Whenever I think of November, I always think of a famous Thai festival that is inherited from the old days and usually takes place on the full moon day of the twelfth lunar month, which is...
"P'King, do you have anyone to hang out with on Loi Krathong Day?"
I was working on the layout of a new banner for our company's website when Gun started the conversation. King looked at the screen full of code that looked like an alien language and replied, "What? If I don't have someone, will you volunteer?"
"I was just curious, man."
"Nosy is the best way to put it."
"Yes, right. So? I imagine you definitely have a date." the messy-haired boy said.
"None this year. I'm looking for one now." King made a twenty-year-old best friend like me confused.
Since high school, King had never missed an appointment on days like this. Valentine's Day, Loi Krathong, Songkran, whatever the damn thing: he always went out with his little girl. But was he looking for one this year?
I'm pretty sure he's joking.
"Do you want to come with me, King?" Fai asked and winked at King who had claimed the throne as the hottest single in our office, only because my boyfriend was no longer there.
"I do not believe. Loi Krathong is always crowded - you might hurt your knees and you might faint. I mean, you're getting old." King immediately denied it with a snarky response.
"You're only worried about me, right? Are you sure you're not insulting me?"
"Not at all. You're thinking too much. I respect you and care about you a lot." he said in a soft voice. When he saw that he wasn't angry at him, he raised his eyebrows at Gun.
"Big Sis, King just smirked!" I told her.
"King!!!"
"Jade has vision problems. I didn't smile or do anything." my best friend said softly. He came over to my desk and slapped my head. I looked at him angrily as I fixed my hair.
"Don't be nosy. Are you done with your work? You can't stay for overtime today. Mai is waiting."
"I know. I'm almost done now."
I saved the file carefully. I believed that almost everyone had work that was almost finished that they forgot to save and had to redo from the beginning.
I won't let that happen to me today!
"Very well. So where will your husband take you to float the krathong?" King asked.
I showed him a review of the place on my phone.
"Here."
The last time I had gone to the Loi Krathong festival was probably when I was a fourth year student. This meant that I hadn't been to the so-called couples festival for almost five or six years. King and Uea were always hanging out with their exes and it would have been too lonely for me to go alone, so I stayed home.
But now that I had someone to come with me. I was quite excited. After watching lovebirds for so many years, I finally got to join the river goddess worship ceremony with my boyfriend.
Jade's time has come!
Mai had let me choose where I wanted to go, so I had looked at reviews on the Internet. I had decided to go to a university that was located in the center of Bangkok and welcomed strangers to join the festival every year. Transportation was also convenient as there was an elevated train station nearby. Plus, there were lots of vendors, activities, contests, and food.
I don't go just for the food, but what if one of us is hungry? It's not funny at all.
"Oh, here it is. I took an ex there once. It was great."
"The place?" Gun asked.
"No, the university student. Very sexy."
King's response wasn't far from my expectations. Uea probably felt the same, because I heard him laugh mockingly and press the mouse harder.
If I hadn't known before that Uea hated playboys, I would have thought he felt possessive towards King.
"The girls there are very hot. Keep an eye on Mai, Jade." King warned me.
I immediately pulled my friend back. This bad friend was trying to frame my boyfriend for something he wouldn't do.
"Mai is not like you." I said confidently.
It had been a year since we got together and Mai had never tried to cheat on me. There were only ladies in the office trying to hook up with him. It was understandable. My boyfriend was too hot to handle.
At first I was afraid of someone else coming into our relationship, but Mai always told women that he was already in a relationship and they respected that. So we didn't have much to worry about.
Come to think of it, our love life was going very well.
"And you? Where are you going tonight?"
"I do not know. Hey, where are you going?" King asked and patted Uea on the shoulder.
Uea gave him an intimidating look and took King's hand off him, but my childhood best friend acted as if he didn't know.
Finally, Uea let out a long breath and replied, "I'm not going anywhere."
"But I have no one to go with. Come with me."
"I said I'm not going."
He was a little annoyed now, but King was still trying his best to convince Uea. I felt like they were closer lately, King teased Uea (a little) less and Uea was annoyed (also a little) less.
They were probably getting tired of arguing as the years went by.
Everyone else in the department started gathering their things as working hours were coming to an end. I hurried too. King, who had finally stopped bothering Uea, turned his attention to me as I zipped up my bag.
"Jade, will you go to the Loi Krathong festival and celebrate a personal festival in your bedroom too?"
