CHAPTER 36.1 // CHAPTER 36.2

CHAPTER 36.1: SUCH A COWARD, I AM

I become aware of the inescapable fate once I get back to my house after I saw around ten pairs of leather shoes right outside. There’s only one reason a Shoes Fair is happening here and that is…

“Bastards, weren’t you going to at least let the owner of the house know beforehand?” I shout at the people inside while I take off my shoes and add them to the pile. I can hear those jerks laughing loudly after a long silence since they meant to surprise me.

Keng smacks Palm in the head. “I told you to bring those shoes inside, didn’t I? Noh would’ve realized what was going on when he saw them!” The guy who was hit made a stink face.

“Asshole, don’t even try with me! I was the one who told you to do that and you didn’t do it!” Keng then gets hit by Palm twice so now they’re even. This is just great. My house will be destroyed once again.

I shake my head and chuckle at them. I estimate that there are more than ten guys here. Some are sitting around the sukiyaki hot pot, which are Keng, Palm, Khom, Phong and Em. Then there are some playing the video game and sitting in front of the TV, which are Om, Per and Knott. I can hear Dong, Rodkeng and Ken all the way from the kitchen, they’re saying something about preparing a spicy noodle salad. So now that I get a chance to count…there are 11 of them here. It’s not a record-breaker though. (The most people I’ve had over was 17 during New Years. The house nearly exploded.)

“So who told you guys that my pa and ma aren’t home today?” I know for a fact that they didn’t find out about this on their own. Although, I only asked to be polite since I already know the answer.

“My beloved P’Immmmmmm~” I knew it. -_-” P’Im adores Om a whole lot. I don’t know if it’s destiny or if it’s a sin that they’ve committed together in their previous lives so they’re paying them now or what. Whenever p’Im’s nong Om drops by for a visit, we seem to have a ton of food in the house just sitting there waiting. (I mean, if it weren’t for Om, I don’t even know if I’ll ever get to eat those stuff.) And whenever Pa and Ma are not home (sometimes they go out of town to check on the factory so they need to stay over there for several nights), then it would be p’Im who calls and lets Om know about it. She would suggest bringing everyone over and destroy the house to him.

I’ll never forget this, p’Immmmmmmmmmm!

I shake my head and throw my school bag down to the floor (since the sofa is currently occupied). I notice that some jerk had brought my PS3 downstairs from my room. Meanwhile, another jerk had brought the hot pot from the kitchen to out here, filling the house with delicious aroma.

Well, great! Even though I already ate, I’m getting hungry again now that I smell all these things. I kick off my socks and join the circle around the hot pot right next to Phong.

“Can we eat this shit yet? I’m hungry.”

“Chill, man! The pork isn’t cooked yet. Om told me you went out on a date so I thought you wouldn’t get home until late.” Phong tells me as me plays with the lid by lifting it slightly, letting the steam escapes. At the same time, Palm turns to grab a bowl and a pair of chopsticks for me. I notice that they added instant noodles in there too. Way to go all out, guys.

“It wasn’t a freaking date. I only went with Yuri to keep her company.”

“Yes, that is what people call a date. And you’re back pretty early, she couldn’t get you into the mood or something?” I kick Em with a full force. He deserves it for spouting shit. I point at him with my chopsticks as a warning for him to stop talking, then I lift the lid to check the sukiyaki even though I know that it isn’t ready yet.

Now I hear Om barking away. “Yuri is so cute. How can you say that she isn’t hot enough? Our friend is a normal dude, man!” His voice is just so irritating. I shoot a dirty look at a guy who isn’t too far from where I am. He’s right in front of the TV. I feel like pulling the circuit breakers when I see him cackling just so I can piss him off.

“Just you wait. I’m gonna make sure you end up with nong Carp.” I whip out my finishing blow. Om immediately drops the controller from his hands.

“You fuckerrrrrr! I’d rather you jinx me by saying I’d fail all my classes!” He gets up and causes a scene. He’s being so loud that the other guys are confused by this. Dong, Rodkeng and Ken are back with the spicy salad and they look puzzled as well.

“Wait, what? Why does he wanna fail all his classes?” Dong asks as he places the first dish down near the hot pot.

