s about to come and punch us.”

    “That’s my friend, but he will punch you if you touch me again.”

    “And there’s someone to protect you too.”

    “So, what’s the deal?”

    “You’re quite fierce, little cat, are you going to scratch me?”

    “…”

    “Okay, okay, I give up, don’t be mad, little cat. Even though you look cute when you’re angry, I don’t want you to be mad. Let’s continue with the shoot; after all, you’re the one taking the photos.”

    “Don’t call me cat.”

    “Huh?”

    “You have no right to call me that.”

    “Wow, so fierce, I like you even more.”

    “…”

    I wanted to swear at him even more, but I remembered we still have to work together. I could leave like this, but I felt sorry for Phii Mew. It seemed like she had poured everything into this project, so I shouldn’t let my anger or personal issues cause trouble for others.    …But the one causing trouble was the person standing right in front of me.

       “Damn.”

    “Oh, are you going to start cursing as soon as you arrive?”

    “Why did he grab your hand? I’ll tell Phii Fah.”

    “So what if he did? Forget it, just bear with it, we’ll finish this shoot and leave soon.”    “Really?”

    “Hmm. It’s okay.”

    “I’ve never seen the cat get so annoyed,” Daotok, who had been quiet for a while, finally said.

    “Yeah. I’m serious about my work, it’s what I love. I don’t want it to go to waste, and I feel sorry for Phii Mew too,” I said with a sigh before smiling, “Okay, don’t make a fuss, North. Otherwise, my work will be ruined, no one will hire me again, you understand, right?”

    “I know, I won’t make a fuss, what do you take me for? Don’t worry, let’s get back to work.”    “Yeah, good, be a good boy, North.”

    “Ugh.”

    “Oh, got smacked again.”

    I went back to work, entering serious mode, but it seemed like the other guy wasn’t in the same mindset, just playing around to flirt with me.

    “Enough,” I said, “Phii Mew, if the model doesn’t stop playing around, I’m leaving.”

    “…Phoon, don’t be so serious.”

    “This is work, not a playground, do you think everything’s a joke?”

    “…”

    “I’m ready to leave, I already said I don’t need the money.”

    “Okay, okay. I was just messing around, now I’m serious, don’t make that scary face.”

    “…” I stayed silent, looking at the person in front of me with a serious expression, indicating that I wasn’t joking. I told him how serious I am about this job.

    It took nearly another two hours to finish the shoot. While I was packing up my camera,

    “Typhoon,” I turned to look at Mek who was walking towards me, calling my name.

    “…?”

    “Sorry. I guess I was too playful, wasn’t I?”

    “Hmm.”

    “Phoon you is really cool when you are serious. At first, I was just playing around, but now I really like you, Phoon.”

    “…” I didn’t respond, turning back to pack my gear, ignoring him,

    “Move, you’re in my way.”

    “Don’t be so harsh.”

    “Sigh, seriously, what do you want?”

    “I like you.”

    “I have a boyfriend.”

    “I don’t care.”

    “That’s your problem.” I said dismissively before North came to help carry the equipment. I walked out with North, but Mek took the liberty to grab my wrist again. I shook it off forcefully, “I’m getting angry.”

    “Don’t make that angry face, it’s cute.”

    “Let’s go,” I told North and dragged him out, because it wasn’t just me who would be angry; North was starting to look irritated too.

    “Do you think you can keep running away?” I heard Mek shout from behind. I sighed out of annoyance again, walked out of the studio, put everything in the car, opened the driver’s door to head back to the condo, but the same persistent person followed me out.

    The three friends in the car exchanged looks, “Can’t we talk for a bit?”

    “Mek,” I called his name in a low, frustrated voice, “What do you want?”

    “I told you, I like you.”

    “I told you I have a boyfriend, what more do you want?”

    “Don’t be so harsh.”

    “Are you going to say I’m cute again?”

    “Uh huh. Aren’t you even a little bit embarrassed?”

    “Not at all. Listen, do you really like me? I don’t care, you might just want to win. But let me tell you, the world doesn’t revolve around you; you won’t win everything. If you think I’m playing hard to get to seem interesting, I’m not. I have a boyfriend, and that’s that. I came here to do my job well, but you’re playing games for a LINE contact or whatever, it’s ridiculous, it’s so childish.”

    “Ouch…that hurts.”

    “Yeah.”

    “Hey, don’t go yet.”

    “What now?”

    “Really not? I genuinely like you, you know.”

    “That’s your business.”

    “Heartless bastard.”

    “I’m not heartless. I just don’t like you.”

    “…”

    The other person seemed to freeze. I turned my back, opened the car door, quickly started the engine, and drove off even though I was still a bit annoyed.

       “You look pretty fierce, it’s kind of unusual.”    “Really? But Ter sees it often,” I said.

    “Really?” North turned to ask Ter.

    “Uh. You guys don’t know, Phoon is like an aggressive cat, but only when it comes to his camera or when someone talks nonsense,” Ter began explaining, “Back in our old faculty, anyone who tried to flirt with him and didn’t make sense, he’d get fierce with them all the time.”

    “I can’t believe it,” North made a gesture of disbelief.

    “You guys only see him when he’s with Phii Fah, try with someone else.”

    “Then there’s nothing to worry about, I guess,” said North.

    “What’s there to worry about?”

    “Oh. I shouldn’t even ask.”

    …

    Tonfah

       I walked out of the exam room feeling completely exhausted from the accumulated fatigue of several days. I would have one day to rest and study, then another exam the next day. I slumped down next to Jo and Arthit, who were already waiting there.

       “Why did you finish so quickly?” I asked.

    “I don’t know, I just did it normally, hasn’t Hill come out yet?”    “Probably still working,” I said.

    “And you?”

    “I was completely focused, went over it several times, thought I’d be the last one out of the exam room.” When I left the exam room earlier, I saw about five or six people still sitting inside, including Hill, with only fifteen minutes left.

    I picked up my phone and saw some notifications. The first message was from Phoon saying he had finished work and was heading back, asking if I wanted anything special, to text him if I had time. The other message was from North, a video clip, filmed from inside the car, showing Phoon talking to someone.    It seemed like Phoon was not in a good mood.

    After watching the clip, I couldn’t help but smile. Phoon was angry because someone was flirting with him, I guess. Phoon is very serious about work, and it sounds like that person wasn’t taking the job seriously, which made Phoon mad, and even more so when he wasn’t making sense.

    “Heartless bastard.”

       “I’m not heartless. I just don’t like you.”

       This made me think back to the first time I met Phoon, when he was still messaging me.

    “I’m not kind. I just love you.”

    That’s the difference between someone who loves and someone who doesn’t, I guess.    So cute.

    Whose boyfriend is this? I want to grab him and fight.

    “Your smile is too wide.”

    “Why?” I looked up and asked, “You’re not me, you wouldn’t know.”    “What?”

    “It’s hard if you’re not me.”

    “Explain it properly.” Jo said, looking annoyed at me.

    “Can I explain?”

    “At this point, explain, I want to know.”

    “Someone was flirting with Phoon. Today at work, he was persistently flirting until Phoon got angry at him.”

    “Persistent?” Jo raised his eyebrows, repeating my words, “How so?”

    “North said he asked for Phoon’s LINE in the studio, but Phoon didn’t give it to him. He then caused a fuss, saying he wouldn’t continue with the shoot if he didn’t get Phoon’s LINE. So, Phoon scolded him once during the shoot. Even after it was over, he still tried to talk to him, following him all the way to the car.”

    “Hmm, and then what?”

    “That’s it, he got scolded, Phoon left, so there probably won’t be anything more to it.”

    “Not necessarily, they might meet again, a photographer and a model.”

    “…”

    “Seriously, do you think if he really likes Phoon, he won’t be able to find Phoon’s contact?”

    “Jo.”

    “Oh, you’re getting mad?”

    “Don’t stir things up.”

    “I’m not stirring, just think about what I said, did I say anything wrong?”

    “…”

    I fell silent and sighed a little to calm myself down. Phoon’s refusal today was good, but North texted to say that the guy seemed very serious, and as Jo said, he might easily find Phoon’s contact. My phone vibrated again. I looked down at the new message.

    North♣: Oh, Phii Fah. I forgot to tell you.

       North♣’: That guy even held Phoon’s hand.

       North♣’: Like, twice, I think.

       T.fha: Do you know his name or any other information?

       “Jo.”

    “?”

    “What should I do?”

    “I don’t like it, but there’s nothing we can do about it, right?”

    “Are you talking to me?”

    “You can’t tell me not to go to work, but I can’t stop others from looking either.”

    “Hmm, I understand, your wife is cute.”

    “Yeah, it’s annoying.” Arthit, who had been silent for a while, said with exasperation.

    “That’s just how it is if you don’t have one.”

    “Yeah, it’s frustrating.” Arthit said as he slumped back onto the table to nap, before Hill walked out of the room.

    “What’s wrong? You look stressed.”

    “Someone was flirting with Phoon,” Jo answered for me, “and it seems like they were trying to buy him too, so Fah is a bit tense.”

    “Oh.”

    “Do you have any good advice?” I turned to ask Hill who had just arrived at the table.

    “Accept it.”

    “Huh?”

    “Accept it. I don’t like it when anyone looks at my partner either, but in some situations, we can’t control it. You know that, Tonfah, why are you asking?”

    “Hmm, I understand.” I nodded slightly and sighed. Just like Hill said, there are some situations we truly can’t control. If it were like before, when I was the one to take Phoon to work and watch over him, no one would dare approach Phoon. They might just sneak a peek, but in today’s situation, there’s really nothing we can do about it. “Well, it’s good that Phoon turned him down, but if he persists, it won’t be good.”

    “If he persists, he’s not smart.” Johan said.

    “Yeah, that wouldn’t be very smart.”

    …

       Typhoon

       “How was your day?” I walked over to Phii Fah, giving him a hug as we usually do whenever he returns to the room, tiptoeing to lightly kiss his cheek. Phii Fah smiled back and kissed my cheek in return.

    “It was good, how about you Phoon?”

    “He’s good too. Despite a small issue, work went smoothly.” I answered, “Shall we have dinner?”

    “Yes.”

    After we finished eating together, I took the dishes to wash at the sink. Phii Fah went to take a shower, and after a while, he came out. I dried my wet hands and walked closer to him.

    “Phii Fah…do you want to read?”

    “Phoon”

    “Yes?”

    “Is there anything you haven’t told me?”

    “Huh? Oh…uh, well…”

    “Did someone hit on you today?”

    “How did you know?” I asked, tilting my head curiously, “Not that I wouldn’t tell, I just forgot. I meant to tell you when you got back, but then we had dinner and chatted, and I forgot.”

    “North told me.”

    “Oh…Are you angry, Phii Fah?”

    “What should I say, he was pretty insistent with you, wasn’t he?”

    “But I already turned him down, clearly said I have a boyfriend.”

    “Why did you let him hold your hand then?”

    “I shook it off,” I tried to explain immediately because I was afraid it might cause problems between us, but it seemed too late as Phii Fah looked displeased, “Phii Fah…are you mad at me?”

    “No, forget it.”

    “…”

    “Just a little annoyed,” Phii Fah smiled, then pulled me into a hug,

    “Which hand?”

    “Huh?”

    “The one he held, which hand?”

    “Uh, here,” I raised my right hand, Phii Fah took that hand, kissing it all over, nibbling gently on my wrist, which left me stunned and my face flushed with heat.

    “How did he hold it? Isn’t this mine?”

    “Yes, I’ll be careful. No one will get to it.”

    “Yes, so this is also mine, right?”

    The person in front of me glanced at my lips, pressing down with his thumb lightly before our eyes met. I knew my face must have turned red again, my heart beating even faster.

    “Yes…it’s yours.”

    “…”

    “The whole body, the whole heart, hmm.” Before his thick lips came down for a gentle kiss, his warm tongue intruded without waiting for my permission, and of course, I didn’t resist, letting him take everything he wanted. Phii Fah lifted me off the ground. I closed my eyes, accepting every touch from his lips, wrapping my arms around his neck.

    Phii Fah laid me down on the bed on the balcony, close by. I leaned back on the pillow as he leaned in. We kissed, our tongues mingling with embarrassing sounds, biting each other’s lips gently and forcefully, our warm breaths mixing with hearts beating like we were out of breath.

    I ran my fingers through his soft hair, Phii Fah slowly unbuttoned my shirt, his hands roaming over my bare chest, the warmth making my body react immediately. Phii Fah pulled back from the kiss slowly, moving to my neck and ear, making my mind go blank.    He bit into the crook of my neck. It hurt, and I knew it would leave a mark, then he moved down to suck on my nipple, biting and licking it. I arched my back with the tingling sensation.

    “Hmm, oh, ah!” I inadvertently moaned as Phii Fah left red marks on my chest, starting with one, then two, moving down to my stomach. I felt a twist in my gut, my breath catching with the ache in my hardening core, “Kiss…”

    “Hmm?”

    “Kiss.” I whispered, and he moved from my stomach back to my lips for another kiss, this one more intense, biting my upper and lower lips fiercely, but I didn’t resist. Then my pants were taken off, and my skin felt the gentle breeze outside on the balcony, “Hmm, ah.”    Phii Fah spread my legs apart, his slender fingers touching the back entrance with gel, causing me to shiver slightly at the cold touch.

    “Umm…uh, why…” I was about to ask why there was gel.

    “Last time we did it here, don’t you remember?”

    “Oh…uh,” I averted my eyes a bit shyly; when I said we should change the atmosphere, I meant for Phii Fah to read a book. Not to change the atmosphere in this way. Unintentionally, his slender fingers pushed inside me, “Ah! Umm…”

    I moaned in my throat when I was kissed again, feeling his fingers pushing in and out. Soon, he added more fingers, increasing the intensity.

    “Uh…ah, pa…Phii Fah, too…too hard.”

    “It’s just fingers.”

    “Uh, it hurts.”

    “Oh, sorry, but bear with it a bit.”

    “…”

    “Because today someone crossed the line, I want to make you mine quickly.”

    “I…ah, uh, pa…ah, I’m already yours,” I said that before the three slender fingers were withdrawn, replaced by something larger slowly pushing in. Due to the urgency, it hurt more than usual, but I could bear it. I felt Phii Fah slowly entering me, then suddenly thrust all the way in, “Ah!! Uh…”

    Not giving me time to get used to its size, this time Phii Fah started moving, accelerating the pace. I moaned with both pain and pleasure.

       “Ah, uh, ah!!”

    I bit my lower lip and gripped the arms of the person in front of me to cope with the pleasure. As my body adjusted, the pain faded, replaced by increasing pleasure.

       I raised both arms to wrap around his neck, pulling him down to kiss me. Phii Fah complied willingly, the movements below still intense and forceful, our tongues intertwining fiercely.

       “Mmm, Phoon.”

    “Ahhh! Uh, yes…”

    “So sexy.”

    “Really…, uh…”

    “Yes, you’ve gotten much better.”

    “I…I want to do it, ugh, ahh,” I almost couldn’t speak properly as the force from the other side hit my body intensely, making my voice go crazy, my heart beat wildly, and my whole body felt hot.

    “Hmm, Phii Fah.”

    “Yes?” Phii Fah answered while looking at me, his eyes almost melting me.

    I didn’t reply before trying to push myself up, throwing myself at him and pushing Phii Fah down to sit, even though he was still inside me. He looked slightly confused before smiling.

    Now, I was sitting on Phii Fah.

       I leaned my face closer and kissed him, our hot tongues and breaths intertwining. I started to move my hips up and down slowly, feeling a tightness in my lower abdomen because of his size, but the pleasure made me press down again. His strong hands caressed my hips before guiding them up and down.

    “Ugh, ahh,” I pulled away from the kiss and rested my forehead on his neck, both hands gripping his shoulders, my hips moving with the guidance of his hands. When I pressed down on the sensitive spot repeatedly, I couldn’t help but moan, trying to suppress it by biting my lip, but it never worked. The warm breath from the person in front of me grew more rapid, accompanied by deep moans from his throat.    Soon, I felt like I was about to finish, holding back as the body in front of me twitched slightly. I then released the cloudy white liquid along with Phii Fah.

    Phii Fah lifted me up slowly, kissing all over my cheeks. I, breathless, just leaned against him like that.

    Phii Fah took off the condom, tied it, and threw it into the nearby trash can before reaching for another condom.

    Because Phii Fah said that using a condom is better because you don’t have to clean up often.

    We could do more rounds this way.

       Oh…

       “Ahhh, ugh,” Phii Fah turned me around, pulled my hips closer, thrust himself in again, and started to move, increasing the tempo, making my whole body sway with the force. I gripped the bed sheet tightly to cope with the sensation, glanced back at the person behind me slightly, the waist thrusts were relentless, making me moan louder,

    “Ugh, ahh, ugh, there, right there.”

    “Right here?”

    “Y…yes, ugh…”

    “Your spot, huh?” Phii Fah said with a hoarse, low voice, before thrusting into my sensitive spot, shattering my consciousness once again.

    “Ugh…ahh, umm, oh!” I cried out when I felt a sharp pain in my back; Phii Fah left red marks all over my back again, just like he always does when we have sex. I let him leave his marks of ownership wherever he wanted because I truly belong to him.

    We have sex often and multiple times each session; every time feels so good, and there’s no sign of boredom. I think Phii Fah feels the same. We start with deep kissing, and if it’s a day off or we have some free time, it always ends with sex; it’s not a bad thing since it’s with someone I love. I try to make myself stronger for my lover’s pleasure.    Our love story continues. This time it was more intense and took a bit longer than before; when reaching the climax, Phii Fah withdrew.

    No matter how many times, it always feels tight, probably because it’s just too big.

       My body has started to adjust. Even though it hurts, I can bear it; Phii Fah got dressed and then just put a shirt on me before carrying me to the bathtub.

       “Shall I bathe you?” Phii Fah asked while stroking my slightly wet hair.

    His gaze has never changed.

       Since the day I agreed.

       It’s always full of love, warmth, and kindness.

       “It’s okay, I’ll go out to find you later.”

    “I want to soak for a long time, but it’s good to hurry too. I miss you, I want to hug you.”

    “You hugged me just now.”

    “Sleep hugging, hurry up. Otherwise, I definitely won’t have the energy to read.”

    “Uh, sure.” I agreed, and Phii Fah leaned his face close, touched his lips to mine, pressing a little harder before pulling back, smiled at me, and then left the bathroom. I leaned back against the bathtub and soaked in the warm water like that.

       I’m already won over.

       What kind of person is this?

       The best at being clingy.

       And I’m defeated, defeated from the start. Why do I always make myself so vulnerable? There’s no way out like this.

       I soaked in the hot water for a while until I felt it was enough, then got up from the tub, put on pajamas, and went to find someone reading on the bed on the balcony. Phii Fah seems to really like the setup I arranged for him.

       I sat down and moved closer, slowly nestling into the person in front of me. Phii Fah slowly reached out to hug me.

       “When’s the next exam?”

    “Tomorrow.”

