Read The Stage of Love :: Chapter 8

Dan merely nodded slightly, almost as if he were hesitant to agree.

“So, what got you into theater?”

He had ventured into completely wrong territory, as Dan’s forehead lines soon hardened and his breathing grew as heavy as a hammer. When their eye contact was abruptly broken, Wave realized how much it bothered him, but he couldn’t back down. Deep down, he knew Dan had been forced into joining the company due to some family issue, because Marco had told him that, but he wanted to hear the story from Dan himself.

“Um... I just wanted to understand, you don’t seem to like being there very much.” With the lack of reaction, he started to change tactics. Now the only way to get an answer, even if it was just a look, was to push a little more. “I think I know what you want! You dream of being an actor, don’t you?”

That hit its mark, as Dan nearly choked on his food and his eyes widened as he looked at Wave as if he had just uttered one of the greatest blasphemies of life. Then, the tattooed guy shook his head vehemently, though it wasn’t really necessary.

“No? I thought...” He had to lie. “So... you’d be more comfortable with a behind-the-scenes job, maybe in production?”

Dan’s breathing turned into a nearly relieved sigh, and Wave noticed that his eyes wanted to say 'yes,' even though he hadn’t given any sign this time.

“That kind of job really suits you better,” Wave began. “The problem is, even if you don’t want to be an actor or anything like that, all new members have to go through auditions and work at least once on stage, even if it’s just as an extra.”

He lied. Wave could count on one hand the number of times he had lied in his entire life. But he had a small plan in his head and knew that, unfortunately, he had to start with this little lie. In reality, no one was required to audition if they didn’t want to; that would only bring discomfort and highly undesirable situations in a theater company where the goal was to make everyone feel comfortable. He felt bad for lying, but his intentions were so much greater that he tried to forget about it.

Dan seemed like a guy who was going through an unwanted situation in his life at that moment and was placed in the theater as a sort of punishment. That was terrible; after all, if the theater was a punishment, how could he see it as something good? This made Wave feel that his mission there was truly difficult, but he was motivated because it troubled him that someone could view something he loved so much as a burden. He genuinely wanted to make Dan like, even if just a little, the theater.

When he mentioned the false rule that everyone had to participate in auditions, Dan reacted almost in complete agony, even though his expressions didn’t change. It was all in his eyes, those extremely expressive and striking eyes.

“Actually, if you’re that uncomfortable, there’s a way for you to avoid even the auditions...” Wave started, casting a very obvious bait, which Dan quickly bit. “I’m an Assistant Director, you know that, right?”

The question was rhetorical, but he stopped there, saying nothing more. He knew he had Dan’s full attention at that moment and wanted at least some response from him to keep the conversation going—something more than just a nod. The tattooed guy wrinkled his brow and bit his lip, drumming his fingers on the table for a few seconds before grabbing his phone and typing something quickly:

[Dan Zanon]

What do I need to do?

“Well, I don’t know if you noticed, but at the next meeting we’ll have the first auditions, and I can make sure you don’t have to go through them if you meet with me the night before.” He had a genuine smile on his face.

[Dan Zanon]

Meet you where and for what?

“Well, that’ll be a surprise,” he said, still looking at the message on his phone and then turning to his junior. “Trust me, okay?”

A sigh was his only response, and the rest of the dinner wrapped up quickly with only a few monologues from Wave and no real expressive reactions from Dan. Soon, they were on their way out. And now, you want to know about the car key? Well, when they biked back to the park and were about to resume their search, Wave found the shiny object, clearly visible, lying next to his vehicle. He was very confused and swore to the other guy that he had looked exactly in that spot but hadn’t found anything.

To this day, we don’t know if it was fate, elves, or just Wave’s inability to look for things properly. But it didn’t matter, right? They both went home that night, but the older guy had a smile on his face as if he had leveled up in a really tough video game.

