𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐄 (𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧)

#1: 𝐀𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐍

#O1

AONTAKARN

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Since I was born I had never liked or admired anything in particular. Not including, of course, my preferences for manga or music. In other words, I had no particular affinity with any individual.. be it a celebrity or an idol. When I was in high school and my friends had crushes on male idols or girl group I never understood them. I did not say anything. I just thought they were wasting a lot of money when they used their money to buy trading cards even though they could download them for free from the Internet.

That is, until it happened to me... At that time I was very in love with someone and I was trying to find out about her, for example, who she was, where she was from and what she did in her daily life. . . Aontakarn..

The sports newscaster entered the entertainment industry, so to speak, by auditioning for an acting role. But each person had their own destiny. Even if you are very attractive, if you are unlucky, you will only get supporting roles and eventually disappear from the television screen. Sometimes people could recognize your face but not your name. Aontakarn fell into that category. After her failure as an actress the woman with a beautiful eyes changed her career and became a newscaster. She had been doing this for about three years. Aside from being a newscaster, there was nothing notable about her career. She had some commercials, but that was it… It wasn't that memorable.

This made things very difficult for someone who had just become a fan like me. I couldn't find any of her previous work. I only saw her face during the evening sports news, even though I didn't know any of the athletes on the news, be they footballers or wrestlers.

“Hey. Why do you just look at your phone when you're here to hang out with your friends?”

'Meen', my best friend from high school kicked me under the table to remind me to stop playing on my phone and raise my head to pay attention to my friends, who were all there at the time. However, when I looked up, I saw my other two friends, who weren't reminded to do so, still looking at their phones, just like I was doing.

“You are very biased. Why are you just telling me to do that?”

“They always look at their male idols. But you. You can just watch like everyone else, but you just look at your phone.”

Meen reaches up to push my phone, face down, on the table.

“You should stop paying attention to your phone and talk to your friends... You too. If we meet up and you keep looking at your phone, we could talk on the phone next time.”

“That's what I suggested. Why did we have to meet? Do you think Bangkok's weather is as cold as Seoul's?”

Nat complains. That made Meen hit her on the head so hard that her head almost hit the table.

“That hurts!”

“I hit you to make it hurt. I organized this meeting because your friend can see with her eyes again. I want Chris to see our current faces. So... have we changed?”

It worked. When our friends heard Meen say that, they looked up from their phones and looked at me expectantly.

“Am I more beautiful than before?”

Nat moved her hair as if she were in a Pantene shampoo advertisement.

“Answer wisely or I will blind you again.”

“You are all more mature..”

“It means you look old.”

Ern added the fuel and after that there was a mini war.

“You are beautiful in a more mature way.”

I looked at my friends while they showed their teeth and I reflected.

“By the way, what are you watching on your phones?”

"Men."

Meen responded instead without a care, making Nat and Ern shout in sync.

“Not ONLY men. Idols... Idols, which means they set an example for others.”

“Crazy fans.”

“Why do people like to belittle our taste and call us crazy fans? Who do we hurt? Without being so narrow-minded.

Ern said this to Meen, who often had something to say about her idol fandom. That made me nod my head.

“Oh... This is new.”

Meen looks at me in shock because, before this, our group was divided equally into two camps: K-pop fans and narrow-minded people who were against it. However, now it seemed that she had changed teams.

“You could say that I think more positively.”

I squirmed uncomfortably before continuing to ask.

“By the way... you really like these K-pop idols, but have you ever met them?”

“Yeah. We go to meet them at the airport or we go to their concerts. Just seeing them from afar is enough.”

“Do you only see them in those places? Have you ever seen them in a more private setting?”

“Argh... His bodyguards are fiercer than bulldogs. No one can get close. But that's a good thing because they would already be surrounded to death if people could get close easily. Imagine that BNK48 allows all the otaku to approach them all at once.”

I understood the image immediately...

“And... how do you know their schedules? Like..."

I continued asking, not paying attention to how Meen looks at me.

“Where do you stay updated on her agenda, if not from Google?”

“For us there are groups on Twitter. We have our social circles where we share any news or updates we know... There are also groups for Thai celebrities. They will share public schedules so fans can support them.”

