I Just Feel a Sleep ( English Translation)

19

19 – Stream
Hunt

“Welcome back, everyone, to Khun PerthEst’s stream! After spending one night in the hospital with a terrible condition and then resting at home for two more days until fully recovered, with personal nursing care almost around the clock,”

Jaruwat spoke in his cute voice so quickly that the viewers barely kept up. Once he finished, he took a slight breath, causing Parithat to burst into loud laughter during the stream. Meanwhile, the person being teased, Phurin, could only smile awkwardly and laugh along with his own channel’s fans. As for the one being jokingly referred to as 'Khun PerthEst’s personal nurse,' he could only laugh with a bit of embarrassment, hardly showing it.

“And for this comeback, we’re in for a thrill! Today, we’re going to stream a ghost-hunting game, everyone! After having played the real deal last week,”

Phurin announced, pressing the sound effects buttons to enhance the grandeur, recalling the Halloween event with his team. “For this game, we’ve practised it several times before. We’re now extremely proficient, so let’s get started!”

Four characters appeared inside a car. On the left side was a board detailing the mission, along with the ghost’s sanity and emotion graph, as well as the house layout they needed to enter. On the right was a computer screen used to monitor the ghost’s spiritual flame after installing cameras in the house, with shelves filled with necessary ghost-detection equipment.

“One of the viewers asked... why is P’ Sa playing this ghost game?” Phurin read the chat while waiting for his friends to understand the mission. The question made Sarin burst into laughter!

The streamer then asked his Khun Sleepyhead, “So, P’ Sa, why would someone scared of ghosts agree to play?”

“Because I was forced by the kids around here,” Sarin replied.

Phurin feigned surprise, “What?! Who dares to boss around my P’ Sa like that?”

“Which kid, I wonder?” Jaruwat chimed in.

Sattayu concluded with, “It’s the kid who just said ‘my P’ Sa’ with full confidence!”

Laughter exploded on the stream right after that. Of course, the laughter came from Poon and Jar, but Khun PerthEst had a wide, proud smile on his face. In contrast, Khun Sleepyhead was so embarrassed that he had to bury his face into the keyboard.

Nang Jorn: “Found people flirting on stream!!!”

TangSan: “Eh, eh, eh, who is whose?”

Husky and White Cat: “Just started following. Is the channel owner gay?”

Kill the Wolf: “Perth is gay. He announced it several years ago when his friend’s channel was closed for over a year.”

Jokerrrr: “Is that true? Are you lying? He doesn’t look gay at all. It’s more likely the fangirls imagining things.”

Little (no) Hope: “You haven’t been following Perth from the beginning. If you don’t know anything, don’t type out dumb comments.”

143 bi-li: “Don’t fight!”

The chat on Phurin's channel was heating up as viewers argued in the comments, turning it into a mess. This made the young channel owner frown in confusion, his smile disappearing. Noticing the commotion, he decided to ask:

“Ai Perth, why are you so quiet?”

“Yeah, or did he go to the bathroom?”

“Probably not…”

The conversation between Poon and Jar continued, drawing Sarin’s attention back to his computer screen. The sleepy Sarin blinked as Phurin’s silence was indeed unusual. At the same time, Sarin glanced at his chat window and noticed the viewers' comments.

Cheng my boy: The people in the chat are arguing about whether Perth is gay or not. But I’ve been following Perth since the beginning, and I remember that he actually announced he is gay.
Chotaro 22: As someone who has followed Perth since he started streaming, I can confirm that he did announce he is gay.
Silver 4ing: Actually, you can find this if you Google it. Even though Perth’s subscriber count was only in the tens of thousands at that time, it was big news among game stream viewers.

Sarin pressed his lips together tightly, his beautiful eyebrows knitting together.
“Perth?”
“Krub, P’Sa?”

At the call from Khun Sleepyhead, Phurin immediately responded, causing some irritation to the other two friends, who found the interaction a bit too much, their mouths nearly splitting with laughter.

