The people went for a night celebration as part of the welcoming festive of the locals. There were booze, meats and other local foods baked and cooked by the natives.
There are also fun and exciting games with the locals in that were organized in order to build rapport to the people. There were music, dances and small chit chats.
While everyone was having a blast, Mole who was holding a plate full of beef meat noticed that the Doctor seemed off.
He gazed from afar, seeing Phun talking to some locals, smiling and laughing about a certain topic. He noticed how forced the doctor smiled, tired and eyes and a bit of sloppy movements.
"What's the matter?" one of the locals asked him. Mole was getting shy so he just ignored the doctor's current situation. "Nothing" he said as he smiled and went away.
Phun noticed that the nurse walked away from the festive so he followed him. "Sorry girls but I have some business to attend to." He said as he stood up holding a strong booze on his hand.
Not just far from the venue, the quiet nurse was sitting on a rock as he savor the meat on his plate. The doctor saw him so he slowly walked and sat next to him.
Mole doesn't mind at all, he was just adoring the peace that he was having. The doctor on the other hand was just pretty annoying.
He kept on bumping his elbow to the nurse's arm, wanting his attention.
"What do you want?" annoyed Mole said. Phun stared at the moon and smiled as he refused to say something.
"ah~" the nurse said as he rolled his eyes back to the moon. "Why can't you smile like that to other people as well?" he whispered
Phun heard him , curiously asked "What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb with me, I know something is wrong. You're a doctor, Why are you surprised of my assessment to you?"
"Oh so you noticed! Well, a little things just coming in my head that I can't help but to think about it. What about you?"
"Me?" the nurse looked at him as Phun stares at the moon. "What do you mean me? I'm doing fine."
"You can't lie to your doctor" Phun teasingly said. He gazed away from the moon and look at Mole's bright eyes.
"Care to expand" Mole pleaded rudely
"You like to smile and help other people but you are so strict to yourself."
"If you could share a little bit of your thoughts maybe, just maybe, I could tell you a little bit of mine." Mole replied.
"Sure! I'll go first then." Phun gulped a generous amount of booze and after that he just look away.
"You see-" before he could start , Mole halted him with his hands placed on Phun's cheeks. He look at the Doctor, straight in the eyes.
"If you are going to share things on your mind, show some trust by talking to someone straight in the eyes." Mole said. The doctor's heart was pounding fast. Their faces are near to each other. A few more distance and he could kiss him.
Slowly, Mole moved his hands away from Phun, ready to listen and attentively looking at the doctor's reaction.
"Ok- uhmm.. you see, there are things coming to my mind. Things that are hard to explain because it causes me confusion."
"How? What confuses you?"
"I already moved on from previous break up."
"you mean? You are over her? That's a nice news! I'm happy for you!"
"Thanks but the catch is that I'm eyeing someone and I'm confused because I can't make my feelings right for her." Phun was trying his best to hide some details away from Mole. He doesn't want to ruin the moment for them.
"What do you mean by feelings?"
"That's the point! I can't describe what I'm feeling."
"Are you happy when you see her?"
"Yes!"
"Can you describe this feelings of happiness?"
"I feel like I want her in my embrace. I want her to be happy and smile at me. And whenever she talked to me , I feel like I can run for about 100 kilometers away."
"Sounds like you're in love"
"It does! But the thing is, she is close to me and I don't want to ruin the bond that we made."
"Are you afraid that she will reject you?"
"partly yes and partly no."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't sort it out and I can't explain it to you further." Phun said as he pleaded for Mole to stop asking questions at the back of his head.
"I won't force you, I also said for us to share a little things about us, didn't I?" Mole said as he giggled and stare at the moon.
"Your turn to share" The doctor said. He scooch over to Mole as he drinks alcohol.
"Do you see that moon?"
"Yes?!" Phun wondered to a bizarre question of the nurse.
"It's quite beautiful for the full moon to shine at night. Do you see any stars beside it?"
"No! they are all scattered."
"Exactly!"
"I thought you are going to share your thoughts?"
"Shhh…" the nurse said. Phun was lost, he was unaware of Mole's plan.
"Listen carefully, do you hear that?" he asked. There were crickets and frogs that sings. There were also a few howling dogs and chirping of birds.
"What should I be hearing of?"
"The animals are loud tonight, isn't nice? This is why I like nights."
"You like night? what's that all about?"
"You see, the night is like me. It's windy and cold, which gives me comfort at some point. The darkness that hovers the sky is not scary at all. They are like a blanket.
The moon is like me, sometimes full, sometimes half and sometimes crescent and there are times that the moon is invisible but it still there."
Phun gazed to the deeply thinking nurse, He saw how he genuinely sharing his heart to him.
"Deep and I'm so lost" he said. Mole looked at him and they made an eye to eye contact. He giggled at the puzzled doctor.
"Do you have a family?"
"Yes!"
"Do you miss them?"
"Absolutely! What about you?"
"Of course, I have a family."
"But do you miss them?"
"I miss them too, but the question is , do they miss me?"
"So you came long way just to work for them?"
"No, I came a long way just to be far from them."
"I love my family but I don't think I fit in"
"Of course you fit in! you are their family!"
"That's what most of the people would say. Years and years I tried to fit in but they just want me to be perfectly fit to them."
"I don't see what's wrong here"
Mole sighed deeply, "You're right, they were never wrong and I was never right.
Let me ask you a question, Have you been good to your patients only?"
"Of course not! I'm also doing good for my love ones."
"So is it ok for you that they jealous of you because you treat other people different than how you treat them? Knowing that every people is different that's why you are careful enough not to hurt someone?"
"It's a good thing not to hurt people especially their feelings but it's also another thing when your loved ones are getting hurt just because you care for others rather than them."
"Correct! So either way, you'll compromise the other. Then what if you choose one and the one you choose started to molding you to their molder but suffocates you?"
"Are we still in the same context though?"
"Never mind"
"Honestly, that's deep and complex. I need more booze for it."
"Funny isn't it?"
"Wow! You carry a heavy burden but you still worked in this field professionally. It's unnoticeable."
"What can I say? We are good at pretending, pretentious is my middle name and black sheep in my surname."
"I think you're a cute black sheep for me."
Both of them laughed at their pity situation. Cold breeze visits the people and moon brightens up. Night crawlers and other nocturnal animals begin to show.
"It's fun opening at each other. Let's go back now! I'm running out of meats" Mole invited Phun to come along with him.
"It was fun indeed…I wish you can open your heart the next time." The doctor whispered.
"What?"
Phun was surprised and improvised to make sure Mole didn't hear anything at all. "I had fun, I said!"
Both of them went back to the venue. A little while later, a car went in. This made a commotion to the party.
"They are here!" One of the staffs said. Someone stepped down from the car and wearing a casual attire. He was the center of the attraction during that time.
"Nurse Mole!" A woman waved her hand from the car window as some of the people in the car were unloading.
"Aunt Claire!" Mole shouted. He dashed to greet the family that sponsored the event. Some of the villagers flocked towards them.
The Maximillians were greeted warmly on the opening night party.
~End of Chapter