WESTTHESUNFROMANOTHERSTAR, Chapter 31: Tomorrow
Daotok
I looked at myself in the oversized black shirt that reached down to my knees in the bathroom mirror. After taking a shower, I felt refreshed, especially after concentrating on work for so long. While rolling up my sleeves, I heard a knock on the bathroom door followed by the voice of the room’s owner.
“Are you okay? Does your foot hurt?”
“I’m fine.” I replied. My ankle still hurt as before, and it got a bit worse from standing in the shower for too long, but it was bearable. I chose to shower under the showerhead because I was too lazy to soak in the tub, and fortunately, the bathroom floor wasn’t slippery, so there was no issue.
I slowly stepped out to find the room owner waiting, one hand holding a phone to his ear, speaking in English to someone. I furrowed my brows in surprise when I noticed that the phone was mine.
“Oh, I’m talking to your dad, Ah, yes. You’re right, we are the winner of…H,
Hey!”
Before he could finish speaking, I snatched the phone back.
“Dad, what are you doing? Why are you talking with him?”
I quickly asked the person on the phone, puzzled. It was one thing for him to answer the call, but Dad was enjoying the conversation so much. They seemed to be having a good time talking.
(Oh, I like this guy. He said he loves you, and I think…Wow, he’s a big fan of
Manchester United, just like me.)
“Why are you talking to Dad?”
I turned to ask Phii Arthit instead since I didn’t get a clear answer from Dad, asking why talking to him resulted in Dad just saying they were fans of the same football team, and Dad seemed very pleased, his voice full of cheer.
“My Dad called, so you answered?”
“Yes.”
“And you said you love me ?”
“Emm…yes, I said I love you so much. And I want you to be my wife. I mean it.” “Wait, a minute.” I held up my hand for a timeout, “You told Dad you want me to be…uh, your wife?”
“Uh-huh, your Dad is okay with it.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely.” He said with a slight raise of his eyebrows.
“You’re so crazy…” I whispered before letting out a big sigh, walking away to talk to Dad.
“Michael, are you done with your shower?”
“Uh…Dad. I had some reason to be with him, he answered the phone because I was in the shower.”
“It’s okay. No need to explain to me . You know I isn’t upset or anything, I like him, he’s like…the most straightforward guy I’ve ever met.”
“I see, because he supports the same football team?”
“Oh, that’s part of it, coincidentally good, he even invites me to play football with him if I’m free, I haven’t played football with the young guys in a long time.” “Dad…sigh”
“Why the sigh, haven’t you accepted his love yet?”
“No, uh, Dad, what did he say?”
“He asked for you to be his wife.”
“And?”
“I am okay with it!”
“No…no.”
“How can I not be okay with someone showing this much sincerity?”
“Sigh. I don’t want to talk anymore, where’s papa?”
“He’s asleep, worked hard today.”
“Are you tired too?”
“A little. What about you? Tired from studying?”
“I didn’t go to school today, sprained my ankle, but it’ll get better soon.” “Get better soon, don’t overwork, you know? Dylan probably told you since he studies medicine. Even if he says he doesn’t want to work as a doctor after graduation, it’s kind of like you .”
“What did you talk about?”
“Enough to get to know each other, he talks a lot, just right for someone who doesn’t talk much like us.”
“Dad you are on his team, right?”
“Yes.”
“Everyone is on his team. Even Mr. Jeon.”
“Wow, great, I will hang up now. Oh yes, he wants you to open your hearts to him, you know, I support that.” Dad said with a cheerful yet serious tone because deep down, he still hopes I find someone after all this time, “He’s not like Khram, I can feel it from the conversation, oh, almost twenty minutes, he really loves you.”
“How can you know from a phone conversation?”
“I just know.”
“How?”
“…Just a feeling, um, forget it, Good night, sweetheart.”
“I’m not your sweetheart, the one sleeping next to you is.)”
“Ah. You’re right, and I thinks your sweetheart is waiting for you too.)”
And then Dad hung up, confused. I turned to see Phii Arthit standing with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall, watching me. I didn’t even realize when I had walked out to the balcony to talk on the phone.
“Your dad is right.” He smiled sweetly, “I’m waiting for you.”
“…Did you hear everything?”
“All of it.”
“Sigh” I sighed before walking back into the room, sitting down on the sofa, and he sat down next to me.
“Why is your face so red?”
“I don’t know.” I turned my face away deliberately, why after taking a shower do I have to deal with something so bizarre, talking to Dad wasn’t enough, now he’s declaring his love and asking me to be his wife, and to top it off, Dad is okay with it.
“Cute?”
“…”
“But your dad is easy to talk to.”
“Hmm, Dad’s like that.” I said, letting out a big sigh to adjust my chaotic feelings, before turning to look at him again, “Was it like this the first time you talked to Dad?”
“Of course, I slowly talked to him so he could catch on.”
“…” I didn’t reply. I was just wondering what ‘catching on’ meant.
“I really mean it.” He emphasized, “But I’m not rushing you. Just stating my own desires.”
“Oh…hmm.”
“I invited him to play football together too.”
“Dad mentioned that.”
“Does your dad play sports?”
“Hmm, football.”
“Not bad.” He said, “Perfect for being a father-in-law, but it’s a pity I didn’t meet your papa, right? You call him ‘Papa’, right?” “Hmm.” I nodded.
“Your Papa was already asleep. Otherwise, I might have told him everything too, a bit more and I would’ve told your grandma as well.”
“Just Dad is fine, Papa would be shocked.”
“What kind of person is your Papa?”
“Just…a normal person.” I said, “But Dad…kind of like you a bit.” I mentioned my thoughts, and the other nodded in agreement.
“At least we support the same football team, I was still thinking what to do if we supported different teams.” He said, “Good that he’s English.”
“…”
“You look like you’re thinking about something.”
“No. Just thinking about that.” I paused for a moment, “You’re really straightforward. What would you do if Dad wasn’t okay with it?”
“Oh. Who cares?”
“…What do you care about then?”
“Only you.”
“Flirting again.”
“I’m telling the truth.” He said with his usual expression and demeanor, “I don’t care about anything in the world except myself. Now, there’s you.”
“Hmm…okay, I understand.”
“Are you going to continue working?”
“Take a break, I was thinking of watching a movie.”
“Yeah, good, you like horror movies, right?” He asked before getting up to grab the laptop and place it on the coffee table in front of us, connecting it to the TV screen, and opening Netflix to scroll through the movies.
“Do you like watching them?”
“I’m fine with anything.”
“It’s okay if you don’t like them. We can watch something else.”
“Yeah, I can watch. I just want to watch it with you, so you choose the movie you want to see.”
“…Hmm.” I nodded slightly before feeling my heart flutter again, at this rate, should I tell Dad to open up even more?
Just this much, and I’m already struggling to handle my heart beating so hard because of him.
I caught myself staring at him from behind until he turned around, and I realized.
“Aren’t you going to get up and watch?”
“Getting up.”
I got up from the sofa, sat down on the floor next to him to scroll through movies.
“Is this one good?”
“Why ask, if you want to watch it, just press play.”
“We’re going to watch it together, right?”
Hearing me say that, he smirked. I looked at him, not understanding.
“What?”
“Nothing. I just like the word ‘together’.”
I didn’t respond, just selected the movie I intended to watch, but then realized it was a series.
“Choosing a series means you want to watch it with me for a long time, huh?”
“No. I just didn’t notice it was a series.” I said honestly before returning to my spot on the sofa. He got up and sat next to me.
“Witches?”
“Hmm, it has good reviews.”
“Oh.” He answered briefly before getting up from the sofa, “I’ll take a quick shower, you start watching.”
“Hmm.”
He went into the bathroom for a while, then came out wearing only long pants. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced over, turning to look without realizing it, admiring his well-defined muscles, tanned skin, and tattoos on his chest and shoulders.
“Why are you staring so hard?”
“Am I staring?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“It’s okay, I know my body’s worth looking at.”
“…”
I didn’t respond, but thought to myself that he was probably right, because if I had to say it, he really was very attractive, both in physique and appearance.
“Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?”
“Your hair is wet.”
“Hmm.”
He went to rummage through the closet for a t-shirt, draping it over his shoulder, grabbed a small towel to roughly dry his wet hair, then went to fetch a hairdryer. I stopped paying attention to him and turned back to the witch series playing in front of me, but he came and sat on the floor in front of me, holding out the hairdryer.
“Blow-dry it for me.”
“Why not do it yourself?”
“Too lazy.”
“…”
I turned on the hairdryer, letting out hot air, gently running my fingers through his soft black hair while drying it.
“You.”
“Hmm?”
“Dao.”
“Huh?”
“Daotok.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Just wanted to call you.”
“…”
“I like your name.”
“Oh?”
“And Michael too, is that your name as well?”
“Yes.”
“Why Michael? Like Michael Jackson?”
“Michael Jordan.”
“Got it.” He said, “Why are you drying it so gently?”
