The atmosphere in the car was the same as always, quiet and uncomfortable. Those feelings permeated every molecule inside the car I was being in. I was quiet, Phum was still. No one said anything, which was a good thing. If the two of us have something to talk about, it would be quite shocking. Just don't vomit in each other's throats is good enough.

Amidst the silence, my stomach suddenly began to cry out, begging for justice: I'm hungry, I'm hungry, I'm hungry. It was almost 9:00 p.m. I waited for that bastard kick the punching bag for hours an now we were driving through traffic jams. From then until now, not a drop of water has yet fallen into my stomach.

"Hey"

"What?" Phum answered briefly without looking.

"I'm hungry."

This time, he turned his head and looked at me with unfriendly eyes as usual, "You're so annoying."

"What's so annoying about being hungry? I'm hungry, can I stop it? Then you stop and let me get off. I'll just find something to eat and then I'll go back."

Phum laughed in his throat, spoke in an irritated tone, "You will go home yourself. You probably don't think that I'd send you home, do you?"

"Oh?" So he wasn't about to send me home. I was shocked. Yep , I do thought that Phum was going to send me home. But now I knew that I was wrong. But after thinking throughly, how difficult would it be to get to my house? I know the way and I could go home myself.

"Then stop the car, Stop!!!" No matter how disappointed you are, you can't lose face!

"What do you want to eat?"

[T/N: I'm a little bit disappointed. I was thinking "Here we go again"]

I turned to look at the person asking, confused by his emotion and thought system. It's harder to understand than Dhamma puzzles. It seems like he was about to oppose me, but he did not. Well, let's deal with it.

"Uh, whatever. Wonton noodles is fine. There's a shop over there." I hurriedly said, pointing at a wonton noodle shop on the side of the road not far away.

"Dirty"

Oh my gosh, this word hurts. You dared to disrespect roadside restaurants that is a source of food and beverages for many people in this country. You must be cursed.

"It's cleaner than your mind, I bet. Besides, I'm a foodie. A Khun Chai like you doesn't have a voice."

[T/N:🤣🤣🤣]

"I mean you are the one who is dirty. Go around all day and hasn't bathe, but you still dare to go out to eat with other people."

"Oh, er, well... I don't see anything wrong with this."

I blushed. It's true that my current condition didn't look much better than a corpse. An old t-shirt, stained with oil paint and clay, and torn jeans that had been worn for more than a week. If I take it off, it will probably stand up itself. I saved myself from the embarrassment by pretending to sniff all over my body and said softly, "I don't have body smell." But there was the smell of linseed oil what is accepted to me.

The small quarrel ended with Phum flashing the light and pull over to the side of the road. While my face was cracked and tremble because I thought he was criticizing street food for being dirty, but actually he was criticizing me. I hurriedly opened the door and got out of the car as soon as the car completely stopped, not even bothering to have the courtesy to say goodbye to the driver. I was so relieved to be separated from him that I almost cheered. But then the sound of the car door closing behind me made my legs stop even though I had only walked two steps away. I slowly turned around to look, and then a wave of surprise rushed over my face as Phum followed me get out of the car.

"Why do you get out?"

"Then why can't I get out? Your road?"

Don't tell me you're going to go eat with me. I wanted to cry. The freedom I dreamed of was gone. I want to chase Phum away, but I know that's impossible. Trying to persuade him will take a lot of effort. I was tired so I could only roll my eyes, raise my head, snort angrily, and quickly walked away with him following as my karmic creditor. Moreover, it was also bad karma to get the attention of the people sitting and eating in that area. From chicken rice shops, pork leg rice shops, chim chum shops, even people at the Somtam shop next door were nudging each other to look at us. Uhm... Phum is not the iron man. You guy don't need to pay that much attention. I, who was walking nearby, also received the benefit and felt uncomfortable, unable to act properly. As for the person who was the cause? He didn't care about any other human beings.

