WESTTHESUNFROMANOTHERSTAR, Chapter 35: Us
Arthit
When the warmth of the embrace was gone, I, still half-asleep, searched the bed with my arm to pull the smaller person back into a hug but found no one. I opened my eyes immediately and looked around the room, which was empty of any sign of the person I was looking for, including his belongings, making me feel inexplicably annoyed.
He took off with all his stuff, and took Cat too.
I got up from the bed, intending to go to the next room. As I opened the door, I found that the door opposite was also opening at the same time. I hadn’t seen him in a while, and now we met. He looked more put-together than the last time we met, his mental state must have improved a bit.
“Oh, it’s you, just woken up?”
“Yeah, where did you go?”
“Part-time work.” He replied, “And are you going outside looking like this?”
“No, come to the next room.”
“Huh? Oh, okay, see you, I’m leaving.”
“OK.” I replied, and then Meen walked out. I knocked on the door of the adjacent room, and the owner opened it shortly after. The short guy was also dressed and ready to go out, “Where are you dressed up to go?”
“Aren’t you taking me out?”
“Oh, yeah, you’re all ready?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Why should I?”
“And you even took all the food and stuff to escape from me. Even the cat, you took him.” my words made the person in front of me furrowed his brows immediately, “But you forgot something.”
“Forgot what?”
“Forgot me.”
“Oh, I left you in that room.”
“You use the word ‘left’ so casually.” I chuckled a bit, “I’ll go shower and get dressed first.”
“Hmm.”
Then I returned to my room after checking that the short guy was waiting for me in his room. He didn’t go anywhere else, so I quickly showered, dressed, and knocked on the next door again.
It was almost eleven now, and I hadn’t eaten since waking up so late. So, I thought we’d go to the mall first, buy my stuff, and then head to the stationery store.
“Let’s eat at the mall first.” I said after draping my arm over the small guy’s shoulders and pulling him closer. He pushed my arm away and moved a bit further, but once again, he couldn’t resist my strength. I know he tries to resist many times, he really does, but all that effort is in vain, so he’s become resigned to it like this.
“I can’t walk comfortably.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
We walked down to the parking floor. I chose the new car I was still excited about and drove to the mall to eat and buy the stuff I had planned. We arrived just after eleven when the mall had just opened.
“This is the first time we’ve gone on a date at the mall like this.”
“Date?” “Yeah.”
“The stationery store, huh?”
“Let’s eat first, then shop, okay?”
“…Um.” He nodded slightly. I kept my arm around his shoulder as we walked into the mall.
“What do you want to eat?”
“Anything.”
“Steak?”
“Um.”
“Want to watch a movie?”
“No.” He shook his head, “I just watched one with North.”
“Watching at home and in the cinema isn’t the same.” I argued, “What movies are showing now? I haven’t kept up with cinema releases.” While I was speaking, someone from behind called out an unfamiliar name, and since the speaker was close, we both turned to look.
“Yu-seong, what a coincidence!”
Not only was the name he called out unfamiliar, but his face was too. The guy was slightly shorter than me, with Korean features, speaking Thai with a not-soclear accent, making it a bit hard to understand. The person who had just greeted us smiled broadly, looking happy.
“Is he talking to you?” I turned to ask the person whose shoulder I was holding. He nodded slightly, keeping a straight face, unlike the Korean who seemed overly excited.
Wait…Korean?
“Hello, Khun Kim.”
Ah, there’s the trouble…Is this really just a coincidence? Even if I told myself he’s just a client, remembering how North teased me about it made me feel slightly annoyed. And then there’s his overly happy demeanor upon meeting my short guy, why is he that happy? Haven’t you ever run into someone you know at a mall?
“Why did he call you Yu-seong? Is your name Yu-seong?”
“I heard that ‘Yuseong’ in Korean translates to Daotok.”
“You’ve got quite a few names, huh?”
“Are you going to eat here? Perfect timing, can I sit at your table?” “Ah…” The person next to me turned to me for my opinion. I didn’t respond because I had no opinion on it. Of course, in my heart, I wanted to chase him away, but I couldn’t do that. I had to calm myself and remember that he was a potential client for the short guy, “Sure.”
To avoid an awkward silence, the short guy agreed, and in the end, I had to sit at the same table with Kim.
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.” Said the person sitting across from us after receiving the menu from the waiter. I didn’t bother to look at him, only focusing on the menu in the hands of the person next to me.
