Chapter 8

Was it already beyond my expectations to be able to work in the same place as Khun Sam, but sleep in the same bed as my education and lifestyle reference? I'll tell you the truth, Khun Sam's house was not what I expected. Because the style and the tonality are so different from what I read in their interviews: they said that their style is contemporary and colorful.

This house is contemporary in style, but the color is full of an earthy tone. Most of the things here are grey. The only colorful thing I see in this house is red lipstick. Even the pajamas I'm wearing are earth-colored.

"Do you like pink?"

"That?"

"Your underwear says yes."

She lifts up my panties with two fingers. I forgot in the bathroom. I rush to take it from his hand.

How embarrassing.

"Sorry, I left it in the bathroom."

"I just wanted to know, so I asked. I wonder why girls like pink so much."

"I didn't mean I like it."

"No? Her bag is pink, her powder compact is pink, her pen is pink, everything is pink."

"You know me well."

She stops for a moment and smiles.

"I'm being your fan, maybe."

How long will you tease me?

"I'm sleepy."

I end the conversation, folding my panties up and tucking them under my work dress to hide them.

"You go to bed early. You usually reply to my messages at 1 am."

"You texted me first, so I texted back. That's it. Which side can I sleep on?"

"On that side." He points to the side of the bed by the window. I look at her and I know what she's thinking.

"You're afraid that hungry ghosts are looking at you through the window, aren't you?"

"I am going to hit you."

He shoots me his gaze. It doesn't scare me, but I start laughing as I lie down under the white blanket, which makes me feel like I'm sleeping in a hotel. Its light and unique aroma makes my heart race.

Its smell is so good.

While I'm lying in bed, she's pacing around looking for something to do. I ask him:

"Are not you sleepy?"

"It's not my time to sleep."

"You sleep too late. It must be the effect of your headache."

"I can't sleep without medication."

"This is not good for you. Come, lie down. If I fall asleep first, you will have to deal with the hungry ghosts alone."

He mutters something and lies down on the bed. Turn off the main light and leave the bedside lamp on. I think this light will disturb our sleep. So I dare to approach her to turn off the lamp.

"I'm going to read a book. Why did it go off?"

"I'll sleep. You need to sleep now." I take the book from her hands and place it on the nightstand. Then I pull her body down so she falls asleep.

"You have courage. Is this how you want to be friends, my fan?"

When he looks me in the eye, I'm stunned and shudder as if I've been electrocuted.

"I'm sorry."

"Why were you surprised like this?" She reaches out and pulls me down. "You told me to sleep, you should sleep too."

"Y...Yes."

Finally, Khun Sam and I are lying confused in bed at 11pm on a Friday night. It should be exciting because I'm getting closer to the idol I love so much, but I'm in a strange place.

Normally, I tend to fall asleep quickly, but restlessness makes me toss and turn. I keep going round and round until I am surprised by his face in front of me.

Although we are in the dark, my pupils are already adjusted and I can see her beautiful face clearly... And yes... Khun Sam hasn't slept yet.

Palpitations, palpitations...

My heart races and I worry that she might hear.

I better sleep on the floor.

"It is not better".

"But I'm going to keep you from sleeping because I keep tossing and turning."

Khun Sam puts his arm over my body to hug me. I shudder.

"If I leave my arm here, you will be considerate of me and you won't even dare to go to the bathroom.

So you won't be able to turn around anymore."

"You are cheating."

"It's so nice to be smaller. Convenient."

“Hmm… you are as tall… as tall as the hungry ghosts of the Suthat Temple.”

She suddenly pulls me closer. We are close, so close that our noses touched. "Oh..."

"If you mention hungry ghosts again, I will bite you."

"He's fine".

I use both hands to gently pull away. But she tries to hold me tighter.

If you move, I'll cut your salary."

"Aren't we too close? It's weird." I try to say it calmly.

"Strange how?"

"The truth is that I am ashamed. We are very close. I will not speak more of the hungry ghosts."

My face is getting hot. Good thing the light is off, otherwise you might see my face red as a tomato. My shaky voice makes her let go, but she doesn't pull away.

"Are you excited? It's okay for one girl to hug another."

"It's not weird in a friendly relationship. But we…we're not friends. I don't want you to think that I'm trying to get close to you."

"You're thinking about that word a lot." She said, "It's just a word."

"Your words are bad for me. I don't want it to be like this. It's already late. We'd better go to sleep."

After finishing the conversation, I try to turn the other way, but I can't. He holds me with his arm and it is not easy to let go of his grip.

"I can't sleep."

"Oh! then?"

"Tell me one of two stories."

"There is?"

"...Tell me a bedtime story. It will help me fall asleep faster or do something to make me forget about the hungry ghosts in the window. It's your fault."

Good. If he hadn't brought up the hungry ghosts, he wouldn't have ended up like this and he would have returned home safely. How much responsibility... Ok, I'll try.

"It's a story about a family of crabs, an Aesop fable."

"Forward."

"A long time ago..."

"Why do stories always start with 'A long, long time ago'? Why don't we talk about the present?

How outdated."

Okay I will. In the present…not long ago, is that good?…It's about the story of a crab.” He let out a dissatisfied sigh. “There was the mother of a hermit crab…”

Aesop's fable is simple. As far as I know, the story was about a hermit crab mother who wanted to teach her son to walk forward, not sideways. But the mother crab couldn't walk forward either. The moral of the story is 'Don't tell others what they should be unless you set a good example.'

And when the story is near the end.

"The moral of the story is..."

"Keep walking forward, even if you can't, or your mother will hit you."

What he said made me laugh out loud. What I've seen of her so far, I couldn't find in magazines.

"I said something wrong?"

"Ahh..." I can't stop laughing. "That's not the moral of the story."

"You are a terrible storyteller!"

He turns around when he sees that I was laughing. I want to apologize but I can't stop laughing at her. I found out that she is very cute when she is angry. I need to apologize.

"Khun Sam, I didn't mean to laugh at you. I'm sorry, but you're so cute."

"What you did is what my friends do. They say I'm hard to understand."

"It's not like that... Oh..." He pushes me with his back. So I hug her tight. If I fall out of bed, she will fall with me.

"Can you stop laughing?"

"I will, I will... I'll fall... If I fall, you'll fall with me and hurt yourself." I hold on tight to her, I want to win this battle, but so does she. And finally...

Pop!!!

We both fall out of bed. My head hits the ground, Khun Sam runs to see me after turning on the light.

"Are you okay? I heard his head hit the ground."

I... it hurts."

"And the floor?"

"Khun Sam!"

"I'm kidding." He said while holding my head with both hands. "Is it better for me to blow your head off like this?"

I am stunned by your care. Now he's taking care of me like he's taking care of a child. She blows my mind. Then he looks into my eyes and the world seems to stop for a few minutes.

Palpitation...

Palpitation...

My heart...

"... when I look into your eyes..."

"Yeah."

"My heart races".