My Moon, Chapter 18.1 pg 4
My Moon, Chapter 18.1 pg 4
Klaijai’s face flushed under that gaze—the flirty, charming look Panli was giving him. To avoid those eyes that always made him flustered, Klaijai looked elsewhere. He noticed Phii Babe, Phii Dom, and other seniors climbing into the car. Once Phii Fah followed Theerak as the last to board, Klaijai turned back to Moon.
“Panli, let’s get in the car.”
“Yup.”
He led Panli to the wide-open car door, giving a polite wai and a smile to Phii Fah, who was seated in the front row with Theerak, before stepping inside. Scanning the car, Klaijai saw several familiar faces, making the atmosphere in Phii Fah’s car far less awkward than the ride with Phii Hia.
“Klaijai, want to sit with me?” Phii Babe, seated by the window in the second row, asked with a concerned expression, likely thinking he wasn’t close to many people on this trip.
Klaijai glanced at his brother, seated next to his girlfriend. Phii Dom smiled and lightly patted the seat, inviting him to join them.
If Klaijai sat with Phii Babe and Phii Dom, he wouldn’t be able to sit with Panli, as there was only one seat left in the second row. Though they hadn’t explicitly agreed to sit together, Klaijai felt they were on the same page about it. He looked at the empty long bench in the back row and responded to his brother’s girlfriend.
“It’s okay, Babe. I’ll sit in the back,” he said with a smile to both of them.
As he walked toward the empty back bench, he heard someone ask in a worried tone, “Want to sit with us, Klaijai?”
Turning to the voice, Klaijai gave a faint smile. “It’s okay, love. The back’s empty.”
Settling onto the back bench, he smiled at the taller figure following him. But that faint smile faded when Panli chose to sit in the second row next to Phii Dom.
Klaijai blinked rapidly, realizing he’d assumed too much about their mutual understanding. Maybe Panli preferred sitting with the seniors. He lowered his eyes to his brown backpack, pulling out his earphones to keep loneliness at bay while sitting alone in the back.
“It’ll be lonely, Klaijai…” Theerak said, his voice and expression even more concerned.
Klaijai wanted to tell Theerak that it might indeed be lonely, as he said, but not too lonely with music as company. He was about to respond to ease Theerak’s worries when someone from the second row interrupted.
“Not lonely at all…”
With that, Moon stood and moved to the back bench to sit with him. Klaijai glanced at the side profile of the person beside him, and when their eyes met, Panli’s smile made Klaijai look down at the earphones in his hands again.
Klai only realized he’d become an overthinker when he fell this deeply in love with the moon. Just moments ago, he admitted to letting his heart slip to the floor without bothering to pick it up… The truth was, he didn’t have the strength to bend down and retrieve it.
When you make someone the moon in your heart, the moon isn’t just the moon anymore.
It becomes your entire world.
“Does KhunKlai really think this puppy would let you sit in the back alone?” Panli asked.
The one questioned looked up at the person beside him. “I… just thought Panli might want to sit and chat with the seniors for fun on the way.”
“If KhunKlai had chosen to sit with Phii Dom, I’d have sat where you could see me the whole time. But if you chose to sit somewhere else, I’d try to find a seat as close to you as possible.”
“…”
“Like right now, I’m sitting next to KhunKlai… I don’t want to sit with anyone else, just with you.”
Klai gave a small smile, meeting Moon’s eyes. His heart, which had fallen to the floor, was now placed back in his chest, on the left side, where it belonged. But it wasn’t Klai who picked it up—Panli was the one who bent down to retrieve it for him. Klai nodded repeatedly in understanding before asking, “So earlier, the puppy was just teasing me to make my heart skip, right?”
Panli burst out laughing before saying, “I’m not that much of a teaser, KhunKlai.”
“…”
“Earlier, Phii Dom whispered to me, asking for a cigarette because he didn’t bring any and was afraid Phii Babe would scold him. So I sat next to him and shared one.”
“Oh…” Klai nodded.
“I was only there for a moment, and you got this sulky. If I’d stayed longer… how much sulkier would you have been?”
He wasn’t sure if he’d have been sulkier, but Klai knew that when his heart sank to the floor, he felt an indescribable emptiness. It was like being left to drift alone in the vast universe. Not seeing his moon in that universe made him feel a hollow pang he’d never experienced before.
The smaller man tilted his head, resting it on the broad shoulder beside him, and wrapped both arms around the thick arm of the person next to him. Klai decided to hold on like this to chase away those feelings.
“Maybe I’d be just as sulky.”
“…”
“Or maybe a little more.”
Moon moved his free hand to gently rub Klai’s arm. Then, Klai felt something rest on his head—not the tip of a nose, but likely the cheek of the person beside him, pressed against his hair. Though Moon spoke softly while everyone else in the car was talking and laughing loudly as the vehicle moved, Klai clearly heard words that carried a tone contrasting with the lively mood inside the car.
“No need to go overboard… this much sulking is already too much,” Panli said.
“As long as I have Puppy by my side… I’m not sulking anymore,” Klai replied.
“You little rascal.”
A sweet smile lit up Klai’s face as he heard Moon’s soft chuckle. Klai silently thanked himself for having the courage to hold onto Panli’s arm, as this touch brought his smile back.
The truth is,
The person who could take everything away from him
And the person who could give everything back to him
Was none other than Sasin.
“Did KhunKlai bring earphones?” Panli asked.
“Mhm, I like listening to music on long car rides.”
“Can I listen too?” Panli asked.
“Sure, but there’s a condition…” Klai looked up at the other, still not letting go of his arm. “For every trip from now on… Klai and Panli have to sit together the whole time.”
“Deal,” Panli agreed.
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