"What? Why do I have to celebrate a party in my bedroom?" I asked curiously.
"You really don't know?" King said in a high-pitched voice that obviously sounded fake. I narrowed my eyes cautiously as he approached, then he whispered, "Loi Krathong is the day you will lose your virginity – Ouch!!"
King was kicked in the leg, but instead of yelling at me, he turned to Uea who was pinching his waist.
"AHHH- Let me go. Let me go, Uea. It hurts!"
"I want it to hurt. Always make fun of others. Are you a psychopath?" he said before finally letting him go.
I smiled happily.
Uea is always my guardian angel. And by that fucking King, you lost!! Haaaaa.
"I go now. I told Mai I'd be there at half past six. I don't want to be late." I said, but King pulled me back.
"Jade."
"Now what?"
"Trust me. It's Loi Krathong, you better enjoy it. Try it in the bathtub, it's very nice." he whispered as my ungrateful brain began to imagine it.
The heat went from my face to my neck. I couldn't even shout at him with all the stuttering. King laughed amusedly after successfully replying to me, "Do you like that idea? I can call Mai and let him know–"
"No!" I pushed him and ran out of the department. His laughter followed me into the hallway until I had to cover my ears.
This guy must be a psychopath. The more he knows someone's weaknesses, the more he wants to make fun of them. Whoever takes him as their husband is so unfortunate. Can I apologize in advance?
*******
Mai's office was in Ekamal. His working hours were more than half an hour earlier than mine. I knew today would be a special day and the traffic would be terrible, so I told Mai to go first while I took a sky train to get there. We probably would have arrived there at the same time.
"Never, I'm almost there. Where are you?" As I approached the intended station, I called my boyfriend.
"I am waiting at the entrance of the university."
"All right. I'll join you soon."
I ended the call and walked through the crowd. They seemed to have had the same idea of coming here. That's why the elevated train station was crowded.
After leaving the station. I headed towards the entrance of the university, looking left and right for my beloved. And here is Mai in a blue shirt and trousers. I walked faster towards him.
"How long have you been waiting?" I asked and looked in my bag for tissues after seeing the sweat on his forehead. He smiled back.
"About ten minutes. I parked my car at a shopping mall, then took a sky train here, because there is absolutely nowhere to park."
"Yes, it's completely crowded." I said as I grabbed the handkerchief.
The staring eyes of passers-by made me hesitate a little whether to wipe away their sweat or let them do it. Finally, I decided to wipe away my boyfriend's sweat. Mai stopped to let me finish before taking my hand.
"Will you hold my hand? There are a lot of people watching." I said after noticing more eyes staring at us, not knowing if it was because Mai was sexy or the sight of two guys holding hands.
"Of course, I have to hold your hand. There are so many people. I don't want us to get lost." He tightened his grip.
Never was it always like this. He never minded people staring at us when we touched each other in public. I felt that guy was so cool.
"Are you hungry? Do you want to find something to eat?" he asked.
My growling stomach answered on my behalf. I nodded quickly and then dragged Mai to a nearby roast chicken stand.
I ordered chicken on rice with mayonnaise while Mai ordered chicken teriyaki. I saw a college student who was a salesman smiling at me, so I smiled too.
Children these days are very friendly.
"Damnation. You gave me a lot of chicken. Will you have enough for the other customers?" I said after seeing how much food I had in a small box.
The salesman smiled at me and said, "I want my customers to be happy. I added a little more for you."
"Aww, thank you so much. Isn't he so generous?" I asked Mai.
He smiled back, but it was so cold.
"Let's find a quiet place to eat." Maì said after paying, then grabbed me by the waist and walked me out.
"What's wrong? Don't you want to eat chicken?" I asked as we exited the food court.
Mai took me to a bench, gave me the box, and said in a monotone, "No. I'm jealous."
"Huh?" I looked at him and blinked several times. "Jealous of what?"
"Jealous of the seller. He was interested in you."
"Absolutely not. He was just friendly."
"I know the look in his eyes." he argued.
I went over the situation in my head and felt confused. That guy was just nice. Plus I was a customer, it made sense for him to be friendly.
"I didn't even notice anything." I put the food in my mouth and Mai smiled sweetly.
"You're rather slow on these matters."
"Well, I guess so, otherwise I wouldn't have thought you liked Uea for so many months."
I looked at Mai who looked like a sad puppy, but after hearing me, he laughed. Thinking about it now was a little funny, but back then... not so much.
