CHAPTER 54: EFFECTS

It has been three hours since the incident (and the spirit of a sugar daddy that possessed me finally leaves) and I now realize that it took a huge chunk of my monthly allowance. T__T Wah! Bastards. Where am I going to find the money to spend this month?! I’m stressing out because I know that if I go to my pa and ask for more, he’d hit my head with his knuckles for sure. At least I still have some money left in my cafeteria debit card. The real issue is that I won’t get to go out and have fun anywhere for the entire month. T__T Noh’s life is so sad and depressing. T__T

I’m not in the mood to do anything. Naps and tic-tac-toe games are some of the things happening during the last period with Miss Patchree. I honestly have no idea what she’s saying in front of the class. Garbled noises enter my left ear and easily exit my right. I’m not taking anything in. No new knowledge is being acquired this hour. Sigh. How long until I can go home? I’m in my seat and I’m staring at the clock with the minute hand moving ever so slowly towards the number 8.

Dings

Yes! Finally! My sleepiness goes away the second the bell rings, right after Miss Patchee assigns us a mountain of homework.

“Yo, anyone up for soccer?!” Palm shouts in the classroom and everyone rushes to join him, including Om. (That bastard was the first one, actually.) “Noh! You coming?!” He turns to ask me. I’d never turn this down, of course, but give me a second to pack up my things.

Less than ten minutes later, Class 5 runs down to the soccer field with our messy and untucked shirts to join over ten groups of other students who are already having matches on their own. How do they manage this, I wonder. This must be our school’s specialty which can’t be imitated.

It’s my unlucky day though, since I end up on a different team from that bastard Om this time around. The way Om plays has never really bothered me, but this is mostly because we’ve always been on the same team. However, now I can truly comprehend what a despicable guy he is.

“Asshole! You’re such a cheater!” I’ve said this probably over a hundred times. This is Om’s idea of stealing the ball. He charges from behind me, covers my eyes and allows Ken to easily take the ball away from me. What a dick! I’m running out of names to call you!

Om laughs in my face after I’ve cursed him off. He runs over and high-fives Dong too. Whatever! I’ll get you back for this! However, when I try to play dirty, (for example, stepping on their socks so they’d get filthy or pulling off their shorts) it doesn’t work at all because Om catches on right away. Figures, he’s the master of all things evil. No one can beat him at his own game. He better not get careless though!

We play soccer while cursing at one another for a long time before we decide to join the junior high students. That is how we begin our harmless hazing (haha) where whenever a kid tries to steal the ball, Rodkeng would pick him up and raise him into the air. We’re pretty much picking on them instead of playing soccer at this point (hahaha). I sit down on the field and watch Rodkeng carrying an underclassman on his shoulders. He runs around the field as though he’s celebrating an Olympian. Everyone cracks up at the sight.

Don’t think that Om will allow Rodkeng to one up him though, as he runs and picks up another junior high student then rushes to where Rodkeng is. A war breaks out (do you guys think you’re elephants?) between the kids. Whenever one of the kids tries to hit the other, Om would playfully back away so that he’d be out of reach. This entire thing is hilarious. It goes back and forth for a while and I wonder if they realize it’s getting quite ridiculous.

Eventually everyone stops and watches Om being hit by the junior high student instead of hitting his classmate. It seems Om’s obnoxious ways are getting to the poor kid. Hahaha, serves you right. It isn’t enough that you make your friends get irritated by you, now you’re getting on the innocent junior high kids’ nerves too. Keep hitting him! It’s so satisfying to watch.

“Whatcha doing, Noh? Why are you sitting down there?” Eh? It’s a familiar voice which I recognize too well. The student council secretary makes his way over to where I am. He asks me some questions and crouches down as I watch him. I point to the battle that’s going on (where Om and Rodkeng are acting like war elephants). “Look at that bastard Om picking on the poor kid. It’s hilarious.” The kids are attacking their mounts instead of each other now since they’re probably fed up. Hahaha.

“Om’s picking on some kids? I thought he has changed and that he loves kids now?” Oho, nice one. Too bad Om isn’t even around to hear this. I chuckle at Phun’s comment before I add something else. “Nah, he even picks on the one kid he loves.” Because he’s just that evil.

Phun laughs heartily before he settles down and sits on the ground next to me. Hm…he’s sitting on pavement, isn’t he afraid that he might make his shorts dirty? I’m about to tease him over this when he beats me to the punch and says something first. “So when are you heading home?”

I raise my brows at him, feeling a little confused. “Whenever, I don’t have anything to do today. My schedule is pretty chill.