“Yes.”
“So, um, are you two dating?”
This time, I looked at him immediately.
“Uh…no.”
“Are you friends then?”
Hey, this bastard…keep asking, and I’ll smack you with the menu.
“We’re senior and junior.”
Ah…choke! Should there be a blood-spitting effect here or what? Shit, shit, siblings!! What the hell, siblings!!!
The short guy’s answer made Kim smile slightly, which irritated me even more. Why smile? What are you smiling at, you bastard? Just you coming over and trying to chat up my future wife is already too much.
“Yes, big brother, huh, what do you say, little brother?” I said, gently pushing the head of the person sitting next to me with annoyance. The short guy didn’t say anything, just glanced at me before returning to look at the menu.
I turned my gaze to Kim right away. He didn’t notice because he was still looking at the menu. I was already sensitive to North’s provocations, and now you come and do this. Normally, when you see someone you know with someone who looks like they might be their partner, do you go over and ask to join them? No, right? I’m starting to distrust you, you dog.
Once the waiter took our menus, we entered the conversation phase. I reached under the table to hold the small hand, which helped calm me down, and it worked.
After feeling my head heat up earlier, the fire seemed to die down unbelievably.
The person whose hand I was holding allowed me to keep it without pulling away as usual.
But my anger cooled down a bit when I heard Kim speak.
“And what’s your name, sir?”
“Ch…Ar, Arthit, I’m his…older brother, I guess.” I said, gritting my teeth in irritation, glancing at the person beside me, not in a good mood. I was surprised to see the short guy stifling a laugh when he saw me gritting my teeth to speak. Yeah, you think it’s fun to tease me, huh? Damn it, “And…what about you?” “Kim Tae Min.” He extended one hand as if to shake. I shook his hand out of courtesy, calming down, Arthit, he’s! just! a! client!
“I’ve worked with Yu-seong once before. This time, I contacted Yu-seong again because I enjoyed working with him.”
Why is he so polite, this asshole? This is like Fah version 2.0, trying to steal my future wife!
“Arthit, is it correct that we’re meeting to work together?”
“Yes.”
“Your name is Arthit, right? Can I then call you Tae-Yang? Tae-Yang means sun.” the man sitting across from me asked. I nodded, letting him call me by a Korean name to match Yu-seong, damn good thinking, “How are you doing? Are you well?”
“Yes, and Khun Kim?”
“I’m well. I work in Korea…” He started talking about himself, but I wasn’t listening at all, focusing my attention on the person next to me, my hand holding his under the table without letting go, while my other hand played with his hair, touching his cheek as we sat close.
“Uh, can I ask something?”
“Yes.”
“Are the two of you really senior and junior?”
“No.” I answered immediately, “Can’t you tell I’m courting him?”
I said it straightforwardly without turning to look. The short guy glanced at me slightly. I raised an eyebrow at him, he didn’t say anything, but Kim seemed a bit shocked.
“Oh, is that so?” I glanced over, unable to hide my irritation through my eyes in time. The person being looked at paused for a moment before giving a dry smile,
“Oh, right, uh, the food’s here, let’s eat.”
I stayed silent, feeling a strange intuition, with his awkward behavior, not to mention that sweet, polite tone when talking to my future wife.
This isn’t right.
I’ve been wondering why North was always riling me up. Now, combined with my own intuition as a male, I’m more than seventy percent sure that he must like my short guy.
I observed the person next to me, who wasn’t paying any attention, just eating his meal quietly. When I put some vegetables from my plate onto his, he ate them without any complaints.
Once we finished eating, it was finally time to part ways. I put my arm around the short guy and led him out without allowing any further conversation, taking a deep breath and then exhaling to adjust my mood.
“Are you angry?”
“Angry about what?” I asked.
“Saying we’re a senior and a junior.”
“Why would I be angry? It’s the truth. Once I become your husband, I’ll proudly tell others I’m your husband as openly as I’d say we’re senior-junior.”
“Hmm.”
“Hmm, what?”
“What do you mean?”
“That I’m your husband?”
“No.” He shook his head, “Use a softer word.”
“Alright, fine, I’m just annoyed that he likes you, that’s all.”
“Really?”
“You still don’t believe he likes you, huh? I didn’t believe it when North told me until I saw it for myself. I’d say there’s more than a seventy percent chance. No, make it ninety.”
“Really?”
“He was looking at you with such bright eyes, I felt like poking his eyes out.”
