Hotel Stars 2.0

        Krit looked at the ten new interns for the fourth year of the Love Paradise Hotel Stars Internship Program. He thought they looked like a pretty good group, but then again, he thought that every year and something always happened. Last year, it was the whole thing with his niece and the winning intern. The years before that--he didn’t like to think about those first two years. But maybe the fourth year would be the charm. They were introducing themselves to each other, having been told their room assignments and sorted into the three different groups: kitchen, house-keeping, and front desk. Krit smiled and left the room, silently praying for a less eventful summer.

       “Hi, I’m Pun” Pun, sorted into the kitchen group, introduced himself to the tiny guy and the girl he seemed to already know.

       “Del, and this is Pharm” the girl said. “We go to uni together, and he’s dating my brother, while I’m dating Manaow--she’s the tall one”

       “Hi” Pharm said shyly. Pun smiled and shook hands with them both.

       “You guys ready to go see the kitchen?” Chef Man asked, while Oam smiled at the three of them.

       The three of them nodded and followed the two chefs. 

       “Don’t I know you?” Manaow, feeling slightly disappointed she was starting with housekeeping, asked the guy with longish hair, glasses, and dimples suspiciously.

       “I don’t think so?” Win said, flustered. 

       “No, I’ve seen you before...let me think” She closed her eyes and concentrated. “A department store opening! You played guitar--you sounded very good by the way”

        Win thought for a bit and then a look of recognition came onto his face. “You were the last model! The one after my friend Neung.”

       “Told you I knew you. I never forget a boy.”

       “...alrighty then. I already sorta know you, Pao, so who are you?” Win asked the tall guy with braces. 

      “Zen” he answered, flashing his braces in a nervous smile.

      “Now that you met each other, please follow me” P’Mod said authoritatively, P’Wharn looking them over curiously.

      “P’Tutor, isn’t this exciting? I can write so many stories, I bet” Zol said excitedly, happy to be starting with the front desk.

      “Nong Zol, please calm down” Tutor said, furrowing his brow. He had a feeling Zon would be less-than-thrilled to hear his sister was still writing stories, even if they weren’t about him anymore. 

      “I’m guessing you two already know each other” the guy with a sharp chin interrupted them. “I’m Tops”

      “I’m Tutor, and this is my friend’s younger sister, Zol” Tutor answered. “She gets excitable easily, so please forgive her for that” 

      “Are you three done introducing each other?” P’Tuck asked, her voice suggesting that they should be.

      The three of them glanced at each other and nodded, following her to the front desk. 

      Since it was just the first day, the ten new interns were just shown around and told their basic duties of that month’s section. Once they had been informed, they were allowed to go to their rooms.

      “Toooooops, we aren’t in the same group” Win pouted from a bed as Tops entered, having just come from the tour P’Tuck had given him and the other two in his group.

      “Hey, at least we are in the same room, so it could be worse” Tops reminded him, eyes dancing with mischief. 

      “That is true” Win said reflectively. “I would have died if we weren’t together”

      “No, you wouldn’t have. How do you like the people in your group?”

      “Manaow seems like she’s going to be loud. And she’s super into Y fiction, so that’s stressful”

      “Really? So is Zol. Tutor told me she had written a story about him and his boyfriend, so they’ll probably get along”

      “Two girls into Y fiction...and our group is mostly boys...please have mercy on us, universe” Win said exasperatedly, getting down on his knees and praying to the heavens.

      “You’re being dramatic” Tops said fondly, smoothing Win’s hair behind his ear. “I’m sure it will be fine”

       Del was covering her ears with her pillow, listening to Zol and Manaow scream about Y fiction. As much as she loved her girlfriend (they had only started dating recently, with the long distance being too hard on Manaow’s and Pruk’s relationship. Del liked to pretend she had never dated Alex, not because he had been horrible or anything, but because kissing a boy had just felt wrong. Del was so glad that Manaow realized that they worked as a couple, not just best friends), they were being so loud and it hurt Del’s ears. She didn’t understand the obsession about Y fiction, like yes representation was important, but sometimes the stories just seemed really fetishized and she didn’t like that. Finally, she threw a pillow at Manaow, in an attempt to get her to stop. 

     “Manaow! Please! You’re going to make us lose points by being too loud!” Del hissed when Manaow looked over. 

      Manaow looked slightly guilty and nodded as she quieted down. 

      A knock on the door caused the three of them to jump in the sudden silence. They threw looks at each other, then Zol went and opened the door.

