Chapter 5: Dream Country But Wrong Place

The cab is waiting outside of Max's house. If he wants to catch his flight he has to leave within an hour.

"I'm fine, really. You both don't need to drop me off at the airport" he says to the husband and wife.

But they are as stubborn as their offspring.

"We are going with you. End of conversation." the wife says.

On the other side, Nadia and Rohan are standing there. Enjoying the scene which is going on. The husband puts Max's bags inside the cab while Max hugs his two best people.

"Um, I don't think we'll fit. There's not enough space there" the husband says.

"What do you mean? We'll fit just fine" the wife says.

She tries to make some space but it's pointless. Only one person can sit in the cab. If all three want to get in they'd have to kick out the driver first. Max convinces his mom saying he's getting late and the wife finally calms down. "Here" husband puts Max's passport and tickets in his hand

"Your mom took them out of your bag last night", he says.

Max's jaw almost drops open when he hears this. Even Nadia and Rohan are shocked. How could this lady be so mischievous? This explains Max's behavior. Wife hits husband in the chest and says,

"Why did you give it to him?"

"Mom, did you really do this?" Max asks.

Eyebrows raised.

The wife sighs as she says,

"I didn't want to let you go so I thought it'd be the best idea to keep you with me for a few more days"

her face turns little and she looks down. Max can't help but wonder that his mom is so cute. Couldn't she be this mischievous the whole year? He wraps his arms around her and kisses her head. Rohan takes out his phone and snaps a picture of this scene. No one noticed his action. Max lets go of his mom and says,

"Behave while I'm gone. Don't trouble my dad, ok?"

His mom gives his arm a slap and smiles. He turns to Nadia and Rohan.

"Call me sometime, ok?"

"Stop acting like Riya," Nadia says.

"Take care," Rohan says as he hugs him again.

"You too," says Max

He says bye to everyone as he gets in the cab. The driver is also smiling. What a weird family! He sees four people waving in the mirror and smiles softly. A new journey has begun. He takes out his phone to listen to songs till he arrives at the airport. His phone chimes.

"take care and don't forget about us" Rohan texted.

Max sends him a picture of his middle finger with a caption

"I already don't remember you"

Rohan's face shows a smile as he sees the picture. This guy will never change.

Max is listening to his favorite song "Hotel California" as he thinks about how lucky he is. Just a few years ago he was sad and confused. He knew he wasn't like other kids and wanted to change. He felt disgusted about himself for wanting to change. He didn't feel comfortable with other people at that time and Rohan also was on vacation with his family. Max was very lonely those couple of months. He would always stay in his room and browse the internet. That's when he found those boys' love series.

Those series made him happy. Looking at gay dudes having supporting friends and family made him feel good inside. Even though he knew he wouldn't have that but it didn't matter. Until one day when his parents were talking about his future. About how he would grow up to be. How many girlfriends he'll have.

The husband and wife were watching TV while talking about it. Max overheard them and he felt ashamed. He hated himself because he thought he's a disappointment. He was scared that his parents will no longer love him if they knew. That made things even worse. He lost his appetite, he stopped talking much. He kept ignoring his other friends. He knew things can't go on like this. He was tired of guilt. He knew he had to tell his parents about him so he made an excuse to tell them about it indirectly. And his parents realized it as well.

He was relieved when his parents understood him instead of how he thought they would do. He also knew that using a series as an excuse was a dumb idea but it worked. It really worked. And now he has two amazing friends and his amazing parents who love him no matter what. And he loves them as well and also he's going to his dream country.

He changes the song to a Thai series soundtrack and hums to the tune even though he doesn't really know the lyrics. He looks out the window and feels the rhythm. His heart is beating fast. Living in a country without knowing the language people speak there is also a nightmare.

