Muay Thai
A Cup of Sugar
You both stood facing each other for a minute. He looked at you expectantly hoping you would say something. He did not even react the way you thought he would. You thought you were fairly attractive, at the very least. You feel a sharp pain in your right leg. You wince. Nichkhun is immediately brought back to the situation before him. “Let me help you in,” He says as he slides his shoulder underneath yours. You lean on your left side and you both make your way to the closest chair. You let out a sigh as you situate yourself. You have goosebumps all over due to the cold temperature of the room. “Is it always this cold in here?” you ask. He looks back at you as he walks to a closet, “Yeah, sorry. I prefer my room to be cold.” “Oh,” you say, “It’s okay.” Neither or you spoke for a few minutes. The only sounds came from the rustling of something coming from the closet.
“I’m glad I had this,” Nichkhun says as he pulls out something purple from the closet. “What is that supposed to be?” you blurt out. You gently hit yourself on the side of your head for your rashness. He just laughs. “It’s a jacket. I was going to give it to someone but I think you need it at the moment.” He hands you the garment. “Oh, no you don’t have to. I can just-” you start but then you remember that you left your key in your apartment. “I’ll pay you back. I promise,” you reply as you take the dress. He finds the seat across from you. “So what happened?” You pause. If you tell him the truth, he will probably laugh at you. You were never a good liar though and since this is the first real conversation you were having with your neighbor you thought it best not to start off with a lie. “I forgot the sink was broken. I tried to stop it from overflowing and well...I slipped.” You felt a wave of shame hit you.
He just nods. You think you see him hold in a laugh but you cannot tell for sure. “Okay.” He looks around the room and you follow suite. There are still boxes scattered around the floor. Still, the apartment seemed homey in its own way. “I’m afraid the only thing I can offer you is something to wear. I have not had time to go out and get band aids or anything like that.” He is now wearing a helpless expression. “There is a convenient store close by. I’m sure they have something. The closest pharmacy has closed for the night. I think I can make it,” you start to stand up. It still hurts but the pain has subsided some. You maintain your death grip of your chair’s arm while you try to steady yourself. He watches you as if he’s holding his breath. All of a sudden he snaps his fingers in realization. “I forgot!” He jumps up and there is the brightest and most child-like smile you have ever beheld on a grown man’s face. He rushes over to the farthest corner of his apartment where five boxes sit stacked on top of each other. “I twisted my ankle a while back.” he says out loud. You wait for him to say something else. He just continues going through the boxes, obviously searching for something. Finally, you decide to break the silence. “What happened?” “Oh!” he exclaims. You realize he forgot that he said something. “I was dancing and twisted my ankle the wrong way.” “I didn’t know you were a dancer.”
He pulls out a crutch from the largest box in the group. “Oh, I’m not a dancer. It’s just part of what I do.” He walks over to you and holds out the crutch for you to transfer your weight from the chair’s arm to the crutch. “Thanks.” “I’m glad I still had it. I could have sworn I left it in the move.” With much difficulty, you put on the jacket. It’s made of leather. Or the plastic that looks like leather. “I just need to get a few things before we go out.” He heads over to the very closet where he pulled out the jacket. You let your eyes wander around the one-room. He had dark green sheets and a dark grey comforter that accented the color of the sheets well. You blush. Why is the first thing you look at in his apartment his bed. You shake your head and force your eyes elsewhere. Everything seems to have its own place in his apartment, excluding the things that have yet to be unpacked. ‘He’s very organized for a single guy..’ you think. Your ex-boyfriends were very messy. Maybe that is why your relationships ended badly. You chuckle.
Nichkhun leans back to see what you are up to. Your eyes happen to meet and, out of unnecessary fear
you jerk your eyes elsewhere. You try to run your fingers through your hair but almost fall. You hear him laugh. You twist your face. “Nice,” you whisper to yourself. “Are you ready?” he asks. You turn around and nod. You both head out the door. “Oh!” he exclaims. “You will probably need these.” He holds out a pair of sandals. They are a few sizes too big but you can manage. You both head to the elevator. You, of course, take twice as long to get there. The doors shut. “Thanks.” He looks over at you suprised. “I was planning on welcoming you to the neighborhood but this was not exactly what I had in mind.” He laughs. You cannot decide whether it is the most irritating thing you have ever heard or the most wonderful sound to ever exist. “It’s okay. I was being way too productive,” he said sarcastically. “Anyway, I need to get a few things.” You hear his stomach growl. “I guess you haven’t eaten then?” He laughs, this time it is shorter.You both exit the elevator and walk towards the front door. You stop. “Oh, I need to go by the landlady’s apartment. She is supposed to be out on a date but I’ll leave her a note.” You walk towards the back of the building until you find her apartment. There’s a sign beside the room number that states her title. You grab a pencil and paper from the notepad holder under the door number. You scribble down a message and stick the note to the door. “There,” you declare satisfied. Nichkhun comes down the hall. “I’m not sure when she will get back. Hopefully, soon.” You had a fairly good relationship with your landlady. She worked hard and rarely went out. When she did, she would come back late at night (if at all). “Let’s go then.”
He picks up his pace so that he can hold the door open for you. “Wow, “ you say teetering from your good foot to the crutch and vice versa. You repeat this process. “Do you do this for all of the girls?” you ask jokingly. “Only for the ones that are my neighbors.” You both make your way to the convenience store only to find that they have run out of the antiseptic you needed. “What about this brand?” Nichkhun asks. You shake your head furiously. “They teach us in med school never to use those kinds of products.” You both head towards the door. “ There’s actually an ingredient in it that can was shown to be detrimental to most mammals. It should be taken off the market by the KFDA within the next few months. They are always so slow when it comes to exposing crappy products like this.”