    “You have to go out to study with the seniors from the medical faculty, right?”

    “Yes, will you come along?”

    “Yes, I’ll bring my work to do.”

    “Work? Oh, photo editing?”

    “Yes.”

    “Did it hurt earlier? Was I too rough?”

    “Ugh, being rough and then asking like this every time.” I pretended to be slightly annoyed. The person hugging me immediately looked uncomfortable. I couldn’t help but smile, then gently pinched his nose,

    “Jealous type.”

    “Yes, my boyfriend is so cute.”

    “But it’s a pity, isn’t it? Jealous but not actually jealous because Dust takes care of everything.” I said with a smile. Phii Fah chuckled a bit before gently pinching my cheeks.

    “Oh my, I love you so much I can barely handle it.”

    “Then don’t handle it, love me lots.”

    “I can’t love you more than this, it’s the maximum. I’m going to die from love.”

    “If you die from loving me, I’ll bring you back to life to love me again.”

    “You won’t let me go anywhere, will you?”    “Definitely not.”

    “You’re really good at being clingy, number one indeed.

    And you always lose, you’ve been losing since forever, why do you keep acting like this? With this attitude, you’ll never get anywhere.    “This is as much as I can handle, it’s the end; I’m going to die of love.”

    “If you love me until you die, I will revive you Phii Fah to love

    Phoon again.”

    “You won’t let me go anywhere, right?”

    “Definitely not.”

    “Alright, then I won’t go anywhere.”

    “Mm, I won’t go anywhere either then.”

  • SOUTHBESIDETHESKY,  Epilogue Chapter: Grow Old Together

       SOUTHBESIDETHESKY,  Epilogue Chapter: Grow Old Together

       I woke up early in the morning as usual, always an early riser. Even though I was tired from yesterday’s walk around the zoo, thanks to North and Ter, who couldn’t just walk normally but kept wanting to play piggyback or something, acting like kids. That’s why they need me to take care of them.

    I found that the person who usually sleeps beside me was not there. At half past five, this is when Phii Fah should be sleeping. No matter how much studying he has to do, he goes to bed by two in the morning; that’s our agreement, and Phii Fah has never broken this promise or agreement even once.

    This means he didn’t just not go to sleep; he’s already woken up.    I slowly got out of bed, opened the bedroom door, and saw the person I was thinking about sitting at the desk.

    “You’re up early,” I greeted.

    “Yes, good morning.”

    “What time did you wake up? And what time did you go to bed last night?”

    “I woke up around half past four, went to bed at nine.”

    “You slept early,” I said, because usually, nine o’clock is when Phii Fah would be studying intently.

    “I was a bit tired, I guess.”

    “And why did you wake up so early today?”

    “I thought I’d go for a run today.”

    “Oh, you haven’t gone running in a while.”

    “Yes, will you come?”

    “Yes, I’ll go with you.”

    Since Phii Fah exercises quite often, I’ve noticed that all the doctors exercise regularly. At first, I wasn’t very keen, but when we had free time, we went to the fitness center or the gym together, and once I started exercising, I got hooked. Phii Fah said it helps clear the mind.

    I’ve also heard that exercise can improve brain function, so if that’s true, this might be another secret to the doctors’ academic success.    Since Phii Fah doesn’t have much time, he doesn’t go to the gym often, preferring to run in the morning instead. If he doesn’t stay up late studying and can wake up early, he always invites me, who wakes up early anyway, to go running at the university’s sports field. Of course, I go with him. Last time we went, we ran into North and Phii

    Jo. I wonder if we’ll see them again this time.

       “Are you sure you’re okay?” Phii Fah asked, repeating the same question for maybe the third time since yesterday evening when we got back from Suan Sathorn and I got a little wet from the rain. Not that I was out in the rain, just got splashed a bit while we were trying to avoid it; it was just a few drops, “You didn’t wake up with a headache, did you?”    “No, I’m fine,” I answered.

    “Good to hear, will you run with me, or just sit and watch like last time?”

    “I never just sit and watch,” I protested.

    “Okay, I will count walking about twenty meters as running then.”    “Last time, I played with North because he was tired, and you guys didn’t wait for us,” I said, referring to Phii Jo and Phii Fah, who ran off without waiting for us, so we had to sit and play while waiting because we couldn’t keep up.    “Then let’s run together this time.”

    “Yes,” I nodded before going to change into a t-shirt, track pants, and running shoes that Phii Fah bought for me without asking first, saying that if he had asked, I wouldn’t have let him. Who would let someone buy such expensive shoes? But Phii Fah said they were safer, so he bought them.

    In exchange, I would exercise more often to make it worth the price.

    Okay, today I’ll make sure to exercise enough to justify the cost of these shoes!!

    “Are you okay?” Phii Fah asked with concern as we walked back to our room together, after I said I would run to make the shoe price worth it. I’ll say here that I did my best; a little more and I could have trained to be in the SEALs, “You did great for two laps.”

    “I managed two and a half laps.”

    “Yes, yes, ran two laps, walked half.”

    “We’ll go again tomorrow, and I will run like a SEAL.”

    “That much? SEALs don’t just train by running.”

    “Just running is enough, I’m already exhausted.”

    “I will go to class now, do you want to go anywhere today?”

    “Uh, no, I’ll stay in the room.”

    “Okay, I finish at three in the afternoon, I’ll hurry back.”

    “If I could drive, it would be good.”

    “Huh?”

    “I could drive you to class and pick him up, so you wouldn’t have to drive yourself.”

    “Oh, do you want to drive?”

    “Yes, but I can ride a motorcycle, right? Should I take a big bike to drop you off at school?”    “Would your legs reach?”

    “Big bikes are too tall, but I can reach a regular motorcycle.”

    “Oh, that’s true.”

    “What’s the matter?”

    “Nothing, then I should go to class first.”

    …

    Tonfah

       “What’s wrong, Fah?”

    “Huh? Me?”

    “Is your name Fah?”

    “Uh, just thinking about something,” I answered Hill, taking my eyes off the study sheet to look at the person sitting opposite me,

    “Have you ever thought about the day when you’re not here?”

    “Dead?”

    “Uh.”

    “Why suddenly ask that?”

    “I don’t know, have you ever thought about what would happen if you suddenly died, what would Ter do?”

    “Is the question too hard?” Jo asked when he saw Hill looking troubled. Hill nodded in response.

    “I’ve thought about it, but I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to leave Ter.”

    “You don’t want to, who would want to? But it’s not up to you whether you want it or not.”

    “Jo, do you have some serious illness? Why are you suddenly talking about dying?” Jo asked, “Did you find out something from a check-up? Just having Arthit with AIDS is enough.”

    “Jo, I don’t have AIDS.”

    “Have you taken your medicine today?” Hill teased.

    “I have, damn it, you too?”

    “I’m not sick with anything,” I replied, “I just thought, what if I die?”

    “Ah, I could be your funeral host if you’re going to worry this much. How big of a funeral do you want, just leave your instructions.”    “That’s not what I mean, Jo. I mean, what about Phoon? Who will take care of him? He’s still so forgetful and clumsy, worrying about everything he does, getting sick from just a little rain.”    “Oh,” Jo nodded, furrowing his brows, “You worry too much.”

    “Sigh. How can I not worry? And will I be able to die in peace?”

    “How old are you, Fah? You sound like an old man,” Arthit asked, “Last time it was about kids, now you’re talking about dying in peace.”

    “He is the type who likes to plan for the future,” Hill said, “But I never thought he’d plan for his own death.”

    “It’s good to think ahead. I think,” I said, “What do you guys think?”

    “Hmm. I don’t know, but you’re right, it doesn’t hurt to think about it. I want Ter to be able to take care of himself when I’m not here, I will probably save up a lot of money so Ter won’t have to struggle,” Hill said, letting out a small sigh, “Talking about this really makes me feel old.”    “And you, Jo?”

    “To be honest, I plan to sign a will leaving all my assets to North, but there’s one condition: no new husband, no new wife.”

    “Still jealous even after death,” I teased.

    “Yeah, using my money for a new partner? That’s too much disrespect.”

    “Yeah, if I die, I wouldn’t want Ter to have someone new, but who would take care of him, damn.”    “You seem confused, Hill,” I said.

    “Hey, Fah, if Phoon gets a new partner after you die, would you be okay with that?” Jo asked me.

    “I don’t know, but if Phoon has someone to look after him, it would be good, right? Even thinking about it makes me mad, though.”    “Damn,” Jo said, laughing a bit, “That’s so like you, but I think

    Phoon won’t have anyone, he’s only had one person his whole life.”    “That’s what makes me more worried.”

    “It’s good that you think ahead, but aren’t you thinking too much?

    It’s like you think you’re going to die tomorrow,” Hill said, furrowing his brows, which made me sigh a little, I guess I was overthinking it.

    “Yeah, look at Arthit, he’s not thinking this much even though he might die tomorrow.”

    “Why bring me into this? I was just quietly staying out of it, damn.”    “So, what do you plan to do?” Hill asked again.

    “Same as you, I guess, save a lot of money so he won’t struggle, do as much as I can.”

    “Did you teach Phoon to take care of himself?” Hill asked.

    “Uh, Phoon always tries to take care of himself, so I don’t worry. Like yesterday at the zoo, he seemed okay, mainly the issue was getting lost. If he graduates and gets a job, with the money I’ve saved, if he can drive himself around, there shouldn’t be much to worry about.”

    “Do you realize, Fah?”

    “What?”

    “You’re like a father,” Hill said.

    “Yeah, that’s right,” Jo added, “Like a father making sure his child has a job, an income, savings, can take care of himself, then there’s nothing much to worry about, more than a partner.”

    “Is that so? But I think that way. It’s not that I don’t want to take care of him, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to do it forever, so I want him to take care of himself.”

    “Uh, I understand,” Hill nodded slightly, “I think the same way, do as much as you can while you have the time. But why do I sound like

    Fah is about to die?”

    “Don’t curse me, if I can, I’d like to be with Phoon for a long time.”    “Ha, you don’t seem afraid of dying, Fah, you look like you’ll live the longest.”    “Why’s that?”

    “You don’t drink, hardly smoke, drive safely, exercise, and live a good life,” Jo said, turning to look at Arthit.

    “Me again?”

    “I didn’t even say anything yet.”

    “But I want to live long too,” Arthit said, “Even if I drink, smoke, and drive like crap, I still exercise.”

    “Can exercise really compensate for everything?” I asked.

    “Yeah, even cancer can be cured by lifting weights.”

    “No wonder you’re studying to be a doctor,” Hill said, letting out a big sigh, “But being stupid can’t be cured by lifting weights.”    “Exactly, Jo’s been lifting weights for a year and he’s still not smart.”

    “Hill is insulting you, you ox.”

    “Is Hill insulting me?”

    “No, just stating facts, did he mention your name?”

    “Yeah, Jo, you ox.”

    “Talking about death, you might just get hit by a car while walking,

    Arthit.”

    “That car would have to be a black Audi,” I said, because a black Audi is Jo’s favorite car.

    “No, a truck, to make sure you die on the spot.”

    “Jo you’re not gentle at all,” Arthit said, making a grumpy face at Jo.

    …

    Typhoon

       And so, my day was spent redecorating the balcony. Originally, it was just an empty space with a few potted plants, but because I had some free time and wanted to surprise Phii Fah, I decided to give it a new look. I took an old mattress I found in the storage room, cleaned it, and left it out to dry.

       Well, it can’t really be called a surprise because Phii Fah saw me drying the mattress, and I even had to ask him to help me carry it since I couldn’t lift it alone. He asked what I was doing, and when I told him I was redecorating the balcony, he didn’t say anything. I laid out the old mattress to make a bed and strung up some decorative lights around it. I added pillows, bed sheets, and blankets too.    The bed was just the right size for the balcony. I placed several pillows around the bed, put a small side table next to it, and moved the potted plants so they wouldn’t be in the way.

       Will this be okay, or will I get scolded for doing this? Probably not.

    They didn’t say anything when I took the bedding out to air it. While I was standing there admiring my work, Phii Fah came back.

       “Phii Fah, Phii Fah!”

    “Yes? What’s up, you look excited.”

    “Close your eyes.”

    “Huh?”

    “Close your eyes, please.”

    “Oh, okay, is there a surprise?”

    “Just want to make you anticipate,” I said, before the person in front of me slowly closed his eyes after taking off his backpack. I held his hand and led him to the balcony. When we stopped at the newly arranged area, I let go of his hand, “Don’t open your eyes yet, please.” “Okay.”

    I moved to turn on the decorative lights on the balcony, which were there for beauty; once it’s dark, just turning them on makes the atmosphere really nice.

    “You can open your eyes now.”

    Phii Fah slowly opened his eyes, looking a bit surprised at what was in front of him before giving me a big smile.

    “It’s beautiful, you’re so good, did you do this all day?”    “Yes, but I cleaned the bathroom, swept and mopped the room, organized things, and cleaned the kitchen before doing this.”

    “You worked hard, thank you.”

    “Hehe, do you like it?”

    “I do.”

    “As long as you like it, it was worth the effort,” I smiled, then walked over and sat down on the bed, “The atmosphere is nice like this, right? You could come out here to study, but we need to spray for mosquitoes first.”

    Phii Fah didn’t say anything, just came and sat next to me. When we’re together like this, the atmosphere is really nice, truly romantic, with the yellow light reflecting on his handsome face, which looked a bit tired.

       “How was your day?”

    “Huh?”

    “Was studying tiring? Tell me about it.”

    “Phoon you asks me every day.”

    “I want to listen.”

    “Then let’s talk about you first. Was work tiring? Actually, you don’t have to do it, we can hire a housekeeper like before.”    “Am I not as good at cleaning as the housekeeper?”

    “No, that’s not it. I’m just worried you might get tired.”

    “Phii Fah you asked me from the start, and now, I want to do it. It’s okay, you don’t need to hire a housekeeper anymore, just hire me.”

    “Cleaning this well, the wages would be quite expensive.”

    “Not expensive, just one kiss.”

    “What are you saying, now you’re being very cute.”

    “Hehe, I say this, and you get all shy, you are cute.”

    “No need,” Phii Fah said before pulling me onto his lap, embracing me from behind, and gently kissing the side of my lips. He pulled away shortly after, “Here’s today’s wage.”

    “Uh.”

    “And you’re the one getting shy.”

    “I am not shy, it’s you Phii Fah who’s blushing.”

    “Yes, yes,” Phii Fah said with affection, leaning back against the pillows I had prepared, which allowed me to rest against his chest again. I stretched out my legs for comfort, “What’s next?”    “Hmm? I just did the cleaning like every day. Nothing interesting.”

    “You can tell me, I want to listen, I like listening to your voice.” “…Uh, when you went to class, I washed the dishes and put them away, then cleaned the bathroom, but it was already clean so just polished the sink and organized the toiletries, swept and mopped the room, washed the cleaning cloth. Initially, I was going to do the laundry too, but there were no clothes to wash, your lab coat was already ironed, then I organized the room, refilled the water in the vase, took out the trash, and then arranged this balcony.”

    “Oh, you really worked hard, are you interested in getting a raise?”    “…Uh, that’s enough, thank you,” I said, frowning slightly, “Tell me about your day, Phii Fah.”

    “In the morning, I had a lecture. In the afternoon, it was lab time. With finals coming up, the professor is pushing the content a bit, saying he’s afraid he won’t cover everything in time.”

    “Wow, is there too much content?”

    “Exactly, there’s a lot. I might not even get to sleep, should I tell the professor to reduce it a bit? My boyfriend is already worried.”    “That would be bad to say,” I said but didn’t turn around, “I also peeked at your textbooks.”

    “How was it?”

    “I didn’t understand anything, and it’s all in English too.”

    “That’s how it is, if you want to be a doctor, you’ll face this.”

    “That’s good then, I would definitely die, especially if I have to dissect. When I was studying biology, dissecting a frog was already a big deal,” I said, thinking back to the first frog dissection made my stomach churn.

    “At first, you said you wanted to be a doctor.”

    “That was then, this is now. I’m not up for it anymore.”    “Uh, studying what you like is good, so you can do work you enjoy.”

    “What about you Phii Fah?”

    “Huh?”

    “Do you like being a doctor?” I asked softly because Phii Fah once said he didn’t know what he truly liked, “When you told me before, you said you were always expected to be one, so you didn’t know what your real dream was.”

    “I know now.”

    “What is it?”

    “You and the kids”

    “…”

    “Really. Studying medicine now isn’t bad, it’s something I can do well. Plus, if I weren’t a doctor, I wouldn’t know what else to be.

    After graduation, I’d work for my father, fulfilling my parents’ expectations. I don’t want to go against them because I don’t have any strong dreams myself. If I had clearer dreams, maybe I would oppose my parents, but since I don’t, I don’t know what else to do.”

    “Because what you’re doing isn’t bad, right?”

    “Yes, and now I have another dream which is to take good care of you and our kids. If I can continue my father’s work, it’s a stable job that can provide a comfortable life for you and the kids, isn’t it?”

    When he says it’s stable enough, it’s probably an understatement. Being the owner of a private hospital with multiple branches across the country is beyond just ‘stable enough.’

    “I want you to stay at home and look after the kids. I will work.”    “Are you crazy? I had to work too,” I argued immediately.

    “You can take on some photography jobs, but don’t work too hard.”

    “That’s not fair, then you will work hard alone.”

    “I can do it.”

    “And will you have time for the kids?” I asked, my tone turning a bit serious, “you must make time for the kids; they won’t love you if you don’t.”

    “Wow, being threatened that the kids won’t love me, that hurts.”    “Uh, you need to spend a lot of time playing with the kids.”    “Then I will save up first, a lot, before we have kids. That way, I won’t have to work too hard then.”

    “How much is a lot?”

    “Would a hundred million be enough? I want to send the kids to an international school.”

    “…”

    What kind of person asks if a hundred million is enough?    “International schools are better, they’ll meet diverse people and learn languages naturally.”

    “You’ve planned everything out, huh?” I said, but I wasn’t surprised if Phii Fah had plans or thought about the future; that’s just like him, “I guess so, I need to practice languages then. Otherwise, I won’t be able to talk with our child’s friends.”

    “Start practicing from now.”

    “Yes, I will start practicing tomorrow,” I said, then realized we were talking about children without any embarrassment, which made me feel a bit shy, “But why does it need to be a hundred million? Is international school tuition that expensive?”

    “It’s not just the tuition, Phoon, there are so many other expenses, like housing, cars…”

    “Uh, yes, I seem to not think about planning at all.”

    “It’s okay, let me handle the planning for this,” said the deep voice of the person hugging me from behind, “Phoon.”

    “Yes?”

    “I will do everything possible, if one day I am not here, will you be okay?”

    “…Phii Fah.”

    “Oh, did I make it sound too sad? It’s just a hypothetical scenario.”

    “Are you seriously ill?” I asked immediately, pulling myself out of his embrace, sitting cross-legged to look at Phii Fah with a serious, concerned, and worried expression that made my heart ache.

