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Nueng was excited. It had been days since she last saw Anueng in person.
The younger woman threw herself into the warzone of finals, and her busy schedule prevented them from seeing each other. She would still find time to call and text Nueng and there were nights Anueng would fall asleep during mid-calls.
Nueng forgot how busy university students were during finals. She was a perfect student. She studied throughout the school year and finished all her classwork in a timely manner, so she never had any issues with finals.
Nueng missed the younger woman terribly. She regretted agreeing to let the younger woman stay with her grandma during the weekdays. She wished Anueng would come to the palace to her every night so she could at least see her in person.
When finals were finally over, Anueng immediately called her for a date night.
When Anueng spotted her at the restaurant, she almost cried in happiness. She engulfed her in a tight embrace, unwilling to let go. “I miss you so much, Arnueng!”
Nueng had better control her emotions, but she couldn’t stop her smile from widening.
Maybe because they hadn’t seen each other for days, Anueng’s affection for her increased tenfold throughout the meal. All the warmth and love the younger woman threw at her filled up the emptiness she felt in days Anueng was not there.
After dinner, Nueng wanted to take the younger woman back to the palace to spend the rest of the night, but Anueng insisted on getting some dessert at the small stall that she saw people recommend on the internet.
They held hands as they walked along the streets, enjoying the colorful lights of bars and restaurant signs.
Everything was perfect until they heard a scream.
Three men were cornering a young woman outside the bar on a quieter side of the street. The woman clearly looked intoxicated and uncomfortable, and a few bystanders looked at them worriedly.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Nueng strived forward with Arnueng by her side. She stared down at the gang, putting on her most intimidating look.
"We are just having fun. It's none of your business, Lady," One of them scoffed at her and then turned his back on her.
The disrespect. How dare they turned their back on her?
Just as she was about to grab her phone to call the authorities, the younger woman next to her stepped forward, growling at the men.
"Show some respect when you speak to Arnueng!"
The men turned around and laughed at Anueng's outburst.
A man, who looked like to be the gang’s leader, leered at both Nueng and Anueng. "On second thought, you and your auntie look very beautiful. Care to join us?"
Anueng let go of her hand and was about to launch at the man in a ball of fury, but Nueng quickly took hold of the younger woman's arm and pulled her back beside her.
It was not safe to agitate the men now. Nueng had experience fighting off unpleasant people but she was by herself during those times. She could run away if things escalated. But now she had Anueng with her, she needed to be more careful.
Nueng felt a little at ease when her dial to the authorities went through and an operator came into the line.
She talked to the police operator, ignoring any comments the gang made. The operator informed her that the authorities would arrive in a few minutes before hanging up.
“Come on now, lady. That’s not very nice. We just want to have a little fun.” The leader of the gang swaggered toward them.
Nueng tightened her hand on Anueng, standing her ground with her head held high. “You better leave before the authorities here.”
All the swagger was gone and now replaced with anger. “Stop looking down at us, you bitch!” The gang leader approached her and raised his hand, ready to strike.
A blur rushed past her, and the next thing Nueng knew was the gang leader on the ground, clutching onto his stomach, wheezing.
In front of her was Anueng, fuming with anger.
"How dare you try to lay a hand on my girlfriend!"
“You will pay for this!” The gang leader sneered at them, still gritting his teeth in pain.
The two other men ran toward them. Their muscles tightened, getting into their fighting stance.
This was getting out of hand. Before Nueng could grab the younger woman to run, Anueng was already propelled forward to meet them.
“Nueng!”
The younger woman maneuvered around the men’s hands and quickly struck one of the men in his face with her elbow. Without breaking a sweat, she then delivered a powerful kick at the third man’s stomach. Both men collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.
Nueng was stunned by what just happened but she immediately broke out of it and reached over to her beloved. She inspected from top to bottom to see if there were any injuries. “Are you okay, Nueng? Did you get hurt?”
