As the chilly wind slipped through leaves and melted into the air and the early morning sunshine started dancing on each delicate petiole, Gun knew that the weather at the start of this week was especially lovely. Rarely does Thailand see its weather this nice and bright, but Gun was no longer in the mood to enjoy it.
Infinite blackness enveloped the little room in Mrs Gim's shop. The solid window frame keeps the early rays from shining through the curtains and onto the icy floor. Gun buried his entire body in the blankets, which were so hot that he sweated. He rolled around and struggled for a while, making the bed sheets unsightly wrinkled.
After The Secret Letter Night ended, the students all returned home to enjoy their short weekend. Unlike usual, this weekend of Gun was loaded with worries and concerns. These letters that Tinn gave him that day were still lying on the table since the minute they entered this room. And as long as Gun raised his head slightly from the head of the bed, he could see that lonely stack of letters.
No one can imagine how much Gun wanted to ruin that beautiful moment. He wanted to shove those letters back into Tinn's hands and run away, or perhaps jump right down there, blending and sinking into the damp muck that smelled like rain and grass. He really thought so, when there are so many details in the fantasy novel that the main character has to commit suicide to return to reality. But this is not a loop, no one can guarantee that after throwing himself down there and becoming a bunch of mushy slime, Gun will return to his Tinn, or at least, the other Gun will return to Tinn.
Gun vaguely realized that, if the different present was created by the different past, that meant this past was not his, nor the future's present he may experience. If in the past and present, he was not Gun, then the people around him probably were not themselves either.
It's hard to explain this cruel thing to everyone. Not everyone can understand the theories of time travel and not to mention those who would consider Gun a crazy weirdo who made up his own riddle story.
But Tinn deserves to know all these truths more than anyone. Because if Gun had to continue to hide this, he did not know if he would have to accept what was not his anymore.
The door of the room slowly opened, accompanied by a helpless sigh from Mrs Gim. She propped her hand against the wall, boredly asking her lazy son.
"How many more lessons do you want to miss?"
Gun buried his head under the pillow and kept snapping his feet.
"I don't want to go to school."
His mother walked over to the bed and tugged at the blanket that was wrapped around him, revealing a figure curled into a corner on the small bed.
"What's wrong? Does your crush already have a lover and refuse you?"
Mrs Gim had seen those letters on his table a few days ago. At first she had told herself that she would not be curious about her son's private affairs, but given the circumstances, she could not help but ask him straight away.
Gun heard that and struggled even more, scratching his head in his own confusing thoughts. The more he considered it, the more perplexed he grew. How wonderful it would be if he could sleep and wake up to find out that it was all just a dream.
Since that day, Gun has not dared to contact Tinn again. As for Tinn, while being busy with the upcoming election, still texts him every day. Every time seeing the lighted notification bar, Gun's heart felt like it was being severed. He did not want to ghost Tinn like that, but right now he thinks he's not calm enough to face Tinn.
He spent many nights thinking about why Tinn did not love him without realizing that, Tinn still loves him, maybe it's just that Tinn in this other world doesn't. It seems that all of his actions have made this time vortex even more wrong. What would happen if Tin, who shouldn't have loved him, falls for him now? Will this lead to more unforeseeable problems in Tinn's life?
"Mom." Gun scrambled to his feet, crossed his legs and hesitantly asked, "What if I'm not your son?"
His mother furrowed her brows slightly, seemingly trying to figure out if her kid was insane from the heat.
"Another quiz from the internet?"
"No" Gun shook his head in disarray. Fortunately his mother is usually amusing, so these frivolous and unreasonable questions won't make her think much. "You can consider it a quiz. For example, what if I come from another world, or another universe?"
"Ok so?"
"Can you give me some more realistic reaction?" Gun rolled his eyes and sighed.
Mrs. Gim hummed thoughtfully. From Gun's childhood, she had never dismissed any of his questions, even the dumbest ones. Instead of feeling troubled or depressed, she is always merry when her son is curious about the world out there, which shows that he is eager to learn and has his own thoughts.
"So, how's that other world of my baby Gun?" She pulled the curtains, letting the bright sunbeams fly inside, perched on the corner of the table, shimmering on the stack of letters.
