15
Mind set
Dear you... who is loved
Though it's currently a rainy season, our country is above the Equator, so it's still as hot as hell. Please don't let our country's climate frustrate you. Please smile a lot, good girl.
Apple
This is the first day of training for Tem. It's also the first day we use our newly opened office for a shoot. We even have team-matching t-shirts with our website name screened on them for all five employees.
I mean, six... if we also count Tem, the intern.
The product we received for the review is a waterproof speaker from a famous brand. Aontakarn reads about the product details in the script. My job is just to look at the monitor because my real job is editing.
"Don't you think it's a bit too dark, sis?"
Tem is looking at the monitor as well. He whispered his opinion to me. I nod to agree. But it's not at all a problem.
"We can fix it with Premier Pro. It's okay. Moreover, our clips have to look not too professional so the viewers feel that we're relatable. It's like make-up tips from beauty bloggers."
"But we have a professional announcer."
"That's why it's more interesting. The clip is simplistic. The script is easy to follow. But the announcer is someone who's regularly on TV. Have you seen that clip of Dome using hair wax to style his hair? He just set up a camera and shot, but the view exploded. That's because it's relatable."
"Wow... you're so cool, sis."
"It's basic knowledge." I straighten up a bit and start to brag. I know that I love compliments, but I can't help myself. There are not many things that I'm proud of in life.
"You're this cool; how is it possible that you don't have a lover?"
"Maybe I already have one."
"If you already have a lover, you wouldn't use the word maybe... Ouch!" Puth hits Tem in the head while he is playfully flirting with me. We are deep into our conversation, so we didn't notice that Puth, the brother who's very possessive of his sister, is standing behind us. "You have to smack me in the head? What if I become stupid?"
"That's your problem. You're here to work, not chat. If you don't intend to work, leave now."
"You're so strict." Tem laughs a little, knowingly. "You're so possessive of your sister. Chris is not that beautiful, you know?"
Hey, jerk...
I bare my teeth frustratingly. But Tem just laughs it off playfully.
"Ha. I was just kidding. Geez... you're so cute, sis. This company is great. Both female partners are rare gems."
"Why don't you go flirt with the other gem over that?" I point my head in Aontakarn's direction, but the handsome man shakes his head.
"Nah. She seems too precious and out of reach. If I'm to approach someone, it means I think that she's not too hard to approach and not so beautiful that I have to be afraid that others will approach her all the time. So... you're the one. Ouch! You smack my head again."
Puth hears everything. He can't help but smack Tem in the head again. It makes me laugh out loud before I turn to look at the monitor. I see Aontakarn staring at me with flames in her eyes.
"Oh... we are no longer shooting?"
"We finished the review a while ago." Jeth, the announcer who focuses on the technical side, says this and laughs. "Tem is creating chaos from the first day, huh? Behave. This is a workplace, not a university."
Even Jeth is joking around with Tem as if they've known each other forever. This tells us that the intern is very friendly. However, the lively atmosphere is short-lived when the most professional person in the room makes a flat announcement.
"How much longer will everyone fool around? Aren't we here to work?"
Aontakarn's voice is not at all stern. It's actually flat. Yet it makes everyone go quiet and act professionally, as if everyone respects her a lot.
"I'm sorry." Puth hurriedly apologizes, but there is no feedback from Aontakarn. It makes the mood ten times bleaker.
"It's all my fault." Tem gets up and bends his head down 90 degrees, like an obedient worker. "I was joking around with them. If someone is to blame, it's me."
All eyes are now on Aontakarn. Everyone anxiously waits to see her reaction. The petite woman says nothing. She just nods.
"I'll accept your apology. We are all grownups... We should be more professional when we work."
Aontakarn side-glances me before she walks out of the studio. It's as if she's saying that I'll be punished for this later on. And as soon as the sweet-faced lady walks out, everyone sighs with relief and shakes their heads.
"You guys are too playful." Jeth says this to us all and shakes his head. "Though Karn is very sweet, she's totally different when it comes to work. This is our first day working at our office, and you guys ruined the mood. Geez."
