UNISTAR : Invisible Moon [English Version]

ลำดับตอนที่ #16 : Chapter 14 : Wish to be 'the Wind'

 

Invisible Moon

Chapter 14
Wish to be 'the Wind'

"The wind is intangible but comforting."
#WINisWIND

"Hey! Look at him! Who is he? So cute!"

"He must be a celebrity or a cute boy!"

"He doesn't look familiar, but I wanna take his photo."

I had to hide around the corner, hold the bag up to hide my face, and run quickly to the male toilet. I hadn't gotten used to this yet.

For the first time ever, an air like me turned visible. I didn't simply condense into liquid or solidify. I glowed.

After P'In gave me a makeover, he had to go for another photoshoot. I didn't want to bother him any longer, so I thanked him and said goodbye. At first, I thought I could just go back as normally as I usually would, but on the contrary, as soon as I got off the elevator, I suddenly became the centre of attention and everyone was looking and pointing at me.

I had always been a fading Win ever since I was born, so wherever I went, I was always forgotten. Therefore, suddenly attracting attention out of nowhere like this naturally made me feel uneasy.

I looked at myself in the mirror. The person in the mirror was very good looking, but I couldn't deny the fact that it was only because of my new hairstyle and the makeup that P'In did for me.

I was hesitating whether I should remove my makeup and return to the old fading me just so I could go back home peacefully. However, at this moment, I was the masterpiece created by P'In. I wanted to keep myself like this for as long as I possibly could.

I used to feel miserable due to my invisibility. I used to dream of becoming an existing person. Now that P'In had casted a magic spell on me — my dream came true. Hence, I shouldn't waste this valuable opportunity.

"Alright, Win, you can do it! You need to stop being like the air."

I told myself in the mirror, motivating myself.

I then went out and walked through the mall with more confidence. Some people were noticing me, whispering or poking their friends to look at me. I walked faster than I usually would as I was nervous, and didn't make eye contact with anyone to avoid them approaching me.

At first, I rushed towards the exit to the sky train, but I noticed a skincare and cosmetic shop — Molly Welly — the name was so familiar. This was the brand of the cosmetics that P'In robbed from P'Wayu — the makeup which he applied on my face.

Apparently, it was a cosmetic brand for teenagers under MW company, showcasing UNISTAR as its brand ambassador. I couldn't take my eyes off the real-size standee boards in front of the shop, its height was almost the same as the actual UNISTAR members. Many fans were gathering around to take a selfie with the standees.

I just noticed that the standees were chained and placed on anti-theft sensors. I once saw on Twitter that the UNISTAR standees were stolen by fans almost every day before. At first, people found it humorous, thinking that the fans were so in love with UNISTAR that they even stole their standees. However, when this happened again and again, people got annoyed and commented things like: Again? When will they stop? Then, the MW company must have been tired of replacing new standees almost every day, so they decided to put security measures in place for the standees.

The way I see it, the standees were no more than a gimmick. Although there were some people browsing inside the shop, most of them were taking photos with the standees.

The shop's overall design was vintage and it displayed UNISTAR posters on every corner of the store. However, not all products in the store were represented by UNISTAR. Most of the UNISTAR labelled products are unisex, which can generally be used by males or females, such as skin care items, face masks and lip balms.

However, every item was highly sought after, especially the products that UNISTAR represented — they were almost sold out. The most popular one was the UNILIP lip balm, the tube was designed with a cartoon character of each UNISTAR member — five members, five scents — and only the testers were left.

"This lip balm is temporarily out-of-stock." The saleswoman came.

"But you can still pre-order. You'll receive it within 7-10 days."

"Uh...alright." I nodded.

I wasn't used to receiving service by a salesperson. I was usually so fading that salespeople or promoters just passed by without noticing me.

"Anyway, are you a UNISTAR fanboy too?" The saleswoman asked with a smile.

"Huh? Fanboy?" I blinked while I thought about it.

Did a fanboy mean a male fan who was obsessive with a male idol?

'I...am a fanboy?'

"This lip balm is our best-seller." She continued. "It's unisex, so both males and females can use it. Besides the cute UNISTAR characters on the tube, it's also made with each member's perfume scent. It'll feel like you're kissing UNISTAR when you apply the lip balm. Ahhh~"

She was speaking with a dreamy sound. She even took the lip tester with P'Sea's scent for me to try on.

"Uhh..." I swallowed hard.

How should I say this? I was a bit embarrassed to put on the lip balm, which carried the fragrance of another male, in front of a woman. It was a little —

"Oh? You're not P'Sea's fanboy?" She was surprised. Probably because most of the fanboys were P'Sea's fans.

"Then who do you like the most?" She asked and looked around secretly before whispering to me.

"Even if it's out-of-stock, we still have a reserved quota for V.I.P membership. Because you're cute, I might be a little biassed. But if you want it, I can ask my manager for you."

"R...Really?" I was amazed. I never thought that being cute and good-looking could gain me such a privilege.

