Chasing the Sun

013

I felt the need to keep him silent after he uttered those words. The pictures on the wall display a young boy filled with happiness and smiles, it's hard to believe that he grew to be the guy in front of me.

I looked at Tawan and a sea of thoughts came rushing onto me. He's not entirely rude as he somehow shows that he can be caring too, but something tells me that he doesn't like showing that side of him to other people.

Just how bad did fate treat you that you grew up like that?

My thoughts halted when a server came to our table carrying a tray of different foods. From the deep fried Gai Tod to the flavorful bowl of Tom Yum Goong, there were a lot of foods for the two of us to eat.

"This is your usual food?"

"I'm Thai what do you expect?"

It made sense, but it didn't really appear to me that he likes eating those types of food. When the server finished plating the dishes on our table, he quickly dug in and ate. He seemed so accustomed to eating the foods, and it seemed as if the place is very important to him. It may not look like it when I looked at his face, but he seemed so comfortable eating in a cramped up place shared by very unfamiliar faces. As he was happily eating, I fished my phone out of my pocket and secretly took a photo of Tawan eating.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

I almost dropped my phone when he suddenly spoke, his mouth already filled with food.

"Of course I am."

I started eating as well and joined him in finishing the food.

"This tastes awesome! Now I get why people wait for Jay Fai's food. You're lucky you don't have to queue anymore."

"Of course, she's my grandma." , He said as he slurped on the soup of the Tom Yum.

"Just what I thought. So I'm guessing...the woman with you on the frame is your mom?"

"mhmm"

"She seemed nice when I talked to her before. You two must get along very well."

He stopped eating and turned his head to face me, his face wearing a grim expression

"That woman you talked to is not my mom. And she never will be."

I was confused for a bit. I can clearly recall the woman who I talked to before introducing herself as Tawan's mom, and her name on his phone says "Mom" as well.

"But she told me she's your Mom when I talked to her."

"I may not go to school often, but I'm pretty sure you have to be the one who bore the child for you to register as his mother. And that woman didn't bear me."

With further confusion in my head, I continued eating. I could barely have a grasp on anything about Tawan. Heck, I don't even know his last name! But here we are sitting right in front of each other, sharing a meal as if we'd known each other for years.

By the time we finished eating, the people who were eating with us had already left and the tables were already occupied by another set of customers. From the kitchen I saw Jay Fai busily cooking dishes, shouting at her staffs as she instructs them what to do.

"Let's leave."

"Hey aren't we going to say goodbye to Jay Fai?"

"No need." , he said as he grabbed my hand and escorted me out of the busy diner. Jay Fai didn't seem to notice that we had already left as she was still busy in the kitchen.

When we got out of the establishment, we were greeted by the full moon illuminating the whole place. I looked at Tawan who was already preparing his helmet.

"Are we going home?"

"Do you want to go home already? I was thinking of bringing you to another place."

"Where are we off to?"

"You'll know when we get there." , he said as he handed me the helmet. Soonafter, we disappeared from the busy street and the sight of Jay Fai's busy diner became but a distant light from my sight.