After he finishes speaking, the chubby guy crumples the paper in his hand and throws it at Tem, the one who got us all in trouble. The new intern laughs dryly, like he's admitting to his guilt. He looks at the backs of those who walk away. Now, there are only him and myself left. We're checking the videos on the camera.
"I feel like Miss Aontakam dislikes me."
"Why do you think that?" I glance at him, surprised. Because Aontakarn can be sulky, but she doesn't act silly towards everyone.
"She never smiles at me. She also never welcomed me to the team. That's why... I don't approach her. Her wall is too high."
"It's good that you know your worth."
"That's why I'm approaching you. You're cute and approachable. I like it."
"And have you asked me whether I like you?" I smile from the corner of my mouth and shake my head. "Stop fooling around. They will scold you again."
"They are taking me out to drink so we can bond. Please come with us."
"Drink to break the ice? It's more like an excuse to drink..." I sneak a peek through the studio's glass wall. Aontakarn is still in the office. She seems to be looking straight at us. Because I just got a cold stare from her, I quickly looked away and continued my conversation with Tem. I can't fight her gaze. "If it's drinking so the team can bond, Karn would be there too?"
us."
"Yes... I will be very uncomfortable. Please join
"Can I say no if everyone is going?"
"I was just stalling."
"Huh?"
"I just want to talk to you for a bit longer."
"What a flirt."
I laugh as I shake my head before I look over to where Aontakam was standing again. However, the petite woman can't be found.
Why am I so stress... What did I do wrong?
"MY Aontakarn."
I walk after the petite woman, who's about to go down the elevator, and whisper softly just for us to hear. However, Aontakarn only gives me a fleeting glance and continues to ignore me.
"What is it?"
"Nothing/Nothing."
Because I know what she's going to say, I say it almost at the same time. It causes the petite woman to give me a hard stare.
"Hey!"
"I know you would say that. Karn would never tell Chris what's wrong outright."
"Because it's nothing..."
"Chris thinks that Chris knows Karn at a certain level. Or, in other words, we're close. I can tell just by looking at you that something is wrong. Why are you lying... Tell me what frustrates you, young lady?"
The petite woman pouts. Actually, I would be more afraid if Aontakarn had gone quiet. But there is feedback. She's sulking and clearly showing that she's unhappy. She's sending a clear signal for me to try to make up with her or something like that. Geez... she's so adorable.
"I'm frustrated because the weather is hot."
"We're in an air-conditioned room. You scared the shit out of the intern, by the way."
"Good for him. He's not at all professional."
"He's still young. This is his first day of internship. He doesn't know anything yet."
"Don't make excuses for others." The frustrated tone of voice makes me laugh out loud. "You're still laughing? Do I look like a clown to you?"
"Why are you being so cute?"
"I'm this frustrated; how am I cute?"
"You're always cute. So adorable..." I reach out and gently stroke the petite one's cheek with the back of my hand. Suddenly, everything goes quiet. So quiet that we can hear our breath. I'm not sure how long it is, but it seems like forever.
I reach my hand out to stroke her face, saying that she's adorable. What crazy shit is this!
"Ah..."
Yum!
"Ouch." I pull my hand back and hug it in shock. The petite woman just leans in to bite my hand in full force, like a dog. And she's smiling merrily. "It hurts."
"I'm no longer sulking."
"I can tell from the look on your face." I, who am standing beside her, laugh. I look at the elevator, wondering why it takes so long for it to stop at our floor. "Don't you think the elevator is taking too long to arrive?"
"Yeah."
"This elevator has been broken since 1 p.m." Jeth, who just got here, happens to hear us, so he gives us that information. "We have to use the stairs."
"Oh..."
And the chubby guy stops and turns to look at us a bit before he smiles from the corner of his mouth.
"You two are really dating, aren't you?"
"…"
"You don't have to answer. You two are so cute."
Jeth asks and answers his own questions. Aontakarn reaches her hand out and grabs me as I'm about to respond. She shakes her head at me.
