I had been in Thailand for almost a week. I was full of emotions. I was
happy to see my ex girlfriend who I hadn't seen in a long time. It hurt me to
know that she hated me so much. But I felt happy more than sad, despite
her hatred. I was happy to see her grow up and become a successful adult.
Now that I had seen that she was happy, I should go back... right? This
morning, my mom called me from Macau. I assumed my mom knew where
Tod was. My mom's complaints made my ears numb.
"Thailand is not safe for you. Even if you have changed your first and last
name. It's still not safe for you. Come back now!"
I looked at the passport in my hand and laughed. At that time, I left
Thailand secretly. And I needed a new name to return to. I didn't know how
my dad did it, but I got a new identity, a new name, a new passport... But I
was Aoey's bad old bitch... Tod visited me that day at the hotel. He went up
to my room and lay down on my bed lazily. He was a very busy person, but
he always had time for me.
"I don't want you to feel alone. You have no friends here."
Tod leaned on his elbow and looked at me. -
"How is it possible that you don't have friends? You must be so bad that no
one would want to see you. But once you had a friend, you made her your
girlfriend."
"Silly."
I crossed my arms over my chest.
"I'm thinking about returning to Macau."
"Aren't you going to wait for the wedding?... You couldn't bear to see Aoey
announce on stage that she will marry that man. You don't want to know
about her love story."
I did not say anything. I assumed that was how I felt. But one more thing
was that I thought I caused her pain too. Every time she looked at me! I
could see the pain in her eyes.
"Arguably. I think I should go. At least now I know how good she is doing."
"What! You've just arrived. We haven't gone anywhere together. We have to
go somewhere first."
"How are you going to do that? I've barely seen you since I've been here...
other than when you wanted to watch my drama."
The handsome boy laughed and waved.
"Ok, that's my fault... about our company..."
He rolled his eyes before continuing to say.
"Our company..."
"I'll never get used to that."
Tod talked about a publishing company he created to publish Aoey's book.
He was doing very well, even though traditional media was dying, but
people turned to the Internet to read for free.
"Our company will have an excursion trip for writers."
"But there is only one writer, Aoey."
"Silly, we have more than 10 writers in the company. I wanted to thank you
for helping us in our success. You should join too because first, I wanted to
hang out with you. Second, you are the owner of the company."
"What a headache. I don't know anything about this company."
"That 100,000 baht. Come on! Let's just go... you should see Thailand
before you go."
"Bored."
"Think of it as a date with Aoey. Did you ever take her on a trip, other than
when you ran away?"
"What persuasion!"
I sighed and agreed to go because I wanted to go with Aoey... One last time.
Well....a vacation before leaving Thailand. How much profit did the
company make? I could take more than ten writers to a luxury hotel like
that.... I hid behind a pillar in a corner of the hotel. Tod crossed his arms
over his chest and shook his head at me.
"You seem to enjoy hiding in a corner lately. Where is my confidant
Genlong?"
I rolled my eyes when I heard that. Now I feel bad because I decided to go
there.
"She'll call me nosy again."
I have nothing to do with this outing, but here I am.
"But it's your company."
"She doesn't know that."
"Today she will know."
"What?!"
I looked at him excited.
"This is not what we agreed upon. I didn't come here to tell
everyone that I'm a partner in the publishing house."
"You won't say it, but I will."
"No."
"Can you stop me?"
Tod dragged me to sit at a table where the writers were sitting. Aoey sat
next to Ten and looked at me in surprise. Every time our eyes met, I saw
sadness, depression, and a feeling of revenge there. The look in her eyes
made me want to fly back to Macau.
"Why is she here, Tod?"
Aoey couldn't bear it, so she asked Tod in an annoyed tone.
"I thought you'd be happy to see her here. You were eager to date her in the
past."
"Go out?"
Ten heard the word and turned around in surprise. It wasn't a vocabulary
you used with friends. I quickly tried to be playful with the words.
"We call it a date when we go out. We dress up to look pretty."
"She is our great partner in the company."
She stiffened when she heard that. Her soft eyes looked at Tod as if she had
been betrayed all her life.
"I have to leave the company then because I couldn't work like that."
She got up angry. All the writers who were chatting were now silent. Now
the atmosphere of the outing changed completely. I felt so bad for being
there.
"You don't have to go. I will go. Just eat your food."
"No."
"Hey."
"I said I can't work with her."
"Sit down."
"No, why would I listen to you?"
"Do what I told you!"
My strong tone made Aoey stop and tense as if she were cursed. The
smaller girl stared at me. We both looked into each other's eyes until she
finally sat down. All of her eyes were on me because they were stunned that
I had just appeared and I was already very overbearing. Ten smiled as if he
was impressed that I could tell Aoey what to do. Tod looked at me and
made a gesture for applause and told everyone to continue eating.
"Don't worry. They are friends. Let's continue eating."