“Do you like it rough?”
“Yeah.”
“…” I didn’t say anything, just turned up the hairdryer to a higher setting. Soon his hair was dry, so he got up to sit on the sofa and put on the shirt he had draped over his shoulder earlier, “Why do you like my name?”
“Why?”
“No one likes it, it sounds like a girl’s name.”
“It does, but I like you, so I like your name too.” He said, “Because others don’t like you, they can’t appreciate your name the way I do.” “Appreciate?” I furrowed my brows in question.
“Your dad and mom named you, your Dad told me.”
“Oh…hmm. Do you really intend to say you like me every half hour?”
“I could, you can set an alarm for every half hour if you want.” He smirked.
“It’s okay.”
“I’ll say it when I feel like it, so how’s the movie going?”
I briefly summarized the plot of what I had watched so far, since he was only in the shower for a short time and the series hadn’t progressed much.
“Is the heroine a writer?” He asked. I nodded in response, “Have you ever thought about writing a book?”
“I’ve thought about it, but I like drawing more.”
“Oh, can I have a hug?”
“Hmm.”
“Damn, does this mean you’ve fallen for me?”
“…If I say no, it’s not like you’d listen anyway.” I said softly before he pulled me into a hug.
“Correct.” He said, tightening his embrace. I sat stiffly in his warm embrace.
“Here.” “Huh?”
“Arthit.” “What?”
“Try calling me.”
“Imitating, and no more ‘Phii’ then?” “Don’t want to call you ‘Phii’ anymore.”
“Want to upgrade to being a boyfriend?”
“No. Just don’t feel the respect.”
“…Got it.” He said before laughing out loud, “Okay, Daotok, not calling me is fine, it would hurt my feelings too much.”
“I won’t call you that anyway.”
“Damn, sigh. What would happen if I didn’t meet you?”
“Don’t start a conversation. Watch the movie.”
“Oh. Okay then.”
…
Arthit
I rested my chin on his slender shoulder, lowering my face to kiss and sniff the sweet scent at the base of his neck from the person in front of me. The person in my embrace didn’t speak or show any reaction because he was focused on watching the movie, though he was slightly tense.
I didn’t look up but could imagine what was happening in the movie just from the sounds, holding his waist loosely with one hand while holding his soft hand with the other. “Annoyed?”
“A little.”
“Got it.”
“But it would be nice if you could stop snuggling me.”
“Stop being so tense then.”
“Stop snuggling then.”
“Dogs like to snuggle with their owners like this.”
“…Hmm.”
“Tomorrow I have a morning ward round.” I said, remembering because Hill had just sent a Line message to remind me, “I won’t be with you in the morning, by the afternoon I’ll be back, don’t cry because you miss me.”
“No.”
“Damn. It’s not good, don’t cry for me.”
“It’s not that, I mean, I don’t miss…I can’t.”
“…” I was silent for a moment before I pressed my lips to his cheek, sinking into the soft flesh. He let out a soft groan in his throat, displeased by the too-forceful kiss, holding it there longer than necessary before pulling away, “Say it.”
“Is it true, or are you just teasing?”
I said before leaning in close again.
“No, don’t, enough.” He pushed my face away with his hand, looking slightly annoyed.
“Okay, okay. I won’t.” I said, and he slowly lowered his hand, though his expression still showed distrust, “I just wanted to kiss your cheek again.”
“Not anymore.”
“And you said it for real?”
“About missing you?”
“Yeah.”
“Yes, but not that much.”
“That’s good enough, missing me a little bit each day.” I said with a satisfied smile, taking the chance when he was distracted to kiss his cheek once more. This time, he sighed instead of reacting, but it didn’t affect me, “One day you’ll miss me so much you won’t be able to stand it.”
“No way.”
“Why not?”
“It would be too much trouble.”
“Not at all. If you miss me, I’ll come to you.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“What if we’re on opposite sides of the world and you can’t come?”
“Then I can’t go, because if I could, I would have gone already.”
“…”
“If it gets to the point where I can’t come to you, I want you to know that I miss you a lot too.”
“Oh…um, you flirt well.” He said before slowly leaning back against my chest, looking more relaxed, “Let’s rest for a bit.”
“Rest what?”
“My heart is about to explode.”
“Haha, you’re pretty straightforward too.”
“Hmm.”
“You like me a lot, and tomorrow…”
“Hmm, and I’ll probably like you even more tomorrow.”
“…Damn.”
It’s not just your heart that’s about to explode, mine feels the same.
