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+---- Thread: Joe's Journey, part 19: Visits and visits (/showthread.php?tid=10890)
Joe's Journey, part 19: Visits and visits - Haramcha - 2026-10-04
The warmth hit Joe for just a brief moment before mostly subsiding again as he stepped into the little bridge that really could more fittingly have been named a tunnel. Such was the feeling of entering Suvarnabhumi Airport, where the air conditioning felt like a bigger relief upon arrival than the matter of leaving the airplane itself. He looked around to see if any of his teammates were surprised by the momentary heat, but even the primary suspects seemed to have been conditioned by the Hungarian heat of the onsetting summer.
A conversation with Sei had been going since they were still seated on the plane, and only when his teammate popped into a toilet in the airport did Joe decide to call Tok. “Hi dad, just calling to say that we’ve arrived.” It felt so silly making a call like that. Since the first flight of his life just under two years prior, he had flown probably fifty times already, and with the exception of the first couple of ventures, he’d never had to inform Tok so immediately. Now, just because it was to Thailand, he had suddenly been asked to call him the moment he arrived, Tok’s voice sounding strangely concerned when he made the request. It all felt rather surreal. Despite being back in Bangkok for the first time since his initial departure, Joe would hardly have a moment available to see his family or friends. Procedure as usual, all according to schedule. Well, more or less, anyway. After talking to some of the higher ups at the club, Joe had been guaranteed a handful of tickets to the match against Krung Thep so that he could at least bring some of the people he wanted to spend time with to see him at a distance. “Yes, I’ll see you later, dad.”
The world was shaking strangely. Not like an earthquake, more just like… a spirit had gotten ahold of Joe, and decided to just mildly annoy him rather than do him any real harm. Opening his eyes as best he could, he could barely make out Sei’s features. “Weren’t you supposed to have visitors?” his teammate asked. Joe closed his eyes again before practically jumping up, lucky not to headbutt Sei’s chin. “Wait, what time is it?!” he demanded to know. “Three thirty. Is that too late? You looked like you needed to sleep.” Luckily, it wasn’t. Joe thanked him for getting him out of bed, and proceeded to excuse himself to make a call to inform his dad that they could come by for a bit.
The hotel lobby was very different to the one in Budapest. Colder, somehow, with a fancy-looking interior. Sort of like something from a movie, perhaps where spies might communicate through codewords while reading each their newspaper. Joe preferred the one in Budapest, which felt a bit older and not quite as roomy, but at least had the feeling of someone living there, which made it perfect as a sort of faux living room on the rare occasion that Joe was meeting a teammate there, or when he just wanted to sit around in surroundings that weren’t his own hotel room. Would he even be able to recognize his sister when they came in, he wondered. Maybe it’d be better if he’d stayed in the room and let the staff at the lobby guide Tok and Pim to his room.
Just then, he saw a familiar figure enter the front door, followed by yet another. He leapt halfway through the lobby, doing his best not to shout his excitement for all to hear. “Joe!” his sister eventually exclaimed as she noticed his approach. “Pim! Dad! Hi!” Joe had no idea what to say after so long, but his sister jumping at him and closing her arms around him quickly solved the situation. “I missed you so much!” she stated, instantly changing the topic with a “this place is so big! It’s like a movie!” Apparently, he wasn’t the only one to make that connection. Pim stepped back, and Tok grabbed Joe’s shoulder as a greeting of sorts. “You’ve grown even bigger, boy,” he said. “Really? I guess so. Wait, let’s go up to the room,” Joe invited them.
After a couple of hours, Joe and Sei had been left with an unhealthy portion of snacks and fruit, the latter of which they had already been made to eat quite a bit of, and a healthier portion of words to contemplate, as stories had been shared both ways. Then again, Sei probably had no need to contemplate anything, with all communication having been in Thai. Joe was just glad that his roommate for the trip had been kind enough to not only let him invite his family, but to also let them stay there for as long as they did, despite probably wanting to rest ahead of dinner. When Joe tried to thank him, he’d just shrugged it off, saying that it was a good way to stay awake until it was time to dine.
Tok had tried repeatedly to convince Joe to go out with him and Pim for dinner, but knowing that whatever he had in mind was unlikely to be fit for an athlete to consume, not to mention that the team were meant to stay in the hotel to rest, he had eventually let go of the idea. At least they would be able to share a meal the day after the match. Joe made a call, and food was brought to the room. Normally, the team would eat together, but after such a long flight, the custom was to have the players stay in their rooms and have the first meal there, instead joining up for the following morning’s meal.
It really couldn’t have gone much better. As often before, Joe felt grateful to Arsène N’Goussou who was being celebrated as the player of the match once again for his final two goals of the season. Joe had gotten an assist in the match, and the team had won 5-2. During the celebrations in the locker room, the door to the room suddenly opened, and Tok, Pim and Joe’s best friend Sem stood there, looking a little out of place as footballers were dancing, jumping around and spraying water from drinking bottles. Clearly, they had no idea what they were going into, because Sem was wearing an expensive-looking polo shirt and a proper pair of pants, while Tok was dressed in a shirt and long pants, something Joe didn’t remember ever having seen before. In fact, he wasn’t even aware that his dad owned clothes like that. At least his sister was dressed somewhat normally, although that almost made it more confusing; how on Earth had she gotten away with that, considering she was with Tok?
After a few greetings, Joe and Sem chatted away for a while, as his dad and sister were being asked all kinds of questions by Joe’s teammates in English that Pim was doing her best to answer on behalf of the both of them. Eventually the roles changed, and Joe sat with his family while Sem tried to get to know the physios, although he seemingly mistook the kitman for another physio, as Joe saw him exchanging contact information with him.
Seeing them off after things died down in the dressing room, Joe told them he’d see them again the following day for lunch before they were to fly out. Once they had left the locker room, he thanked all that was holy that the match had gone as it had. He couldn’t even imagine how it’d have been had they lost the match before his family and best friend had come to greet everyone.