“There’s no need for a jinx. He’s already failing anyway, right?” Rodkeng continues and he places the second plate of the salad down near the hot pot.

“This nong Carp, that’s your wife, right? I’ve seen her.” Ken finishes the conversation before he is the last one to place his own dish down.

Naturally, Om is looking quite miffed. He lets out some noises, showing his annoyance and pretends like he isn’t listening to us. I don’t know if this because he’s losing against Per in a car race or because we touched a nerve. Nong Carp that we’re talking about goes to the school opposite of ours. I have no idea what kind of a miracle this is but she’s really into Om. (She must be blind because I am much more handsome, obviously.) She has been going after Om for about 3 or 4 months now and it doesn’t seem like she is giving up any time soon either. Her real name is actually Nongnan but we use nong Carp as a secret code. Don’t ask why, I can’t tell you otherwise it wouldn’t be a secret. Heh heh heh.

We discuss nong Carp for a little while before Per interrupts us.

“P’Om has no interests in a carp because he prefers a mouse…” All of us quickly turn around. I notice that Om is giving Per a death stare.

“What mouse, Per! You better keep talking! Fucking Om always teases everybody else. I’m getting all the dirt there is on him today or I’ll die trying!” Rodkeng declares passionately.

Om promptly threatens Per. “If you say anything, I swear to god, Per…” At this point, I’m not sure whether Per is oblivious or he’s just pretending to be because he instantly turns to face Om and asks a question.

“Oh, am I not supposed to be talking about nong Mickey Mouse?”

Holy shit, Om! Nong Micky joined our club the beginning of this semester. He’s in the 9th grade. He’s cute and I mean cute. Like fucking cute. He’s so cute that even Film proclaimed that no one is to lay a hand on that kid. Film trusted Om to teach Mick how to play the horn but apparently something in the milk ain’t clean between those guys?!

“Shit, Om! What the fuck did you do to nong Mick?!” I shout at the top of my lungs since I’m very concerned about the underclassman’s well-being. The suspect immediately shakes his head. It looks like he’s clearly hiding something.

“I didn’t do shit!”

“He likes p’Om, p’Noh!” Per, you are such a doll today, aren’t ya?! I’m thinking about allowing him to ditch practice twice a week just as he had requested because he’s being so delightful today. Heh heh heh.

“Om, did you drug the kid?” Ken shouts at him. Om flips him the bird.

“Seriously. Does he really like you? I know that he’s being pursued by a bunch of guys. I’m not even gay and I like him. He’s fucking adorable as hell.” Khom says while looking a bit taken aback. At this point, nobody is paying attention to the hot pot at all. We’re staring at Om’s back since he refuses to look at us.

“I don’t know, man!” This jerk is always so loud.

Per continues his job of exposing Om’s secrets. “I saw p’Om hugging nong Mick too. Just you wait, I’m gonna tell p’Film about this.” What?! That’s huge! Per! Keep talking!

“Fucking Per! You were spying on us?!” And now Om is slowly revealing his dopey ways.

Per quickly waves his hands around and denies this. “I didn’t, p’! I left the sheet music there that day. I went back to grab them but I saw what was happening so I left them there. That’s why I couldn’t play the next morning. And p’Noh was yelling at me about the marching song that morning.” Oh, I remember that. I distinctly told Per to practice a lot but he didn’t practice at all. So that’s what happened.

But wait! That was only two days ago!

“Per, you’re the one to talk. What about you and nong Mawin? I saw you two.” Now that Om is cornered, he begins to change the subject by causing troubles for Per instead. Today is when all the truths come out, here we go.

“Me and Win? Come on, we’re only friends.” He denies the accusation. I know nong Mawin pretty well though. Per said that they’ve been friends ever since they were little. Nong Win is nice and well-behaved and Per isn’t like that. I heard that his father holds a high position in the military so he’s very strict. I wonder how he allowed Win to be best friends with a hobo like Per, hahaha.

“Don’t even. Nong Mawin came crying to me the other day. I had to calm him down. You were being way too cruel with him.”

“That’s right, p’! Per is really mean to him. When Win hangs around him, he’d say that Win is being annoying. Then when Win disappears on him so he would run to Win’s house and try to make up with him.” Knott finally speaks up about his friend after staying quiet for a long time. Per’s dark ears (he’s actually light-skinned but his face aren’t in the same tones, haha) are now magically red.

