3.

A week has passed.

Everything's going well. I've started my language classes at New York University. I never thought that random application I submitted would lead me here. Initially, I thought it was just a regular language institute, like the ones I'd found online, but it's actually a university program.

I see Audrey almost every day. Having such a cheerful and outgoing person around has
really helped improve my relationships with Jasper and Hazel. As for Anwar, I don't talk to him much. He usually comes back late, between one and three in the morning, and leaves before I wake up.

I almost forget he's even a housemate.

I've only seen him about three times this past week. The first time, I just caught a glimpse of his back as he hurried out of the building one morning, arms full of stuff. I guess he was rushing to university. Another time, I couldn't sleep, so I went downstairs to watch TV. I saw him coming in with a another woman.

She wasn't the same woman I saw before.

He only paused slightly when he saw me, held my gaze for a moment, then gave a small smile before walking past. No greeting, nothing more.

I couldn't bring myself to ask him anything in that situation either.

I shouldn't have been sitting there and seen that. Him and another woman. It was incredibly awkward.

The third time, we had a brief conversation. I encountered him at one in the morning in the kitchen on the second floor. He'd just finished a burger. He raised an eyebrow when he saw me in my pyjamas.

"I thought everyone was asleep," he said in Thai. "I was a little hungry… I slept through dinner and forgot to buy anything, so I came down to look," I replied. Even though Jasper mentioned we could eat anything in the fridge without a note, everyone
seems to be possessive of what they buy, even sparkling water.

"Oh, there's nothing in the fridge, but I bought two burgers. Why don't you have the other one?" He glanced down at the dark brown paper bag on the counter.
"No, it's okay," I quickly refused.

He bought two, and he's eating one alone… that means he wasn't full, right?

"Go ahead, eat it," he insisted, standing up.
"I have to get back to work. I'm not that hungry anyway."

He abruptly ended the conversation, leaving me with the still-warm beef burger and a cat that had just trotted down from the third floor.

Oh, right, there's a cat they keep here. A light brown female, almost cream-colored. It rubbed against my leg before stretching and yawning. I don't know its name; I haven't had a chance to ask Jasper or anyone else.

..

..

"Blue! I have a date today with someone I met on Tinder... Want to come? I'd like someone else to come along," Gia, a younger classmate from my language class, rushed up to me as soon as class ended. We've been sitting together for several days, so we've become somewhat close.

"What? A date? And you need a friend to come along?" I asked, based on my own
understanding.

I know what Tinder is. My friends tried to get me to download it and use it like everyone else at our drinking gatherings, but I was too shy to even swipe and match with anyone.

It feels weird to choose someone like that.

"It's not really a date, not exactly. It's our first meeting. He invited me to hang out with his close group of friends. There are a lot of them, maybe five or six," Gia counted on her fingers. "If you and I come, it'll be about eight people. Think of it as language practice!"

I chuckled nervously. Even if she said that, showing up to meet a bunch of strangers out of the blue...

"Are you sure you want to go?" I asked again.

Leaving Gia to go alone would be worse. If something happens, at least there are two of us. "Yes, I'm sure! I already made plans. I'll show you his picture. He doesn't look weird at all,"

Gia quickly grabbed her phone and opened the Tinder app. A picture of a young man
appeared. He looked Asian, but maybe Asian-American. He had a very Western style.

He looked normal, as she said, even quite handsome.

"Okay, but I'm not staying late."

"Okay.."

..

..

Language practice...

I unconsciously frowned after following Gia to the meeting place—a spacious room, though not as large as my own apartment. The man from Tinder came down to greet us. Three other men and one woman were already sitting inside. I sensed something strange within the first minute.

Then, a moment later, I heard a familiar language as two of the men spoke to each other.

"Uh...are you Thai?" I murmured softly, immediately drawing everyone's attention.

"Yes, wow, what a coincidence!" One of them smiled. "I didn't expect to meet another Thai person here."

"They're Thai," I whispered to Gia, who was looking confused. Her eyes widened, and she smiled broadly.

"See? He brought me to meet his friends, clearly."

"So, what are you doing here? Did you move here?" The short-haired man took off his baseball cap. "I'm Chen. What's your name?"

"Blue."

"Let's speak English, or the girl will be sad," the short-haired woman interjected, switching languages quickly. "I'm Alisa, or Alis, whichever you prefer."

Rome, the man who arranged the meeting with Gia, was one of those who didn't speak Thai, as well as another man, a light-skinned, brown-eyed American-Korean, named Cole.

"Nice to meet you both," Alis said, handing us each a beer.

Cole started connecting a speaker to his phone. We settled back into a circle, some on the sofa, some leaning against the carpet. I don't know why, maybe because I knew there were other Thais in the group, but I relaxed and lowered my guard.

Time flew by. Before I knew it, I'd been there for an hour. I'd only touched half my beer. I'm aware I'm not a heavy drinker, and I didn't want to push my limits and make things difficult for anyone.

"They're here! They're here!" Suddenly, Alisa jumped up, running to the door, just as a knock sounded from outside.

When the door opened, a brown-skinned man came in, carrying beers and numerous paper bags.

