“I can sweep the house…” said a boy named Tawan.

“No, no, I won't hire you,” the old man replied in an irritated tone.

"But I'm really good at sweeping. I can wash the dishes, too." Tawan tried to convince the gray-haired man. Yet the conversation continued as before.

The little man spoke, and the other party told him to keep his mouth shut.

The struggle between the old man and the young man's contract took some time. But when the boy didn't show any signs of relenting, The old man was forced to get up from his favorite armchair. and instead sat and talked seriously with the sun

“Listen... I know you really mean it, but housework is hard. It's not just that if you walk around and everything will be fine. Or even if you can do everything. But it's still too much for a child like you... Boy, eh! How old is your name?"

“Eight years old.”

“An eight-year-old child is no taller than a broomstick.”

"Then let me sweep the front yard. It's a big yard. Grandpa will be tired." The little boy looked with hope in his eyes.

“Oh!” The old man sat back and reclined as before. He pondered in his head. Think of all the reasons that would convince this eight-year-old to give up on trying.

“I'm very good at watering, really a lot... I do it quickly too.” After saying that, the boy burst out laughing.

It seemed strange. The old man looked at the innocent eyes that shone like the sun. It goes with the name well. The reproaches of common sense surfaced in the old man's mind as he succumbed to the boy's steely determination and high-pitched laughter.

“Why rush to get money?”

“I want to help mom.”

"Hmm... help mom?"

“How can we get richer?” the boy laughed.

In the end, even though he stuttered The sun got what he had hoped for.

“Yay, Grandpa is going to hire me.” He jumped around until the wooden floor on the front porch shook.

“Hey! I hired you to clean up the mess, not to break things.” Before his voice was finished, The vase in the middle of the room broke! There aren't any good pieces left.

For an old man who does nothing more than look back on his own life. Having someone to help lighten the load is considered a very good thing.

His illness grew worse every day, sometimes after returning from an appointment with his personal doctor that the kids from work had arranged for him. He returned home with a new disease that he had never had before. Both problems with weak muscles and porous joints There are so many of them that they can be made into catalogs for sale in medical magazines.

The old man could no longer walk normally. Every movement caused him extreme pain.

The old man's normal and happy life had to depend on the doctor's tools. Sometimes the bulging breathing tube almost caused my limited patience to explode. An old man shakes off his depression with liquid food in the morning. He could no longer taste food like a normal person. In my mind I could only think of what kind of damn cancer that had snatched away the taste buds on the tip of my tongue.

The heart rate monitor sounded in sync with the boy's sweeping rhythm.

Even though Tawan didn't know the work for the first few days. But in just two weeks after that, The old man was surprised by the boy's mastery of all kinds of cleaning. He never again gave the old man a chance to complain about breaking things or leaving water on the floor.

The old man was very impressed. And with the quick-wittedness of this bright child That made the old man feel extremely uncomfortable.

“Come here, Lord Sun,” the old man beckoned. He dragged the respirator down the corridor.

“Yay, I got the money.”

“Wait a minute... Sit down,” the old man said.

“Is there something wrong?” The boy's voice clearly showed fear.

“I want to see your father,” said the old man.

“Father…?” the boy asked back to be sure.

“I would like to talk to you about something.”

"Uh... Well, my father isn't home anymore."

“This brat, oh! And like this, who are you with?”

“I live with my mother. Mom said we had to separate. Because we can't be together. But I don't mind too much. Every end of the month my father comes to see me. Even if it's just one day But I met you anyway.”

The old man had been at home for too long. Spending too much time with your own things and thoughts. So much so that I didn't notice anything had changed.

“Your mother said we couldn't be together?”

“Yes... Mother thinks this will be better for the three of us.”

“How long has it been?”

"Isn't my father at home?"

The boy took a moment to think.

“I don't remember anymore. It seems like it's been a long time. But I can't imagine how much time has passed. It must have been around three months.”

"You're not sure?"

“Well, I don't know if his mother told me later or not. Father and mother have been separated for a while now. Will you stay in the house or move out to another place? The feeling is not very different. It's strange. It's like renting a house in the same room."

“Strange...why was it that on the day I went to talk to your mother? That's why Jenny didn't even mention this matter to me."

“Mom wants to talk only about the fact that I work at my uncle's house. Mother didn't want to talk about her father to others. Mom said go help that grandpa. he is alone It's difficult to do anything. It's a pity."

The old man was silent.

“Then there's something I'm going to talk about with Dad. You can go talk to my mother. I'll take you to find it myself.”

“I can't...my leg hurts. Just take two steps and you'll fall. Your house is far away. Who will reach it?”

“But my house is less than ten steps from my grandfather's house.”

“You have been at my house for almost a month now. Do you still not understand what it is?”

“Then I can ask you. Tomorrow morning, I will come and answer Grandfather himself.”

“You'd better give me your mother's phone number.”

“Grandpa, you still don't know how to turn on the machine.”

“Wha! Why is life so difficult?” After finishing the sentence The sun laughed loudly. The gem made the old man smile as well.

“Um... I think... I'll help you with your studies. Children this age should study rather than spend their days taking care of the elderly.”