I decide to join them. “Hold up, Per. Phun told me that he kept running into you at the convent. So which are you into really?” However, I mentioned He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named by accident. Oh, shit. I brought this on myself. We haven’t gotten a chance to finish talking about Per yet and now Om is giving me a sly glance.

“Yeah, I guess it’s just like Phun. He eats lunch at the convent but he spends mornings and nights with you. I know what happened in front of the F Building, by the way.” Fuck! I knew that Om would find out about this! Why on earth did he have to shout?! Now my friends are interested in what’s going with Phun and me instead.

“Wait, wait. What happened?” Keng asks while he hits the floor with the ladle. Asshole, that’s gonna leave a mark! I quickly grab the ladle away from him and hit his head with it before I lift a case of beer from the floor and head to the kitchen right away.

“I’m gonna put these in the fridge. They won’t be cold if you guys leave them out here.”

“Dude, you’re running away!”

“I’m just putting these in the fridge, goddamn it!” I ignore what they have to say and retreat to the kitchen instead.

***

I spent some time and waited in the kitchen (until they forget). I put the beers in the refrigerator then I took them out only to put them back in and took them out again. Rise and repeat. (What the hell for?) Then I pretend to organize the bottles of water, the bottles of beer, and the bottles of milk (even though p’Ann had already organized them). Sigh. So are they done talking about that yet?

I pace back and forth then an idea pops into my head. I’ll slice up the limes and prepare the salt for the guys since I saw that they brought a bottle of vodka with them. Hmm. Not a bad idea. It’ll give me an excuse to stay in here a little longer. (Heh heh). I begin by grabbing a knife, the cutting board and the limes from the refrigerator right away.

However, I have never done this before. How are you supposed to slice limes? Vertically or horizontally? Do you cut along the line or is it across? (But they’re all round though…) This is too confusing. I turn the lime around and around in a daze. When I finally cut one, the juice squirts out. Ah! It’s in my eyes! It stings!

While I try to wipe my eyes with my sleeve, I hear something odd. Aside from all the loud noises the guys are making in the other room, I can also hear a car parking. Who else is here now? As if there aren’t enough people in this house.

I’m curious but I’m not paying attention to it (since my eyes are burning). Just as I am realizing that I can’t wipe the stinging sensation away and  that I should go rinse my eyes in the bathroom instead, I notice a blurry figure standing near by. I am startled as if I had just seen a ghost.

“Your eyes will go red if you wipe them like that.” I hear a familiar voice and the figure is rushing in to help me to the bathroom. Right when I begin to wonder how he got here, I feel cool water being splashed on my face.

“You need to be gentle like this. Come on, take your hand away.” The voice is telling me to drop my hand (and I follow his instruction, why?) before he helps by gently rubbing my eyes. The stinging sensation is finally leaving me. I blink rapidly to flush my eyes with the water then he delicately wipes away the droplets using his handkerchief.

“You don’t even know how to slice limes, you’re definitely gonna starve to death.” Bastard, there’s no need to call me out of this. I’m not a housewife, how am I supposed to know how to do these stuff? I crane my neck and stare at Phun Phumipat who suddenly showed up.

“How’d you get here?”

“I took a cab.”

“Ass. I meant…” At this point, I’m not sure how to phrase the question without sounding rude.

“You meant, why am I here, right? Fine, I can leave.” Oh, come on. I knew that he’d pull this stunt with me. I scratch my head as I watch Phun turns his back, intending to leave. Everything happens faster than my own thoughts. I reach out to stop him.

That was all it took to stop the person who said he was going to leave. He’s not even trying to break free. Whatever! You were just waiting for me to do this, weren’t you?!

“What…?” He still has the nerves to ask.

I put on a wary expression because I feel like I’m losing this battle. “Don’t forget your handkerchief.” Ahahahaha! Take that!

Once he hears that, he turns back around with an irritated expression on his face so I raise my brows at him mockingly. Then he changes his expression to a wide grin, looking like someone with a hidden agenda.