He is going there but how the hell is he going to meet Austin Grant? He doesn't walk down the streets of Bangkok, does he? Plus he's going to be all alone there unless he manages to make new friends. Nothing is harder than finding new friends. But the fact that he's going to meet so many people from around the world sounds so good to him. Arriving at the airport he clicks a selfie of himself and sends it to his parents. A reply comes almost immediately "safe journey"

***

His flight is delayed for an hour. He has to wait with other passengers now. So many faces around but he doesn't recognize any of them. Until a guy with cool black sunglasses sits beside him. He's wearing jeans and Billie Eilish merch. I have seen him somewhere. But where? He has to wait an hour so he might as well talk to him instead. He clears his throat and looks at the guy again who is busy flipping pages of US magazine. He casually says,

"Hi. I'm Max"

The guy looks at him but doesn't say anything. He just goes back to flipping pages. Max gulps and again says,

"Where are you going?"

Without looking this time the guy says "Thailand" Max's eyes widen. "really? Me too!"

"Good"

What's his problem? I'm just making conversation he smirks. Then he looks around the crowded airport and stands up.

"I'll be right back," he says to the guy.

He says to the guy as if he cares. He comes back after a minute with chips and hands one to the guy. The guy looks at him and takes the packet. Would it kill him to say "thank you"? He puts his hand inside his backpack to find his headphones but then he notices the bag the other guy is holding.

"You're from BNU!"

He almost screams as he says that. Why is this dude shouting? The guy casually says,

"Yes. Why?"

"I'm from BNU as well! You took part in the scholarship program, right? Now I know where I saw you! The office! You're the guy from the science department. I didn't know you chose to study in Thailand otherwise I'd stay in touch with you"

Max is super excited. Guess I won't be alone after all.

"Yes. Now that you know, will you stop talking loudly? People are staring at us" The guy says.

"Ok," Max says like whispering

"What's your name by the way?" He asks.

"Arman. Now don't ask anything else"

"You listen to Billie Eilish? I like her music too. Which one's your favorite?"

which part of "don't ask anything" did he not understand? Noticing Arman isn't actually paying attention to him he decides to shut up. Maybe he's just sad to leave his family. I should just give him space. Max is very restless and excited at the same time. Sure he has traveled by plane before but he's never gone out of the country.

"Have you ever been to Thailand before?" He asks

Arman. Arman just simply rolls his eyes and sighs at him. This guy is unbelievable. The flight's already late and now I have to answer his questions?

Going past the security Max is finally inside the plane. He looked around for Arman but didn't see him. He might be sitting somewhere else. He doesn't bother to think about anything else when he realizes he's got a window seat. He'll get to see Thailand from above. Life's great. Everything is great. Max didn't get sleep last night after returning from the farewell party. So he plans on sleeping the entire time and wakes up when he's landed in his dream place. He makes himself comfortable and tries to sleep.

"Excuse me. I can't find my seat. Can you help me, please?" Arman says to the air hostess.

The beautiful woman checks his seat number and points to few seats ahead.

"Your seat is there beside the window"

"Thank you so much," he says.

"If you need anything else feel free to ask," she tells him and leaves to attend other passengers.

He moves past other passengers and finally reaches his seat.

"Excuse me. Is this seat number F23 C?" he asks the person sitting idly covering his face.

The person removes the handkerchief from his face and looks at the man. Both their eyes widen as though they are about to pop out.

"You!"

One exclaims with joy and the other with disappointment. This guy? Again? Max is happy to see Arman but Arman is clearly not. Arman sighs and puts the bag in the small cabinet and sits comfortably. If I don't talk to him, he will shut up himself. The captain makes an announcement as he says,

"Good morning passengers. This is your captain speaking. I'd like to welcome....."

"It's so good that you are here. I thought you would miss the flight" Max says.

"I'm very punctual so I never miss my flights," Arman says with a confident tone.