    “…You sound just like Jo.”

    “Phii Fah, do you have cancer, or is it heart disease? No, diabetes? No, Phii Fahyou don’t like sweets, gout? No, no, you don’t smoke much, right? Not lung cancer then. You don’t drink a lot either, you sleep too little, it must be related to blood pressure, I’ve told you so many times not to sleep so little, you sneak in after two in the morning, don’t you? Phoon will beat you, why don’t you listen? What do we do now? Have you seen a doctor? They have medication for blood pressure now, don’t give up yet.”

    “…Phoon.”

    “We need to call uncle, I will ask him to send someone, I will request for you to be admitted, or should we call an ambulance, an ambu…”

    “Phoon, calm down, your voice is cracking.”

    “Don’t take diseases lightly!” I said seriously, looking at Phii Fah until he stopped, quickly getting up from the bed to grab the phone to call his uncle, but Phii Fah held me back first.

    “Calm down first, I am fine.”

    “Don’t lie, Phii Fah is lying to make me feel comfortable, right? It’s okay, you can talk about anything with me, no need to be scared. Medicine has come a long way now, but wait, Phii Fah you are a doctor, he should know.”

    “…Yes, I know.”

    “Are you tricking me?” I furrowed my brow immediately upon seeing that the other person seemed not at all distressed, “This kind of trick would be too cruel.”

    “I’m not tricking him at all, I haven’t even said a word about any illness.”

    “Then why suddenly talk about death?” I protested while making a pouty face. Phii Fah gave a small smile before pulling me into the same embrace, resting his chin on my shoulder and nuzzling my cheek in a conciliatory manner.

    “I am just hypothesizing that in ten years, if I am not here, could you manage?”

    “…Hmm,” I bit my lip without realizing when I understood what the other was trying to convey, something like, if one day Phii Fah isn’t here, could I cope? I don’t know, bringing this up out of the blue like this…”

    “I just thought of it, that’s all.”

    “Then, if it were the other way around, if I wasn’t here, what would you do?”

    “…Oh, I can’t even imagine it.”

    “I can’t imagine it either,” I said softly, “If I said I couldn’t live without you and followed you, you would definitely be very angry with me.”

    “Very angry, yes, don’t ever do that,” he said in a deep voice while tightening his embrace.

    “I know, I won’t do it. It depends on the timing, I suppose. If, hypothetically, you aren’t with me when I am very old, it might not be so bad because soon we’d be together again.”

    “…”

    “If you aren’t here when I am in my sixties, but with grandchildren around, I would be a grandfather playing with our grandchildren, telling them lots of stories about you, thinking of you every day, but who knows if I would still be able to cry at that age.”

    “…”

    “If you aren’t here when I am middle-aged, around forty when the children are growing up, I would be strong for the kids, and still think of you every day, telling the kids lots of stories about you. At that time, he’d probably still cry, maybe cry alone in bed without you, but

    I wouldn’t cry in front of the kids.”

    “…”

    “If you aren’t here when we’re around thirty, we’d probably be starting a family, right? With little kids around, it would definitely be very hard because I would have to raise the kids alone, but I would have to keep fighting, right? Maybe he’d hug the kids and cry, tell them lots of stories about you, and think of you like before, but it would take some time before he could be strong again.”

    “…”

    “If Phii Fah isn’t here just after we graduate, in our early twenties, we might not even have a family yet. Then I wouldn’t have a family at all. I would probably become a photographer, saving money to travel the world, carrying a picture of you everywhere to feel like he’s traveling with you. I spend the rest of my life traveling around the world, and in the final moments of my life, I would come back here, to the place where we lived together.”

    “…”

    “But if you aren’t here now…it would be terrible, really, I can’t even imagine how to handle it.”    “Ah…I understand. Don’t cry.”

    “I’m not crying at all.”

    “You’re so good. Not being stubborn anymore.”

    “Yeah, I am good already,” I said while furrowing my brows, wiping away a small tear. I’m not crying, really. Just a tear or two,

    “What about you Phii Fah?”

    “Huh?”

    “If I were gone, what would you do?”

    “I would go on living alone like this, if there are kids, I’d take the best care of them. I’d look after everything that was ours, be the one to remember our stories, think of you every day, not letting a single moment pass without the memories. Your smile, voice, embrace, laughter, warm tears, scent, I’ll remember them all very well.”

    “Would you not have anyone else?”

    “Would you want me to have someone else?”

    “Well…if I die, I’d want someone to take care of you.”

    “You feel the same, I’d want someone to take care of you Phoon.”

    “No way. It’s not necessary at all. Having just you is enough, the memories of a lifetime are all about you, how could anyone replace that?”

    “I feel the same. There’s no one else.”

    “Then take good care of yourself, if I am not here.”

    “Saying that sounds so sad, even though it’s just a hypothetical scenario.”

    “Well, you brought it up first. Promise to take care of yourself?”

    “Yes, I’ll take good care of myself just like you take care of me. you should do the same, take good care of yourself like I take care of you.”

    “Might not be as good, but I’ll try.”

    “We’ve promised each other,” Phii Fah said as we linked our little fingers together, symbolizing our promise to take good care of ourselves if the other isn’t here, “But if possible, don’t go anywhere, okay?”

    “Be my ghost, you mean?” My question made Phii Fah let out a small laugh.

    “No, not that. Not going anywhere here means not leaving, staying together like this.”

    “Oh, right, yes, if possible, I don’t want to go anywhere, want to stay together for a long time, and don’t want you to leave either.” “Yes, don’t want to go anywhere,” Phii Fah said, tightening his embrace, “Even if we become centenarian grandfathers, I still want to hug you like this.”

    “Even if I’m a hundred and fifty, I still want you to hug me like this too.”

    “Hmm, then let’s go for two hundred.”

    “Wow, two hundred might be pushing it. Realistically, even a hundred might be too much. Let’s do this instead, I don’t know how long I will live, so let’s grow old together.”    “That sounds good, growing old together.”

    “As uncles, grandfathers, great-grandfathers together.”

    “Yes, I will be a papa, a grandfather, and then a great-grandfather along with you Phoon.”

    Hearing that, I turned to give Phii Fah a broad smile, filled with warmth in my heart, because if not this person, there would be no one else for the rest of my life, today, tomorrow, next month, next year, ten years, twenty years. No matter how many decades, it would still be this person.

       In the many decades to come

       We’ll probably be two old men who walk hand in hand, smiling at each other, taking care of each other just like always.

       “Phoon loves Phii Fah.”

    “Phii Fah loves Phoon too.”

    Because no matter what, it has to be this person.

       So let’s grow old together, okay?    Happy Ending

       Let’s grow old together: )

        SOUTHBESIDETHESKY CHAPTERS HOME

  • SOUTHBESIDETHESKY, Chapter 41: Friend

       SOUTHBESIDETHESKY, Chapter 41: Friend

       Tonfah

       Before Phoon sent the message about wanting to go out, there was no reason to stop him since he wanted to hang out with friends, and it’s just the zoo they were going to. The only thing I was worried about was him getting lost, hoping he wouldn’t get too caught up in taking photos to forget about his friends.    But I told North and Ter to look after Phoon.

    Time passed until lunchtime. I called Phoon who was out sightseeing, seeing that they were having fun walking around and taking photos. Now they were eating, and not long after, I hung up to go get something to eat too.

    I came to the faculty’s cafeteria to eat because I was too lazy to walk far.

    “Do you have more classes after this?” Jo asked. I nodded in response, “What’s the heavy subject?”    “Still not used to it?” I asked.

    “I’m used to it, but I want to complain.”

    “Uh, finals are coming up soon.”

    “Can we not talk about that, Hill? I’m discouraged,” Arthit complained, letting out a big sigh, “Even the food isn’t good, damn it, nothing’s going my way.”

    “I told you that place isn’t good,” Jo said.

    “It’s less crowded, I’m too lazy to wait.”

    “Then just eat and don’t complain.”

    “But Phoon, why would he suggest going to Suan Sathorn?” Hill turned to ask me.

    “He probably likes today’s light, so he wants to go take photos, and he must be free too.”    “Oh.”

    “Uh, Jo, Hill.”

    “What? / What?”

    “Can I ask you something?”

    “What is it?”

    “Have you guys ever talked about kids?”

    “Huh?” My question made both of them look a bit surprised before

    Hill answered, “Yeah, Ter said he wants to adopt.”

    “North asked me,” Jo replied, “but I don’t like kids, so no.”    “Oh, okay,” I nodded to Jo, “Then, Hill, about adopting, did you talk about anything more than that?”

    “No,” Hill shook his head slightly, “He wouldn’t answer when I asked.”

    “Shy?” I raised my eyebrows in question, and the person I asked nodded instead of answering, “Ah, same here.”

    “Why ask all of a sudden?”

    “Last night, Phoon was drunk and started talking about kids, asking if I’d have time for them even though I work hard, and if I’d be a cute dad to them,” I explained, “The peak was when he said he’d run away with the kid if I scolded him.”

    My words made everyone at the table burst out laughing together.

       “Phoon would run away with the kid from you?” Jo asked, still laughing, “Holy shit, that’s pitiful.”

    “I feel sorry for you,” Arthit said, “Getting run off with the kids, the heart of a father, huh?”

    “Yeah, that’s right. Doesn’t he think about the heart of a father like me?” I said, laughing along with them.

    “But have you guys talked about kids already? That’s fast,” Arthit commented.

    “We haven’t talked about it seriously. Just casual talk,” I said, “But seriously, time flies, I’ll be twenty-four when I graduate with Phoon.” Because my degree is for six years, and Phoon took two gap years, so we’ll graduate at the same time.

    “And have you thought about your future?” Hill turned to ask Arthit, who immediately looked confused.

    “Why are you asking me? Uh, I don’t know, let’s graduate first.”    “Will you work as a doctor after you graduate?” I asked.    “I’ve studied for six years; let me put that to use,” Arthit’s answer made us all look at him in surprise, “Why, what’s so surprising? I am a doctor.”

    “Just tell us which hospital you’ll be at, so I won’t drive by,” Jo said.

    “One day, you’ll definitely have to come to me for treatment, Johan,

    I’m telling you now.”

    “Better if I die elsewhere. Don’t come to treat me, if the only doctor is you.”

    “What’s so bad about me, huh?”

    “You’re the one who always has Fah helping you with work, right?”

    “Hill, you underestimate me too much.”

    “Have I ever judged you wrongly?”

    “Yeah.”

    Before we could say more, I got a video call from Phoon. I quickly answered.

    (Phii Fah)

       “Yes, how’s it going, are you having fun?”

    (Look, oh, everyone’s here, North, Ter, come here), Phoon turned to wave at Ter and North who were behind him, it looked like they were feeding giraffes, (Just now, North threw a carrot at the giraffe’s head, Phii Jo.)

       “Why do that?” Jo raised his eyebrows in question.

    (Phii, North was surprised, out of nowhere he just stuck his neck out, is he crazy?)

       “I told you to go have fun, not to go and mess around.”

    (Serves him right, got scolded by Phii Jo), Phoon turned to tease North, who immediately made a grumpy face at Jo, (Hehe, have you eaten yet?)

       “You seem so cheerful, yes, I’ve eaten, I’ll be heading back to study soon.”

    (Ah, hehe, just showing off how much fun I had.)

       (It was fun, weren’t you tired?), North said.

    (You’re just bad at it, can’t help it.)

       “What’s that?”

    (At the hill just now, we played rock-paper-scissors. Whoever

    lost had to let the winner ride on Phoon’s back, and I carried North like a horse all the way.)

       “Oh, Jo, North must be tired,” I said.

    “Uh, I never win at rock-paper-scissors anyway.”

    (Phii Jo!)North suddenly appeared in full view on the camera, talking to Jo, so much so that nothing else was visible, startling me a bit, (Side with me! Phoon and Ter are ganging up on me, huh?)

       (Why are you so loud?), Phoon’s voice came before the person holding the phone pushed North away, (Let’s stop for now, we’re going to continue our adventure.)

       (Shh, Phii Fah, Phii Hill, pay up three million before I kill your partners and bury them in Suan Sathorn). I couldn’t help but laugh at North’s words, (I have the hostages with me. If this reaches the police, I’ll pinch Phoon’s arm until it bruises.)

       “Oh. It won’t reach the police, I’ll transfer the money,” I said, “Give me the account number.”

    (Phii Fah, you serious? I was just joking.)

       “Really? But you always seem serious about money, was that a joke too?”

    (That one was serious, but it’s different.)

       “How is it different?”

    (Uh…we are going now! Phii Fah, don’t transfer money, or I’ll get scolded for sure.)

       “Eh,” I accidentally spoke out when North made a funny face and disappeared from the camera, leaving only Phoon’s image again, “Phii Fah you has to go to class now, it looks like it might rain, did you bring an umbrella, ah, no, I didn’t bring an umbrella.”    “Ter brought an umbrella,” Hill said.

    “Oh, so we can share it, right?”

    (Yes, I’ll share the umbrella with Ter, but Phii Jo, there’s not enough umbrella. I’ll have to ask for permission to let North wear a plastic bag on his head), Phoon’s words made Jo laugh a little,

    (Just kidding, we’ll take the zoo’s shuttle if it rains.)

       “Okay. Take care of yourself and your friends.”

    (Yes!)

       …

       Tonfah

       “Is this the first time you’ve seen him joking with Phii Jo?” Ter asked with a surprised look after I ended the video call.

    “Probably, I feel like Phii Jo can be playful, and today I’m in an excellent mood, let’s go!”

    “Yeah, I believe it, you’re in such high spirits, what did you do last night?”

    “I didn’t do anything!” I replied to North sternly, “Come on, piggyback ride.”

    “I’m not giving you a ride, it’s embarrassing.”

    “Embarrassing for what? There’s no one around.” I said. I wasn’t sure why, but the zoo wasn’t as lively as I thought; there were hardly any people, just a few tourists since we arrived.

    “Let’s do rock-paper-scissors again, you win once and want me to carry you around the whole zoo?”

    “Yeah, let’s go again!” I said cheerfully, we played rock-paperscissors, three of us, starting by eliminating one with the least good hand to leave two, the one who lost out just walked. The loser had to carry the winner.

    This time, Ter had to carry me!

    “Hehe,” I, the winner, grinned broadly with joy.

    “You win again, did you cheat?”

    “What? Come on, Ter, give me a ride!”

    “Phoon, you seem off, I’m starting not to trust you,” Ter said, looking at me with surprise, “Normally, the good guy would be North.

    Now he’s been drained of all his energy.”

    “Be quiet, sit down,” and Ter had to crouch down so I could ride on his back, “Is it heavy?”    “Heavy.”

    “Really? Then run!”

    “Shit, instead of feeling sorry for me because I’m heavy, you tell me to run.”

    “Ter run, Ter run.”

    “Sigh, I’m not running,” Ter said, and he didn’t run after all, just slowly walked with me on his back, “Feels like I’m looking after a seven or eight-year-old kid.”

    “A demonic kid at that.”

    “North, you’re bold,” I said, frowning a little, “Ter! Go catch him,

    I’ll deal with him.”

    “Sigh, can I catch him while carrying you?”

    “Oh, come on,” I mumbled a bit, “Let me down, I want to take photos.”

    “Yeah, yeah,” and Ter let me down. I took photos until I was satisfied and then we continued walking, “I want to ride on someone’s back too.”

    “You want to as well?” North asked.

    “Look, there’s another hill,” Ter said before we played rock-paperscissors again. This time, Ter got to ride on my back. I crouched down so Ter could climb on, gripping his arms tightly to make sure he wouldn’t fall, before starting to run until Ter started pounding on my back, “Damn, don’t run, Phoon, I’m going to fall!”

    “You won’t fall.”

    “Aaah, Phoon, I’m falling!”

    And our silly back-riding game continued a few more times until we were all tired from taking turns carrying each other. I still didn’t understand why we were doing this, but due to exhaustion, we had to take the park’s tram and get off at intervals.

       “Damn, why do I have to be this tired just from coming to Suan

    Sathorn?” North grumbled a bit.

    “Come on, it’s a day off after all,” I said.

    “Isn’t a day off supposed to be for resting?”

    “Look, now we’re resting.”

    “I’m already tired after resting, how can resting make you more tired?”

    “Let’s get off here,” I said when the shuttle stopped near the Snow

    Dome, “I want to go into the Snow Dome!”

    “Yeah, yeah, let’s go,” and Ter and North had to follow me into the Snow Dome. We paid the entrance fee, and the staff handed us winter coats and boots. As soon as we walked in, the cold hit us. Of course, there was no one else inside except us, and the ice was all frozen to the floor. There was no loose snow to throw around.

    “Seems like not many people come here,” Ter said, “I thought we could throw some snow around.”

    “Yeah, it’s just cold,” North added. I frowned in disappointment because the inside wasn’t that spacious either, “There’s only that,” North pointed to a high slope where we could slide down with inflatable rings.

    “Let’s play, play, play,” I said excitedly.

    “Alright, alright, today is your day, Typhoon.”

    “Yay!”

    “Really like babysitting, I’ll charge Phii Fah for this.”

    “Babysitting what? Just inviting you to slide!”

    “Watch out for slipping, Phoon!” North shouted. I grabbed the rail just in time before I slipped because almost everything was ice, “Damn, what if you slip and crack your head, you idiot. Watch where you’re going, will you?”

    “No need to get so angry.”

    “Ter, make sure he doesn’t get hurt.”

    “Go, Typhoon, or your dad will scold you again.”

    “Is North my dad?”

    “Yeah, your dad.”

    “Why scold me?”

    “No reason, just saying, call me dad.”

    “Dad, give me some snacks,” I teased, shaking North’s shirt playfully, and he sighed immediately.

    “Dad doesn’t have any snacks left, son.”

    When we decided to go on the slide, the staff came to help because going down alone could be dangerous. They made us sit on an inner tube and pushed us off. North went first since I was still hesitant.

    Once I saw that North slid down safely, I followed and sat on the tube.

    After sliding down, it felt strange but fun until Ter bumped into me.

    “Why did you bump into me?”

    “I can’t steer or brake at all.”

    “Did it hurt?” North asked. I slowly got up from the tube.

    “It didn’t hurt, it’s rubber; what’s there to hurt? Let’s go again!”    After going into the snow dome and coming out, we felt a bit damp and sticky. Since there was no car, we had to walk. We kept walking until we saw the bird zone and immediately went inside.

    Inside, it looked like a simulated forest, and you could hear birds but couldn’t see them.

    “Where are the birds?” North asked while looking around.

    “Just on the trees.”

    “But I don’t see any, just geese.”

    “Seeing those makes me want to eat foie gras,” Ter said, causing me and North to turn and look at him at once, “What?”

    “Damn, what’s your heart made of, looking at a goose and saying you want to eat goose liver?” North frowned, “You guys, this fat one will eat your livers if you don’t run.”

    “North, shut up!” Ter said, hitting North’s back, and then I heard the sound of birds again. I didn’t know what kind they were, but they were flying above, so I quickly raised my camera to take pictures.

