Dr. A Absinthe Watasopha
(Absinthe, the green "devil liquor," also nicknamed the drink that should never be consumed)
A twenty-five-year-old young doctor who had just graduated. It took him a little longer to finish medical school because he loved partying and drinking, so he started working later than most people. He was stationed at a hospital on Pattaya Beach. He was the eldest son and had one younger sister, Bee, who was twenty-two.
Bee Bellini Watasopha (Bellini, a cocktail) did an excellent job taking the role of their mother. She loved nagging her older brother about everything, taking care of him in place of their parents. She cleaned the house, handled the laundry, bought household supplies, cooked, washed the car, and practically did everything for him.
Their parents had moved to Singapore. A's father was half Singaporean. A and Bee lived together in a small house in Pattaya, almost right next to the hospital where he worked. That was the reason A chose to work there it was close to home.
Dr. A had been someone people noticed from the moment he started working there. With his bold mouth, straight face, and blunt, axe-like way of speaking, he stood out immediately. He was a handsome doctor with plenty of admirers, even though he worked as an assistant doctor treating liver disease patients. Ironically, he was often seen drinking with those very patients.
Maybe it was some kind of new marketing strategy to increase the hospital's customer base.
"L, your dad and I are going to Uncle Joe's place for drinks. We'll be back around midnight. There's food in the fridge. If you go out, lock the door."
"Okay."
L's mother was named Oh, and his father's name was Auan. Both were forty-five years old. They had graduated from vocational school in mechanical engineering, worked at the same factory, got married, and had a child like any ordinary couple.
L's parents were funny, playful people who could drink well. They loved having fun and never overthought things, much like L himself.
There were three people in the family: father, mother, and son. They had almost had a daughter once, but L's mother miscarried while she was still early in the pregnancy because she had been working too hard.
Maybe the whole family simply did not think too deeply about things. Instead of sinking into grief over their loss, they turned to alcohol. Over time, that became something like the family's signature. Hardly anyone had ever seen this family drown in sorrow or break down over their problems.
Because in the end, every problem seemed to end with a drink.
Around L's neighborhood, everyone drank alcohol, smoked, and sang karaoke almost every day until it became a routine that felt impossible to skip.
Seeing his parents return home with half-lidded eyes, stumbling a little from being drunk, was the most normal thing. Sometimes it went further than that—loud laughter and noisy singing before everything finally went quiet when they fell asleep.
L once asked his father how he could love his mother when she had been such a heavy drinker since her youth all the way to middle age. His father answered with just one sentence.
"I fell in love with her when she was drinking. That's when she looked the most sincere."
It sounded strangely romantic, and L actually agreed with it. If you wanted to know whether you truly liked someone, you should see how they were when they drank. When people were sober, it was hard to tell what they were really like.
But once they drank enough to get drunk, there was no way to keep the devil inside them hidden. When their true nature came out, it made the decision much easier whether you wanted to stay with that person or not.
"It's already been a year since we graduated and started working. Time flies. I still miss university."
Jon, the big-eyed young man in a pineapple-print Hawaiian shirt and ripped black jeans, said while sipping his drink and staring out at the sea from a new beachside bar in Bang Saen.
"Yeah. It passed so fast, and nothing's even changed. Even though we earn our own money now, we still have no savings."
BM, wearing a loose hibiscus-print Hawaiian shirt and comfortable pants, added in agreement.
"Isn't that normal? Does anyone get rich in just one year? We work in a factory, man. Buying a house, buying a car, getting married, having kids where would the money come from?"
The group's leader, L, wore the most colorful Hawaiian shirt of them all with loose blue jeans torn at the knee. He poured himself another glass of alcohol, raised it to his lips, and took a drink, then grabbed some peanuts to chew as a snack, completely unfazed by the reality of being a salaryman whose life had been stuck in the same place for years.
"But Bom, Auntie's son next door who studied medicine, looks way richer than us now. Even though he's two years older and graduated after us, he's only been working for half a year and already bought a car. Meanwhile I'm still riding the same Dream motorcycle from my university days."
"That's because you spend all your money topping up games, and you spend yours spoiling your cats, Jon. Why even ask?"
BM tossed a peanut at Jon, amused by how his friend was becoming more and more like a cat every day.
"You're no different, L. You spend all your money on alcohol! Your salary's two thousand higher than ours. You don't keep cats and you barely top up games, but your money never lasts until next month. You're always borrowing."
Jon started throwing peanuts back at BM until L pulled the plate of peanuts toward himself and hugged it protectively. This was food to snack on, not something to play with.
"What's so strange about it? Everyone does it. Even my boss borrows money."
L spoke casually, drinking alcohol one moment and chewing peanuts the next, even though it was barely the middle of the month and he was already close to running out of money again.
"Tch! What a messed-up cycle."
The three of them often talked about money, work, and games, but never seriously thought about what their future should look like.
They continued living their youth to the fullest—drinking, riding around on their bikes, wandering through markets and malls, going to lively festivals—without saving even a single baht for the days ahead.
"Oh right, speaking of doctors, I have to take my dad to see one."
Jon suddenly remembered that tomorrow was his father's appointment to check his liver at the hospital where he had health insurance.
"What's wrong with your dad, Jon?"
"Fatty liver."
"Your dad drinks a lot too. Tell him to be careful he doesn't fall into the water while picking up fish at the harbor."
"Yeah, my mom keeps an eye on him."
"Isn't it expensive, seeing a doctor for liver treatment?"
"It is, but he has insurance. The hospital is new but nice, and it's close to the beach too. If the wait is long, we can just lay out a mat and drink on the beach."
"Yeah, that actually sounds good. But no one in my house has insurance."
"Your family's the worst, L. Money, health, everything's a mess. None of you ever get checkups. You just take paracetamol for everything. I think you should get health insurance with accident coverage too, at the same hospital as my dad. You can pay monthly or yearly. It's easy to apply, approved in one day. Since you're young, you don't even need a health check, and you don't have to pay upfront either."
"Are you selling insurance now, Jon? Who's that unlucky to end up in the hospital all the time? That's ridiculous."
"You, you idiot, L. Your whole body's covered in injuries!"