Lately, It's Winter Season.
Chapter 48 - The Dishwashing Specialist
We both returned from the mall and set our shopping bags on the floor to inspect each item we had bought. I was surprised to see a strange shirt. I couldn't remember when I bought it. I held it up for Tiger to see.
“Ger, when did you buy this shirt? Why doesn't Nao remember anything?” Tiger shook his head in response.
“Oh, where did it come from?”
“Is it North’s? He must have forgotten to bring it when we divided the stuff.” Tiger guessed that since everyone had a lot of stuff, we divided it among ourselves. When we got to the car, we divided it again. North must have forgotten to bring his shirt at that time.
“I guess so, let me call and ask him.” I dialled North, and he picked up a moment later.
“North, there's a shirt in your bag. Did you forget to bring it?”
(Cream colour?)
"YES."
(Oh, I bought it for you. It should suit you. Wear it to Boston to look handsome.)
I raised my eyebrows in surprise, not expecting North to buy me a shirt.
“Really?”
(Yes, really.)
“Thanks, I will dress nicely.”
(Ok, have a safe flight.)
“Yeah, you too.” I hung up and turned to Tiger. “North bought it for me. He said it would look nice in Boston.”
“Oh, is that so?” Tiger smiled slightly but still focused on the pile of bags, taking out each item to check and sort. I walked over, knelt behind him and hugged him because I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed seeing his overly serious appearance. Tiger relaxed his eyebrows and turned to look at me.
“What's the matter?”
“You look so stressed. It's just sorting clothes and stuff. Why are you so serious?”
“I'm trying to decide which ones to bring. We bought too many, and we have to separate them to see which ones need to be washed.”
“Can't I just wear it?”
“You should wash it before wearing it.”
“Okay.” I hummed happily, “So excited! Are you nervous? I don’t think so, you’ve been abroad a lot.”
“Yes,” Tiger replied, “Because I'm going with you this time.”
“That’s right, I also get to see Nuea. What do you think Nuea will say about my new hair colour?” I asked while stroking my hair, “I won’t call Nuea tonight, I’ll tell him I’m busy and surprise him tomorrow. I miss him so much. I’ll give him a big hug.”
No matter how tired I was of hearing the word 'surprise', this didn't count since I had planned it all along. Besides, it was just an unannounced visit.
“As long as Nao likes it, you're cute no matter what you do.”
"Keep praising."
“Like you.”
"Huh?"
"What's wrong?"
“I thought it was love.” Tiger smiled when he saw me teasing back.
“Just like? I love you, what should I do?”
“Haha, I love you so much I'm dying.” Tiger reached out and pinched my cheek, his eyes filled with affection. I stuck out my tongue and teased him back.
"Looking at it makes me sick."
“Huh? Say that again?”
“Come here.” I held out my cheek in defiance, but instead of hitting him, Tiger leaned down and gave me a light kiss. I pouted.
"You don't keep your word."
“You think I'll hit you? I'd rather hit myself.”
“Haha, remember the first day we met? When I punched you, you were going to hit me back.”
“That time doesn't count! In the end, I just pretended to punch you lightly on the cheek, but you punched me straight in the face.”
“Deserved! Who told you to tease my mother's name?”
“What? My mother-in-law, Maeo.” Tiger deliberately called my mother’s name again. I frowned in displeasure.
“Okay, okay, you're my future mother-in-law, so go ahead and call me that.” I said, “But did you really say you'd punch yourself? I just thought it was funny.”
“Of course. How could I let anyone hurt you?” Tiger smiled lightly.
“Yeah, good job.” I ruffled his hair.
“If it's that good, whose is it?” Tiger asked back.
“Whose is this? North's?”
“Want to die?” Tiger sighed.
“Why do you want to die? Is there something wrong with North?”
“What's good about it?” Tiger retorted, “Seriously, whose do I belong to?”
“If it wasn't mine, would you jump out the window right now?”
“Yeah.”
I burst out laughing: “Oh my god, Tiger, you are my best, Nao's best, Duen Nao's best.”
“Okay.” The other person smiled with satisfaction.
I was so excited about my trip to Boston that I woke up half an hour before my alarm clock. I thought I was up early, but someone else was up even earlier—Tiger was already up to make breakfast. I stumbled into the kitchen with my hair a mess.
“Has Ger come back from picking up the laundry last night?”
“Got it.”
“Um, good.” I yawned and replied.
“Why don't you sleep a little longer? The dinner isn't ready yet.”
“I must have been so nervous that I woke up early. Now that I’m up, I can’t go back to sleep. I’ll take a shower first.”
"YES."
