THE UNKNOWING GHOST.
Sarawat sat on his bed, partly bored and partly vexed, strumming some random melody on his guitar with his deft fingers. A fading cigarette was stuck between his sultry lips, clouding the room with tendrils of white smoke. The ignited cigarette butt was shining like a tiny, red beacon in the dim space.
Sarawat had been spending more time alone in his dorm room, strumming different tunes to bring the ghost back out and catch an elusive glimpse of it once more, but so far it had been rather futile. Sarawat felt like a mad man possessed, grasping at straws that would bring some, any color really, into his otherwise grey-toned life.
The peculiar ghost had his heart racing in excitement like never before, pumping the adrenaline through his veins and making him suddenly feel so alive amidst all the tedious things that had fallen onto his shoulders; being blamed by his brother for trying to steal what Phukong thought was his position, not being enough for his parents that only appreciated him if he brought value to their company and finally, the frankly unexciting relationship with his girlfriend which apparently was not just all smooth sailing.
Sarawat had wanted to escape all of this, there had to be something more to life than obligations forced onto him by other people. That was the whole reason why he had changed his major at the university, even though it was still open for verdict – whether the fine arts really were the light at the end of his tunnel or just a cheap sparkle that was bound to fizzle out soon. Sarawat was drawn to music, so he thought that maybe it could fill the aching void inside his restless soul but so far nothing of the like had happened. Maybe that was why he grasped with such greedy hands at the peculiar ghost mystery that had been dangled right in front of him.
He combed a jerky hand trough his mused hair. Sarawat had probably tried everything by now to lure the ghost out but nothing seemed to work. The ghost was not cooperating with him at all. Shia. What a nuisance.
Sarawat furrowed his angled brows, lips pursuing around the nicotine stick and long fingers drumming restlessly on the wooden body of the guitar. What had he done the first time around? He had addressed the ghost, asking it a direct question. Wait. Sarawat raised a hand to pinch the cigarette butt between his thumb and forefinger, pulling it away from his lips. Could it really be as simple as that? Really?
"Ghost, do you like Scrubb?" He asked the empty room offhandedly, feeling like a crazy person, not even expecting a reply. Nevertheless the strings of the acoustic guitar replied, once again with a clear note of the C-chord, the shrill noise piercing through the quiet room.
Well, that seemed like a 'yes' indeed. So maybe he was not all that crazy. A little satisfied smirk crooked one side of Sarawat's mouth upwards. How old was this ghost even, liking such an old band? It was probably not from the same generation as Sarawat for sure.
"Hm," Sarawat hummed gravely low in his throat, considering his next action. The dying cigarette between his fingers was scorching his skin slightly but he was not paying it any attention. "Can I play any Scrubb song then?"
The C-chord reverberated once again. It was a yes, again.
Sarawat exhaled and quickly stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray on his nightstand. He then sat up straighter on his bed, positioning himself to delicately strum the melody of another Scrubb song that he coincidentally knew the notes for.
This time Sarawat held his head up while playing, eyes gliding over the murky room in search of his unexpected roommate.
The ghost's entrance was maybe not as dramatic this time around since he anticipated it but it was nonetheless incredible to see the progression, how the chill slowly spread along the room and how the stray tendrils of fog seeped into the empty space in front of the bed. Billows of smoke were escaping as if from under the spring of a closed, non-existent door, just before the ghost finally appeared amidst it all, stepping through the curtain of smog and finally fading into existence from a different dimension.
Sarawat's heart thudded wildly inside his ribcage. He even forgot to breathe for that one short sequence while staring at the vision unfurling right before his alert eyes. Was this actually happening for real?
The ghost of a young man stared with its round eyes at Sarawat, as if he too could not believe that he was there, in that very same room, just a tiny bit across from Sarawat.
He looked pretty much the same as the last time. The blood was still sluggishly dripping from the wound in his forehead. The crimson droplets that did manage to find an elbow or a chin to drip off and plunge towards to the floor, evaporated before they actually hit anything corporeal. The scrapes and wounds on his body were clearly more visible as Sarawat caught a glimpse of those through the ripped holes in the ghost's clothes. It seemed that he may have been dragged along a harsh surface, almost like when one fell off a bike and scraped ones knees and palms, but only much more severe.
Sarawat blinked. The ghost blinked back too.
