Chapter Text
"Love not only crosses borders, it crosses time, language and, when accompanied by deep desire, even space."
Life is too much sometimes.
I tiredly crashed down my bed, a double sized mattress I bought with a discount—never shying away from a good deal—, in my tiny apartment in the heart of Taiwan's busy Taipei City. The day was an exhaustingly long one, mainly, running around closing deals with the suppliers for this upcoming big event. From the crack of dawn to late in the evening, me and my team leader, Shu Chen, had to coordinate with the people who will help us run the whole event. The other teams in-charge of marketing, artists' management and handling of permits were just as stressed out as the deadline approaches. Even the slightest misstep or misunderstanding can lead to a disaster on the event itself and will cost us huge financial loses. To think that all these months of hard work boils down to just one night. In short, nothing should go wrong and everyone is slowly pressed down to their limits as the days pass.
Having slurped down tonight's dinner, the ever reliable cup noodles, I barely managed to wash my face and change my clothes before I stumble down to my bed and lay there unmoving for a good couple of minutes.
My eyes then land at the digital clock at my bedside table.
11:40 pm.
I groan in protest, wishing time would stop for a short while. In less than five hours, I need to be up and getting ready for the next day's schedule. Another round of phone calls, emails and meetings with everyone involved. Surely, another stressful day. I'm already preparing myself to be even more stressed throughout the weekend with all that still needs to be done.
No rest just yet.
Not until this event, one of the biggest music festivals in Taiwan, ends.
Sighing in defeat, I naturally reach for my phone, fumbling around until I swipe the screen open to what I shall consider as my only true relaxation. I begin to scroll endlessly through social media when a message bubble pops-up at the top of my screen.
Zhi Yu, don't forget to contact Orange Juice Entertainment about the thing they are requesting.
If I hadn't needed my phone for work, I'd have flung it to the wall. Nobody from the team wants to talk to that Entertainment. They make last minute changes and out of this world demands.
I mean, who in their right mind wants a massive orange juice glass on stage where their artist— wait for it— dives into after performing. It was also emphasized that the glass was to be filled with real orange juice. Outrageous, just outrageous.
And of course, I have become the team's sacrificial offering yet again. It was said that I, the newest and youngest member of the team that time, was the only one who actually got them to change their minds three years ago—they wanted a whole orange juice island with again, real orange trees, as a second stage—however, it took me going to the fields of Yunlin County with their company president, in full orange harvesting gear, to pick baskets of oranges just so he could approve a much simpler proposal instead. I swear, that man has a severe obsession with oranges.
The thought makes me grimace.
Where the heck will I be picking oranges this time? Egypt?
At the same time, discomfort hits me as I curl up. I can't believe all this stress has caused me to have my monthly period come earlier than expected.
It's the only thing I hate in being a woman and is honestly the only time I envy the men.
Pressing a hot pad against my abdomen, I ignore the message as I rolled unto my side, swiping it away to resume my mindless scrolling on social media, the only guilty pleasure I get to indulge in these days—at least when I’m not forced to manage it. It's also the one thing that gets me to fall asleep faster.
In no time, my eyes slowly grow heavier with each scroll through viral videos, trendy dances and pretty celebrities. The last video's audio drifts through my ears as I start closing my eyes unconsciously.
"And your aura seems to be brighter. Is there someone making your heart smile these days?"
"Oh, that's an interesting question... My heart is quite picky when it comes to that so I guess it's because I'm taking care of my health these days—just like my character in the movie that is now in your nearest cinemas starting tomorrow!"
"Aw, c'mon, has nobody succeeded yet? Please tell us!"
"I don't know. Seriously, I don't know. I've looked everywhere. At this point, they must be from another country."
"Stop joking with us Kao—"
I have a bad feeling.
Something's not right. I just know from the time I could feel light streaming in my room even with my eyes closed. Because I am sure that the small window next to my cooking area wasn't going to provide this much light in the morning. I've always shut down the curtains too. Or that the sheets I am laying on don't feel this soft on my skin. Or that I don't own fluffy five-star hotel quality pillows beneath my head. Neither did I have perfume that smells like three months worth of my salary wafting all over the room.
But the biggest warning sign was that, I was completely sure that I slept alone. Just like I've always had for about six years since I moved out my family home in Tainan to live closer to work. Apparently being single for that long has people finding it somewhat pitiful but not to me.
They say it's tragic to be alone. I say, the only tragedy about to happen is the fact that a stranger is lying next to me in bed and this might as well be the last moments of my life. I've seen the crime documentaries, heard all the kinds of psychos who break into people's homes and kill them in gruesome ways.
So then, this could only be two things.
A serial killer about to murder me or a vengeful ghost haunting me until I fall off the stairs and break my neck.
I'm going to die!