"Okay, this is Max."

"Hey! Oh, are there new people?" Max grinned, revealing white teeth, stepping back from the door to reveal the person behind him.

My heart skipped a beat.

When I made eye contact with the most familiar eyes in the room—beautiful brown eyes that locked onto mine instantly.

"That one's Anwar. And that one... you should introduce him," [the speaker gestures to a person they haven't named].

Anwar smiled at me and Gia, casually walking over to sit on the opposite sofa. A woman followed him and sat beside him; she was the woman I'd met a few days earlier, the one Anwar had brought home that night.

I didn't expect to see him here. Is this social circle really this small, or what? "Sydney," he said briefly, then started introducing his other friends to the woman until he stopped at Gia and me.

"That's Blue..." He hesitated when he reached Gia, whom he didn't know, until Gia introduced herself with a wide smile.

"You guys know each other?" Rome asked, handing Anwar and Max beers.

"Yeah," he replied simply, offering no further explanation of how we knew each other or mentioning that we were housemates.

I wasn't expecting anything, but I don't know why, but a strange, unsettling feeling settled in my stomach.

The paper bags Max had carried contained three large pizzas, burgers, and a huge order of French fries. I grabbed a cheeseburger, as did everyone else, grabbing what they wanted.

I felt like every move I made was under someone's gaze. When I looked up, I met Anwar's eyes. He smiled, a smile whose meaning was impossible to decipher.
It wasn't the wide, friendly smile of Gia or Audrey.

It wasn't the slight, almost sneering smile of Hazel, which didn't carry any negative
connotation.

It was a faint smile... a smile from which I couldn't glean any meaning.

"How did you two meet those two?" Anwar started a conversation, his dark eyebrows raised in surprise at Alice's answer.

"Tinder, of course. Rome lured them in."
He looked at me as if I had matched with Rome.

"Gia..." I felt the need to clarify, "We're just friends."

This time, he looked like he understood. "I thought you used Tinder with her, too."

"No, no," I shook my head. By then, many people had turned their attention to the gameplay displayed on the large TV screen. "I downloaded it once, but it didn't work for me."

"Why's that?

"It felt weird. I didn't dare match with anyone. I was too shy, and I couldn't bring myself to initiate a conversation."

"I understand. That's a shame," he smiled slightly, pressing his lips together before
completing the sentence that sent my heart plummeting to my feet. "If I'd seen you, I might have swiped right."

"Why?" I asked, my heart uncomfortably pounding.

I didn't think I liked Anwar. It was too soon to like someone, but my body seemed to react to him far too quickly. It was uncontrollable.

Should my heart be racing like this at that comment when he had another woman sitting right beside him?

"You seem like the type of person... who's worth talking to."

The ambiguous sentence made it impossible for me to guess its true meaning, but it
probably just meant a normal conversation.

It just meant a normal conversation, a simple back-and-forth exchange, that's all.

Stop beating so fast, you stupid heart!

After that, we didn't talk much. Anwar switched back to English with his other friends. He seemed to talk mostly to the woman next to him, followed by Cole, Rome, and Max. I guessed he was closest to those three.

Sydney and Anwar's relationship became clearer. After a while, Sydney leaned her head against Anwar's shoulder, her eyes fixed on the game others were playing, smiling and laughing periodically. Several times, she glanced up at Anwar.

It was the kind of look that made my heart flutter, even though I wasn't the one being looked at.

What was awkward was that I was sitting opposite them, in a position where I had a clear view of everything. I could see his fingers lightly brushing her thigh, and the little kisses Sydney pressed onto Anwar's shoulder.

Anwar didn't react much. He just gave her a sweet smile, stroked her head, and occasionally playfully nudged her forehead. He seems like the type of guy most girls would like.

I’ve never had a serious girlfriend, but because I have a lot of close female friends, I’m confident in saying my friends would definitely fall for Anwar if they met him.
He has a cool, somewhat aloof look, but his actions suggest that he's approachable.

He’s friendly and has a smooth, low voice. Even when he gives short answers, it doesn't feel abrupt. Who wouldn't like someone like that?

If I were a girl, I might like Anwar too.

"I should go now," I said, seeing it was time to leave. I’d finished a bottle of beer. Sipping it slowly with water in between, I managed to finish the whole bottle.

"Going already?" Gia asked immediately.

"I have to go do my homework. You should too," I emphasized. Seeing Gia with four bottles of beer beside her, I couldn’t help but worry, but what could I do?

Besides, these people didn't seem like bad people. If they were really in the same group as Anwar, I should trust them, right?

I didn't say anything more to Anwar. He didn’t tell anyone we were staying at the same place, and anyway, he had Sydney with him. How could I dare to suggest we go back together?

The place was a fair distance from our accommodation, but not so far that we needed a taxi.

It was just a walk of several kilometers. In this cool weather, it wasn't as bad as walking in Bangkok.

"Bye everyone, it was so much fun tonight. Thank you," I waited until everyone said their goodbyes before starting to leave the room. Anwar remained seated in the same spot, his gaze fixed on me the whole time until we parted.

I sighed. Once I was outside, the pressure that had been weighing on my shoulders seemed to gradually fade away.