"I want to go for a walk. Excuse me."
I apologized and left the table because I didn't want to be the center of
attention. I was sure I would become a topic of gossip later that night. I
should have believed my instinct. I shouldn't have gone there and returned
to Macau. I had just bullied Aoey in front of so many people. The sweet
eyes must have hated me even more. It was very hot but the sea breeze
relieved the heat somehow. While I was alone thinking, I heard a low,
familiar voice from behind.
"Hey! Can I speak to you?"
I didn't like Ten following me there. I shouldn't make it too obvious that he
was interested in me. I didn't want Aoey to see that, damn it!
"Why are you here? You should be with Aoey."
"Aoey doesn't want to talk to anyone. I wanted to talk to you."
"Please don't flirt with me. I'm not interested. I'm sorry,"
I rejected him outright. My eyes and my gestures were shown very
obviously. Ten laughed.
"A woman like that is super strong. You must reject hundreds of men. You
do it with so much strength and naturalness."
"Especially if you will be my friend's husband in the future. I really don't
want to get tangled."
"Did you tell Aoey that I like you?"
His direct question made me wonder. Should I be asking myself that? But
what the hel...I didn't want to be friends with him anyway.
"Yes, did she tell you?"
"Not really. I understood that you warned your friend about me. Are you
trying to ruin my wedding?"
"Yes, I don't think you're husband material. Sorry, I have to be direct."
"To be honest, I feel good that you're trying to stop the wedding. Because
I'm not sure if I want to get married either. I don't mind marrying her, much
less having sex with her, but I'm not entirely sold on her. I'm sure you
understand me."
"If so, why do you still want to marry her? Do you think it's a joke?"
"I pity her. At least if I can't be a good husband, I can be her friend."
I understood his logic, but I couldn't accept that anyway. That marriage was
for Aoey to have a family because she had no one left in the country.
Marriage was a way to find a life-long partner,but it shouldn't be without
love...
"You can be friends without getting married."
"Why don't you stay with her then? If you really don't want her to get
married."
I felt stunned.... It was a direct and simple question that I didn't know how
to answer. Although it was true, why didn't I stay with her if I wanted her to
have friends?
"I can not stay."
"Then don't stop me. Let me marry her and be her friend."
"Don't sleep with her then."
"No way, I'm a human being. She is beautiful. If we're in bed together, how
can I stop that?"
Ten and I look at each other. He was actually a simple guy, a good guy. My
only problem was that he was Aoey's future husband and I was her
anonymous ex-girlfriend. What a complex relationship!
"What are you two talking about?"
Aoey said from afar while Ten and I looked into each other's eyes. There
was a slight anger in her tone. She looked at us both suspiciously.
"Nothing, I saw her alone, so I'm just keeping her company."
"You shouldn't do this."
Aoey walked towards us and grabbed Ten's arm.
"What would others think about this?"
"You are jealous?"
Ten laughed and followed Aoey back. He turned around and said goodbye. I
put my hands in my pockets. My eyes followed Aoey. She realized that her
boyfriend was flirting with me. That couldn't be a married couple. I
suddenly felt insecure. Aoey didn't look very stable. I thought they might
have a fight after she saw us talking. I didn't like Ten though, but I didn't
want to be the reason they fought. I should help clean the air. I ran after
them like a good friend, but my legs froze once I saw the unexpected scene.
Aoey's arms were around Ten's neck. She pulled her face down for a
passionate kiss. I froze and felt a sharp, deep pain in my heart. I grabbed my
chest as if it had really been cut. Pain... so much pain..
In that split second, as I stood there, my eyes were filled with tears, I saw
her eyes looking at me.. She saw me.. That's what she meant when she said
he wanted to torture me and she did. I only had two options at that moment,
I could stand there and look at them and pretend like I didn't feel anything
or I could just walk away. Her mission was to inflict as much pain on me as
she could. It could get out of control. Finally, I decided to stand there and
watch them, pretending like I didn't care.
Go ahead and do what you want to do. I would lick my wound in silence
alone. Aoey... you would never see me weak. You should know me better.
"Aham!"
Tod interrupted. The kissing couple stopped. The handsome boy looked at
the three of us.
"The beach atmosphere here is very pleasant. Couples love it here."
Ten and Aoey held hands and walked towards him. They seemed a little
embarrassed. But I pretended I didn't feel anything.
"I have no one at all. Poor me."
"You're the luckiest."
We all looked baffled by his statement, especially me.
"There."
John appeared from a corner with a large bouquet of white flowers. He
waved at me while I was stunned to see him. His charming gaze made the
beauty of the sea seem to fade away..
"Hello Kate. Surprise!"
"John!"
Tod looked at Aoey and spoke loudly so everyone could hear,
"How's your surprise? I called a guy for whom you spread your legs. What
a sweet atmosphere! Couples everywhere.
Damn! What a bummer!
