"Well, yes. And they are kids, not some dog poop. You don't have to be that disgusted. Besides, those kids are adorable."
Nash laughed when he was reminded of how much Lady Luna hated kids.
"Hey," William interrupted. "Na, you have to teach your class in the afternoon, right? So, I think you will have some free time at night, won't you? Or you have a Sexology class to teach, too?"
"I'll kick your ass, William," Nash said, deadpan.
William curled his lips up into an annoying smirk, earning a cold glance from Luna, who was beside him.
"Please, let's play together. Aren't you curious about how realistic this popular game is? Besides, doesn't your dad always want you to play games from his company? I remember him saying that he'd give you more allowances if you played?"
"I can call my mom in Chiang Mai for more money. No need to ask him"
This was another time that Nash casually turned them down. Luna sighed loudly.
"Na, you really just don't socialize with your friends. I don't know what to do anymore."
Nash didn't say anything to respond. Because in his mind, he was laughing at the persistence of his best friends, who were trying to get him to join the game for months. He always rejected them outright, but they just kept asking. But today, he was pretty sure that these two dorks were about to give up.
"Lu, there you are! I've been looking for you!"
The three hadn't gone too far yet when a sweet voice sounded behind them. The voice also made Nash freeze, then quickly pulled William over in front of him and hid behind his back.
The reason Nash stopped functioning for a moment was the owner of the voice that was walking toward them. She was a pretty girl with long hair falling to her waist. Some locks of hair fell by her clear cheeks. Her beautiful face was covered with makeup in a natural look. She had long, curled eyelashes that complemented her big, round eyes.
"You just finished your exam?" the newcomer asked with a sweet voice.
"Yup. Just now."
Luna nodded, while puzzledly glancing at Nash, who was hiding behind William's back. Nash had always been so cool, but now he was awkwardly hiding behind his best friend like he was a bunker, which caused William to glance at the tall man behind him, too.
"When will you stop hiding behind me every time Orn shows up?" He said as he chuckled. "But to be honest, your detecting sensor is as good as ever. You hear her, you hide.
"Not your business. Don't look this way! She's gonna notice me."
William smiled so widely.
"Not mine? Then, should I tell Orn that you've had a crush on her since our first year?"
"Don't you dare, William. Are you trying to indirectly kill me?"
"What indirectly killing are you talking about? You like her, so just tell her that, dude. What a waste of your good looks."
"It's not that simple!" Nash continued to murmur as his friend laughed at him. However, it seemed like his bunker wasn't safe anymore when the said girl named Warunya already noticed them.
"Hi, William. Hi, Nash." She greeted them with a bright and clear voice.
"Hey, Orn." William greeted her back.
"H...h... h... he..."
Not like his friend who stuttered that William had to elbow this guy very hard to knock his consciousness back, so he could function again.
"Uh... hello, Orn. You had an exam today, too?"
"Uh... hello, Orn. You had an exam today, too?"
"Yes, I did. It was my last exam."
She said, then she smiled. It was so sweet that Nash got carried away. His body became weak, feeling like his legs would give out, and he would fall. Luckily, he grabbed his friend's shoulder like a handrail before he was about to fall. The one who served as a handrail chuckled again, leaving the girls confused before they started chatting with each other again.
Orn or Warunya, a popular girl, star of the faculty of communication arts, was the girl that Nash secretly had a crush on to the point that he could not compose himself in front of her. She was pretty, with the best personality. There was no doubt that everyone loved her, but it seemed that no one would be able to win her heart. Well, of course, Nash was one of those who did not seem to win, too.
Nash had attempted to confess his love more than thirty times, and his best friend could guarantee that he would fail every time. Not because he would get rejected, but he didn't have the guts to be straightforward and say it to her in person. He always got chickened out before he could get to it.
"No matter how many times I see this I never get tired of it," William said.
"I know right. I can't get tired of her smile, either. And she smiled at me just now. Did you see that?"
"I mean you being such a coward that I won't get tired of. Hilarious!"
Nash paused, staring at his friend's annoying face.
"Did you take my love for her as a joke?"
"Yeah, I did. It's kind of funny." William burst out in laughter. "Dude, when you were at Chiang Mai, have you ever eaten rice noodles? or you only eat them with nam ngiao? Next time try eating them with nam ya[1]! Really hopeless you are. Man, you don't really know how to flirt. If it were me, she would probably be with me by now."
"Like how you flirt with Lu?"
Nash's comeback brought William's turn to pause. He creased his mouth.
"You're so annoying. I better go tell Orn that you have a crazy amount of feeling for her."
"Try. Let's see how the martial arts I learned from my mom work out on you." He let out a long sigh. "Hey, you really didn't tell anyone about this, right, William? I started losing trust in you."
"Na, I might be foul-mouthed, but never leaky-mouthed."
"So, you're always aware of how your mouth always is?" Nash drew back a bit.
"Whatever, I'm telling you that your secret is safe with me."
"I hope that is true. And what about Lu, did you tell her?"
"Dude, if I already did, you would know, the entire world would, too."
The two best friends smiled at each other knowingly. They both knew Luna very well. Her favorite thing to do was to play cupid, and how she shot her love arrows was not fun at all. Well, it was true that she just helped her junior confess to his crush, however, it cost a huge amount of embarrassment.
Why?
Well, she asked her friends from the choir club to sing his love confession song, in the middle of a cafeteria, during lunch break. Even though his love was accepted, Nash was not sure if that girl actually had that same feeling for him, or she was just too embarrassed and wanted to get out of there.
Nash got goosebumps while thinking of it because if Luna wanted to be a cupid for Warunya and him, too, he would rather die. He had no idea what weird and embarrassing ways she may come up with for him to confess his feelings. Plus, Warunya was one of her best friends. So, the scene she would produce for him had to be so grand that the stage play of Phantom of the Opera couldn't top it for sure!
"So, Lu, let's play today. Yesterday I tried out the items that dropped from the monster, it was really cool."
"Sure. I'll be there. I heard that there will be new quests open, too, and it related to those monsters. So, it's like killing two birds with one stone. I also have to practice my new skills, though.
"That's right. Well, I'm still clumsy with new skills, too."
"Oh, and before I logged out, I also got some good items from the market. I'll show you later. You're gonna love it. It's such a shame that there was only one piece. I wanted to buy you one, too."
"Really? What is it?"
Nash, who was eavesdropping on the girls' conversation, raised his eyebrows. Too many unfamiliar terms coming out from them made his head spin and lose the context. Eventually, he looked at his best friend and whispered.
"Tun, what are they talking about?"
"They're talking about the Pride."
William answered casually, but it made Nash pause for a moment.
"Orn plays it, too?!"