EASTTAGYOUREMINE, Chapter  2: When We Meet Again

   After we finished off the generous amount of pork steak on the plate, which was enough for all three of us to be full, it was worth the price, but if we had to pay for it ourselves, we’d be in trouble. I, having napped for nearly two hours, felt much refreshed. We then just hung out, read, and chatted until it was time for the senior’s meeting.

The three of us had to squeeze onto Foam’s single bike because he only had one. Luckily, nothing bad happened, though it was quite dangerous (don’t try this at home, kids). When we arrived, we parked in the faculty parking lot. I glanced over at the medical faculty building next to ours, and my heart felt a strange flutter.

He must be here, right…

Is it possible that after studying for several more years, with faculties next to each other, we wouldn’t see or bump into each other? Without even thinking about it, one could easily say it’s highly unlikely. I have to be careful not to let him see me. I’ll be on guard for the next six years…Sigh…

“Why is the medical faculty’s building so beautiful? And they even have their own dormitory. Plus, the coffee is good, it’s just not fair.” Foam complained after getting off the bike. I looked at the building in detail; it was really beautiful, probably recently renovated.

“Just because their faculty has better coffee, you feel inferior?”

“And the person selling it is cute too.”

“Yeah, it’s really unfair.”

“Why? Our faculty’s coffee shop lady is cute too, and she’s super kind. She always gives me extra snacks when I go there.” I chimed in.

“You’re her favorite. When I buy coffee, if she doesn’t throw the coffee machine at me, that’s good enough.” Foam said, laughing.

“That’s because you’re a nuisance.” I told him, and then we reached the base of our faculty building.

‘Warning! Do not feed Rice Sticky, he’s already very fat!’

   There was a sign attached to the central pillar, almost like a major hazard warning, like “Warning! The building is about to collapse!” Did they really need to make such a big vinyl sign for this?

“Why? Does sticky rice really make dogs that fat?” Foam asked, confused.    “Foam! Sticky Rice is the dog’s name, haha, where have you not known our faculty’s celebrity dog?” I explained, and Typhoon laughed heartily.

“I didn’t know.” He said, pouting slightly.

We arrived during the big meeting. Not many people were there, just some from our year and some seniors who had been invited. Our faculty isn’t that large, but it’s not small either, so it’s kind of medium-sized, definitely not as crowded as the Science or Engineering faculties.

“Freshmen who are here, please line up here to get your name tags for the semester opening.” a senior girl with a megaphone announced in front of the meeting room, prompting everyone, including us three, to queue up.

“What’s your nickname, and what’s your student ID?” When it was my turn, she asked for my name and ID.

“Easter, ID 034.”

“Easter, 034, huh? That’s a unique name, cute too. Are you interested in running for Faculty Moon?” The senior writing the name tag looked up to tease me, smiling as if she was just joking around.

“Is he a freshman?” another senior chimed in to tease.

“The freshmen are cute.”

“Haha, I guess I could apply.” I said playfully. In truth, I didn’t want to. No way, I’m way too shy when there are lots of people around.

“Hahaha, that’s enough, I can’t talk long, the person behind you is about to eat you up.” I turned around to look, and Foam was staring so hard it seemed like his eyes were about to pop out. “Here’s your name tag.”

I took the name tag made of cardboard with thanks and hung it around my neck. It was just a simple circle of cardboard with my name, ID, and faculty written in fresh, hot ink just moments ago. I overheard the seniors mentioning that this wasn’t the official tag. The real one would be nicer, but only after the freshman activities are completed.

Once everyone had their tags, we were directed into the main conference room by our seniors where there were introductions, talks, and some of us had to come out to dance, play drums, or sing for fun, creating a very warm welcoming atmosphere.

“Alright, we’ll have a senior from the Student Union come to speak briefly.

Please listen attentively.” and then a female senior came up with a cheerful demeanor.

“Hello everyone, let me introduce myself first. I’m Phii Bua, and today I’m here to talk about the Student Union, or as we’ll call it, ‘The Union’.” Phii Bua then went on at length about the Union. It sounds similar to a student council, with an elected president, roles distributed among members, mainly overseeing student activities.

The Union will have representatives from each faculty, three from each.    “And by joining the Union, you’ll gain valuable experience in teamwork and responsibility.” I tried to listen intently, but it wasn’t all that interesting. “And our president this year, many of you already know who it is. Seriously, many friends of mine joined the Union despite the heavy workload, just because the president is really handsome, very handsome indeed. You’ll have to see for yourself how handsome he is. Look, some of the girls are suddenly paying attention, haha!”    “Seriously, using a handsome president as a selling point?” Foam whispered to me and Typhoon, but I think having a good-looking president really does attract people. There are always some types who exist just to squeal over good-looking guys (I’ve noticed with my two female friends, they’d even go play soccer, box, or hit the gym just to check out guys. The latest was almost dying from studying just because there was a rumor that a guy from another faculty was handsome, damn it).

“You don’t know anything, having a handsome guy is a huge selling point.” I told him.