Anueng bent over and let out a loud groan.
"Nueng! What's wrong? Where did you get hurt? Let's go to the hospital right now!"
The older woman frantically took hold of the younger woman, trying to be as gentle as possible, not wanting to injure her more.
Anueng looked back up with a wide smile. “I like it when you are fretting over me.”
Nueng let out a breath of relief. Then she looked at Anueng disapprovingly and pushed the younger woman away. “You always make me worry!”
"Arnueng!" The younger woman whined and clung onto her arm like usual.
Nueng sighed as she looked at the woman that just fought off three grown men now pleading with her beautiful eyes and pouty lips. She suddenly felt an urge to claim those lips.
The moment was ruined by the sound of a man's grunts.
The gang's leader, who was still on the ground, was desperately crawling away.
They stopped in front of the man. Her beloved was still furious.
“Do you know I waited so long to finally go on a date with Arnueng?! Now you and your stupid gang ruined it!”
The younger woman wanted to stomp on the fallen man but Nueng stopped her. That man already looked terrified enough.
The once disrespectful gang leader was now on his knees, begging for his life. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry that we ruined your date with your aunti-"
Anueng glared at him.
"I mean girlfriend! Your date with your girlfriend! Sorry, ma’am! Both of you! We were wrong. I promise we won’t do it again! Please forgive us.”
The younger woman seemed to be somewhat satisfied with the apology.
“What about that girl?” Nueng glanced over at the terrified intoxicated woman at the corner.
The man turned to look at the woman that he and his gang were harassing. He bowed his head to the ground and apologized repeatedly.
They stayed until the authorities arrived and arrested the gang. The woman thanked them profusely.
The whole time, Anueng was sulking against her arm.
"What's wrong?"
"The dessert stall is closed by now. Our date is ruined" Seeing her beloved so dejected troubled Nueng.
"We saved a girl from harassment and put the harassers behind bars. To me, that's a good date." Nueng gave her a head pat, hoping that would cheer her up.
"I don't know you're into vigilantism, Arnueng. Though I'm not into violence that much, I can be the damsel in distress and you can be the vigilant that deserves a reward." The gloomy cloud above her vanished, and her beautiful eyes gleamed with mischievousness.
Nueng rolled her eyes. "You're such an opportunist."
That made Anueng beam with more excitement. "I'm just a poor girl. How can I ever repay my savior? Please take my body as a reward."
Nueng was used to the younger woman's dramatics by now. "You're the one that fought off those men. Where did you learn to fight like that?"
Anueng was never really an action person. In the palace, the younger woman would spend her time lounging on the bed or couch, reading her sapphic books or listening to the radio. Even when they watched a movie together, Anueng would never pick an action film.
Anueng shrugged, "When I was little, Grandma hired a private tutor to teach me self-defense."
"How come I never heard you or your grandma mention it?"
Nueng felt more and more curious about the younger woman’s life. She thought she knew everything about her beloved but apparently, there was always more to be discovered.
"I showed great talent for it. My teacher wanted me to compete. Grandma didn't want me to get hurt so she fired the teacher.”
Nueng’s chest tightened. She remembered how her own grandmother gifted her first sketchbook, and then tossed her entire artwork into the fire.
“Did you want to compete?” Nueng didn’t like the idea of her beloved getting hurt, but if Anueng wanted to compete within the ring, Nueng would support her with the first aid kit within arm reach.
Anueng shook her head. “I don't particularly enjoy having so many eyes on me.”
Nueng felt relief in her chest.
“I only picked it back up when I started university. You would've known if you went to the gym with me."
A teasing finger poked her arm, and Nueng grumbled.
Anueng had been begging her to work out with her, but after that run around the park, her body ached for days. She could do a lot of things for Anueng but being at the gym, exercising was not for her.
"I don't like to be sweaty and out of breath."
"We all know that's a lie, Arnueng." The younger woman grinned at her knowingly.