“Well, I’m not leaving even if you’re kicking me out. Heh heh heh. I’m already here then I might as well stay to the very end.” He tells me before he leads me back into the kitchen to help me with the limes. I am just learning about how this young master is very good at this stuff since he swiftly slices the limes without any troubles. This baffles me.

“Where did you learn how to do that?”

“Bastard, anyone can do this. I should be asking you questions instead. How is it that you don’t know how to slice a goddamn lime?” Oh, another humiliation. I want to hide under a pan after I heard what this young master Phun had to say. And while I search for a pan, I hear his deep chuckles.

“I’m kidding. I help Pang out in the kitchen often. I need to handle the knives otherwise she’d end up with cuts on herself.” He reveals the truth with a gentle smile. He usually has this smile whenever he speaks about nong Pang. I don’t need to be told about how much he loves his little sister.

I give him nod. “You should share some of the stuff she makes to me. I wanna try them.” I tell him and then I climb up and sit on the counter (where p’Ann and p’Im usually are) with a croissant that I grabbed from the basket. I start nibbling on it since talking about food is making me hungry. (I guess my digestive system is working too well.)

Phun walks over to get more limes with a smile, since it seems like there aren’t enough for the guys waiting outside. “You’d only crap your pants. I get sick eating the stuff we make.” Heh, are you talking smack about your own sister now?

I laugh while I stuff the last piece of the croissant inside my mouth. But I suppose it’s a little too big (probably not that little) so I’m having a tough time chewing.

“Look at you. Are you afraid that I’d steal your food? Eat slowly. It’s not like there’s only one piece of croissant in the entire world.” Phun happens to turn around and sees me so I get another teasing from him like always. I really want to argue with him but…

“Ut-uh-uck-up.” My mouth is full of the croissant so I can’t exactly curse at him.

I’m still trying to chew with much difficulty. I must look really funny since I can see that Phun is chuckling at me with a smile before he reaches over to wipe pieces of croissants that are stuck around my lips.

His sharp eyes are shining strangely.

“This feels familiar. I think I witnessed a scene like this one earlier today.” He tells me and the unchewed croissant slides down my throat at once.

“Hey…! Cough, cough, cough.” I’m choking now! Phun rushes over to pour a glass of water for me.

“Chew first and then swallow! I told you not to eat so fast.” Now I’m being scolded like a little child, but I don’t care anymore since there’s something else that I want to let him know.

“Hey, there’s nothing going on between Yuri and me, you know.”

“Huh?”

“I mean…Yuri was eating and she was making a huge mess! So all I did was helping her clean up. I wasn’t–I mean…ugh! I don’t know how to explain this!” It all seems like I’m only making dumb excuses. I scratch my head vigorously, yet Phun merely laughs.

“Oh, forget about it. I understand.” He tells me while chuckling just like how one would when speaking to a small child. I don’t believe really him though.

“Hey, I’m serious. Don’t be like this.” I tug his arm before he goes back to slicing up the limes. Phun looks at me with a confused expression and then he laughs once again.

“I didn’t mind at all, really!” Like I’ll believe that. I glance at the person who’s still standing there laughing away.

“What is so funny anyway?”

“You.”

“What about me?” I still don’t understand what he’s trying to get at when Phun shakes his head and grabs some more limes. He slices them as he speaks.

“You’re being just like how I was that night.”

“Which night?”

“In the taxi, remember? Heh heh.” He tells me and laughs again. Well, aren’t you in such a cheery mood? Better be careful or you’ll cut your hand with that knife.

I follow along his train thoughts slowly and then I let out a small ‘oh’. I can’t help but laugh at myself. Phun turns at me and cocks his brows since he knows what’s going on in my head. I’m being exactly like how Phun was that night when he kept apologizing to me in the taxi.

I think I understand him better now and I’m sure that he understands me a lot better now too.

For the two of us…no matter who each of us must stay with in this world of reality, we’re content with spending our lives in a small world that belongs to just Phun and me…as long as we’re beside one another.

I smile to myself before I flinch because I remember something.

I’ve almost completely forgotten something important. The other day, I had decided to tell Phun about Aim so I downloaded the clip to my phone but I didn’t have the guts to tell him. I almost forgot about this. I feel for the phone inside my pocket to recall the memories that I desperately wish I can forget.