“Ah…hmm, whatever.”
“What?”
“Just leave him be, it’s a waste of time to care.” He said with his usual calm demeanor, “What are you going to buy?” “Clothes, shoes, do you want anything?” “No.” He shook his head.
“Alright, I’ll buy it for you.” I said, leading him to the clothing section, “I’ll show you what this older brother can give you.”
“…”
“And Arthit, you have to work with Kim, right?”
“Hm.”
“Let’s start with Arthit then.”
“Why?”
“So it can end quickly, come on. Besides, if you leave gaps, he’ll find some excuse to meet you again.”
“What about your work?”
“Oh, me and Direk aren’t in a hurry for anything, but Kim, he’s in a hurry, let’s get him out of our lives once and for all.” I said, annoyed, “I don’t care if he’s a client, I’ll make his face sink.”
“Good.”
“…”
“You need to control your emotions, be a good kid.”
“Ha, do you have any bones? Give them to me as a reward.” I said jokingly,
“Will you pet my head too?”
“Bend down then.”
“Are you crazy? In the middle of the mall? Even if I’m just a dog, when outside, let me be a tiger.”
“Okay.” He whispered as he followed me.
I could tell that this damn Kim liked the short guy, but I didn’t do or say anything harsh because I tried to keep my composure, reminding myself he’s just a client. Imagine if I punched him in the middle of the restaurant, the short guy would lose a good client, and it might harm his reputation too, potentially ruining his career. You have to think carefully about what you do because it’s not just about me anymore.
So, we’ll handle this quietly…
Hia, even someone like me can think like this.
I brought him to choose clothes with the money Direk had just transferred. I bought what I wanted for myself and also for him. Of course, he didn’t actually want them, but I forced all the items I thought were suitable on him.
I forgot about Kim to keep him from ruining my good day, because just looking at Dao’s face made all my anger disappear.
…
Daotok
“Why are you taking so long to choose?” the person leaning against the pillar with his arms crossed asked in a bored tone. I lowered the shirt I was holding and looked back at him.
“I don’t want any.”
“Choose quickly, take one at least.”
“It’s expensive.”
“It’s supposed to be expensive for quality.”
“Why do you need to buy it for me?”
“I want to.”
“But I don’t want it.” I said honestly, hanging the shirt back where it was. After he forced me to choose at least three shirts because he wanted to buy them for me, but from my heart, I didn’t want any of them. I’m not like him, with a closet full of clothes; I’m not good at dressing up and don’t care much about fashion. All the clothes I have are chosen by my dad; otherwise, my wardrobe would just be black and white T-shirts.
“Normally, others would be thrilled to have someone pay for them.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, don’t you appreciate it?”
“No.” I shook my head slightly, “I just don’t like clothes.”
“Okay, then I’ll choose for you.” He cut me off, picking up a shirt and holding it against me, “What size do you usually wear?”
“L.”
“Just this size?”
“Bigger shirts are more comfortable.”
“Like this style?”
“Yeah, but that one’s a bit too big.”
“What color do you like?”
“…”
“Oh, not answering? I’ll help you choose then.”
“I’m thinking.”
I was silent because I was thinking about which colors I liked. Since my work involves using colors, I don’t have a fixed favorite color; you could say I like every color, right?
“Every color.”
“You like every color?”
“Hm.”
“Then you can get any color, so I’ll choose styles that I think suit you.” He said and then led me around, holding shirts up against me, thinking for a moment, and if he thought one was suitable, he’d put it in the basket right away. I ended up carrying the basket, following without a word of complaint, “I think this one’s good, try it on.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Lazy.”
“Come on, try it on.” He handed me a shirt, took the basket from my hand, and pushed me into the fitting room. I sighed heavily, took off the shirt I was wearing, and put on the new one. When I was done, I came out to show him.
“Hia, you look cute.” the tall guy waiting outside said with satisfaction, “Let’s get this one, now try another.”
“Why do you look so happy?” I remarked, noticing his cheerful demeanor. I thought he must be someone who enjoys clothes and shoes since his room is full of them. If that’s the case, he should be choosing for himself, why for me? “It’s fun, I like seeing you in the clothes I pick out.”
“Hm.”
“What’s that ‘hm’ for?”
“If you like it, I’ll wear it.”
“You.” He stepped closer, loosely hugged me around the neck, and lightly kissed my head. I pushed him away immediately, and he chuckled a bit, “Your face is red again.”
