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.’ ???
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