WESTTHESUNFROMANOTHERSTAR, Chapter 50: All My Life
Arthit
As time goes on, it seems like Dao is getting more accustomed to the new room. Personally, I’ve never had any issues with moving, but beyond that, I’ve grown accustomed to having someone else become a true part of my daily life. Waking up to breakfast made for two, the food tasting better and better each day, packing lunch, and then heading off to our studies separately. In the evening, we come back to eat, shower, and go to bed together.
Of course, that includes the matter at hand. Dao’s body is gradually adjusting until it seems like it doesn’t hurt anymore after several rounds of sex. The only thing he’s not used to is the physical exhaustion. So I have to try to reduce the frequency and duration, or else Dao won’t be able to wake up for school. You don’t need to be told to know how crazy I am about him. Just seeing him in something slightly revealing or just touching him gets me aroused, and my excitement for him never seems to wane; in fact, it only grows.
My new song was written after the first one received a fantastic response, with view counts now in the millions and still climbing. For the second song, I added live instruments. I play the drums, and Dao plays the guitar. It’s not completely finished yet.
The painting corner I set up for Dao has changed slightly since we moved in; the walls are now decorated with the paintings we did together. Of course, I’m not a great artist, but I wanted to contribute, which Dao seems to like, saying they’re pretty.
We’ve lived together for almost a month now, and I can confidently say it’s become a habit to see the small person walking around the room, organizing things, cleaning, cooking, hanging laundry, sitting and painting in his corner, sometimes working at the desk or changing his workspace to the balcony or sofa.
Watching movies or working on music together.
Living together has allowed me to notice some of Dao’s personal habits, like when he can’t think of work, he likes to soak in the bath for a long time, or he’ll stare out at the view, play guitar on the balcony, or sometimes sit still for hours without doing anything. Even his odd habit of sitting in the wardrobe; one day I came back home, puzzled because I couldn’t find my boyfriend anywhere. I thought maybe he was hidden by ghosts, but he was actually working on his laptop inside the wardrobe.
Dao said he likes being in there because it feels like he can concentrate better. It’s like entering another world where nothing disturbs him. He leaves the door slightly ajar for air and uses a small fan inside, which is something very Daotok, something only he would do. Of course, I couldn’t handle it; I’d feel
claustrophobic, probably because he’s small, and the wardrobe is big enough not to feel cramped. He told me it’s normal for him, so I didn’t think much of it. I remembered the imaginary friend of Dao who had the same name as my mother. Dao said that Emma had disappeared at some point, and he felt a bit sad about it, but it might have been for the best because Emma was created by Dao out of loneliness. Even though he wasn’t lonely, he had always been alone, leading to the creation of another persona to talk to, comfort him when he was sad, or be a counselor when he was troubled.
Of course, I could be all those things for Dao, so Emma gradually faded away. It seemed there was no longer a need for an imaginary presence by his side because now he had me.
Dao doesn’t like messy rooms. As for me, I’m quite the mess-maker, but Dao never complains; he just quietly tidies up after me. He’s started to get used to my annoying habits like leaving my shirt hanging on the chair, scattering things around, and not neatly taking off my shoes; the cute part is that Dao is the one who always cleans up. If you ask if I’ll change my habits, no, because Dao said he’s willing to do it.
Today is another day I have to go to the ward. I woke up early as usual, finding the person beside me still in deep sleep. Normally, Dao would wake up before me to cook, but today he woke up late because he was up late reading last night, so there’s no packed lunch, only breakfast.
“I’m going.”
“Uh.”
I bent down to kiss the forehead of the person who came to see me off at the door, then walked to my car to drive to the hospital. During lunch break, I had to find a place to eat since I didn’t bring lunch.
I went with Jo, who’s in the same ward, to my usual restaurant. When I say ‘usual’, it doesn’t mean it’s delicious; it’s not good, which is why I come here often, you don’t have to wait long because there aren’t many customers. Jo immediately looked annoyed when he realized we were going to this place again. “Has it gotten any better?” I asked, almost not believing my own taste buds, having eaten there from freshman to senior year, and today it suddenly tasted better. The person sitting across from me shook his head in disgust.
