My Moon, Chapter 3 pg 18
My Moon, Chapter 3 pg 18
“…”
“Can you open it, little one? Want me to do it for you?”
The one being asked gave a faint smile and shook his head slightly to decline. Klai just realized how hard it is to hold back tears in front of someone you love. He forced the widest smile he could to hide the clear liquid pooling at the corners of his eyes. “Today, I probably studied too much… I’m so exhausted, I barely have the strength to pull this wrapper.”
On a day when the little one was too drained to do anything, Uncle Hmai stepped closer to Klai, took the lemon candy from his trembling hands, quickly unwrapped the plastic, and handed it back to him as before. Then he said, “I’ll be right here… I’ll always help you, little one.”
Klai lowered his head, nodded heavily, and said in a trembling voice, “Thank you, Uncle.”
“Let’s head home, little one.”
“Okay.”
Uncle Hmai probably knew he was feeling uneasy because, ever since they got in the car, he kept glancing at him through the rearview mirror. Every time their eyes met in the reflection, Klai would send Uncle Hmai a smile to put Uncle Hmai at ease…
The small figure leaned his head against the window, exhausted. Klai looked at the azure sky. The white clouds floating above showed clear, open weather. Today, the sky was vast, brighter, and more vibrant than usual. Even though the scene before him confirmed there was no sign of rain, Klai felt like a storm was brewing all the time.
Not rain from the sky, though.
But rain falling in his heart…
When Uncle Hmai drove him home, Klai quickly got out of the car and headed straight to the kitchen. The smell of freshly baked butter cookies wafted through the house. He quickened his pace, walking faster than usual to find the person making those deliciously fragrant butter cookies as soon as possible.
The small figure stopped at the kitchen door when he saw Phii Jeab bending down to take a tray of cookies out of the oven. Klai had seen Phii Jeab making cookies in the kitchen since he was a child—it was a familiar sight that never stirred much feeling before. But today, one emotion seeped into his heart.
Klai felt grateful…
“…”
Grateful that Phii Jeab wasn’t ill.
“Oh, when did you get here?”
“Thank you for still finding joy in baking cookies in the kitchen, Phii Jeab.”
“Klai has been secretly watching the beautiful you for a while now, hasn’t he?”
“Such a sweet talker… come here and give Jeab a big hug.”
Thank you for a world that isn’t too cruel to the people he loves.
Phii Jeab took off the pink oven mitts she wore to handle hot cookie trays and gently rubbed her hands on her yellow apron. She opened her arms wide and flashed him a warm smile. Klai stepped forward to embrace her, filled with longing. He hadn’t been home in weeks. Klai thought that even in his misfortune, there was still some luck left, as this week the professors hadn’t assigned too much work, allowing him to come home and rest.
“Even now, I still wonder why you didn’t choose to study at a university closer to home,” Phii Jeab said, pulling back from the hug. She reached up to brush a strand of hair from his face, her eyes always conveying love and care.
“Because there’s no program like this near home… that’s why I had to reluctantly study far away.”
“Look at you… you’ve come back this time even skinnier than the last.”
“Well, the condo doesn’t have delicious food made by you, does it?”
“Talking like that… should I just move in with you?”
Klai let out a soft laugh before reaching for a cookie on the tray. But it was too hot, and he accidentally dropped it.
“I completely forgot you just took this tray out of the oven…” He looked at the butter cookie, now shattered into pieces on the floor, and bent down to pick up the crumbs. “I’m sorry, Phii Jeab, for not being careful.”
Klai looked up at the sound of soft laughter. Phii Jeab crouched down to help him pick up the cookie pieces and said, “It’s just a small thing… no need to apologize, KhunKlai.”
“…”
“I know… some things, you didn’t mean for them to happen.”
“…”
“Don’t blame yourself anymore, okay?”
Klai wasn’t sure how the situation led to such a serious conversation. Phii Jeab’s words felt like they were comforting him about something else entirely. Perhaps because she had raised him since he was a child, even if she didn’t know exactly what had happened, she could sense something was wrong. That’s why she spoke like this.
Phii Jeab knew he often spoke indirectly rather than being straightforward.
“But I was the one who dropped it… it shattered because of my hands.”
“But deep down, KhunKlai didn’t mean for it to happen, right?” Phii Jeab scooped up the cookie crumbs into her hands, offering a smile that soothed his heart. “Look at these cookie pieces, KhunKlai… no matter what we do, they can’t be put back together the way they were.”
“…”
Even though you know it broke because of your own hands… the only thing you can do is throw it away.
“…”
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