CHAPTER 43 : BACK TO ORIGIN

Everything returned to normal after that night. I rushed to school on Monday morning since I wanted to check up on Phun and see how he was dealing with his heartbreak. But then I saw him in front of the student council office. He was standing there with a big smile on his face. It was as if he is completely normal again. I was too overly concerned about him more than I needed to be.

So, we went back to leading our normal lives. Both Phun and I had plenty of projects that we needed to handle. One of those projects was the Christmas Fair and it drove me nearly insane. That dying amplifier finally took its last breath on the day of the fair (talk about perfect timing). Om and I ended up hailing a cab, went to Dr. Whaen’s house and carried that amplifier back to the school. (It was freaking heavy, we were soaked in our own sweat by the time we got back.) Phun had been keeping himself busy too since some of the underclassmen got into a fist fight (seriously, guys?). He was the one who broke up the fight, dragged them to the hospital wing, then dragged them to the administration office so they can write up letters for their parents and he even had to wait for those kids while there were being lectured. All of that took over half a day. What a hassle that was for him. Luckily, we finally had some free time and got a chance to enjoy the fair (which was closing soon) together. ^___^

The Angels Gang were hilarious. They decided to run a dunk tanks booth. Phun and I were throwing balls at the targets for a long while. (A bunch of them fell into the water. It was so satisfying too. That’s what you get for always grabbing my ass!) But then those angels dragged us up there instead. They tied me to the target and I became the victim. (Yo! You could’ve at least asked if I wanted to do this or not!) I swear that I tried to get away but they refused to listen. What the hell kind of sissy boys were they?! How come they were so strong? (It was so scary. Like, if they wanted to force themselves on me, I’d totally lose.) As for Phun, he didn’t really mind. He was laughing and allowed those guys to drag him up there too. Not long after, Earn’s sturdy figure can be seen tied to another target.

The fair got even more fun after that. Everyone rushed over to this area and played the games. (I’ll get you all next time.) The guys who were harassed by the student council, be it being forced to write letters after breaking a rule or pressured into giving donations, all lined up at Phun’s tank as far as the eyes could see. (They probably preferred Fi but he was nowhere to be found. I guess he knew he was in trouble.) Then the underclassmen who worked on the bleachers in Earn’s cheer team came to get revenge on the president of the cheer team. As for me? That asshole Om brought a bunch of the music club members over to my tank. What a bastard!

All in all, it was a lot of fun. I was so soaking wet that I ended up buying a new gym shirt to wear. I was right for telling Yuri not to come because I knew I wouldn’t have the time to look after her. And it turned out just as I had thought, I was incredibly busy that day. It was fortunate that Yuri didn’t show up.

If you were going to ask me about Phun and Aim, I’ll have to be honest and say that I still don’t know what they talked about in the condo that night. However, I do know that she is dating someone else now (that was freaking fast) and he goes to the same school institute as mine but he’s attending a different school. I don’t know him personally or anything though. I ran into Aim and that guy linking arms at Siam a couple of times. And look, I’m not saying this because I’m taking Phun’s side or anything but I think my friend is much better looking. (Haha.) At first, Yuri kept complaining to me from night until morning about how Phun broke her friend’s heart. I never argued with her since I didn’t know what to say. In the end, she saw that Aim is dating someone new in the blink of an eye so she stopped bringing them up. I guess she was starting to get what was going on somewhat.

Phun didn’t seem as hurt as when then they first broke up. He has been ‘trying’ to act normal. I said ‘trying’ because even when he was smiling or laughing, there were still moments where he sneaked off and sat all by himself while looking melancholy. At times, he was down and lost in his own thoughts. He didn’t know what was going on around him. But he was very determined though. A week later, I heard his roaring laughter and he was acting obnoxious like he was before. Those odd behaviors have since disappeared.

As for me, I’ve been very busy with cleaning all the instruments our club owns. There are a ton and all of them are filthy. They really need to take better care of these things. Sigh.

“Damn it, Ngoi! Adjust the cello strings too or they’ll snap!” Om loudly yells at the club’s slave. Ngoi is cleaning the cello without loosening the strings first. If they snap, I’m gonna sell you off at some gay bar just so we have the money for replacements. But then again, we probably wouldn’t get that much money.

The clubroom is quite crowded right now. It’s our tradition to have a major cleaning session at the beginning of a new year. Therefore, the members of the club are all here to clean the instruments that they personally use. I’m more of a general cleaner, which is bad for me since it means I’ll end up helping everybody and clean everything.

“I’m not afraid of mornings.

I’m only afraid that they wouldn’t come.

