Someone That I left Behind

Fate

Nine

P'Mook's word was ingrained in my head.

Was my fear of being open back then causing the downfall of my relationship with Joong?

We were very close. We were inseparable. We were everything, yet nothing too.

The melancholy started me thinking of the time long forgotten.

I used to be a cheeky, vibrant teenager. But the loss of a beloved father changed every priority that was set. My sister Mila was older, but no matter how strong she wanted to be, sometimes she needed a shoulder to lean on too. Her hand was already full with taking care of our mother and brother, so I needed to bring something to the table too. I worked from a young age. Part time jobs, odd jobs, talent scouting, auditions, you named it. 

The need to be the man in the family suppressed my youthfulness. Unconsciously, I turned into such a serious grown up who put up a wall to avoid being close to anyone. Little that I knew, the galaxy aligned itself and arranged for me to meet someone so totally opposite of myself, that fate made a funny turn and gifted me with Joong.

***********

10 Years Ago

We met through an audition of a series. To be honest, I disliked Joong at first. His height and matured face made me thought that he's older and I even waii at him first, yet he only took a glance and walked away. Such a brat !, I thought. After that, I came to know that he was younger by 2 years, so that first impression had leveled up to become an annoyance.

I even felt a huge distress when we were chosen to be paired together. I auditioned for a different role, so how on earth did I land this one? In my head, a train of thoughts kept running, on how to be civilized to the person you disliked, how to have a poker face even when you're annoyed and how to act as if you were slowly falling in love in the series when you thought that the worst thing was the person in front of you. Couldn't fate be more cruel to me, I had enough on my plate already. But still, the determination to work and had stable incomes for six months was worth the pain to bear.

We were so guarded when the workshops started that the acting coach asked us to sit facing each other so close that our knees touched and kept asking each other whatever came to our mind. The first 5 minutes gone by without a word spoken. The acting coach started to get irritated and ordered us to lean closer. The discomfort and embarrassment were so huge that my ears and nose turned red immediately. "Now speak! Both of you! Or else the first scene that you will act out in front of everyone else is the kiss scene". Damn! And that got me started.

"Why didn't you waii at me on our first meeting?".

"I am not from here..and.."

"Don't say some bullshit, you auditioned and get casted in a Thai series".

"Will you listen or you wanted to tell whatever it is about me that irked you so much?"

Both of us stared at each other so hard. The coach walked towards us again, "Okay! That's it, move to the center and act out the kiss scene, now!".

"Wait P', we'll talk, we'll talk, right Joong?".

Joong just nodded awkwardly, "So, will you listen or not?"

"I'll hear you out".

"I came from Turkey".

"You don't look Turkish and you speak Thai just good".

"Mom remarried".

"Oh!...But, that didn't dismiss the fact that you were rude that day!".

"I didn't know you were older, you are small and pretty cute".

What had just happened? Another long silence.

"Your ears are red".

"Shut up!", I was already trying to digest a kid calling me cute, and that same kid now directly blew a remark about my red ears. I wanted to dig a hole and cave in.

Joong just smiled, a full smile that showed his fangs and gum. For the first time, that matured face finally morphed into a naughty kid.

"Let start at zero, sawattdikhrap P', I'm Joong Archen Aydin, you may call me Joong...".

With that I smiled back . "...and you're Nine Kornchid Boonsathitpakdee".

I was astonished and asked, "How did you know me?"

"Youtube".

With that being said, let just said I dig a hole and buried my head, if could, forever.