“Wanna grab dinner together then? I’m free today too. You should drop by to see Pang, she’s been constantly telling me how much she misses you.” Hah, what a sly fox. He’s using his little sister as an excuse, I see what he’s doing. I raise my brows at him mockingly. But…sure! I’m down. I’m all beat from playing soccer anyway, I don’t have any energy left to play some more.

“Yo, I’m heading out!” I get up, dust off my shorts and shout at my friends in the field. Everyone suddenly stares at me.

“Jeez! Damn you, Phun! Stealing my friend away again?!” So having that junior high kid riding on your shoulders isn’t wearing you down yet? You still have the energy left to snipe at me. I raise my knuckles in the air at him while Phun chuckles to himself. He waves his hand as though to show that he’s innocent.

We communicate via body language for a while before I walk over to grab my school bag. I wave goodbye to the rest of the guys, and it feels like it’s taking forever. I give Keng my word that I will play DotA with him tonight and he has better set up a team. I wave goodbye some more before I follow Phun to pick up his school bag at the student council office. Finally, we make our way to the skytrain station.

“Let’s go to our usual BBQ place? We haven’t been there in ages and I’m seriously craving for those.” But before we even make it out of the school’s gate, the guy next to me has already decided on today’s menu. Meanwhile, this broke-ass guy can only put a sour expression on his face as though he hasn’t pooped in weeks. “That place is so expensive though. Let’s just eat at the rice and pork place at that one street.”

“Dude, I’m so sick of eating that. Dinner’s on me, it’s my treat. You can pay for dinner next month.” How is that treating me to a meal when I need to pretty much pay him back later? I glance at him and he has a wide grin on his face. I don’t have much of a choice other than giving him a defeated nod. Eh…I guess that’s where we’re going.

The two of us drag our feet over to the skytrain station. The door-closing warning sounds can be heard while we are on the escalator.

We’re both crazy, it seems, since we have the same weird reaction to that beeping noises when the doors are closing. It’s not that we’d start convulsing on the ground or anything, (that’d be an exaggeration) but the beeps activate something inside us. It’s like, we’re being forced to haul ass and get in the train as fast as possible.

As expected, Phun and I flinch when we hear the beeps. I grab his arm and we barely make it into the last car. Yay! Why was I in such a hurry anyway? We could’ve waited for the next one, which wouldn’t have taken longer than 3 minutes. That’s faster than making instant noodles. -_-

“Gasp, gasp, gasp…what’s the rush?!” Now that I’m snapping out of it and realizing what a stupid thing we’ve done, I predictably turn to cause a big fuss at Phun. The two of us are still gasping for air.

“You were the one who rushed me!” Yo, yo, yo, yo. So who started this? I burst out laughing while wiping the sweat from my forehead.

I’m finally breathing easier, the signs of my exhaustion is going away. Now, I get a chance to look around the car, and while I’m not looking for anything in particular I happen to notice that…

…more than 80% of the riders in here are female.

Why are there so many girls in this country anyway? I glance over to see female students, some are wearing red skirts and some are wearing blue. School has just ended, so they probably attend schools near mine. Not only that, there are female office workers in here too.

I furrow my brows once I notice that all these women are staring, with some trying hard to not to or pretending like they aren’t, at the handsome jerk who’s standing close to the air conditioner. He’s completely oblivious to what’s going on around him. I mean, I’ve always known (ever since we became friends, really) that he’s quite good looking. I just never thought that he has this kind of effect on women.

Seeing that, I decide to join them and secretly glance at the person whose shoulder is bumping into mine too. I can’t deny that he’s attractive and definitely stands out from the crowd. Even if he didn’t go crazy and rushed in when the doors were closing, his face, his tall and lean body are enough to steal everyone’s attention. Let’s face it, everyone can’t help but stare at him.

“Why are you so quiet, Noh? Still out of breath?” I flinch when he suddenly turns and asks me questions. He knows that I’ve been secretly staring at him.

As expected, his sharp face now holds a devious expression. I know that he’ll tease me about this. “Why were you secretly staring at me? In your case, you can totally just look at me all you want. Heh heh.” Smartass. I silently cuss at him before I look away. I can still hear his soft jolly chuckles.

‘Next station, Thong-Lor’

But before we can continue with our playful snarky comments, a woman’s voice from the intercom interrupts us to let us know that we’re arriving at our destination. Phun smiles at me before he gently pushes my shoulder so we can wait for the doors to open together.

Sometimes, I do feel like I’m in places where I don’t belong.

