Pinkmilk || English

1

It's the middle of July, and the days pass by slowly, monotonously, and without anything exciting to look forward to for the next day, or the day after that. It's the holidays, and while other kids his age are enjoying the freedom from their classes, Kongpob is working.

He'd managed to land a part-time job at his sister Queen's veterinary clinic, and while Kongpob does like animals, there's nothing appealing about working behind a counter. It's not any more appealing than the salary he's being paid to spend his afternoons waiting for a client to arrive. It's quite sad, because he's not even been able to interact with the animals that come to the clinic as he would have liked.

Right now, he's texting his best friend, M. It's after two in the afternoon on a dull Saturday, and he's sat in his usual chair behind the counter, his only entertainment being his friend's anecdotes.

by the time i realised, the water was already all over the floor TnT

hahahaha

it's not funny, Kong...I fell TnT

M had also found a part-time job in a water bottling factory. He only has to fill up a few jugs, but it seemed that he'd not had much luck in the two weeks that he'd been working there. Kongpob can only laugh at his stories; at least interesting things were happening for his friend during the summer.

what about you? still nothing interesting?

Kongpob sighs. He'd already told M that he was extremely bored at his job, but what could he do? For starters, he was the one who had chosen to work that summer, and it wouldn't be very responsible of him to resign for such petulant reasons. Also, he knew that his sister was grateful for what little help he could offer.

nothing interesting...

He's about to send this message, when he hears the door chime announce the arrival of a new visitor, and he looks up. It's that lady again...

"Good afternoon, young man." she greets him, placing the small, portable cage on the counter.

Kongpob sets his phone aside and stands up. He smiles sweetly at the old woman before greeting her in return.

"Is it Pepper again?" he asks woefully as he opens the small cage.

"It's Onyx," she replies sadly, letting the black cat out of its confinement. "He's not been feeling very well since this morning...could you have a look at him?"

That's probably the most interesting part of his summer job; being able to greet the animals.

Kongpob loves cats, but not when they're sick. Lately, he's met several clients who have brought in their sick cats, either because they'd eaten something that was off, or for heat stroke due to high temperatures.

"Of course, just give me a moment, Mrs. Phasitakorn."

She nods, and Kongpob rushes to find his sister. When he returns with her, the black cat is snuggled up in the arms of its distressed owner.

Mrs. Phasitakorn is a seventy-something year-old woman who lives down the street and has about a dozen cats living with her. Kongpob has already met at least half of them in the two weeks that he's been working at the clinic. The most frequent visitor is Pepper, an orange cat with weight issues. However, this is his first time meeting Onyx. His amber eyes are fixed on Kongpob as he takes a few steps back, observing Queen as she quickly checks over the cat.

"From what you've told me, it seems that Onyx has eaten something strange." Queen explains, but Kongpob is not paying much attention anymore.

He's heard the same words many times in the days that he's been here, and instead places his attention on Onyx's beautiful, dark fur.

Finally, he hears that Onyx will have to be hospitalised for a few days. He notices that Mrs. Phasitakorn appears much more relieved when she departs, taking with her the small cage in which she'd brought Onyx. Curiously, Kongpob wonders which cat will be the next to come out of it.

"Kongpob," Queen calls for his attention, and he turns around. "Wipe that look off your face, will you? You're going to scare my clients off."

Kongpob knows that his sister is joking the instant that she laughs. He sighs and laughs, too, which seems to appease Queen, as she shrugs and sticks her hands in the pockets of her coat before she returns to the back of the clinic.

When his sister disappears from view, Kongpob returns to sit in his chair. He picks his phone up again, about to unlock the screen, when he hears the door chime again.

no, nothing interesting...

This is the message that he'd been about to send before, so he does, before returning his attention to the client who has just arrived.

"Excuse me..."

This time, it's a guy, probably a few years older than himself. Certainly, it's someone more interesting than Mrs. Phasitakorn, and may Buddha have mercy on him.

"How can I help you?" Kongpob asks, giving his best smile.

"I-I...I'm here for my cat."

Then, Kongpob notices the presence of the animal that the boy is carrying. It's a white cat, with a pink nose and ears. It's beautiful.

The young client has also brought a small paperback book that he leaves on the counter. It looks like a vaccination card.

"She's getting some vaccines, and...yeah" he looks at the little book.

Kongpob takes the book. He opens it to the first page, with the cat's information, and breaks into another smile. Pinkmilk, he reads from the line indicating her name.

"Is something wrong?"

The guy's words snap Kongpob back to attention. He takes his eyes off the sweet name to focus on him instead.

"No, it's just that...Pinkmilk is such a lovely name." he replies, smiling.

Upon hearing this, the young man looks away. His face begins to colour with pink, the exact same shade as his cat's ears.

"I-I uh...I didn't choose it. It was chosen by, uh...my sister." he stammers, looking anywhere but at Kongpob.

Kongpob bites at his lip, holding back a laugh. He looks at the card again, looking for the name of Pinkmilk's cat dad (or mum). He feels a sense of triumph when he finds it a few rows below the cat's name; Arthit Rojnapat.

--

Twenty minutes later, Kongpob watches as the cat and her owner walk out of the clinic door. A few moments ago, he'd said goodbye to both of them with a friendly smile and a See you later, and Pinkmilk had earned a rub between the ears. He would have liked to have interacted more with Arthit, but the boy hadn't looked (or rather, hadn't dared to look) him back in the eye for the remainder of his visit. His embarrassment and his blush lingered for those twenty minutes, and it warmed Kongpob's heart. Who was cuter; Pinkmilk, or her owner?

As he once again stands alone behind the counter, Kongpob hears a sound from his abandoned cell phone. It's a message from M, who had been talking to himself for at least thirty minutes.

i'll pray for you, bro

and for me too

it'd be great if the boss's daughter noticed me

she's so pretty

where did you go?

did you die of boredom?

kong!!!!

M...

forget what i told you before...

something interesting just happened.