My Moon, Chapter 1 pg 3
My Moon, Chapter 1 pg 3
“Who did they invite now?” Mai asked. Klai nodded toward the new guest who had just reached the table. Mai looked up at the tall figure standing in front of Thot, her friend, and let out a heavy sigh before muttering in a displeased tone, “That jerk, Merk.”
“…”
Klai glanced at the empty chair beside him. Now he understood that this chair had an owner from the start—it wasn’t just an extra seat as he had thought. Merk was a friend of Thot from a different faculty. Merk had been pursuing him for almost a week, but Klai wasn’t interested and had rejected him. Yet, Merk kept persistently chasing him. So, Klai had been avoiding Merk whenever they crossed paths at the university.
He figured Merk was bold enough to pursue him because Merk likely knew that he was attracted to men. And the person who probably told Merk about this was Thot. Back in his first year, Klai had confessed his feelings to a senior, a guy, but was rejected. Quite a few of his peers knew about his confession to Phii Shin, and Klai suspected Thot was one of them.
That’s why Merk wouldn’t stop pursuing him.
But even though Klai was attracted to men, it didn’t mean he would fall for just any guy.
“I’m the one who invited Merk because he said Panli would be performing at this bar. You guys don’t mind, right?”
“How could we mind? We should thank Merk for getting Thot to tell us.”
“Thot said New has been into Panli for months. Since a friend of ours is friends with Panli, we heard that Panli was performing at this bar... so we quickly had Thot tell New.”
“Thanks a lot...” New said, then pointed at the empty chair next to Klai. “Sit down, Merk. That chair’s next to Klai.”
Merk nodded at New and took the seat beside Klai.
Klai didn’t even glance at the person next to him. He looked at New, who was smiling at Merk. The situation felt like a setup, as if Merk had used the information about Panli as a bargaining chip to see him. And New was willing to go along with it just because he wanted to meet the person he liked.
Klai hated how this felt.
It was like he was being tricked...
“Klai, come sit here… I want to sit next to Merk,” Mai said, grabbing his arm. Klai stood up, following Mai’s tug to switch to her chair, while Mai moved to sit next to Merk instead.
“Why do you want to sit next to that jerk Merk?”
“I just want to be in the middle for once, Thot… but don’t worry, a middleman like me won’t make things awkward for friends.”
“…”
“Mai, don’t overthink it,” Orn said.
Klai understood what Mai meant. Her sharp words must have hit a nerve, causing Thot to show his displeasure. At that moment, Kant’s words flashed in Klai’s mind, and he realized he’d been wrong—his friends hadn’t changed at all.
They were still using him, completely disregarding his feelings.
“Overthinking is better than not thinking at all.”
“Mai…” Klai gently touched her arm, signaling her to stop. He didn’t want her to argue with everyone over this. Leaning closer to his friend, he said, “I’ll handle it.”
Mai let out a heavy sigh, nodding in response without saying a word.
“…”
“Panli’s here…”
Right now, Klai didn’t care about anything. He was so frustrated he wanted to leave the table, but he was still worried about Mai and wanted to address the fact that Thot had invited Merk without telling anyone. However, a loud scream drew his attention to the stage. Their table wasn’t far from it, so he could clearly see the person on stage.
Klai saw a tall, fair-skinned man, about 185 cm, walk onto the stage. With golden blonde hair styled to show off his face, he had long, almond-shaped eyes, a sharp nose, and full, heart-shaped lips. Klai thought everything about his face complemented his sharp, elongated features perfectly.
So this is…
‘Panli.’
Seeing Panli in person, Klai wasn’t surprised at all that so many people liked him. Beyond his handsome, Chinese-Thai features, his playful demeanor—sparkling eyes and a cheeky smile—made him even more charming.
Panli seems like such a flirt.
So different from Phii Fa…
“Panli already looks hot in his student uniform, but in casual clothes, he’s even hotter,” Mai said, raising her glass to drink.
Klai glanced at her, saying nothing.
Since he had never seen Panli at the university, Klai had no idea how much better he looked now. He glanced at the stage again. Panli was wearing a short-sleeved white shirt with small green leaf patterns scattered across it, the top three buttons undone, the hem tucked into black jeans. He wore a burnt brown leather watch and black sneakers.
Panli probably did look much more handsome now than when he wore the student uniform, just as Mai had said…
“Hey, I’ll be right back, guys. The table in front is blocking everything!”
“What, you can’t see Panli? I think he’s pretty clear from here, New,” Mai said.
“I can see him fine, but he can’t see me! Those people in front are completely blocking me.”
New, who cared about nothing but his own enjoyment, got up from the table to stand by the stage. Klai lowered his eyes to the glass of Coke in front of him, thinking that the chance he had given his friends might have been wasted. He never imagined he’d feel disappointed with his group again.
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