Khem's legs were shaking so much he collapsed onto the floor. Just then, his phone vibrated, so he pulled it out of his trouser pocket and answered without waiting for the other person to finish speaking.
[Khem, you...]
"Jett! Jett, help me!"
[What's wrong? What happened?]
"Please, come over, Jett, hic, sob."
At that moment, Jett, who was drying his hair, widened his eyes in shock, threw aside the towel, grabbed his motorcycle key, and rushed out of the room.
"I'm on my way. Stay calm and don't hang up!"
Jett arrived at Khem's apartment in less than ten minutes on his motorcycle. After parking, he ran up to Khem's room and started knocking.
However, after a long time of knocking, nobody opened the door.
"Khem, it's me, Jett. Can you hear me?" The knocking turned into pounding, and he tried twisting the doorknob frantically.
Click
Suddenly, the door, which was locked from the inside, opened. Jett didn't hesitate and immediately pushed it open.
"Damn it, Khem!" Jett found his friend passed out on the floor, with an easel set up in front of him.
"Shit..." The terrifying face of a woman in the painting gave Jett goosebumps, prompting him to quickly walk over, tear it off the easel, and crumple it up.
Jett tried to wake Khem a few times, but he wouldn't stir, so he had no choice but to carry him out of the room, intending to take him back to his own place for the night.
Jett lived in a condominium that his mother had bought as a gift for him.
His family was quite wealthy; both his parents held high-ranking government positions.
That night, Khem ended up with such a high fever that he couldn't go to class, so Jett had to attend alone to take notes for him. At noon, he came back to check on Khem, ensuring he ate and took his medicine before heading back for the afternoon session.
"Khem, I'm going home tonight. You stay here for now." Jett told Khem, who was lying on the bed with a cooling gel pack. In truth, he wanted to take him along, but he was afraid Khem might collapse on the way.
"When will you be back?" Khem asked with a hoarse voice.
"I'll be back on Sunday." Jett answered.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of him." Said Jane, or "Sis." Jett's older sister, with a sweet smile as she leaned against the door frame watching them.
Jane was an office lady, five years older than Jett, and she occasionally stayed over here. This time, Jett called her to look after Khem over the weekend while he was away visiting his family in another province. Of course, nothing in life comes for free; Jett had to pay for her new lipstick, which cost several thousand baht, as her fee.
"Thanks, sis." Jane, whose salary was still intact, replied with a sweet smile.
"Sure thing."
Jett took a flight back to Ubon Ratchathani, spending over two hours traveling in the morning of the next day. He went to see "Pharan." The shaman he respected as his master. The master lived in a large traditional Thai house at the end of the village, quite a distance from the other villagers, almost into the forest.
It was well known in the village that Pharan was skilled in exorcism and treating various ailments. He had many disciples and now mostly waited for people to come to him. Most of his clients had bad luck, were cursed, or were being harassed by spirits to the point of despair. In his spare time, he made and sold amulets to make a living.
There were two things Pharan would not do: cast spells to harm others or interfere with karmic debts.
A man in his early thirties walked out from a corner inside the house and sat down at his usual spot covered with a dark carpet. Behind him was an altar with a Buddha statue, surrounded by traditional offerings like silver and gold umbrellas, similar to other spirit mediums' settings, but since Pharan practiced white magic, there were only Buddhist images on his altar, no spirits.
Jett gave a flattering smile and quickly raised his hands in a respectful wai, but before he could speak, Pharan interjected in a stern voice,
"Jett, what have you brought into my house this time?" Jett, who was clasping his hands in prayer, felt a chill run through him before forcing a nervous smile.
"Haha, just as expected from the monk I respect." Jett quickly took out Khem's handkerchief from his pocket and placed it on the golden tray beside him, along with a piece of paper containing Khem's real name, surname, and date of birth, then set it in front of the monk.
"Master, could you please see if there's anything you can do to help?"
After that, Jett recounted Khem's situation to the monk.
Pharan felt like kicking the troublemaker out of the room, but the faint pleasant scent from the handkerchief drew his attention, making him bend down to examine it closely.
The scent was nice, but sometimes it was mixed with the stench of spirits, more than one, and one of them was quite powerful...
Pharan placed it back and pulled out the paper with someone's name and birthdate written on it to read.
'Khemjira, Jantrapisut' The young man furrowed his brow.
Khemjira?
Strange. He felt oddly familiar with that name, though he couldn't recall where he had heard it, so he stopped trying to remember, read the birthdate, then took out his own notebook and pen, writing down the numbers and calculating.
