22
Get to it
You can say that this trip is no different from our honeymoon. But can I use that word when we have just become lovers? It's a very fast-paced relationship. We just agreed to be lovers, and we are going to spend the night out of town together already.
"What are you doing, Chris?"
1, who am sending a message to Puth, look up to look at the sweet-faced person and smile at her.
"I'm reporting Puth on the progress. He's asking how we're doing... Puth is very worried about us."
"Us?"
"Everyone on the team knew that we were fighting, so they planned this trip to Japan for us. Puth keeps asking if I've made up with you yet. He's afraid that this trip will go to waste."
"Then tell him that we didn't just reconcile."
"What should I tell him?" "We may intertwine as well."
"Karn!"
"HAHA."
I can sense that Aontakarn is a lot more naughty, and she says these things more openly after we're lovers. But, yeah... we're a lot closer, which is good progress for our relationship.
Think Chris Kitkat : Don't worry. We've made up. Just chill. I'll send you photos of us.
DJ Putho Thammo Sangkho : Great. I was so worried. I didn't know if you two would make it through this trip.
Think Chris Kitkat : I may stay here a few days after the meeting. We're going to Fuji.
DJ Putho Thammo Sangkho : Now that you've made up, you're being so giddy.
DJ Putho Thammo Sangkho : Be honest, what did you two fight about?
Think Chris Kitkat : Her ex... That jerk, Toy, who is our sponsor.
DJ Putho Thammo Sangkho : Ah. Give me more details. What did he do?
Think Chris Kitkat : He was also my ex.
DJ Putho Thammo Sangkho : You were together too briefly to be considered lovers. Why did you two break up after only two weeks?
Think Chris Kitkat : He's a jerk, that's why. It's so frustrating that he's also Karn's ex.
DJ Putho Thammo Sangkho : You're jealous of Toy?
Think Chris Kitkat : No. I don't like him hanging around Karn. He's a jerk. The last time we met, he said that...
Think Chris Kitkat : He and Karn were intimate. Son of a bitch.
DJ Putho Thammo Sangkho : You and Karn sulked because of that? Because of Toy?
DJ Putho Thammo Sangkho : Not only does he sing so fast that people can't catch a word, he also makes people fight?
Think Chris Kitkat : That's another Toy (a singer)!
Think Chris Kitkat : Yeah. I'm narrow-minded. You don't know what happened. When I was with him, he asked me to use my mouth with him.
Think Chris Kitkat : It's lucky that I'm not easy. Otherwise, I would have been taken advantage of. Jerk!
DJ Putho Thammo Sangkho : Use your mouth?
Think Chris Kitkat : Yes. Suck and lick. I don't know if he's been bragging that we were intimate. Page
Think Chris Kitkat: If he did that with Karn, he probably did it with me as well. What a moron.
Puth doesn't say more. I, who was a bit dramatic, also turned off my phone before I joined the classified launch of a new application, so I have content to use on our website as I was assigned. The meeting, which starts at noon, lasts over three hours.
After joining the launch of a new application and getting information to use as content, Aontakarn and I plan our trip to Kawaguchiko. We leave our belongings in Tokyo. We only bring along a few pieces of clothing and the necessities. We buy bus tickets at Shinjuku bus station. Its kind of strange that we travel to a different country but ride a bus across town, just like in our country. When I look out the window, with my lover sitting beside me, I can see that everything is clean here.
"Chris's English skills are very good. Did you grow up overseas?"
The sweet-faced woman asks curiously. She can't help but lean her head on my shoulder because she's getting car sick.
"No. But my father has spoken to me in English since I was young. Puth is as good as I am."
"So cool."
"Ruth?"
"Chris, of course!" Aontakarn laughs and hits me on the thigh. "What are your other cool skills aside from the English language?"
"Ah..." I roll my eyes, trying to think, before I remember a cool line from a movie. "I have more."
"What?"
"Aside from loving you, I'm not good at anything else."
"Ew."
"Yeah. I'm embarrassed to say that myself."
"Geez. You drew many people, but never your lover. Bad girl." Aontakarn puffs her cheeks playfully. The word "lover" from her mouth makes me a bit embarrassed.
"I'll buy some pencils and papers if we pass a stationary shop and draw for you ASAP."
"Cute." The whiny one changes the topic as soon as she gets what she wants. "What about your transplantation? You said you would tell me about it."
Aontakarn asks me to deliver on my promise. It makes me laugh and pinch her high-bridge nose out of cute aggression.
"You don't forget anything, do you?"
"I want to know everything about Chris."
"Well... I was a bystander in an accident when I was a trainee. I was working at a TV station, doing what I'm doing now. There was a bomb in the middle of the city, and I was in the area. And Boom! A piece of rock hit my eyes. I was blind for many years as I waited for an eye donor."