When I thought I was heartbroken, I was really sad.
We ate and shared conversations, mostly about today.
'How was work today? Did we get yelled at by the boss?'
I didn't know if other couples were as interested in each other's daily experiences as we were, but I wanted to know what Mai's day was like and he wanted to know mine. Sharing stories with someone he wanted to listen to was a sense of caring. He helped lift the weight off of you.
"Let's buy the krathong." Mai said.
We threw the boxes in the bin. Mai took my hand and took me to the Krathong store area.
The sky was getting dark and the place was getting more and more crowded. We walked through the river of people and looked at the cute decorative lights around the place. Mai squeezed my hand tighter to prevent us from getting lost, while I looked at the krathong shops, impressed.
All the Krathongs here were made from natural materials. Many of them were made of banana leaves like the old men made them. Then there were some types that were made of banana flowers, some of brightly colored crunchy kernels shaped like cartoon characters, and some were even made of ice with flowers inside. I finally chose the one made of banana flowers for fifty baht, like how they recommended buying only one krathong per family to save the environment.
Mai took me by the hand to a pond in front of the university. After lighting incense and a candle, we began to pray. I closed my eyes and prayed to the water goddess, asking that my work and love remain so smooth and happy.
I wish I had Mai by my side for a long time.
Then I passed the krathong to Mai. He begged first to take me near the pond, then we lowered ourselves, ready to float him.
"Let's float it together." he said.
Our hands touched the krathong, then we placed it on the surface of the water. We watched him as he slipped away. The candlelight flickered in the windy night; we looked at it, hoping it wouldn't go out. They said it would bring bad luck to lovers if the flame burned out quickly: ours didn't.
"What did you pray for?" he asked.
"For work, and for you to be with me for a long, long time." I said as I looked at the krathong floating further into the middle of the pond. I felt his arm wrap around my shoulders. I looked at my beloved and we smiled. His brown eyes reflected the candlelight; they seemed even sweeter.
"There was no need. I'll stay with you anyway."
"Sadhu." I said our Buddhist Amen.
Mai laughed and looked into the water. Our Krathong was floating in the middle of the pond: the candlelight was still as beautiful as when we had let it go.
I smiled, thinking Mai should see it. But when I looked back, I saw my boyfriend holding his phone from afar, taking a photo of me.
"Are you taking a picture of me?" I looked at his phone.
Why don't I look cool at all?
"Eliminate it. I wasn't even posing. I sound stupid."
"You look lovely."
Mai smiled and put the phone away before I could pick it up to delete the photo myself. He came over and wrapped his arms around me, then turned towards the stage where they were holding an event.
"Let's go over there."
"They're organizing a competition. Why? Do you want to see the beautiful girls?" I asked.
"If it makes you jealous, then yes."
"Ah, let's go then. I want to see beautiful girls so much too."
"Then it doesn't matter. Let's look for something to eat." Mai immediately changed his mind and I laughed.
He wants to make me jealous, but then he gets jealous himself. What a kid.
We headed back to the food court. I still had some room in my belly for sweets, so we bought some ice cream. I didn't eat much, but my boy was still young, and a child had to eat... eat a lot. We bought a lot of snacks and before I knew it, Mai's hands were full of bags of snacks. After I finished my ice cream, I took it to the balloon dart stand.
"I haven't caught them even once. Never..."
I was about to complain, but then Mai got a big Stitch doll from the booth owner.
"Did you hit them all?"
"Yes." He was smiling from ear to ear.
God is so biased! Is he also good at playing darts? You can't be that perfect!
So, in the end, the big Stitch doll was given to a little girl of about ten who was watching Mai, since we were both grown kids and didn't see the point in having a stuffed animal in our apartment. Then Mai took me to play lots more games, until the time passed and it was 8pm. We looked back at the pond before heading home.
"Should we go home now?" Mai asked after we finished taking a photo of the view in front of us and a few selfies of us, so I nodded. He held my hand again and led me towards the exit.
I looked back at the colored lights that painted the sky, chasing away the loneliness. The large full moon hung in the sky above us, shining with the light that made the celebration special. The warm touch of Mai's hand made me look up at my beloved who was looking ahead. The cutest smile of happiness appeared on my face.
This year's Loi Krathong festival is better than all previous years. No... Actually, I think anywhere, anytime, anything can be special when we have someone we love by our side.
END