      “I heard screaming, you guys don’t want to be too loud and lose points, okay?” Nook said as she looked inside their room. “For some reason the point system is totally arbitrary and you never know how many points you might lose for any mistake. Trust me, I know”

      “You won, then?” Del asked. “What year? And who are the other winners?”

      “I won last year, and so did Tone, but he recently left to expand the homestay he works at with his fiancé, so you won’t see him. P’Oam and P’Tom won the first year, while P’Wharn and P’Pat won the second year. If you guys work hard, you could win this year” Nook replied.

      “Who is who?” Zol asked. “I only know P’Pat since she works at the front desk, and I want to keep track of everyone”

     “P’Wharn helps with housekeeping” Manaow supplied before Nook could answer.

     “P’Oam is the cook with glasses. He’s very nice” Del informed Zol. 

     “P’Tom is one of the baristas. P’Golf and P’Phume are the other two. They are all very nosy, so watch out, okay?” Nook said. Her phone rang with a message notification, and when she glanced at it, she made a face. “I have to leave now. Don’t be too loud, yeah?”

      The three girls agreed to keep the noise level down and Nook left them to their devices.

       Meanwhile, Pao was complaining that Pun was lucky that he got to be in the kitchen first. 

       “Housekeeping is boring, Pun. You can’t post anything fun about it on social media, other than the coin bounce trick, and that’s only interesting once. What am I going to do to keep my followers interested?”

      “I don’t know, Pao” Pun said distractedly, typing something on his phone. “I’m hoping I can use this experience to keep my apartment building running slightly smoother, I don’t care if I win or not”

      “What are you even doing?” Pao asked, coming over and looking at Pun’s phone.

      “Updating Nott, he wants to know how my first day was”

      “Ah yes, the real faen” Pao smirked. “You two are too cute, you know that?”

      “Yes, Porpla loves reminding us of that fact” Pun said, looking up and making a slightly annoyed face. 

      “Well, if you’re going to be boring, I’m going to go see the baristas. One free drink every day, isn’t that great?”

     “Mhm” Pun murmured, having lost interest in the conversation entirely. 

      Pun stuck his tongue out at him and left the room.

      Zen passed Pao as he was finding his room, recognizing him by the newsboy cap that was back on his head now that they weren’t on duty. He flashed him a quick nervous smile that Pao didn’t seem to see. Zen shrugged, used to being ignored, and entered his room. He was sharing with Tutor, and the tiny dude that was only a little shorter than Zon, so he wasn’t sure what to expect. He only knew Tutor through Zon, but he was glad he at least knew one person in his room. 

     When he entered, he found that the guy he didn’t know was the only one in there, having claimed the bed farthest from the door. 

    “Hi” Zen said uncertainly. He wasn’t good in situations like this.

    “Hi, I’m Pharm” said the other quietly. 

     Zen relaxed a little. This guy seemed to be like him: quiet and shy. 

    “You don’t mind that I claimed this bed, do you? Cause I can change if you want me to” Pharm asked.

    “No, it’s fine” Zen replied reassuringly. Just then, the door opened and Tutor came in, looking annoyed while staring at his phone.

    “P’Fight, I swear, you need to calm down” Tutor muttered, almost running into Zen. “Oh, sorry Zen”

    “It’s okay, which bed do you want?” Zen asked, wondering what had happened.

    “I’ll take the one closest to the door if that’s okay with you” Tutor replied.

    “That’s fine, guess I’ll be next to you, Pharm” Zen said.

    “Okay” Pharm said with a shy smile.

    “Zen, is your boyfriend bothering you about taking this internship?” Tutor asked suddenly.

    “No, P’Champ has been nothing but supportive of me, why?” Zen answered, nonplussed.

    “Because P’Fight has seemed to have forgotten, again, that I am capable of making my own decisions. What do I tell him so that he will remember that he will live without me there for a few months? He is out of school now anyways! He is helping with his father’s business for the summer!” Tutor said, clearly frustrated. 

    “My boyfriend isn’t super happy about me doing this internship, either” Pharm said softly. “But I told him I really wanted to do it and he gradually became okay with it” 

    “I doubt your boyfriend is the most stubborn person on the planet--no, wait, he can’t be, cause my boyfriend is the MOST STUBBORN PERSON ON THE PLANET” Tutor said bitterly. “Not even koalas are this clingy!”

     Zen didn’t know how to respond to that, so he shrugged and made an apologetic face towards Pharm. He was glad that Champ didn’t mind that he was interning, even if it meant they wouldn’t be seeing each other a lot this summer. Zen wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to do with his life, so he wasn’t aiming to win, but the experience would be good and maybe it would help him figure out what he wanted to do. 

