“Yeah, I still have to unpack a lot and buy new furniture. And what professors have given me to work on and study is a lot. But I’m sure I can get all of it done in time.”

“If you need any help, just ask me. I will try my best to help you out.” Moon felt bad for always turning down his offers to help him. He didn’t like to receive help from others, hated it when someone did something for him and he couldn’t do anything in return. He hated it although people had been paid to help him for so long. He hated it because people had been paid to help him for so long. But this time Moon stayed quiet. He didn’t turn down his offer, didn’t want to be ungrateful. He just thanked Keb and stayed quiet afterward.

“Do you know who wants to see you?” Keb asked Moon when he opened the door to the building the room of the theater club was in. He let Moon enter first, held the door open for him. Moon smiled and bowed slightly to say thank you while walking past him.

“Meow. Khem said she is a really talented student graduating in art this year. He said she has a bright future ahead of her already. Do you know her?”

“I don’t know half of the people Khem knows,” Keb admitted. “But I think I have heard of her before.”

“And I thought it was a Thai thing to know everyone,” Moon laughed. “I was already scared I would have to make this many friends.” Keb also started laughing. Hearing Moon’s laugh made him happier than anything in this world had ever had.

“Khem sure knows a lot of people. I don’t even know how he can stay close to every friend he has. But he somehow manages it and is an amazing friend to everyone. You might not know it yet, but you can depend on Khem. He is one of a kind.”

“Yeah, he seems like a very good friend.” Moon thought about all the things he had experienced with Khem in only one day. He remembered the smile Khem had shown him this morning. He remembered how Khem had greeted him happily and hadn’t been afraid to talk to him. He remembered how excited Khem had been when he got to show Moon around the university and introduce him to so many people. Moon wanted to stay friends with Khem for a long time. He wanted to spend so much more time with him and get close to him. He wanted to experience that love and care Keb was talking about.

“Here it is,” Keb pointed at a door. Big and colorful letters were cut out of paper and put together the word ‘theater club’ on the door. “If I’m not wrong, they also use the atrium to practice for their plays. But this is their official club room.” Moon thanked Keb once again for bringing him here although Keb was even more thankful than him. He was thankful for getting to spend some more time with Moon before this break would end and they had to part ways again. They walked closer to the door, Keb knocked and opened the door for Moon only seconds later. Moon stepped into the room, was closely followed by Keb. Keb distanced himself from Moon enough to not accidentally touch him, but he still wanted to be close to him.

“Nong Moon,” a loud female voice appeared from the other side of the room. Moon flinched a little which Keb noticed. With only this flinch, he could tell that Moon didn’t like loud and surprising voices. Keb promised himself to never be loud around him in the same second he noticed Moon’s fear. Both of them watched a young woman running towards them. She was wearing the usual uniform for female students, a black skirt and a white blouse. But she seemed to refuse to follow the dress code completely. Instead of the black, flat shoes which they were all supposed to wear, she was wearing black heels. Her long and black hair was falling over her shoulder and the waves bounced with every step she took. She looked like the stereotype of a popular female senior student every female freshman looked up to and every male freshman crushed on.

“Hello,” Moon greeted the familiar face and put his hands together. Moon expected Meow to slow down once she was near them. He expected her to stand still with distance to him and greet him with a little bow. But she didn’t stop. She came closer every second. Knowing what was about to happen, Moon stopped breathing again. His heartbeat increased and he just wanted to run away from here and never come back. Meow wanted to hug Moon. She wanted to touch him. Moon tried to prepare himself for the pain he was about to feel although no preparation would ever be enough. Moon wasn’t ready to be touched again, couldn’t take the feeling of being touched by a stranger twice in such a short time. He couldn’t take the feeling again, couldn’t survive that kind of pain. And the next thing Moon felt was emptiness. Not the bad kind of emptiness. Not the kind of emptiness he usually dealt with whenever someone touched him. It was a kind of emptiness that calmed down his heart again, that made breathing a little less painful. Moon didn’t realize he had closed his eyes until the moment he opened them again. The first thing he saw was Meow’s surprised look. Her eyes were a little bigger than usual and her mouth was partly opened. The shock was written all over her face. The shock of her wrist being held by a strong hand. The shock of being pulled back the moment her body should have touched Moon’s. Keb had saved Moon from the pain of being touched by someone he only knew the name of. Someone he didn’t want to be touched by. Right before Meow had wrapped her arms around Moon’s body, Keb had stepped out of Moon’s shadow. He had stepped to the side, had grabbed Meow’s wrist, and had pulled her back gently. Keb didn’t want to hurt her, but he also couldn’t take the thought of Moon having to go through this twice in such a short time. He dared to hurt a stranger to save someone, who he also didn’t know, from a worse kind of pain.