“No.”
“Try mine.” I pushed my plate forward, Jo tasted it and still shook his head, “But
I think it’s better today.”
“Are you so used to eating bad food that you’ve lost your taste?”
“Are you saying the food my wife cooks isn’t good?”
“You said it yourself that it wasn’t good.”
“Yeah, true.” I nodded; it’s not good, I was just stating the truth, and Dao thought the same, “Damn, has my tongue turned into a crocodile’s, used to eating bad food?”
“It’s good then, you think everything tastes good.”
“Wow, the food from this restaurant is delicious, it’s amazing, I really have to thank my wife.” I felt grateful; from now on, whatever it is, it’ll probably taste good to me.
“Annoying.”
“What? When you were flirting with my wife, I was annoyed with you too.”
“Ha, what about the one who used to have such a sharp tongue before?” “Well, people learn, don’t they? Back then, I wasn’t enlightened yet.” I said, shrugging as I continued to scoop rice from my plate. No matter what, it’s not as good as the rice my wife makes.
While I was thinking about this, a chat notification popped up. I opened the chat to find Dao had sent a picture of his bank account, showing a deposit of about two hundred thousand, explaining that Direk had transferred it. I raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“What?”
“What?”
“My dad transferred two hundred thousand to Dao.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know, let me call and ask.” I immediately called Direk, and after a moment, he picked up, “Direk, why did you transfer money to my wife?”
(Oh, it’s your salary, isn’t it?)
“Huh?”
(Your money that I give you every month.)
“And why not transfer it to me?”
(You’re a spendthrift, better let Mrs. Dao handle it and manage your expenses.)
“Direk, you’re joking, right?”
(Yes, from now on, if you want to buy anything, ask your wife.)
“Direk, are you crazy, what’s this stinginess about now?”
(Not being stingy. Just wanted to tease you.)
“What’s this about, Direk?” I protested, not agreeing at all. Why would Direk do this? Asking my wife for money isn’t cool. Before I could say anything more, Direk hung up. I scratched my head in frustration.
“What did your dad say?”
“My salary, he let Dao handle the expenses.”
“Because you’re so extravagant.”
“Yeah, damn it.” I cursed, and Jo burst into laughter.
“That’s good.”
“What the hell is good about it? From now on, if I want anything, I’ll have to ask Dao to buy it. Where am I supposed to get money to pay Dao? It’s a disaster.” I complained, “You guys used to say our hearts aren’t ours anymore, well, my money isn’t mine either, damn it.”
“You still have money that you left with me.”
“Yeah, how much is it now?”
“I can’t remember the exact amount, but it’s several million.” Jo replied, “Do you want some of it? I’ll transfer a million to you for now.”
“That’s good, transfer it then, sigh.”
I couldn’t help but sigh. There’s nothing wrong with letting Dao keep my money, but it doesn’t feel right, you know? From now on, I’ll just give my salary to Dao.
I’ll make do with the profits from the investments with Jo.
…
“Are you really going to let me keep this money?” Dao asked as we were having dinner in the room.
“Yeah.”
“Two hundred thousand, you mean you usually get two hundred thousand a month?”
“Yes.”
“And you complain about not having enough money, meaning it’s not enough?”
“Yeah. Who would have enough?”
“You should ask why it’s not enough. I only spend a few thousand a month.”
“Good for you, being frugal. It’s good that you’re saving it.”
“Then just tell me what you want to buy. I’ll transfer the money for you.” “Okay.” I agreed because I actually intended not to touch that money. After dinner, I helped Dao wash the dishes, and we showered together for about half an hour. The other half hour was what we did together every night, once in the bathroom and then on the bed. Tonight, I was satisfied after holding back to just twice a night for several days, because tomorrow was a holiday, and we planned to stay over at Dao’s house.
“Look at the camera.” I said cheerfully while holding the camera pointed at the person in front of me who was frying rice. Dao stopped stirring with the spatula and looked at me, puzzled.
