deja vu

Washing machine

Gem's pov:
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The plane ride was unbelievably torturing. I've never been on a plane before, which may be hard to believe, but my family never really had enough money for travel, and this trip was fully sponsored by that dude in Bangkok, so it was exciting.

The horrifying bit of this trip was actually P'Joong's snoring, he fell asleep as soon as we set foot on the plane, and woke up a few minutes before landing, the dude only woke up for food, which he devoured groggily and slumped back to sleep as soon as he finished.

I just stayed up watching dubbed movies of shirtless men with tattoos shooting at each other, glancing over at the curtain that separated first and second class. I wondered how mom was doing, probably living her best life as she was the only one that got upgraded to first class and left me with this snoring hunk sprawled next to me.

The flight was about 13 hours, and it was pure hell. I've never stayed in one place for so long, and I had to squeeze past the lady on the isle seat to stretch my legs so many times she gave me the dirtiest side-eye of my whole life.

But when we finally arrived, damn, it was totally worth it.

The area I lived in my whole life was always fairly quiet, and I've never been somewhere so bustling and full of life.

Vendors lined the sides of the roads selling street fruits and all kinds of skewers and sweetmeats, and children gathered around the sweet stall, pooling out their allowance to buy pocketfuls of candy.

I watched as one of the kids stood in dirty garments watching helplessly as the other children compared their hauls, and I walked over to the stalls.

“Ai Gem!” P'Joong called after me, “Don't do any shopping now! We need to find our hotel!”

“I'll just be a second!” I waved back at him, turning my head ever so slightly.

“Hello khab Phi” I waved to the vendor. It felt weird speaking Thai to someone other than my mother or P'Joong, I've never done it before.

“Oh Nong” He replied “What can I get you?”

“Uhh..This might be a weird request but” I pulled out a 100 baht note. “Do you see that kid stading there, Phi?” I nodded towards that kid.

“He seems like he would like some sweets, so I would like to pay for him. Could you please take this money and call him over to give him some after I leave?”

“Oh, sure!” The vendor looked puzzled at first but then broke into a big smile, “It's so nice to see that there are so many good people still out here!”

I smiled at him “It is, isn't it.”

I walked back to rejoin P'Joong and my mother, who were both smiling proudly at me.

“What?” I laughed at them, turning around again to look at that stall.

With a bag of sweets in hand, the kid was laughing sweetly and waving at me while the vendor was smiling alongside him.

We all waved back and continued our way, P'Joong patted me on the back.

The hotel was rather far away from the city centre, but seemed lovely. It was right opposite to a church adorned with flags of rainbows. This city seems to be more open-minded.

Nobody knows I'm gay, except for Fourth, he's the only person I've ever told. Even though I think my mom and P'Joong both suspect it. I do care a lot about my skin and how I dress, but there's nothing wrong with that.

I don't think they mind anyways, I'm still the same person my mother raised, the same person that helps P'Joong peel dozens of hard boiled eggs everyday.