North, a low-achiever student who often causes ruckus within school grounds by his rebellious actions befriends Night, a top student with impressive accomplishments who always sits in front of the class.
Night's POV "Sorry. Bad Habit" were the simple three words North said that got me thinking 'Oh, maybe he's the player type who held hands with lots of girls before' To think of it, it kind of makes sense. The flirting with rizz, the motorcycle, the sleepover... Was this guy playing me? I tried to stay positive as we walked inside the restaurant.
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The place was quite big and you wouldn't expect this kind of place hidden within a small alleyway. We grabbed our seats before the waitress gave us the menu. "I asked Ongsa about the foods you liked and she said you really liked Thai food, and so do I. I found this restaurant all by myself when I was actually out drunk this one night and stumbled upon this place. The owner was kind enough to sober me up and served me Pork Belly with Nam Jim Jaew before I went home. Ever since then I actually come back here once a week. Oh- there she is!" he explained before waving to the person behind me. "Night, this is Khun A (Auntie) Pattra. Khun a, this is Night" I gave a simple wai to the middle aged lady and greeted her. "North would like the usual please!" said North while smiling. Did he just address himself as North? I mean, I know it's common for people in Thailand to address themselves with their names, but I didn't think this possibly walking red-flag would be one of those people. "Oh, and maybe the same for Night too. I wouldn't want him to try anything else first before trying Khun A's iconic Nam Jim Jaew sauce" The lady patted North's head as if he was her son. We waited for a little while and our food finally came and it smelled absolutely delicious. The combination between coriander, lime, and fish sauce will always remind me of home. "Enjoy, na nong!" said Auntie Pattra. I took a bite and closed my eyes while letting out that noise people make when the food is too good. "Good, huh?" asked North while chuckling and smiling because I knew he found my reaction funny. "Now eat up. I wanna take you around after this" I thought he was only inviting me for lunch? Does he have a whole schedule planned out? We both finished our food and North was the one who paid. "Hey, it's okay I can pay for myself" I said before he replied "If you did, it wouldn't have been a date then" Date? What date? "Huh?" "Forget it. Come on" We walked outside, back to the alleyway. He started walking slowly with his hands in his pockets while I walked beside him. "Did you like it?" he asked You or the food? "The food?" I asked "No, me" he replied confidently. "—Of course the food, ai khwai" I would've said yes either way honestly. "Yeah, it's really good. I might take my parents here someday" The sun has already set but the alleyway was quite bright from the lights. I don't know how far we've walked already, but we've passed different kinds of alleyways. We've been talking for a few hours already even though it seemed like minutes. We exchanged stories and what not and got to know each other better.
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"I didn't know an alleyway like this existed in Thailand. I've always seen it in European movies" I said. "It's a hidden gem, really. When you're here, it feels like you're not in Krungthep anymore. Oh, by the way, I've actually never taken anyone here. The furthest I've ever taken Ongsa to was just Auntie Pattra's restaurant" I somehow feel special because am I really the first one? Or is he just saying that to make me feel special? It was just the both of us there until I heard footsteps from behind. North did too, so we both turned around. Two armed men who had a knife in their hands started coming towards us. My heart beat as fast as it could, even faster than whenever North hits on me. "Night, get behind me" said North as he held out his arms and gently pushed me behind him. Both men smirked and attempted to attack us and threw a punch at North but he dodged and punched both of theirs "down there" They got up and swung the knife towards North's hand, but he dodged again and revenged them with an uppercut. Who is this guy? Now they are on the ground but they still haven't given up and so they tried to grab North's legs to make him fall but his reflexes were as quick as a cheetah so he ended up stomping on both of the men's arms as they screamed in pain. "Come on, Night. Let's go back, it's getting late" he grabbed my arms as we walked back. We walked briskly and thrice as fast as before, back to where his motorcycle was. I looked at North and he genuinely looked worried. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked. "I should be the one asking you that. You were the one fighting them back while I was just behind you the whole time not knowing what to do. I'm sorry I couldn't help you" "There's no way I would've let you help me in situations like these. I'm just glad you're okay" It took us about half an hour to walk back to our starting point, and he was holding my hand the whole time, still not letting go even though I've already opened my palm but his fingers were still intertwined with mine. Is he protecting me? We finally arrived back at Khun A Pattra's restaurant where he parked his motorcycle. I was about to put the helmet before he snatched it from my hands and put it on me. Okay, why'd he do that? He started the engines before I sat down right after he did. "My house?" he asked. "What?" "Kidding. I'll take you home" He couldn't see my face and my reaction to that but I was smiling like crazy. "Look at you all smiling" said North all of a sudden. I immediately stopped smiling, not realizing he could look at me from the rearview mirror. "Continue smiling. I like it" he said as he started driving. It took us about 15 minutes until we arrived at my house. I got off the seat and handed him the helmet before he opened the visor of his helmet. His helmet was covering his whole head except his eyes. "About the fight..." I said before North cut me off. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. I thought the alleyway was safe for us to walk through. I shouldn't have taken you there" "Wait what? Totally the opposite. That was the first time I ever felt thrilled in my whole life. Plus the alleyway was beautiful. I wouldn't have been to that kind of place if it wasn't for you" "Really?" "Yeah, really. I was gonna ask, how'd you learn how to fight like that?" "It doesn't matter. But... I was wondering... are we gonna have a second date?" asked North. "What?" I could feel my body temperature increasing. When this happens, my ears and cheeks turn red. "Anyway, I better go inside. My sister's probably worried about me because I didn't tell her I was coming home late" "Oh don't worry, I already asked permission from your sister earlier to take her little brother out on a date" "WHAT?!" I asked with an extremely high-pitched voice that the neighbors probably heard it. Why didn't P'Ongsa say anything about this? How is she even okay that her best friend is hitting on her own brother? "You told my sister?!" "Why? Is this a backstreet relationship?" "What relationship? No! You're her best friend and I'm her brother. Don't you find that a little weird?" "No, not really" "Whatever, I'm going inside" I turned around, about to walk towards my front gate before I felt a hand holding me back. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, Night" said North before we made eye contact for a good 10 seconds. Damn, I don't think I'll ever stop getting goosebumps every time he says my name.