Several minutes passed before he finished, the result being quite alarming.
"Who is this?" Pharan asked while still reviewing the numbers in his notebook.
"He's my friend, Monk. How is it looking?"
"Tell your friend to do whatever he wants to do quickly. He's definitely going to die within this year."
Jett turned pale, spoke urgently,
"Ca-can't you help, Monk?"
"I've told you, I don't interfere with karmic debts." Jett clenched his jaw, looking at the monk with reluctance because if the monk said this, it meant he could help but chose not to...
"Oh, please, even just a little would help, Master, have some sympathy.
Khem is a good person, he wouldn't even dare swat a fly or step on an ant, right?" He hadn't even finished speaking when the monk raised a finger to shush him, causing Jett to pull back his neck in embarrassment.
"Jett, other people's karmic debts are not something you should meddle with. Just because someone is good in this life doesn't mean they were good in past lives. You yourself should be careful, don't think just because you've got strong luck nothing will happen to you."
Jett's face fell immediately, knowing that the master was firm and spoke decisively, never changing his mind easily, but he couldn't help but argue.
"Khem is so pitiful, Master. His mother died, his father became a monk for life when he was young, his maternal relatives wouldn't take him in, and his paternal relatives abandoned him, taking his money with them. During high school, no one would befriend him because they feared the curse. It's only me who dared to be his friend..."
While he was looking down, still grumbling, Jett didn't notice that Pharan was writing a protective talisman on a piece of cloth, which he then tossed in front of him.
"Take this, that's all I can do."
Normally, one of Pharan's ghost-repelling talismans would cost five to six thousand baht and was very effective, as confirmed by actual users like Jett. No spirit could enter Jett's room.
Jett didn't know if it was given out of annoyance or pity for Khem, but he was so happy he almost jumped to hug the master, though he only thought about it because if he actually did it, the spirits in the house might break his neck.
"Thank you so much, Master!"
Jett flew back from Ubon Ratchathani early on Sunday morning, and upon arriving in Bangkok, he quickly took a taxi back to the condo, finding Khem had recovered from his illness.
"I'm leaving now." Jane said, shouldering her bag before leaving, not forgetting to add a last remark,
"Jett, be careful, his ghost is strong. Last night they were all over the balcony." She said with a somewhat fearful expression before rushing out of the room.
Soon after, Khem came out of the bathroom.
"Oh, has Sis Jane left already?" Khem blinked and asked.
"Yeah, her boyfriend was waiting for her downstairs so she left in a hurry." Khem looked disappointed upon hearing this.
"I haven't even properly thanked her." Over the past two nights, Jae Jane had stayed awake to watch over him. Khem didn't quite understand why she was so dedicated, but she had told him one thing, "I'm too scared to sleep, Khem." At that time, Khem had a terrible headache, so he didn't press her to sleep.
Jett ruffled Khem's hair affectionately, deciding not to tell him what Jae had said, thinking it would only make him worry needlessly.
"Yeah, sis will come over again next time, we can thank her then."
Seeing Khem nod, Jett pulled him over to sit on the sofa and handed him back his handkerchief, which now had white inscriptions on it.
"Thanks, oh, there's a talisman too." Jett nodded.
"..."
"Yeah, keep it with you. The monk's talisman can ward off spirits, but it might only work for a certain distance." Khem quickly tucked it into his shirt pocket, feeling strangely comforted.
"And what did your monk say about my situation?" He looked up, eager to know.
Over the past two days, if it hadn't been for Jane's companionship, Khem would have probably been driven to madness or shock from his recent experiences. He was dying to know if Jett's monk would agree to help, but the area had poor phone reception, so they hadn't been able to communicate.
Khem didn't want to go through something like that again.
"Sorry, I tried. But the monk doesn't really want to get involved with karmic debts."
Karmic debts, huh...That's worse than your average ghost story, right?
Khem bit his lip, his spirits sinking.
"Hmm. It's okay. I understand." Jett, seeing his friend's dejected look, felt a surge of determination.
"You don't have to worry. I won't let you die easily. I'll find another way myself." Hearing this, Khem's hope was reignited.
"Is there another way?" Jett shrugged.
"Nah. Same old way, but this time I'm taking you with me."
"Huh?"
"Even I soften up when I see your face. Let's see if the monk can stay hard-hearted then."
Khem stood there with his mouth open, the logic baffling him.