WOW. He's so bold. He asks me to eat first. If you think that werewolves are easy to fool around with, then you're so wrong. But what is this piece of meat? I've never seen anything like this before. Look at the layers of fat and red meat… It looks like a piece of marble. Salut to whoever cooked this. OHMYGOSH… The smell of the charcoal grill and the juiciness. It melts as soon as it's in my mouth!
How do they raise these cows to make such Wagyu steak? Do they drink water mixed with MSG? Why is every bite so juicy and refreshing? Ah, I'm so close to crying with joy.
Carl raised his glass of wine to sip. His sharp eyes locked on the creature that he was still amazed by… a boy who groaned softly in pleasure whenever he ate. He looked exactly like an ordinary boy.
"Um…" Kaew smiled sheepishly as he realized that he'd been lost in eating. When he finished and looked up, the man was staring at him.
"Are you full?"
"Yes, I am. Thank you." His slim fingers tucked his black-pitch hair behind his ears. He was feeling a little nervous.
"How many ears do you have?" asked Carl.
"Just two, of course." Kaew raised his eyebrows.
"So, your doggy ears disappear… when you have human ears? Is that how it works?" Carl touched one of the boy's pale ears gently.
Kaew's bright eyes widened; his shoulders rose in surprise at the touch of the stranger. However, Carl's gesture showed him no harm; it was out of curiosity.
"Yes. Normally, I can control myself well, so my ears and tail won't come out. But I was shocked that you might have shot me earlier…."
"…" Carl leaned on the chair, giving the boy a bit of space.
Carl wasn't a talkative one, to begin with. But this boy was like a Pandora's box that had just been opened. Kaew's doggy nails became long human nails with a bit of dirt at the tips. If Carl decided to keep him, he needed to get this boy cleaned up nicely.
The businessman was stunned by the thought. But before he could think further, the boy stood up and pressed both of his palms together in front of his chest and bowed down into the Wai gesture.
"Thank you for everything, sir. I'll leave now."
"Where are you going?" Carl sat still.
"Chasing my dreams." The boy smiled brightly, his brown eyes full of sparkles.
"Do you want some snacks?"
Those snacks were served right in front of Kaew. He wasn't a greedy boy by any means… But this teeny-tiny pastry with honey scent smelled SO good, combined with the smell of butter, milk, and eggs; it made his mouth water. And not to mention the white whipped cream…
"Can I really have it? I don't want to bother you."
Though he'd said he was leaving, the boy who said goodbye earlier sat back down. His cheeks blushed in slight excitement when Carl nodded and handed him a fork.
"…" Well, luring with food actually works.
"Mmmm… This is really good. I love whipped cream, but Grandpa never lets me eat it that much, saying that it's unhealthy." His pink tongue licked the whipped cream.
"Are there a lot of werewolves like you out there?"
"Pretty much. My Grandpa is the alpha of my clan. Then, there's the family of my best friend, Sandee…"
"…"
"…"
"Why don't you continue?" Carl took a sip of wine.
"I shouldn't talk too much about it. If you know our secret, I might have to kill you." His expression turned serious. Wow, this is so cool especially when I say it out loud.
Carl almost burst into laughter. The mafia was sending a death threat… by a boy who was still licking a plate of dessert.
Kaew the Werewolf. Interesting.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"I don't know. I've never talked to a werewolf before. I'm not sure if this is true or if it's just a lie. What is even right or wrong?" He smiled mildly, taking a sip again.
"I'm not lying. We werewolves don't know how to lie. It's against our instincts."
"Alright."
"Can you show me the way out?" Kaew put his leather backpack on.
"Where are you going to chase your dreams?"
"I'm heading to the Polar Night." The boy stood firmly.
Polar Night was one of the natural phenomena which occurred at the Arctic circle in winter when there was no sunlight for almost 24 hours due to the natural tilt of the Earth.
"…" Carl raised his thick eyebrows at the sudden British accent coming from the boy when he said 'Polar Night.'