After that, we hardly spoke anymore; he watched the movie while I did the same, just holding him, until the person in my arms fell asleep as the movie was nearing its end.
I carefully lifted him up and placed him on the bed, went to get some ointment to apply to his ankle and rewrap it. Once done, I sat beside him, the one sleeping, brushing the hair from his face, then gently kissed his forehead.
“Good night, I love you, you’ll like me even more tomorrow.”
I spent almost the whole night reading as I usually do, because I had napped in the evening, which allowed me to read late into the night. I slept during the early morning and woke up to go to the ward in the morning. Today, I didn’t go jogging because I was too lazy to wake up; I stopped by to buy some soy milk and Chinese doughnuts for the one still sleeping.
Before leaving the room, I changed the bandage and reapplied the ointment on his ankle, left the bag of soy milk on the table with a note not to forget to eat and take the medicine, that I would be back in the afternoon.
Doing these things for him felt good too.
I arrived at the hospital right on time. Currently, I get to work in the ward with Hill, which I consider a blessing because although being with Jo is chill, it’s not worth anything, it’s just a complete mess.
“Is the professor here yet?” I asked immediately upon approaching Hill, who had arrived before me.
“Not yet, you came early.”
“Of course.”
“Be a bit more human since you like my wife’s friend.”
“…” I turned to look at him, stunned. Even though I had guessed that Hill probably knew, facing it like this caught me off guard, “Who told you?”
“Sigh, why would you hide it from me? I don’t understand.”
“Wait.” I held up my hand to stop him, “Go ahead, I’m ready for the impact.” I said after I had braced myself for a scolding. No matter what language you use to curse me or make me cry like a dog with tears streaming down to my feet, go ahead! Curse me! I’m ready! But I definitely won’t stop messing with your wife’s friend!
“Idiot.”
“…Oh. You’re not going to cuss me?”
“Why should I?”
“Oh. Even when Jo was hitting on North, you nearly killed him with cussing.”
“How are you and Jo the same?” Hill said, leaning back in his chair casually,
“You’ve never said out loud that you like or love anyone, which means you really like them, right? And he’s opened up to you too, which means you must have tried your best.”
“…Oh, Hill, my dear friend, I knew you were the only one who would understand me, you’re my best friend for life.”
“I’m not dying with you.”
“Oh well, okay, aren’t you going to ask how it’s going?”
“If you want to tell me, go ahead.”
“He said he likes me more now. He doesn’t call me ‘Hia’ anymore either, you don’t have that.” I said with a teasing smile, making Hill look disgusted.
“Why, doesn’t he respect you anymore?”
“Damn, how did you know?”
“Does anyone respect you, really?”
“No one, even George, the dog at the faculty, won’t play with me.”
“Sad, huh?”
“Yeah, it’s sad, but at least I have you who loves me.” I shook my head lightly, letting out a relieved sigh. Even if that George, the annoying dog, runs away at the sight of me, forget about it, he doesn’t have Dao telling him he likes him every day like I do, “He said I’m like a dog too, like a Doberman.”
“Would you even be a dog?”
“Yeah. Not being one would be the end of me, doc. If he says I’m a dog, I’m ready to howl.”
“How can you be so infatuated with someone?”
“I wonder why he won’t be my boyfriend. He said he likes me, didn’t he?”
“You should be patient.”
“Patience is the hardest thing. Who can do that? He smells nice, that crazy guy, right?”
“Yeah, that’s true, but you’re not his boyfriend yet, so it doesn’t help.” Hill said,
“Arthit.”
“What?”
“Nothing, I just…well. I didn’t think it would be you, so I’m a bit surprised. If I say I’m proud of you, would that sound too exaggerated? It’s even more than I am of Jo, honestly.”
“Wow…you’re proud of me? Wow, Hill, be my dad instead of Direk, why are you so warm and gentle, I’m so touched.” I said, feeling genuinely impressed. Why is Hill so nice like this? Just from these words, I’m so moved I’ve forgotten about
Direk. Ah, no, who is Direk anyway? Why did I suddenly say his name? Whatever, because Hill, the kind one, is also rich, right?
“I don’t want a kid like you.”
“Oh, Dad, I haven’t even called Direk ‘Dad’ yet.” I said, feigning a serious expression, “But I don’t know who Direk is anyway, you’re my real dad.”
“…”
“Give me some money to fix my car.”
“Sigh, go far away, you.” Hill said with a look of disgust, like he often does with Jo.
“Why do you get goosebumps so easily?”
“Just look at how Jo likes to mess with me. How can I not be wary?”