***

The two of us stroll over to the red minibus near the intersection so we can make our way to J Avenue. You’re not going to believe this but even older ladies on the minibus are staring at Phun. Heh heh. He’s the real deal, I suppose. Even the guy who collects the money tensed up when he’s taking the money from young master Phun.

Phun breaks the heart of everyone in the minibus when we press the button to let the driver know that we want to get off at 13th Street. We’re here at J Avenue again. I’m getting sick of coming here. Why am I always here? I suppose it can’t be helped since it’s close to where I live. -_-

“Right, remind me to buy some snacks for Pang when we leave or she’ll be mad at me again.” Hey, she’s your little sister! Why are you making me remind you?! I pretend to ignore him by whistling, just to annoy him a little. He pounds my head once as punishment. Dang, that’s cruel.

We chat and joke around until we finally arrive at the BBQ place we often visit. Their food are heavenly. “Two, please.” Phun tells the waitress and she leads us to a table by the glass wall. It’s my favorite spot because I get to watch pretty girls walk by when I eat. Hehe.

“What should we order? You’re paying, right? Then I’ll take everything on the menu, please.” I jokingly circle my finger all over the menu and Phun reaches over to hit me in the head. The waitress, who is waiting to take our order, chuckles softly. Damn it, that’s twice now. If I pee in my sleep tonight, are you gonna wash my bed sheet for me?

“Two orders of the garlic rice, an order of the marinated pork, a rib eye steak, a sirloin beef and a tenderloin beef, please.” Phun proceeds to read off the menu with me cutting in occasionally.

“Marinated tenderloins!”

“Right, we’ll take what he said. Marinated tenderloin. What else would you like, Noh?”

“Mushroom, squids…and tempera too.” I’m starving just thinking about this so I quickly close menu. I assume that what we ordered is enough for two people, but Phun continues to order some more.

“An order of lamb too, please. And the refill Chinese tea for drinks, thanks.”

After that, we get to hear the pretty waitress recite our entire order, which takes a while, back to us and the waiting begins. It’s long and tortuous, especially when I see people at nearby tables grilling all kinds of meats. They all look so appetizing!

“Noh, stop by my house later?” How did we get to this topic all of a sudden?! I flinch and give him a puzzled look.

“What? Why?” Now that I get a chance to mess with him a little, I decide to take it. Heh heh. I ask him while looking real obnoxious on purpose. However, Phun flashes a smile at me instead. It seems he isn’t bothered by this at all.

“To see nong Pang, of course. You haven’t seen her in days.” Always using his sister as an excuse! I cock my eyebrow, not really believing him. Phun raises his brows, looking relaxed, and then he grabs my hand on the table.

“Hey!” Why are you doing this in public?! It’s so embarrassing! Naturally, I use all my strength to try and pull my hand away.

“Damn it, let go!”

“Say that you’ll go first, then I will let go.” Bastard. Where did you learn such vile methods into having things your way? My eyes widen in a huff. Don’t think for a second that this Noh will give in so easily!

“The more you keep this up, the more I don’t wanna go. Bring it on!” I threaten him back but he seems quite laid back and unafraid by this.

“Just tell me that you’ll go. Come on, come on.” And now he’s forcing me to do this? I hang my mouth open to cuss him off but then…

“Excuse me, here are the drinks you ordered.” Oh! I hastily kick Phun with my leather shoes under the table because of the waitress. Not a hard kick…I think. I’m not too sure, but it’s enough for him to quickly let go of my hand. (If you had done that from the start then you wouldn’t have gotten hurt!)

“Thank you.” I turn to accept the glasses of chilled tea from her. I place one for Phun, then the other for myself, before she leaves us. Phun has a sour expression on his face. “You attacked me!” And he still has the nerves to complain about this?

“You started it.” Am I wrong here? Heh heh.

We argue for a bit more before the various meat dishes arrive at our table like a parade. I’m salivating already. Ahh, it’s like heaven for a meat-lover like me. I impatiently tell Phun to put them on the grill while holding a shrimp tempura in my mouth as to not waste any time. Heh heh.

At any rate, why is Phun always so focused on serving me? Ever since the food arrived at our table, whichever meat grilled to perfection landed on my plate. I don’t even have any space left! All I can do is scratch my head in annoyance. Whenever we run out of dipping sauce or tea, Phun would actually refill those himself instead of calling for a waitstaff. He has it bad. I guess it’s like he has these repressed feelings when he’s at home since everyone does everything for him there. Now that he’s outside, he prefers to be the one doing things for people. (But has he forgotten that there’s a 7% service charge here anyway?)

