My Moon, Chapter 5 pg 3
My Moon, Chapter 5 pg 3
Slender fingers tapped the “block” button, then quickly returned to replying to friends’ messages. Klai thought his action wasn’t too cruel. Throughout the time Merk pursued him, the guy never showed any respect. Day by day, Merk’s behavior grew worse, like someone who couldn’t control their emotions—like the recent incident when he harassed Klai in the bathroom.
Klai thought…
If he didn’t distance himself from Merk, he’d be the truly cruel one… for letting himself stay at risk with someone like that.
Klai’s fingers danced across the keyboard nonstop. Besides replying to friends, he also had to respond to birthday wishes from the kids of his dad’s friends. Normally, he held his birthday party at home every year, and his dad would invite his friends, who brought their sons and daughters around Klai’s age. But they weren’t particularly close, only meeting occasionally and contacting each other on special occasions.
Acquaintances, at best…
This message was from Teen, a student in the engineering faculty at a prestigious university.
Teen: Klai, happy birthday! I can’t make it to see you this year. I really want to meet you, though.
Teen: I’m throwing a party at my place next week. Are you free to come, Klai?
Teen: I got you some perfume from France, and I’ve prepared a gift for you too.
This one was from Ploy, the beautiful daughter of Uncle Phet, his dad’s close friend.
PaPloy: Klaijai, happy birthday! Wishing you tons of happiness!
And many more messages Klai had to reply to.
The small figure let out a sigh after responding to all the messages. He locked the screen, slipped the phone into his pocket, and leaned forward to look ahead.
“Traffic’s a bit heavy, kid…”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“In a hurry?”
Klai let out a shy laugh before answering the man meeting his eyes through the rearview mirror. “A little, Uncle.”
“Meeting your partner for a date?”
Klai’s almond-shaped eyes widened, his thin lips twitching as if he wanted to say something. But every sentence in his head was swallowed back down. He didn’t quite understand why he felt shy about the uncle’s question, especially since he didn’t even have a boyfriend. “Uh… no, I’m just hurrying to a birthday party.”
“Oh… rushing to your boyfriend’s birthday, huh?”
Klai raised a hand to rub his ear. It was burning hot now, probably bright red too. “It’s not my boyfriend’s birthday… it’s my own, uncle.”
“Oh, really? Well, then I wish you lots of happiness!”
Klai brought both hands together to give a polite wai to the uncle before saying, “Thank you, uncle.”
“But your boyfriend’s waiting for you at the destination, right?”
The uncle reminded Klai of his dad’s relatives who loved to tease him about his love life during Chinese New Year. If he didn’t answer their questions, they wouldn’t give him any red envelopes.
And Klai had never received a single red envelope…
“No one’s waiting for me… I don’t have a boyfriend, uncle.”
“Huh?”
Klai never knew how to respond to those relatives.
Because when he told the truth—that he didn’t have a boyfriend…
“…”
“Really? No one at all?”
No one believed him, just like this uncle.
“Really, uncle.”
“With a face this good-looking… I don’t believe you, kid.”
Klai burst out laughing when he saw the uncle shaking his head vigorously, clearly unconvinced. “I’m not kidding, uncle.”
“No way,” the uncle said, chuckling.
Believe me, uncle…
Klai really doesn’t have a boyfriend.
Because right now, he’s still secretly in love with someone.
“Wanna listen to some music, kid?”
The boy being asked nodded slightly before replying, “Sure, uncle.”
Klai watched as the uncle reached to turn on the radio. He fiddled with the stations for a while before settling on a channel Klai used to listen to when he was in high school.
“Try this station, kid… It’s got music for youngsters. You’ll probably like it.”
“Okay, Uncle. Thanks!”
His head leaned against the window after responding, his almond-shaped eyes glancing at the cars parked nearby before shifting to the overcast sky.
“The next song we’re playing… I bet it’ll hit home for a lot of people with secret crushes.”
Klai let out a smile when he heard the radio DJ’s words. Ever since he started secretly loving Panli, Klai had listened to a ton of songs about unspoken love. He was sure he’d heard the song the DJ was about to play.
“Let’s listen to it… Secret Crush by Bubble Foam.”
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