“Filming what?”
“Video.”
“Hm?”
“A memory video, something like that, to keep for watching later.”
“Oh.”
“What did you do this morning?”
“Stir-fried vegetables.”
“Did you taste it? Is it good?”
“It’s okay, want to try?”
“Yeah, feed me.” I said. Dao scooped some stir-fried vegetables from the pan for me to taste. After trying it, I found it quite tasty, “It’s good!”
“Really?”
“Your cooking skills have improved again.” I complimented, reaching out to pat the little one’s head. Of course, it was all being recorded on video.
“Isn’t it because you’re used to eating bad food?”
“Why think that?”
“Arthit told me.”
“Oh, well, but so what? As long as I eat it and it’s good, that’s enough, right?” “Hmm.” Dao nodded before turning to scoop the stir-fried vegetables into a bowl, ladling out some cooked rice onto a plate, and serving it on the table. I, acting as the cameraman, didn’t miss any of the actions. Even the way he moved, I thought was so cute, so cute that I wanted to edit this clip, add subtitles, and upload it to show off the cuteness that only I could capture.
I put the camera down because I had to eat.
“And what did your family say?”
“They said they want to meet.”
“Damn, what a tough guy, like, they want to meet, come on.” I teased.
“It’s not a challenge, they just want to meet my boyfriend.”
“Yeah, I get it, and what do I have to do when I go to your place? Do I need to behave properly or something? That’s hard if that’s the case, I don’t have much manners.”
“Hmm. It’s not much, everyone is nice, and Dad likes you Arthit.”
“And the clothes?”
“Just casual.”
“Can I go out wearing just boxers?”
“Yeah, but Dad might want to punch because he’s jealous, having to see another guy walking around shirtless in the house.”
“Really? So if they actually fight, what would you do?”
“Sit and watch.”
“You’re not worried about me at all?”
“What’s there to worry about?”
“What, your dad is a big example.”
“Where am I small?”
“You’re only this big.” I said jokingly, and Dao looked up at me with disgust. After packing my things to stay over at Dao’s house, we left the room and set off. I intended to drive, wanting to have Dao as a passenger, to be the one to take him home, and to enjoy the scenery together.
“If you get tired, we can switch.” Dao said while starting the engine. I glanced at the cat sitting comfortably on Dao’s lap, feeling jealous for the millionth time. I get jealous of everything that gets to be with Dao, even to the point of being jealous of a figure, wanting to make a figure of myself for Dao to collect, who knows why.
“It’s okay, just chill, let’s go, you.”
Then the car moved out from the parking lot under the condo.
“Yeah, how did your dad and your dad fall in love?” I asked a question I had asked before but had forgotten.
“Dad was Dad’s love at first sight, they met at a coffee shop.”
“Oh, but for us, it wasn’t love at first sight, huh? It took me so long to like you…oh, it was a long time. If you hadn’t moved next door, how would it have been?”
“We would have met some other way.”
“Why?”
Dao turned to look at me.
“Oh. Didn’t I tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“About when I read your fortune.”
“You said my love graph was going up, but there was something else you didn’t mention.”
“Oh…that we’re soulmates.”
The response from the person beside me made me take my eyes off the road and look at him abruptly.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Damn, I’m embarrassed now.” I said honestly. Now I was starting to feel embarrassed. Damn, soulmates, that’s awesome.
“Embarrassed?”
“Yeah, then it means no matter what happens, you’ll stay with me like this, right?”
“Yeah.”
“From the fortune?”
“No, from the heart.”
“Wow, can I let go of the steering wheel and kiss you right now?”
“Are you crazy? Watch the road!”
“The road isn’t as interesting as you are right now.”
“Drive properly.” the person beside me warned seriously. I couldn’t help but laugh. I was just joking, if I did something strange and the car went off the road, what would happen if Dao got hurt?
The scenery by the roadside kept changing, accompanied by the music playing in the car. We chatted playfully until we reached our destination. I drove into the parking area next to the house, unable to help but glance around at the house with curiosity.
