i've got my eyes on you

Epilogue

The evening air was thick with the smell of grilled skewers, laughter, and the steady hum of casual conversation. Everyone had gathered around, preparing for the BBQ as Mae Koy orchestrated the lineup of food like a general leading her troops. Lingling moved among the group with ease, setting down the last of the plates, her presence as calming as the glow of lanterns beginning to flicker against the dusk.

But N'Orm wasn't paying attention to any of that.

Her mind was preoccupied with something that had been nagging at her since earlier in the day. Ling's playlist was private, not meant for others to see, but N'Orm had caught a glimpse of it for a split second—我嘅月亮. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about it since. She knew the first two characters meant "My," but what about the last two?

She sat off to the side, her phone screen casting a dim light in front of her. The Chinese characters she'd glimpsed on Lingling's playlist title replayed in her mind. She had tried to replicate them in her head all afternoon: the inverted "n" with two dashes, the square man with a hat, both legs pointing outward...

N'Orm tapped her fingers against her knee, squinting at the makeshift notes she'd scribbled earlier on her phone. There was something poetic about it, something that stirred in her gut the same way the night under the stars had.

She quickly opened her translation app and input the shapes she had tried to remember.

"月亮" — Yuè liàng.

Moon.

Her heart gave a little jolt at the realization. It was so simple, but suddenly everything felt heavier, more meaningful. My Moon. Ling had named her private playlist that.

She was referred to as the moon, and P'Tawan as the sun in their hit series, "Only You." Was it just a coincidence?

Before N'Orm could sink too deep into her thoughts, the sizzling of the barbecue caught her attention, and Mae Koy's voice called out for everyone to gather around. She pocketed her phone, the weight of the revelation still resting gently in the back of her mind, like a secret she wasn't quite ready to unpack.

But as she glanced up across the yard, catching Ling's eye from where she stood with the others, N'Orm felt something stir deep inside her—a quiet, steady glow, much like the moon rising just beneath her surface.