    “You guys, I think Jon is harder to find,” North said. I turned to look, and he was waving for me. I hurried over.

    “Where?” I asked excitedly, leaning in to look and saw…“A chicken?”

    “Yeah, it’s the bird zone, isn’t it?” Ter said, looking a bit disappointed.

    “Well, I paid to come to Suan Sathorn just to see a chicken, how hard is that to find?” North said sarcastically. The oblivious rooster continued pecking at papaya. We walked around, looking at the birds until we were satisfied, then walked back out, “What’s next?”    “That’s right,” I pulled out the map I had grabbed at the entrance.    “You should give it to me, Phoon, you shouldn’t even look at the map,” Ter said.

    “Oh.”

    “Just look at your camera, Phoon,” North said, “We have to keep an eye on you all the time while walking around; if you get lost, me and

    Ter will be in big trouble. If possible, I’d put you on a leash.”

    “Oh, that’s cruel, dad’s so cruel.”

    “What, I’ll whip you if you keep this up.”

    “You always resort to force with your son,” I playfully pouted.

    “Oh, North, you’re such a terrible dad, your son is about to cry.”

    “Oh, oh, don’t cry.”

    “Huhuhu.”

    “Then you can have a piggyback ride.”

    “Yay!” And North bent down for me to climb onto his back. I don’t know why I was in such a good mood, feeling very happy and warm too. The important thing was that I felt cared for, probably because these guys took me out and watched over me, “Run then!”    “Yeah, yeah.” And North started running, not going too far, then circled back to Ter and let me down, “Happy now, son?”    “Happy! But if there’s a dad, why isn’t there a mom?” I made a serious face, “If there’s a dad, there must be a mom.”    “Phoon, if you say it like that, you want me to be the mom?”

    “Please, just for one day.”

    “Uh…I don’t want to be the mom, can I just be the dad? North, you be the mom this time.”

    “Dream then, I’m already the dad, but I don’t want a wife like you.” “I want a boyfriend like you, then!”

    “Then we’ll have two dads,” I suggested.

    “Yeah, yeah, that works.”

    “Hehe, I’m hungry now.”

    “We should treat them, right?” North said.

    “You don’t have to treat, but let’s go eat.”

    “Okay, then let’s go wait for the tram,” Ter suggested. After looking at the map for a while, he led us to wait for the tram to get off at the restaurant area. I ended up treating both of them to a meal since they went through the trouble of bringing me out, especially since it’s after that, we headed to the aquarium.

    “The moon fish, no matter how many times you look at it, it’s strange,” North commented while staring at the moon fish through the clear water, “Doesn’t look like it should even exist on this planet.”    “They call it the moon of the sea, have you ever studied biology?”

    “What’s biology?”

    “Phoon, look at your ‘dad’ North. He doesn’t even know what biology is.”

    “Being called that, I don’t know how to respond,” North grumbled slightly. I couldn’t help but laugh at that, “And what am I supposed to call it then, Phoon, son, like this?”

    “Yes, dad!”

    “Shit, why do I suddenly have a son?”

    “Have you made someone pregnant without taking responsibility?” Ter said.

    “Is this your son too?”

    “Yeah, your son, behave well.”

    “It’s like you can’t decide whether to call him ‘son’ or ‘you’,” I said, laughing again and lifting my camera to capture the moment.

    “Why don’t you try calling Phii Fah ‘dad’?” Ter suggested. I immediately turned to look at him, thinking he was crazy! Remembering the conversation from last night about what pronouns to use.

    “Are you, are you crazy?!”

    “See, you’re blushing, getting all flustered, I hit the nail on the head, didn’t I?”

    “Ter! You bastard.”

    “You were just calling him ‘dad’ a moment ago.”

    “Not anymore!”

    And so we walked all around the aquarium until we were tired and didn’t want to walk anymore, so we waited for the shuttle to take us back to the entrance. It didn’t take long for the shuttle to arrive.    While I was staring absentmindedly out of the window as the zoo shuttle drove by, my mind was wandering. I glanced at Ter and North, who were also looking at the scenery, and I smiled without realizing it. I felt like something was swelling up inside my heart, and as the rain started to drizzle down, it made the surrounding atmosphere even cooler.

    “Thank you,” I said.

    “For what?” Ter asked.

    “For going along with me to come here, I’ve wanted to come for a long time, it’s so close but I’ve never been,” I smiled, not looking at the two beside me because I was embarrassed, “Thank you for playing along with my silliness.”    “…What’s with you, suddenly?”

    “I don’t know, thank you for approaching me that day, Ter, if you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have known where to find friends like you, thank you for always being there. I used to not like myself at all. I didn’t like who I was, didn’t like what I was doing, didn’t like it to the point where I wanted to disappear, but you guys came into my life and said you liked me just the way I am.”

    “When I cried, you were there holding my hand, when I was lost, you came looking for me, when things were bad, you made it better. Maybe I have bad luck because I used all my luck to meet good friends like you.”

    “Phoon, Ter is crying,” North said, but I didn’t turn to look because I was also starting to tear up a bit.

    “Hick. I’m not crying!” Ter sniffled.

    “Ter, you’re such a crybaby.”

    “Without you guys, there wouldn’t be me, really, damn, what’s wrong with me, getting all sentimental in a zoo,” I said, wiping my tears gently, “Forget it. I won’t talk anymore, or I won’t be able to stop crying.”

    “Yeah. Don’t talk then, hic! you idiot!” Then Ter slapped my back hard, making me choke a bit, “You know I’m sensitive, why make me cry?”

    “I didn’t mean to make you cry, I just felt like saying it, can’t I be sentimental?”

    “You don’t need to say it, I already know! I feel thankful for you guys too, you know!”    “No, I’m more thankful.”

    “No, I am.”

    “Phoon, don’t argue with me.”

    “Why are you arguing with me, Ter?”

    “…You guys,” North seemed to try to mediate, looking somewhat helpless, “Why argue? What’s the matter with you two?”

    “You have a heart colder than ice, North.”

    “Now I’ve become the cold-hearted one,” North sighed slightly, “I’m just not affected by it, it’s just something we’re supposed to do for each other, isn’t it? No need for all this sentimentality, we’ll be together for a long time. Besides, if I cry, who’s going to comfort you guys?”

    “Wow, that’s a very cool thing to say, but your attitude sucks a bit.” “Damn, Ter, what’s with you?”

    “Just kidding,” Ter said with a dry smile, “Thanks, though.”

    “Thanks for what?”

    “For always being there, and for protecting us. Whether it was when

    I got picked on or when Phoon was hurt, you were our hero.”    The time when Ter was picked on was probably back in our freshman year, when Ter had just started dating Phii Hill, and some senior girls started trouble. North was there, and instead of Ter getting angry, it was North who got furious. Ter had to hold North back from going to punch them. After that, he told Phii Hill, and once Phii Hill sorted it out, no one dared to bother Ter anymore.

    Ter said that when he was picked on, North got more upset than when he was picked on himself.

    “Yeah.”

    “Hey, North is blushing.”

    “Damn, I’m not!”

    “Actually, you’re embarrassed, aren’t you? You always act tough with friends,” Ter teased. North frowned, his face starting to turn a slight shade of red.

    “Yeah, I don’t like this sentimental stuff. Don’t do that.”

    “See, pretending to be cool but you’re embarrassed, aren’t you? You really are our hero. No matter what happens, you’re always the positive energy for everyone. Let’s stay together for a long time, come on, say ‘I love you’ to make us feel good.”

    I smiled broadly at the cute scene I was seeing now because, on the outside, North might seem rough, but inside, he’s very gentle.

    “I won’t say it!”

    With friends, when they get really embarrassed, this is what always happens.

    SOUTHBESIDETHESKY CHAPTERS HOME

  • SOUTHBESIDETHESKY, Chapter 40: A little child

       SOUTHBESIDETHESKY, Chapter 40: A little child

       Tonfah

       I fell asleep hugging the drunk person until I drifted off too. The faint sweet scent mixed with a slight smell of alcohol made things feel a bit strange, but it was still Phoon’s scent. I woke up in the middle of the night to find the person I was hugging was gone.

    “Phoon,” I called out softly, got out of bed, and went looking for him, thinking he might have gone to the bathroom. When I saw the small figure sitting in front of the fridge, I hurried over, “Are you okay?”

    “Ouch, it hurts.”

    “…” I didn’t respond, reaching out to pick up the person in front of me, placing him on a chair first, “Did you fall?”

    “Hit my head.”

    “What? Let me see,” I asked worriedly because we always leave a small light on in case Phoon wakes up in the middle of the night. With the dim light shining, I saw the red mark on his forehead, “Oh, that looks bad. Did you hit the fridge?”

    “Uh, I will get back at it.”

    “?”

    “How dare it hurt the one who cleans it.” I couldn’t help but smile, feeling endeared by the person still not sober, before going to fetch first aid supplies, thinking a little massage might not hurt much. He must have hit the top of the fridge door, “Come on! You’re crazy!”    Wait…

       Arguing with the fridge now…

       “Unhappy, huh? Ha, just putting some chicken in. If you don’t like it, don’t be born as a fridge!”

    “…Phoon.”

    “You siding with it?”

    “No, I am not taking sides. Come on, good boy, let me treat your wound quickly.”

    “No, no, no, no.”

       He was a slow-acting drunk, wasn’t he? At first, I thought he’d be out for the count, but no. I had to carry him back to sit on the chair again and gently apply ointment and massage his forehead wound.

       “Phii Fah you is good at treating wounds, impressive, as expected from a medical student.”

    “…Yes.”

    “As expected of someone who studied to become a doctor!”

    “…” I inadvertently furrowed my brows, unsure how to respond.

    “You’ve studied hard, haven’t you?”

    “…Yes.”

    “…”

    “I will take you to bed now.”

    “Doctor.”    “?”

    “Doctor Fah.”

    “Yes?”

    “Uh, don’t let me know.”

    “Know what?”

    “Don’t let me know that while studying, you were looking at others.”

    “No, I didn’t, but why bring this up now?” I asked while carrying him back to bed, “Did you go to the fridge because you were thirsty?

    Did you get water?”

    “Don’t change the subject, there’s something fishy here.”

    “…”

    “Phii Fah you were looking at someone else, right!”

    “No, I wasn’t.”

    “I know, everyone likes you, the whole world does.”

    “The whole world?” I asked back, smiling at the person who was sulking on the bed, his face flushed red up to his ears, eyes slightly narrowed, speaking sweetly and slowly.

    He’s really cute when he’s drunk.

       “The whole world, even when Phii Fah goes to the convenience

    store, the dogs follow you, I saw.”

    “…” I never noticed, “Maybe they followed because I was buying food?”

    “No, really, don’t argue, you are the type that everyone likes.”

    “Oh, I see.”

    “Phoon, there are always people looking at me, even taking secret photos! I don’t like it. Don’t like it at all, I’m going to poke their eyes out.”

    “You don’t like it?” I asked, frowning. Saying he doesn’t like it when people look at me, does that mean he’s jealous? I never knew Phoon could be jealous or possessive, because he never shows it, but there’s never been a situation where he would be, I guess.

       “Don’t like it. They take ugly photos of you Phii Fah.”

    “Huh? Because they take ugly photos?”

    “They take ugly photos. They don’t need to take photos. I won’t let them.”

    “So, the conclusion is they shouldn’t take photos because they take ugly ones?”

    “No photos because they shouldn’t take photos. I will take photos of you Phii Fah alone.”

    “Oh…”

    “I remember! That person named Mona, she used to call and chat with you all the time, asking for tutoring. What was so hard to tutor about? It wasn’t even the start of the semester, what was she trying to learn? If she’s so eager for knowledge, why doesn’t she read by herself! And Phii Fah you were always on calls with her!”    “But that was a long time ago, even before you went away.”    “I don’t know, then there’s this person and that person, everywhere.”

    “I am not involved with him at all.”

    “I don’t know, why do you have to be so handsome too?”

    “…”

    “I knew you first, knew him when he was this small,” Phoon said with a frown, acting as if comparing our heights from when we were kids, “Knew you since we were little squirts.”

    “…”

    “When we went to kindergarten together wearing overalls, I knew you before anyone else. And now they dare to say they like you Phii

    Fah? I have loved you since we learned to write ‘gaw gai’ together.”

    “…” I didn’t say anything, just watched him whining in front of me, feeling so fond I wanted to hug him right then.

    “And why did you grow up to be like this? Why so handsome, why so smart, why so kind, why do so many people like you? When we were kids, you didn’t have this many admirers.”

    “…Uh, so what should I say to that?”

    “You don’t have to answer, it’s just…I am just complaining.”

    “…”

    “Do you like kids?”

    Changing the subject like this now…

       “Yes…I do, why?”

    “I like them too! I Want a lot of kids, filling the house, running around all over the place, but you are a doctor, you might not have much time to play with them, and they’ll love me more.”

    “…” I started to furrow my brows when the drunk person in front of me mentioned children.

    Oh, so you want a lot of kids, huh?

       Then it’s going to be quite tiring.

       “…”

    “I will be the most understanding dad, won’t let the kids get bullied, will take them to good schools, introduce them to good friends, and give them lots of warmth.”

    “…”

    “Why don’t you answer me?”

    “Well…Phoon you didn’t ask anything, did he?”

    “What should you name the child?”

    “Uh…yes, what should we name them? Whatever you want, I guess.”

    “But Phii Fah you have to work hard, right? Will you have time for the child and Phoon?”

    “Of course, I will try to make time to be with you and the child.”

    “Phii Fah you have to be a cute dad for the child.”

    “Yes.”

    “And are you hungry?”

    “Huh? Well, it’s already two in the morning.”

    “I will make something to eat.”

    “Wait, we better just go to sleep,” I held him back when I saw he was about to get up for real. What’s with Phoon when he’s drunk? Talking about this and that, completely unrelated, saying whatever comes to mind, “It’s late, let’s rest.”

    “Not sleeping. No. Not sleepy.”

    “But you are drunk.”

    “Not drunk, why does papa have to argue?”

    “…papa?”

    “You are arguing with me!”    “Phoon, don’t be stubborn.”

    “You are scolding me, will you scold the child too like this?”

    “…If they’re stubborn, I’ll have to scold them.”

    “No, if you scold the child, I will take the child and run away.”    He would run away with the child?

       “He won’t let the child see your face anymore.”

    “Mama, don’t be cruel to me.”

    “…”

    Asleep?

       Completely silent.

       I let out a small, unintentional sigh; he’s quite a handful when drunk. So, I adjusted his sleeping position to make him more comfortable, lay down beside him, gathered him into my arms, and covered us with a blanket, slowly closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep again.

       …

    “Does your head hurt?” I asked the person sitting across from me eating breakfast, whose face didn’t look too good after waking up, probably because of how much he drank last night, and even waking up in the middle of the night to whine.

    “Uh, yes, a little.”

    “Take some medicine later.”

    “Yes, what time are you going to class?”

    “Ten. Are you going to see Ter?”

    “Yes.”

    Phoon nodded slightly. Today, I had classes as usual, even though it was a holiday. While getting ready to leave for class, something came to mind.

    “Phoon, do you remember what happened last night?”

    “!!!”

    His face turned pale and then red, which means he remembers, doesn’t it?

    “What’s the answer?”

    “Uh…what do you mean, what happened last night?”

    “Oh, nothing. It’s just that last night you asked about kids.”

    “Kids!!”

    “Asked about their names.”

    “Ah, oh, really? Haha, I was just drunk, so I was just talking nonsense.”

    “How far have you thought about having children, Phoon?” I asked, ignoring the fact that he claimed he was just drunk earlier.

    “…Well, I just thought about wanting to adopt a child. That’s it.”    “Hmm, and have you thought about what you want the child to call us, like ‘papa’ and mama?”

    “…”

    “If I scold you, are you going to run away with the child too? That’s cruel.”

    “Then how will papa live?”

    !!!

    …

    Typhoon

       When I first woke up, I didn’t remember much. I just felt a slight headache and a sore spot on my forehead. I touched it and found it was swollen, so I tried to remember what happened last night because I tend to be quite clumsy when drunk, bumping into things, talking nonsense. I remembered waking up in the middle of the night because I was thirsty, then I hit my head on the fridge door and collapsed to the floor.

       Then…I argued with the fridge.

       So embarrassing!

       And in front of Phii Fah too, plus I went and picked a fight with him! Not only that, I even called him ‘papa’ and said I’d run away with our child!

       Phoon, oh my god! If I could go back in time, I’d knock myself out so I wouldn’t wake up. Why did I even wake up? I was already embarrassed enough with my tantrums at night!

       “Did Phoon really say that?”

    “Should have recorded the sound, like how Phoon said you wanted to record me voice.”

    !!!

    “I don’t remember anything, Phii Fah, you should go to class. Don’t be late.”

    “There’s still thirty minutes left.”

    “No, no, you need to leave early.”

    “Oh, were you saying that I should focus on studying?”

    “Phii Fah!!”

    “Yes, what do you say?”

    “I will get sulky and run away with the kids!”    Damn…I said it!

    I accidentally said it out of embarrassment and awkwardness. It seemed to please Phii Fah a lot; he laughed heartily, which made me furrow my brows in annoyance.

    “Oh, oh. I won’t tease anymore. don’t run away with the kids; that would be too cruel,” Phii Fah said in his usual gentle tone, not the teasing one from before. Then he got up from his chair, walked over to where I was washing the dishes, hugged me from behind, and leaned in to give my cheek a gentle kiss.

    “Hah! Why do you always tease like that?” I complained in a muffled voice while scrubbing the dishes harder, feeling my face heat up completely.

    “Don’t be sulky.”

    “Fine, I won’t sulk if you stop teasing.”

    “I won’t promise that,” Phii Fah said before letting go of the hug,

    “Oh, and about the kids.”

    “…”

    “I will be a good father to our kids. Don’t worry.”

    Phii Fah’s words made me turn around quickly. How can he say something like that so effortlessly, without any sign of embarrassment!

    Phii Fah leaned in, giving me a soft kiss on the lips before pulling away slowly. I was a bit stunned, caught off guard, as a sweet smile spread across his handsome face.

    “Let’s go, I’ll take you to see Ter.”

    “…Yes.”

    I reached out to hold the hand that was waiting for mine, and we left the room together. While waiting for the elevator, my mind kept circling back to last night, as if it wanted to make me feel even more embarrassed.

    “Is something wrong?”

    “No. Nothing’s wrong!!” I accidentally shouted, our voices echoing in the elevator where we were alone, making the person holding my hand look puzzled, “Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”

    “Is it about last night?”

    “!!!” In shock, I inadvertently glared at him.

    “You’re making those big eyes at me again.”

    “Uh, sorry.”

    “No need to apologize, can you tell me what you’re thinking?”

    “I won’t drink alcohol again!”

    “Why not? You’re cute when you’re drunk.”