I'm so young. I still have dreams and lots of places I want to visit. My father will cry! My nephew hasn't been born yet! I don't even have a girlfriend! Sh*t! I don't have a girlfriend yet!
No, no, I can't die!
I could only lay in bed motionless for so long. I needed to open my eyes so I can see what my escape plans would be. I could probably fight and then find the opportunity to run as fast as I can.
Even though I wasn't much of a believer, I call upon the heavens out of desperation—special cases call for insane extreme measures—pleading every protection god or deity up above to help me. That if I don't make it, at least I hope it would be a swift and painless death.
Having no other choice left, I open my eyes, preparing for whatever is out there. Better to face it now and get it over with rather than play the long torturous game of hide and seek.
Light assaults my eyes.
Why is it too bright?
Did I lose a wall during my sleep?
Squinting my eyes and blinking a couple of times, I try to quickly adjust my vision. Already expecting to see something ugly, horrible and—
And so very... beautiful.
I must have blinked a hundred more times but she doesn't disappear.
Scattered shiny dark brown hair spills out on white pillows, finely sculpted nose, naturally pale pink apple shaped cheeks, lush slightly parted lips and a slender frame half covered under white sheets.
White. My blankets aren't white. Neither are my pillows. They were blue. Dark blue. That's when I start to notice everything else. Everything that is not mine.
Where am I?!
This bedroom was about twice the size of my whole studio apartment. I looked around in panic until I freeze at the movement next to me. The sleeping stranger, blissfully unaware of my distress stirred in her sleep, rubbing her face and turning over to my side as I get a good look at her face—god, how can someone be this beautiful and...
Wait a minute.
This time it was my lips parting in shock. That gorgeous face is unmistakable. Among billions of people in this world, I'd know that face anywhere. There can only be one, and I know this because I've seen her on my screen almost every night.
Kao Suppassara.
Thailand's number one superstar. An award winning actress-singer since she was sixteen, reigning queen of hit series, the star of international movies, a brand ambassador to numerous big names and a chart-topping album. Now at 31 years old, Kao has already solidified herself as a household name in Thailand. A star so bright that her popularity has even reached countries as far as Taiwan. Everyone could say that she has it all.
So why in the world is she sleeping next to me?
Am I... dreaming?
"What time is it?"
The question asked in an adorably sleepy tone makes my whole body jolt in surprise. My panic coming back in a hundred times than before. That slightly raspy tone was also tickling something in the deepest corners of my brain.
This is bad.
Not because somehow anybody would consider this a fantasy but because it feels awfully real to be a dream. Everything was so clear. Unlike all my blurry, weird and hazy short dreams I used to have before. I could feel everything as if it was in the real world, smell the scents and hear all the things around me as if I was really awake.
Kao stretches and makes a small noise of complaint before opening her eyes. I didn't dare move, holding my breath as I expect the screaming, possibly followed by kicking me off the bed.
I waited only to be shown a confused look and lips that slowly form into a smile that squeezes something inside the center of my chest.
I bet, someone will be so lucky to see this every morning.
And why is this dream running so long?
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
The question was said as gently as the touch those soft hands make on the side of my face. The contact felt like cold water pouring over my back as I flinched, automatically moving away from her reach. The move made me slip and stumble clumsily out the bed, stepping back until my foot hits a vanity table near the bed.
"Ow!" I gasped, body hunching over as I rub my foot only to pause, my brows knitting together at the sound I just made.
I don't sound like that. That wasn't my voice at all. Last time I checked it wasn't low and, well, manly.
My hands come to my face only for me to look at them in horror. They are bigger and my supposedly thin arms have gained muscles.
This isn't right.
My eyes quickly travel down to my body and I gasped yet again. Wearing a thin shirt and boxer shorts, I could already see the nightmare this was turning out to be. My chest was flat—I may not be well-endowed but still—and something is definitely not supposed to be hanging down there.
My head suddenly feels light and being overstimulated from all that is wrong around me is making it even worse. Instinctively, whenever I feel like everything is too much, I start to make a list on my head to at least, try to clean up the mess in there.
First of all, I'm in a room which isn't mine, trapped in a body that isn't mine and waking up to a woman I only see in social media. There's still pain coming from the back of my foot and I'm pretty sure that dreams can't bring physical pain unless I wake up from falling off the bed.
"Night? What is wrong?"
Kao's voice pulls me back as I look up to find her standing in front of me. She takes a step forward and I immediately take a step back as if she was ghost.
Shaking my head, I repeatedly mumble,
"I have to wake up. I need to wake up. I still have oranges to pick and an event to prepare for."
My hands fly up to my head, scrunching my hair, which was so short it felt so weird. I never had a man's haircut before.
