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...
"You sure are tidy for a guy", Tawan said as he sat on the couch.
"It's not like I have a made that cleans up after my mess, so I learned to act neatly.", I replied and joined him to rest.
When my back hit the soft cushion of the couch, I felt all the tiredness from cleaning the room. I must've had a good time doing it that I didn't feel exhausted, but now that I'm resting I feel like I just did a whole day of farming.
The fatigue got me so sleepy that I dozed off on the couch before I knew it. After I don't know how long, I was awoken by the faint smell of food being cooked. I opened my eyes and adjusted to the light coming from the kitchen.
"You woke up just in time, food's ready."
I was greeted by the sight of Tawan wearing an apron and kitchen gloves, a pan in his hands. He still wore his uniform under the apron. I walked and sat at the table as Tawan prepared the food.
"I hope you eat Khao Soi.", Tawan said as he took the lid of the pan. When he removed it, the strong smell of curry diffused all over the place. It smelled so good, and I could feel my stomach growling just at the aroma of the food. He also cooked coconut rice that smelled just as good as the curry.
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"Where did you get all the ingredients?", I asked, amazed at the sight of the food in front of me.
"In your freezer. You probably forgot you have all these ingredients because you only care about your sweets."
I laughed in defeat because what he said was right. I didn't know I had enough ingredients to cook a proper meal!
"What are you waiting for? eat now or the food will get cold."
I dug in on the food at Tawan's words and savored the first bite. I'm not really a fan of curry, but tasting Tawan's Khao Soi made me want to try eating them again. It tasted so good that I had to take another spoonful, and another, and another.
I completely forgot the presence of Tawan as I was too addicted to the food in front of me.
"You know what? If you cook this well you can stay at my house forever. Where did you learn to cook this well?", I said as I continued munching on the now half-full curry.
"I spent last year's summer on Jay Fai's diner so she taught me how to cook. Khao Soi was my mom's favorite dish so I learned how to cook it.", Tawan replied.
"Be careful you might choke if you eat fast."
And right at that moment, I choked on a slice of meat. I hurriedly drank water and allowed myself to rest a bit before I continued eating.
"That was like...the most scrumptious home-cooked meal I've had in years.", I said as I patted my tummy after finishing the food.
"You're kidding, right? Don't you go home to your family every once in a while?"
I sat properly before answering Tawan's question. I debated whether or not I should tell him the truth, but I guess I owe him since the rooftop scene.
"No...all of my family members are in America and only I am left here in Thailand."
"Then why did you stay here? There's a better chance for you to recover in America. Their medical technologies are way more advanced there."
I finished the glass of water in my hand and stood up, avoiding Tawan's question.
"I'll take care of the dishes, you can go and take a shower now. Take any of my clothes from the drawer.", I said trying to divert his attention.
He didn't seem to mind it at all as he proceeded to take a shower and let me do the dishes. By the time I finished washing, he had already taken a shower.
I took a shower as well and prepared myself for slumber. When I got out of the shower, Tawan had already fallen asleep on the bed.
I walked towards him and took a glance at his bare face. He was glistening everytime I look at him under the sun, but now that there's nothing but the moon to illuminate his face, he glowed differently. I could feel his faint breathing as he slept, and his face looked calmer now than it was when we were on the rooftop. Tonight he looked like he's finally able to take a slumber after being restless for a long time.
I laid on the other side of the bed and connected my phone to the speaker. I played my night time playlist and positioned myself looking opposite to Tawan's direction. Day6's songs echoed through the whole room as the night grew darker. I couldn't sleep without having songs played out loud as I felt alone whenever I'm home, that's why I play it loud every night. That was also the reason why I warned Tawan he might not get enough sleep. However, he looked completely fine with it.
As the first song ended, the speaker blasted Day6's "You Were Beautiful".
"Are you still awake?"
"I was asleep, but your music woke me up."
"Would you like me to turn them off?"
"No, I listen to them. Keep it on."
We remained silent for a few seconds, listening to the song in the middle of the night.
"I stayed here because of Kay. But it was unfortunate that he had to go before I did."
And just as the song hit the chorus, my tears started to roll down my eyes in the clear of the night.