"I'll leave now. It's very nice to meet you." Kaew put his palms against his chest and bowed his head for the third time.
"And how are you going to get there? By walking like this afternoon?"
"Hehe," Kaew laughed sheepishly.
Kaew was using a GPS. His friend Sandee had even told him that he should consider himself lucky to be able to travel this far from Phitsanulok without losing his ears or tail.
"I saw that you have an ID card, but do you have a passport? How would you get on a plane if you shift every day? It would take plenty of flights to get you there. Have you ever thought of that? Do you even have money to travel?" Carl asked.
"Well. I have money. But the rest of that… I don't know yet."
"…" Carl raised his eyebrows again. You know nothing but still insist on going.
"I can't just plan my life like that, you know. But if I don't start now, I'll never get there." His small nose turned up with confidence.
"Do you really think you'd survive?" Carl spoke quietly as though he was murmuring to himself.
"Yeah." Kaew nodded, his eyes shining brightly.
If Carl had ever done research about Thai Bangkaew before, he would have understood this breed's background and personality better. They were lively, strong, independent, brave, and honest. With all of these traits, this werewolf boy turned out to be an extreme optimist.
Kaew sighed. He actually had something planned out. But his detour had started the previous afternoon while he was staying in a hotel room. Though he'd hung a 'do not disturb' sign by the door, one of the cleaning ladies had ended up coming into his room while he was sleeping in his werewolf form. When she saw a dog in bed alone, she screamed and went insane.
And it went downhill from that moment onward.
She'd picked up a whisk, jumping and lashing it all over the place, scared that Kaew was going to bite her.
Of course, the Bangkaew boy had woken up startled, trying to fend off the attack. When he could contain himself, he took a phone with his mouth while the charger was still plugged in.
The furball jumped out of bed and put his head under a backpack, and he then ran like a horse out of his five-star hotel room.
The shitshow continued. The staff and guests went out of their minds as the big dog ran away through the lobby. A security guard with a baton tried to catch him while somebody else was calling the municipality. Kaew mustered all the effort he could and got away from the crowd eventually… That was hella tough, I'm telling y'all.
After the chaos, Kaew was completely lost.
Being lost was such a waste of time, and so was being lost on the expressway… Well, in this case, Kaew almost wasted his life out there. Thinking about it made him shiver.… Luckily, he was now in his human form. Otherwise, Carl might have thought that he meant to threaten him.
"How can I pay you back for all of this? I'm feeling like a burden now. But first, can I borrow your charger for my phone? It's completely dead right now. I want to let my family know I'm doing fine so they don't worry about me." The sparkles on his face faded slightly as he held a stack of cash in one hand and a phone in the other.
"Aren't you afraid you'll get robbed?"
"If they want it, they can have it. I have a lot of money."
Right, he lives by the motto "money rules the world", doesn't he?
… But what does this werewolf do for a living to earn such wealth? Carl couldn't help wondering.
"Well, you can charge your phone first."
Carl got up from his chair and led the werewolf boy to his living room, pointing to the black modern coffee table where the wireless charger sign appeared at the corner of the table. When Kaew put his phone down, it started charging immediately.
Kaew's brown eyes wandered around with curiosity. He tucked his black hair behind his ear. The interior of this place was quite elegant. It was so spacious he could get lost. The balcony and a swimming pool with dim lights at the bottom turned into a gradient color from white to orange; it was so tempting to take a dip.
Do you know that Bangkaew loves swimming more than anything in the world?
"Since your phone is charging, you should take a shower. Otherwise, you can go for a swim," offered Carl.
Wow… is this man Cesar Milan, a dog whisperer?
"Well, if you say so… I won't hesitate." Kaew looked at himself, all shabby and dirty from the adventure on the expressway.
The homeowner led the boy to the balcony. Kaew saw a small garden that couldn't be seen from the living room. Carl had decorated it perfectly with tall trees and shrubs with soft green grass on the ground, as if it was a tiny forest in the middle of the city.