No matter how early it might be

I can handle it”

Don’t freak out just yet. I changed my ringtone again, heh heh heh. Leo Putt‘s voice can be heard from my phone. I quickly grab it without checking to see who is calling. (Because I left it on the floor and it vibrated so hard that it startled me.) Despite that, I know exactly who the person on the other line is.

“Where the heck are you?” It’s that lonely student council secretary. He has been sticking to me like chewed gum ever since he broke up with his girlfriend.

“The clubroom. You?” I answer him with the phone between by my cheek and my shoulder since I’m oiling the flute keys right now. I can hear papers being shuffled around from the other line.

“The office. So you haven’t left the school yet? Come hang out with me?” See what I mean? This friend of mine turned into such a lonely guy. As of late, Phun has been inviting me to places with him, so much so that I’m an honorary member of the student council now. However, I really can’t go hang out with him today since I’m up to my ears with what I need to do.

“Can’t. Cleaning the instruments.”

“Bring them here then.” Are you for real? You want me to lug a double bass, a trombone and an electone all the way to the student council office?!

“Hilarious. What are you doing anyway?” I ask him back. I can still hear pages being turned.

“Going through the budgets for the first quarter. My head is pounding right now.” I asked what you were doing, not whether your head hurts. What an attention seeker. Don’t think that this Noh will feel bad for you.

“Bring them here then. Better hurry before you see any ghosts.” I tell him before I hang up. Less than ten minutes later, the clubroom’s door is opened. Phun Phumipat’s tall figure is standing there with a smile on his face. You were ready to come here even before you called, didn’t you?

“P’Phun! Hi!” A bunch of the underclassmen greet him. The truth is, Phun has been coming around here so much that he’s almost a member of the club. I turn to see him nodding his handsome face to the guys. He’s carrying three big binders with him and then he drags himself over to sit next to me.

“Sure is lively in here.” Phun says while he flips through one of the binders. He would’ve gotten a chance to get back to work if it weren’t for someone that started barking.

“What the hell, Phun? I would think your office is a lot more comfortable to work in. Why did ya drag yourself all the way here, I wonder~” I don’t need to tell you who is saying all of this, do I? He’s always like this. Really, doesn’t he get tired? Always with these kinds of comments.

“Don’t say that p’Om. P’Phun is comfortable here…emotionally.”

“Wooooo!” Goddamn it, Per! When did you start taking after that devil?! Not only that, everyone else in the room stops cleaning and begins making cat calls to back them up. It’s all over. My life’s all screwed up.

I flip the bird all around the room while Phun chuckles to himself.

“He’s right though…”

“Wooo! Wooo!” Really? You’re playing along with those guys? The woo’s are even louder now. -_-” If it weren’t for the fact that I had just cleaned this flute, I would’ve smacked him in the head with it.

We went and back and forth for a while until Om got himself in trouble (since nong Mick is in the room too). In the end, we got back to cleaning the instruments and doing our own things.

Phun is now wearing a pair of glasses while lying down right next to me with a calculator. He seems to be focusing on his budgeting work. I rarely see him wear those glasses (he told me that he only wears them when he needs to read a lot) but I really do think he looks so cool with glasses on.

“What are ya staring at? I’m hot, aren’t I?” God god, this jerk got some balls to say something like that. I cock my brow as I glare at him while he makes a mocking expression. I feel like grabbing something and throw it at his face.

“Yeah, you’re as hot as the hanging nail on my toe.” Heh heh. At this point, I feel that I have the balls to say that kind of stuff too. Phun shrugs at me as if he chooses to ignore what I’m saying before he goes back to pushing the buttons on his calculator.

“I’m not afraid of mornings.

I’m only afraid that they wouldn’t come.

No matter how early it might be

I can handle it”

Leo Putt is back as he sings loudly from my phone. I flinch once again but Phun is quicker than me. He looks at the screen before I get a chance to.

Yuri’s name and photo are lit up brightly. His eyes are fixed on me while I take the call.

“Yes. Which day is it? Oh, tomorrow? Sure, sure.” I can feel Phun staring at me while I’m talking on the phone. Why is he staring so hard anyway? “We can meet at Siam then. I might be a little late though. Sure, see you.”

“So you’re busy tomorrow?” Phun immediately asks me when I end the call. I turn to give him a confused look.

“Well, yeah. I made plans just now. Why?”

“Nothing…” Phun answers before he turns back to concentrate on his work and doesn’t pay any more attention to me.

What’s with him?

***

After I had to sit through Yuri’s begging and pleading yesterday, I quickly dealt with the what the convent requested. They sent a request for our club to play for their closing ceremony. We were there in the middle of last year but it seems we will play there again pretty soon. I guess they really liked what we did so they sent another request. It was a little hectic for me but it wasn’t that bad since the other teachers signed off on this. All that is left for us to do is decide among ourselves on who will be going.

