“I’ll take you home today.”
Tay responded indifferently to my words.
“I don’t want to.”
“I’m sorry you always take me home every day.”
“If you date me, I will take you to my house.”
Unlike me, who had a sparkle in my eyes, Tay maintained his usual demeanor.
I took a deep breath. We went to the arcade, ate a light dinner, and were almost ready to go home when I realized I couldn’t even hold a kiss today. Even in the room cafe, all we did was joke around. Tay ran into people he knew halfway through, which made the situation awkward. All of my friends were most likely hanging out near their houses.
Anyway, time passed. I lowered my head. Tay smoked more often than I thought. What if he gets sick later? It made me worry. It’s time to go. Even though it was my first date, I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t do anything.
“Let’s go get a taxi.”
Tay grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a taxi before I could say anything. We sat in the back seat. Now he has skillfully named my apartment to the taxi driver. It was a big change in a month. I was more hesitant and awkward than I had been at the room cafe. Again, it was never because there was nothing.
Outside the window, the sun was setting dimly. I stared blankly out the window. My ears were filled with Tay's low voice.
“Was it boring today?”
“No, it was fun…”
Tay, on the other hand, was most likely not having fun. I’m not sure how he plays with his friends, but he won’t sit still and chat while trying to avoid the heat. “It was fun,” I said once more.
Tay lightly tapped my fingertips. Tap. Tap again. I smiled helplessly and grabbed his finger for a brief moment before releasing it.
“Why are you touching me?”
Maintaining my usual way of speaking, I loosened my hand. As the sun set, darkness descended. The taxi eventually stopped in front of the apartment. While I was rummaging through my wallet, Tay put out his card again.
Tay gave me everything one by one. It could be good, but the emotions were complicated. It seemed familiar to him and he seemed to be good at it. However, he didn’t answer, but usually…there wasn’t any kind of physical contact on a first date.
Tay stood in front of my apartment, looking as if he was awaiting my farewell. If I said “Bye,” I expected him to turn around right away.
The cicadas couldn’t understand what was going on and just kept buzzing and crying. It was late in the evening when it entered the night pastures. Tay looked down at me as I remained motionless. The word bye. It didn’t come out of my mouth.
“Tay Tawan.”
I called his name instead. He looked down at me with his head tilted at an angle.
“Do you want to talk a bit more?”
He made a strange expression. Nonetheless, he replied, “Yeah,” as if he didn’t dislike the idea. I dragged Tay to the pavilion in the apartment complex’s corner. It was a pavilion tucked into the corner of a high fenced-in wall surrounded by security. It was a location that even the residents of the apartment were unaware of, and there might have been no people there at any time of day or night. Even delinquent youngsters are unlikely to be aware of this location.
Tay and I sat there together. I was staring at the same spot blankly. I turned my head to look at his lips, then away again. I repeated it a few times. When I turned my head again, I made eye contact with him.