How do I tell Phun something that will devastate him the most? Or maybe I shouldn’t tell him? But I don’t think I can endure watching him being made a fool over and over.

“Phun…” My lips move faster than my thoughts. Simply being reminded how about the person standing in front of me is being lied to by that woman, I suddenly want to reveal the truth. Phun turns to look at me with curiosity. But right now, I can’t find the words. I’ve never been like this before.

“Uh…”

“Is there something the matter?” Those sharp eyes and the smiles that he has always given to me only reinforce my fear. How can I be the one to hurt him?

I stay still for a moment before I begin to say something.”….I think we have enough limes. Let’s bring those out before the guys start complaining.” In the end, I cut our conversation short. I slide down from the counter tops and lead myself outside the kitchen. I’m allowing everything to go on as they were. And despite knowing what is going on, I am not brave enough to stop it.

I am not strong enough to destroy Phun’s smiles.

CHAPTER 36.2: TROUBLE COMES

“Goddamn, you guys! You were gone for ages. I thought you guys sneaked out and went to Santika Pub already.” Om exclaims loudly the moment we return with a huge pile of limes. He’s sitting by the hot pot, just waiting. It seems he traded places with Khom, Ken and Rodkheng, who are now playing with the game console. Way to be considerate of the utilities bills. And who the hell turned the air conditioner on?! Did you even ask for permission?!

“Jeez, if you’re gonna turn on the A/C then you better smoke outside or my ma will complain.”

“Yeah, we know that already. Dong and Per are already outside for a smoke break.” Palm answers me as he makes some space so Phun and I can sit down. Keng moves away to make room for us as well and then he begins to talk.

“So how’d you get here anyway, Phun? Did Noh call you and tell you to come over?” Goddamn Keng. What is that supposed to mean?!

Phun laughs before he passes a bowl and the ladle to me. “Nah, my family chased me out and said that I can’t sleep there tonight.” Phun’s answer is quite ambiguous and I’m confused by it.

“Why? Had a fight with your dad?” I ask him, though I doubt that’s the reason.

Phun quickly shakes his head. “No, no. I didn’t have a fight with anybody.”

“Eh? So what do you mean then?” I still don’t understand him. If he didn’t have a fight with a family member when why was he chased out? My face probably has a huge question mark on it that my friends end up helping me with getting the veggies and meat into my bowl just so that I would shut up.

“Phun doesn’t wanna tell us so why do you keep asking? Just stuff your face and quit being so nosy. Phun! There’s no need to be coy! Eat all ya want! Make yourself at home!” That damn Phong! This is my house! I shoot him an annoyed look before I glance back at Phun who is laughing heartily and raises his eyebrows at me with a smile.

Fineeeee. Whatever. Make yourself at home!

I sit here looking sour with one of the chopstick my mouth. I’m using the other one to look for specific food in the hot pot. Soon enough, a glass filled with amber liquid is passed to me. I only take one sip and I need to yell at the person who mixed the drink.

“Holy shit, man! This is too strong! What a waste of booze!” It definitely had to be Dong who made this. I turn to yell at him but he continues to eat and not paying any attention to anyone.

“Don’t be so stingy. We got a shiton of booze. We have beer and the vodka that Khom brought too. I’m just concerned that you guys might not finish them. Plus, I’m too lazy to carry these back home.” That’s wonderful. You can clean up the puke, Dong. Dumbass.

I resign myself to his reasoning and think that I should focus on the hot pot before I miss out on the food. It’s a complete mess. There are just about everything a person might want. Lots of meat, very little vegetables. Just earlier, Om tried putting Pocky in there too because he said he wanted to eat some. Seriously? Fortunately, Knott was able to stop him in time since he was worried about everyone else’s well-being. You’re a hero, Knott.

Soon after, the rest of the guys came back to join us. From the ones that disappeared off to play video games to the ones that went out for a smoke. The circle has grown pretty big compared to the small hot pot so we ended up fighting over the food. It was pretty fun though. Luckily, I had an incredible student council secretary who happened to be skillful in just about everything helping me out. When I mentioned that I wanted to eat something in particular, he was able to find it in the pot every single time. How come I couldn’t find them when I search for myself, I wonder. Maybe this had something to do with dark magic, who’s the know?

