Chapter One: Mee Noi
Istare at Sud in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I’m completely serious.Please, Noi.”
“No way. Ask Team to do it.” I go back to doing my microeconomics.
“Team!” Sud scoffs like that is the dumbest suggestion ever.
When I ignore him, he slaps my textbook closed and leans forward over the table until I can smell the soap he used in the shower that morning.
“Look at me, Noi.”
I lift my gaze to meet Sud’s. His eyes are brownish green, inherited from his Danish grandmother, along with hair of a rich, dark brown rather than the black of his parents and little brother. He got his height, easy smile, and handsome features from his father, a famous actor in Thailand.
“This is my theater arts exam for the semester! Everyone participating in it gets a grade. Not you, obviously, since youaren’t in the program, but script writer, director, camera person, and me. All of our grades are on the line.”
“That’s not fair! You can’t put all that on me. Like you just pointed out, I’m not in Theater Arts. I’m not an actor. Doesn’t it make more sense for you to get one of the guys in your class to do it?”
“No, because this is boys’ love and I need you. My best friend. The guy I grew up with. I can’t do those scenes with anyone else.”
Sud’s always wanted to be an actor. He told me that the videos for this assignment are going to be viewed by producers at Rainbow TV, a well-known production company that specializes in boys’ love dramas. Due to several of their executives being alumni, their company works closely with our university, scouting much of their talent from the theater arts department and even recruiting interns from other faculties for staff jobs. Like many young guys going into acting, Sud’s convinced that if he can get a role in a popular boys’ love drama, it could be a catalyst for his career; and, in this case, all the videos turned in for the exam will be entered into a contest, the winners of which will either get to audition for an upcoming boys’ love series, or, if they didn’t act, get put on lists to be interns for directing, photography, or scriptwriting.
I frown. “What kind of scenes are we talking about?”
Was Sud expecting us to kiss or something? That would be weird. Wouldn’t it?
“A romantic scene. No kissing, though.” Sud flutters his lashes at me. “Disappointed?”
Suddenly flustered and annoyed that I’m flustered, I smack his arm. “Shut up. Not everyone wants you.” Just a good portion of the campus.
Sud laughs.
“Please, Noi? If I could win the audition, it could be the beginning of my acting career.”
He’s been hovering over my study table in the middle of the university’s student center, and when I don’t answer, he drops into the chair next to mine and rests his hand on my arm. “Explain to me why you don’t want to do it.”
“Well, gee, I don’t know. Maybe because I don’t know anything aboutacting?“ I say, not meeting his eyes because I know as soon as I do, I’ll cave.
“I’ll teach you everything you need to know, but it really is just a short scene. Any other reason?”
I squirm in my chair. I don’t want to admit I don’t feel good enough to be Sud’s romantic interest in a scene, so I throw in the towel and say, “Fine. I’ll do it.”
Sud’s grin is huge. “Yeah?”
I nod resignedly. “Just don’t get mad when I’m not good at it. There’s a reason pictures of me aren’t all over the Best Boys page like yours are.”
“Yeah, it’s that you refuse to let them take any photos to post,” Sud says.
“Those girls are just being nice because I’m standing right there when they ask for a picture of you.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Sud says. “If you’d pull your head out of your books once in a while, you’d see how popular you are.”
“Any attention I get is because I’m with you.” Spotting a pretty girl coming toward our table with a bag covered in heart stickers, I add, “You’re the one who gets all the love confessions.”
With a shy smile and a wai, the girl sets the bag on the table, giggling like crazy when Sud thanks her and then hurrying away to her group of friends across the room.
“I’m approachable and you’re not,” Sud says.