    “Cute? More like embarrassing, huh, Phii Fah, don’t tease me again, or I’ll run and bang my head against the pillar,” I said, frowning seriously. By pillar, I meant the one in the lobby of our condo.

    “No need to threaten to bang your head on a pillar, you haven’t recovered from hitting the fridge last night.”

    “…”

    “Should we change the fridge? It’s picking fights with you.”

    “Phii Fah!!”

    “Yes, why call me so often?”

    “Huh!”

    “Okay, okay. I won’t tease anymore,” Phii Fah said, smiling affectionately. I kept a grumpy face because I was both embarrassed and annoyed by the teasing so early in the morning. We walked out to the parking lot, Phii Fah opened the car door for me to get in before he circled around to the driver’s seat, and then the luxury car moved out.    “What’s up with you, Phoon? You come in all red-faced, did Phii

    Fah tease you again?” Ter asked immediately as I sat down on the coffee shop sofa. Today was another day off when the doctors had to go to class, so naturally, we had nothing to do and didn’t want to be alone in our rooms, so we decided to hang out at Phii Gibb’s coffee shop.

    “What! Tease what!”

    “You’re getting all worked up,” North teased. Today, it was just North, Ter, and me, three of us, since we didn’t have plans to go out anywhere. We were just waiting for the doctors, that’s all.

    “…You guys.”

    “You said there was nothing, but you’re talking so softly.”    “What happened last night, did you do anything strange while drunk?” As soon as I asked, both of them widened their eyes and looked at me, “You all seem nervous, like you’re hiding something.”

    “No…nothing! There’s nothing, why are you asking!” Ter responded awkwardly.

    “Damn, you’re not even keeping it together.”

    “What’s with you, North?”

    “Hey, why the hostility, not over your hangover yet?”

    “I am over it!”

    “Why are you over it?” North teased, making Ter’s face turn red as he threw a nearby stuffed toy at North, “Ouch! When embarrassed, he gets violent.”

    “And why are you asking, Phoon?”

    “Well, last night seemed normal, but after I took a shower, suddenly, all these memories came back,” I started to explain, “I remember everything, damn it, from when I started getting drunk to waking up and causing a ruckus in the middle of the night.” I recounted while rubbing my face, still embarrassed thinking about it, what did you say, Phoon, T^T.

       I don’t like it, I only want to take photos of you Phii Fah…

       Why did you have to grow up to be so handsome…

       Why do so many people like you…

       I have loved you for so long…

       I’m so grateful that I can still blame it on being drunk, because all those things are what I think but would never tell Phii Fah, TT.

       “What did you do?” Ter asked.

    “I’m not telling!” I snapped back.

    “Come on, tell us, so we can share your embarrassment.”

    “No teasing, right?”

    “Yeah, no teasing.”

    “I don’t believe you, then you have to tell your story too.”    “Alright then. There’s nothing to it,” Ter said.

    “Oh really, he loves Phii Hill the most in the world— ouch! Ter, you’re hurting me again!”

    “Don’t slander me!”

    “Slander what? The whole table was your witness, it went silent at that moment,” North said, which made me feel a bit embarrassed; I still remembered the scene when Ter, drunk, said that.

    “Hey!”

    “What do you think, Phoon, roughly?” North asked.

    “Well, seriously thinking, it’s about kids. Have you guys ever talked about having kids?”

    “We have, yeah/yeah,” Ter and North answered simultaneously.

    “What did you say?”

    “I asked,” North said, “but Phii Jo said he doesn’t like kids, so I thought it probably wouldn’t happen.”

    “Oh, but I talked to Phii Hill about it; I’d rather adopt,” Ter said.    “Yeah, same here, I want to adopt,” I said, before picking up the glass of water in front of me, “Doesn’t it seem like we’re thinking too far ahead? I don’t know, really, I’m just a freshman, and Phii Fah is a senior about to be in his fourth year.”

    “In another couple of years, you’ll be done. It doesn’t hurt to just talk about it,” North said, “So, what did Phii Fah say when you talked about this?”

    “Well…he…”

    “He?”

    “He said he would be a good father.”

    “Shit…Phii Fah~, that’s very Phii Fah of him, warm like a microwave,” North started teasing a bit, “That’s good then.”    “And last night, when I was drunk, I said I’d run away with the kid from Phii Fah,” my words made Ter and North burst out laughing.

    “Why would you run away?”

    “Because Phii Fah was scolding me for not wanting to sleep when I was drunk, so I said if he scolds me, I’d run away with the kid.”    “Poor Phii Fah, how should he feel about being run away from with his own child?” North said with a laugh.

    “Damn, thinking about it makes me so embarrassed,” I said while rubbing my face, “How could I say that, and I even told Phii Fah to focus on his studies.”

    “Shit,” Ter and North laughed even harder, “You told Phii Fah to study hard?”

    “Yeah.”

    “Is there anyone in this world who studies harder than Phii Fah?”

    “Shouldn’t have gotten drunk, damn it.”

    “Phoon, that’s what happens when you’re drunk,” Ter patted my shoulder lightly in a comforting manner, though he was still laughing,

    “If you think you’re embarrassing when drunk, just look at North.”    “Yeah, I vomited all over Phii Jo the first time I got drunk, that’s pretty embarrassing.”

    “Stop, don’t bring that up again,” North raised his hand to stop the conversation, “Don’t shift the focus from Phoon to me. And Phii Fah, being a doctor, won’t have much time, right?”

    “No, no, Phii Fah said he’ll be a doctor at first to gain experience, then he’ll take over from his father.”    “Phii Fah’s father, who is the dean?”

    “Uh, he also owns a private hospital.”

    “Really?” North looked surprised as if he didn’t know, then he seemed to remember something, “Why didn’t I know that? Oh, oh, oh, I remember, the private hospital with many branches, right?”    “Yeah, so it’s quite pressuring for him. I’m worried, but I don’t know how to help, I can only try my best to take care of him,” I said, unconsciously shrugging my shoulders. It’s not just Phii Fah who feels the pressure; there are people around him like his uncle, aunt, or anyone involved in the hospital business.

    “That’s how it is, the pressure is always there,” North said with a frown.

    “Phii Jo is the same, right?”

    “Uh, it’s inevitable, like a test you have to pass. It’s not easy to manage a renowned private hospital like that.”    “Uh, I understand,” I nodded slightly.

    “You’re doing your best to support him, that’s good,” Ter said, “But the owner of a hospital with so many branches, damn, they must be rich, studying medicine to become a hospital owner, that’s quite fitting, isn’t it?”

    “Isn’t it true that they’re together because of their looks and status? I’m starting to wonder,” North said, “Phii Hill is going to take over his father’s company, right? And Phii Hill’s father and Phii Jo’s are friends too.”

    “Uh-huh,” Ter nodded, “But you’re only starting to suspect now? Shouldn’t you have realized this a long time ago?”

    “I had my suspicions from the beginning. I mean, people who are similar are attracted to each other, like me and you guys, rain makes the earthworms come out.”

    “I feel weird about that analogy somehow,” Ter said, frowning.

    “But you guys are good.”

    “Us?” I repeated the word.

    “Yeah, being with you guys is like being in a field of fragrant flowers. Not that it’s a perfect world, but you guys are genuinely good people. Not like my engineering friends, damn, they’re like hell on earth.”

    “Is it that bad?” Ter asked, sounding somewhat skeptical, “They seemed normal when we talked. They even looked kind.”

    “Have they ever spoken rudely to you?”

    “No.”

    “Yeah. They say they can’t bring themselves to speak rudely to Ter, but look at how they talk to me,” North said, looking somewhat displeased.

    “Alright, you guys,” I spoke up, remembering I had brought my camera in my bag. I didn’t intend to take photos, but it was more out of habit; I like carrying my camera around, though not to class, “The light is good today. It’s not too hot either.”

    “Oh, huh,” North said, “And why?”

    “I want this kind of light.”

    “…This isn’t good,” Ter whispered to North, frowning with concern,

    “I have a bad feeling about this.”

    “Why?”

    “You guys go for a walk,” I suggested.

    “Shit, there it is,” Ter sighed, “When you say the light is beautiful and we have free time like this, it’s bound to lead to going out for a walk and taking photos.”

    “There’s not much sun, can you handle it?” I asked because Ter is sensitive to sunlight; if his skin is exposed to the sun for too long, he gets rashes or something, but today there isn’t much sun, it’s quite cloudy, perfect for a walk!

    “Uh, yeah, I can manage, but I’ve brought a long-sleeve shirt. It’ll be fine.”

    “Great! Let’s go to the zoo then?”

    “Why go to the zoo?” North raised an eyebrow.

    “I want to take photos, come on, come on.”

    “Ugh, can’t we just stay here, I’m too lazy for this,” North said.    “Come on, please, North, can’t we? I really want to go, want to go with you guys, please, take me out, if I go alone, I’ll definitely get lost and be eaten by a lion, don’t you care if something happens to me?”

    “Do you have to make such a big deal out of it?”

    “I won the drinking contest against you yesterday, the loser has to do what the winner says.”

    “Did we agree to that?”

    “Yeah, otherwise, why would we compete?”

    “Alright, alright, I give in, let’s go.” In the end, North agreed to go. As for Ter, he was going anyway. So, the three of us decided to go to the zoo together, “I need to tell Phii Jo first.”    “Me too,” Ter said.

    “Why are you telling Phii Jo like I am, are you hitting on my guy?

    Isn’t that going too far, Ter, aren’t you satisfied with Phii Hill?”    “…I mean, I need to tell Phii Hill too, why are you making such a fuss?”

    “Oh, then let’s go,” North said. Before we left, I took out my phone to message Phii Fah that I was going to the zoo with Ter and North, thinking I’d leave a message since he was probably in class and couldn’t reply.

    Typhoon: Phii Fah

       Typhoon: I am going to the zoo with North and Ter.

       Typhoon: Going to take a lot of photos.

       Typhoon: I’ll be careful, don’t worry, hehe.

       Typhoon: I’ll bring back some photos for you.

       It wasn’t long before it showed he had read the message, and then Phii Fah called. I answered, confused, noticing that North and Ter also looked puzzled because they had incoming calls as well.    (Is it the Suan Sathorn Park?)

       “Oh, yes, can we go there?”

    (Yes, please be careful.)

       “I already said I would be careful.”

    (Can’t I just remind you?)

       “Yes, you can.”

    (Okay, don’t overdo the walking, better take the car so you’re not in the sun, and watch out for valuable items too. Stay with

    North and Ter so you don’t get lost, and if you do get lost or anything happens, call me immediately, got it?)

       “Yes!”

    (Good, what time will you be back?)

       “I don’t know yet, what time does Phii Fah finish class?”

    (Three in the afternoon.)

       “Then Phii Fah can pick up Phoon from Suan Sathorn after class, how does that sound?”    (Okay.)

       “Yes, study hard.”

    (You told me that last night, didn’t you?)

       “See, you’re still teasing.”

    (Hehe, just kidding. See you later.)

       “Yes, see you.”

    Then I hung up the phone, turning to see that North and Ter had also just hung up almost at the same time.

    “What did they say?” I asked.

    “Just told me to be careful,” Ter replied, then turned to ask North,

    “How about you?”

    “Phii Jo asked what made me think of going to Suan Sathorn, it’s so hot today. Then he told me to take care of myself, something like that.”

    “Okay, let’s go then!” I said happily before quickly getting up and walking out of the shop, turning around to see that North and Ter weren’t very enthusiastic, which made me complain, “Be a bit more lively, don’t just drag your feet.”

    “Yeah, yeah, let’s go!” Ter raised both hands to show he was being lively before taking out his phone.

    “What?”

    “Haha, Phoon, Phii Fah told me to hold your hand when we walk.”

    “Huh?”

    “He’s worried you might get lost, told me to keep an eye on you, even hold your hand.”

    “Yeah, Phii Fah told me the same thing,” North said, “Said to make sure Phoon doesn’t get lost.”

    “Make sure I don’t get lost? What does Phii Fah think I am? Not a little kid,” I frowned.

    “But you do need to be watched carefully, really, because if you suddenly get lost, it would be a disaster,” North said, “Don’t wander off far from us. I don’t want to have to look for you all over the zoo.”    “I know! I won’t get lost from you guys, I’m twenty-one, not seven or eight to get lost in a zoo.”

    “Yeah, yeah, let’s go, Typhoon, twenty-one,” Ter teased me a bit before we all walked to hail a cab to go to the zoo.

    SOUTHBESIDETHESKY CHAPTERS HOME

  • SOUTHBESIDETHESKY, Chapter 39: Ten and Million

    SOUTHBESIDETHESKY, Chapter 39: Ten and Million

       Since today we planned to celebrate together in the evening, but the doctors had classes, we decided to hang out in the morning first. Right now, there’s me, North, and Ter, who were dropped off by the doctors, playing at a cafe in the mall waiting for Daotok to join us to watch a movie. Foam said he’d only come in the evening because he didn’t want to be out in the sun.

       “It’s taking forever,” North started complaining.

    “Dao drives so slowly,” Ter said, “I saw him once, driving 30mph.”

    “Shit, when will he get here?”

    “Drive safely, man.”

    “Like you’re riding a bike.”

    “And you’re really going to watch that movie?” I asked again for reassurance, as North had volunteered to choose the movie himself. Of course, someone as afraid of ghosts like North would choose a horror movie…I don’t quite understand why, but it seems he likes them because they scare him, given his vivid imagination compared to those who don’t watch them.

    “Yeah, I’m serious.”

    “You’ll scream your head off in the theater again,” Ter said, shaking his head lightly.

    “What. Who’s screaming? Me? That’s a laugh, Ter, you’re the one who screams.”

    “Oh, we’ll see.”

    “Aren’t you scared?” I asked.

    “I am scared.”

    “Then why watch? You’re scared of ghosts but still watch horror movies, that’s weird.”

    “Well, if you’re not scared, what’s the fun in watching? Horror movies are only fun if they scare you.”

    “…Yeah, that’s true,” I nodded in agreement, furrowing my brows at him, “Did you tell Dao about watching a horror movie?”

    “I told him, and Dao said he’s fine with it, he likes watching them,” Ter said.

    “See, you’ve found someone with the same taste.”

    “Dao gets along with you like a house on fire.”

    “Has Dao ever not gone along with us?” Ter said, “Even though he doesn’t like celebrations. Just a little coaxing and he agrees to come.”

    “Yeah, that’s true,” I nodded in agreement, because usually, he always refuses when we invite him out. This time, we tried coaxing him, and Dao agreed more easily than expected. If Dao had refused again, I wouldn’t have pushed further; he really doesn’t like celebrations or crowded places, especially if there are people he’s not close with.

    And if we invite him like this, will Dao feel uncomfortable? Oh no, I was just thinking about getting him out of his room to meet us, forgetting that he might feel uncomfortable.

    Not long after, Daotok arrived, sat down next to me in the shop.

    “Have you booked the movie yet?” asked the new arrival.

    “Ugh, another half hour.”

    “Oh, it’s a horror movie, right?”

    “Yeah,” I replied, “Ugh, Dao, tonight. It’s okay, right? There will be some doctors there, so you won’t feel uncomfortable, will you?”

    “…Well.”

    “If you feel uncomfortable, it’s okay, I’m sorry. We forgot to consider this. We won’t force you.”    “Does the cat want us to go?”

    “Of course, he must want us to.”

    “Hmm, then we’ll go. It’s fine, we’ve talked about it with all the fans before.”

    “Okay,” I smiled at the person sitting next to me, before Ter ordered more snacks to kill time and forced Dao to eat some too.

    “Dao, this is delicious, really, try it.”

    “Ter says everything is delicious.”

    “Hey, but this one is really good, try it.”

    “…” The person next to me. I didn’t respond, then picked up a banana samosa, chewed it slowly, and started to frown, which made Ter look worried right away.

    “Not tasty?”

    “Well…it’s alright.”

    “Have some more, a lot.”

    “Is this fattening me up or what?” North spoke up, grabbing some from the plate to eat, “Not wanting to be fat alone, huh, need company to be fat too?”

    “Shut up and break that samosa!”

    “See, pretending to be tough.”

    “Actually, with the new semester starting soon, I miss the beginning of the first year,” I mentioned, remembering, “It’s almost your anniversary with Phii Hill, isn’t it?”    “Hmm, yeah,” Ter nodded.

    “Time flies, huh. I remember the first time I knew Phii Hill was flirting with you were like…shit.”

    “Shit, because Phii Hill is friends with Phii Fah?”

    “Yeah,” I nodded and let out a small laugh, “Back then it was like, shit, the world is so damn small. When I went to find you at the star moon pageant, I got lost with Foam and then Phii Fah was the one who picked me up. At that moment, I almost had a heart attack, especially when I found out he was friends with Phii Hill who was hitting on Ter.”

    “I sensed something was off from that moment,” Ter said.

    “Really?”

    “Yeah, your face looked like you were about to cry.”

    “Oh, come on,” I frowned slightly, feeling annoyed, “I thought I was pretty smooth.”    “You, Phoon?”

    “Yeah.”

    Then we chatted for a while until the movie started. We had seats right in the middle, sitting in order: me, North, Ter, Dao. At first, when the movie started, it wasn’t so bad, but as it went on, the movie’s atmosphere got scarier and more tense. I started to curl up bit by bit, pulling my legs up to hug them.

       “Uhmm…”    North?

    What kind of noise is that?

    “Don’t…don’t do that, don’t ‘uhmm’.”

    “…”

    “!!!” As soon as the ghost in the movie appeared, North was so startled that he pulled me into a tight hug, before the popcorn in his hand spilled all over me.

    Sticky.

    “!!! Why did you pinch me?” North whispered softly because I had just pinched his arm.

    “It’s sticky, did you buy the popcorn just to pour it on me?” I whispered back.

    “Sorry, I was startled.”

    “…” I let the person who suggested watching the horror movie hug my arm, or rather, squeeze it, to the point where I think the blood flow was cut off, because I’m not really scared of ghosts. Just startled by some scenes. Turning to peek, I saw Dao also getting hugged by Ter.

    What in the world is this…

       When the movie ended, the person next to me, who finally let go of my arm, felt indescribably relieved as we walked out of the theater.

       “Man, it wasn’t scary at all, you reviewer.”

    “Really, North?” I teased back while showing him my arm full of red marks, “Did you bite my shirt too?”

    “Heh,” North gave a sheepish smile while lightly scratching his head.

    “Damn, my sleeve is full of your saliva.”

    “Heh.”

    “Still laughing your ‘heh’?”

    “North is such a scaredy-cat,” Dao chimed in.

    “Ter was hugging you too, wasn’t he? Why don’t you say anything about him?”

    “He wasn’t hugging, just hiding. Ter is just normal, but North is super scared.”

    “…Uh, so what? Everyone has something they’re afraid of!

    Everyone is scared of ghosts!”

    “I’m not scared.”

    “I’m not really either,” I replied.

    “Liar, how do you watch a horror movie without getting scared?”    “The director tries to make us scared,” Dao explained, “Just think that there’s a camera following the actors, and it’s not scary anymore.