".....we are second in line for take-off and are expected to be in the air in approximately 6 minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts. We will land at Suvarnabhumi Airport at around 5 p.m. Enjoy your flight. Thank you"

The plane finally takes off and Max looks outside the window curiously and counts till he's in the air. He lost the count as soon as he saw the clouds and the view below. His mouth is wide open.

"Hey, look, look," he says to Arman who seems to be already in sleep.

Max also falls asleep real quick. Both wake up when the pilot makes another announcement

"Good afternoon passengers. This is your Captain speaking. The weather looks good and we are expecting to land in Bangkok approximately fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. If you would look outside you should get a good view of the city as we descend. Thanks for choosing Bangladesh airlines"

Trying to hold the luggage Max bumps into Arman. He didn't realize how handsome Arman really is. His perfect jawline and his lips look so soft that he wants to touch them badly. He also didn't notice his eyes as he was wearing sunglasses. His eyebrows are beautiful.

The plane lands at 4:43 p.m. He clicks a photo of him and sends it to his parents again. He is on cloud nine right now. I'm here! I'm actually in Thailand! So many people around the world only dream about coming here but only a few make it. Max is sure lucky. After a minute the couple sends him a picture of them as well.

A bus from IUT is supposed to be waiting for the students outside the airport. Both Max and Arman take their luggage and head outside. Two men are standing in the waiting area carrying nameplates. One is written "Arman" and the other "Max"

Arman goes to them and says "We're Arman and Max from BNU"

"Follow us," the man says who looks Thai, and yet his accent is smooth.

Both follow them where the bus is. Two red and white-colored buses are outside. The men they were following got busy with others. Arman was looking at the two same colored buses. He looked confused. He turns to Max who is busy taking photos. Arman shakes Max's hand,

"what is it?" He says

"Which one's ours?"

At first, Max didn't follow what he is referring to. Then he sees the same colored buses.

"Both are the same. Let's get on in one of it" Max suggests

"Yeah. Right" Arman agrees.

They give their luggage to a man who is putting them inside the cabinet and get inside. Max is so restless that he pushes Arman and sits by the window. There are no seats left for him to sit now. Sit with him? Not again. Arman looked around and saw that other students are wearing their respective uniforms and a majority of them look Thai. The University is 3 hours from the airport. Arman takes out his earphones and streams his favorite songs. He falls asleep gradually.

Beside him, Max is looking outside the window like a curious little child. The city looks more beautiful in real. Then he notices few billboards with Austin Grant's picture of them. Bright smiling on the screen holding a skincare product. His smile is enough to make Max fall from cloud nine. Arman wakes up feeling like the earth is shaking. Earthquake? His delusion fades away as he sees Max's blurry face.

"Wake up. We're here" he says.

Arman blinks a few time and gets adjusted with the environment around. Max looks fresh now but on the other hand, Arman is yawning nonstop. All the students get down off the bus and go straight in a line. A man says something in Thai to them and they all start going inside. They are handed keys which seem to be the keys to their dormitory. Arman and Max get their Keys as well. Max snaps a picture of it and doesn't send it to their parents this time. Of course, that'd be stupid if he did. Arman is confused to see so many Thai students. Is this University suppose to have Thai students?

"Is this University suppose to have Thai students?" He asks Max who is busy looking around, mouth wide open.

"Hmmm? What? I mean, I don't know"

Something is not right. Did we take the wrong bus? Arman thinks. Then he also looks around and notices everything here is written in Thai language.

Shit. We really did take the wrong bus.

A student hands them their nameplate which is also written in Thai but Max is so excited that he didn't even notice. He's always seen freshmen wearing nameplates on their first day at the University. And now he's wearing one.

"It's wrong," Arman says softly to Max. Max is lost again.

"What's wrong?" He says.

"Look around you, stupid. We are at the wrong place" Arman says.

Max humps. wrong place my ass. I am where I am supposed to be.

Arman puts his nameplate in front of his face and says "read it"

Max blinks and tries to read it like an idiot and only then he realizes that they really are at the wrong place.