"Okay, you're starting to scare me. What is going on with you?" Kao worriedly says, trying to get me to stop pulling out my hair from trying to concentrate on getting out of this weird dream.
"Everything that isn't right is what's going on—"
I pause, suddenly coming to terms with another realization.
"Wait, how am I speaking Thai? How do I understand Thai?! I'm not even Thai—well, I'm half and I was born here but—"
Slap.
The sting on my cheek was enough of an answer to whether this was a dream or not. No dream would produce this real of a feeling. My stomach drops as it finally dawns on me. From the corner of my eye, I find a glimpse of my reflection from the vanity mirror behind me.
"I'm sorry, you weren't making sense and I panicked. I was just making sure you weren't sleep walking," Kao apologetically tells me as she reaches out to touch my cheek, looking guilty.
But I was far too pre-occupied with what I was seeing on the mirror to process anything she was saying. In front of me was a man whom I don't recognize. Admittedly, he looks like some jeans model in a magazine who would likely win a girl over with a charming smile, a wink and sexy bed hair. If he was some celebrity, I clearly wasn't familiar with his work.
It's not my fault I only pay attention to women.
"Hey, talk to me," Kao's pleading voice brings me back to her in spite of the urgency I felt at that moment. My mind screaming for me to get out. Where and how, I wasn't sure but I just felt like I needed to do something.
Years ago, when I didn't know much, I've always been told by my father that every problem has a solution. I had been crying when the science project I spent all weekend making didn't turn out as I expected it to be. He had then explained that it wouldn't be the end of the world if I ruined a school project as he took out his tools and helped me put it all back together. He felt like a hero to me that time and I guess, he still is until now. I carried that lesson with me through college and finally at work. Now, it's funny how I ended up getting a job where I find solutions to every single problem that needed to be solved in a short amount of time. Just like when I quickly blurted out with so much confidence about having the experience of picking oranges from Yunlin County to the Orange Juice Entertainment president—I do not.
This situation however, is the first time I couldn't come up with any solutions.
Or simply pick oranges to land a new deal.
What do I do?
This whole thing is too absurd to come up with any solution.
"I need to go home."
The words left my mouth before I could think. Because home is always the one place I can run to when the going gets rough. Backed in a corner with nothing to hold on to. Home is the only direction I could think of. Perhaps finally giving in to my grandmother's wishes that I finally start praying to the deities in one of Tainan's infamous temples would offer a solution to this very huge mystical problem.
"Okay, but can you at least tell me that everything's okay?" Kao breathes out, shoulders relaxing a bit.
She looks so young compared to when I see her on media. Maybe because her face is bare and still, she looked so beautiful if not more. She was seriously prettier this way, if anyone would ask me. No wonder the world adores her.
"I know we had our disagreements last night and we still need to talk without having the need to throw things at each other. So... could you just tell me that we're okay?"
The pain in her eyes is obvious and yet I'm standing there still drowning in confusion, feeling so lost and helpless. It frustrates me that I'm unable to make out why this was happening and wondering how am I supposed to claw my way back to my own world.
This could be anyone's good dream but it isn't right to live someone else's life. Most especially to this lucky person's loved ones.
"Won't you say something?" Kao says, a hint of annoyance in her voice as her face falls at the lack of response coming from me.
"Night, I swear—"
"I'm not Night,"
And there it goes. I hated being misunderstood the most. I hated lying and being lied to as well. I was given no other option but this. Because right now, the only person who can probably help me solve this is standing right in front of me.
The same person who is also currently dragging me hurriedly by the arm out of the room.
"That's it! We're going to the hospital. I don't care about the paparazzi. I'm calling my friend. She is a neurologist and he can definitely figure out what is happening to you," Kao declares as she grabs her phone on the way out to scroll through said friend's number.
Out of fear of things escalating, I stand my ground, finding my new strength useful before using the advantage of my height to steal her phone off her hands, pressing the end call button immediately.
"Give me back my phone, Night! You are really scaring me now and I have no time for games—" Kao protests and I quickly cut her off.
"I told you, I'm not Night!" I say before breathing in and finally letting out everything I've been holding back. If only to make her listen to me.
"I'm not even a man! My name is Yeh Zhi Yu. And yes, I know foreigners have a hard time pronouncing it so just call me by my English name, Jane. I'm from Tainan, Taiwan but I'm currently living at No. 9779, Kai Ton Building, Nanchang Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei," I pause for a second, frowning at the thought before continuing.
"At least I was, last night. I was supposed to wake up in my apartment three hours ago, get in my car and drive off to work so I can talk to that stupid Orange company about that giant Orange Juice pool in a glass they want to swim in on stage! But no, I wake up here! In your bed! Somewhere in..." I drift off, suddenly another thought bothering me.
"Am I in Thailand?"
