My Moon, Chapter 3 pg 8
My Moon, Chapter 3 pg 8
“Got it!”
“Everyone, sing along too!”
Klai raised both arms, preparing to dance the Grilled Chicken moves. He tried to ease his embarrassment by telling himself, “It’s just acting like a chicken skewered and grilled—it’s not hard. You can do this, Klai.” But his shyness was overwhelming, and he couldn’t shake it off.
Right now, Klai’s limbs felt stiff. The drumbeat, speeding up, urged everyone to sing the Grilled Chicken song with wild enthusiasm. But he, the dancer, was still awkwardly moving his arms and legs, stiff and hesitant.
“Klai…”
Klai shifted his gaze from his peers in front of him to the source of the voice. “Y-Yes, Phii Shin?”
“Don’t look at anyone else… just look at me.”
Klai nodded and focused on Phii Shin, who, despite not liking this kind of thing, was dancing the Grilled Chicken song with all his might, flashing him a smile. Klai saw his own smile reflected in Phii Shin’s eyes, and it warmed his heart.
Now… Klai could dance the Grilled Chicken song.
He became the happiest chicken ever.
No longer a chicken flapping its wings awkwardly.
“Thank you, Phii Shin!” Klai tried to shout over the booming drums and the even louder singing of his friends. But it seemed Phii Shin didn’t hear him, as he leaned in closer while still dancing.
“What did you say just now?”
We’ve never been this close before…
“Tch, thank you, Phii Shin!”
Phii Shin smiled and reached out to ruffle his hair. “That’s all? I’d do this for you any day, Klai.”
The sound of Klai’s racing heartbeat right now… it completely drowned out the drums Big Bro Man was playing.
After the freshman orientation activities ended, as per the faculty’s schedule, full-time classes began. Unlike other faculties that were still holding orientation events—like Kant’s, where he had to participate for another month or so—Kant only had time to hang out with him during lunch breaks. But this evening, Kant was free to go out with him, as midterm exams were starting this week. The seniors had paused orientation activities until the exam period was over.
Klai had been waiting for Kant in front of the Faculty of Business Administration for a while. He had a meetup planned with Phii Shin at a steakhouse near the university, where Phii Shin would bring his old midterm exam summaries from his freshman year. Last week, Klai overheard Phii Shin saying he missed Kant, so he invited his best friend to join them for steak.
“Klai… been waiting long?” Kant asked.
“Not too long—”
“Let’s hurry. Don’t want to keep Phii Shin waiting.”
“Phii Shin just called and said he’ll be a bit late. Traffic’s bad.”
“Doesn’t he have classes today?” Kant asked.
“Nope, he’s free today.”
“It’s his day off, and he’s still driving all the way here to give you exam summaries… This freshman named Klai must be pretty important to Phii Shin, huh?” Kant teased.
“Teasing me again, Kant,” Klai said, pressing his lips together to hide a smile. He started walking away from the spot. If he stayed, Kant would probably keep teasing until his ears turned red.
“Klai! Wait for me!” Kant called out.
“Not waiting for you!” Klai laughed, quickening his pace. But his best friend caught up anyway.
“What exam summaries are they? You’re not even in the same major. He’s not bringing summaries for his core courses, is he?” Kant asked.
“They’re for math. It’s a basic course all freshmen have to take. Phii Shin took it too and kept his summaries. He noticed the content is similar to what we’re studying, so he’s letting me borrow them to review.”
“I’m taking that course too, same course code as you,” Kant said, furrowing his brow in suspicion. “Why didn’t Phii Shin offer me any summaries?”
Klai shook his head lightly, a smile breaking through. Kant loved saying things like this to make him, the secret admirer, hold onto a bit more hope for this crush. In true Kant fashion, he was blunt: he wanted Klai to let himself hope a little.
“Probably because Phii Shin doesn’t see you as often,” Klai said.
“It’s possible, Klai. I mean, Phii Shin might feel the same way about you. Come on, let yourself hope a bit, buddy,” Kant urged.
Klai laughed, turning to look at his best friend, whose face was unusually serious. Every time he thought about letting himself hope, his heart whispered, Don’t.
Is that your brain or your heart telling you not to?
“…”
“Maybe it’s your brain telling you to stop hoping because it’s scared of disappointment. But deep down, your heart’s ready to go all in,” Kant said.
Klai looked at Kant, still wearing that rare serious expression. He shifted his gaze from his friend to the light yellow sneakers his father had bought him. Klai wasn’t counting his steps, but when he had something important to ponder, focusing on those yellow sneakers helped him talk to his heart in the quiet.
This time, talking with his heart,
His heart said… trust what you feel.
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