Chapter 3: Garden

The sound of the curtains opening mercilessly woke Day up from his deep sleep. Judging from the light coming in from the window, it was already morning. The person who woke him up was none other than Mhok, who came directly from the repairs shop. The familiar smell of cigarette smoke filled the room. Someone was definitely smoking, but the smell wasn't that pungent or overly offensive. It's even more like a perfume, but not as nice.

"It's time to get up," Mhok said softly.

"I know, stop waking me up like an alarm clock," he complained.

That new caretaker, who he hadn't really gotten a good look at yet, was more of an annoyance than he'd imagined. If it were anyone else, they would be disturbed by Day's serious tone, and some would give up on the first day. But Mhok is different. No matter what you say to him, it's like talking to a wall, even if it's a joke, it's useless. Day found it difficult to deal with such people, and he was always being ordered to do this and that. At first he resisted. But the more tried, the more trouble he got into, because the other party never gave up. At the end, Mhok took him to take a bath.

"For you."

The nong reached out and took a small bottle of eye drops from Mhok. Although his vision continues to get worse, eye drops can help you regulate intraocular pressure and make your vision clearer, especially in the first ten seconds after the drops fall. Everything seemed like a dream, all abnormalities disappeared. But it only lasts ten seconds. Day picked up the eye drops, got up from the bed, and walked to a familiar corner of the room.

"10...9...8...7...6..."

After two drops of the medicine came into contact with his eyes, the world immediately became brighter. Day stared at the large glass jar in front of him. A chubby goldfish was swimming around inside, as if saying 'Good morning'. He sprinkled the prepared fish food into the water, and the chubby fish swam happily over.

"5...4...3...2...1..."

Day tried to clearly remember what the only pet in his life looked like. Being the owner of a goldfish, he wakes up every morning to feed it. On countless days and nights when he wished he could sleep peacefully without being disturbed by nightmares, it was this goldfish that gave him the motivation to get through every day.

"Oh..."

Then everything becomes blurry again. Jinlu, who had been vivid before, was now a blurry orange blob, floating in the bathtub hidden by the water curtain. He took a long breath. Even if that situation was repeated every day, it was still difficult to adapt.

"What's your name?"

"My nickname is Day, my real name is Danaiyanat, my surname is Kopranpakhun, I am twenty years old. Do you still want to hear my ID number?"

"Has anyone ever said you were naughty?" Mhok whispered, causing Day to laugh. He laughed happily for a while, and then slowly developed a strange feeling. Ever since that day that changed his life, he hadn't laughed like this for many days, many months, maybe a year.

"Jinsay. "

"What does that mean?"

"Life." Day replied calmly, and the room fell silent again. The nong himself couldn't guess what the other person was thinking. But soon, he heard a crunching sound, like hands rubbing against a glass jar.

"But I think your Jinsay is dying." Mhok said quietly.

"What?" Day asked confused.

"The water has not been changed and the rocks are covered in algae. Have you ever cleaned it? Soon you will find the body of this fish floating in the aquarium." Mhok complained while wiping the fish tank, making an annoying sound. "Why don't you clean it up quickly? What are you waiting for?"

"I'm going out with you to clean up. Don't let my fish die, otherwise you will die in his place too."

"I thought you didn't want to leave your bedroom." Mhok shot back quickly.

"Hurry up!" The nong hurriedly urged the other person to quickly clean the fish tank.

Then Mhok set up a table in the center of the garden and wiped it clean. Day is sitting not far away. Mhok kept mumbling as he worked. He didn't ask any questions, he just described what he was doing - removing the goldfish, scrubbing the rocks, changing the water, etc. This made it clearer what kind of person Mhok looked like in Day's mind.

Day felt something inside him. Mhok might seem a bit rude and direct, and almost never spoke softly, but he was probably the one most willing to put himself in other people's shoes.

"It's done." Mhok said after about thirty minutes.

Day moved closer to the glass tank and the scenery in front of him became clearer than before. The cute little goldfish was swimming happily, probably because someone had cleaned his house. He continued swimming for a while.

"Take me back to my room."

"Why do you wanna rush back?" asked Mhok, who was indifferent to the request. "The flowers in the yard are blooming. What kind of plant is this? It smells good. The atmosphere here is much better than the gloomy bedroom.. I don't know why you like being in that room so much."

"As you wish."

The nong frowned, annoyed by the criticism he faced. But Mhok was not angry, on the contrary, he smiled secretly. He stepped back, grabbed Day's hand and placed in it something that looked like a flower.

"Smell the flowers, it can help relieve anxiety."

Although Day really didn't want to follow Mhok's instructions, he had to admit that the atmosphere in the garden was really very nice. After losing his normal vision, the nong has always wanted to be alone and almost never left his room. If not necessary, he ate in the bedroom, leaving the house only for doctor's appointments. Day decided to let time pass slowly, smelling the fragrance of the flower in his hand. He wasn't even sure about what kind of flower it was.

"Oh, has Day come back from the United States? Why didn't Night tell me?" A girl's voice came into their ears. It seemed like it wasn't far from them, maybe it was coming from the front door. Day recognized the voice of one of Night's female friends. A bad feeling immediately came to his heart. He didn't want anyone in the world to know that he had a vision problem, especially acquaintances, because this would inevitably lead him to get entangled in the thing he hates most in his life... that is, pity.

"Take me back to my room right now."

"But..."

"Now!" His voice was urgent and frustrated, all of that showed the seriousness of the situation.

Mhok immediately grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the noisy crowd. It seemed that Night had brought some friends home and unfortunately they were getting particularly loud. The screams mixed with the sounds of his brother trying to control and calm the situation, but the nong no longer cared about those things. He wanted to be as far away from everyone as possible, away from everyone's control and suspicions.

"Just leave me alone. Don't come into my room again until I call you." Day demanded sternly, no trace of softness in his tone. He felt Mhok's embarrassment and nervousness, but he didn't want to care too much. Mhok, like everyone else, couldn't last long.

He didn't need to establish intimacy or trust with anyone. He has had ten caregivers, Mhok was just one of them.

"Go out..." The nong's voice was firm enough to make the hesitant person back away after putting down the fish tank. Day closed the door and returned to his own world. He closed the curtains and escaped into the darkness. He took off all his clothes, grabbed a towel, and went into the bathroom to take a cold shower to calm his uneasiness.

Day soaked in the bathtub, playing soft music. He placed a towel in the bathtub and laid calmly in the water, letting his body be surrounded by the cold water. His breathing slowly slowed down, and his heart was beating heavily with various thoughts. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to fall asleep.

SLAM!

Suddenly... it seemed as if a sound came from somewhere far away.

Tap Tap. A sound seemed to come from far away.

Tap Tap. The sound gradually came closer.

That loud noise made the nong, submerged in the water, suddenly wake up scared. The sound of someone walking could be heard not far from him in the shower. Day quickly grabbed a small towel to hide his body, but it was probably useless.

"Who is there!"

There was silence.

"I said, who's there!"

"It's me...Mhok."

The sound felt like a cold current from the top of Day's head to his toes. Mhok, what right did he have to barge into the bathroom and more importantly, how could he see Day naked like that?

"I was afraid something could happen to you. I called for a while, but no one answered. I didn't have the key, so I had to rush in. I was afraid there was an emergency."

That may have been the first time Day heard Mhok speaking less harshly than usual and with a gentle heart. But no matter what the reason was, it was something he couldn't stand. His heart was beating uncontrollably, faster and faster, as if it was about to explode. Becoming a bullet ready to shoot anyone who forced him into that difficult situation.

"I want you to leave my home, immediately!"

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