Chapter Twelve Sud
For the next two days after the audition, I’m on cloud nine.
I have a good feeling about the audition.
It went much easier than I anticipated. I’m so proud of Noi.
He did so well, and I know he was uncomfortable.
When Koman questions me later about the audition, I only have positive things to say.
But the third day comes and goes, and then the fourth, and I start to question myself.
Did we really do that well? Maybe we looked stiff.
Maybe the kiss looked like two best friends kissing while trying too hard to look like lovers.
Khun Intapong didn’t say how long it would take for them to make a decision, and she promised she’d contact us whether we did or did not get the parts.
After a week, I’ve convinced myself we didn’t get them and she forgot her promise.
I stop fantasizing about playing the secondary character in a drama, telling myself there will be other chances.
Noi doesn’t mention it, for which I’m thankful because I don’t want him to see how disappointed I am. I know him—he’ll blame himself.
We’re sitting in the canteen eating between classes, the buzz of conversation around us. I’m pushing my food around on my plate, thinking about lost opportunities when Noi nudges my foot with his under the table.
“Eat,” he says, pointing to my food.
I use my fork to flick a piece of pork onto my spoon and put it into my mouth.
“P’Sud?” I turn to see a tall girl with thick dark hair and sharp features standing by the table.
“Sawasdee-khap,” I greet her.
“I’m Cora.”
Cora. I frown, trying to remember where I’ve heard that name.
“I put some lemon cookies in your backpack one time, along with a note.”
Oh, yeah. “They were good cookies. Thanks for thinking of me.”
Cora glances at Mee Noi, who is looking at her like he wishes she’d get on with whatever it is she’s going to say. I’m not sure what’s up with him because he usually doesn’t pay any attention when I talk to girls.
“Uh, I wanted to tell you that I really like you, P’Sud.” Her face blushes prettily as she looks at me with shining eyes.
“Thank you,” I say. “I’m, uh, flattered, but I’m not really looking for a girlfriend right now.” This kind of thing is always so awkward.
Cora deflates a little before murmuring, “Please enjoy the cookies anyway,” and walking away. After she’s out of sight, Noi picks up the bag of cookies and tosses them into the large trash bin behind him.
“What did you do that for? She actually makes pretty good cookies.”
“If you can’t eat your lunch, you can’t have cookies,” he says, returning his attention to his meal.
I want to point out that I can put them away for later and even share them with him, but the look on his face says to drop it. So, I decide to leave him to his weird mood.
Later that day, I’m in the shower with my hair lathered up when my cell phone rings.
I have the ringer on high, so I clearly hear it behind the sound of the water.
Without bothering to rinse, I jump out of the shower and grab it off the counter, telling myself it’s probably just a call from Noi or someone else.
I don’t even waste time looking at the screen.
“Hello?”
“Khun Sutthipong Chanthaphan?” a male voice asks.
“Yes.”
“This is Khun Intapong’s PA, Trim. She would like to schedule a meeting with you and Khun Somprasong tomorrow at three.”
I am so excited I barely hear the rest of what he says.
Once off the phone, I get back under the water and rinse all the soap off me, then I dress and run to Noi’s dorm.
As soon as he answers the door, I grab him up and swing him around the room, noticing too late that Jess and a younger girl are sitting on Jess’s bed, staring at the spectacle I’m making.
“Sud, what are you doing? Put me down!”
I do, and Noi gives me an exasperated look before he introduces the girl as Jess’s little sister.
“What is wrong with you, anyway?” Noi asks.
Grinning, I tell him about the phone call.
“What?” Noi’s eyes get big and round. “That’s wonderful, Sud! But did you say tomorrow at three? I have a class! I guess I could get Bua to take notes for me.”
“Awesome! Thank you!” I pull him in for a hug, and Jess and his sister congratulate us.
“I’ll be at your place by two tomorrow,” I tell Noi.
***
“Would you calm down?” Noi says when he gets into my car the following afternoon. “Seriously, you’re vibrating.”
I laugh. “I’ll try. It’s just—they wouldn’t be calling us in just to turn us down, Noi! That guy would have just told me on the phone.”
Noi smiles at me. “Congratulations.”
I groan. “Stop! We’ll celebrate when she says it.”
But when Khun Intapong does say it—offering both me and Noi the secondary leads in Hearts Set on Fire—I’m struck dumb. It’s like a hive of bees have taken up in my head. When they finally clear out and I can hear again, Noi’s worrying his lip with his teeth.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Um. It’s just…” He glances at Khun Intapong, who is looking at us expectantly, bright red lips stretched in a smile.
“I’m not…er. I’m not an actor,” Noi finishes. “I’m not even in the theater arts program. I was just helping Sud out.”
“Oh, that doesn’t matter. We take new people in all the time.