I went in to take a shower, changed my clothes and came back to find breakfast still not finished. So I volunteered to be an assistant.
“Do you need any help?”
“Cut the vegetables, that's your forte.”
“Wow.” I looked at Tiger with an unconvinced expression, “Before, I used to break a lot of dishes just by washing them, but now you’re so good at it, you even tell me to cut vegetables.”
“Or do you want to stir-fry?” Tiger chuckled.
“Hmm, never mind. Here, give me the vegetables.”
“Soak it over there.”
“Okay.”
So I became Tiger's assistant chef, but was only allowed to chop vegetables. I was only allowed to chop vegetables because I was not as good at other cooking tasks as Tiger, the first and only student of Maeo's mother, the legendary chef of the cheap eatery.
********************
A car was already waiting for us. I stepped into the back seat, where someone opened the door and extended a hand to invite us in. Sitting down, I looked out the window to observe the city scenery with interest. The atmosphere here was beautiful and very different from Thailand. I had only seen this kind of scenery in movies before; now I had the chance to experience it with my own eyes.
“Ger, look at that building, it's beautiful.” I pointed, “And that store over there, it looks really cool. A bookstore? It looks like I want to go in.”
The person next to him said nothing but just smiled gently and affectionately.
“Hey, you're spoiling me too much.” I teased, not knowing why I was teasing.
“Because you're cute.”
“Only Ger sees it that way. In the eyes of others, Duen Nao is a rude and brutish.”
“That's great, I don't want anyone else to see you cute but me.”
“So jealous.” I blurted out and then muttered to myself, “What the hell am I teasing about?”
Soon, the car stopped in front of a luxurious hotel. The staff quickly came out to help us carry our luggage to the room. When I opened the door and entered, I saw a spacious room, simply but beautifully decorated. I went to pull the curtains because the room was on a high floor, allowing me to see the entire view of Boston.
“How much is this room? Is it in the budget I gave you?” I asked just to be sure. I had given Tiger the budget for this trip.
"I pay for this room."
“Huh? What's wrong?”
“I have roughly calculated the cost. If I use your money to book a room, I can only rent a cheaper place. But I want you to stay in a comfortable place, with a spacious room, a soft bed, and a nice view.” Tiger said.
“So what do I use my money for?”
“Food money.”
“Okay then.”
“You're not mad at me, are you?”
“Hmm?”
“Like I paid for the ticket and the hotel, do you ever feel like that’s… um, disrespectful? Since you’ve already used your savings to fund it.” Tiger asked, looking a little reserved.
I was still looking at the cars on the road, but when I heard that, I turned to look at him, “I just wanted to share since we’re travelling together. Like the first class ticket, I didn’t think much of it; I just wanted you to be comfortable. As for the accommodation, I also wanted you to sleep well.”
“It’s okay, I understand.” I smiled gently, “If I were to go alone, I would also choose a regular ticket, and the accommodation would be cheaper. But if Ger comes along, then consider it as you sharing the cost. It’s just that I was the one who invited you first, so I feel a little embarrassed.”
“Just because you invited me doesn't mean you have to pay it all. We can chip in.”
“Okay, I don’t mind, so Ger don’t mind either.” I walked over and put my arm around Tiger and rested my head on his shoulder. Tiger wrapped his arms around me and placed a soft kiss on my hair.
“Yes, sir.”
“Can we go see Nuea?”
“Why don't we go to the park next door for a walk first while we wait for Nuea to finish school?”
“Okay, let's go.”
We went to Nuea's university. Boston is renowned for its education, boasting numerous prestigious universities. When mentioning Boston, everyone has heard of Harvard, but Nuea did not study at Harvard, but at another university located right in the heart of Boston.
If Nuea finishes school, I want him to show me around the school. I'm curious about where Nuea studies every day, what his favourite restaurant is, and even his favourite reading corner in the library. While waiting, Tiger and I went for a walk in the nearby park. The park was crowded with people walking and resting, and I guessed most of them were students. When I saw Tiger raise his camera to take a picture, I smiled at the lens.
“How?”
“So cute.”
“You said it was cute when you took a photo without paying attention, with your eyes half closed, then your standard of cuteness is not trustworthy at all. Let me see.”
I looked at my picture, and it didn't look good.
“Too ugly. Delete it.”
“No delete.”
“Again…” I sighed. No matter how bad the photo was, Tiger would never delete it. “Then retake it. Only take it when I say you’re ready, okay?”
"YES."
We continued walking, taking pictures of each other until we came across a group of people playing with squirrels.
“Can I play with squirrels, too?”