Realizing that a small drama was unfolding, Sarin decided to keep his thoughts to himself for now.

“Is everything okay? Why have you been so quiet for a while?”

Even though Sarin now understood what was happening, he chose to ask this instead, receiving a long sigh in response, followed by an answer that didn’t directly address his question. Instead, Phurin was speaking to the viewers.

“Everyone, please don’t argue. Let’s not fight or use rude language. Let’s be kind, just like you should be as PerthEst’s viewers.”

The other three in the party went silent in unison, allowing the famous streamer to clear things up with his fans while Sarin continued to scan through his chat window, reading what his viewers had to say.

In reality, Phurin’s stream could be watched, but Sarin wasn’t sure if he could handle the intense heat that was building up from the people involved. The question “Are you gay?” was actually hitting him hard.

The truth was, Sarin had never told anyone that he liked men. Only his family and a few close friends knew. Even Phurin didn’t know, and Phurin had never asked, acting as if it was normal for two men to be exploring their feelings for each other.

Ah, yes. If Phurin is gay and he is gay, then since we’re both gay, it’s normal for us to date or like each other. It’s not strange or out of place.

Sarin’s thoughts drifted until he was jolted back to reality by Phurin’s calm voice as if discussing the weather.

“Yes, I did mention a long time ago that I am gay. Those who have followed me since the early days know this well. I’ve never hidden it. I just haven’t talked about it much. It’s irrelevant to streaming games for everyone to watch.”

Phurin said this with a wide smile, and he continued to smile even wider as he was about to add more.

“Again, I’m gay. My family knows, my friends know, and some viewers know. What my viewers don’t know is…”

This sentence created a significant ripple effect for Sarin and the audience.

“I like P’ Sa.”

After that, there was dead air among the party members, though the viewers’ comments flowed faster than ever, making it hard to keep up. Meanwhile, Poon and Jar began to cheer and tease loudly. The reactions of the two people being teased were quite different.

One smiled so broadly it was almost unbelievable, while the other was so embarrassed that he didn’t know what to do. He eventually ran out of the camera’s view and hid in a corner of the room, clenching his fists and hitting the wall to relieve his embarrassment.

Phurin tried to read the comments…

“I’m done, Perth. People have known for a long time.”

“Yeah, it’s true. Perth has been head over heels for a while now,” Parithat said, slamming the table loudly in Discord.

“And he’s always hitting on P’ Sa on stream, not caring about his friends or the viewers at all.”

“Speaking of which, we’ve been pushing this, so he’s getting bold. He even made such a clear announcement on the media,” Jaruwat interjected. His point was valid, as many viewers agreed in the comments.

Phurin scrolled through the rapidly scrolling comments, trying to read some but catching only bits and pieces. Eventually, he realized that Sarin was missing from his stream. He quickly switched to Sarin’s stream and saw that Sarin was indeed not on camera.

“P’ Sa? P’ Sa, are you still around? You can stop being embarrassed now,” he called out during the stream. “Or did you run off to the bathroom again because you were too shy?”
“I didn’t go!” Sarin, who had heard this, rushed back into the camera frame, although his face was still bright red. His embarrassment was evident, which drew more cheers and comments from the viewers, who were excitedly typing faster than ever.

“I’m willing to put up with my awkwardness,” Sarin responded, laughing before clearing his throat and switching back to a serious tone. “P' Sa will say a few more things to the viewers, and then we can start the game.”

“Uh… yeah,” the older man responded, still somewhat embarrassed but serious enough to focus on getting ready for the game they had prepared for.

Phurin took a deep breath, preparing himself. “I see there are comments that criticize, claim it’s staged, or that it’s just to gain attention and fame. I’ve seen all of that. But I want to say that I don’t care how you view me because I know that everything I’ve said is the truth. If you can’t accept it just because I’m gay and I’m interested in P’ Sa, that’s fine. I just ask one thing: please don’t blame P’ Sa or my friends over this.”