“What if it's not a celebrity or someone without a fandom? How do we find out their schedules?”

Everyone is silent and turned to stare at me.

“Who are you in love with?”

When they caught me red-handed, I sat up straight and tried to look naive.

“How crazy. I was just asking out of curiosity. You know I'm not a crazy fan. I would never follow someone and shout.”

Everyone nodded because, of the four of us, I was the one who liked these things the least. I dedicated myself more to computing, editing photographs and videos and drawing. My inspiration was architecture. No idol or celebrity had ever broken the wall and entered my heart… Until...

“Yes, you are not someone who likes or is in love with someone because others tend to be the ones who run after you.”

Ern added as if to make a point clear to everyone. That made me sigh with relief. I would never tell anyone that I had a crush on a celebrity. I was not well. I had to keep my character.

“And?”

Nat looked at me after everyone stopped paying attention, but they still wanted my answer.

“What I asked before, the schedules…”

“Are you writing a thesis or something? Why are you so serious? Like I said, if we become members of a group of people who like similar things (for me, it was Big Bang), when there are concerts or events, we will update each other in the group. Just get involved with the group of people who like what you like and you'll be up to date.”

“Get involved…”

I slurred my voice and followed her train of thought... Damn, I don't even like football, but I had to learn to play?

“And what about…”

“Now what?”

“How do you support your idols?”

“We beg them every day to be our husbands. They must know what we want... It's not much. We support them in whatever job they have and are good fans.”

Nat taught me and Ern joined her partner from Bananas in Pajamas.

“Or you can write letters. I did. I wrote in Thai and asked someone in the group to translate them into English or Korean.”

“Will they really read it?”

“Nonsense. They are very busy. They won't read it.”

Meen said that with her arms crossed over her chest. She was getting frustrated because I wouldn't drop this topic. She looked like a mother dissatisfied with her children.

“They probably twist their mouths at the pile of cards and continue with their dance practice.”

“Even if they don't read them, they are definitely encouraged, and I'm proud to be part of that.”

“Even though they don't even see your letters? What a sacrifice! Once you have your own family, you will regret wasting so much time and money to maintain…”

And my friends continued arguing about being K-pop fans, as always. It was a good thing we weren't the type to win. We just listened to each other's opinions and argued from time to time. We always finished well. This time too.

...

Write to her. It was lucky that Aontakarn was Thai and not famous. Writing her letters shouldn't be so difficult. When I came to that conclusion, I headed to the stationery section of the mall, where I was hanging out with my friends after eating. I bought a notebook and a nice pen to write something to that newscaster…. Wow... I was so determined that even I was shocked.

Oh... my heart was beating very hard. Just seeing the notebook I had just bought excited me. And a pleasant fragrance came out of the paper. A smell... What did it smell like...? It was so familiar...

“Why do your nostrils be so wide?”

My friends, who were browsing, stuck their heads out to look at me while I caressed the notebook I had in my hands. They made me sit up straight and clear my throat.

“No reason. It smells good and looks familiar to me.”

“Of course. On the cover it says the scent is 'Apple'.”

“Is this an apple scent? What kind of innovation is this... I will buy it.”

I decided without further a do and paid for the notebook with a smile on my face. Everyone wanted encouragement and I wanted the person with pretty eyes to know that someone had eyes on her, but she didn't know...

That day... I would write to that newscaster. Aontakarn. I spent the whole night crafting beautiful words. I had never written a letter to anyone before in my entire life. I thought about writing one to the Prime Minister when I was in high school. But that was it... It was just a thought. But at that moment I was writing a letter on real paper with a heart fuller than ever.

How would the recipient of this letter feel... if she knew that someone followed and supported her work, in addition to being seduced by her light brown eyes?

Dear you... who is loved:

First I have to say that I have never done anything like this before. So writing this letter is very difficult for me. I just want to send you encouragement and let you know that I really like your work. The first time I took my eyes off my computer screen was because my mother turned on the television and you were on the monitor. You spoke very clearly. Your eyes were full of determination. All of that let me know how focused you were on your work.

You probably don't know how capable you are. It's a shame you don't have more work. It would be nice... if I could see you more often on more media channels.

