CHAPTER 35 : WE'RE THE SAME

Friday arrives, it is the last day of the weekday so I am rushing to get my homework done (by copying off Keng) with Om (who is copying off Palm). We’re so focused that we’re hardly paying attention to what’s going on around us. We have so many assignments to catch up on so we got to the school at 7 am (I called and woke up Keng too) in order to finish this English homework that we have. This summary assignment is terribly difficult and I haven’t exactly been focusing on my studies in the past week. I scoff at my own situation since I did this to myself.

“Shit, Palm. I think you wrote this sentence wrong. Can you show me what Keng wrote?” Om complains as he flips the pages back and forth. Then he looks through Keng’s notebook, which is next to me, for a moment before my phone rings.

“Hail to our host! Wishing you lots of silvers. Wishing you lots of golds. Hail to our host!”

Changing up the ringtone is a hobby of mine (because I have so much free time). Om glances at me while his hand is still copying the homework.

“Way to make your iPhone lame by using that ringtone” Fuck off, I like it.

I shrug at him, not paying any attention to his mockery. I check to see who is calling me. Oh, I better mute this.

“Your mom’s calling, I bet.” My friend knows my situation too well. I don’t need to give him an answer since he already knows.

“You better answer that right now or I’ll be forced to deal with your shit.” Om yells at me, but my phone has already gone silent. A breath later, a different ringtone can be heard.

“Quit braggingggg, quit braggingggg, quit braggingggg.”

You called me out on my ringtone, but that one is making it seem like your LG Secret is dirt cheap too!

Om glares at me when his phone starts to ring. He shoves it at me without checking to see who is calling. “You take it. It’s your mom. I’m not your secretary.”

“Oh, come on. I’ll just mute it then.” I say as I look for the button to ignore the call (how do you use this thing?) but then Om gives me a stern look.

“Just answer the phone. It’s your girlfriend. And I got a rule where if a chick calls then it has to be answered. So no, you are not breaking my rule.” You son of a gun, are you seriously using your stupid ass rule to force me to take that call?! I put on a sour expression as I stare at the LG screen which says “Noh’s Mom” on it. Well, aren’t you clever?

Fine, I’ll answer.

“Yes, Yuri?” I decide to take her call even though I really need to finish up with my assignments before school starts. I listen to Yuri’s perky and bubbly tone of voice and I can’t help but wonder if there’s anything that could ever make her feel stressed.

“Are you free this evening?” I knew it. I let out a silent chuckle.

“This evening? I don’t have any plans.” I pretty much make the assumption that Om will stay and take care of the club. I nearly lose my balance when Om smacks me in the head.

Yuri continues to speak. “Let’s go somewhere together. I wanna look for To-san’s birthday present. Can you help me choose?” Well, there’s the reason I should go with her. (Yuri calls her father ‘To-san’ since he is Japanese.) I know that if I let her pick a present all by herself, there’s a very high chance that To-san will end up getting a Hello Kitty paperweight for his birthday.

“Sure, where should we go?”

“Let’s meet up at Siam after school, Noh. I’ll just walk around there and wait for you.” She tells me before she hangs up. I return the phone to Om and he whistles at me as a tease.

“Well, aren’t you popular?” What the hell is he on about? I’m starting to wonder how much he actually knows.

***

I quickly make my way to meet up with Yuri at Siam after school has ended. Once I get out of the cab, I pull out my phone so I can call her but then I notice a light-skinned girl picking out some baked goods in Au Bon Pain.

Let’s surprise her, heh heh.

I come up with mean prank where I sneak into the shop and scare her so she would scream loudly. As I slowly make my way closer to her…

Yuri turns around and yells at me “BOOOOO!”

“AHHHHH!” This didn’t go according to plan since I am the one letting out a loud scream. It’s so embarrassing. The staff and other patrons in the cafe are trying very hard to hold in their laughter.

“You started me, Yuri!” I cry out as I pat my chest to calm myself down. She laughs and points at my face instead. So humiliating!

“Hahaha, if you think you can get me then you thought wrong. Hahaha! So are you in the mood to eat something? I’m about to pay.” As if I’d be willing to stay! Hurry up and pay so we can leave. I’m about to dig a hole and hide in it!

Yuri sees me shaking my head, looking forlorn and she lets out some more bubbly giggles before she turns back to pay. We leave the cafe together, with one of her arm clinging to mine while carrying the bag. “So where should we go? Help me think.”

“Sure, do you have any rough ideas on what to get To-san?”