The young man smiled and wrapped up the hot topic with:

“Thank you to everyone who understands. You’re all very lovely. And... please support me and P’ sa to the end! :)”

∞

After that, the game they intended to stream today began. Of course, Sarin, who was afraid of ghosts, chose to be the one monitoring the camera during the first round. He wasn’t brave enough to confront the ghosts with the other three party members. He greatly admired Jaruwat’s courage, as he was just as scared of ghosts as Sarin was.

But with this game, they all seemed to turn into kids.

“P’ Sa, look at the ghost’s mood graph,” Phurin asked.

Earlier, he and the other two had provoked the ghost, and they heard the ghost’s distressing sound nearby. The person being asked adjusted their character to face the screen and saw the red line on the graph shoot up to level five. They responded, “It’s at level five. It seems quite angry.”

“So, we need to find three clues and then guess what kind of ghost this is, right?” Jar asked.

“Exactly. Right now, we only have a negative temperature. This ghost likes cold environments.”

“What clues can we find?” Sarin asked, stifling a yawn. Despite how exciting the game was, he couldn’t suppress his drowsiness.

He clicked to open the notebook that each player had, which had three slots for clues. He clicked the arrow next to the text to scroll through. Although he had seen the others play several rounds before, he still didn’t remember everything.

“If we go into a room where the ghost is, and the thermometer shows a negative temperature, it’s a Freezing Ghost. And if we see a small floating light, it’s a Spirit Orb. What else is there?”

Parithat continued explaining to his dear friend Phurin, “There’s the Spirit Box. This is used to communicate with the ghost. If the ghost responds, it counts as one clue. Another one is the EMF Level 5. This device measures the ghost. If it reaches level five and the alarm goes off, that’s also a clue.”

“So the fingerprint one means we need to find the ghost’s fingerprints, right? And the other one is probably the book where if the ghost writes in it, that’s another clue as well,” Sarin summarized as he scrolled through the terms the others had mentioned. Once he received confirmation from his teammates, he memorized a bit more and nodded in understanding. “So, what clues do we have now, aside from the Freezing?”

“P’ Sa, look at the computer screen. Is there a Spirit Orb?”

The person asked to turn their character to look at the computer screen in the game. After a moment, they saw a small, white floating light.

“Yes, there’s a small round light floating across the camera.”

“Okay, we’ve got two clues now. With one more, we can narrow down the type of ghost...”

“Have you used the Spirit Box yet? The EMF is only at two bars,” Jar asked.

“Not yet, I haven’t picked it up. I’ll go get it now,” Phurin volunteered. He made his character walk back outside, but before he could get halfway into the game, he was surprised by Sarin’s offer.

“I can bring it to you.”

“Huh? P’ Sa is coming into the house? Aren’t you afraid?”

The person asked chuckled awkwardly before responding quietly, “I want to try going inside and see if it’s as scary as it looks.”

“Okay, then please bring the Spirit Box and the Crucifix with you,” the tall one said. “Don’t forget the flashlight. It’s dark inside, so you’ll need it to navigate.”

“Oh, don’t worry, P’ Sa. Perth will give you a hug, okay?”

“Ha, hug, hug. At this rate, Phurin might have already run to Sarin’s house to hug him for real. I think he really wants to,” Parithat couldn’t resist teasing. He really was envious of people in love!

“That's my business. You should go lure the ghost instead...” The young man's words were cut off when, suddenly, the lights in the game began to flicker rapidly, signalling that the ghost was starting its hunt!

“Hey, it’s hunting! Move back!”

“P’ Sa, stay focused! Quickly! Run, run, run!”

Sarin, who was struggling to stay awake, couldn’t help but be alert as the game became intense. He made his character run down the stairs while the in-game cameraman, Jaruwat, was trailing behind and even walking backwards.

“Which way? Which way, Phurin? Where do we go?”

“P’ Sa, follow Phurin. We need to hide until it stops hunting!”