    Ghosts have to have makeup, and everything else has to be edited, props and all.”

    “Ah, that’s it, how can it be fun then?” North mumbled unhappily,

    “Your heart is numb to the ghosts now.”

    After that, we went for lunch because the doctors had classes all day, making us stay here all day too. At noon, during the break, usually Phii Fah would call me, and today was no different. We talked for a while before hanging up, and I noticed Phii Hill and Phii Jo also called Ter and North.

       “Everyone looks so much livelier after talking with their partners.”

    “Don’t you have anyone you interested in?” Ter asked teasingly, and Dao shook his head slightly.

    “No.”

    “It would be nice if someone took care of you,” I added.

    “Oh. I already have someone to take care of.”    “Who!!” the three of us asked in unison.

    “Should I tell you?”

    “Just give us a hint!”

    “He’s very important.”

    “How important?”

    “The whole world.”

    “Wow, he’s as important as the whole world? Are you kidding?”

    North started to tease. I exchanged an embarrassed look with Ter, while Daotok just smiled casually, not showing any embarrassment despite what he just said, “Why are you so romantic?”

    “Romantic, huh?”

    “Yeah, he would be embarrassed if he heard that.”

    “But he doesn’t seem embarrassed.”

    “Oh, why so cold?”

    “Yeah, he’s pretty cold with me, but even so.”

    “Wow, I want to see his face.”

    “I have a picture.”

    “!!! Show it! Show it! Let’s see!” we said loudly enough to startle Dao, who then reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

    Are you really going to show us? Why so easy? And why haven’t you mentioned him before, like Daotok? And he’s cold on top of that!

    What kind of person could be as important as the whole world to Daotok!!

       “Here.”

    “!!!”

    “What…what is this?!”    “Uh, handsome, huh?”

    “Shit! Why show me a picture of a cat?!” North exclaimed immediately because the picture Dao just showed us was of a black cat.

    “This is him, my important person.”

    “It’s not a person, it’s a cat! How can a cat be an important person?

    You should say it’s an important cat.”

    “It’s equally important!”

    “Hey, you spoke loudly for the first time!” North looked surprised. I was also quite surprised because Dao’s sentence earlier was a bit louder than usual, I emphasize, just a bit. Normally, Dao speaks softly and slowly.

    “Is Jon ca—, this person?” Ter asked.

    “Uh, this is Jon…my whole world.”    This guy is a cat slave…

       Oh, that’s why they said he acts cold.

       “So, don’t tell me that all this time at work you’ve been…”

    “Uh, I have to buy the best food for Jon.”

    “Holy shit, working until you end up in the hospital just to buy food for a cat,” North whispered to me. I couldn’t help but laugh at Dao; it was kind of cute.

    So, it’s like we can go hungry, but the cat must be full…

       “And why does it have to be Jon?”

    “Actually, his name is Jachornsak, shortened to Jon.”

    “What kind of cat has the name Jachornsak?” North whispered to me again, almost making me burst out laughing. Dao always likes to give fancy names to everything. Like the cat doll he gave me, it’s named Supaporn.

       Oh…buying cat dolls because he likes cats, huh?

       “Is the reason you like to call me ‘cat’ because you like cats?”    “Exactly. That’s why I love cats so much,” Daotok said happily, which explained why he called me “cat” instead of my name every time. That’s why.

    But why do you look so cheerful?

    I’ve never seen him smile this wide before…Because he was looking at Jon’s photo, huh? Wow, the power of cats is truly something.    “Oh, so when you said you were saving to move to a condo, it was for…” Ter asked, as if he just remembered.

    “Yeah. I’m going to take Jon to live with me, the dorm doesn’t allow pets.”

    “Oh,” we nodded in understanding. It explained why Daotok was so hardworking, why he had to work hard every day. It wasn’t just for the car payments, but for Jon’s upkeep too…

    “So, where are we heading next?” I asked, checking the time and realizing it wasn’t time for the celebration yet.

    “Why not karaoke?”

    “Sounds good,” North quickly agreed, since he loved to sing.

    “Fine by me,” I said.

    “Let’s do it,” Dao said, before we headed to karaoke. Neither I nor

    Dao sang; I didn’t sing because I’m not much of a singer and I’m shy. Dao just listened, while North practically monopolized the microphone, occasionally passing it to Ter.

    “Damn, Jon!” North, walking beside me, exclaimed, looking over at Ter and Dao talking about cats. When it comes to cats, Daotok becomes a different person. I was still taken aback seeing Dao so cheerful, “I’ve never met such a true cat servant.”

    “Same here, it seems like he’s dedicated his life to serving cats.”    “Yeah, working so hard, I thought he had debts, damn, it’s all for the cat.”

    “He seems to have clear goals, though.”

    “At first, I thought he was secretly dating someone, oh well, all that anticipation for nothing, talking like it’s a person, somehow I feel outdone by it.”

    “It’s kind of cute, calling the cat ‘Mister.’ and me ‘cat’, it’s all so confusing.”

    “Yeah,” North laughed, before we went outside because Phii Fah was coming to pick us up. We noticed the sky was overcast, “It’s going to rain, it was sunny this morning.”

    “Definitely Jon’s power,” I teased, and North laughed again.

    “Dao, what are you going to do, ride your motorcycle here?” Ter asked the person next to him.

    “I’ll go ahead first.”

    “Is that okay? What if it rains on the way?”

    “It’s fine, see you at the restaurant.” Then Dao quickly went to the motorcycle parking area. Not long after, Phii Fah’s car arrived and parked, then he lowered the window and told all three of us to get in.    “Hill and Jo are already at the restaurant; it would be too much trouble for everyone to come together.”

    “Oh,” North and Ter said in unison from the back seat, and the luxury car moved away from the mall area. I kept looking outside, hoping it wouldn’t rain. Let Dao reach the restaurant first, because riding a motorcycle in the rain is very dangerous.

    We got to the restaurant before it started to rain, finding Dao already sitting there, along with Phii Hill and Phii Jo at the same table, plus Foam.

    “Isn’t Phii Arthit coming?” I asked.

    “He said he had some business. He asked me to tell you he’s happy you passed the exam.”

    “Oh,” I nodded slightly before sitting at the table. Just then, it started raining outside, “Good that we came before it rained,” I said, turning to Dao, who nodded slightly in response.

    We went to fetch various dishes and brought them back to the table.

    Since I’ve known Ter, I’ve been eating at BBQ buffets a lot more often, celebrating every little thing with a BBQ. When we returned to the table, there was alcohol there too.

       “Did you order alcohol too?” I asked Phii Fah.

    “North ordered it.”

    “Heh, I wanted some. Haven’t had any for a while,” North said with a smile before pouring some into his glass and then asked Phii Jo, “Do you want some?”

    “Sure,” Phii Jo nodded slightly.

    “Phoon, Ter, Dao, Foam?”

    “I’ll have some,” Foam said, handing his glass to North. I hesitated a bit since it had been a while since I drank, then turned to ask Phii Fah for advice.

    “Go for it. It’s fine, I told you I’ll take care of it.”

    “…Oh, North, please give me some.”

    “Ter, want some?”

    “No.”

    “Ter, want some?”

    “No.”

    “Ter, want some?” North kept repeating the same question until Ter furrowed his brows at him.

    “Hey, you, I said no.”

    “Are you my friend?”

    “Damn,” Ter swore, feeling cornered by the question, before he had to reluctantly hand his glass over to North.

    “Dao, are you my friend?”

    “Who is North’s friend?”

    “Oh, so it’s Dao.”

    “Joking. I rode a motorcycle here, how could I drink?”

    “Oh yeah, I forgot. Then never mind,” North said before raising his glass. We raised our toast with him, “Cheers, Typhoon passed the exam, yeah!!”

    Our celebration then turned into ordering more and more alcohol, and this place had so much that we started to wonder if it was actually a bar. But after looking closely, we understood; the shop next door was a bar, probably they had some arrangement.

       North was quite the drink mixer, very skilled at it, which might prove true the saying that engineers are good at getting drunk. Looking at how well North mixed drinks, and importantly, no one stopped him.

       After a while, Ter was the first to show signs of being drunk; his face started turning red all the way to his ears, his eyes began to glaze over.

       “Mix more!”

    “Why are you shouting?”

    “North! Bring the alcohol!!”

    “Already drunk and still so fierce.”

    “Hurry up!!”

    “Yeah, yeah,” North had to quickly pour more alcohol for Ter. Normally, Ter is the kindest saint among us, but why does he get so aggressive when he’s drunk?

       “Am I too slow for you? Huh? Am I too slow?”

    “Oh, oh, calm down. You’re a fake saint, aren’t you? Your true nature comes out when you’re drunk,” because of the slow pouring, Ter ended up pulling North’s ear.

    “Shut up! Try me!”

    “You’re the big shot now, huh? Oh, Phii Hill, stop him, please! My ear is going to come off!”

    “Ter, come here,” Phii Hill pulled Ter close without being able to resist, and Ter was flailing around so much that he had to be held tightly.

    “Uh, I love you Phii Hill the most.”

    “…” And then the whole table went silent with Ter’s words before he fell asleep in Phii Hill’s embrace, his aggressive behavior having dissipated.

       Referring to himself as ‘I ’, why am I feeling embarrassed?

       “Next, Phoon.”

    “I think the one pouring is starting to get drunk too.”

    “I’m not drunk.”

    When Ter gets drunk, he’s the noisy type. I wonder what type North and Foam are.

       Time passed by, and Foam started to slump over the table, drunk. It seems we’ll have to call his roommate to pick him up. Dao took care of calling them. I noticed North was also looking a bit dazed.

       “Why are you so good at holding your liquor, Phoon? I thought I had a pretty strong tolerance.”    “I’m starting to feel dizzy too.”

    “Want to have a drinking contest?”

    “Let’s do it.”

    “…”

    Phii Jo and Phii Fah raised their eyebrows slightly, looking at each other, seemingly waiting to see what the two of us, who were starting to get drunk, would do next.

       Phii Hill excused himself to take Ter back home. By now, Foam had passed out, leaving just me and North.

       “Phii Jo, can you mix some for us?” North said, pushing everything in front of him towards Phii Jo.

    “Is that a good idea?”

    “Jo’s got a heavy hand,” Phii Fah remarked.

    “It’s fine,” I answered, “Just make two glasses the same, that’s enough. This is a battle of honor, isn’t it, North?”

    “Yes! Phii Fah, don’t stop us.”

    “You’re both drunk already.”

    “What should we do?” Phii Jo asked.

    “Just go along with what the younger ones want.”

    “Okay,” Phii Jo responded, before he started mixing drinks for us to compete. I wasn’t sure why we were doing this, but at this point, my mind wasn’t very clear anymore, whatever, everything goes.    I downed my glass in one go, and North did the same. When I was younger and more rebellious, I used to drink a lot, which made me somewhat resilient to alcohol.

    “You still want more?” North asked, his voice slurred.

    “Yeah, you?”

    “Chill, just saying.”

    “Why can you drink so much?”

    “Back then, I used to drink with the old man next door every day.”

    “You’ve been an alcoholic since you were a kid?”

    “Told you, since I was three.”

    “You’re full of crap.”

    “One more glass then,” we clinked our glasses together. I let the bitter-sweet taste flow down my throat one more time, before the image in front of me started to blur, but I could still see that North had passed out.

    “…”

    “Yay! I won!” Overjoyed at winning, I stood up and raised both my hands, but because I was drunk, I fell back down, only to be caught by Phii Fah.

    “Yes, you’ve won,” Phii Fah said. Unable to fight the heaviness of my eyelids, I closed my eyes, “Let’s go home, Jo.”    “Yeah,” Phii Jo responded.

    “Uh, Dao.”

    “…”

    “Dao,” I called out softly.

    “Phoon is calling you,” Phii Fah said.

    “Oh, what’s up, cat?”

    “Foam?”

    “His friend came to pick him up.”

    “Uh, Dao, get back safely, okay?”

    “Uh, okay, see you, congrats on winning.”

    “Obviously,” I gave a thumbs up without looking, before feeling myself being lifted, hearing the sound of a car door opening, Phii Fah placed me on the seat and fastened my seatbelt. I let myself drift off to sleep until I felt myself being laid down on a familiar, soft bed.

    “Uh…” I groaned in my throat when I felt uncomfortable.

    “I will wipe you down in a bit,” he said.

    “No, don’t leave,” I waved my hand around before my hand was grasped.

    “I’m just going to get a cloth, be right back.”

    “No. Don’t leave me.”

    “…”

    “No matter how good someone else might be, don’t leave me,” I mumbled in a slurred voice, trying to push myself up, but Phii Fah pulled me into a hug first.

    “What are you talking about?”

    “I don’t know.”

    “Are you overthinking because you’re drunk?”

    “I am not the best person, but I truly love you Phii Fah, loves you a lot, has loved you for a long time. No matter who comes along, I never cared, if it’s not you, it can’t be anyone else. Even if you don’t choose me, for me, it’s still only you Phii Fah.” “I know, I promised I wouldn’t go anywhere.” “Really?” I asked to confirm.

    “Yes, so why are you overthinking now?” Phii Fah asked in a deep voice, then gently stroked my head.

    “I saw…on a page.”

    “A page?”

    “Someone said that I am not right for you Phii Fah at all.”

    “…Oh.”

    “I don’t care how others see it, but I am afraid that one day someone more suitable for you than me might come along.” I spoke out what had been swirling in my head almost all day, trying not to think about it but unable to suppress the fear. I didn’t really want to voice it out because it might make me seem overly insecure, but with the alcohol coursing through my body, I ended up saying everything.

    “Others have no right to decide who I am suitable for. I, Fah, will choose for myself who I want by his side.”

    “…”

    “And if that person isn’t you, then it can’t be anyone else.”

    “…”

    “As my partner, don’t look or pay attention to anyone else. Just look at me and that’s enough.”

    “Uh, I only look at you. Didn’t you know?”

    “I knew already.”

    “I love you, more than anything in ten universes and a million galaxies!”

    “Thank you, love you too.”

    “…”

    “The most in ten universes, a million galaxies.”

    SOUTHBESIDETHESKY CHAPTERS HOME

  • SOUTHBESIDETHESKY, Chapter 38: Shining

       SOUTHBESIDETHESKY, Chapter 38: Shining

       Tonfah

       After the short trip, celebrating Phoon’s birthday in Japan, which only lasted a few days, we returned to Thailand because we didn’t have much time. We had to continue studying. I think it must have been another good period for Phoon, not only did he get to see his mom but also travel with friends.

    That day, after spending the whole day sightseeing and taking photos, riding the Ferris wheel, and ending with a celebratory meal at a restaurant, we returned to Thailand the next day. Phoon had been busy editing photos and the birthday video for several days, and he wouldn’t let me see it beforehand, saying he’d show it all once it was complete.

    Looking at my watch, it’s now past ten at night, and today was another day with classes until late. I told Phoon to eat something first; believe me, it’s not a good feeling, not having time to even be together like this, especially when there are classes early tomorrow morning too.

    I opened the door to the room slowly, set my bag down, and scanned the room for the person I missed all day. I saw Phoon slumped over the desk, asleep. I tiptoed over carefully so as not to wake him, opening the screen where he was editing the video. I couldn’t help but smile as I secretly saved everything he hadn’t closed before shutting down the computer. Then, I gently lifted him from the desk and laid him on the bed.

    He must have been sitting in front of the computer all day until he was exhausted. I closed the bedroom curtains and turned on the bedside lamp before heading to the bathroom to shower and change. When I came out to check the kitchen counter, there were a couple of dishes wrapped in plastic, probably left by Phoon for me.

    Because he’s just so sweet like this…

    I unwrapped the plastic, heated up the food, served some rice, waited for the dishes to warm up, then had my dinner, and placed the dishes in the sink.

    I peeked in to see if Phoon was sleeping soundly, and when I thought he was, I closed the bedroom door and went to make some coffee, preparing to study for the night.

    In truth, my life before dating Phoon was quite ordinary and boring. Days were spent studying, nights reading, and then studying again the next day, with free time also dedicated to reading. It was just this cycle. But after having a boyfriend, some things changed, like bringing color to my otherwise mundane days.

    I often study until late at night; it’s a habit I’ve had for a long time, even before getting into medical school, and now even more so. Usually, Phoon would sit and watch TV or listen to music on the sofa to keep me company while I studied until he fell asleep.

    Actually, there’s something that’s been on my mind a lot lately, even before I took Phoon to Japan, because during the midterms, I didn’t perform well. I don’t know, can I call myself not good? I thought I had studied as hard as I could, but when it came to the actual exam, there were several questions I couldn’t answer.

    That’s just how exams are. There’s no way you can answer everything given the difficulty and standards of the exams. The higher the year, the harder the subjects get, probably because I’ve never had so many unanswered questions before, which made me feel bad.    My scores were as expected; I knew from the exam that my marks would be around this level. Even though everyone said I did well, even the best among them, it still wasn’t good enough for myself.

    It’s really hard to overcome this habit of putting too much pressure on myself, and when my parents said they thought I could do better, it only increased the pressure. They weren’t really pressuring me, but as I’ve said, it’s an expectation, thinking I should do better, believing I should be like this or that.

    Sigh…thinking about it won’t change anything, better to focus on the present. I concentrated on the study sheet in front of me for over an hour until I had to rest my eyes from exhaustion, letting out a sigh as I felt tired.

    I got up from the desk and walked to the storage shelf to look for old study sheets. While searching, I found an old cigarette pack.

    Oh, I totally forgot about cigarettes. I haven’t smoked for months now, and I didn’t smoke often before, so I didn’t think about it much. When I picked up the pack, I saw there was a post-it note stuck on it with the message:

    ‘Don’t smoke often, I’m worried.’

       Typhoon

       I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the message on the post-it. Phoon must have found it while cleaning and thought I was still smoking, but he didn’t ask or say anything about it.

    I peeled off the post-it and stuck it on the back of a notebook to keep before throwing away the cigarette pack. After finding the study sheets I needed, I went back to reading. Almost an hour later, I heard the bedroom door open slowly. I turned to see that the person who had been sleeping was now awake, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he walked towards me.

    “Couldn’t sleep?”

    “Yeah, what time is it?”

    “Almost midnight.”

    “Oh, I didn’t even know when you came back.”

    “Today, I got back at ten in the evening, and I saw you slumped over the desk, asleep.”

    “Oh, why didn’t you wake him up? I haven’t even showered yet; he’ll stink.”

    “He seemed fine to me.”

    “No, he should shower first,” Phoon said before going to grab his clothes and disappearing into the bathroom. He came out after about ten minutes in simple pajamas, “I’m up now.”    “How can you sleep after showering like that?”

    “I’ll get sleepy soon. What time will you read until tonight?”

    “Probably until about two in the morning.”

    “Oh, then I will go back to editing the video. Phii Fah you didn’t peek, right?”    “No, I didn’t look.”

    “Okay, don’t let me catch you cheating.”