“This…this is a mall.” I said quietly, my heart beating fast again. I felt like this was happening too often lately.
More often than I had anticipated, I found myself in this situation. As I’ve said, I couldn’t handle this kind of feeling, and the more it happened, the less accustomed I became to it. Losing composure isn’t really a good thing, huh?
“I know that we are in the mall. If it weren’t a mall, I’d have kissed you already.” “No.”
“Meaning in the mall isn’t allowed?”
“Kissing isn’t allowed.”
“Sure it is, if you’d let me.”
“Sigh.” I sighed at him before heading into the fitting room to change into another shirt he had chosen. When I came out to show him again, he said he liked it and added it to the basket, which now probably held about six or seven shirts in total.
Of course, each one wasn’t cheap.
“Is it okay?”
“What?”
“I…um…”
“Just say it.”
“I don’t dislike you buying them for me, but…even if you didn’t buy them. I would…”
“Still like me?”
“…”
“I know, I just want you to wear the shirts I choose for you, and you said so yourself that if I liked it, you’d wear it.” He said with a good mood smile,
“Besides, don’t feel obliged, this is my dad’s money.”
“Shouldn’t that make me feel even more obliged?”
“Direk gave it to me, so it’s my money now.”
“Oh, hmm.”
“Then let’s go look at shoes.”
“…Hmm.”
Once we got all the shoes and clothes he wanted, there wasn’t much else to do at this mall. After that, we would go to the stationery store as he had planned.
I want to recount what happened this morning when I left his room. I went down to the condo’s management office to get a spare key card, but before I knew it, I had asked for two. At that moment, I was hesitant about whether one would be enough because there was a chance he might take my key card again.
And then, I thought if I gave him one, he wouldn’t need to take mine again, but that would mean he could enter my room anytime. I wasn’t worried about him stealing anything; I was more concerned about my own safety, but still, I was undecided about what to do.
I moved my things back to my room, including Mr. Jeon, and took his python back to where it belonged. Then I showered, got dressed, and waited for him in my room until he woke up and called me to go out together.
It might be a bit embarrassing to admit that I was ready nearly two hours before he woke up; it sounds like I was excited to go out with him. I’m not sure why I felt this way, especially since it wasn’t our first time going out together.
And the first thing that surprised me was meeting KhunKim, especially since we had just talked about him recently. KhunKim hadn’t changed much from what I remembered; he greeted us friendly, quite different from the person who brought me here. As soon as I realized it was KhunKim, I could sense the atmosphere around him change.
KhunKim probably didn’t notice until Phii Arthit glared at him with an unhappy expression. So I let my brother hold my hand, hoping it might calm him down, and it did. Luckily, he calmed down and didn’t do anything more than eat normally and tease me as he liked to do.
Another thing I noticed was KhunKim looking at me a lot, which was surprising; sometimes he’d look away and smile to himself, but I didn’t show any reaction, pretending not to notice.
As for the person sitting next to me, no matter how angry or displeased he got, he tried to control his emotions. He seemed like someone ready to explode and destroy everything in a moment, not caring about the consequences. I guessed he had always been like this, not tolerating anything that displeased him, hottempered, and not thinking ahead.
Since holding my hand seemed to calm him down, I was always ready to offer my hand for him to hold.
Before I knew it, we had arrived at the mall’s parking lot. While I was waiting for him to put things in the car, my phone vibrated. I picked it up to see that it was a message from KhunKim. Before I could do anything, my phone was swiftly taken away.
“Is it Kim?” He asked in a slightly more composed tone than usual, glancing at my phone in his hand, tapping the screen with his finger, squinting slightly before handing it back to me. I took it back, confused, and opened the Line to see what KhunKim had sent.
K: You looked very cute today, Yu-seong. I’m so glad we met. Phii Arthit opened the car door and sat in the driver’s seat without saying anything, so I opened my door and sat down too. His demeanor had changed once again, though not as intensely as the first time, frowning to show his displeasure with that message.
Even though he didn’t say anything, I thought he must be cursing KhunKim in his mind.
Can’t he even compliment someone for being cute…
I looked at him, sitting there with an annoyed expression, and couldn’t help but smile when I thought how cute he was, like a child being protective over his belongings.
Ah…I see him as cute instead of scary, even though if it were anyone else sitting here, they’d probably feel very uncomfortable.
“Here.”
“What?”
