(Taec)

‘But, even if I don’t find it. You’ll still be here with me.’ He giggled.

I raised a brow and then I suddenly realised what Khun was talking about. My eyes widened and I was momentarily stunned.

‘You eavesdropped on our conversation?!’ I accused him as I turned my head to look at him.

He flashed an adorable cheeky grin at me and quickly turned his head back to face the wall while still drying the dishes.

‘So…’ I took in a deep breath, and nervously said, ‘so you heard her suggestion too?’

‘C’mon. My mom loves to talk nonsense,’ he said nonchalantly, as though it didn’t matter. But Khun… it matters to me.

He continued before walking out of the kitchen to wipe the table, ‘anyway, just let it go in through the right ear and out through the left.’

I bit my lips and sighed. It was just another innocent blow to my heart.

But you never saw me that way, you never saw the way I looked at you when you were not looking at me. I wished that I could tell you every single thought I had about you and me, but you never saw me… that way.

*

‘Hey’ I said.

‘Yeah?’

‘Uncle Pat’s play… was really touching.’

‘Oh what was the play about?’ Khun asked as he rocked his chair.

‘It talked about… a pair of good friends who had a friendship that lasted for 40 years. They write to each other ever since they were young. Mutually cared for the other person,’ I nodded as I sipped my beer.

Khun looked at me in utter amazement.

‘Wow!’ he exclaimed softly. ‘I would be very lucky if I had such a good friend… we could write letters to each other for a lifetime!’

‘They never stopped writing to each other, but they didn’t end up together.’ I added forlornly.

I looked at Khun, whilst his eyes met mine. My lips broke into a bitter smile due to the sad ending of the storyline, and I looked back down at my can of beer. Khun smiled and got off the rocking chair he was on, and walked towards me and took a seat next to me.

‘Both of us…’ he started, as he naturally just lay down on his back and rested his head on my lap, ‘how many years has it been?’

‘Ummm…’ I turned my head, mentally calculating, as Khun shuffled his body to make himself comfortable on his human headrest.  ‘15 years, I think.’

He closed his eyes, as though he was slightly frustrated, ’15 years. Time’s really scary.’

I just nodded in agreement.

*
 

‘Hey!’ Khun called out from the toilet while I sat outside waiting for him to finish his business.

‘Hmm?’

‘In the future, when I turn into an old and senile person. No matter what difficulties I face, be it moving about or whatever, you must be here to take care of me!’ He voiced.

I let out a low chuckle, because of how funny he sounded when he said that. We were only 25 years old!

‘Why would you turn into an old and senile person?’ I asked.

‘Aish, I’m just afraid that… you would win that 100,000,000 won bet first. And just now in the afternoon, after you left, I took some time to analyse the candidates, both guys and girls, and I realised that… there was no one who matched my standards, let alone make an effort with me.’

I looked up from my hands, cleared my throat, and asked, ‘um… tell me your criteria then?’

I could hear him let out a scoff, ‘you want to introduce me to someone?’

‘Yeah…’ I sounded.

‘Actually, it’s really simple. He or she just doesn’t have to look very ugly. His or her salary should be about the same as mine, but it doesn’t matter if it’s slightly lower. But, the significant thing he or she should have is ambition, or at least a goal in life. It would be okay with me. Oh! And the most important thing. We should have plenty of things to talk about. I don’t want those who don’t have anything to say other than ‘I love you’ and ‘please give me a glass of water’. The thought of someone not having else to talk about with me and accompany me for a lifetime really scares me.’ He concluded.

I stood up from the sitting position I was in and leaned against the frame of the toilet door.

‘Why does it sound like I’m really suitable for you?’

Silence.

‘My salary’s not bad,’ I continued, ‘we have many things to talk about, and I won’t say ‘I love you’ often.’

And then suddenly, the toilet door slammed open.

‘No- OH MY GAWD, you scared me to death!’ Khun almost screamed into my face as he most probably didn’t expect me to be at the door.

I sniggered at his reaction, which earned a playful hit on my chest.

‘I was talking about it seriously, okay?’ he glared at me.

‘I wanna go to the toilet… so….’ I pointed into the toilet, signalling him to move away so that I could use it. As I left the wall I was leaning on and turned to enter the toilet, Khun became alarmed.

‘Wait wait, don’t go in right now!’ he pushed me away from the toilet, closing the door behind him.

‘Oh…,’ understanding Khun’s sudden reaction, I chuckled. ‘It doesn’t matter, I can hold…’

‘If you can hold it in, then hold it in. Just don’t go in right now,’ he said, obviously embarrassed.

I laughed, ‘I was talking about holding my breath.’

‘No, I don’t want you to go in,’ he immediately declared, and had me surrender to his ways.

*

The reflection of the moon on the surface of the swimming pool rippled as I threw a pebble into it. Basking under the moonlight, with a couple of cans of beer with Khun and having heart to heart talks was what we always did.

Khun let out a loud sigh.

‘There’s still a long way to go you know, Khunnie,’ I tried to cheer him up, ‘you’ll still be able to meet lots of people. Don’t scare yourself by thinking you’ll be left on the shelf at such a young age.’

I gulped down the refreshing cold beer.

‘But every day, it’s the same for me.’ He pouted, ‘I just work and work and work. How am I supposed to meet anyone?’

I stared at the aluminium can, thinking of something appropriate to say.

‘If you really don’t meet anyone,’ I paused and turned to look at his flawless pale skin that had beams of moonlight dancing, dazzling around his perfect face. ‘When the time comes, I will stay with you in a retirement centre.’

Khun looked at me thoughtfully, bit his inner cheeks and finally let out a smirk.  

‘Okay, let’s make a promise on that,’ he suggested.

‘Unless you break off relations with me,’ I looked at him teasingly.

He laughed a little. Do you know how happy it makes me when I know I’m the one who made you smile?

‘But if I don’t meet anyone, would you live there with me?’ I asked cautiously, even though I already knew his answer.

He drank his beer and mumbled, ‘I won’t.’

‘I totally didn’t expect that,’ I pointed at him, words filled with sarcasm.

Khun laughed louder, leaving me no choice but to laugh with him as well.

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A/N: I'd really appreciate it if all you silent readers comment, so thoughts? (: