Invisible Moon
Chapter 24
The Visible Air
"Even if it was just the air, it was still touchable."
#WINisWIND
I thought I had done quite well in my midterms as I was very good at subjects that required a lot of memorising, while I wasn't really confident about subjects that required deep understanding or analysing. But at least I thought I could pass.
Some courses didn't require an exam, but we had to do a group presentation instead. I was in the same group as Boss. Boss was very good at presentations. However, even though I had a group work with him, we didn't talk much with each other. Boss just wished me congratulations after I became the University Moon.
MW had already contacted me via my student email address. They asked me to fill an application form and send it with a copy of my identity documents. I also had to send my full profile photo wearing the university uniform for the contest promotion, so I asked the student committee for the file.
Afterwards, the UNISTAR website and official page uploaded photos of all the Moons who would be participating in the UNISTAR contest this year. They would also be uploading their biographies and short clips from the University Moon contest. In total, there were 121 candidates from various universities around the country. However, only 9 candidates would be chosen to compete in the final stage, which depended on the online public vote.
The voting would take around 1 month, and all voters must register on the website with self-identification. For 'Unity' members like me, we could just use our member card number to register. Unity was also given the privilege to vote twice a day, while normal people could only vote once a day. However, all voters would not know each candidate's current scores, as real-time voting results would be kept secret. We would find out together on the announcement date.
Mr. Chana came up with some ideas to help me promote myself like a brand creator. Mr. Chana created my brand image and asked the student committee to record photos and videos of me in a lively, cute and innocent tone, and uploaded them on the XU Official and XU Cute Boy pages.
Somehow, I became quite well-known. Many fans from DomWhai voted for me as I was the 'lame joke heir'. Apart from that, because P'In and P'Wayu followed my IG, everyone became super curious as to whose IG it was, as I didn't post any photos or videos. Not even a profile photo. However, many people on Twitter seemed to guess that it was me, the Moon from XU University, because I used my name 'Archawin' in my IG.
I had been mentioned by DomKati, questioning the fact that P'In had never followed anyone, but why did he follow me? However, no one continued this topic because they couldn't confirm whether this IG was actually mine. So, although I had planned to post some photos at first, I would rather keep a low profile now. I was afraid it would become a problem for P'In.
Regarding P'Wayu, his fans also asked why P'Wayu always followed someone else but had not followed P'Natee. They had been looking forward to the day that those two would follow each other on IG.
"Hey, Win! There's a lot of handsome Moons this year. Ahhh." Parn, my friend, was crazy about the UNISTAR contest as always.
"The Moon from QU looks very tall. I heard P'Natee trained him." Another friend added and they kept talking about this topic.
"Really? What about the ZU Moon? Did P'Sea also train him?"
"I'm not sure. But ZU Moon didn't come from the Faculty of Medicine like P'Sea."
"Hey! But this year...XYU Moon seems super popular."
"Hmm? XYU? The new private university? They also have a candidate this year?"
"Of course! He's so damn hot. So damn cool! He is already a famous idol too."
I enjoyed listening to my friends talking and also learning some information for the contest too. I found that most people seemed to be interested in the Moon candidates from the universities which already had UNISTAR members such as QU, ZU or XU like me. In contests like this, the big universities with plenty of students and alumni would have an added advantage, as some people weren't interested in UNISTAR, but they just wanted to cheer for their own university.
The only way to know who would be the top candidates was the number of likes and comments on Facebook pages and websites. I saw many people cheering for me. However, the most outstanding among all candidates seemed to be these two: First, 'Oat', the QU Moon from the Faculty of Engineering, he was very talented at playing drums. And second, he was from an unfamiliar university, but he seemed to exceed any other candidates. His name was 'Sun' from XYU.
I took a look at his IG and Twitter and saw that he had hundreds of thousands of followers. He was the most likely to win. Very good-looking and famous. He was a mixed race person. His mother was Thai, and his father was half-Chinese and half-English. His Thai name was 'Suriyaphat Leng' but his Chinese name was 'Leng Canxi'. He had grown up overseas and later joined an International middle school in Thailand.
The reason why Sun was very popular was because he had participated in a TV program called 'School-Ace', which was aired on MWTV. It was a male idol group survival show. Some people also dubbed the show as 'UNISTAR Junior' because their theme was quite similar to UNISTAR. Each school would send a candidate for the contest and there was a voting system, but the candidates would be limited only to middle or high school students. Sun was the most popular candidate in this program until he graduated from high school. So he became the most famous former member of School-Ace. And now, he has joined the UNISTAR contest as well. During the School-Ace program, he had always received the highest voted score. And now, it's no wonder that in the UNISTAR contest, he was the favourite candidate to win.
I couldn't wait for the results as I was very curious to find out who would become the 9 finalists. Mr. Chana seemed confident that I would be on the list. However, I couldn't be assured that I would win and become a UNISTAR. Like I mentioned before, we shouldn't underestimate the other candidates this year.
After all the midterm exams were over, I had some time to rest. I heard P'Wun had also finished her exams. It was common to visit my family after not seeing them for a few months. We would eat together and spend time as a family. We might dine out, go to the beach for a seafood meal, or go to a hotel for fine dining, or sometimes just have a simple meal at home.
At first, I was hesitant about whether I should do my makeup or not, but I was afraid that my parents couldn't recognise me. Even P'Wun didn't recognise me with makeup. So I decided to go home as the usual Win — the fading air.
I packed some stuff, planning to stay at home for two nights. I took a taxi back home, but nobody was there when I arrived. I went to my bedroom on the second floor. I hadn't visited home for more than a month, but my room was still the same as it used to be.
"Win! Where are you? Win! Did you just come back?"
I flinched as I heard the high-pitch sound from P'Wun. She was calling me. I was surprised, as I was usually unnoticeable. Sometimes they also forgot that I was at home too.
"Yes, P'Wun?" I left my room and found P'Wun looking for me.
"Win! Win! Where are you?" P'Wun was looking around, and somehow still didn't see me.
"P'Wun krub!" So I called her again.
She heard me and finally realised that I was just right here.
When she saw me, she headed straight towards me.
"Is there anything P'Wun? Wait..." I was shocked as P'Wun just dragged me to the sofa downstairs, and kept staring at my face.
"Uh...P'Wun...are you okay?" I was nervous as she was still staring at me.
"Is this really Win?" P'Wun seemed to be puzzled.
"What do you mean?" I scratched my head.
"I watched the XU Moon contest. Anything about handsome and hot guys, I would definitely not miss. At first, I also cheered for that cute Business Moon. Of course, he was very adorable...until his full name was announced as the winner..."
"Huh...The Moon contest...Oh..."
I widened my eyes as I realised what P'Wun was talking about.
"Archawin Deshsakul, XU Moon....Ahhh! It was my brother~" P'Wun was shaking my shoulder uncontrollably.
"P....P'Wun...you already knew?" I felt a bit dizzy from being shaken like a cocktail.
"I just found out from the contest. Hmm...why didn't you tell me earlier that you're a Faculty Moon?" P'Wun pouted.
I intended to say sorry and explain my reason, however, P'Wun kept talking and wouldn't give me a chance.
"And you...why have you become like this? Who was that cute boy on the stage?" P'Wun touched my face curiously.
"Why is the current you and the you on the stage so different?"
"e...un...ub..." My voice sounded indistinct, as she was squeezing my cheeks.
"Oh right...during the contest...my brother had makeup on." P'Wun seemed to have realised.
"Let me think. My little bro, just sit here for a moment, don't go anywhere yet, understood?" P'Wun told me and ran upstairs to her bedroom.
I was still in a daze until she came back with her cosmetic bag.
"W...what are you gonna do?" I was surprised as she went on to apply makeup on me.
"I wanna make sure....I must know it!" P'Wun rustily made me up and I didn't even have a chance to protest.
A few minutes later, my face was covered with decent makeup, and P'Wun suddenly screamed.
"Ahhh! It's really you!" P'Wun seemed very excited.
"My little brother is actually a Moon! With In and Wayu as judges~ Ahhh~~"
"Uh..." I looked at her, confused.
"Such an important thing, why didn't you tell me?" P'Wun seemed to feel slighted.
"At least, I could cheer and vote for you!"
"P'Wun..." I was very surprised because I just realised that she wanted to support me.
I had planned to tell her, but couldn't figure out how to. But it turned out that she already found out about it herself.
"God! I'm very happy. I've never thought that you'd be so cute. I loved pretty guys and I paid a lot for them. If I'd known earlier that my little brother would be super cute like this, I wouldn't need to devote myself to others~"
P'Wun suddenly hugged me. I froze. It was unexpected.
Did she mean she would rather become my fan and pay for me instead?
Nevertheless, I remained silent...
"Wun...we're back!"
I heard my parents' voices. They were already home and P'Wun was still hugging me.
In fact, it wasn't strange for a pair of brother and sister to hug each other, however, with me in makeup like this...
"Hey! Who the fuck is this guy? How did you get in?" My dad was mad at me.
"Wun! You're a girl, you can't hug a boy like this!" My mom supported him.
"Mom...Dad..."
I called them, instead they looked straight at me.
"Hey. Do you think I'm gonna fall for that innocent face? I won't accept you!" Mom said.
"Yeah! She is my only daughter. I won't accept you either!" Dad said.
"Huh?" I was shocked.
Wait...Did they just misunderstand me?
"Mom...Dad...he isn't my boyfriend. He is N'Win." P'Wun immediately explained.
"Wait...Win?" My mom looked at me. Amazed.
"Wun. Don't lie to me. How could that be possible? Our son doesn't have such an outstanding face like this dude." Even my dad still didn't believe it.
"Mom, dad, it's me." I announced myself, but they still doubted me.
"It's Win! Look." P'Wun insisted and opened the UNISTAR website.
"Win just became the XU Moon! See? Archawin Deshsakul, this is our Win!"
P'Wun opened the website that had my photo in the student's uniform as well as my biography.
"That's...Win?!" Mom and dad almost screamed in unison.
"Why does Win look so different with makeup?"
Mom and dad kept asking and forced me to turn around and around until I almost felt dizzy.
"Alright alright. Win seems dizzy now. How about we just go out for lunch? It's already noon." P'Wun was trying to help me before I faint.
"Okay, let's get into the car. Today we'll have Japanese food."
So everyone got ready to go out.
On the way, I told them all about myself.
It was the first time that I wasn't a fading Win.
I told a long story, starting from when I was born and already forgotten. Wherever I went, I was unnoticed. Whatever I did, I was also forgotten. So when I got to university, I was trying to change myself. I didn't tell them that P'In had helped me, as I was afraid P'Wun would keep screaming and there would be no chance for me to speak anymore. I could only tell them that I became the Faculty Moon and the University Moon, and that I was participating in the UNISTAR contest.
My story was quite long. Even when we arrived at the restaurant, I still hadn't finished.
"Mom, Dad, look, Win is already a UNISTAR candidate. Ahhh! If he can get into the final round, he'll be on the TV show, on the stage, and meet UNISTAR members so often. Oh my goddess!"
P'Wun was so ecstatic that many people in the restaurant turned to us.
"You're too loud, Wun." My mom warned her and then talked to me.
"I didn't know that you had been through a lot. I feel very guilty for making you feel isolated. It's true that I'm more worried about Wun because she's a girl, but it doesn't mean I don't love you, Win. It's just that I noticed that you were always quiet, so I thought you loved to be alone." Mom said.
"Yes. If you have anything on your mind, just talk to us. Next time, don't keep it to yourself like this. And about the Moon contest, I'm a bit mad too. Because you didn't tell me and I missed the event. Otherwise, I'd tell all our cousins to cheer for you." Dad said.
"Thank you so much, dad, mom, P'Wun." I told them.
Today, I realised many things. Because I always considered myself as a fading person, I thought I was forgotten. So I decided to be alone. I had never tried to make them notice me. It turned out that I looked down on myself and finally became a forgotten air.
When I knew the truth. I felt bad for myself. Before, I had thought too much and kept my distance from my family. When I realised that they were actually willing to help me, it made my heart feel so warm.
"Count on me, N'Win. My little brother joined the contest, so I'll vote for you nonstop. And I'll force all my friends to vote for you too!"
P'Wun seemed really determined.
"Even though I am a QU student, even though I used to cheer for N'Oat, even though 'School-Ace' is my favourite show, even though I love N'Sun so much, and even though N'Sun looks so yum and very much like an ideal husband, but I'll throw them out of my heart. Because I'll only cheer for you, N'Win!"
"Me too," my mom said. "I'll do everything to cheer for you. I'll vote every day and tell all my colleagues to vote for you. My son will get into the final round!"
"Although I don't quite understand much about idols, I'll vote too. I'll tell our cousins too. Hey, Wun, don't forget to teach me how to register."
"Thank you so much!" I felt really grateful.
"I actually didn't expect to win, but I'll try my best."
"It's fine. The result isn't important. Just do your best. Don't pressure yourself too much." My mom assured me.
"Yep. Idol isn't important. Both my kids got into good universities, so I'm already proud of you." My dad said.
"How come? Win must win!" P'Wun pleaded with me.
"N'Win, do you know how hard it is to get close to my husbands as a Unity like me? I need to scramble to get a fanmeet ticket. Wake up so early and wait for the selling system to open. I also had to force my friends to help me. I kept doing this every month for a year. But I could only get one ticket. Just one! And I only got Leo's signature... If my brother is a UNISTAR member, I could easily meet all of them. Ahhh!"
P'Wun seemed to dream too far ahead. But as she started this topic, it got me wondering as well.
"Uh...P'Wun krub. Which UNISTAR member do you like most?"
I knew P'Wun was sort of an all-around fan. She was a fan of every type of idol and had her imagination husbands from all around the world.
However, I was still curious about who she liked the most in UNISTAR.
"Oh...that's hard to choose. I love all of them." P'Wun acted like she was incredibly beautiful.
I blinked.
"Can I get all of them? I'm gonna make my own harem. Hehehe." P'Wun giggled.
My parents looked at her like she was mad while I gasped.
Well...I shouldn't have asked her. Seriously!
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