“Something that he can use at work. What do you think about office supplies?” The image of a Hello Kitty paperweight pops into my head right away.

“What kind of gifts do men prefer, Noh?”

“Definitely not a Hello Kitty paperweight.” I quickly let her know. At this point, Yuri lets go of my arm and stares at me, looking stunned.

“How’d you know?! I was just thinking about that!” See? I knew it. I was right to come here with her.

“Heh heh heh.” I chuckle as Yuri hits my arm.

“Noh, tell me how you knew! Can you read my mind?!”

“Heh heh heh.”

“Noh, how did you know?!”

“Heh heh heh.”

“NOH!” Well, I just think Yuri is very ready to read, heh heh heh.

After we decided not to buy a Hello Kitty Paperweight, Yuri took me all around Siam during which my legs nearly gave out. We seem to be diverting from the goal though since she is now choosing a skirt. I doubt that To-san wears skirts.

“Noh, do you think this one is cute?” She asks me as she drapes a skirt on herself.

“Yeah, pretty cute.” But I don’t really know because I think they all look the same to me.

“Is it too short?” She continues.

“Somewhat.” At this point, Yuri puffs up her cheeks. She looks at me with an upset expression.

She begins using her tiny voice. It sounds like she’s a little peeved by my answer. “Should I really wear something like this? Aren’t you a bit concerned?” What is she up to this time around? I let out a soft chuckle.

“You can wear whatever you want, Yuri. Who am I to stop you?”

“You really aren’t concerned.” She mutters to herself while slouching. She looks really adorable like this so I continue to speak.

“You can wear that, but then you can’t get home late. It’s dangerous, got it?” Yuri’s eye go wide once I finished talking.

“So you’re worried?!” Eh? Of course. A woman wearing a short skirt while going home by herself late at night? I’m a guy. I know what the risks are.

But I have no idea what Yuri is thinking. She gives me a big grin before she puts the skirt back on the rack and then she holds my arm (very) tightly. “Noh, you’re the best!” I stand still because I don’t know what’s going on.

I see. Basically, you just wanted to know if I’d get worried about you? Heh, how weird.

Once we left that store with the skirts, we walked by Siam Square and crossed over to Siam Center before we arrived at Siam Discovery because Yuri mentioned that she wanted to check out some things at Loft. I wasn’t sure if she was looking for her own stuff or a present for To-san. At any rate, she got a new cloth bag, a pencil container, a mouse pad and a wrist rest. So…where’s the present for To-san?

As she is paying for all her stuff, she turns to look at me sheepishly. “There are only my stuff. What do I do now?” I can’t help but laugh out loud.

“I warned you not to come here.” Yuri gives me a dispirited nod then she accepts a bright yellow bag from the cashier.

“Where to then?” She complains to herself while I put the yellow bag into a tote bag that I offered to carry for Yuri, along with her school bag. Her light face has a very focused expression on it and then she smiles wide.

“Let’s go to Central. I don’t think the stuff there would steal my attention much.” That makes sense. I knew that coming Siam wouldn’t have been a good idea in the first place. I check my watch. It tells me that it is a little past 5 pm. It’s getting late, but there’s still time. I give her a nod and we take the skytrain to Central Chidlom.

It seems like this is a better choice because there are only mature stuff at this place. A teen girl like Yuri is a little disappointed but it can’t be helped. If she wants to find something for To-san, then this is the place to do so. I smile at Yuri who seems to be taking this pretty seriously as she decides on whether to get a tie clip or a watch for her Japanese father.

“Noh, do you think this one is nice?” She shows me a well-made tie clip.

“Pretty nice.”

“How about this watch?” She picks up the watch to compare.

At this point, I start to feel uncertain. “It’s hard to choose.” I honestly don’t know what to tell her. While the watch is more expensive, it’s a very great looking watch.

Yuri exhales loudly. “Which one do you prefer if this were your birthday present?” She looks up and asks for my opinion as if she wants to plead with me. I smile at her.

“If this were Noh. Then Noh would want a watch. But since we’re talking about your father, this Noh doesn’t really know either.”

“Then I’ll buy the tie clip for To-san and I’ll buy this watch for you.” What?! She instantly decides things for herself. Naturally, I can’t allow this to happen.

I immediately stop her. “Don’t do that, Yuri. I don’t want it. It’s too expensive.” Yuri puts on a sour expression. “But I wanna buy something for you too.”