"Geez. You drew many people, but never your lover. Bad girl." Aontakarn puffs her cheeks playfully. The word "lover" from her mouth makes me a bit embarrassed.
"I'll buy some pencils and papers if we pass a stationary shop and draw for you ASAP."
"Cute." The whiny one changes the topic as soon as she gets what she wants. "What about your transplantation? You said you would tell me about it."
Aontakam asks me to deliver on my promise. It makes me laugh and pinch her high-bridge nose out of cute aggression.
"You don't forget anything, do you?"
"I want to know everything about Chris."
"Well... I was a bystander in an accident when I was a trainee. I was working at a TV station, doing what I'm doing now. There was a bomb in the middle of the city, and I was in the area. And Boom! A piece of rock hit my eyes. I was blind for many years as I waited for an eye donor."
"So that's what happened... How many years ago was that?"
"Around two years ago, almost three. Chris is lucky to have a donor that matched me, so Chris can see again. It made Chris realize... how beautiful this world is." I look out the window and look at the scenery in Japan, feeling grateful for the eyes that were donated to me. "The person who donated these eyes is very kind. Though he or she is no longer in this world, that person left something valuable for the person who is. And more importantly... it made me meet Karn."
"We met because we have to work on the website together."
No... I saw you on TV, and I have fallen in love with you since. Ah... that's the true story. After I've been trying to fool myself for so long only because I don't think love between two women is possible, I have to admit that.
"Tell me about Karn too."
"What's there to tell? Chris already knows everything."
True... I nod before I pause.
I know everything? Why did she say that? I never told her that I looked her up.
"What does Chris know?"
"You know that I lived with my mother. My dream was to become an actress, but that didn't work out, so I became a news announcer. My ex is Toy, the same ex as yours."
"No. I mean something deeper than this. Is there something Chris doesn't know?"
"Ah..." Now the sweet-faced woman is the one thinking hard. "My mother was a teacher."
"Ah-huh."
"My mother called me "Aon.""
"Oh. That's interesting." I'm very giddy to know these details. It's like I got to know Aontakarn through her mother. "So, your mother always called you 'Aon?'
And what do you call yourself when you talk to your mother?"
"Nhu15."
"So cuteeeeee."
"…"
"I'm sorry." I scratch the nape of my neck shyly. Aontakam just laughs.
"You sounded as if you wanted to roll me up and eat me."
My true self has been showing herself too much lately. My coolness is being challenged... I have to change the topic.
"Chris will call Karn 'Aon' as well."
"You can call me Awww like you used to."
15 Nhu is used in place of I or you. It gives a cute, adorable impression of the person.
I shrink my neck a little because I don't recall calling her that, though I've been calling her 'little awww' in my mind forever.
"I called you that?"
"You did when you were drunk the first few times we drank together. You kept calling me 'Awww.' And... you calling me 'Aon' would be weird. My mother tends to tease me."
"How?"
"You don't need to know."
"Please tell me. You made me want to know already." I nag her. Aontakarn hesitates before she nods.
"Fine. But you can't laugh."
"Why would I?"
"My mother raised me as if we were friends. She wanted me to be able to talk to her about everything, so she tried to act like a cool teenager. But the truth is, she's the playful type... too playful."
"I still don't understand. What did your mother call you?"
"Aonta."
"How is that funny?"
"After a while, it changed to..."
"To?"
"Aontha 16 (testicle), my jewel."
"HA." I immediately raised my hand to close my mouth after I let out a loud laugh. When Aontakarn sees that, she hits my arm.
"Chris is not much better than my name. Geez... Clitoris."
When I'm teased like that, I nudge my elbow into her to try to get on her good side. The sweet-faced woman, who was just pretending to sulk, closes her face with her hands and laughs. "Why are we saying these words? I'm so embarrassed. Sob."
16 This is the Thai word for testicle.
"Actually, were a perfect match. Testicle and Clitoris."
"Destiny."
"What other deep secrets do you have?"
"There's one. This is the last one... Puth, your brother, had hit on me."
When Aontakam says that, I turn to look at her in shock.
"Puth?"
"Ah-huh. When we started out, Puth called me every day. He tried to ask me out to eat, catch a movie, and listen to some music. But I didn't respond, so he stopped... Is that deep enough?"
"You're too attractive."
I twist my mouth a little as I feel a certain cute aggression towards her. As for my brother... he never told me anything. I'm not sure whether it's because I threatened him that I would quit if he hit on Aontakarn. But, never mind. The result is a good one for me.
"Of course."
"Puth is quite handsome. He's also a hard worker. Why don't you like him?"