Following Phurin’s character, they tried to avoid the ghost, which made the escape even more thrilling. Eventually, the in-game cameraman announced that they had captured a photo of the ghost, which was the same moment Phurin led Sarin into a bathroom to hide.

“P’ Sa, turn off the light! Don’t make any noise, and don’t talk!”

Sarin quickly closed his mouth, going completely silent, and his hands froze. He looked at the screen, which was almost entirely dark except for the light on his character's head. He could hear the ghost’s footsteps getting closer and closer. All the players were holding their breath in suspense.

Phurin tried turning on the flashlight to see if it was still flickering. If it was, that meant the ghost was still in hunting mode, and indeed... the ghost was still hunting.

Suddenly, the young cook felt a faint, eerie sound in the game, and two dark hands appeared to cover his character’s eyes. The young man screamed again.

“Ahhh!”

“Wait! Did it just snap P’ Sa’s neck!?”

“Seriously? How did that happen? We were hiding in the room, weren’t we!?”

Poon and Jar were both confused, while the famous streamer, Phurin East, repeatedly called out to his cute teammate to calm him down.

“P’ Sa, P’ Sa, stop screaming. It’s just a game, okay? Don’t be scared anymore.”

“Phurin, I’m done with this!” Sarin lamented, clearly overwhelmed. Even though the game didn’t seem scary, it was psychologically intense, making him nearly lose his mind. “I shouldn’t have played this. I’m done with this game!”

“Alright, I understand that everyone has different fears. It’s okay, brave one,” Phurin continued to comfort him. If he were next to Sarin, he would probably be patting his back and shoulders to reassure him. He began to regret letting Sarin play this game. Seeing how frightened he was made the viewers continuously comfort him. “Are you alright, P’ Sa? Let’s just wrap this up and finish the game.”

“Agreed,” Jaruwat supported. “This is the first game where Perth didn’t die instead of P’ Sa.”

“Yeah, you’re right, Jar,” Poon agreed.

“Damn, I didn’t think it would be P’ Sa getting played like that. I thought it would be me. Look at the sanity meter,” Phurin said after they managed to get their characters back in the van. “My sanity is almost gone, and P’ Sa’s shouldn’t be much better since he just entered the house. But it didn’t pick me.”

“Maybe it picked P’ Sa because he was closer to P’ Sa in the game, so it didn’t know which one to choose and went for P’ Sa instead.”

“I don’t know.”

Sarin, who was now much less sleepy, pouted. “Does this mean P’ Sa died because of Phurin? You said you’d die instead of P’ Sa in the game. Why did Phurin make P’ Sa die instead?”

“Ah, oops,” Phurin said, getting flustered. “Can I apologize?”

Hearing the sad tone of Phurin, Sarin, the older one, laughed instead. “I was just joking, but can we stop now? I’m too scared to play. Please?”

“Alright, let’s put in the answers and finish the game before we end the stream.”

After that, they entered the remaining answers into the notebook before exiting the game, said a brief goodbye to the viewers, and then Sarin and Phurin ended the stream.

The young cook took a deep breath and exhaled. He was genuinely scared, even though it was just a game. He regretted pushing himself to play. Now, he wondered if he’d be brave enough to sleep alone tonight, especially since Sarin was staying over at a friend’s house.

Sarin was in for it!

Before he could do much more, his phone rang. He immediately answered when he saw it was Phurin calling. As soon as he picked up, Phurin’s soothing voice came through the line.

“Are you okay, P’ Sa? Were you really scared?”

“Of course, I was scared. And I’m alone at home,” he said, sounding somewhat whiny.

“Ah, what should I do now? I shouldn’t have let you play this game.”

Phurin nodded in agreement. It was partly his fault for wanting to play, and now, here they were, scared out of their wits from the game, terrified both inside and out.

Sarin didn’t want to trouble the skilled streamer, but he really needed company right now. So…

“Perth, can you come stay with me for the night?”

What do you think Perth would say in response?