Not sure if the ghost would disappear once he stopped playing the guitar, Sarawat kept on strumming a simplified version of the original Scrubb song.
"Can you talk?" Sarawat whispered loudly, a little unsure to break the dominating silence, chilly fog clinging to his words.
The ghost inclined his head curiously. It looked strange since the angle was a little off kilter. Then the ghost opened his plump mouth a couple of times. His surprisingly white front teeth flashed between the bloodied lips as he struggled to make a sound. After a short while of repeating the same movement he gave up, shrugging his shoulders jerkily in resignation, one arm swaying loosely at his side. Apparently not then.
"Are you trapped in here?" Sarawat curiously asked, leaning forward a little over his guitar but still mindful of playing the easy tune. The ghost tilted his head upwards, seriously considering Sarawat's question, its brows drawn. Sarawat noticed that the wound on his forehead was actually running along his hairline but branched out over the side of his temple and stopped right in the middle of one brow, splitting it slightly.
After a few strokes of bated breath the ghost shrugged once more. Sarawat frowned.
"But are you always here?" He pushed, keeping his voice even. This time the reply came much quicker, which was just another shrug of the ghost's rounded shoulders. Frustration bubbled inside Sarawat. What an annoying ghost. Did he even know anything?
Suddenly Sarawat's phone buzzed in his pocket, the vibration whirring loudly against the hollow body of the guitar. He was intent on ignoring it but the ghost tilted its chin forward stubbornly, as if telling Sarawat to pick it up. Huh. What a modern ghost.
"Will you disappear if I answ-" Sarawat started asking but then trailed off when the ghost nodded instantly, its messy, dirty hair swaying a little. "But you'll come next time I play something from Scrubb, right?"
Another nod.
"Promise?" Sarawat added desperately, almost giving into the impulse of reaching out a hand to grab the ghost to keep him in place, which would have been quite futile since his hand would have just swept right through him. At best Sarawat might have felt the cold air hit his skin as his hand swept through the afterimage of the young man.
The ghost nodded once again, confirming their promise, a watery smile pulling slightly at his lips.
"Thank you, I'll see you later," Sarawat said as his hands stilled on the guitar. The ghost raised a hand, its fingers flickering in a shy wave before he faded out of existence, sucking all the cold air out of the room into the void with him.
Sarawat exhaled and rummaged in his tight jeans' pocket, pulling out the phone that had interrupted their little séance.
It was his mother. Of course. She had a knack for always picking the right moment to disrupt his peace.
"Yes," he replied tiredly in to the phone, moving the guitar away from his lap and placing it on the bed.
"Honey, you need to come to the company tomorrow and help me with this one thing," his mother rambled, obviously a little stressed. Sarawat scratched at his neck, thinking.
"Can't Phukong do that? He's actually interested in all of this stuff."
His mother tsked on the other side of the line in annoyance. Sarawat was insufferable, she had never expected him to change so much. Ever since he had moved out, he had been acting like a different person.
"You know pretty well that I don't want to drag him into this kind of business," she said, sounding somewhat sincere, but then added just before she hung up on Sarawat, "Be there at eight tomorrow, god knows you'll learn more over here than going to your silly music classes."
Sarawat gritted his teeth as he stared at the screen of his phone that flashed a call ended at him.
-----
"Hey, Sarawat-" Boss trailed off, an outstretched hand ignored and left hanging in the air as the aforementioned friend just hurriedly strode past him in the hall. What the heck? Boss shared a look with Man and they mutedly agreed to follow the stoic young man.
Sarawat had been avoiding them more and more, now even shutting himself up in his room and not letting anyone inside. Boss was getting a little worried that whatever going on with that damned room was making Sarawat go a little crazy. Shit, could ghosts possess people, was that why Sarawat was acting so strange? What if there was no ghost and Sarawat just did not want to hang out with them anymore? Pouting, Boss could not even decide which scenario was the worst.
He turned to Man with wide, trembling eyes and was just about to splutter out his thoughts outrageously but was instantly hushed by his friend. Man tapped a finger to his lips and motioned with his head in the direction of the door that they were eavesdropping at. However, they were not all that stealthy since the top half of the door was glass and Sarawat had probably already noticed them by now.