“Wow! Grandfather, are you telling the truth?”

“Yes! You are a smart child. If possible, I would like to help. Moreover, you have always been a good child. Consider that you let me help your family in some way. How is it? My surprise."

“I'm so happy...”

“Well, you do a good job and are a good kid. So I have to repay you.”

“Am I a good kid?”

“Use it and be a good kid and you must be good. Good people like you deserve rewards.”

“Good person?”

“There are only really bad people. that makes other people cry You won't make me cry. So you are a good person.”

“Strange, Grandpa.”

“Come on! The main thing is that you get more money.”

The old man handed over some money. This allowed the boy to hold on to more money than his salary for several months. He stood looking at the pile of money in his hand for a long time. He couldn't count all the value he had gained. The boy's trembling hands slowly lifted up and he wiped away the tears that couldn't hold his heart.

"He will have no more worries." The old man rubbed the sun's head. The other party then embraced the person in front of him tightly.

"Oh! No problem, I'm happy to help.. It is the right thing.”

That embrace lasted longer than any other, for the old man, it might have been the longest in his life. It's the warmest and most sincere I've felt in years.

“I'm so happy... I got a lot of money.” The young man's voice trembled. "What kind of business does Grandpa do? I want to do it. It looks like I'll make a lot of money..." Tawan said.

“You don't want to know.” After those words The old man began to feel sad.

The old man never called anyone. If it's personal He prefers to meet up and talk face to face. But if it's a business matter Instead, he waited for a call from the other end. Most answered questions about the nature of the work they were doing. If not, arrange the products. It is often about changes that he must approve.

“Today there will be a new batch of merchandise arriving. Boss, do you want me to debut it now?”

“Okay, go ahead.”

“So that means you'll be joining the event today, right?”

The old man was silent.

“Yes, sir, I already know that the boss doesn't want to come. I just pretended to ask.” That person laughed to relieve his embarrassment.

“I'll go soon.”

“What?! Is the boss coming?”

"Yes"

Really boring, he hung up the phone. How long has it been since you visited the work site? Traveling and managing the business that I have been doing for many years is not that difficult. Because if there is something that makes the old man worry It's definitely not about money.

The old man picked up a cane Walk to the parking garage. and decided to drive his old car to the place where he had been missing for a long time.

Tawan's house has all the lights turned off.

I guess they're asleep. It's not strange at all. It's 11:00 p.m., almost midnight.

The sound of a mobile phone calling.

“Boss, do you still remember the way to the store?”

“Sure! I built the shop with my own hands.”

The old man hung up the phone impatiently. His head was busy thinking about old things, which only made his withered face even more deformed than before.

He was lost in thought for a long time before the old man regained consciousness. He was almost at his destination.

A shop sign glowed in the darkness.

The old man muttered, “Midnight Sun.”

The storefront is designed to attract the attention of men looking for fun at night. Symbols of the divine lust of women adorn the alley. Some adjacent shops add to the solemnity with various words of encouragement, often beginning with a giant yor or a hor ark.

This area is clearly divided by gender. Although the target group focuses on the crotch of adult men, But a few blocks away from Midnight Sun. There is also a shop that caters to female customers.

This market segment is illegally protected by law enforcement. Bribes were widely paid to silence anyone wishing to extirpate the mundane realm. Morality is left behind as currency is used to exploit it. The sounds of late night activity were drowned out by the loud beats.

Dirtiness melts into happiness. No one would be thoughtless in a place like this. It is a place where people can control things they have never been able to before: power, lust, men, women, lights, and intense pleasure.

The old man understood the fragility of morals and ethics from the day he was a young man. Gray business is therefore a source of income until the end of his life.

The old man slowly parked his car on the corner of the road before reaching his destination.

It used to be more free than this. The old man muttered to himself. He got out of the car and walked slowly. After walking for a while, He heard the sound of arguing from a familiar alley.

“Didn't I tell you to go and pamper that old man? My son doesn't love me well!”

"Yes, Mom. I'm going to stay with Grandpa for the whole month..."

“Then why present yourself to me? If you don't wake up in time tomorrow You just can't take care of it.”

“You woke up late.”

“But you still have to wake up earlier than him, Tawan,” a voice began to shout loudly. “Hurry and get out of here. You made my customers wait.”

“Mom! …”

"Don't call me mom!"

There is a loud noise. From inside the abandoned alley the old man watched.

“Mother.”

“Don't squeeze tears into my face.”

"But I'm hurt."

“It hurts too.” The woman slapped her son's hand away from his own shirt. “We agreed not to call me Mom. Not when I come out.”

“Yesterday, I still called my mom mom.”

“That's in the market, not the brothel.”

"But she's still my mother."

“My customer doesn't need a mother.”

"But I need mom."

“You are not my customer!”

“But I'm my mother's son!!” The trembling voice resonated with the boy's heart.

“This brat!”

“...I already got the money.” Tawan turned away after being hit on the right cheek by his mother's left palm the second time. “Nearly ten thousand baht. The money my mother needs.”

“Ten thousand…” The woman stared at the stack of money in her son’s hand, “Wha! You are good too, right?”

