You Make Me Shine

When Max is doing nothing he spends the time thinking about lots of stuff. Such as what is the easiest thing to do? Walking? sleeping? Or doing nothing at all? He would think about it in his room or during class when he's not being attentive. Which happens most of the time. But eventually, he got the answer.

The answer is simple. Getting addicted to things. If you are a drug addict or an alcoholic you probably know how much of it is true. People get addicted to stuffs very easily. Some are addicted to their phones, some are addicted to the people they love, the things they love. Well, most are just addicted to drugs & alcohol but the only thing Max is addicted to is TV Series.

If you are like Max you will agree that TV shows can be addicting as well. First, you fall in love with the story and gradually you fall for the actors or the actresses. Then you start following them on Twitter and Instagram. You make beautiful comments on their photos but at the end of the day, the harsh reality is that they don't know you even exist. Max is no exception.

Max was never into TV shows at first. When he was only 15 and very confused about himself he went to his best friend. YouTube. There he found a series with fifteen episodes. Since his exams were over he thought of watching it. It was a Chinese Boys' Love Series. After finishing the series in one night he was completely in love with it. He Googled about it and found that China had banned the series. He was heartbroken. He thought there will be a season two but all hopes died when he didn't find any information. The confusion in his heart started to grow even more when he watched the show. He had a very difficult time. Resulting, skipping breakfast and dinner most of the time. At first, his parents weren't worried but it happened for two weeks.

They were worried about Max. They thought he needed therapy. But they also knew they needed to talk to him and so one evening when Max was in his room doing nothing his parents knocked on the door. Since he didn't say anything his parents thought it would be okay to go inside and talk to him. Later that evening they found out that their son was sad because some series had been banned and he didn't feel happy anymore. Max lied to them about why he was sad.

He explained that he's always restless inside. There's a hole in his heart. And on that ill-fated evening, they found out a weird fact about their lovely offspring. Max was not a normal teenage boy. He was different. He is different. For a few days and weeks both his parents were worried sick about Max's future. But since they both loved him and so they tried to understand him better. Gradually they accepted him. They love him no matter what. There was always an elephant in the room but they never really talked about it.

Max's mother had a miscarriage before Max was born. Max was born after two years of that event. They didn't want any other child besides Max. So Max got all the love and affection of his parents. However, when Max realized who he really was, he wasn't worried at all. Because he would find happiness watching Boys' Love Series and reading books. His parents were okay with that.

It's just books and series. It's not like he's gonna grow up and marry a man. right? It's just a phase They thought

Max fell in love with Boys' Love TV shows ever

since. At some point, he wanted to be an actor so he could act in his own series and have millions of fans around the world. So to experiment he performed in a drama when he was in high school. But later he realized watching is actually better than doing a series. He would watch series even if he has exams or whatsoever. He was obsessed with Thai Boys' Love fiction and the series adapted from them.

His friends would dream about going to The US or Canada or Germany or France. But the only place Max really wanted to go was Thailand. When people discover Thai drama they all dream about going there. When Max was 18, other Thai Boys' Love fiction was made into a series. He was addicted to it as well and this time he fell in love with both lead actors.

He really wanted to go to Thailand and meet his favorite actor. When he told his parents about his wish one afternoon while both husband and wife were watching TV, they looked at each other in confusion. They made him understand that they were not so financially good enough to send him to Thailand to meet some random actor. However, they told him if he could get into a good university and get a scholarship he might get a chance to study at the International University in Thailand. Max was originally from Bangladesh.

His mother named him Monir. There's a particular reason to why he changed it to Max. Since he badly wanted to go to Thailand he knew that his only chance is to get a scholarship from BNU. BNU is the only private university that holds a scholarship program every six months and gives scholarships to students and if you manage to do well in the first few semesters you can choose any university around the world. At this point getting into BNU was his only chance. But you don't just get into a university just like that, right? You also have to study really hard. He had to study a lot. He found it to be very frustrating.

Every year BNU rejects thousands of students. It's actually not easy to get into BNU. After finishing his board exams from college he took preparation for BNU. He did not get a chance in the first year. But he did not lose hope. He finally got into BNU the second time. His happiness touched the sky. His parents were very happy and proud. Now that he's actually in BNU the only thing he needed was a scholarship. For that, he only needed to score some high marks and do some activities.

The scholarship program starts 6 months after the first semester. With much effort, he managed to get into the program. Luck was on his side. Only 30 people got into the program. He only needed to be on top five to actually get the scholarship. The extracurricular activities that he did were enough for him to be in the top ten. The next challenge is the exams. The exams are not going to be easy. The exams will be on the subject they choose to study abroad. Max chose management because getting good marks in this subject wasn't actually that hard. Well, that's what he thought. His thoughts changed when he saw the question paper. He was nervous but he knew he had to score high. So he went deep into it. Results came after 3 weeks. He was so anxious to check the results that he sent Mahi to check for him.

While Mahi went to check the results Max was biting his nails off sitting at the campus café. His other friends were telling him that he's going to get in but still, it didn't calm him down. Mahi returned with a pale face. Before he could say anything Max knew what's had happened. His face turned pale as well. He felt so bad that just when was about to cry Mahi screamed,

"you've scored 86%! You're in!"