I leave the Siam Station BTS and it is almost 5 pm. I rush to the Starbucks where Yuri said she would be waiting. She called yesterday making a fuss about how she hasn’t seen me since New Year’s so I decided to meet up with her.

“Sorry that I took too long.” I quickly apologize ahead of time since I am worried that she has been waiting for a while now but she gives me a sweet smile instead.

“It wasn’t that long. I actually thought you wouldn’t get here until later.” Yui answers me with a smile and puts a book she was reading away inside her tote bag. Then, she gets up and links her arm with mine before we leave the cafe together. “Let’s go find something to eat? Are you in a hurry to get home today?”

“I’m never in a rush to get home, but it’s not good for you to get home late, you know.” I remind her out of my concerns for her well-being. But it’s clear from her light face that she isn’t listening to me.

We trot along and end up at the Hong Kong Noodle place since Yuri mentioned that she wanted to have those big shrimp dumplings and I wanted to have some too. That’s how we both decided to come here. The server places a glass of iced tea for Yuri on the table.

“Hey, I heard that your club will be having a concert at my school again soon?” She asks me what I had recently finished taking care of out of the blue and I give her a nod.

“Yeah, the Masser just signed off on it. What kind of an event is your school hosting?”

“Just a normal open house. I’m so glad that I’ll get to see you sing again.” Yuri tells me with a wide grin and I quickly return a smile to her.

“It might not be me though. We’ll have to decide on things first. If another band is ready to play then I won’t.”

“Awwwwwww…” The girl in front of me lets out a disappointed sigh. I can’t help but messes up her hair out of affections.

Soon enough, huge bowls of noodle soup arrive at our table along with an order of the crab fried rice and roasted duck that we ordered. Yuri eats while she complains about how the dumplings are way too big to eat. Although, I recall that she was the one who wanted to eat these dumplings (so why is she complaining?). It’s cute how she has troubles eating them though. Eventually, she gives me one of the dumplings so I can finish them off.

Just as we are about to be done with our dinner, I can hear a group of girls making some noises. I’m not paying any attention to them (since I’m too focused on eating), that is until Yuri smiles and greets them.

“Oh, Yuri. Are you on a date?” A girl with braids approaches our table first and the rest of the girls follow her and surround our table. Um, this is kind of scary.

“Yeah, and I’m totally not letting you interrupt us. Hehe!” Yuri says while beaming. I smile and nod to say hello to everyone. It feels like they’re staring at me, I don’t know if I’m imagining this though.

“This must be Noh. You’re really something, Yuri. We were screaming for Noh when he held a concert at our school last year. In the end, she snatched him away for herself.”

“Yeah, yeah. Did she put a hex on you or something?” The girls are having fun teasing Yuri but I notice that she isn’t having any fun along with them.

“Hilarious, you better watch it.”

“It’s not like that.” I help Yuri out by saying this with a smile. They stop and carry on with some more small talks before they leave to their own table. This is when I can clearly see that Yuri is obviously upset.

“Is there something wrong, Yu?” I ask her but she shakes her head.

“No..let’s just finish up and leave, Noh.” That was my original intention (since I wanted to check out some books in Kinokuniya) but now that I heard her say this, I’m rushing even faster.

Just as we are finishing up the last few bites, the sound of a chair being dragged around interrupts us. “Hi.” I look up and it’s one of the girls from earlier. She is pulling up a chair to join us. She is smiling at me which causes Yuri to have a sour expression on her face.

“H…hi.” I have no choice but greet her back even though I know that Yuri doesn’t want me to.

“You’re the music club president this year, right? I’m a member of the music club at my school too.” She carries on with the conversation. It’s weird and I begin to wonder if this is actually Yuri’s friend or mine.

But I just couldn’t just be rude and tell her to leave. “Yeah…?”

“I heard that you’re really good at playing instruments. I’m not too good at that stuff. Can I have your number so I can call you in case I need some advice?” Heh…she’s being overly aggressive now. This is catching me off guard but if she’s using music as an excuse then I can’t turn her down as the president of my school’s music club.

“Um, it’s 089…ow!” Yuri kicks my shin just as I am about to give her my number. She’s literally attacking me!

My attacker turns and gives the girl that recently joined us a sweetest smile dripping with honey. “You can ask me if you have any questions. I can pass them along to Noh. Check please!” Yuri answers on my behalf and she calls a server for the check. I’m still pretty confused to what’s going on but then I hand over a purple bill to the server right away.

“My treat.” Yuri turns and grins widely at the girl once I told her this. She seems to be overjoyed.

“We’re gonna get going, see ya.” She says before she links her arm with mine and we promptly leave the restaurant together. Hm…I think I’m starting to understand things now.