This area is like a small night market with people bustling around. Just like any other roadside area in Bangkok, there are shops selling food lined up. Fruit and vegetable stalls set up in a row. There are a variety of food to choose. I chose a wonton noodle shop that was further away where there weren't many people. There were only four or five tables. I chose a table that wasn't closed to the road because I was afraid that Phum would get hit by a car. He was like someone who had wandered into the wrong place, an alien creature that is at odds with the surrounding. I doubted he had ever eaten at a restaurant like this. I secretly observed that Phum was acting inappropriately and not feeling comfortable.

"What would you like to order, boys?" said the aunt who was probably the shop owner. She asked after finishing cleaning up the table of the previous customers who had eaten earlier. I had a menu in my head since I was in the car, so I quickly ordered without hesitation.

"Special dry Tom Yum noodles. Do you have crispy pork?"

"Yes"

"Special crispy pork and wonton soup. What do you want to eat?" I finished ordering and turned to ask Phum, who was sitting quietly.

"..." still quiet.

"Hey, aunt is waiting."

"I... have never ordered before." Phum said softly, then turned to look at the road.

I could only blink... blinking, staring at the creature in front of me in disbelief. It wasn't just me who was confused, the aunt had a indifferent response. Don't know how to order? I'm asking a genuine question. Really! What's the point of that annoying attitude? What kind of ghost is possessing Phum? Why does he look so tame like this?

"Don't know how to order?"

"Yes! I don't know how to order!!" Phum raised his voice and had a displeased expression on his face. I was about to burst out laughing, but I hurriedly suppressed my smile as best I could.

"Oh, just don't know how to order. It's ok. Why do you have to make a fuss? That's all it is." I shook my head, one part of me was feeling fed up, one part was annoyed, and another part was laughing at him.

"Then one more bowl of special tom yam noodles, Auntie. And two bottles of Pepsi and two glasses of ice."

When I turned back, I secretly glanced at Phum. Wanting to laugh but I was afraid that he would strangle me, so I could only hold back my laugh, holding back so hard until my stomach hurt. Phum gazed fiercely and raised his fist at me. If it were before, I would have been annoyed by his behavior. But now, no matter how I look at him, Phum looks like a spoiled child who is getting annoyed.

"Well, there's no menu. So I don't know what they have." His voice was pretentious and cold.

Wow! What a pompous asshole! Haughty as all hell.

"It's not that I don't know how to order."

This time I had to focus at the ground because I was afraid that I couldn't hold back my laugh.

"So funny, huh?"

"No, just confused." I tried to control my mouth and my face not to burst into laugh. "You've never eaten wonton noodles before?" It's a golden moment. When opportunities arise, I must promptly seize them. Hehe.

"I have." Phum answered curtly, "but I've never come to... a restaurant like this without having friends with me. Or if I want to eat it, just tell the housemaid to buy it for me.

Wow, Phum is much more Khun Chai than I thought. Oh my gosh, I thought that people who live such a way only exist in movies. I used to wonder what they say that life is more dramatic than dramas. It must be true. What we haven't seen doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

"Well, just say that you don't know how to order and that's the end of it. There's no need to complain." I smiled. I wasn't laughing to make fun of him, I was just thinking he does has cute side. Then I stumbled over my own thoughts until I almost fell head over heels.

Cute? What the heck!!!!!! 😱

"There you go, boys. I give you extra special. I saw that you had never eaten it, so eat a lot."

My chopsticks nearly fell when I heard she say that to Phum. He nodded his head and said a soft thank you.

"Auntie, please bring another bowl of dry noodles, wonton soup, and noodle soup, please."

Auntie smiled kindly and went back to tell the order to the uncle who made it. As for Phum, he rolled his eyes, probably be shocked to see that I ordered a lot. Oh, I just wanted to see the quantity first. See how a special portion looks like. The worms in my stomach were ready to protest.

It didn't take long for the extra noodles and a big bowl of soup to be placed on the table. Phum just sat and stared at the food in front of him with a blank expression.

"Ah." I handed him a spoon and chopsticks and offered to help. "Come here, lemme mix the noodles for you."  He doesn't even know how to order, don't expect him know how to mix it.

"I can do it, no need to bother."

When he confirmed that, I didn't persist, but I secretly saw that he peeked at me and added (the spices) as I did. Very childish! In fact, I don't really like to add spices to noodles. I just ate what they give, except the noodles at restaurants that really taste bad. As for the noodles at this restaurant, after tasting the soup, it's considered delicious. I only add a little bit spicies then hurriedly put it to my mouth to calm my hungry.