This was the house where Dao had been living for a while.
After a while, a man slightly taller than Dao came out with a warm smile. I was sure this was his uncle because I had seen him in pictures before; he came up and hugged Dao immediately. All I could do was stand and watch from behind. Damn, Arthit. Even if you’re jealous, you can’t be jealous of his dad, you bastard.
While trying to keep my mind from thinking about crap, I noticed another tall man walking out, this one was Gavin, Dao’s dad. I had met him once before, so it wasn’t hard to recognize him.
Dao’s papa walked towards me and extended her hand. I shook his hand and introduced myself in English. I was a bit confused before responding in Thai.
“I can speak Thai, you know.”
“Oh, right, you’re half-Thai, I forgot.”
Then Gavin came over to greet me again, and the four of us then walked into the house.
“Your dad doesn’t look like you at all, huh?” I whispered to the person beside me.
“How so?”
“He doesn’t seem as cold as you, he’s quite cheerful.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s how Dad is.”
“And you look like your mom?”
“I look like Uncle Akar next door.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Uncle Akar is just as quiet as I am.”
“Really?”
“Joking.”
The other’s words made me squint at him; I almost believed it, damn it. Let’s forget about this for now. I took off my shoes and walked into the house; this house was medium-sized, neither too small nor too big, with two floors. It seemed just right for the number of family members, including a grandmother. Once inside, I saw a woman watching TV. I greeted her with a small wai according to my limited manners. She returned the wai and called Dao over. “Hey, my grandson. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, come sit beside me, my grandson, and you, young man, come too.” I went to sit next to her as instructed, only to be stared at until I was completely confused, “Wow, you’re really handsome, both the grandson and the grandson’s partner. You’ve found a son-in-law or grandson-in-law that’s just to my liking.” I smiled at the compliment.
“What’s your name again?”
“Arthit.”
“Oh, um, nice name. I heard you’re half, right?”
“Thai-American, ma’am.”
And then the grandmother kept asking me questions without stopping, telling stories about Dao when he was young. Dao told me to stay with her for a while as he was going to help his aunt prepare dinner.
“He was a quiet child, like this since he was young. He didn’t have many friends in kindergarten; the teacher wrote in his report that he wasn’t very cheerful, not sociable, and they always wanted to talk to the parents because they were worried there might be issues at home.”
“Even now, he doesn’t talk much. Before, when I asked him something, he’d just respond with ‘Uh, hm,’ and it was hard to have a conversation with him…khrap.” I almost forgot to add ‘khrap’ at the end of my sentence, which made the grandmother laugh.
“You don’t have to be so formal. Just speak like you normally do.”
“Really? I don’t speak very politely, I hardly use honorifics, are you okay with that…ma’am?”
“Yes, yes, I don’t mind. Just don’t speak English to me like Gavin does; I can’t understand it.” The grandmother lowered her voice, “At first, when Pai introduced him, I was stressed. Not that I didn’t like him, but I was like what was this tall foreigner saying? Was he bad-mouthing me behind my back? Nowadays, it’s so hard to have a conversation with him, all I get is ‘Hey, hey, come on, come on.’“ I couldn’t help but laugh at her words.
“And what about you, young man? How did you come to like my grandson? I used to tell Pai that no one would fall for him, he’s not very social, he has more ghost friends than human friends, I think.”
“I don’t really know either. After spending some time with him, I started to like
Dao for being Dao. Hard to explain.”
“That’s good, good. Love each other for a long time, just look after each other. Dao is my only grandson, and I’m old now, only able to worry. If someone is with him, I feel more at ease.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take the best care of Dao.” My words made the grandmother give me a warm smile. “Give me your hand.” I held out my hand.
“You have a strong fate line. Not afraid of anything, you like challenges, and there are many who support and encourage you, whatever you do, you’ll succeed.” the old woman said in her raspy voice, her finger tracing the lines on my palm. She smiled even wider, “Your fate matches well with Dao’s, a pair that will complement each other perfectly.”