“You’re special to death, he doesn’t play with anyone like he does with you.” I said my thoughts because Jo loves to tease Hill, sometimes it’s hard to tell if he’s teasing or if he actually wants Hill to be his wife.
“Let him play with you then.” Hill said with disdain.
“Oh, I think you’ve been husband and wife since the first semester.”
“Who’s the husband?”
“Whoever falls asleep first is the wife.”
“I’ll keep my eyes open all night, you bastard.” Hill said, making me chuckle a bit.
“Yeah. Do we have anything to do in the afternoon?”
“No, we are free, why, in a rush to get back to your boy?”
“No, I’m going to visit someone who’s sick.”
“Who?”
“Khram.”
“Your boy’s ex whom you beat up?”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re going to visit someone you put in the hospital?”
“Hey. That’s what you do, you visit people when they’re in the hospital, right?”
“…But you’re the one who put him in the hospital.”
After finishing the morning ward rounds and a small lecture, I headed straight to another patient building to visit Khram as planned. If you ask why I had to come, it was necessary, you know, when someone you know is sick, you should visit them to check on their condition, right?
I stopped in front of his room, quickly opened the door to find the bastard in a not-so-good state, wearing a hospital gown and lying in bed. As soon as he heard the door open and saw me walk in, he immediately sat up.
“Are you here to beat me up again?”
“Damn right.”
“Why are you wearing a gown?”
“I’m a doctor.”
“Oh, and you’re here to treat me? No, you’re here to inject me with something to kill me, right?”
“You’re too paranoid.” I sat down on the chair beside the bed and picked up some grapes from the basket to eat. When I found they weren’t tasty, I tossed them into the trash.
“Hey, you’re throwing away my grapes again.”
“They taste like dog food, and how are you doing?”
“Feeling good, huh, still coming to mock me, you’ve got some guts, almost beat me to death, you bastard.” He grumbled, letting out a sigh, “But your dad is nice, paying for the expenses, compensating for getting beaten up. Can you call that nice when it’s his son who made me like this? I want to take off my shirt to show how bruised I am, you bastard.”
“I’m not mocking, I’m visiting.”
“Oh, thank you, so glad.” He said sarcastically with a bored look.
“When are you getting out of the hospital?”
“Another two weeks. I was supposed to get out quickly, but now I have to stay in the hospital. Why is the one who beat me wearing a gown, what kind of doctor is that?”
“Idiot, what do you think doctors are like? I’ll beat you again in a minute.” I said with annoyance.
“You cheated on the exam.”
“Cheated my ass, I study well, not stupid like you.”
“Oh, and this is the right way to scold?”
“Damn. No, I said I came to mock, but not about beating you, I came to mock you about your ex.”
“Why, Dao, why?”
“He’s mine now.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Khram looked utterly surprised, moving in shock and wincing in pain from his wound, clutching his stomach before looking up to ask, “You’re dating?”
“Not dating, but I love him.”
“What? You said at first you didn’t like him.”
“At first, I didn’t like him, can’t I like him later, you buffalo?” I scolded, annoyed, “He said he likes me too.”
“Really?” He asked, looking surprised again, “Shit, really? Are you joking?”
“Joking, my ass, we’ll probably be dating soon.” I shrugged, “Depends on him.”
“Damn, shit, you’re not lying, are you?”
“Not lying.”
“Damn, where did you guys fall for each other?”
“Idiot.”
“Damn, damn, so you really love Dao, right?”
“Yeah, I won’t make him hurt like you did, you bastard, do you know how bad what you did was? At first, I just thought you were an asshole, but now I want to kill you.”
“Calm down, Phii.” Khram cautioned. I looked at him with some displeasure but tried to control my emotions and not think about the past when he hurt the short one.
“I’m not going to do anything. Just annoyed, the past is the past, and you are the past. The present and future are mine, remember that.”
“Good.”
“…”
“I mean, Dao is one of the few people in my life who were genuinely good to me. When I realized this, I wanted to pray that Dao wouldn’t get hurt because of what I did, that he could move on and find someone who truly loves him. So, please take care of Dao for me.”
“I can take care of my own future wife, no need to ask.” I responded because I had already decided that no matter what happens, no one or anything would hurt him again.
“…”
“I just came to say this. I’m going back to my room to hug him. Also, I want to warn you not to meddle in my future wife’s life again.” “Got it, I understand. I’ll wish you both well then.”
“Shut up, exes shouldn’t bark loudly, you bastard.”
“…Oh, sorry.”
Leave a Reply