"How is it? Delicious?"

I tried to lift my head up and talk with part of the noodles were still in my mouth, the other part was in the bowl. Phum looked at me with undisguised criticism but I didn't care. There's no way I would lower my head lower my eyes*. I just continued to eat. After a moment, I was startled to the point of nearly choking when the person sitting across from me suddenly blurted out without warning.
*Table manners

"Spicy!!!"

"Hey!"

Why did he become like that? I was shocked when I saw Phum's condition. His lips and around his mouth were red, his cheeks were red, his ears were even redder, his face was covered in sweat. Don't tell me "You can't eat spicy food?"

"No! I just... I just accidentally put on too much."

Phum immediately denied even though he had almost finished the Pepsi. I smiled broadly. Even though I wanted to burst into laugh (mocking) and I wanted to satisfy myself but because my parents and aunt Pui raised me well, I didn't do it, not that I was afraid he would get back at me. (fingers crossed)

I never thought, never dreamed that I would see this part of Phum. I saw that hot-blooded jerk also has weakness. I saw a spoiled high-society prince don't know how to eat something in the right way . What should I do? I would like to to say it serves him right.

Even though in my heart I wanted to laugh loudly to the sky, all I did was put my hand into the glass of ice cubes that Auntie had brought to me. I soaked it like that until my hand began to shake then I reached out that hand and place on Phum's mouth. I stretched out my hand without even realizing why I was doing it.

Maybe it's because I didn't think of anything.

Maybe it's because my hand move faster than my brain. If I do this, maybe Phum will feel better.

But when my fingertips touched those soft lips.

It's like someone pressed  the pause button. Everything around me freezed for a moment.

A feeling arose when I locked eyes with those sharp, sparkling black eyes.

That feeling hit me really hard. It happened in just a fraction of a second. It is like running into someone and then they disappear in the blink of an eye, like the headlights of a car shining and then passing by.

I didn't even know what that thing was. Something that made my heart flutter until I feel dizzy in my chest like that.

"Uh, I'm sorry. The ice in this restaurant is cold, isn't it? Has the burning gone yet?"

[T/N: Uh yep, the ice in this restaurant is colder than the ice in other restaurants.]

When I regained consciousness, but not yet fully 100%, I hurriedly pulled my hand back as soon as I woke up from a strange trance and then proceeded to say something really stupid. But my brain felt empty, I couldn't think of any words to say. Fortunately, Phum himself seemed dazed and confused by the events that had just occurred as well. It was so quiet that I started to feel bad. Are you going to put me in the noodle soup pot to punish me for daring to touch your body? But the situation is not like that, my audiences! The brutal man spoke up.

"🤮, your hand is salty."

I gaped, my eyes widened to the point of nearly falling out of their sockets. Disappointment rushed through my body when I was bitten by the cobra I had just saved.

"Sorry, I've just peed. Haven't washed my hands yet."

"Ewww!" Phum made a disgusted face before smiling slightly.

"So why did you tell me first? Fuck, I won't help you next time. The atmosphere is completely ruined."

The first sentence, I scolded him. But the second sentence, I mumbled to myself and frowned. What the fucking is that atmosphere? 😱

By the way, just now, Phum smiled!!! Oh my gosh, that one-faced man he had just smiled! I want a camera with eight megapixels to capture some of the rarest shots of the year. Or you can call this the phenomenon of February 29th that happens once every four years. It's like a comet that appears and then gone in just a few seconds. Before I could blink, it was gone. But I swear I actually saw that smile, the first full, cheek-to-cheek smile. A smile that isn't just stretched the lips and lifts the corners of his mouth. It would be correct to say that it was the first time I saw Phum smile in such a way that his eyes also smile.

Maybe it was his smile or something I didn't know that made my stomach tingle and my chest feel dizzy, like I was hit by that strange feeling again.

When Phum doesn't act like a badass, he's really cute.

End of chapter 7 >>>>>>>>>

Dry Tom Yum Noodles

Kiao Nam wonton soup