"Is it true..."

“That's right, darling…” The creature that called itself Mother accepted the money almost immediately. “If it's this much, I just can't do it for a month. Next time, I might be able to redeem the whole house.”

“But mother.”

"what"

“I would like to keep some of it.”

“What do you mean? keep some This is my money.”

“Tuition fees. My grandfather gave it to me to use for studying.”

“Don't you dare be funny. Even if you don't study, you can still do this. Why study until you're tired?"

“Grandfather said that I would be smart.”

“That bitch Rudi at the shop next door is as stupid as a buffalo. There are still a lot more available than you.”

“Aunt Rudee..”

"You're still a kid. You don't need to know."

“I really want to earn as much money as… Aunt Ruedee.”

“A faint-hearted kid like you can't do it.”

"Are you faint of heart..."

“Just show me the bottom. You still can't do it. I don't have the wisdom to make a living like this.”

“Even so, it's my money...”

“Can you please stop worrying!” The woman slapped the palm of the sun that was trying to reach out. The boy retreated. His breathing was labored. The other party turned away, annoyed, his eyes wide, tears starting to flow. But the other party didn't care.

"Let's go home and talk..."

She walked away

“Then I'll hire Mom,” a slow voice said.

“Don't be ridiculous...”

“Two thousand equals two hours, right?” The boy wiped away tears. Ready to take out the remaining money in his trouser pocket. “So twenty baht must be at least ten minutes, right?”

“Just five minutes is fine. I want to continue living with my mother.”

“Go home!”

“There is no one for me to go back to, Mom...Mom...Mom.”

"Don't interfere with my life," she said quietly.

“I want to go see my father.”

“Your father must be a rude customer.”

“Aunt Rudee”

“You whore cursed my husband. A buffalo is suitable for a buffalo.”

"I don't understand..." Tawan stood frozen.

“Then you're just another buffalo.”

An old man remembers his youth in the past. At an age when I was young enough to shout and shout forbidding At an age when he was young enough to walk up and grab that bitch and protect his employee, his man, his sun, what happened? Both legs can still walk. However, the old man did not dare to move anywhere. He could only watch the farewell of a relationship that was nourished by money and the cum of selfish people.

The smell of this place spreads everywhere. It was an aura that the old man had once been fascinated with. Infatuated with passion Dancing on the woman's body, the scent was strong. The old man thought he could accept everything. He was confident that he could accept any sleaze that happened. It had always been with Midnight Sun.

There was no way that the matter of mother and daughter could distract him.

I've seen many before. Those pictures of squalor A scream behind an alley The sound of a lead bullet penetrating the brainstem

I've even had rusty handcuffs on my wrists before walking into court. These things were never new to the old man. So why did you feel like this until now?

“Grandfather…” A small, familiar voice carried on the wind.

The old man looked at the sun with strange eyes. he is himself But I can't see myself. What exactly happened? The boy began to twitch. Walking backwards with a distorted face The tear stains were still visible. They flowed, slid under his nose, over the edge of his mouth, and fell under his chin and onto the putrid floor. The bad guy, the boy said loudly. before disappearing into the darkness

“Sun…” The light disappeared. He is a smart boy. The old man understood the science that flowed down his cheeks. It is a chemical chain called truth and selfishness. What was the worst thing that the old man had taken away from the boy? Time is the catalyst. and his deteriorating years became the result of contradictions emerging from the recesses.

He drove home in his old car. The same car that in the past had brought hundreds of lives up here. Both front and back seats, customers, employees, and close friends

I can't take a step. The old man was too timid to walk into that alley. Go find one of the rewards he created. I should be able to do it. But I can't.

Ai Cherd's wife never existed in his thoughts. Not even another type of employee like her son. The loud shouts still echoed in the old man's head. He drives in the dark. In my mind I thought of some kind of light that might be lit. Cigarettes are not the answer The disgusting lump had eaten away most of his lungs.

The lighter fluid was too dry to produce anything. He was striving for something to make himself feel a little bigger.

If that thing could be hard now, that would be great.

The man turned his head in disgust. The expression in the rearview mirror looked thoughtfully at the old man's identity. What are you going to feel like now? The tired eyes probably thought so. What's the point of pretending to be so high?

That ten thousand was not a fraction of all he had, ever had, or was about to make.

There was no law to send a table behind a high wall. Poison needle from court order Or where did the sound of a hammer hitting wood come from to make the old man nervous?

Just a normal mother and child. It's just that, isn't it?

The business owner returned home. He tried to sleep.

While turning over on the soft, comfortable bed The thick, strong scent from that place still lingered in my nostrils. The voice still echoes in my head. The eyes still remember The broom that used to be brushed The mess the boy had made before, damn it, the old man tried to forget the whole thing. But he couldn't do it. If I knew that Cherd's wife worked at my shop, I would...

The old man lay restless as he cursed the new disease that was consuming him. A disease in pronunciation like a world reeking of a stench.

The old man fell asleep that night. Alas... he was waiting for the sunshine that would never return.

Because for the rest of the old man's life The sun always shines brightly at midnight.