Last night, I experienced what it meant to be away from familiarity and intimacy.

I stayed up to watch the Man Utd vs Kiev game with AB. United convincingly won 4-2. It was a great game even for the neutrals considering that there was six goals in the mix. But that game felt different.

There was no more Lester watching the match with me at my place.

There was no more mocking Giggs for the sake of. There was no more “Turn your magic”. There were no more random farts. There was no more looking at myself in the mirror and thanking God for His beauty. There were no more exaggerated looks of disgust. There was no more “Eh go down and buy food leh“. There was no more fighting over the yellow blanket because the aircon in my room was unbelievably cold. There was no more one cold leg accidentally touching the other. There were no more homophobic reactions. There was no more “How’s Lian Hua?”. There were no more Winning Eleven games at half-time. There was no more waiting for thy kingdom come while he toggled endlessly with the tactics and formation and never once won (or barely scored). There was no more “Actually my hair not very curly what”. There was no more “Shut up your mouth”. There was no more manly talk about girls. There was no more “Eh you go and shower first”. There was no more mockery of my not-so-flat-belly. There was no more mastering of mandarin songs amidst hysterical laughter. There were no more sudden out-of-the-blue leg cramps. There were no more sounds of sinus-nose-sniffing. There was no more familiar banter.

At half-time, AB said, “Ok, I’m going to sleep already ’cause Man U surely win one.” And he returned to his room, leaving me half-conscious in the living room; I was already dozing off by the end of the first half and obviously I didn’t make it past the first minute of the second half. I ended up sleeping on the living room couch until 5:30am.

There was no more Lester to wake me up by annoying the living daylights out of me so that I’d watch the game.

I miss you, my dearest boy. In my life, there will only be one Lester. Cheer up ok? I’m sad too. Let’s look forward to the soccer nights when I come back for Christmas. I love you, bro.