I change my stance from scolding her to appeasing her. “Please don’t. We’re here to buy a present for To-san, remember?” Yuri gives in. She nods at me then she hands over the tie clip to the employee to pay for it. Soon enough, we see a tie clip inside a beautiful box.

Yuri beams like a little kid. “I’m hungry, let’s go find something to eat.” She tells me as she accepts the wrapped present from the employee and then she shows off the fancy present to me. Yeah, I’m getting hungry myself. My stomach is making noises in protest.

As usual, we end up at MOS Burger located in the underground level. Yuri is addicted to this place. I wonder if they put drugs in their food or something because every time she and I come to Siam, she would ask me to go over to Paragon so that we can eat here. Before they opened a chain in Paragon, Yuri used to dragged me all the way to Central World just so we can eat at MOS Burger. I hear that To-san likes them too. Actually, I like them too. They give you a lot of meat and the bread is sweet. The downside is that they’re a bit too big. Yuri makes a mess every time she eats one.

“Look, you got it all over you, heh heh.” I tell her while I hand the person sitting across from me some tissues. Yuri makes an oblivious face at first, then she accepts them but she can’t get all the mess on her face.

So, I decide to help her. “A little to the right. Go up a bit. No, no. Down. To the right, a little more. Sigh. Here, I’ll do it.” I was getting exhausted so I figure that I should just do this myself. I grab another tissue and wipe gently (I think?).

“Ow, do it gently. Noh, this is my face, not a scratch-off lottery.” Oh? I guess I’m using too much force. Now I’m trying to be even gentler. But wait…

That guy over there that’s staring at me looks awfully familiar.

“Phun…” I softly let his name slip from me, then I pull my hand back from what I was doing. Yuri turns to look at what got my attention.

“Oh, Phun! Come join us!” Oh, god! Don’t call out to him! But it is too late, Yuri is waving wildly at Phun who is being way too obedient since he is walking up to us now. He looks at me strangely and I  simply could not stare back at him for too long before I look away. Why am I shaking? I don’t even know. I’m just afraid. I’m afraid that Phun might be hurt by this. Yet, here I am still arguing with myself about how he and I aren’t even together.

Phun walks over to me and gently squeezes my shoulder once. I don’t know what this means.

“Meeting Aim here, Phun?” Yuri’s chirpily asks about her friend. Phun seems to be a little reluctant to answer.

“Oh…no. I’m didn’t make any plans with Aim.” He sits down next to me, still looking at my face.

“Eh? What are you doing all the way here then?” Yuri continues with the question while I’m staying very quiet. I still occasionally glance at Phun. It’s weird that his expression seems to be lively like usual.

“I’m here to meet my little sister, we made plans together.”

“Ah, nong Pang?” I ask him. He nods with a smile. Oh, shit. I forgot that nong Pang’s school is right across Central Chidlom.

“When? And where?” I continue to ask him weakly as I think ahead of what to do if nong Pang were to see us. It’ll be bad, but Phun doesn’t seem to be concerned at all.

“Six o’clock, at the school gate–oh, thank you.” A staff hands Phun his to-go order that Phun had made earlier in the middle of his sentence. I stare at the big plastic bag and assume that Phun probably ordered extra food for nong Pang as well.

He checks the items in his bag before he looks up with a smile. “I should go meet up with her. See you around.” He directs the latter sentence at me as he gets up and waves goodbye. Yuri waves in return, but then she puts on a bothered expression once Phun is gone.

“He’s lying…” I am taken aback by what Yuri is saying out of the blue.

“Eh? Why are you saying that?”

She scowls, then she takes a sip from her punch as she speaks. “Because Phun told Aim that he can’t go see a movie with her today since he has an important errand to run. But he’s actually hitting on girls in Chidlom instead.”

I promptly give an excuse on his behalf. “Hold on, his sister really does attend school near here.” But it seems like Yuri refuses to hear me out.

Her bright face still has a frown on it. “He’s been acting like this a lot as of late…ever since the incident.” I know very well which incident she’s referring to. I also think I know what’s going on with Phun. I was about to feel guilty, but then what happened with Aim in Hua Hin pops into my head. “I feel sorry for Aim. She shouldn’t have let him get away with it.” Yuri continues.

However, I keep eating the burger in my hands despite wanting to let out a laughter.

“Sometimes, you can’t place the blame all on the guy, Yuri.”

At this point, the girl with a light face is giving me a stare as if she wants to argue. I shake my head at her because I don’t want to talk about this any longer.

We all love our friends.

So I suppose that Yuri loves her friend.

Well, I love Phun too.