At a young age of eighteen, New was living the life of a teenage boy diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. With his life hanging by a thread, he realized that it was too short to be spent on memories that will only result in melancholy, and so he chose...
We stopped at busy street that I'm unfamiliar with. The street looked very active even at night, and various inaudible conversations along with the sizzling sound of streets foods set the mood of the place. Lined up along the road were countless of food stalls offering different Thai street foods extending to what my eyes could see. A sea of different aromas diffused from each stall, and all were very tempting. I could feel my stomach growling, waiting to dig in on the street foods lain in front of me.
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"Lead the way, I don't know this place." , I said to Tawan.
He started walking with the sea of people in the area and I followed. It would be a hassle if I lose him in this area i'm unfamiliar to, so I picked up my pace and followed him. We stopped in front of a small diner named Jay Fai's Noodles. It looked the same as every food stall in the area. An outdoor kitchen where huge pots of soup were stirred by two muscled men could be seen first, followed by the interior where the tables used to accommodate the customers are placed. The tables are all occupied, and a long line of people are still waiting to have a seat on the diner.
"Jay Fai!" , Tawan shouted towards the kitchen, waving his hands so he could be noticed. When I checked who he was shouting to, it was an old woman wearing an apron and hairnet, a spatula held in her right hand.
The woman smiled widely at the sight of Tawan and quickly removed her apron. She rushed towards us and jumped on Tawan, giving him a tight hug.
Is she his grandma?
"Nok! I missed you so much!" , she said as she kissed Tawan's cheeks left and right. He didn't mind it though, I think. His face was calm while Jay Fai pecked his cheeks so I think they've known each other for a while now.
"We wanted to eat so I thought of your stall. But it seems like we came at a wrong time, the place is packed."
"You know it's always packed! But that's fine Nok. You know I always have a spare table for you and your..." , Jay Fai nodded in my direction.
"He's New, a friend of mine. I wanted him to taste your cooking."
I bowed to Jay Fai as a sign of respect and introduced myself.
"Good evening Jay Fai, I'm New."
"and I'm the best street food cook in this alley!", Jay Fai replied as she laughed. I laughed as well and rode on with her words. She seemed like a very good cook, judging the veins in her hands. She must've perfected the art of cooking through time.
"Well then, you may sit over there and wait for your food. You'll have the usual right? Is there anything your friend here wants to eat?"
Tawan looked at me as if asking the same question as Jay.
"Oh, there's none. I'm fine with the "usual"." , I said even though I don't know what Tawan's usual meal is.
"Okay then, wait a few minutes and the food will be here."
"Okay Jay Fai."
Then Jay Fai left and proceeded to go back to her kitchen.
I scanned the interior of the diner. Like most diners in Chiang Mai, it looked less appealing as the house where it stands looks old to begin with. A few picture frames were hanging on the wall, all showing the picture of a young boy. He was wearing a bright smile on all the pictures and looked like he was living a good life.
"Is that you?" , I asked Tawan who was busy scrolling through his phone. He turned to the direction where my fingers were pointed and simply nodded.
"Your smile in those pictures look genuine. And now you hardly ever smile."
"..."
"In fact, I've never even seen you smile once."
He stopped scrolling and looked at me straight into the eyes, his expression turned grim.
"It's hard to smile when there's no point doing it."