"I'm sorry but we can't share any personal details of previous tenants," the female seated behind the students' center reception chippered, her fingers flying over the keyboard once more to make sure that she had pulled the correct data. "The university has enforced stricter privacy regulations since the end of last year, so it's prohibited to give out any information. I'm sorry," she droned, not looking sorry at all while chewing vicariously on her gum.
Sarawat frowned, but thanked her nonetheless and backed away, a little lost in thought. He stepped back outside into the morning sun, the door swinging shut behind him.
What now then?
"Well, well, well," Boss drawled as he slung one arm across Sarawat's wide shoulders, catching him just right outside the student center. "Why so interested in pervious tenants of your room, hm?" He wiggled his brows for emphasis as a Cheshire grin spread across his heart shaped face.
Sarawat shrugged off his friend jerkily, sending him a screwed gaze while one hand sneaked into the pocket of his jeans and tugged out a pack of cigarettes. Boss arched his brows, forming an O with his mouth. Had Sarawat not quit smoking? Man tsked at Sarawat disapprovingly, seeing his old habit return.
Sarawat ignored the other two guys and put the nicotine stick between his wide lips, shaping them softly around the thin cylinder while raising one hand with a Zippo lighter at the ready, the other hand cupped to shield the spark of flame from the outside breeze. Sarawat then blinked up at the sun, inhaling deeply, almost hungrily and then exhaled a swirl of thick, white smoke that drafted lazily between his lips and then across the blue expanse of the sky.
"Don't you want to know what happened to create all these rumors?" He muttered with the cigarette stuck in the crook of his mouth, brown eyes darting to Boss.
"Sure, I do but why do you want to know that so suddenly?" Boss threw back but then his eyes widened comically as a thought struck him. "Have you actually seen something?" He grasped Sarawat by the shoulders, giving them a little shake, not even minding the secondhand smoke that he was now inhaling in the face of such exciting news.
Sarawat's eyelashes fluttered as he looked away, avoiding both of his friends' expectant gazes.
"Maybe... Just something insignificant," he reluctantly admitted, lips curving at the twin slack jawed expressions on his friends' faces.
"Ehh?!" Boss shrieked, releasing Sarawat to clutch at Man's arm in astonishment instead. "What did you see? You need to share these things! We're your friends!"
Sarawat just shrugged again, taking a lazy drag of his cigarette, holding the thick smoke between his parted lips minutely before letting it billow into the sky on a deep exhale that left his chest concave. He watched amusedly as Boss jumped around crazily, shaking Man by his shoulders to force the other one participate in his excitement more enthusiastically.
This dude had no chill, seriously. Man just rolled his eyes, sharing a moment of exasperation with Sarawat over Boss' shoulder.
"I'll see you guys later," Sarawat said while stubbing out the cigarette with one sneaker.
"Where're you going, don't you have classes?" Man asked confused as Boss finally stilled by his side, only bumping into him one last time as his excitement was finally ebbing out.
"The she devil has called," he said with a smirk and sauntered off in the direction of the campus entrance, hands in his pockets.
"A devil?!" Boss squeaked, his eyes huge as his head swiveled back and forth between Man's face and Sarawat's disappearing back. Man just shook his head, looking heavenward once before dragging his spluttering friend to their first lecture of the day.
-----
Sarawat ripped his phone out of his pocked annoyingly, it had been buzzing nonstop throughout the whole day. That little shit, how many message was he going to send him?
Boss:
Who's the devil?
Where did you go?
Sarawat
Wat!
Can I visit your room soon? Is the ghost there?
When are you back?
Man says he misses you TT_TT
[candid image of Man not looking sad at all]
Have you talked to Pam yet? She was at campus during lunch
Sarawat furrowed his eyebrows confusedly while starring at the screen. Pam had not mentioned that she would be coming to his university today. What was she doing there?
Sarawat's mother cleared her throat admonishingly from the other side of the grand office, sitting regally at her big desk where a sign proudly proclaimed her as the CEO. He looked up sharply, sending a dark glower her way. It was not as if he was on the clock, he was merely doing this from the good of his exasperated heart. His mother motioned to the amount of documents splayed on the table in front of him, fluttering her hand to make him keep going through the papers instead of wasting time looking at his phone.
Seriously, this woman.
Sarawat turned back to the documents at hand, taking note of the rather strange transactions that she had asked him to trace for her. Ugh, the family was the worst. As much as Sarawat wanted to break away and live his own life, he could never really say no.
But maybe one day.