We were being real loud just talking and laughing with one another. Even Phun, who was not exactly close with any of my friends, had dropped honorifics and started speaking informally to his new drinking buddies. I guess it’s true what they say about alcohol creating friendships all over the world. I’m laughing my butt off watching Knott and Per being forced to drink since they had the nerves to join the upperclassman and drink with us. Poor kids, you guys are so dead. Per is usually pretty yellow-ish and pale but now he’s even more pale. (How drunk is he? Jeez.) As for Knott, his face keeps getting more and more red. Yeah, these two won’t make it out here alive. Hahaha.

While everyone else is having fun, I notice that Phun continues to spoon the fish tofu from the pot into my bowl constantly. There are so many that I need to tell him to slow down.

“Hey, that’s enough. You’re gonna make my shit come out in rectangular shapes.” It’s a sensible reason, isn’t it? Phun laughs before he focuses on eating from his own bowl. About time. You spent way too long putting all this stuff in my bowl.

“Anyway, who the heck kicked you out of your house?” I can’t help but ask him since I’m very curious. I figure that this is the perfect time to ask since everybody’s attention is elsewhere. I thought perhaps Phun really did have a fight with his family and was too embarrassed to talk about it earlier.

However, he gives me some chuckles before he continues to eat, looking quite relaxed. “Pang saw you with Yuri yesterday.” Oh, shitttttttt.

“Holy shit! What now? So she knows then?”

“Knows what?” Phun raises his brows and asks me as if he has forgotten what we’ve been doing to nong Pang.

I’m struggling to find the words. “Knows that there’s nothing going on between you and…me.” It feels strange saying that. It’s even worse now that Phun is staring at me. His eyes are twinkling like he wants to make fun of me about something.

“Oh? There isn’t?” And there it is. I knew it.

I put on an agitated expression. “Fucker, don’t get smart with me. So what did she say?” Come on, take this seriously!

Phun shakes his head and smiles. He continues to eat as if he isn’t really concerned over this. “Not much. She assumed that we had a fight so she chased me out of the house and told me to patch things up with you. I’m not allowed to come back home otherwise. At first, I was afraid that you’d chase me out too. But I felt better when I got here. Thanks for letting me know about the party.”

“No one told me about this either, man. And even if there were no party, I wouldn’t have chased you away. Why were you so worried when you never chased me away?” I tell him as I pat his back a couple of times. I see Phun flashes a happy grin for a moment.

But before we can carry on with our conversation, we are interrupted by Om’s booming voice.

“Yo, yo, yo! Let’s play The Truth Game!” He says while waving a soda bottle in the air. We usually play this game when we drink. However, I know very well what Om’s true intentions are for bringing this up tonight. So now, I start to think of a way I can get out of this.

“Yeah, yeah! Come sit in a circle!” The rest of the guys agree to join in as they move closer. Even Phun, who doesn’t really know what’s going on, is joining everyone too. I see that Om is looking very pleased with himself.

“Okay, we need to explain the rules first since we have new members joining us, and that’s Phun, Per, and nong Knott.” The three guys whose names were mentioned nod their heads along. Meanwhile, I intensely stare at Om since I know what he’s up to.

“We’ll spin this soda bottle right here in the middle of the circle. Whoever it points to when it stops will be asked a question and they must answer it, okay?”

“Jeez, p’! Anything and everything?” Per is making a fuss over this. Has he not learned anything? You’ll be even more of a target. Are you stupid or are you stupid?

Om still looks pleased with himself. “It’s cool, you can go home if you don’t wanna play.”

“No way. Fine, I’ll play if I have to.” The kid agrees to join with minor protests. I can already tell who the first victim will be. You would think that Om gently places a bottle to point at someone by the way he spins it. How is it that he’s so good at this stuff but not anything else?

Unsurprisingly, the bottle spins and stops at Per.

“It’s you. That’s what you get for making a fuss.” I put some pressure on him since I spot an opportunity to do so. His small eyes open wide, (as wide as he can force them to be) to which I find hilarious. Hahaha.