"Sure! Then which member do you especially like?"

"Well..." I hesitated. I took a look at the promotional poster where each UNISTAR member held their own version of the lip balms. I immediately noticed P'In, who was always handsome and emotionless from every angle.

If this lip balm's scent was the same as UNISTAR's perfume, then P'In's lip balm probably had the coconut fragrance that I smelled before.

If I could get P'In's version of the lip balm, I probably would smell it every day rather than use it.

"Ahhh! I got you. You like N'In, right? I'll bring it to you now."

"Huh?! Uhh, well..." I was blushing.

I was only looking at P'In's photo a little longer, was it that obvious?

"Please don't be shy. Hehe. We also get male customers here, not just women. N'Sea's products are particularly hot, but we should still have the others' as well."

After that, the saleswoman went to ask her manager. I was still feeling weird being served, but then I saw the cushion powder — a similar one to the one P'In had robbed from P'Wayu.

I was considering whether I should buy it. P'In has helped me a lot already. He even nominated my name to be the faculty Moon candidate. I couldn't keep asking him to do my makeup for me, so I thought that it would be better if I had my own cosmetics.

The price wasn't that expensive and I hadn't used much money this month. So I decided to buy the cushion powder, an eyebrow pen and a lip tint as well.

When I finished browsing, the saleswoman came back with a tiny box of lip balm with P'In's character on it. She winked at me, and secretly took it to the cashier, preventing other customers from seeing it.

"Oh, you use cosmetics too." She was looking at the stuff I was holding.

"I recommend you to buy this moisturiser. So your skin won't be dry when you do your makeup often."

She showed me a bottle of moisturiser. I was about to refuse as the cost was quite high, however, I hesitated when I saw that the moisturiser was part of the UNISTAR cosmetic series.

"There are a few options. The product's highlight is the main ingredient extracted from Thai herbs. Every type is good for the skin. The side benefits and smell may differ. I'm also using it. The turmeric one is really good."

I took a look at them. It had five options, represented by each UNISTAR member, just like the lip balms. The only difference was the type of herbal extracts used for each option. For example, P'Sea's option was made from cucumber extract, P'Leo's used turmeric, P'Natee's was based on aloe vera, P'Wayu's was from tomatoes, and not surprisingly, P'In's was coconut.

"I'll buy this one." I thoughtlessly chose the bottle with P'In's photo.

"Gotcha! You must love N'In so much." The saleswoman grinned.

Her teasing made me shy.

Besides buying, the saleswoman also asked whether I had an MW Member card. I didn't have it yet, because I wasn't a loyal customer to MW products or any brands, I just used them randomly. So she offered to sign me up for free, as I've reached the minimum purchasing amount to qualify for membership. She also suggested that I register as a Unity too, because it doesn't only offer discounts, but it also allows me to collect Unity points for various privileges.

I wasn't good at saying no to people, so I just allowed her to get me through the sign up. The membership register form only required my basic information such as name, gender, birthday, telephone number, address, email, and some general questions about UNISTAR, like: How did you discover the UNISTAR project? How long have you followed UNISTAR? Which UNISTAR member is your most favourite?

I was shy, but still selected P'In.

"We recently released a new version of MW Member cards. You can pick the UNISTAR version too."

The saleswoman showed a bunch of colourful cards for me to choose from - five types of five UNISTAR member cards.

I was about to ask whether there were any generic cards. I was worried that if I wanted to buy something again in the future and had to take out the membership card with a male image, it would be a bit embarrassing.

"I'll choose for you. N'In has been super popular recently. This is his last card. I'll give it to you."

I was both shocked and embarrassed, but before I could protest, she had already picked a P'In card for me.

I ended up spending a few thousand baht today. I couldn't believe that I fell into the trap of Unity fan marketing. I almost cried when I realised it. How did I let myself willingly be enslaved by MW's marketing?

God! I've already gone bananas!

Once I reached my dorm, I found myself obsessing over my face. I was never like this before. I felt like a narcissist as I took hundreds of selfies, which were now stored in my phone.

Because P'In was the one who gave me this makeover, I was very reluctant to wash my face. But I had to.

Although my face was now clean, I felt a sense of loss. I then proceeded to spend the whole night studying how to use all the skin care and cosmetics that I bought. I watched the basic makeup tutorials as well as basic hairstyling tips on YouTube. I had a hairdryer and a small tub of hair gel that I bought on discount in my room, but I barely used them.

I followed what was taught in the tutorials, trying out the tips and tricks. I screwed up a few times, but then I became better with each try and later on, I could do some basic hairstyles and makeup. It was neither as perfect as a professional's touch nor was it neat like P'In did, but it was still okay.

Afterwards, I took a shower and went to bed. I should really sleep now, but then I just remembered the most important thing.

Right! I almost forgot that tomorrow, I would be joining the faculty Moon preliminaries!