       Oam, on his break, decided to go to the café and discuss this year's group of interns with the baristas. He was curious what his boyfriend and the other two thought of these ten. He knew they would be highly opinionated, no matter what. When he got there, he was slightly surprised to see one of the interns there as well. Usually they started coming on their second day, preferring to meet their roommates and relax. Oam remembered having Tom as his roommate, how much he would gossip--well, not with Oam, more at him. When the other baristas were also hired, Oam found himself attracted to the quieter Phume, and within a few months, they were dating. Oam found it funny how many interns each year were part of the LGBTQIA+ community, with him and Tom the first year; Wharn, Pat, and two others the next; eight last year; and he had a feeling this year that all of the interns this year were a part of the community in some shape, way, or form. 

     “Oam, hey!” Tom said when he noticed him. “This is N’Pao” gesturing to the intern sitting at a table, showing Tom his social media pages. 

     “Shouldn’t you be helping Golf and Phume?” Oam asked, smirking.

     “Does it look busy to you?” Tom countered. 

     “Ignore him, Oam. He thinks Pao is cute so he’s no help” Golf called out. “Your usual?”

     Oam nodded and sat down at an empty table. 

     Two minutes later, Golf brought him his drink and sat down with him. Phume stayed behind the counter, cleaning some dishes. 

     “How’s your group, Oam?” Golf asked.

     “I think they’re going to be good, they were all very polite” Oam replied. “Pharm, the tiny one, already knows how to cook, so that helps”

     “Kay knew how to cook too, didn’t he? And Akk? Didn’t help Kay, did it?” Tom interjected.

     “Maybe it didn’t help but it didn’t hurt him either” Oam said calmly. “Kay lost points because of stupid circumstances and a very stupid prank. At least that prank wasn’t as bad as that fire--remember that Tom?”

     Tom shuddered as he remembered the fire that had gotten two of their fellow interns kicked out of the program entirely, no “can stay for the experience but not qualify for the job” for them. “I try not to, actually”

     “What about the washing machine incident that happened soon after we were hired?” Phume asked. “That got three interns kicked out too. I was surprised they were going for a third year after that”

     “Nothing was as bad as the fire, not even the elevator incident that almost got us sued” Tom said.

      Pao’s eyes grew big as the four workers talked about the incidents, but he kept quiet so he could learn more. He figured he would look them up, but not post anything. He wanted to stay and do the internship, not get kicked out for something stupid.

      “Thoughts on the new interns?” Phume asked. “The girls look like they could be a handful” 

      “Well, Del at least is very nice. She seems determined to follow the rules” Oam said. “Can’t tell you about the others yet” 

      “Pao, do you know any of the other interns?” Tom asked. The other baristas leaned in, eager to get gossip.

     “Pun was my social media boyfriend, but his real boyfriend is at an insane apartment. I’ve been there a few times and weird things always happen. And Tops and I are in the same cooking class at uni. Win is his boyfriend. Don’t know Win that well, though. Tops and Pun are both pretty nice, though”

     “Pun was your social media boyfriend?” Tom asked curiously. The other baristas and Oam shared glances, amused. 

     “Yeah, it’s a good way to get some free perks” Pao shrugged. “Anyways, I’m going back to my room. Bye y’all” He stood up and left, throwing away his cup as he left. 

     Once he was out of earshot, Golf and Phume came to his table and leaned in close.

     “Do you have a crush on him, Tom?” they asked in unison. Oam watched in amusement as Tom’s ears turned red.

     “Shut up” he muttered, looking down at his drink.

      The other three laughed, but let him be. They guessed who they thought might win, just based off the small glimpses they had seen of them, and gossiped about work. All too soon, Oam had to go back to work for the dinner rush, and customers came into the cafe for cups of tea. They reluctantly broke up and went back to their jobs.

      When Pao came back to the room he shared with Pun, Pun was coming out of the shower, looking a lot less distracted than he was earlier. 

      “Hey Pao, how was the café?” Pun asked.

      “Fine, learned some gossip about the hotel” Pao answered. 

     “No matter what’s happened here, it cannot be as insane as what happens at the apartment” Pun said firmly. “Those brothers, I swear…”

      “Sometimes I wonder why you stay there, you could have moved in with me, you know. Your father probably would have approved, actually” Pao said.

      “Honestly, it’s weird there, but it’s home now, so it all worked out” Pun shrugged. 

      “Whatever floats your boat” Pao shrugged as well, then grabbed some towels and went into the shower himself.