“For those of you who applied for the Khunying Ratana Scholarship.” This sentence immediately caught my attention, even though I was about to continue joking with Foam. This was the scholarship I had applied for.

“You’ll have to help out at the Union anyway, because you need to accumulate activity hours. Can those who applied for the scholarship please raise your hands?” I raised my hand as instructed, and only four of us did. If we have to help at the Union, it means more work. Initially, I thought from the announcement that it was just about assisting professors, T^T.

“Only four of you? Okay, you four come see me here, and also those who want to join the Union, come sign up here. That’s the end of our Union presentation. Thank you for listening attentively.” After she finished speaking, I, along with several others, got up to go see Phii Bua. It seemed like quite a few people were interested in joining the Union, but they’d have to go through another selection process since they’re only taking three from each faculty.

“Move aside!” Suddenly, I was pushed from behind while walking through the gap between chairs. I quickly turned around to see a woman about my height (I’m 165 cm), with quite a bit of makeup on, more than anyone else around here. She was pretty, but why did she have to push me?

“An, don’t rush, you’ve bumped into him.” said another woman, scolding the one who pushed me, named Ann, before turning to me to apologize slightly. I smiled back.

“Hurry up, or someone will sign up before us.” and then the two girls ran off. Is this what competing for a spot in society is like? Usually, isn’t it that people don’t want to join?

   I heard it’s hard work

I stood in line for a while and then wrote my name on the scholarship application list.

“Is it true that this year’s president is studying medicine? If he’s really hot, I’d want him to give me a shot.” one of the girls said while we were all waiting for others to sign up. Those called out were moved to wait outside the meeting room, as there seemed to be some additional briefings, and they didn’t want to disturb the meeting inside.

“He’s hot, super hot, according to our seniors. I checked his Facebook, and he’s got the looks.”

“Check his Instagram, he’s perfect in every way, handsome, rich, smart. They say he topped his faculty last term with a 4.00, something no one has done in years.”

“Wow, is he single?”

“I don’t know, but it would be weird if such a person was single. There were rumors he was seeing Fandao.”

“Fandao, the star of the Nursing Faculty second year, right? So pretty. How can we compete with that?”

“Dream on. Even if he’s single, he’s not going to look at us, haha.”

“Is it true he’s with Fandao? But I saw on his FB some were teasing him about talking to Thanmild.”

“Thanmild, the star of the Second-Year Med students? Wow, is he going to pick all the stars from the sky?”

“They do make a good pair, both good-looking and with great profiles.”    The girls seemed to be gossiping away. I wasn’t intentionally listening, standing beside them. It just makes you wonder if jealousy is creeping in, right? Someone with his looks, wealth, and studying medicine. Do you think this is like school where you could just get stars for a toy? Not fair, as Foam said, and their coffee is even better (?)

Just kidding, Auntie Sri’s coffee is the best…#TeamAuntieSri

Anyway, girls just want a handsome boyfriend with a good profile, I understand. I really do. T^T

   Even though I’m not as handsome as some, there’s no one quite like me…#NotHandsomeButDelicious

   “The freshmen who applied for the Union, I will set another date for the selection. Please keep following the Union’s page. As for those who applied for the scholarship, we’ll meet tomorrow at 9:30 AM in the Union room. Thank you all, you can now join the other activities with your faculty. See you.” Phii Bua said her goodbyes, then gathered her large bag of documents and walked out. A small senior had to carry such a big bag, really? I’m too soft-hearted, I wanted to help, but my faculty seniors were already calling for me.

“Did you apply for the scholarship too?” someone suddenly nudged my shoulder. It was a guy about my height, fair-skinned, wearing thick glasses, looking very much like a studious type. His name tag read ‘Thaam’.

“Yes, yes, I’m Easter, or just ‘Ter’.”

“I’m ‘Thaam’. See you tomorrow at the Union room.”

“Uh, okay, see you.” I smiled at him. A real nerd, very nerdy. Plus, he was polite, not using ‘I’ or ‘me’ casually like I would. And in the end, I even found myself saying ‘you’ to him.

“Come back to everyone who stepped out.” I walked back to my seat. Soon, the seniors called out names according to our student IDs and mentioned something important.

“What’s up?” I asked Foam and Typhoon, curious about what had happened while I was away.

“Nothing much, just the seniors were chatting among themselves.”

“033…034” I went to collect a small letter envelope, with the senior instructing us not to open it yet.

“You can open the envelopes now. What you’ve received is from your senior with the same ID number. It might contain clues, instructions, or whatever. Please find your senior within the next two weeks. If not, there will be a penalty, but it won’t hurt physically, just be embarrassing.”

I opened my envelope right away, excited to see what my senior wrote.

‘Your senior is in the Union.’

   The Union again! Why does it feel like my life is going to be intertwined with the Union? And that’s all the clue I got. I have to figure out which senior from our faculty is in the Union and who among them is my senior.

“What did your senior say?” Foam asked. I handed him the paper to look at,

“Yours is better. Look at mine.”