"Never mind. It wouldn't matter what you said."
"But to let everyone think that..."
"So what if we date? It's good... Having a friend who is like your lover. 2 for q. It's great. If you look at it that way, it's not so bad."
"But..."
"Isn't it good to be my lover?"
"It's not that it's not good. It is." I answer honestly. That makes Aontakarn smile embarrassingly. She tries to hide her embarrassment by clasping her five fingers with mine and dragging me down the stairs that Jeth just went down ahead of us.
"So this is good. Let them think whatever they want."
I don't know what to do. So I just shut up and blushed really hard. I feel hot and cold at the same time. I'm not sure if I have a fever.
Maybe it's because the weather is hot... yet I'm not at all frustrated by the hot weather like I should be.
Aontakarn is happy now. So the party to welcome Tem is going well. At first, I could sense that the guy was very uncomfortable around Aontakarn. But the petite woman is professional enough to let Tem know that what happened this afternoon was left at work.
"Oh... Thank you so much, Miss Karn. I felt really bad that I upset you this afternoon. I have to intern here for three months and all." Tem puts his hands over his chest with relief as he smiles at the sweet-faced woman. "Please take me under your wings."
"I overreacted a bit. The weather was too hot this morning." The sweet-faced woman replies. It makes Puth blurt something out carelessly.
"I thought you were possessive of Chris. HAHA."
Among the laughter, only the female announcer and me remain quiet as we glance at each other. Our earlier conversation about letting go is still fresh in our minds.
What about... the look Jeth gives us with a grin? It seems like he won't believe anything we say at this point.
"Possessive? Who's possessive of who?" Tem doesn't quite understand what's going on. He turns to ask curiously. Tho, his uncle, wraps his arm around his nephew's neck and gives a brief explanation.
"They are dating!"
I start to panic and am about to make an excuse. But Aontakarn puts her hand on my thigh and squeezes it to stop me. She then looks at me and moves her mouth to speak with me without any voice.
'It wouldn't matter what you say.'
'But wouldn't it be better than letting them misunderstand us like this?'
"So you like women, Chris?" Tem hunches his back like someone who's lost all hope. "What's this? Why do cute women date each other? What's left for us men?"
"Your hands." Puth smiles merrily because he successfully stopped the new kid from hitting on me with this false rumor. "Just use your hands, bro."
"Hey. There are women here. Please have some manners when your sister and Karn are around." Jeth warns everyone, so Puth just realized what he let slip.
"Ops. I apologize. I forgot." Puth raises his hand to apologize and turns his attention back to Tem. "Let it go. You're not worthy, Tem."
"If men use our hands, what do women use?" Tem looks at us after he was fooled. "How far have you two gone?"
"What kind of question is that!" I scream and have the urge to cry. I can't let Aontakarn be tainted because of this rumor. "What crazy shit are you guys saying?"
"We're talking about Aontakarn and you dating." Puth still teases as Jeth hums the wedding song.
"Tadadadah... Tadandada..."
And everyone hums in synchrony because they are a bit drunk. I sweep my eyes at everyone and press my lips together, trying to remain calm. In the end, I can't stand it, so I slain my beer mug on the table.
Slam!
"Stop. Stop teasing us like this. Aontakarn and I are not dating!"
"Hey. Calm down. Don't take it too seriously." Puth is still having fun as Aontakarn looks at me with a dry smile. She's pulling my shirt to signal for me to sit down.
"It's okay, Chris..."
"It's not okay. It's damaging to your image!"
I argue on Aontakarn's behalf. I sweep my eyes at everyone, but everyone is still having fun teasing us. "Geez. You're taking it so seriously. It's just..."
"We are not dating. Stop teasing us already." I yell as loud as I can. And I put all of my stress into it, so everyone quiets down. All the drunks blink blankly and stop to listen to me.
"Chris..." Puth is about to interrupt me, but I point to his face to stop him.
"We can't be anything more than what we are now. I will say this for the last time, and I will not repeat myself again. Please respect us as women... Chris likes men!"