I handed him my room keycard. He turned to look at me, puzzled.
“Your room keycard?”
“Yeah.”
“For me?”
“Yeah.”
At first, I thought he might be stunned for a moment, but no, he grabbed it immediately.
His face moved closer without warning, and before it got too close, I quickly raised my hand to cover my mouth, causing his lips to touch the back of my hand. He furrowed his brows as if displeased, his sharp eyes narrowing slightly, then he kissed the back of my hand and each of my knuckles, leaving me stunned and unable to react.
I quickly pulled my hand back, feeling embarrassed, and moved away a bit. He leaned back to his original position and gave a satisfied half-smile.
Meeting those eyes so close made my heart skip a beat, those eyes looking at me as if they wanted to devour me.
No…not cute anymore.
“You lose composure often, huh?”
“Because of who?” I said in the softest voice, turning to look away. The luxury car’s engine was started, and it moved out of the parking lot.
“Can Kim make you like this?”
“No.”
“Really?”
“Hm.”
“I’m satisfied that only I can make you flustered.”
“…”
“You’ve opened your heart to me, right?”
“Hm.”
“Then don’t open it for anyone else.”
“No one can make me open my heart like you do.”
“Damn…can I have a kiss?” He asked seriously, making me turn to look at him, eyes wide in surprise as he seemed about to let go of the steering wheel. “Drive first.” I said with a slight hint of panic in my voice. He grabbed the steering wheel again before bursting into laughter.
“I’m kidding, I’m not crazy enough to let go of the steering wheel just to kiss you.” He smiled, “But then again, you never know.”
“Sigh.”
“Stop being so touchy about kissing.”
“Hm.”
“Why won’t you let me kiss you?”
“Because we’re not dating.”
“We’re senior and junior.” He said, sounding annoyed, “Isn’t there something better than that? The word ‘senior’ hits me hard.”
“But we are real a-senior and a-junior, right?”
“If it were anyone else saying that, I’d have twisted their balls by now.”
“…”
“Upgrade my status a bit, we’re just talking, right?”
“Are we talking?”
“I talk, but you don’t talk to me much.” He sighed, “Siblings are fine, but I want you to be my boyfriend every hour. Plus, I’ll keep harassing you.”
“…”
I looked at him with an exhausted expression, letting out another sigh. How could he say something like that so casually?
“And what about your room keycard? Can I do whatever I want to you for twenty-four hours with it?”
“Even if I didn’t give it to you, you’d break down the door anyway.”
“Oh, so you gave me the keycard to save the door.”
“Yes.”
“Good, that was a smart decision because if you kept blocking me like before, I’d definitely come with an axe to chop down your door.”
“But you’re not allowed to do anything.”
“Can I be stopped?”
I sighed silently again. In a relationship like ours, if it were any other couple, they’d probably be at the stage where they like each other, are talking, but not yet dating, not doing anything beyond talking and going on dates. But with us, it’s different because he’s always so stubborn and impatient.
Even when he does strange things, it doesn’t make me feel bad because I like him too, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready yet.
And it seems threatening to deduct points isn’t effective at all. Deduct them, then; he wants to do it anyway, regardless.
It might be because our personalities are too different; he’s too hot, and I’m too cold.
I guess I’ll have to try adjusting a bit.
“Hey.”
“What?”
“Why do you want to be my boyfriend?”
“Why do you ask such a strange question? With someone you love, don’t you want to have a status? I want to be with you all the time, but if we’re officially dating, there’d be more to it. You said you need time, I understand that, but I don’t know when your time will come. So, I want you to be my boyfriend every hour, just in case the previous hour you weren’t ready, but maybe this hour, you will be.”
“Next month.”
“Huh?”
“You are racing next month. I…will try to make myself ready.” I said after gathering my courage for a long time. Besides feeling embarrassed, there were many mixed feelings making it hard to speak, and as I expected, when I said it, the other party was quite shocked.
“You mean if I win, or just after the race?”
“Winning…would be nice.”
“Damn, deal. Absolutely deal, that’s how it should be, give me; the one waiting some motivation, and it gives me a lot more encouragement to race.” He said cheerfully, which made me secretly smile too, “But…”
“Hm?”
“You don’t have to force yourself, I can wait, really.” He said, “You don’t need to force yourself to be ready.”
“No.” I shook my head, “I’m not forcing myself. I just want to try.”
“For me?”
“No, for us.”
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