Why is it that I still can't figure out why I feel this way every time Anwar is around?

I'll just conclude it's his aura.

It's a kind of pressure in the air that makes it hard to breathe. If he says something, or even if we just make eye contact, my heart jolts; it feels like falling from a great height.

It's incredibly tiring, these uncontrollable feelings.

I continued walking along the path. After passing a couple of blocks of the Rome group's building, I accidentally made eye contact with four light-skinned men sitting on a dilapidated old sofa beside a building.

When one of them stood up, I felt so unsafe that I quickly looked away and lengthened my stride.

No... don't let it be what I think.

I’ve never had any trouble or experienced any bad situations abroad when I was alone before. There was only one time when a drunk man tried to get too close to me in New Zealand, but I was with my host family then, and she helped chase him away.

Even though that was when I was in high school, and now I'm in university, it's not like I've become any braver.

I quickened my pace. I heard spitting sounds from behind me and the sound of hurried footsteps approaching. I didn't even dare to look back.

My heart was pounding so hard and fast; it felt constricted in my chest.

Fear made my fingertips ice-cold. I started to gasp for breath, not knowing where to look, my mind consumed with what was behind me.

"Hey, I told you to wait."

Gasps!

I jumped, startled, as someone loosely put an arm around my shoulders. A faint, cool scent of cologne reached my nose. My heart nearly exploded before I turned to see who it was.

I felt like I was on the verge of tears.
Anwar had his arm draped casually around my shoulders, speaking louder this time, in English. "Hungry again tonight? Jasper and the others are at the bar up ahead. If you're hungry, why don't you grab something to eat before heading home?"

"...Mm-hmm," I tried to control my trembling voice.

The sound of footsteps chasing me had disappeared, but I still didn’t dare look back.

I just walked stiffly, matching Anwar’s pace. After a while, he removed his arm. His serious face turned to me.

"Are you okay?"

"No," I shook my head. "Just now… is, is … like, someone was following me."

"Yeah, probably just some drunk guys who try to shake down Asian kids."

"They picked the wrong guy," I muttered. Anwar chuckled softly.

"You’re pretty good at picking them, though. You really do look easy to target."

"What do you mean?" I asked back. Anwar hesitated, shook his head, ignoring my question as if nothing had happened.

"And Sydney?" Since he didn’t answer that question, I changed the subject.

I didn’t really want to know much, but if I let the silence continue, I would be the one feeling the pressure instead.

"I sent her home in a taxi."

"Oh…" I initially thought Sydney would be staying over like she did that other time.

But I didn’t voice my thought.

Anwar didn’t seem eager to explain either. He changed the subject. "Remember this, it’s not a good idea to walk alone like this at night around here, especially looking the way you do.

This isn’t like the Village where we live."

I nodded, committing the information to memory quickly.

I probably won’t have to come here again. Next time, Gia will probably be able to meet with Rome without needing me.

We walked in silence for ten minutes, only the sound of our footsteps alternating, the
shadows cast before us, and the occasional passing car.

As we started to walk back into the area where we lived, the streets began to fill with more people.

"Your Thai is really good," I complimented him, having heard his fluency on several
occasions. "Is it because you’re close to your Thai friends?"

"My mother is half Thai-Japanese, but she grew up in Thailand, so she taught me from a young age. I speak a lot of Thai when I talk to her."

That’s how it is. Come to think of it, Anwar doesn’t really look like a typical Westerner, not with his light brown hair and light eyes.

But I never thought he'd have Thai ancestry.

"Do you speak Japanese?"

"Not at all. I only speak German, from my father’s side."

I wondered what else was in his heritage, but since it didn’t seem intrusive to ask, I kept that question to myself.

"You're good at languages. I'm half Thai-Chinese, but I practically ran away from learning Chinese. I got scolded by my grandmother and aunts for not studying it," I grinned, remembering my childhood.

My greatest accomplishment was only being able to recite numbers in Teochew.

Once I was a bit older, I completely refused to study Chinese because it seemed so
difficult—all those crazy characters!

"Uh, I mean, my grandmother and aunts," I quickly corrected myself when I saw him stiffen.

I'd inadvertently slipped into Chinese.

Anwar stared at me, his expression unreadable, making me momentarily speechless. We happened to be standing right in front of the building.

"Give me your phone," he held out his hand.

"Unlock it."

I didn’t have a passcode, so I just pulled it out and opened the screen for him. Anwar kept a stoic expression as he quickly typed something on my phone, then handed it back.

He’d typed in his number but hadn’t saved it.

"I think you’ll need this. If you have any problems, or think you might, give me a call."

"Uh, thank you," I saved his number, typing in just Anwar.

"You’re welcome. Go inside." He nodded.
"Oh, aren’t you coming in too?"

"I’m going back to the university studio tonight for another session."

His answer was simple.

"Thanks again," I quickly nodded, giving him one last look before turning and hurrying into the building.

Because of the strange feeling that assaulted me after hearing that, I couldn't bear to keep it up in front of him and had to quickly escape.

He’s the type of person people would really like.

…the type who doesn’t have to try very hard.