“I read the reviews. They say the squirrels here are friendly. You should try calling them.”
“Let me try… Squirrel, come on~! Huh? It's real! Oh my god, it's standing on my hand! Ger, grab it quickly!”
I was excited to have a little squirrel standing on my hand. As soon as I took the picture, I gently put it down. “Ger, try playing with it. Let me take a picture.”
After walking around, we stopped at a nearby restaurant to have a bite to eat. At that time, we went to the university gate to wait for Nuea. I looked around for him among the crowd of people coming out of the school, but couldn't find anyone who looked like Nuea. After waiting for a long time, there was still no sign of him.
“Ger, have you seen Nuea?”
“No. I'm looking too.”
“It’s already 30 minutes late…” I looked at my watch, “Nuea isn’t the type to be this late. Usually, after school, he’ll go to the hamburger shop to get ready for work. Or maybe we didn’t search carefully enough?”
“No. I definitely looked carefully.” Tiger said firmly, “Could it be that he is still in the building? Or reading a book in the library?”
“But…” I was about to object because Nuea always said she would go to the cafeteria right after school to eat something before work, “Then let's try looking in the library.”
“Okay, let's go.”
The library allowed outsiders to enter, so we easily went inside to search. But even after searching the entire library, we still couldn't find Nuea.
“Or maybe he's already at the bar?”
“Ger said he looked carefully, right?”
“But it's also possible that Nuea left through another gate.”
“But the shop is this way.” I muttered, not understanding why Nuea would take a detour when the main entrance was closest to the shop, “Let’s go to the shop and see. Maybe Nuea is already working.”
We arrived at the hamburger joint where Nuea worked part-time. I expected to see Nuea in an apron, standing at the counter, greeting customers. But no, it was someone else standing at the counter. Tiger and I looked at each other.
“Why not Nuea?”
"That's right…"
“Where is Nuea?” I thought worriedly. I wondered if something had happened to him, “Did something bad happen? Or is Nuea just busy with something else?”
“Nothing will happen.”
“Why do you think so?”
“People are watching Nuea all the time. If there were anything suspicious, they would have reported it. No reports mean everything is fine.”
“Oh…” I said softly, “Ger, can you try asking the tracker where Nuea is now?”
"Okay."
Tiger took out his phone to call immediately, but after a few seconds, he put the phone down. “No signal.”
“…”
I froze, fear rising in my heart, “Ger…”
“Try calling Nuea. I'll find another way to contact her.”
“Um…” I hurriedly took out my phone to call Nuea, but… There was no signal.
“No signal at all… Ger, is something wrong?”
“It's okay. I promise. Don't worry too much.” Tiger took my hand to reassure me.
“Um… I'll go ask another employee.”
“Okay, I'll keep calling.”
Tiger dialled someone, and I quickly walked to the counter to ask the staff about Nuea. But when he saw me, the staff looked surprised and spoke as if we were friends.
“Hey, Nuea? Didn't you say you were on vacation?”
"On leave?"
“Yeah, I had to do your replacement because you were on vacation. By the way, did you change your hair colour? It suits you.”
“Vacation…?” I repeated, but ignored his mistake for Nuea, “Where to?”
“How should I know? You took the whole week off for vacation, but didn’t say where you were going. You seem confused. Want to take a break?”
“All week?”
“Yeah. Oh, by the way, you really look like you need a rest.”
“You really don’t know!? Where did Nuea go!?” I couldn’t help but raise my voice, startling the employee, “Tell me! Where is Nuea!?”
Just then, Tiger pulled me back, making me quickly turn to ask him.
“Ger, how is it? Know anything?”
“I know.”
“Where is Nuea!?”
***************************
I stepped off the plane and immediately felt the heat. March was not as cool here as it was in Boston. I dragged my suitcase out of the airport, full of excitement.
“Mr Duen Nuea, are you sure you don’t want to tell Mr Tiger?” One of the two people assigned to protect me asked for the hundredth time, looking extremely worried. I suppose they felt they were deceiving their master.
“Don’t tell. Consider it as my request. If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility. Don’t worry.” I said in a relaxed tone, hoping to ease their tension. “Besides, how would Tiger know where I went? Today is just like any other day, nothing much.”
"But…"
“Okay? Otherwise, my surprise plan will fall apart.”
"… Alright."
Finally, they reluctantly agreed. I walked out of the airport, looking for a taxi or public transportation to get to the university. I couldn't help but smile excitedly at the thought of meeting the person I had always wanted to see.
Nao ah… Nuea is here. Just wait a little longer.
I really wanted to see Nao's surprised face when he found out I was coming. He'd be so shocked!