Chapter Text
What should I have for dinner?
Namtan thought as she walked with Milk, her best friend. The first day of classes for seniors had just started, and Namtan already couldn’t wait for the semester to end. As a college student majoring in the Film department, Namtan had learned the beauty of peace the hard way.
Which unfortunately excluded the circle she was currently in.
And by circle, she meant Milk, Emi, and View. They were the epitome of extroverts.
Namtan was an extrovert herself, but she was just so mesmerized by the idea of filming that people would mistake her for an introvert if they didn’t know her well enough.
Growing up, she had been the athlete between her and her stepsister, Becky. She juggled football and running, mostly running whenever she had free time. But college came, and her priorities changed the moment she learned every button on her Canon 3000D.
She still hit the gym regularly though, arguing that it kept her mind at ease whenever she burned out.
Beside her, Milk could be seen waving at the students who literally paved a path just to let the two walk through campus.
If Namtan were to describe her friend, she would say Milk was the sunshine of everyone in this university.
Milk was easily one of the most popular students in GMM University.
Namtan wanted to believe it was only because of her successful volleyball career, but she’d be lying if she said it wasn’t also because of her beauty.
Which worked perfectly for Namtan’s growing reputation as the “mysterious quiet girl” of campus, because Milk naturally got the spotlight while Namtan happily played the shadow behind it.
The way they became friends was honestly ridiculous, now that Namtan thought about it. She remembered sitting on a nearby bench during freshman year when Milk accidentally smacked her with a volleyball, causing her favorite camera to crash dramatically onto the ground like it had just died in a historical war film.
Milk apologized for three business days straight after that and insisted on paying for the repairs.
Destiny worked weirdly after that because Namtan, being a freshman film major, and Milk, being the university’s newest volleyball phenomenon, kept bumping into each other everywhere.
And somehow, that led them to where they were now; best friends. Namtan honestly couldn’t ask for anything better.
“Lost in your own thoughts again, Director?” Milk whispered near her ear, her hand still casually waving at random students greeting them good morning.
Namtan laughed. “Go focus on the spotlight, supernova.”
“God, that's not comforting at all.”
“Does it have to be?”
Then the two burst into laughter.
Their moments had always been like this.
Speaking of her other two friends, View and Emi soon appeared arm-in-arm, also waving dramatically at the students who parted like the Red Sea for their entrance.
Which was honestly cringe, in Namtan’s opinion.
Their popularity was unhinged, to say the least. Unfortunately, that included her too, because as much as she hated unnecessary attention, she loved being with her overly popular friends.
Emi was basically the pride of the Accountancy department, while View looked like she walked straight out of a tourism management brochure.
“Hey, guys!” they greeted.
Naturally, both Milk and Namtan waved back.
“What do you say about a party after class?” View proposed, wiggling her eyebrows like someone who would do something stupid.
“Can’t,” Namtan answered bluntly.
Emi dramatically raised both arms. “And why can’t you come again, our dearest director?”
“I’m busy with script reading with my team, remember?” she answered, already expecting their reactions.
She loved parties, honestly. She loved the noise just as much as she loved the eerie silence of being alone. But now that they were seniors, Namtan figured she should focus on her program first, especially since she was painfully aware of how chaotic she became once drunk.
“And here I thought I could introduce all of you to my girlfriend,” Emi pouted dramatically.
“You have a girlfriend?!” all three of them deadpanned at the same time.
Emi grinned sheepishly. “A hot one too, by the way.”
“Who’s the miserable one?” Namtan asked immediately.
“HEY!”
View raised both hands. “Telling that girl she’s lucky would honestly be a lie, bud.”
Milk laughed loudly at the two of them.
“But seriously,” she said, “who’s the girl?”
Emi’s grimace instantly turned into a proud smile.
“Bonnie,” she said proudly.
Milk raised an eyebrow. “Bonnie?”
“Yes, why?”
“Well…” Milk smiled shyly. “I might have a crush on one of her friends, so the name sounded familiar.”
Namtan glanced sideways at her friend.
That was surprising.
Because despite being very much into women, Namtan had never actually seen Milk seriously like someone ever since freshman year. Mostly because volleyball practically consumed her entire existence. Still, Namtan felt happy for her.
“Woah, who is it?” Emi beamed excitedly. “I can absolutely play cupid.”
“It’s Film… Film Rachanun.”
The moment the name left Milk’s mouth, Bonnie and her friend group entered through the university gates.
And at the exact same time, Namtan snapped her head away from Milk.
Rachanun?
“Just look at her,” Milk sighed dreamily, softly pointing toward the group before stopping Emi from loudly calling Bonnie over. “Isn’t she so pretty?”
“But don’t get her attention yet!"
“Why? This is literally your perfect chance!”
“I want to make my move myself.” Milk puffed her chest proudly. “I’ll make her mine, trust me.”
Ironically, Namtan believed her.
Milk wasn’t hard to love.
In fact, if Milk had been Namtan’s type, she probably would’ve fallen for her years ago.
But she wasn’t.
Her type was apparently the exact same girl her best friend was currently crushing on.
To be fair, Namtan preferred calling it a mild interest. Film was famously known around their department as the muse of directors because literally everyone wanted to cast her in their films. But she had always been too shy to ask, especially since Film seemed permanently booked and honestly didn’t look like the type who’d agree to star in Namtan’s projects anyway.
Especially considering most of her films involved horror, sapphics, trauma, emotional damage, and occasionally ghosts with unresolved feelings.