Even though this was the best news he ever received he still started crying. His friends did not show him mercy. They kept teasing him up until the announcement.

"Monir Hassan. ID Number 10056 please come visit the BNU board's office"

The other four students were called as well. Max didn't know the other students as they were from the science department. The board members shook hands with all of them and handed them the scholarship paper. Pictures were taken. They are now the pride of this year for BNU. He didn't know which universities the other four picked nor did he actually care. He, of course, chose the International University of Thailand.

He came out with his prize from the office and didn't waste a second to call his mom and give her the big news. His mom was silent for a moment but then she screamed so loud that Max's left ear went numb. Finally, he's leaving for Thailand in one week. It's not hard to understand that his parents were somewhat happy and confused.  But his mom was sad as well. She won't be able to see her only child for the next two years. She could only see him via video chat on messenger.

Since he's leaving for Thailand in a week and won't meet his friends he decided to meet all of them. He's now in his hometown. He called all his friends to meet him at the college where he studied and spent the most beautiful times. There were a total of 6 of them. They were sitting on the field talking about all the things they miss now that they are all grown-ups.

Nadia got emotional. Nadia is the only person who knows about Max beside his parents. Max didn't want to tell anyone because he didn't want things to change between him and his friends. So he stayed in the closet pretty much his entire life.

Nadia confessed her feelings to Max when they were second-year students in college. Every year college arranges a farewell ceremony for the senior students. The Juniors would bring flowers or gifts for their seniors and seniors would treat them with a good meal. This ceremony was everyone's favorite.

After the ceremony, Nadia took Max to the hall. Max thought she'd talk about Rohan. But then Nadia said that she liked him and not Rohan. Max said he didn't like her that way. She asked him if he liked someone else. But when his answer was negative Nadia knew something was not right.

She skipped classes for a few days and didn't contact Max. Neither did he. After a week Nadia went to Max's house and told him that she liked her since she was a first-year student. Max became her best friend in only three months. She didn't want to lose him so she told him nothing had to change. They'd go back to what they were. Best friends.

Nadia started dating Rohan. Who happens to be Max's first friend in kindergarten. Rohan knew Nadia liked Max. He also knew Max didn't like her back. So it didn't affect their friendship. But later Max became something really important for her. She treated him like a brother. And since this brother is going so so far away she couldn't hold in her tears. Out of nowhere she got up and hugged Max very tightly.

"Stop! You're chocking me"

Max said. But this didn't stop Nadia from hugging him even more tightly.

"Stop talking," she said "This is the last time I'm ever going to hug you. You'll find someone new when you're there so you won't love me anymore so just let me hug you"

Max's heart softened. He felt sad as well. He said "no matter how many people I meet in my life one thing is never going to change. Nobody can replace you"

The other 4 people who were there were awed at this. Nadia finally let go of Max and slapped his hand really hard

"You better remember this. Else I'll fly to Thailand and kick your butt" she said.

The sun was about to set so they all returned home. Even though Max was happy to finally getting what he wanted, he couldn't help but think he's leaving so many things behind. It comforted him that the only things he's taking with him are the good memories he made with his close people. He slept peacefully that night. But a certain someone didn't. Nadia was in her bed. Turning left and right. Trying endlessly to fall asleep. She was worried about Max. Even though she got over him but still she cared about him a lot. She couldn't stop thinking about the difficulties Max might face when he's in a different place. She took her phone and dialed Rohan's number. Rohan was fast asleep. He didn't even check who called him in the middle of the night. With a sleepy voice, he said,

"Hello? Who's is it?"

"It's me"

just when he realized who was on the other line he quickly got up. He's lost his sleep and he's worried. Why would she call me at this hour he wondered.

"What is it? You okay?"

Nadia smiled when she heard the concern in his tone. She felt good after talking to him. Rohan is the only person who makes her feel better these days.

***

The next morning Max woke up late. If it were some any other day his mom be very mad at him. But since she's going to miss Max's bad habits when he's gone she didn't wake him up early. Max was never a calm child. He always made trouble when he was a kid. He would steal fruits from the neighbor's trees. Run out to play when he's supposed to sleep in the afternoon. Thinking about all of this his mom started crying in the kitchen. She tried to hide it but obviously, she's not good at it. Max entered the kitchen just at the scene.

"Awww is my mom crying because I'm leaving soon?" He teased her a bit.

She denied saying" why would I be crying? It's the onions making my eyes wet. Besides, it's good that you're leaving. Neighbors won't bring complaints to me about you anymore"

She wiped her tears and turned around she Max doesn't see her crying face. No matter how much a mother acts how annoyed she is with her child she'd always love him the most.

Max quickly tied his arms around his mom. He's taller than her mom and she looks so tiny beside him.

"There there," he says "let it all out" he's still teasing him.

His mom pushed him away. All the emotional drama is going on too much. She turned to her normal self in seconds.

"Go take a shower and come for breakfast. I made pancakes"