CHAPTER 1: BEGINS
"Noh! How the hell did our club budget end up this little?!" Ohm's booming voice hits me the moment I step in. I barely got to the club room a second ago, but that problematic document already made its way over and covered my eyes.
I furrow my brows as I begin to read all the details that Ohm lovingly shoved into my face. I memorized those budget numbers better than I memorized the times table. I definitely requested for 25,000 baht so that we can use it for our new drums since the ones we have are getting too old...
So why does this only say 5,000?! What the hell happened to the other 20,000?!
"Shit. You know that the invoice for those drums will be here soon. Won't we have to start begging on the street now?!" Ohm still insists on yelling tirelessly. Meanwhile, other club members are sitting around looking stressful. As the president of this music club, what am I supposed to do now?
"I'll be right back."
The sound of my black leather shoes echoes as I run toward the main office building. My fear is that it'll be closed now that it's later in the evening. Everything in my head is all muddled right now. I don't understand how this could've happened. And I'm scared that I've screwed up somehow as the president of the club. Goddamnit! When did I make this mistake?! I was so sure that we would get the budget we requested for. I was so sure that I had already placed the order for those drums to be delivered. How can they just cut our budget like this?!
Bingo! The student council office is still open! I hope that I'll run into some people who has the power to fix this.
"I'm a representative from the music club! I'm here to ask if someone could check our budget numbers, please! We think a mistake was made!" But it seems there was no reason for me to yell so loudly when there's only a single person inside the office.
Phun Phumipat, the student council secretary for two years in a row. He's in my grade (although we're not very close).
This is more like it! I bet this guy can help me out!
"Phun! Can you check my club's budget for me? Please? Please? Please? There's 20,000 missing! I'm about to go insane here!" I decide to use our (distant) friendship as an advantage. It seems like I startled him when he saw me at first, but then he walks over and kindly goes through some folders to check the paperwork for me.
"One sec, Noh." Sure, I can wait!
I stand here staring at Phun while he flips the pages. I desperately wish that the first words he tells me are 'oh yeah, we made a mistake,' or 'the rest of the money are coming next week' or something along those lines. I have very little hope though, because the student council rarely makes any mistakes (especially when they have Phun checking all their work). Plus, they have never sent out budgets in increments before either.
"We didn't make a mistake, it's written right here. Take a look at it, Noh." Phun tells me what I wanted to hear the least. He passes the folder over to me so I can see. Despite the fact that the font size is tiny, the number 5,000 written on it pretty much attacks my eyes that I almost fall backwards.
"How can this be?!"
"You didn't show up for the budget meeting we had, right? Who did you send again?" Phun's words make me begin to think back. And then I remembered. A budget meeting for the clubs and other school activity groups are held each school year. Except I wasn't in Bangkok that day. My grandma got really sick so our entire family went to visit her in Phetchaburi. Therefore, the person who attended that budget meeting in my place was...
That damn Ngoi!
His name is actually Ngaw, but whenever I get pissed off I tend to call him Ngoi instead (both names are equally terrible anyway in my opinion). He's an underclassman in our club. They apparently picked random numbers and he got chosen to go in my place since nobody wanted to go. I don't blame them. These meetings tend to take at least 12 hours. Not to mention they really do take a toll on you. But why the hell did Ngoi do this?!
"I was there at the meeting. P'Aun from Thai culture club kept cutting down your club's budget because otherwise he would've needed to cut from his own. Ngaw was too afraid to go against p'Aun so he just sat there silently. In the end, only 5,000 was left for your club. I was actually kind of confused and wondered whether you would mind."
"Of course I mind. So what do I do now?!" I start yelling at myself because I have no idea what else I could do other than yelling. Meanwhile, the office is dead silent.
The folder gets tossed on the table as Phun begins to say something.
"I have another way..."
"Tell me, Phun! Tell me right now! I'll do anything!" It's a golden opportunity, how am I supposed to throw that away?! I stare at my not-so-close friend's face waiting for the reply. I'm so focused that I fail to notice the strange glint from his eyes.
If I had known then what would happen, I would never have said that I'd do anything to him!
"Noh, could you be my boyfriend...?"
Ngoi means weak and disabled. Sometimes it is used as a derogatory term similar to calling someone a cripple.
The prefix p' seen in this novel is how one would show respect when addressing someone older than themselves.