“Can you see into the next life? Like, will I be with Dao in the next life?” “Leave the next life to the next life. Many couples have tried to force their fates together, only to cause problems. Think of it this way, if you’re meant to be, you’ll find each other no matter what. If you love each other enough, one day you’ll meet again.”
I nodded, understanding the message she was trying to convey.
I chatted casually with grandma, getting along well. It’s not for any particular reason; I can talk to anyone if they communicate sensibly. I’ve never felt any tension at all.
“And does Dao have friends at university? I heard he does.”
“He does.” I answered, “Maybe three. Since there aren’t many at his faculty, just the partners of my friends.”
“Oh, good, does Dao get along well with them?”
“He does. They seem to be very close, and they’re good people too, even if some might be a bit annoying. Are you worried about his friends?” “Yeah, I am. I don’t know, Dao seems to attract bad people.” …attract bad people.
Does that include me too…damn it.
“Since he was little, he had to change schools frequently, got bullied or falsely accused, and from a kid who didn’t talk much, he became even quieter. But if you approach him sincerely, you’ll see he’s one of the kindest kids.”
“True, that’s right.”
“Right? But because he doesn’t want to deal with people, he gets misunderstood. He stays quiet and doesn’t retaliate, making it seem like he’s giving up, but in reality, he’s really brave and fights back.”
“True.” I agreed. After chatting for a while, Dao called us for dinner, which was a meal he helped his dad make. I ate normally and thought everything was delicious, but others commented that the taste was strange.
“Pai, does this bowl taste strange or what?” Gavin asked, making a slight grimace.
“Oh, this bowl was made by Dao.”
“Dean, don’t you think it tastes a bit off?” Gavin turned to ask me. I shook my head slightly and shrugged, continuing to eat from that bowl.
“No, I eat like this every day.”
…
Dao took me upstairs to his room. When he opened the door, I automatically scanned the room with my eyes. It wasn’t much different from what I had imagined; everything was neatly arranged, with lots of novels and drawing supplies.
“It’s a bit cramped, will you be able to sleep?”
“Fine, I’ve slept in smaller spaces.” I said, setting down my bag. I had no problem with the room, walking around to check out various items, “What’s this?” “Krabi.”
“Huh?”
“Used for learning Krabi-Krabong.”
“Really? Why didn’t I get to learn that?”
“I guess it depends on the school.”
“Come on, why didn’t my school teach this subject? That’s so unfair, damn it. So what do you do with it?”
“I don’t remember, there are some dance moves involved.”
“Dance? Then forget it, I really hate dancing.” I said, feeling annoyed, thinking back to high school when there was a dancing class. Oh man, just kill me, shoot me dead right there, but please, no dancing.
“You had to dance too?”
“Yeah. When I was in high school in Thailand.”
“What school did you go to?”
“I can’t remember the name, something like ‘Magic Arts’ or something.”
“You didn’t go to an international school then?”
“Hmph. No. At first, Direk wanted to send me to an international school, but I refused. I wanted to experience real Thai student life.”
“Oh.”
“What’s this, a yearbook?”
“Let me see.” He walked over to look. I pulled out a big blue book from the shelf, with the class name and school name written on the front, “Yeah, from high school.”
“Let me see, which class were you in?” I asked with interest, sitting down on the floor as he sat beside me.
“Grade 9.”
“Grade 6 to Grade 9.” I opened to Grade 9, scanning the group photo but didn’t see him, “Where are you then?”
“I didn’t get my picture taken.”
“Oh, why not?”
“Just wasn’t into it.”
“Come on, you don’t even have a solo picture, huh?”
“Yeah.” He nodded and turned the page, revealing a photo of someone different from the others in the room. Everyone else’s background was the same, but Dao’s was a school ID photo with only his name, surname, and student ID number, no phone number or motto like others had.
“Yeah, you’re not into this, huh? Why?”
“Just not into it.”
“Because of a friend?”
“Yeah.”
“What happened? Your grandma just mentioned she’s worried about your friends.”