Carl pointed to a wash area with a bamboo bench and a shelf full of neatly-folded towels. Next to that was a huge rain shower head which was built-in with the plants.
"You have to wash before swimming. In the meantime, I'll get you some clothes."
The boy pulled off his clothes as soon as Carl was back inside. The warmth from the rain shower washed off all his sweat. It was even more delightful with the fresh aroma from the soap. Kaew didn't know Carl was staring at him from the master bedroom the whole time.
After getting fresh and clean, Kaew immediately jumped into the swimming pool. The water was pleasantly warm, so he didn't feel cold at all as he floated around and paddled his legs, swimming all over the pool in a doggy position. Carl returned with new clothes and smiled without realizing it.
The man who always put on his poker face was even surprised himself. Within a few hours, he had smiled much more than he usually did in an entire month. A strange feeling started building up in his heart.
Carl could have kicked this boy out and acted like nothing had happened, but deep inside, something protested.
"Mister... Can you hand me a towel?" Kaew asked while floating and holding onto the edge, embarrassed that he had started swimming naked without hesitation. But it was too tempting not to jump right in, Kaew thought.
Carl unfolded a towel and handed it to Kaew. Now he looked away to give the boy some privacy, his handsome face turned aside.
He's so tiny. Aren't werewolves supposed to look massive and scary? Carl wondered to himself.
"Are vampires real?"
"Huh?" exclaimed Kaew.
"…"
"How are they real? Everybody knows they're just a fairytale," Kaew laughed softly. This man has a sense of humor.
"What about mermaids?"
"Hahaha, you're funny," Kaew said as he grabbed a big t-shirt and pulled it over his head. The shirt was so large that it reached almost to his knees. His new underwear was also oversized, and he had to hold onto it to keep it from falling down.
Carl shook his head, thinking that Kaew wasn't funny at all. Didn't this creature know that he was also considered something out of a fairytale?
"I just put your clothes in the washing machine earlier. You can wait here," Carl said.
"Thank you, sir. I've been wearing them for three days straight. My other clothes were at the hotel, but I don't think I'll ever get them back now," Kaew replied as he sat on the grass and ran his fingers along the green leaves, wondering if there was actual soil underneath.
"Tell me more about you," Carl asked.
"Eh... should I?" Kaew hesitated. His grandpa and Sandee always warned him not to talk too much about their clan, especially to suspicious humans.
"Well, you're waiting for your clothes and your phone anyway," Carl said as he sat on a bench and handed Kaew a towel to dry his wet hair.
Mmmm... this is heaven. How could a nice guy like him be a bad person, right? Kaew thought to himself.
And just like that, the werewolf and the mafia started a conversation under the stars in the sky. Carl asked questions, and Kaew answered. Mostly, they talked about Thai werewolves, Thai Bangkaew, and how Kaew started his plan to chase his dream all the way from Phitsanulok to the North Pole.
It was then Kaew's turn to ask about transportation, such as the luxury electric car Tayla that Carl had recently bought and the giant airplanes that took people from across the continent to the other side of the world. Kaew felt like his dream was starting to come together, imagining a thin red line heading from one place to another.
Kaew had seen people doing similar things before, like a celebrity who ran on his two feet from the southmost to the northmost of Thailand, a YouTuber who rode his bike around the world, and some people who even traveled to every ocean with their sailboats. It seemed to him that the limitations might have just been in our heads.
"You should start off by getting a passport," said Carl.
But the boy didn't reply as he had already passed out. Carl sighed, the tip of his finger tucking Kaew's hair out of his face. A slight touch lured him to pet the boy's head gently. Kaew's soft hair was so smooth that Carl couldn't stop himself. The boy murmured in his sleep, budging his head to the warm touch. Carl smiled for the fifth time that day, finally understanding the feeling of having pets.
He was even tempted to have a dog, or now, a werewolf. It was already 3 in the morning, and sunrise was approaching.