"I happened to already like his sister, so he didn't even have a chance." At first, I was feeling a certain cute aggression towards her, but I am now trying very hard not to smile. Aontakarn sees right through me. She pokes her finger into my cheek and smiles merrily. "If you want to smile, just smile. There's no need to keep your cool."
"You're babbling. You hated me at first."
"You always made me angry. The things you said were not pleasant to the ears. And you wouldn't talk to me. I thought you hated me... I really wanted to be your friend."
"Shall we go back to being friends?"
"If we're friends, we can't kiss."
"I have many friends already. Let's not be friends."
"Savage."
We go quiet when we talk about kissing. It seems like there will be deep, intimate touches now that we're lovers...
Thump Thump
My heart is racing. I glance at the sweet-faced one's lips and imagine what I now have the right to do. How should I start? Should I make a request...
'Karn, let's kiss.'
That would be too right-to-the-point and crude.
"Chris... let's kiss."
Ops... The person who's cruder than me is this woman.
"Karn..."
Aontakarn goes quiet after that. The petite one's face is clearly blushing. How much courage must she muster to say that to me?
"Ah-huh... let's kiss. We're lovers. There should be some kissing."
"Who have you kissed before this?"
She's so direct. Isn't this too much information... But, never mind. Here we are. I should answer that. But I'll beat around the bush first because I don't know which answer she wants.
If she wants someone experienced... I should have kissed someone before.
If she wants my first kiss... I should never kiss anyone before.
"What about Kam? Have you kissed anyone before? You must have. You were with Toy for a while."
This time, Aontakarn goes quiet, as if she's thinking about it. I don't know why the petite woman goes quiet like that, so I'm stressed out. It's just a kiss.
They were together for two years; how can they not kiss at all?
"We will know when we get to it. Let's find out then."
Why wouldn't Aontakam answer whether she's kissed or not? I'm anxious again. Just thinking about Toy kissing the sweet-faced woman makes my heart ache. If I could turn back time, I would hit on her since kindergarten. I would get in the way of every boy and man who tried to hit on her so she could be mine and mine alone.
Yes... I'm possessive, greedy, enlightened, and pleasant.
"Where is it exactly that we must get to?"
"Somewhere private... Why do you have so many questions?" This time, the petite one is the one who has to raise her hands to cover her face. As for me, who's as embarrassed as she is, I look at her adoringly when I see her do that. I pull her hands down and put them on my cheeks.
"Karn is not the only one embarrassed. Feel how hot my face is."
Aontakarn must have felt it because she's smiling.
"We're so cute."
"Right."
We reach Kawaguchiko station after around two hours. It's a bit chilly here. It's like there's air conditioning all around the place, though it's not even winter yet. I notice that it's like I'm in an upgraded version of Hua Lampong because no matter where I turn, I hear Thai. The sweet-faced woman and I look at each other every time we hear someone speak in Thai.
It didn't take long for a car from our hotel to pick us up. We get to the hotel we booked in a minibus. I'm stunned at how beautiful the scenery is. The hotel faces Fuji. There are clouds hanging, so we can't see Fuji clearly today.
"Fuji is very shy. We will get to see Fuji clearly later, when Fuji is in a good mood."
"Ah-huh."
Aontakarn appears to have done extensive research on this, so she informs me of this when she sees me waiting for Fuji to appear, as I've seen in all of the mangas I've read. I'm very excited to be here, so don't act all shy like this, Fuji.
"Our room faces Fuji. You can look at it all day and all night."
"Great atmosphere. You have chosen well."
"Obviously."
The sweet-faced woman shrugs as she brags. The hotel's staff escorts us to our room. Ifs a ryokan with a size of 20 sq. m. You can't get this in Tokyo. I'm a bit impressed. I can't help but take photos of this and that to keep memories as I explore the place excitedly, as if the place is on fire".
17 There's a saying that when someone is overly excited, the person is acting like the place is on fire.
"The room is very beautiful. We will sleep on the floor, like Nobita? Or will we sleep in the closet like Doraemon?"
"Of course, we will sleep on the floor. Why would we sleep in the closet? It's so tiny."
"Oh?" I'm still overly excited. Aontakarn has to grab my wrist to force me to pay attention to her. "Huh?"
"We will be here all night. You can take your time exploring the place."
"Right." I smile at the sweet-faced woman. "Kam picked so well. It's very beautiful. There are many good spots to take photos."
"So, what should we do next?"
"It's already late. We probably couldn't do any sightseeing."
"I don't mean that."
Aontakarn goes quiet for a bit before she stares at me quietly for a long time. It makes me recall what we talked about on the bus. It's not fair to force her to mention it first because she already did that once.
So I do the unexpected and grab her collar to pull her into me.
"We're in a private space..." I lean down, almost lying flat on my back, forcing Aontakam to lean on top of me. "We should kiss now."
"This is... getting to it."