Mr. Joongcheveevat & I

Chapter 6

Exactly at seven in the evening, I reached ten mile junction. The night sky aglow with bright city lights on the desolate streets of the neighborhood that rested in silence. The only sound I could hear was the rustling of the leaves in the breeze as all businesses and service sectors were shut down leaving only their bright street lights on.

The cold breeze penetrated inside my clothes but I felt no chilliness as I parked my car outside a wooden shop after receiving a call from Mew who asked me to stay where I was.

As I sat there, I observed the street was menacingly empty and looked as though people didn't even live there and it frightened me mildly; especially when I remembered how my father reminded me about the streets not being save anymore before moving out.

For years, I haven't been out late at night especially at this hour, during which any streets, let alone the streets of eight and ten mile are probably unsafe. I had heard stories about poor slums, cheap motels and how some people sleep around with prostitutes, abuses drugs and rob people but I've never seen or experienced it myself. Such incidences were avoidable for me because I was from a privilege family with generation of richness; starting from my paternal grandfather who was once the Mayor of the town and now, with my father as the deputy commissioner of the NPD; there was no way I'd be able to sense the inequalities in the society. Everything about me has heavenly differences from what I've heard or read in the papers, hence, I failed to empathise and grasp the reality of the society. Sometimes, I even assumed they were all just made up stories to terrify children.

But what struck me off was my subtle admiration towards Mew, someone who possibly was from a lower stratum of the society. I couldn't explain why I was pushing myself into his life, trying desperately to either get accepted or be embraced by him.

Whilst I sat inside the car contemplating  I saw someone walking to my direction. At first, I didn't notice anything in particular except that he was a man; hawk hairstyle, white converse, blue sweat shirt and fitting black jeans. But when he finally got closer, my heartbeat became tense and surprised to find out, he was none other Mew.

I quickly got out of the car appreciating how good he looked. "Over here, Mew." I stopped him. He then quickly looked around the street before landing his eyes on me. "Did you wait long?" His concerning tone was soothing to listen to.

"No" I chuckled softly shaking my head, "I just got here".

"Alright, so where are we heading to?" He asked, his comely eyes glancing attentively at me. But the only thing I could do was stare at him awkwardly. It was true that I had asked him to hang out with me but I didn't have a plan. Besides, how was I suppose to tell him that I have never been in the streets before?

"You're not really good at this, are you?" He smirked at me confidently and I agreed shyly; my cheeks burning red. "Do you drink?" He asked next and it only muzzled me more. "Kanawut... ", he sighed wearily at my frazzled expression and ran his fingers through my hair gently, "Alright, I'll take you somewhere but we're walking".

"Hmm..B-but what about my car? It's actually my dad's" I stuttered awkwardly.

"Don't worry... It's going to be safe."

"Can I really trust that?"

He only raised his thick eyebrows. And so, I decided to entrust my car on his word. "Where are we going?" I asked following after him.

"About that, there's a club down the street. I don't know what you like so--" He gazed at me briefly and stopped walking. "Are you even comfortable with this?"

No! I was not. Just the word 'Club' has trailed me off to think the unthinkable. "Yeah... well... " I stammered as my thoughts conflicted. Firstly, I didn't want to scare off Mew with my dull life and embarrassed myself or reveal to him how naive and inexperienced I was; secondly, I was afraid of my mother's rage if she finds out about my visit to a club. As a man, I was shamefaced about my dull and boring life but the struggle in pretending to be someone I was not was a greater burden. "I'm gonna be honest with you, Mew. This is my first night out in years". I admitted finally as we resumed walking.