Two days later, at university, Wave was with his friends, Neo and Tee, at a table outside the building, discussing random topics:

“I think you’re being too hard on the freshmen just to impress the girls!” Tee was debating with Neo, accusing him of intensifying some of the punishments for the newcomers.

In recent days, Neo had made several freshmen run more than fifty laps around the engineering campus just because they forgot to greet him. He was a somewhat grumpy guy who intimidated the newbies, but it was all an act, and he took advantage of it. Wave and Neo were good friends and got along well despite being completely different from each other.

“And since when do you think I need that kind of thing to get the girls’ attention?” He bragged.

The discussion continued for a few minutes while Wave watched a bird that had landed nearby. Then, in the direction of the same bird, he spotted a tall guy with an Eye of Horus tattoo on his neck, sitting at a table studying with some classmates. Involuntarily, Wave stood up and waved happily at the guy, who saw him and turned his face away completely.

“What are you doing?” Neo asked, grabbing Wave’s shoulder, and when he looked in the direction Wave was staring, he added, “The mixed-race freshman—where do you know him from?”

“I’ve seen him around,” Wave replied casually, still looking in that direction, pressing his lips together when ignored. He then pulled out his phone and began typing in the chat with the guy.

[Wave Nawat]

Hi! Why didn’t you wave back? Serious Boy, it’s really rude to do that to a senior.

Dan picked up his phone, read the message, and put it back in his pocket without any reaction or response, which made Wave even more determined.

[Wave Nawat]

Hey! Hey! Are you really going to ignore me like this?

This time, the guy didn’t even take his phone out of his pocket when he heard the notification sound, which made a challenging smile appear on Wave’s face.

[Wave Nawat]

You really think you can ignore me?

Serious Boy!

With each message sent, the notification sound echoed from Dan’s pocket, causing everyone at his table to stop their conversations and raise their eyebrows, casting furtive glances in his direction. Wave could only see him take a deep breath, pull out his phone, glare at the screen with a sharp look, and then return that look to the person on the other side of the outdoor area.

Wave grinned widely at this and waved at the guy, who didn’t move a muscle to respond, prompting Wave to start typing again:

[Wave Nawat]
Now that I’ve got your attention, I want to confirm our plans for tonight!
Here’s the address—meet me there at 8 PM.
50 Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok
I’ll be waiting for you, okay?

Dan glanced at the phone screen once more, but didn’t look back at Wave or respond. He put the phone away and went back to his studies. But that didn’t discourage Wave, who was confident Dan would show up.

“Who are you texting with that look on your face?” Neo asked, raising an eyebrow and narrowing his eyes as he looked Wave up and down.

“No one!” Wave said with a smile, trying to play it cool. “Come on! Class is about to start.”

“You’re acting weird…”

That night, Wave took a long shower and dressed up a bit more than usual. After all, it was an important night where he had big plans to be the best Assistant Director ever. He went straight to the address he’d given Dan and arrived at least half an hour early.

The address was for a movie theater—one of the oldest in Bangkok, maintaining a classic, charming atmosphere far superior to the usual mall cinemas. The scene was quite odd: Wave was well-dressed and fresh, with a bucket of popcorn in one hand and a soda in the other, anxiously waiting by the entrance of the theater. To anyone passing by, he looked like someone waiting for a romantic date. But in Wave’s mind, it was just an important step in his mission to make Dan fall in love with theater. It’s funny to think about the lengths he was going to just to achieve this goal and how oblivious he was to how it all appeared.

Wave was unable to see much. He didn’t realize how much he’d prepared for this, how well he’d dressed, how early he’d arrived without even planning, or how nervous he was at the thought that Dan might not show up. But he did notice Dan’s tall, composed figure turning the corner, how well he was dressed, and how the moonlight perfectly highlighted his serious features.

Yet, he was again unable to see or acknowledge that his heart had skipped a few beats upon seeing him.

Yeah, Wave was starting something that went far beyond his initial innocent plan.