Om takes a second to think of a question. He comes up with a knockout question for Per to start the round with. “How many convent girls have you slept with already? You can’t stay you haven’t because I know that you have.” Whoa! I know somewhat that Per is quite a player, but I had no idea that he’s that bad. Per is taken by surprise and his face shows it.

“What?! Never!”

“You’re gonna get it if you lie.” Uh-oh. I don’t know what it is, but no one has the nerves to lie to Om whenever he makes a threat like this. I watch as Per swallows and turns to look at Knott as if he’s pleading for help. But nobody can help you now. Sorry, dude.

Once he realizes that there is no way out of this, he shakes his head and accepts his fate. Then he begins to count using his fingers. What the hell?! O.o This damn kid!

“Only the convent girls, right?

“Yeah, only the convent girls.”

“Every convents?”

“You’re even more of an asshole than I thought.” Om begins insulting him. “Yeah, all the convents! Damn!”

Per nods and keeps counting with his fingers. “…four. Wait, five! Five girls, p’…” But then Knott elbows him repeatedly. “Six. I counted.” Yo! For real, man?!

Per stares at Knott’s face with some confusion before he proceeds to argue.” I counted five.” However, Knott doesn’t let up. “Wanna count together then?”

So they begin to slowly naming names, one by one.” Bow, p’Ammy, Mimi, Pink, nong Dem…and who else?”

“I knew you’d forget about p’Ning.”

“Oh yeah! Ning too! Okay, so that’s six. Six girls, p’.” The two guys agree to themselves before they weakly confess to us. Everyone smacks them out of irritation.

“Better be using protections!” These kids are giving me a headache.

After I forced Per to give me his word, it is time for a new victim. I didn’t even see Om spinning the before it lands at Phun…who is sitting next to me.

“Phun…” I call out his name and he flinches. He stares at me for a moment and then he returns Om’s gaze.

“Well?” You know what they say, the best defense is a good offense!

Om nods at Phun’s smile. He has a mischievous look on his face and then he marches on with a question. “What you shouted that day…were you being serious?” That fucker! Holy shit!

I panic and immediately stare at Phun. I’m unable to control my expressions. It seems that Phun doesn’t understand the question though. “Shouted what?” He asks.

“In front of the F Building the other day. You better not say that you don’t remember or you’re gonna get it.” Judging from his expression, it seems Phun couldn’t remember at first but once he meets eyes with Om, he remembers everything. He even turns to look at me. (I got nothing to do with this!) Naturally, I pretend to be clueless and eat from my bowl as if I have absolutely no idea what’s happening. Sorry, but I gotta jump ship.

“Well? Were you being serious?” Om repeats his question. I’m not looking at Phun’s face so I don’t know what kind of expression he has. Phun answers Om’s question very clearly in his deep voice.

“I was.”

“Yo, yo, yo! What’s this all about?! You can’t just keep this between the two of you!” Palm yells while everyone else is still puzzled. I let out a sigh of relief because it seems no one else knows about this. I suppose Om actually can keep things to himself.

Om doesn’t answer the questions from the guys. He simply smiles and lightly pat Phun’s shoulder. “Great. And you’re willing to admit it too. You got my support. Fighting, man.” Okay, this is probably not the time for feeling any reliefs. I highly doubt that I should be considering the weird looks that Om is now giving to me.. I can guess who the next victim will be.

And just as he begins to spin the bottle…

“Oh! I gotta take a shit! Be right back!” I shout and jump from my seat, not giving Om a chance to spin that bottle. Heh heh heh. I use this excuse a lot so it’s not too strange for him catch on to me.

“You can’t go! Stay for this round first!”

“I can’t hold it! I’m about to shit my pants! I gotta go!” I cause a fuss and speed out of there, heading to the bathroom. Ah, well! I’ll be safe for at least fifteen minutes. I can either pretend to have diarrhea or maybe I should just take a nap?

Once I arrive at the safe bunker, I push the door open before I close the toilet lid and sit down to take a nap. When my head touches the wall, I immediately feel a strange drowsiness overcoming me. I suppose it has to do with the amount of alcohol I’ve consumed earlier.