"Everything is still the same here. You're still my mother. There's Chinzhilla, and also a music club, and..."
Tinn.
Everything in the two universes is nearly the same, with only a minor alteration resulting in whole unique happenings.
"That's fine." His mother sat down by the bed, gently rubbing his sweaty forehead. "If I'm still your mother, that's okay."
Gun obediently leaned on the shoulder of his mother, who, in any world, would always be his mother. The feeling doesn't change, because it's always been the same.
"It doesn't matter what world it is, as long as we are always together."
Gun plopped down on the crumpled mattress behind him, letting his vision wobble across the sunlit ceiling, and letting his mother's words continue to ring in his head until he fell asleep.
He continued to immerse himself in a full sleep in that warm sunshine. He did not want to keep running away from reality any longer. He will tell Tinn everything and return these letters to him intact, leaving it up to him to decide whether he wants to put them in his hands again, after knowing the whole truth.
So the neat stack of letters was safely placed in Gun's backpack and scurried off with their owner to school that afternoon. Gun's phone battery has been dead since noon so he still has not updated where Tinn will be in the afternoon. Out of habit, he went to the student council room, where he was most likely to see Tinn during the day.
After the fair event, the student council returned to their usual desk jobs. This place for Gun was almost like the second music club, where he was free to enter and exit like any other member of the council.
Today, the student council was unusually deserted, even Kajorn, who constantly stays there, was not to be seen. It was only a girl sitting and checking the camera roll in her hand very attentively. As soon as she saw Gun, she greeted him with a stunning smile.
"P'Gun."
Gun politely clasped his hands in greeting. Dream welcomed him with a gorgeous gaze. It must be said that she has a very distinctive charm, not only her beautiful appearance but also her impressive aura. Gun is not surprised that Dream is always one of the hotly discussed topics on their school forum.
"Did you come to find P'Tinn?"
She is also one of the different things in this world. The student council had a very small number of female members, so Gun could completely recall each person's name and face. In his world, he still remembered that there was no one named Dream in the student council, especially when that person had such a memorable appearance.
"P'Tinn is not here at the moment. Do you want to stay and wait?"
Gun anxiously held the letters in his hand. If he left them there and did not say a word, would Tinn misunderstand that he wanted to reject his confession? To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, it is still preferable to meet each other and express directly rather than be as cowardly as this.
"No need." Gun shook his head and shoved the letters into his backpack under the watchful eye of the other. "I'll contact him myself later. Thank you N'Dream."
Dream responded to him with a shining smile. But that smile vanished as soon as Gun slung his backpack over his shoulder and started to walk away. Those eyes still silently followed Gun's footsteps until his figure disappeared behind a long corridor, not noticing how many photos their owner had scrolled in her hand.
_______
Perhaps she told Tinn about Gun's visiting later, because when Gun and the Chinzhilla members were diligently practicing, the door to the music club room suddenly opened.
"Gun!"
Tinn put hands on his knees and panted from exhaustion, as if he had to cross a hill to get here.
Chinzhilla looked at the scene in front of them and gave a long sigh. They have just chased Tiw away, but now another Tinn grows. They estimate that today's practice session will have to be interrupted for a long time until the other couple is done with each other.
Gun took a deep breath and walked down the stage to stand close to Tinn.
"I heard Dream... said you came to find me." Tinn straightened, clasped his hands to his chest, and continued to inhale in ragged breaths.
Gun gently patted his back, a flash of unwillingness suddenly rose in his mind. He could not bear to let Tinn face what he was about to say.
"Did I interrupt your practice?"
Tinn looked at the ready-made musical instruments in the background, feeling a little embarrassed that he had accidentally rushed into the music club like this.
"No" Gun grabbed Tinn by the shoulder, making sure he was the only one left in his line of vision. "I have something important to tell you."
Tinn was stunned by Gun's serious look. Tinn often saw him in playful mischief rather than this decency.
Tinn is not an easily self-deprecating person, but he still has certain fears in his heart, especially since after that evening, Gun did not see any messages or answer any calls from Tinn. Tinn did not know if it was because Gun was so absorbed in enjoying the weekend that he forgot about him or intentionally ignored him. Whatever it is, it's not a good sign.
