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…

  

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