I can still hear the guys making loud noises every now and then. My curiosity is getting the better of me. I’m feeling a hint of regret since I’m losing out on learning other people’s secrets. (This sounds terrible, doesn’t it? Haha) The rule of this game is you can never talk about what you learn outside of the circle. So the chance for me finding out about them is pretty much zero. This annoys me a little, but I guess it’s better than being there and allow Om to interrogate me.

I think to myself as I lean my head against the wall, feeling sleepier little by little. While I’m in in that moment between awake and sleep, I let out a big grin when I think about Phun’s answer. It’s the kind of smile that you can’t wipe from your face no matter how hard to you try. Heh heh. Even though I couldn’t see his face–and not to think too highly of myself–I can guess what kind of an expression he had. Phun is always like this. No matter what, he is loyal to his own feelings. Unlike me. At times, I keep running away like a fool. Just like what I’m doing right now for example.

Some time has passed since I came in the bathroom (I even had a full nap). I check my watch and learn that it has been over 45 minutes (and I’m beginning to have difficulty breathing in here). So I figure that this is enough time for them to finish that stupid game and I make my exit.

Creaks.

“Shit, that bastard finally comes out of there! I’ll get you for this next time!” I get yelled at the moment I pop my head out. Hahaha. Just as I thought. I walk in looking relaxed as the guys are taking shots of vodka.

“You’d never get me. So what happened? I wanna know.”

Smack!

This is the prize for someone who wants to be nosy but refuses to take any risks. Ouch, this hurts. Keng hits too damn hard. I rub my head right away.

“You ran off and you have the audacity to ask? Nobody tells him a thing.” It sounds like he was the one spilling secrets. Heh heh heh. That’s fine. I’ll trick nong Knott into telling me about it some other time. That kid is so naive. I know this very well. Heh heh heh.

I accept a shot glass from Dong and I notice that there are less of us here now. I look around and discover that Phun isn’t here.

“Where’d Phun go?” I quickly ask about the missing dude.

“He got upset at you and went home.” Goddamn it, Rodkeng I was asking nicely, there’s no need to get smart with me.

I curse at him in return. “Asshole, come on! Did he go upstairs to use the bathroom?” Since I was asleep in the downstairs bathroom, I assume that he might be upstairs. The guys shrug at me instead.

“No, for real. He went home. He excused himself out of the blue and left.” Dong, who is sitting behind a bottle of vodka, gives me an answer . Of course, I’m perplexed by this.

“What the heck? He could’ve said goodbye to the owner of the house first.” I complain before taking a shot. Damn, this is way too salty. Is it the salt or someone’s nasty hands?

Khom reaches out to accept the empty shot glass from me before he passes it to Phong who happens to be the bartender for tonight. The seat next to me where Phun was sitting is now occupied by nong Knott who looks like he has had way too much alcohol thanks to the older guys making him drink. I watch his red face and find that to be pretty funny. Then, I notice that my cellphone has fallen down behind him.

“Oh, there’s my phone.” No wonder I couldn’t find it when I was in the bathroom. I couldn’t play any games and was only left with the option of taking a nap.

Knott glances at my iPhone and gives me a couple of nods. “Oh, right. P’Om was showing a video of when you were stuffing the Headmaster’s Mercedez with sticky rice to p’Phun.”

“That’s a bit too daring, isn’t it? He’s the student council secretary, you know. If he tells the Headmaster about this then I’m gonna get kicked out just like Golf was.” I turn to yell at Om before I realize something.

“Hey, how did you show it to him? You looked through the phone for him?!”

Om looks up from the squeezed lime in his hand to answer my question.” Nah, I told him to find it himself. I don’t know how to use your phone.”

My hands instantly feels cold even though the air conditioner are barely cooling down the room.

“Did he say anything?”

Om takes a second to think before he answers. “I guess I misjudged his sense of humor. I thought he’d find it funny but he had a blank expression on his face and then he excused himself.”

“I bet he left to let the Headmaster know about this.” Khom adds and he laughs among the guys. I’m slowly starting to realize what has happened.

“Oh, shit…” I mutter to myself very softly, to which only nong Knott can hear.

“What’s the matter, p’Noh?”

I no longer have the strength to do anything, let alone giving him an answer. I quickly shoot up from my seat and ignore all my startled friends.

“I’ll be right back!” My mind is already at Phun’s front gate even before I can start my motorcycle.