Was Film even part of the community? Namtan honestly didn’t know.
And she didn’t really want to care either because the idea of her and Film together sounded impossible.
Unlike Film and Milk.
“What do you think, bro?” Milk suddenly asked, turning toward Namtan.
Namtan immediately snapped her attention back to avoid looking suspicious.
The thought of Milk pursuing her crush… didn’t sound too terrible, right?
Milk had everything. Looks, brains, athleticism, good personality, financial stability, she's basically a walking green flag with dazzling stone attached on the flag.
If Namtan had to entrust her crush to someone, it would easily be Milk.
“Yeah,” she forced out with a smile. “I think you’d look great together.”
Milk grinned brightly at her. “See? Even the director can see our chemistry.”
Soon, the four of them parted ways toward their respective buildings.
Namtan gripped the strap of her bag a little tighter than usual.
She should’ve been thinking about her next project, but instead, her mind kept drifting back to the thought of her best friend crushing on her secret crush.
Secret crush.
“Forget it…”
───
After the absolutely terrorizing hours of her first day, Namtan immediately decided to head to the nearest film developing shop near her apartment.
She had spent the last week of vacation capturing the beauty of Bangkok through her lens. She always loved how simple the city felt while somehow still giving people enough hope to continue living their lives fully.
It was beautiful.
But before heading to the shop, Namtan decided she needed snacks first so she wouldn’t die of boredom while waiting for the films to develop.
And so, she entered the nearest convenience store.
Which, if she remembered correctly, had existed ever since she first learned how to pay for things herself just so she could buy her favorite gummies.
Though after becoming busy with filming and gym sessions, the store slowly became irrelevant to her life.
Except for one thing, the gummy worms.
Upon entering, she greeted the cashier before immediately heading toward the aisle she knew by heart.
Namtan still remembered the layout perfectly.
Specifically the sacred route toward the greatest invention mankind had ever created.
“Bingo,” she whispered proudly, grabbing a giant bag. “Accompany me through my sadness, my soldiers.”
Aside from the reason she mentioned earlier, another reason hid behind her sudden gummy cravings.
The scene earlier with Milk.
And how she confidently declared her crush on Film Rachanun.
To be fair, they did look good together. Almost everyone in school knew their names. Alumni, freshmen, random guards, probably even the janitors.
And Namtan?
She was just the person behind the cameras.
Sure, she was fairly known within their department, but she definitely wasn’t campus-famous like Milk or Film.
Namtan chuckled bitterly. This was a love story she shouldn’t interfere with.
As a director herself, she certainly wasn’t about to become the unnecessary second lead causing emotional traffic.
So instead, she wandered around the store, contemplating whether or not to buy ice cream too.
Even if it absolutely destroyed her calorie intake for the day. She still needed to maintain her muscles through heartbreak, obviously.
“There’s no more cookies and cream?” she murmured sadly while staring into the freezer.
“You can have mine.”
A voice suddenly spoke beside her, causing Namtan to nearly leave her soul behind inside the freezer section.
But that wasn’t even the worst part.
Because she recognized that voice.
That’s..
“Film?”
The woman beside her chuckled softly in surprise. “You know my name?”
Then she casually held the cone toward Namtan. “You can take this, P'Namtan.”
Blurting out her crush’s name already made Namtan want to dissolve into a puddle on the floor. But hearing Film actually know her name? That sped up the process by at least three times.
Namtan carefully accepted the final hazelnut cone, trying not to let out a squeak like a rat that has been stomped on by an extremely hot woman.
“You’re pretty popular, Miss,” she managed to say while trying to sound normal.
This was her best friend’s future girlfriend, she reminded herself repeatedly. Why would she panic? She should learn how not to panic, before Milk thinks more of her feeling towards her future girlfriend.
“Not as popular as you, director.”
Namtan nearly choked.
“I..I’m not,” she stammered, face burning alive. “I should probably get going. Thank you for the cone.”
She knows her as the miserable director, as well.
A thousand questions immediately attacked her brain.
Because based on her impression of Film, she never imagined her to be someone who actually knew directors by name.
Especially not Namtan, not her.
After all, they had never worked together before.
Mostly because Film was known for rejecting almost every project offered to her, unless it came from her close friend Mim, a cinematography major and one of Film’s best friends.
And before anyone judged Namtan for knowing all this information, she was not creepy.
She was simply… observant.
“This please,” Namtan sighed in relief as she finally reached the counter.
“And this too, please.” A familiar voice appeared behind her again, dropping an alarming amount of gummies and chocolates onto the counter.
The cashier looked between the two women in confusion, probably wondering why his usually dead store suddenly looked like a university reunion episode.
“Are you together or is this separ...”
“We’re not together, sir.”
“Yes.”
Namtan stared at Film in absolute horror.
What was this woman saying?!
“What she meant,” Namtan quickly interrupted while fighting for her life, “is that we came here together, but we’re paying separately.”
The cashier looked at them suspiciously before scanning Namtan’s snacks.
“Uh, okay. The total for you is–”
“Thank you!”
Namtan immediately grabbed her things and escaped before her soul fully left her body.
“She forgot to pay!” the cashier gasped dramatically, already preparing to chase after the supposed criminal.
Film simply looked amused as she watched Namtan disappear outside, hugging her snacks like her life hanged on it.
“It’s fine,” she laughed softly. “I’ll pay.”
The smile on her face never disappeared.