Not waiting for an answer, I cross over to the other side of the spacious living room where what seems to be the balcony is located. I quickly push away the tall curtains to open the sliding doors behind and completely stop at what I see outside. I am definitely in a luxury condo complex, surrounded by skyscrapers in a distance, far different from my quaint Zhongzheng neighborhood. We had buildings too, of course, but it's nothing like this.
I could only let out a desperate scream.
I am definitely in Thailand. The Thai script on billboards, posh shops and screen advertisements are enough of an evidence.
Closing back the sliding doors to the balcony, I walk back, still in a daze yet also much more confused than ever before. Now even running home is not going to be as easy as taking the HSR.
On the other hand, my only companion in this bizarre journey seems to equally in a daze as well. Or better yet in what could only be survival mode as she looks at me as if I have killed someone—whoever was in this body probably. I shudder at the thought, not realizing that I voiced it out loud.
"I can't be dead, am I? Did I die in my sleep and my soul has wandered across countries? But why here? Are the gods punishing me for all the shit I spat at them and ignoring my Thai roots all these years?"
Kao simply looks at me in a mix of confusion and bewilderment, eyes slowly darting to the phone I threw at the sofa between us. I could see the wheels of her head turning and it spells trouble in bright flashing signs. We enter in a silent stand-off, waiting for the dice to roll before the chaos happens. In a split second, we both reach out, diving towards the phone almost at the exact same time.
She's incredibly fast and all I could do was chase after her, grabbing on to her arm to try and get her to stop calling what is most likely the police this time. I knew I was capable of overpowering her. I also didn't want to hurt her. I simply wanted to make her stop before I end up in an impossible situation. With all my considerations, I never expected her to do the exact opposite.
Like a slow motion movie scene, I didn't have enough time to react as soon as she grabs that hard bound book at the coffee table and with all the strength she surprising has for such a tiny body, smacks me on the head with it.
My whole world spins until it all disappears into nothing but dark space.
"Have you ever prayed to the deity of love?"
The question comes up all of a sudden as we stop by a street stall selling cold fruit drinks. Sipping my own coconut juice, I look at my co-worker and close friend of nearly five years, Fei Yan, staring in awe at something behind me. Looking around, I follow her gaze to a big temple where devotees pour in. This one seemed to be the most popular among others in the vicinity.
Sighing, I turn away to continue sipping my juice. I grew up playing around temples as my grandmother went in to pray almost every day, a tradition both my parents have upheld. Having been surrounded by such things all through out my childhood, it's surprising that I grew to be annoyed by it.
Especially when I did pray for something that turned out to become the exact opposite.
"No, I don't believe in such things. Neither do I have the time for that," I huff, hungrily eyeing the other stall selling fried tofu.
"But it doesn't hurt to try, right? C'mon, come bring offerings and light an incense stick with me! Who knows, you might finally find love."
I scoff, shaking my head.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you but none of that stupid sh*t is real. Believe me, the only real thing in this world is money and food," I say as I walk over to the tempting feast, smiling like a predator getting ready to devour its prey. My friends' exact description not mine.
"Hey, Ye Zhi Yu, let me ask you something. Have you ever been in love at all?"
I tie my hair up, ignoring the question, eyes only focused on the tofu being prepared for me as if I was entering a national competition with the way I rub my hands in anticipation.
"Scratch that," Fei Yan quickly says, narrowing her eyes at me.
"Do you even want love?"
I stop and look at her in irritation, tearing my gaze off the deliciousness in front of me to answer the stupid question.
"The world does not revolve around having a lover, jiejie."
"Everything revolves around love, you heartless brat," she answers, tapping my forehead playfully.
"You have to at least like someone! There are so many handsome men out there, just be bold and ask one to date you. Also, the chances are much higher if you stop hibernating in your apartment and come with us for a girls night out."
I let out a frustrated groan, already apologizing to my food for the disrespect.
"See, the last time I went out with you guys, my chances of having Xiu Ying vomit on my sneakers, Yi Qing rolling on the side of the road, you dancing on top of the bar and Shu Hui trying to run off with some sketchy pervert are way higher than me getting a date in whatever club you force me into!"
I break my chopsticks into two and point it at her,
"I don't prioritize men or dating. Besides, that fake love deity can sell her magic to those fools,"
I pause, eyes focusing on the temple looming across us, with its red spirals, towering pillars and figures of celestial figures guarding it. My face slowly falls into one that resembles years worth of resentment as I grit my teeth and mumble.
"But I will never ever pray to her. She can go and rot in that old temple for all I care!"
I return back to enjoying my little feast and bickering with Fei Yan about something else, not knowing that deep within those massive red walls, at the heart of the temple where the elegant deity sits, a gentle gust of wind blows over the numerous candles surrounding the statue, making the flames dance and the shadows form eerily over the smiling deity's face.