    “Yes, yes,” I couldn’t help but smile at the look on his face, “Give me some encouragement for studying, please.” My words made him slowly come closer, and he kissed my cheek.

    “Susuna!”

    “One more.”

    “…” Phoon slightly frowned before leaning in and kissing my other cheek. When I said I wanted encouragement, I meant a kiss, but this was fine for now. I smiled contentedly, and Phoon walked away with a slightly red face, sitting back at the computer desk, putting on headphones to continue editing videos and photos.

    …

    Typhoon

       Having had a nap and a shower, I was now wide awake, focusing on video editing for a while. Then I remembered that tomorrow was the day the exam results would be announced, which made me anxious.

    It’s five fifty-five now.

    Just five more minutes!

    I quickly opened the exam results website, but it was down, oh, damn it, it happens every year! I stood up in agitation, almost unable to sit still, trying to calm myself down when I noticed Phii Fah was seriously reading.

    I refreshed the page while keeping an eye on the time, and as the seconds ticked by, I got more and more excited, feeling all tense!    My heart pounded intensely when I realized it was midnight, and while trying to load the website, my hands were shaking all over. I was so excited I could almost explode, but I had to stay quiet!

    “Come on, load!” I whispered to myself. This ‘load’ meant the exam results, come on, load already! How long will this website take to load?

    It’s loaded!

       I held my breath as the white website slowly loaded.

       I passed!!

       “Arghhhhh!!!” I accidentally shouted out loud, startling Phii Fah, who was reading and quickly turned to look at me.

    “Phoon! What’s wrong?”

    “Phii Fah, aaah!!!”

    “Uh, what’s up?” Phii Fah quickly got up from his chair and came over to me.

    “Uh, I, I, oh, argh, I passed, I passed, I got into the photography program, I passed!” I shouted with joy until it was almost incoherent. I looked at the website again for reassurance, and Phii Fah rushed to look at the screen too, showing signs of happiness as well.

    “Congratulations~~” Not waiting for Phii Fah to finish, I jumped to hug him out of joy, unable to contain myself. Phii Fah looked a bit confused at being suddenly jumped on, but he quickly caught me.

       “I passed, oh, I, this…I!”

    “That’s great, congratulations, I knew you could do it.”

    “Thank you for believing in me, I did it! Yay!” Before Phii Fah gently set me down, I was nearly overwhelmed with joy. All the effort and studying for months wasn’t in vain; I finally got to study what I wanted! Phii Fah gently patted my head, looking at me with affection.

    I grinned back at him immediately.

    Now, I had to show off!

    I quickly grabbed my phone to call everyone. The last person I chatted with on LINE was Ter. I called him right away. It wasn’t long before the call was answered.

    “Ter!!”

    (What!? Why are you so loud!)

       “Aren’t you asleep yet?”

    (You bastard. Not just when calling out names, your voice cracks the whole sentence. Still watching Phii Hill read, and what?)

       “Me! Passed! Got in!”

    (What?)

       “Passed, you asshole, got into Photo!”

    (Holy shit, congrats, man, that’s great, let’s celebrate tomorrow.)

       “Yeah, we have to celebrate, can’t miss it now.”

    (Yeah, yeah, so have you told anyone else yet?)

       “Not yet, you’re the first. I’ll call to brag to others now.”

    (Heh. Nothing else, right?)

       “Nothing else. Just wanted to brag about passing.”

    (Okay, good night then.)

       “Good night.”

    I immediately scrolled through my chats to find Foam, calling him on LINE. He answered not long after. Of course, I called him with that cracking voice like I always do when I’m excited or upset, and he teased me about it. I told him about passing the exam, and he got really excited, congratulated me, and said we should celebrate together tomorrow, sounding just like Ter. We only talked for a bit before hanging up because he was actually sleeping and had to wake up to answer my call.

    Then, it was North’s turn, I guess.

    “Man, th-th-th!!”

    (Why’s your voice cracking? What’s up?)

       “Aren’t you asleep yet?”

    (-fuck, I’m playing games.)

       “I see. Didn’t know.”

    (So, what’s up?)

       “Me! Passed! Got into! Pho! To! Now!”

    (Really? Congrats, I knew you’d make it.)

       “Yeah, let’s celebrate tomorrow.”

    (Okay, okay, we’ll plan it. I’m going to play some games now.)

       “Addicted to games. Not sleeping, huh?”

    (Playing games while waiting for Phii Jo to finish studying.)

       “Oh, well, goodnight then.”

    (Goodnight.)

       After hanging up with North, the last person to call was Daotok.

    “Daotok!”

    (…Your voice sounds excited, which means something must have happened.)

       “I passed the photo exam!” I didn’t shout as loudly as with the others because I didn’t want to yell at Daotok.

    (Really? Wow, that’s great, congratulations. You’re a smart cat, no surprise there.)

       “Yeah, let’s celebrate tomorrow.”

    (Celebrate?)

       “Yeah, are you coming? I’ve already made plans with everyone.”

    (I probably won’t make it, sorry, I’ll give you a gift later.)

       “Why? Are you not free?”    (Well, yeah.)

       “Come on, Dao never comes to celebrations, come on, it’ll just be for a bit.”

    (…)

       “Pleaaaase.”

    (…Alright, then tell me the place. We’ll meet at the restaurant.)    “Okay! And why are you up so late? Don’t tell me you’re working again.”

    (Then we won’t tell.)

       “So, you’re working, huh?”

    (Yeah, yeah.)

       “Okay, okay, good luck. Sorry for bothering you, get some rest.”

    (Yeah, sweet dreams, cat.)

       “Sweet dreams to you too.”

       And with that, the mission of calling everyone to brag, I mean, to share the good news about passing the exam, was complete. I turned back to smile broadly at Phii Fah, the joy still not fading.

       “I might even get honors, heh-heh.”

    “Yes, you can do it.”

    “I will do my best, as a student of yours, I won’t let my teacher down!” I said with a strong voice, making a respectful gesture, which made Phii Fah smile slightly at my antics.

    “If you go to study, I will probably only be able to tutor you for free outside of school. But for photography and stuff like that, you should already be good at it.”

    “Yes.” And with overwhelming joy, I hugged the person in front of me again. Phii Fah hugged me back.

    Now I have done it, Fan.

       I’ll have to tell this good news to Mom, Aunt Nuan, and Aunt Prae too!

       …

    Tonfah

       Today was supposed to be a day for the juniors to get together for a celebration; they had already booked a restaurant thinking everyone would be free on Saturday, but we ended up having make-up classes. So, I dropped Phoon off to hang out with his friends in the morning, thinking why not. We were supposed to go out for dinner together in the evening. Staying alone in the room in the morning would be quite boring.

       I dropped him off at the mall because Phoon said they might eat and watch a movie there, hoping they would stay at the mall and not go causing trouble anywhere else.

       It seems Phoon has noticed that I haven’t been feeling too great recently, so he’s been trying to stay close, being more affectionate.

    Even though he’s usually quite clingy, it’s because Phoon knows I’ve been studying hard, and telling me not to stress out is something easier said than done. Normally, Phoon takes good care of me, from preparing meals, getting things ready, cleaning the room, doing everything he can.

       “Fah!”

    “What?” I turned to ask a female friend who approached me during the break.

    “Can you explain this part? No one in our group understands it.”    “Oh,” and then I explained the content to her, adjusting the professor’s words a bit to make it easier to understand.    “Oh, okay, thanks,” she said with a smile. I smiled back courteously, “Oh, Fah, is the person you post on Instagram really your boyfriend?”    “Yeah, why?”

    “Nothing, he’s cute, is he your junior?”

    “Yeah.”

    “He’s really cute. We were just talking about how cute your boyfriend is, he’s so adorable.”

    “Oh…thanks.”

    “I want to meet him in person. What department is he in?”

    “He’s about to enter the Photography program.”

    “Oh, I’ll go check him out later, his Instagram is full of pictures of you.”

    I didn’t say anything, just smiled, before she talked a bit more and then walked away.

    “Jo,” I called out to the person sitting next to me.

    “What?”

    “Have people ever complimented North on being cute?”

    “Sometimes, why?”

    “Do you like it?”

    “No.”

    “Then it’s not weird, right?”

    “I don’t know,” Jo said, “The point isn’t whether it’s weird or not, the point is I don’t like it.”

    “Hmm,” I let out a small sigh. Even though I wasn’t too pleased with people complimenting Phoon like that, when I thought about it, isn’t it good that people think my boyfriend is cute? They’re just complimenting, it doesn’t mean anything more.

    If just seeing a photo makes people say Phoon is cute, does that mean when Phoon enters the new faculty, there will be even more people?

       “Hill,” I called out.

    “What?”

    “When Phoon was studying vet science, did a lot of people like him?”

    “…Why suddenly ask?” Hill raised an eyebrow, looking slightly puzzled, “Yes.”

    “Yes?”

    “Uh, Ter told me there were quite a few, both seniors and peers.”

    “Quite a few?”

    “Uh, that’s what I heard.”

    “How many people?”

    “Don’t know.”

    “How did they flirt?”

    “Don’t know.”

    “And what did Phoon say?”

    “He probably rejected them.”

    “Probably? Why probably?”

    “…”

    “Were they just flirting, not chasing him aggressively, right?”

    “No, they didn’t.”

    “Well, that’s good,” I sighed in relief. Even though it’s in the past, if someone had done something bad to Phoon, I would definitely feel uneasy.

    “When he enters Photo, there will probably be people liking him again,” Hill said.

    “Yeah,” I shrugged slightly, not too concerned.

    “People are looking at your boyfriend, do you like it?”

    “I don’t like it, but what does it matter if they look?”

    “…”

    “Phoon only looks at me, that’s all.”

    “Fuck, that’s really annoying,” Jo said, bursting into laughter, making me laugh too, “So, you’re saying Phoon loves you a lot?”

    “No. Not saying that, but it’s true.” I teased them just for fun, and indeed, they got annoyed.

    “A new level of bragging,” Arthit teased, “I thought Hill and Jo were annoying enough, but you, Fah, take the cake.”

    “And what about you, Arthit? Don’t you have anything to brag about?” I countered.    “Huh? Me?”

    “Yeah. Nothing?”

    “How could there be?”

    “Someone you’re talking to?”

    “My dad still doesn’t talk to me these days.”

    “Hasn’t he unblocked you on LINE yet?” Jo asked, laughing.    “Yeah, tell my dad to unblock me on LINE, you have his LINE, right?”

    “Yeah, yeah, my friend’s situation is pitiful.”

    SOUTHBESIDETHESKY CHAPTERS HOME

  • SOUTHBESIDETHESKY, Chapter 37: His cat

       SOUTHBESIDETHESKY, Chapter 37: His cat

       Tonfah

       I glanced at the person walking ahead with happiness, Phoon in the white winter jacket I once bought for him, black jeans, and black sneakers. He might not notice it much himself, but Phoon usually dresses in black almost every day, so seeing him in white was a bit different but fitting.

    It seems like the person who just got a new camera is very excited, especially since it’s Phoon. So, I didn’t have any other gift ideas besides the camera; it’s the one thing that the little one loves to the point of obsession, no matter how many cameras or lenses he has, it wouldn’t be enough.

    Just like how I’m obsessed with Typhoon’s smile right now, his large, bright eyes blending perfectly with the morning air. I’ve heard that when people are with something they love deeply, they have a charm. I only understood this when I saw Phoon with his camera. I never thought someone could love photography this much. Whether it’s lifting the camera to shoot, checking the photos, or even editing them, it’s all captivating.

    We were at Osaka Castle, the first place the younger ones said we had to visit, and it was fortunate because it was spring, and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom.

    It was all so beautiful. From the pink cherry blossoms lining the path to the child with a big smile on his face with the camera in hand.    The gentle breeze blew, and the sweet-faced owner turned towards me, the same camera stopping in front of my face. The photographer paused for a moment before pressing the shutter. After taking the photo, Phoon lowered the camera and looked at the screen.

    “How is it?” I asked.

    “Take a look,” Phoon said before quickly approaching me, handing me the camera to see the picture he had just taken. It was a full-body shot of me standing in the middle of the path with cherry trees on both sides, with a few people walking in the background and sides, but the focus was solely on me.

    It’s well known that this photographer takes the most beautiful pictures.

    “What do you think?”

    “The model is clear as day.”

    “Anyone standing here would look good with this kind of shot.”

    “That’s not true,” Phoon shook his head slightly, “It’s also because of the model. Since you are tall, the full-body shot looks good like this.”

    “Hmm,” I raised my eyebrows a bit. I’m not one to compliment myself much, but I’m not completely lacking in confidence either, “If you say so.”

    “Uh, you don’t often compliment yourself, huh?” The person next to me said playfully.

    “Phoon is the same,” I replied, and he gave a broad smile.

    “One more photo, please.”

    “What should I do?” I asked because when Phoon takes photos of me, I usually don’t know what to do. It’s not just when Phoon takes photos; I generally don’t like having my picture taken, so I don’t know much about these things.

    “Hmm, just walk normally,” Phoon said.

    “Okay,” I agreed, then Phoon circled around to the back.

    “Turn around a bit, but don’t look at the camera.”

    “Then what should I look at?”

    “Look…you can look at North.”

    “Johan would have something to say about that.”    “Phii Jo won’t know,” he said.

    I didn’t respond, instead, I turned to the side, looking at the cherry blossom trees. As the wind blew, my hair fluttered with it. After a moment, thinking it was enough, I turned to look at Phoon. Since the wind was blowing, I had to push my hair back to keep it from covering my face, before Phoon took another three rapid shots.

       “Wow, that’s beautiful,” the photographer said excitedly, quickly showing me the photos, “Phii Fah could be a model, really.”    “I’d rather not,” I smiled.

    “Phoon,” I turned along with Phoon when we heard the call; it was Ter and Hill approaching. Now, all of us were out sightseeing together, except for Arthit, who never likes going anywhere with others, especially not with this group; he’s definitely not going to join, preferring to go off alone for a long time. I just hoped he wouldn’t forget the time we were supposed to meet back for our return to Thailand.

    “How’s it going? Did you find any beautiful spots?” Phoon asked Ter. These two really get along well when it comes to photography, both enjoying it, but Ter doesn’t take it as seriously.

    “That spot wasn’t bad, especially with the cherry blossoms.”

    “Oh, just from this direction,” Phoon said, showing Ter the photos. The one who just saw them looked slightly amazed, “What do you think?”

    “Stunning,” Ter said, “You should check this out first,” before showing Phoon his own camera.

    “Hey, did you secretly take a picture of me?”

    “It turned out nice, right, Phii Fah?” Then Ter showed me some pictures, ones he took of me and Phoon from not too far away, when we were walking together, smiling at each other while Phoon was taking my photo, “Here’s another behind-the-scenes shot.”

    “It’s beautiful,” I answered, “Can you send it to me?”

    “Sure,” Ter smiled. I like the pictures Ter took of me and Phoon. I can’t really put it into words, but they look natural, and I especially like how Phoon smiles when I’m not looking, that smile when he’s not focusing on the camera.

    If he’s going to smile this cutely while taking pictures,    I wouldn’t want him to take photos of anyone else.

    “The cherry blossoms are damn beautiful,” I said to Ter as the two of us walked slightly ahead of Phii Hill and Phii Fah, heading to capture the scenery around Osaka Castle. The soft sunlight slightly changed the tone of the photos, but I like it when the sun is out; for me, the pictures turn out even prettier.

    I wanted to secretly take many photos of Phii Fah, but that would be difficult since he would notice even the slightest attempt.

    I took a lot of landscape photos, especially of the cherry blossoms in full bloom, with angles looking up to the sky, making them look even more beautiful.

    Walking along, I saw a moat around the castle with ducks in it, which I thought were cute, so I couldn’t help but stop to take photos.    “You can’t take pictures of everything, Phoon. We haven’t even reached the castle yet,” Ter said.

    “Yeah, we’ve been here for almost twenty minutes, right?”    “Yeah, if you keep going like this, we won’t have time to see much, probably won’t even go inside.”

    “Hmm,” I pouted in frustration before turning back when I felt someone approaching, “How are they?” I asked North, who had just arrived. Earlier, while taking photos with Phii Fah, I saw him not too far away.

    “Looks good, the cherry blossoms are in perfect bloom, we’re damn lucky.”

    “Aren’t you taking any photos?” Ter asked.

    “I’m not good at it, I’ll just take the ones from you guys.”

    “As expected, here, I secretly took some of you and Phii Jo too,” Ter said, showing the pictures from his camera to North, who immediately raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

    “When did you sneak the photo?”

    “It was slick, I could be a paparazzo,” Ter said with pride, especially since he had just sneakily taken a photo of me and Phii Fah, and it turned out to be a beautiful shot.

    “Doctoring isn’t your thing anymore, huh?” North said.    “Yeah, I quit. Next time you’re sick, you won’t be able to come to me.”

    “Damn, Ter,” and North gave Ter a piece of his mind. I glanced back at the three doctors chatting behind us. The scene before me seemed like something out of a movie, and I couldn’t resist lifting the camera hanging around my neck to take a picture. Of course, they must have noticed.

    Maybe because they’re used to being photographed secretly.    Phii Fah looked at me, raising an eyebrow slightly. I made a face before lowering the camera.

       “Pretend you didn’t see,” I said with a pout; how could someone notice they’re being photographed secretly like that?

    “Oh, okay,” Phii Fah laughed, then nudged Phii Jo and Phii Hill to act like they didn’t know. The other two looked slightly surprised before agreeing to play along, turning back to their conversation as before.

    “How did you manage to sneak that shot, Ter?” I asked after I had taken photos of the three of them, scrolling through the images I’d just captured. I must say, they really are attractive, all three of them, even more so when they stand together like this, drawing everyone’s gaze.

    No wonder it’s not just us looking at them right now.

    “You have to do it when Phii Fah or Phii Jo are with you guys. They won’t pay attention to anything else then,” Ter said, making me feel a bit embarrassed, “But trying to sneak a photo any other time, you won’t get away with it.”

    “Yeah, that’s true, I’ve never succeeded in catching Phii Jo off guard in a photo. He always knows. I don’t know why he’s so perceptive.”

    “Maybe because he gets photographed a lot,” I said, “I’ve seen on the university page, there are many candid shots of him, right? While

    Phii Fah and Phii Hill act like they don’t see it, Phii Jo mocks the camera with a smile.”

    Speaking of the university page reminded me, because I’m not much into social media, only using it to keep in touch with friends. But after dating Phii Fah, he became somewhat of a celebrity at the university, even being the runner-up for the month. People comment a lot about us, but I don’t read them because I’m lazy, yet I want to say that the candid photos of Phii Fah are terrible, the angles are bad, and they’re even blurry!

    I’m not angry because someone photographed Phii Fah secretly.

    But if I knew who it was, I’d teach them how to take proper photos!

    “Why are you making a cat face?”

    “Huh, what cat?”