Nichkhun holds the door open for you as you both leave the store. “So you are studying to be a doctor?” “Yeah,” you answer. “Hopefully I will be able to practice medicine in two years.” You both stand outside the store. A lot of places have closed for the night. You’re eyes wander down the streets until they stop at a Thai restaurant. “We should go there.” You say as you point to the restaurant. “Really? A restaurant will solve my problem but I don’t think it will solve yours.” “It will actually,” you say defensively. “Restaurants are required to have all kinds of antiseptics and bandages.” The pain had seemed to go away but you knew that it needed to be cleaned properly so it would not get infected. “Oh, so we’ll be killing two birds with one stone.” Nichkhun smiles again and you, for a brief moment, hear your heartbeat so clearly it is as if your ears were right on it.
You hobble and he walks across the street and a few stores down until you both are in front of the restaurant. The windows are fogged yet a yellow-colored light shines through the windows. The smell outside of the restaurant is hypnotizing and draws you in. You both walk into the restaurant. It looks very outdated. The furniture is old yet well taken care of by the owners. The restaurant is full of people laughing and talking. You almost miss the small, unassuming elderly man sitting in the corner opposite of the door. He could be in his eighties or seventies. He kept his eyes on the vintage carpet that lay under your feet. “Excuse me,” you ask the woman standing behind the counter. This woman was in her mid to late thirties. Her eyes had bags under them and an excessive amount of eyeliner. “Could I use a few things from your first aid kit?” The woman gives you a strange look. “Only employees are supposed to use the kit.” You frown and look down.
“We also want to order!” you say excitedly. A small smile creeps on the woman’s face. You turn to Nichkhun who looks at you questioningly. “I’ll pay you back.” His expression does not change. You give him the best puppy dog eyes you’ve ever given anyone. He scoffs and just nods. “Girls still do that?” He shakes his head as he pulls out his wallet. “It still works.” You look over the menu. “We could just split something.” The menu is in Thai. You recognize some of the food with pictures but you don’t know most of them. Before you can say anything Nichkhun steps forward and orders something. “Musmun curry.” The woman takes down the order and heads to the back. You turn around to face Nichkhun. “I promise I’ll pay you back.” He smiles. “I know. Besides, I know where you sleep.” Your eyes grow wide and he laughs. Then it hits you. You let out a nervous laugh before wobbling to the closest empty chair while he pays. Nichkhun looks over the receipt in his hands. One minute later the woman from before comes with the first aid kit. You thank her but it is obvious that your presence irritates her.
As you tend to your wound you feel a pair of eyes staring your way. You look up and see the old man looking at you. He is a sweet looking old man. The kind that you would want to hug on a bad day or adopt from the old folks home (if they allowed adoption.) His eyes were smiling and he was mumbling something in a language you could only assume to be Thai. Nichkhun seemed to be looking around and enjoying the decor and the atmosphere of the restaurant. You dressed your wound after applying a strong antiseptic. You look up and you notice the older man in still staring at you. You decide that maybe it would be good to say something to him. The only problem was you did not speak Thai. You only knew a few catchphrases from action movies like Ong Bak.
“Annyeong..” you wave. The man just smiles and nods. The woman comes back with the food and Nichkhun goes up to the counter and pays. You stand yourself up, with help from the crutch, and wobble towards the bench he is sitting on and sit beside him. You set the crutch aside so that you can use your hands to help you. “You know, my favorite Thai movie is Ong Bak 2,” you place your hands on your heart. The man’s eyes flicker with interest as you continue to act out what you are saying. “My favorite line is: ชีวิตของคุณขึ้นอยู่กับคุณ.” A huge smile covers the older man’s face and his eyes light up. He starts to laugh in a very cute, old person way. You figured he was laughing at you because of how horribly you pronunciation was. You decide to continue. “Tony Jaa,” he nods letting you assume that he knows who you are referring to. “Very handsome,” you say slowly as you pat your cheeks and nod vigorously. “To me,” you say pointing to yourself, he is the best actor!” You spread your arms before striking a pose you feel translates as actor.
The old Thai man chuckles and nods as if agreeing with me. He starts to ramble in Thai. You hear footsteps coming. “What did you get him so excited about?” Nichkhun asks. “I don’t know. The only thing I said that he could have understood was ชีวิตของคุณขึ้นอยู่กับคุณ.” A laugh escapes from him before he is able to cover his mouth. Your face turns red. Nichkhun then looks at the older man and says something you guess is Thai. The older man jumps up which causes you to jump. They both continue to talk and laugh while occasionally gesturing to you. This continues for a minute and you become extremely frustrated since you cannot understand what they are talking about. You take the crutch and propel yourself up and wobble to the counter. Your leg does not hurt anymore but your foot is asleep and you do not want to risk waking it.
“Your friend is Thai then,” the woman says under her breath as she replenishes the coin slots in the register.”I guess so,” you reply. “Do you know what they are talking about?” you ask the woman. You read her name tag: Ha Ji Won. “I have no idea,” Ji Won says shaking her head. You notice that her body language has become more relaxed. You go get the first aid kit and hand it to her. “I am sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for letting me use this.” You hear the two men laugh. You turn to see what they are doing. The two finish their conversation and politely bowing with their hands together on their chests (respectively). Nichkhun is standing by the door and holding up the bag of take-out and the older man heads over to you. He hugs you and mumbles something in Thai before going up the stairs that are behind the counter. “So,” he exhales in a satisfied manner, “ Are you ready?”
AN/// Sorry this chapter took so long. I had the hardest time finding a quote. I eventually found one and put it into Google translate. I hope you found this chapter humorous. I was halfway through this chapter yesterday before my allergies started acting up. As always, feel free to give feedback and comments (positive/constructive please!). Thanks again for reading!
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