The Sanctuary

Twelve Fifty-One (1)

***

"Hi."

"Ooh. . . Hi. Don't skip, please."

"I don't skip. Some of the people I met here did. Anyway, what are you doing here on this website?" Offroad asked and looked at his watch. "And at 12:51 in the morning? You should be sleeping." 

"Just chillin' out. I should ask you the same, though."

"Chillin' out? But you kinda looked upset when you first appeared on the screen."

"For real. . . Believe me. About an hour ago, I was bored and tired, but I couldn't sleep so my friend suggested this website just to talk to people, but. . . but for almost an hour I've been here, it seems like no one had taken me seriously. And out of 5 people I met today, you're the only one willing to stay." 

"What? Why? How?"

"For real. . . let me tell you. It's my first time on this site and it's not that good experience though. It starts with a natural conversation, yes, like basic questions, and then goes to me telling them that I sing for a living. So they asked to hear me sing then after I showed them they accused me of using auto-tune, saying it was not my real voice, and then skipped me. How could they? My God!"  Daou ranted continuously.

"Oh. . .So you sing? As in professionally? Wow!" Offroad said. "That's cool. It's my first time to encounter a real singer here. Can I hear it?" Daou looked at him with amusement. "Please. . ." The way Offroad's face lit up when he knew about Daou's profession and the way he pouted and begged for him to sing was too cute for Daou to resist. 

"Okay. Okay." Daou said with a chuckle. "You're lucky. You're cute."

"What? What's that?" Offroad asked.

"Nothing. I said I would sing now." Daou started humming at first then he sang.

If the world was ending, I'd wanna be next to you
If the party was over and our time on Earth was through
I'd wanna hold you just for a while and die with a smile
If the world was ending, I'd wanna be next to you.

Offroad was speechless for a while with his mouth a little ajar. "Whoa! Did you sing that one to those people who skipped you?" Offroad asked. 

"Kinda. Yeah." Daou answered.

"How could they think it was auto-tuned? That was great, by the way! You left me speechless there for a while. Give me your Spotify. I want to listen more."

"You don't want to listen to it live?"

"What?" Offroad asked confusedly. "What do you mean?'

"I mean I can sing for you on the phone or in person. Just give me your number." 

Offroad laughed. "Smooth! That was smooth." He said and ignored the man's statement. "Wait, I'll just search it. What's your name?"

Daou smiled and said, "Daou Pittaya."

Offroad looked at him with narrowed eyes. "You're Daou?" He asked in disbelief. "Can you remove your cap, please?" So Daou did as he was asked, "It's really you! Wow! Cool! I don't need to search. I'm already a follower. I like your songs, by the way. You really have a nice voice."