Gun turned around and nodded to his friends. Everyone seemed to understand and began to spread out to rest and wait, as if they all knew that the two of them could not finish their talk quickly.
Tinn dimly realized what Gun wanted to tell him.
Love always makes people fall into a state of bewilderment thinking back and forth just because of a very small detail, and Tinn is no exception. He was caught in the net of love in the most unexpected way, at the most wrong time, but perhaps with the most right person.
On the night he found all the letters Gun had written to him, everything changed in Tinn. Tinn could not deny that because of those letters, he paid more attention to Gun. And every time he passed through the classroom door, he would unconsciously look in and look for the figure sitting (sometimes sleeping) at the end of the class.
Each line in those letters was like a ringing bell that hit Tinn's heart. They evoke impossible taboos. They made Tinn toss and turn because he could not believe what was unfolding before his eyes.
Is Tinn scared? Maybe a little bit. He was afraid that those things would happen again, afraid that it would all turn to nothing.
But does Tinn believe it? He isn't sure.
Tinn is not one to make snap judgments based on the comments of others. He has his own point of view, and he carefully observes and analyzes everything before coming to a conclusion. It's not wrong to say that, initially, Tinn sought to approach Gun on purpose by suggesting he volunteer at the student council to weigh his inference.
However, what happened next was completely out of his control.
Including, heading over Gun's heels.
Gun noticed Tinn's distraction, he hugged Tinn's cheeks tightly, forcing his eyes that were lost in confused thoughts to look directly into his.
"I think we need to talk."
Gun left him with a heavy death sentence hanging over his head, then waddled around in search of his backpack. Tinn thought that maybe he wanted to talk to me and then go home, but why Chinzhilla is still waiting there.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
The loud booing that reverberated throughout the floor came from the mouth of Chinzhilla's leader, causing the entire music club to fall into a state of panic. The gang surrounded Gun and kept asking what was going on, but all Gun could answer were aghast hums.
"Did Gun get hit by evil?" Por looked at the pale face beside him and clasped his hands, mumbling the chants of Buddhist scriptures that his grandmother taught him, hoping that evil spirits would stay away from Gun.
"Are you crazy? He's in shock, no fucking related to evil." Win hit Por on the head lightly.
The two were immediately separated by Tin's jostling. They rarely see such an exemplary guy so eager to hustle in line.
"Gun! What's wrong?" Tinn shook his arms and asked, but still got no response from the person standing there like a statue. "Are you ok?"
Tinn boldly examined Gun with groping touches all over his body under the apprehensive eyes of everyone around them. When he was sure that Gun was not injured anywhere, he breathed a sigh of relief, but was later attacked by Gun's limbs because of the boy's leaps.
"I've lost my backpack!" Gun yelled in vain.
"What? Just buy a new one if you lost it. You won't take out your books to study anyway." Pat pouted in disapproval, why did Gun only lose his backpack, but he acted like his house was on fire, making him miss his unfinished game.
"No" Gun groaned, grabbing Tinn by the shoulder and shaking it harshly, making Tinn feel like he was about to vomit all of his lunch "But it had Tinn's letters in it."
"HUHHHHHHHHHH?"
_______
"We'll wait for you at the school gate, young master."
Sound had grown tired of seeing the same message line over and again for the past few days. From the day he transferred to the new school, he was picked up and monitored by those bodyguards every day, making the school forum filled with pictures of him getting on and off several brand new cars, next to a bodyguard leaning respectfully.
Sound despises those images.
"No need. I stayed late today for group study."
Sound sent a message back and then walked to the backyard of the canteen building, where just the other day he had discovered a shortcut to leave the school instead of going through the main gate.
He made up a story about studying in groups to cut off the bodyguards in order to stop by his apartment and transport his musical instruments to a senior's place. The room he hired to house these instruments was his ultimate secret hiding spot. One thing he could be sure of was that these instruments would certainly vanish from this world if his family learned about their existence.
Behind the canteen is a dense garden with a broken fence corner, where students can wriggle through when they are late for school. In the past, the security team would be here to capture students arriving late to school. However, during the rainy season, the overgrowth of grass and trees makes the broken wall easily buried in the weeds, not to mention a series of insects that flock here to live, leading almost no one to care about this place anymore.