My Moon, Chapter 1 pg 6
My Moon, Chapter 1 pg 6
Remember to protect yourself from being taken advantage of.
And remember not to do this to others.
“Don’t do this to anyone else. Because if it were someone other than us, you might not even get a single chance.”
“…”
Klai glanced at Mai, who was looking at him. She nodded subtly, signaling for him to leave the table. He reached for Mai’s arm, and they stood up together. Mai followed him quietly until they reached the restroom, where she stopped and gently held his arm.
“You okay?”
Klai nodded. Perhaps because Mai was slightly taller than him, she easily pulled him into a hug.
“Mm…”
“We tried… we did our best, Klai.”
“We weren’t too harsh, were we, Mai?”
“Protecting your own feelings might make others see you as heartless… but don’t forget, the person you should be kindest to is yourself.”
“…”
“Be kind to yourself sometimes. Don’t let yourself get hurt too often… who cares if others think you’re cruel?”
“…”
Klai nodded as his friend gently patted his back to comfort him. He took a deep breath and told himself, “I tried. I did my best.”
Telling himself… as Mai had said.
Comforting himself… as he should.
Mai let go of the hug and asked, “How’s you getting home? Did you drive?”
“I took a taxi here…”
“I’ll drive you back.”
“No need, Mai. I can get home myself. You should head home too… it’s late.” Klai’s condo was in the opposite direction from Mai’s house. If he let her drive him, she might get home very late.
“But you drank too… are you okay to drive?”
“…”
“Should I drive you instead, then take a taxi back to my condo?”
Mai laughed before saying, “Klai… I only had two drinks. I can drive home… just hope I don’t run into a checkpoint, that’s all.”
“If you hit a police checkpoint… what’ll you do?”
“Pray, that’s it… pray I don’t get caught.”
“I’ll pray for you too, Mai.”
“Alright… wanna walk out together then?”
Buzz~
Klai was about to nod in agreement when his phone vibrated, interrupting the conversation. He pulled it out of his pocket, and the name on the screen made his eyes burn.
KantHimself
Kant always showed up when he was feeling down. Klai swallowed hard before looking up to meet Mai’s eyes, who was waiting for his response. He nodded to her and said,
“I’ll walk you to the parking lot.”
“No need, I can go myself… Want to take that call first?”
“It’s Kant… I’ll walk you to the car and call him back after.”
“Kant’s probably worried… Go ahead and take the call.”
“Alright…” Klai nodded and pressed to accept the call.
Truth be told, Klai had a reason for not wanting to take Kant’s call while with Mai.
[“How’s it going… no one’s making my friend feel bad, right?”]
Because he didn’t want Mai to see the tears welling up in his eyes when Kant said certain words—
“…”
Words he could always predict his friend would say.
[I’ll stay up and talk with you tonight.]
Like that sentence…
Klai lowered his head to stare at the floor. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat. As if sensing he was hiding his emotions, Mai gently patted his shoulder and spoke in a soft, kind tone.
“Go find a quiet place and talk to Kant first… I’ll walk to the car myself.”
Klai, still holding the call with Kant, said, “I’m worried. Let me walk you to the car, Mai.”
[You don’t have to hang up. I’ll wait.]
“I can go by myself… trust me,” Mai said, giving him a reassuring smile before waving goodbye. “Text me when you get to your condo, okay?”
“Yeah… drive safely, Mai.”
“Okay…”
Klai watched Mai walk out of the bar. He let out a sigh, finally allowing the clear tears to flow freely. Now, with only Kant on the line, Klai no longer had to pretend to be strong.
[Same thing again, huh?]
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