    “When you’re sulky, you make a cat face, Phoon,” Ter explained, continuing from what North had just asked. I immediately looked at them with a surprised expression, “Like when you frown and squint your eyes, making a pouty face.”    “You mean me?” I pointed at myself.

    “Yes, you, I’m talking to you.”

    “No way, that’s impossible,” I shook my head rapidly, narrowing my eyes at them.

    “You look even more like a cat now.”

    “Enough,” I said to stop the teasing about me looking like a cat, before noticing a bridge ahead which probably led into the castle area. It was really a vast castle, making me tired from all the walking, and when we reached the bridge, I couldn’t help but stop to take more pictures.

    “You’re so excited,” North teased.

    “Of course, it’s a new camera, you bastard, I’ve gone mad over it.

    This camera cost two hundred thousand! Who would’ve thought Phii Fah would buy it as a birthday gift? It’s the most expensive and best gift I’ve ever gotten, look at this…” I noticed Phii Jo watching.    “Stop,” North raised his hand to stop me, “I’m getting a headache from hearing you brag about your camera.”

    “Come on, I’m just excited.”

    “Yeah, yeah, my bad. I won’t tease anymore, go ahead and take your photos.”

    “North, be a model for me.”

    “Me?”

    “Yeah, you. Phii Fah said it doesn’t matter who the model is,” I repeated what Phii Fah had told me earlier.

    “What does he know? Do you think if it wasn’t him in that photo, it would have turned out that good?” North said with a slightly annoyed look but still agreed to stand by the bridge to be my model, “How should I pose?”

    “Just act normal,” I said. Soon, North turned to smile at the camera. I searched for the right angle for a while before taking the shot, not realizing that the seniors had been standing behind me for who knows how long. North looked a bit embarrassed.

    Come to think of it, Ter also often gets embarrassed around Phii Hill.

    “I’m shy, or are the doctors just good at making me shy?

    I think it’s the latter, because if it weren’t for Phii Fah, I wouldn’t get shy at all.

    “Did you get a lot of photos?” Phii Fah asked. I nodded in response before stepping closer to show him the photos on the camera. It’s become a habit to show Phii Fah my photos first whenever I take any. “I like the one with the duck,” I said, pointing to the duck by the canal we just passed, then scrolling through until I reached the photo of the three doctors walking and chatting. This made Phii Fah raise an eyebrow slightly, “Why?”

    “Nothing. Just that we don’t usually have photos together.”    “Let me see,” Phii Jo walked over. I handed him the camera, “Hill, look at this.”

    “What?” Phii Hill asked, turning around.

    “Our photo.”

    “Come to think of it, we never go out together,” Phii Hill said to Phii Jo after seeing the photo.

    “Yeah. Normally, these are candid shots, ah, but this one’s candid too. Didn’t even notice,” Phii Fah teased me a bit, which made me inadvertently frown at him.

    “If Phii Arthit was here, it would be complete,” I said, “Why didn’t he come with us?”

    “He’s not one for going out with a lot of people,” Phii Fah explained, “Especially when traveling, he prefers going alone.”

    “Oh,” I nodded in understanding. Seems like he really values his freedom, huh, Phii Arthit. After spending some time taking photos at the bridge, I was suddenly holding hands with Phii Fah because I was too busy taking photos to notice everyone else had moved ahead.

    Let’s sneak a photo of Ter and Phii Hill. That’s revenge for them taking candid shots of everyone else.

    “We need to hurry a bit, because according to our plan, we’ve got several more places to go, right?” Phii Fah asked with a smile. I nodded in response, one hand still holding his, making me feel both shy and warm at the same time.

    I remembered last time, when we held hands like this while sightseeing.

    Going out with more people does make me tense, especially because of Ter and North; I still remember being teased about…about the morning kiss.

    I picked up the camera with my free hand to take a photo of our joined hands, then slowly moved the camera up to capture the person next to me, up close, and seeing that Phii Fah wasn’t looking at the camera made me think…    Switch to video mode instead.

       “Phii Fah,” I called out, and the owner of the name slowly turned around just as a gentle breeze blew by.

    “What is it?”

    “I want to record a video.”

    “What kind of video?”

    “It’s a birthday memory of me in Osaka with you Phii Fah.”

    “Oh,” before a beautiful smile gradually spread across his handsome face. I believe if that shot just now was edited into slow motion, it would definitely be amazing. “Are you going to edit it?”

    “Yes.”

    Phii Fah raised the hand that was holding mine, touching his lips to the back of my hand and glancing at the camera. At such close range, it made me freeze as if my heart had stopped for a moment, and when I came to my senses, my heart started beating strongly.

       “Don’t cut this part out, okay?”

    “…Okay,” I said in a faint voice. The other seemed satisfied before lowering his hand. I stopped recording the video for now. If I included the shot where Phii Fah kissed my hand in the video…

    It would look very sweet.

    There’s no way I would cut that part out during editing because it’s our memory, after all.

    Before we headed up to Osaka Castle, looked at the view from the top of the castle, we didn’t stay long before descending and planning to go elsewhere.

    “Takoyaki!” Ter turned to see a takoyaki stall and spoke with interest. Of course, he was the first to rush over, followed immediately by Phii Hill.

    “What are they doing?” North asked me.

    “Probably eating, they must have walked by and smelled it,” I said, unable to suppress a chuckle.

    “But it looks good, the original from Japan is like this.”

    “Original again,” I hadn’t finished speaking when North followed Ter.

    “Aren’t you going to buy any?”

    “I am not hungry,” I turned to respond to Phii Fah.

    “You can try some, eat a lot, come on, didn’t your mom say to eat more because you’re too skinny?” Phii Fah’s words forced me into the takoyaki shop, even though I thought I’d been eating a lot lately. But my mom still says I’m too thin.

    After buying some, I poked one with a stick, blew on it, thinking it was cool enough, and tried it. It was delicious, but then I felt a sharp pain in my mouth.

    “What’s wrong? Does your mouth hurt?”

    “…” I didn’t respond, inadvertently frowning at him; the pain was from where my mouth had cracked that morning. I wanted to be sulky but decided to let it go. Better not to mention it. “Try it, Phii Fah, it’s really tasty.”

    “Feed me one.”

    I poked another piece of takoyaki and blew on it to cool it down before feeding it to Phii Fah. After we finished eating, we prepared to move on to another place.

    “Hey,” Ter nudged me and showed me a photo on the camera, one where I was about to feed takoyaki to Phii Fah.

    “Sneak photo again.”

    “Is it nice? Phii Fah looks so handsome even with his mouth open to eat takoyaki.”

    “Phii Hill will take it down later.”

    “Phii Hill won’t mind.”

    “Really?” I asked incredulously, thinking Ter shouldn’t be sulking if he gets scolded by Phii Hill. Then we continued walking to a nearby place where they sold goods. While we were buying ice cream, I noticed Phii Jo buying beer.

    Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Phii Fah drink.

    “Do you usually drink?”

    “Beer?”

    “Yes. Like, alcoholic drinks?”

    “Not really. I don’t like them much.”

    “Oh,” I nodded, thinking it wasn’t that surprising.

    “What about you Phoon?”

    “Huh, me? No, not anymore.”

    “Didn’t you tell me that you used to drink a lot before?”

    “Oh, that was a long time ago, back when I was rebellious,” I said, thinking back to those days when I was a naughty kid who often ran away from home, fought with Fan, and behaved badly while drinking with friends, “But now I don’t touch it at all.”

    “That’s good, but if you feel like drinking, let Phii Fah know.”

    “Will you drink with me?”

    “No, I’ll keep an eye on you.”

    “I can take care of myself, you know. When drinking.”

    “I’m still worried,” Phii Fah said in a calm tone as if it were just a casual statement, but for me, it felt quite special. I couldn’t help but smile secretly when I heard that.

    Initially, we had planned to go to the aquarium, but we thought it would be more beautiful at night because they have a light show. During the day, we decided to walk around and look at various things, then visit a temple to pray and make merit instead.

    In the evening, we arrived at the pier where there’s the aquarium and a giant Ferris wheel. The first thing that caught my eye was the

    Ferris wheel. From the information I gathered, it’s open until late. So, we headed to the aquarium first.

    “Hey, what’s up?” I asked when I noticed Phii Fah kept looking at me.

    “Nothing, just that you look so excited.”

    “I am excited.”

    “That’s good.”

    The two of us held hands as we walked further in. The front of the aquarium indeed had the light display as I had read about, with a plaza full of blue lights giving the feeling that we were underwater or at the icy poles with the cold air and strong winds.

       Before we could look around more, the highlight was penguins walking along the path with a guard. Of course, I didn’t miss the chance to take a photo right there.

       “Looks familiar, ah, but I can’t remember what kind of penguin it is.”

    “Emperor,” Phii Fah answered. I nodded slightly before turning my attention back to the little one in front, not forgetting to record a video. Today, I’ve got plenty of footage to edit for my birthday video in Osaka.

    Walking inside, I found that it was decorated with the same color lighting as outside, in a blue tone, dark blue. The ceiling was full of bright blue lights, making it feel like we were under the deep sea. Even with the blue lights, the darkness inside made it hard to clearly see the person beside me.

    While Phii Fah was scanning the surroundings, I took the opportunity to capture him, who was absorbed in the beautiful ambiance around us.

    Looking through the lens, I realized that no matter what lighting, he always looked captivating.

    “Can I borrow your camera for a moment?”

    “Sure, are you going to take photos?”

    “Yes, it’s so beautiful, I want to capture it.” Hearing that, I took off the camera and handed it to him. Without the camera in my hands, I started looking around, but when I saw Phii Fah holding the camera and taking photos, I paused.

    I’ve noticed many times before, whenever Phii Fah holds a camera, he looks really good.

    I wanted to take a photo of that moment, but I didn’t have my camera with me.

    Wait…

    “Phii Fah, are you taking photos of me?”

    “Yes.”

    “But didn’t you say you were going to take photos around here?”    “When did I say that? I just said it was so beautiful I wanted to capture it.”

    “Then take the photos.”

    “I am taking them.”

    “…”

    I froze when I understood what he meant. Saying it was so beautiful he wanted to capture it and then only taking photos of me meant he was talking about me, right? Realizing that, I protested to cover my embarrassment.

    “Is this revenge?”

    “Not at all, you don’t usually like taking photos of yourself, right?”

    “Yes.”

    “So, Phii Fah will take the photos instead. It would be such a pity if we didn’t capture this beauty.”

    Phii Fah’s words left me speechless for a moment, then he handed the camera back to me. I took the camera and quickly looked at the photos, finding both moments when I was distracted, staring around, and when I turned to complain to the camera.

    “Don’t delete them, okay?”

    “Ugh.”

    I pouted playfully; Phii Fah had taken really beautiful photos. Not because I was in them, but because of the angles and everything else in the shots, overall, they were very good.

    We walked into the underwater tunnel, and somehow, we had gotten separated from the others. I didn’t know when, maybe from the entrance.

    “Phii Fah, do you see the others?”

    “We got separated at the entrance.”

    “Oh, I didn’t even realize.”

    “When you were looking at the penguins.”

    “Oh, that’s bad, what should we do?”

    “We can call them later when we’re back. It’ll be hard to find them now.”

    “Okay.”

    We continued through the underwater tunnel to the Japanese forest zone, which was like an ecosystem simulation. I took lots of cute animal photos, then we moved to the marine animal tanks. I didn’t know how long I spent in there, but by the time I realized it, I had seen everything. It seemed like it took quite a while, but Phii Fah didn’t complain, waiting patiently until I had taken enough photos.

    “Was it fun?” Phii Fah asked after we left the aquarium. Outside, it was now completely dark. I checked the time; it was almost ten at night.

    “Yes, the decorations were very beautiful.”

    “Shall we go on the Ferris wheel?”

    “Yes!” I said excitedly once more when I realized we were about to get on the Ferris wheel. I told you it was the first thing that caught my eye. After waiting in line for just a short while, we got into the gondola. I sat down, and Phii Fah sat opposite me. With the darkness, the view around us looked incredibly beautiful.

    I gazed at the view outside as we gradually ascended, the lights below illuminating Osaka Bay, bridges visible in the distance. Since the Ferris wheel was so high, it felt like we could see the whole city of Osaka.

    “Thank you for bringing me here.”

    “Thank you again.”

    “Really, thank you. Today was so much fun. I never thought I’d get to hang out with you and everyone, and get so many memorable photos and videos,” I said, turning to meet the eyes of the person sitting opposite me, only to find he was already looking at me.

    With the dim light from below, I wasn’t so afraid of the darkness I was experiencing. Especially with Phii Fah here, there was nothing to be scared of. I reached out and held his hand, looking into those beautiful eyes with a heart beating strongly, filled with love for this person and gratitude beyond words.

    “Have you ever thought about it, Phii Fah?”

    “What?”

    “About having a boyfriend, what it would be like.”

    “Never,” he said softly, with a warm smile on his handsome face. “Why not?”

    “Before, when I was alone, it was okay. I didn’t pay attention to anyone.”

    “Really? Even though so many people like you, Phii Fah.”

    “Well, I don’t like any of them.”

    “But you like me, that’s strange.”

    “Why?”

    “…”

    “Honestly, there are so many better people than me.”

    “But there’s only one you, Phoon.”

    “Then let me ask back, there are plenty of people better than me, why don’t you like them?”

    “It’s been you from the start.”

    “Phoon you is the type of person I like. If you showed me his true self, I would probably fall in love with you easily, maybe even from several years ago.”

    “My true self…” I repeated his words, nodding to show I understood well, because I had asked Phii Fah once when we first started dating. I had never truly shown my real self to Phii Fah before that, “Who would dare?”    “Why not?”

    “If I showed that I liked you and you rejected me, that would be bad.”

    “But I didn’t reject you, did I?”

    “Right, but because there was the letter, I got the courage. Back then, I was so scared that you wouldn’t be okay with me being the person from the letter,” I said truthfully.

    “That’s good then. No matter what, as long as I got to know the real you, that’s enough.”

    “What if I ran away back then, at the bridge?” I asked, referring to when Phii Fah asked me out.

    “I told you, we would go back to where you feel comfortable, no matter how long it takes.”    “No matter how long? One year?”

    “Yes.”

    “Two years?”

    “Yes.”

    “Five years?”

    “Yes.”

    “Then, ten years?”

    “Yes.”

    “Wow, aren’t you exaggerating?”

    “No, because back then, I decided that no matter what, it had to be you. As long as we could still talk like that, no matter how many years it took, while I finished his studies, worked as a doctor in the hospital,

    I would come back to write letters to talk with you like before.”    “…Wow,” because those earnest eyes made me realize.

    I was stunned because it made me understand that Phii Fah wasn’t lying at all.

    “Phii Fah you could rush me, you know. You had the right not to be okay with the situation back then. Why didn’t you demand anything?” I said in a soft voice, feeling like something was stuck in my throat.

    “But I am okay with it, why demand anything?”

    “…” I pressed my lips together, feeling my heart swell with emotion. I let silence envelop us for a while because I didn’t know what to say to break this silence, until I remembered I hadn’t recorded a video. I started recording the night view of Osaka from over a hundred meters high, the colorful lights making me gaze in awe for a long time.

    “Do you like the view from here?”

    “Yeah, I love it, I want to come again.”

    “When we come to visit your mom, we’ll come again.”

    “Really, you promised,” I said, emphasizing it, and the other laughed a little.

    “I already take you everywhere,” said the person opposite me, “In fact, I want to bring you out more often too, but Phii Fah doesn’t really have the time.”

    “It’s okay.”

    “…”

    “I’m sorry for not having much time, even though I promised to take good care of you,” what Phii Fah said likely referred to the recent times when he was busy with studies and exams. He’s been studying hard, so it’s not surprising he doesn’t have much time. In fact, Phii Fah seemed somewhat worried about not having enough time for me.

       I shook my head immediately.

       “It’s really okay.”

    “…”

    “Besides, having a boyfriend who’s going to be a doctor isn’t bad.”    I said with a broad smile, and the other reached out to pinch my cheek lightly, with a playful grin.

    “Besides, you have been taking good care of me too.”

    “Really?”

    “Wow, honestly, despite studying hard, Phii Fah you still do so much for me, and I’m very grateful,” I said. Actually, you take care of me too well. No matter where we go or what we do, I hardly have to do anything myself. Even during exam times when he was tired, he still tried to come see me, “Phoon should be the one taking care of you. I haven’t done much for you.”

    “Being a good kid is enough.”

    “I am a good kid. Never been rebellious.”

    “Then who was it that brought coffee while I was studying, late at night, told to wait in the room but didn’t listen, and still came alone by car?”

    “That’s right. Who knows,” I pretended, because when Phii Fah was studying outside. Initially, Phii Fah told me to wait in the room because he would study until the morning, so I wouldn’t have to go through trouble if I came to wait, but I stubbornly took coffee to him and ended up staying to keep watch.

    I remember it was late that night, yet I still stubbornly went by car to find Phii Fah. Of course, I got scolded a lot for it. After that, Phii Fah didn’t let me stay in the room alone anymore because he didn’t trust me not to sneak out again.

    Come to think of it, I’m quite clingy to Phii Fah like a leech.

    “Must be a cat, then, number one in stubbornness.”

    “Not stubborn.”

    “Cats are stubborn.”

    “Not a cat. Not stubborn either.”

    “Cat.”

    “Yes?”

    “You just said you’re not a cat, why do you answer when I call you a cat?”

    “Oh,” I frowned slightly, it’s just that I’m used to being called like that by them, “Fine, I’m a cat, but not stubborn.”

    “Still stubborn.”

    “Is that stubborn?”

    “Hmm.”

    “Phii Fah you always says I am stubborn, is I really that stubborn?”

    “Not really. Just with this matter.”

    “…Oh.”

    “Feeling upset?”

    “No. Just asking, if I’m too stubborn to the point where it’s bad, then I’ll adjust.”

    “It’s fine, you being yourself is good enough.”

    “Alright,” I smiled broadly at him, I wasn’t actually upset, I meant what I said.

    “No matter how stubborn, you’re still my cat,” Phii Fah said while gently ruffling my hair.

    “Hehe, this cat is very loyal, even dogs can’t compete.”

    “Really?”

    “Really, if I were a cat, and cats really have nine lives, I would give all nine lives to you, Phii Fah.”

    “Hmm? All of them?”

    “All of them, give everything, even stuff it into your hands,” I said with a slight chuckle.

    “Okay, then Phii Fah will gladly accept them all.”

    “…“

    I love these moments when we talk like this. It might seem insignificant, but it’s sweet to me.

       Before I knew it, it was time to get off the Ferris wheel. Phii Fah called the others to meet up around here.

       “Where are we going next?” Phii Fah asked.

    “To celebrate your birthday. I’ve looked at some places,” I answered while we were walking around Osaka Bay. Seeing our two shadows stretching ahead, I thought of something, and immediately took out my phone to take a picture.

    I posted a photo of our two shadows walking together on Instagram.

    With the caption:

    ‘You Have All My 9 Lives’

      SOUTHBESIDETHESKY CHAPTERS HOME 

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