You’ll be trained in workshops by the acting coach.
No worries. Now, I have a contract for you to sign, but I assume you’ll want to talk to an agent first. I’ll go get Khun Sukprasert.
He’ll be your agent unless you want to hire one for yourself outside the company. ”
Khun Intapong stands and leaves the room, and I turn to Noi.
“You don’t want to do this,” I say, coming to my senses. All this time, I’ve been talking about “when we get the parts,” but I’m the only one who wants a part in this series. Noi auditioned to help me out. Again.
Noi doesn’t get a chance to say anything before Khun Intapong breezes back into the room with a man who looks to be around forty, dressed in dark pants and a vibrant blue shirt unbuttoned to mid-chest. His shiny boots have at least a two-inch heel.
“This is Khun Sukprasert—“ Khun Intapong says as the man surges forward to grab our hands, squeezing each of them in turn.
“Call me Sign, please. We’re going to be very close from now on. Unless you have your own agent?” When I shake my head, he claps his hands together. “Good, then! Shall we go into the common room?” He heads out the door, and Noi and I have no choice but to follow.
“Don’t worry,” I whisper to Noi. “I’ll tell Khun Intapong.”
“This is our workshop room,” our new agent tells us as we walk into a large space with mirrors along two walls and a few tables with chairs set up on the side. A couple of young men and an older woman sit in the corner reading scripts.
“This is where we will get you ready for filming, my darlings. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this series.
I watched your audition. You two have so much chemistry!
Oh—has anyone given you copies of the novels?
They’re on my desk. You’ll have to read them, of course.
” With a graceful one-eighty, he leads us out of the room and down the hall, the heels of his boots clicking on the shiny wood floor.
“Have a seat,” he says when we reach a small, colorfully decorated office. He indicates two blue upholstered chairs, then turns and begins shuffling through the piles of papers and books on his desk.
“Tada!” The agent turns back to us, holding out two paperbacks, one in each hand. We take them, and he sashays around his desk, sits down, and crosses his long legs. Smiling like he couldn’t be more pleased, he studies us with artfully kohl-smudged eyes.
“You’re both in school here in Bangkok, right?”
“Yes, Khun, khap,” Noi answers.
“Ah, ah. None of that khun and khap stuff. I told you we are going to be very close. You can call me P’Sign.
Now, I’ll need your class schedules.“ He hands us each a pen and a pad of paper. Noi immediately begins writing, so I do, too. I’m not sure why Noi’s going along with this when he isn’t going to be taking the part, but we can talk about it when we get a moment alone.
I’m feeling an odd combination of excitement and…
what? I have to call it dread. Because without Noi, I’m wondering if Rainbow TV will still want me.
And if they do, who will they get to be my partner?
The thought is like a stone in my stomach, even though I should have been preparing myself for this all along.
P’Sign keeps chatting away, telling us how he occasionally acts in a series as an uncle or a neighbor.
When I hear talking in the hallway, I look out the open office door just as two young men come into view.
Because I’ve done my homework concerning Rainbow TV, I recognize them immediately as the most popular shipped couple in the company.
“Tar! Payu!” P’Sign calls them into his office. “This is Sud and Noi, our newest hires, although they haven’t signed the contracts yet.” He winks at us. “They’ll be playing the secondary couple in your series.”
We all politely give the wai. I hand P’Sign my list of classes, and so does Noi.
“Welcome to the company,” P’Tar says. He’s very handsome—a mixture of Thai and Korean genes that have given him light skin, a prominent jaw, and large eyes.
I’ve followed his work for a while and know he’s twenty-six and that he played in several popular Korean bl’s before moving to Thailand and partnering with P’Payu, who is a couple of years younger than he is.
As Rainbow TV’s most popular couple, they’ll bring a lot of eyes to the series.
“Mee Noi…what a cute name,” P’Payu says. He’s shorter than P’Tar by a couple of inches, and has a cute, pert nose. “We’re going to be friends, I can tell. Come with me.” He hooks his arm with Noi’s. “We’ll be right back!” P’Payu calls over his shoulder as they disappear out the door.
P’Sign smiles at me. “I have a very good feeling about you two as the secondary ship. The producers loved your audition. Get ready for your life to change.”
Sweat breaks out on the back of my neck. I want this, but everything’s going so fast. “We, um, we’re in school right now.”
P’Sign flaps a hand at me, his gold rings catching the light from the ceiling.
“Don’t worry about that. Most of our actors are in school.
We work around it. Isn’t that right, Nong?
” he says to P’Tar, who nods. “This series won’t begin filming until you’re on summer break. You’ll be doing workshops until then.”
Swallowing, I nod. I want to be on cloud nine, but I have to wonder if all this is going to come crashing down around me when Noi tells them he isn’t interested in acting.