“Fucking hell, I can’t eat all of these in time! Eat some yourself!” How can I not complain when things are like this?! I throw a fit for the millionth time, yet Phun isn’t fazed by this. He continues to put meat and things onto my plate without stopping. My stomach is about to explode here. I’m at my limits.

“No, you need to eat up. They’re all good and healthy things.” More grilled meats land on my plate, he isn’t even listening to me. Seriously, you’re trying to fatten me up so you can sell me later, aren’t you? I stare at Phun, who is still focusing on grilling as he talks. “I heard that you only have enough money to eat noodles at lunch. You have a chance to eat good food so you need to just eat, alright?” He’s just rubbing salts in my wound now.

Hearing that, I immediately grab a mushroom from the grill and stuff it inside his mouth. “Just shut up and eat.” Hahaha. Perhaps I fed him a poisoned mushroom since he’s yelling something that doesn’t like a human language and spitting out the mushroom. Ahahaha!

“Fucker, that’s hot!”

“Hahaha! You totally burned your tongue. Have some water. Be right back, I gotta go take a crap.” I tell him and push a glass of water his way without feeling an ounce of guilt. (Bahahah!) I get up and make my way to the restroom. As I walk past the area behind the bar where the waitresses usually hang out, I overhear something that makes me stop in my track.

“Girl, have you seen that guy sitting at the table by the glass wall?! He’s gorgeous!” Even though I’m in need for a release, I can’t help but stop and eavesdrop on them. I nearly trip on my own feet when I realize that the only guy sitting at a table by the glass wall is Phun.

“Ugh, I noticed him the moment he walked in here! He actually comes here pretty often and I’ve been keeping my eye on him!” Another waitress speaks up and I can’t help but let out a small chuckle.

“Seriously?! I’ve never seen him here before. When does he usually come here? Which days? I wanna know so I can ask the manager to switch my shifts around. Hehehe.”

“Okay, you need help.”

“What are you guys talking about? How come there’s no one by the bar?” After listening to those two chat for a while, a third voice interrupts them. If I remember correctly, that’s the pretty waitress from our table.

“The guy at E-2. The really handsome one that’s sitting by himself? You see him?”

“Oh, yeah. That’s my table. Hehe, jealous?” So I did remember correctly. I’m slightly proud of myself, but then I begin to feel weird. Listening in on other people’s conversation isn’t polite at all. Now that I realize that, I decide to sneak away and head to the restroom like I originally wanted to do. That is until I hear the following sentence.

“He’s here with another guy though and he’s pretty cute too. I think he might’ve left to use the restroom.”

“Are they a couple?!”

“No way! But…I did see them holding hands when I served their drinks earlier!” Oh, shit. Instead of moving my legs toward, they’re stuck in place as though someone had pinned my shoes down with a thousand needles.

“Seriously?! That can’t be! He’s so handsome though, there’s no way he’s like that.”

“I guess so, but what if he is though? Ugh, what a waste of a total hottie!”

…………..

“Go on, go on. It’s time to get back to work, the manager is heading this way!” The waitresses make a small fuss before everything goes quiet. I’m the only person left behind, standing here and letting out a long exhale.

That’s what you get for eavesdropping on other people’s conversations.

And that awful feeling you have right now? You deserve it.

***

After that, I return to our table. Phun and I spend a long while eating our dinner, mainly because the person who came with me keeps eating and eating. He looks slim, but don’t underestimate him because he can eat a ton of food. He keeps ordering more meat and various other things. I suppose this has to do with how he’s been making sure I ate earlier. Therefore, he needs to eat a lot to catch up afterward. I’m beyond stuffed. I can’t eat another bite, not to mention I’m so tired. But wait. Was this his plan all along? Wear me down so I won’t put up a fight later? (It’s a little late to realize that now, isn’t it?)

At any rate, we’re talking about free food here. (Hehe.) Phun pays the bill for our dinner, which comes to a high four-digit number. (This is so damn expensive, good thing someone else is paying this). Now it’s time we go on a walk to digest our meal. One of the reasons I like this restaurant is that they have a hood right by the grill so we still smell nice and clean, just as when we first enter the place. (Well, a little less nice and clean since I played soccer earlier.) With other restaurants, you’d need to rush right home and take a shower. Otherwise, everyone will know that you were in a BBQ restaurant. The scent sticks to your clothes like glue.

Phun and I say bid goodbye to the restaurant and we stroll around Villa in order to buy snacks for nong Pang. This is when I learn that she has exams coming up but she’s refusing to study. So, being a good older brother that he is, Phun uses various ways in order to trick her into studying. He discovers that the best way is to lure her with food. (Wait, she’s your sister, not a dolphin.)