I was so excited about the makeover that it slipped my mind. P'In took a lot of effort to show me that I could be good looking enough, so I shouldn't let him down or make him regret his decision, even though I still couldn't believe that P'In had really chosen me.

Anyway, I sighed before laying down on my bed.

Compared to Boss, I was under qualified to become the Moon, although deep inside me, I desired to be the Moon once. I was curious how it would feel to become the Moon, how great it would feel to stand out among others. At least, I owed this to P'In who has helped me this much. I shouldn't discredit him.

However, in order to become the Moon, one's appearance wasn't enough. One had to possess an impressive special talent and cleverly answer questions from the panel of judges as well.

The special talent part was the main problem. I wasn't good at sports, music, or any type of performances. None of them. What should I prepare to show? I was sure I could survive the interview part, because although my grades weren't that outstanding, I wasn't dumb either. I may not excel at studying, but I was observant. Perhaps, due to my fading character since birth, I ended up spending most of my time observing people. I could memorise and recall things around me. Too bad it wasn't really helpful for my study or work.

Boss and I would need to go to room 300 for the faculty Moon preliminaries together tomorrow.

I felt a bit relieved because they only gave us one day to prepare. So I could conclude that it wasn't very formal or official. It's probably more like an interview where I might not need to showcase any special talents.

Based on what I've heard, it was highly probable for them to ask questions like: What will you do for our university as the Moon? Why do you want to be the Moon?

Yeah, why? I asked myself that too. Why did I want to be the Moon? Other than escaping my invisible life, I couldn't think of other reasons.

I flipped on my bed, trying to think of a more impressive reason. When nothing came to mind, I turned to play with my phone.

I shot up to a sitting position, completely surprised.

"Huh? What's happening?" I exclaimed.

Why did my Twitter account suddenly have a lot of notifications?

I opened the App, shocked to find that one of my posts had been retweeted around a thousand times, with a lot of comments.

It was my tweet a few days ago.

The wind is the air @archawin_d

These dogs didn't have an owner, but they do look happy, not starving. #InvisibleMoon #UNISTAR

I didn't think much when I posted it the other day. I was just impressed with what P'In did and decided to post. I used the hashtag but didn't refer to P'In directly because I was worried he would be harassed by fans.

Fortunately, his fans didn't suspect whether P'In came here often as they were all focused on other things. Many comments and retweeted mentions were like: 'There are still many homeless dogs outside, the dogs were so cute that I couldn't help but pity them', 'Today I went to feed them too, if P'In saw this he would do the same thing', and so on.

Moreover, many dog lovers had taken those stray dogs home. Even the white blind dog also had home now. The adopter posted that this white dog was so pitiful that if they left him here, he would be bit by other dogs.

It didn't stop there. Originally, this place wasn't attractive to many people. Now, it was so crowded. Some people took a selfie with the bread grandma, inviting everyone to feed the fish, and also said that there were a lot of hungry fish here.

I was amazed. No one had ever been interested in my Twitter account before, as if my fading curse also applied to my social media accounts, it was also invisible to others as well. But right now, My Twitter literally blew up.

As I scrolled through the post's retweeters, I eventually understood why my tweet had suddenly attracted so many people.

Intrakorn Retweeted

The wind is the air @archawin_d

These dogs didn't have an owner, but they do look happy, not starving. #InvisibleMoon #UNISTAR

P'In used his Twitter @intrakorn to 'retweet' my post without any comments.

When I met P'In earlier today, he didn't mention this either. So I didn't know his reason. Although I used my real name for my account, I wasn't sure whether he knew it was me, as I had never uploaded my own photo.

However, P'In did retweet me, so apparently he agreed with my post.

I was trying to analyse P'In's perspective. In fact, if P'In really wanted everyone to help the dogs or fish, he could just say the word and his fans would willing jump in. So why did he have to do these by himself all along?

I was wondering, but then it hit me. I just read an article about public relations - Mr. Chana's homework. It was good to build up a positive image, but deliberately doing something too direct could possibly result in a negative impact instead.

Supposing that P'In always told the fans to help on something, his intentions might have been misunderstood. People might even question his sincerity or worse, assume that he was pretentious or was doing them for profit.

His indirect way of 'doing good things without ostentation' created a more powerful positive force as he had never shown off or asked his fans for help.

It was like the strong current in the deep ocean, it couldn't be seen, but it was much more powerful than the surface waves.

I didn't know what P'In actually thought or wanted to achieve, but I was elated because of what happened on my Twitter.

Being part of rebuilding a better world, it was a thoroughly beautiful feeling.

I suddenly found the reason why I wanted to become a Moon.

Because I wanted to do what P'In did. I probably couldn't be as bright as him, but the 'Win' like me wouldn't just be the fading air anymore.

I would be the 'Wind'. Perhaps it couldn't be seen, but it could bring happiness to this world. Whether it was big or small, it didn't matter.

If I became the Moon, I had to be one like P'In.

☽------------☽