I love you

From Apple,

Would Steve Jobs slap me for using his brand as an alias? To be honest, I thought a lot about how to end the letter. While I wanted Aontakarn to be aware that she had an admirer, I refrained from revealing my s****l orientation to her. Apple wasn't too girly, right? Using mango or durian would be a bit strange. Apple, it would be. It's appropriate for the role I used.

“Where are you going?”

Puth asked as I was about to leave the house. I looked at my brother, who interrupted me as I went off to war. Yes... sending a letter to that new announcer gave that feeling.

“I'm going to send a letter.”

“Well….. Hurry back.”

“Because?”

“Today we have a meeting about our 'AppTalk' website project.”

“Wow. There's already a name, it's great.”

I shrugged.

“Why must it be today? I have errands.”

“If you're only sending one letter, it won't take long. The mailbox is right on our street.”

“I'm not going to throw it in the mailbox.”

“Where are you going to leave it then?”

“It is none of your business.”

“Why don't you leave it in the mail? Why complicate things?”

“Stop asking so many questions. I'll hurry back. I'll just take a while.”

That was all I said before calling the motorcycle taxi to take me to the TV station where Aontakarn worked. In fact, I knew I could mail the letter. But I feel like it wasn't special and I was also afraid that it wouldn't reach her. My friends said that the letters that fans send to their idols rarely reach them.

To be honest, I didn't expect that newscaster to read my letter. But I felt like I wanted to do something that was more special than mailing a letter and dropping it off at the station myself or something. It was fortunate that Aontakarn's office was not too far from my house, so I arrived quickly. That day I dressed up with a cap and a mask because I was very embarrassed that someone would find out that I was an idol fan. No...to be precise, I was a fan of newscasters.

When I arrived at the reception area, I said, looking embarrassed and avoiding eye contact, that I was here to leave a letter.

"Can I leave this with Miss Aontakarn, the sports newscaster?"

“Whose should I say it is?”

“From Apple.”

I kept it short and ran away to hide behind a large pillar. My heart was beating. It was just the receptionist, who looked nothing like that newscaster, but I panicked to the point of almost fainting. I had become a new person since I received my new eyes. It was a new me.

As I patted my chest to calm my racing heart, my phone started ringing. Seeing that it was Puth calling me because he was afraid I had forgotten our date made my mouth twist.

“I know you Puth but I haven't forgotten it. I'm about to return. Geez... you're acting like we have a 100 million dollar business or something.”

[Hey. Our project is very solid. We have you, who is a professional video editor, and my friends and I, who know all the devices, and a big surprise is that we will have a professional voice-over artist coming to work with us.]

“What announcer? How many partners do we have?”

[Me, you, my friends and Karn.]

“Karn? Who is that?”

[You probably don't know her, but maybe you recognize her. She is a newscaster on a digital channel. Her contract is about to end, so my friends and I made her an offer to become our business partner.]

“A newscaster? What a coincidence…”

I looked towards the reception area, and my heart almost went out of control when I saw a petite woman in a t-shirt and jeans. Yes... although I was watching from afar, I remembered the person well… That woman... Aontakarn.

Aontakarn is talking to someone and was about to enter the elevator, but the receptionist calls her before she could do so. I blushed as I anxiously anticipated whether my letter would reach her.

[You are listening?]

“Ah-huh. I'm listening... What's her name? Karn?”

[That's the nickname. Her full name is Aontakarn.]

When that name came out of my brother's mouth, I was startled and stood up. I looked towards the front desk as my hand tightly gripped my phone.

“Aontakarn... Are you sure?”

[Yeah. That's her name, Aontakarn. My friend recommended it to us. I was told that she is very professional and, most importantly, very beautiful. It's a pity that the opportunities in the entertainment business are...]

Puth continues to babble, not realizing that his sister had already dropped her hand holding the phone and hadn't heard what he was saying. And the letter I left with the receptionist found its way to the newscaster, whose name was 'Karn' for short. The little woman took it and read it right then and there. She closed her mouth with her hand as she blushed. It was the same reaction I was having at that moment. Oh wow...what a perfect time for a sitcom!