Thus, here we are shopping for snacks for nong Pang together. (And also for me. When I see a bunch of snacks I can’t help but get hungry again despite feeling absolutely full just earlier.) I stand close by and be Phun’s moral support as he decides on which would be a better lure for his bratty little sister, cakes or cookies. This is taking even longer since Phun is having a debate with himself, which is when when we both hear a sweet sounding voice from behind us.

“Nong Phun!” Hm? That’s not my name, I know that much, but I still turn around to look too. Who the heck is this?

I turn to look behind me with a confused expression on my face. Meanwhile, Phun grins widely. “Oh! Hello, Aunt Miew. Wait, or is this Aunt Meow?” Uh…so do you actually know this person? I glance at Phun to seems to be as puzzled as I am now. Later, I learn that Phun’s father has younger twin sisters named Miew and Meow. And no matter how much time passes, Phun can never tell them apart and he often gets teased about this. (This is actually funny, I would tease him too. Haha.)

I raise my brows when I heard Phun calling her his aunt. I greet her with a wai, following proper Thai customs. “Hello.”

“Hello, there. It’s Aunt Miew. When will you able to tell us apart, nong Phun?!” Phun’s pretty aunt accepts my greeting before she lovingly hits her nephew’s arm. Haha, you should hit him harder! It’s real satisfying to watch. I chuckle at the small talks the two are having, then her attention is on me.

“So is this your friend?” I know better than to let him answer these types of questions. “Yes, that’s right. My name is Noh. Heh heh.” Why is there someone tutting nearby? Hmph, I should take care of that later.

I turn to snarl at Phun for just a second before I turn back and give Aunt Miew the biggest smile, showing off all 32 teeth (I have no idea if I do have 32 of them, I’ve never counted) and she kindly smiles back at me. “So is it just the two of you here today? That must be lonely. Where’s your convent girlfriend, Phun?” Eh? She knows about Aim too?! I flinch and look at Phun who turns to look at me at the same time when he hears the questions. His eyes clearly show how hesitant he’s being that even his aunt can tell. “You two broke up?”

“Uh…yes.”

She surprises me by laughing. “Young kids are always like this! When you’re both good looking, you have so many choices. Why only date just one person when you’re still young, right?” Uh…is that really how she thinks? -*- A bead sweat rolls down my face as I stare at the woman in front of me. She is laughing away gleefully. She pats her nephew’s shoulder after giving him a compliment about his looks. I can’t help but laugh along with her carefree attitude.

“Found anyone new yet?” And she hits the jackpot with that question. I glance and Phun who has gone mute on the spot.

“Uh…”

“Don’t stay single for too long now or that girl will think that you’re still hung up on her, you know. My handsome little thing, how about I introduce you to some of the girls at the modeling agency? They’re all so cute and they go to great schools as well.” Oh? Cute girls that attend great schools? That sounds promising. Even I can’t help but feel interested. I let out a soft chuckle. The next thing I know, I’m staring down at the white supermarket floor.

Phun secretly reaches for my hand and grabs it. He uses his body to cover our hands so the adult in front us cannot see. “No, thank you. I already have someone.” What are you saying now?! I immediately look up and stare at his face. The handsome face isn’t looking back at me. Instead, he gives his aunt a proud smile.

“Ah, I see, I see. I knew that you wouldn’t be single for long. I hope your new girlfriend is just as awesome, if not more, than the previous one. Remember how all the guys were so jealous of you when you walked around Siam with her?” Heh heh…well… I smile to myself after I hear what she has to say. Suddenly, it feels cold in here. Maybe I’m imagining things. Perhaps they’re cranking up the air conditioner. That chilly feeling doesn’t last for long when the warm hand tighten its grip around my cold hand, as though its goal is to chase those feelings away.

In turn, those feelings have been replaced with warmth, and now, I feel safe.

“I’m not sure about how awesome but for me, this one is crazy cute. I’ll introduce you when we’re ready, Aunt Miew.” The familiar deep tone of voice boasts the nice qualities of the person he’s dating. She smiles at him. “Of course. I’ll be waiting. I should get going now since I still have to drop by my office. Byebye now, nong Noh, nong Phun.”

“Byebye!” Phun and I wave goodbye to Aunt Miew as she exits Villa. We’re still holding each other’s hand tightly. Phun turns to smile at me.

“Let me know when you’re ready, okay?”

I force a smile as a respond. I have mixed feelings about so many things.

Because I have no idea if that day will ever arrive for the two of us.