“Never told you?”
“No, come on, tell me quickly.”
“Well…I’m usually alone, right? Then suddenly this guy comes along, starts getting close. At first, it was just polite conversation, but as we got closer, I later found out he was using me to gather information to spread around.”
“What did he say?”
Dao smiled and shook his head gently.
“I don’t know, probably thought he could find out my secrets by getting close, but there was nothing to find out. There was a rumor once that I had a rich sponsor because I could afford expensive drawing tools. In reality, that money was from my job, and the person spreading the rumor about the sponsor was the friend who got close to me.”
“What the hell?” I frowned, not understanding the mindset of that person. What was that about? “But for me, it was Meen who started rumors that I was a mafia kid, back when I was beating up others everywhere.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t care much because Direk was almost like a mafia himself.” I said, “But you shouldn’t care about such rumors.”
“Yeah, I don’t really care what others say about me, but what disappointed me was that I cared for him because I thought he was my friend.”
“Your luck really does attract bad people, huh? Look at Khram, all those damn guards, all sorts of people.”
“Including you Arthit.”
“Hey, wait, now you’re calling me ‘damn’ too?” I burst out laughing, and Dao chuckled slightly.
“Just kidding.”
“Don’t call me ‘ai’ then, just call me husband, okay?”
“Uh-huh.”
Before we could talk more, there was a knock at the door. Dao went to open it and found it was Gavin, inviting us to play football. I quickly agreed, and he handed me a sports outfit to change into.
Once I was changed, I went downstairs to find that Dao’s Papa was already there in regular clothes, indicating he wouldn’t be playing. The four of us left the house. I followed without much thought, and soon we arrived at a football field surrounded by an iron fence where about six guys were already playing.
“Normally, Gavin likes to play football with the people from the village.” Dao’s Papa explained. I nodded in understanding, chatted with Dao a bit, then we went onto the field, reorganized the teams, and I ended up on a different team from Gavin.
“Let’s see the skills of the medical school football team captain.” Gavin said. I just gave a mocking smile in response. The game started with the sound of a whistle. Since the team members hadn’t played together before, there were some missteps at first, but soon I managed to control the game’s flow, leading our team to a narrow lead by the end of the first half.
“You’re pretty good. You’re in better form than I expected.” Gavin said, coming over to pat my shoulder.
“You’re not bad either, but you still have a lot to catch up to me.”
“Haha, oh please. I really like this guy, but I can’t lose in front of Pai.”
“In front of Dao, I can’t lose either.”
I walked over to sit beside Dao during the break, took a towel to wipe the sweat off while leaning against him. Dao moved away a bit, but I grabbed his waist.
“Where are you going?”
“You’re all sweaty.”
“Sure, I just played football.” I said, glancing over at Gavin who was sweettalking Dao’s Papa, and I couldn’t help but try to get some attention from Dao,
“Wipe some sweat for me, will you?”
“You wiped most of it yourself, didn’t you?”
“Not all of it, look here.” I pointed to the side of my face where sweat was still beading, hearing some teasing from the other team members, “Do you usually come to watch Gavin play like this?”
“Sometimes, yeah. So, what did you think? Was he any good?”
“He’s alright.” I replied. Before we had much rest, the other players called us back for the second half. This time, it seemed like Gavin was taking it more seriously, shifting the momentum of the game towards his side.
“Getting serious, huh, Gavin?” one of my team members asked in English, and the person smiled in response. The tense game had been going on for a while now. I had to get serious too, especially since facing someone skilled made it more fun. In the end, it was a draw, and although I wanted to keep playing, my team seemed exhausted.
“You played well.” Gavin walked over to me, offering a fist bump.
“You too.” I bumped his fist with mine before walking back to where the other two were waiting, and we all headed home. The surroundings had grown dim without us noticing, and streetlights came on instead. Once we got back to the house, I quickly took a shower, changed into a T-shirt and white shorts, ready to hit the bed.
“What are you doing?” I asked when I saw Dao on his phone on the bed.
“Editing photos.”
“What photos?”
“Of you and Dad, the one where you guys fist-bumped, looks cool.” Dao turned his phone to show me; it was a picture of me and Gavin fist-bumping on the field with the sky as the backdrop just as the sun was setting. Damn, it looked like a movie poster. “Dad likes this picture too.”
“Yeah, it’s nice.” I complimented, ruffling his hair.
“Yeah, I’ll send it to you.”
“Okay, send it then.”
“I’ll go take a shower first.”
“Alright.”
Then Dao went to the bathroom, leaving me lying on the bed alone. I had already talked with the grandma, played soccer with Gavin, so the only one I hadn’t really talked to much was Dao’s Papa.
Soon, Dao came back into the room in his pajamas, sat on the bed, and leaned over to hug me. I hugged him back.
“Trying to be cute with me?”
“No, I just haven’t hugged you today.”
“Oh.”
We stayed like that, hugging for a while, then leaned in for a deep kiss. Soon, I started to feel aroused, got up to take care of myself in the bathroom since we had agreed not to do anything in the house. Damn it, the first time at my boyfriend’s house, and I was going to jerk off in his bathroom. What was wrong with me? Was I going to jerk off everywhere I went, damn it?
After taking care of myself, I felt relieved and went back to the bedroom. There wasn’t much else to do; we just spent time together until late before going to sleep. In the middle of the night, I woke up with a dry throat, got out of bed half-asleep, and went downstairs to the kitchen. I opened the fridge, took out some water to drink, and then noticed two figures’ shadows by the back of the house. I sneaked over to peek and found that it was Dao’s Papa and Gavin, drinking together, and it seemed like they were talking about me and Dao.
So I decided to show myself.
“Can I join you?” I asked. The papa looked slightly startled before smiling and inviting me to sit, pouring some liquor and sliding a glass towards me.
“Can’t sleep?”
“No, I’m just thirsty, and you…uh…”
“You can call me ‘Papa’ like Dao does. And for Gavin, just call him by his name normally.”
“Oh…okay.”
“Haha, you don’t have to be so polite.”
“Oh, okay.”
Did it show that much that I’m not usually polite, that it looked unnatural?
“Then let’s speak English, so Gavin won’t be confused.” “Okay.” I agreed immediately.
“I heard you two moved in together?”
“Yeah, we did.”
“Are you sure it’s okay? That penthouse is yours.”
“Let’s say it’s ours.”
“Okay. I don’t doubt your love for Daotok.” He said while lifting his glass to drink, “I’m just a little worried. He’s my only son, and he’s had a lot of bad experiences. I just hope he finds someone who truly loves him from the heart, and that’s you.”
“Yeah.” I nodded, downing my drink in one go.
“I want to thank you. I’ve never seen Dao this happy before.”
“No need to thank me. If Dao is happy, I’m happy too.”
“The Dao you’re talking about is Michael, right?” Gavin interjected.
“Yes. I told him his Thai name, hoping he’d remember it.”
“Thai names are hard.” Gavin said, pouring liquor into his glass and also into my empty one, “Michael is a cute kid, a mini Phai. I call him ‘bamboo shoot’ because he’s like a young bamboo.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that, what the heck, my boyfriend turned into a bamboo shoot.
“That’s funny, you.”
And so, the three of us became drinking companions. I never thought there would come a day when I’d be sitting and drinking with Dao’s father and his boyfriend like this, until his father got so drunk he couldn’t hold himself up, and Gavin had to help support him.
“He’s always forgetting his limits once he starts drinking.”
“Hey, Dylan.” the drunk man’s voice rang out, pointing at me with the hand holding his glass.
“What?”
“If you make my son unhappy, I’ll kill you, understand? Gavin, you’ll take care of him if he hurts Dao.”
“Understood. I’ll take care of him.” Gavin promised before looking up at me,
“Kid, if you make my son even a little bit unhappy, I won’t keep you around.” “Hmm. If I make Dao unhappy, I’ll let you kill me.”
“You promise?”
“I promise with my life.”
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