‘Your senior wants you to do 50 push-ups and post a video on your

Facebook (Your senior follows your Facebook) (Our line must be strong)’

   “Your senior must have been a military leader or something.”

“And yours, Typhoon?”

‘Your senior wears a green, black, white watch, depending on what your senior feels like wearing.’

   “Wow!! What’s this? Your senior is super indie. Besides not giving any real clue, it’s also annoying.”

After a while, the seniors let us go home. We all went our separate ways. When I got back to the dorm, I found that North hadn’t returned yet, and it was almost nine o’clock. Engineering is really tough; he’ll probably come back looking like boiled vegetables again.

I turned on my computer and started scrolling through my Facebook feed, thinking I’d go for a shower later, until I stumbled upon a post.    Cute Boy & Girl – MU added 2 new photos – 1 hour ago

Let’s see who’s hanging out at the medical faculty building right now. Here’s Dr. Hill, looking stunning, even while doing his nails. Even his profile view is dreamy, sigh, can he stop looking at beakers and look at us instead? Wait, who’s that waiting outside? Oh, it’s #Phii Baifern, the beauty from the management faculty, waiting for her potential boyfriend? Are you ready to go public, Doctor? @Hill Ratchakit @Baifern Nantacha

   The first picture was of Phii Hill holding a beaker, probably in the lab, taken from the side.

The second photo showed a woman sitting on the balcony outside, smiling and holding up a peace sign to the camera. She was adorable, very cute. These two photos were definitely taken in the same place, judging by the floor pattern.    Hmm…I…what should I say? It feels weird, like a pang? Not quite. Just a little twist in the stomach. Of course, he’d have a girlfriend!! Being the star, surrounded by pretty girls like the moon surrounded by stars. It’s typical for someone as famous and handsome as him, huh!

And me? He probably thinks, who am I? Is there someone like me even existing in this world?

Not worth remembering, right? That’s me…

Pfft…

Enough! Ter, no drama. No way!! Stay cheerful! That’s it, I won’t think, won’t know, won’t see anything!!

I set the post to “Don’t show me this post again.” I didn’t want to unlike the page because I still wanted to follow the girls, since this is the only main page of the university. There are no other pages to follow.

Then I shut down my computer and decided to go out for a walk, maybe find some snacks. No need to think about anything strange anymore…    Hill Ratchakit commented on Cute Boy & Girl – MU – 1 minute ago Sorry, admin, could you please delete this post?

   I wandered out of the dorm, not knowing where to go. Initially, I thought of getting some ice cream, but the shop was closed, and there were so many people out because it’s the time when everyone goes out to eat. The traffic was backed up for three traffic lights. Good thing I don’t have a car; walking is much more convenient(?). The area behind my university is like a food zone.

Finally, I reached a restaurant that wasn’t too crowded. I decided to eat there.

Honestly, I should have thought about rice before heading to the ice cream shop.

After sitting down and ordering, I took out my phone to kill time.

Ding!

A notification from Messenger from my group with Foam and Typhoon. This is the group of just the three of us:

Foam not plastic: You’re going to the Union event tomorrow, right Ter?

   Easter Panupong: Yeah, why?

   Teerapat Typhoon: We felt sorry for you going alone, thinking of coming along as an accompaniment.

   Easter Panupong: It’s okay, I’ve got a friend going with me, just met him.

   Foam not plastic: Who?

   Easter Panupong: His name’s Thaam, from our faculty, he approached me when I went out to sign up.

   Foam not plastic: That rude guy.

   Easter Panupong: Huh??? How is he rude?

   Teerapat Typhoon: You should call him ‘Young Master Thaam’. Everyone does, even the seniors.

   Easter Panupong: Boom? Like he’s from some noble lineage?

TeerapatTyphoon: He’s not, but you probably noticed. He speaks very politely, very well-mannered. Even if someone teases or is rude to him, he doesn’t respond in kind. So everyone calls him ‘Young Master’.

   Easter Panupong: Oh, he’s very polite, I even found myself saying ‘khrap’ to him.

   Looks like this Thaam is quite well-known, even the seniors call him that, but from what I’ve seen, he doesn’t seem pretentious, and I don’t dislike him.

“Oh, Ter.” a sweet, small voice called out my name, making me look up from my phone screen.

“Phii Thanmild, hello.” I was a bit surprised before quickly putting down my phone to waive in respect. She was a senior from my old school. I didn’t expect to meet her here in this distant place.

“Why study here? I thought you’d stay closer to home. Can I sit with you?” I gave her a smile indicating it was okay for her to sit. She seemed to have finished eating and was about to head back, just stopping by for a chat, but I wasn’t really in the mood to talk.

Phii Thanmild used to date Phii Ohm, who was a friend of Phii Hill. So, I’ve seen her around quite often, but many times, her looks, her smiles, or some of her actions made me uncomfortable. She seemed to prefer the company of Phii Hill more than her own boyfriend, Phii Ohm, especially during the times when I…well, when I was talking with Phii Hill a lot, she would often come and interrupt. I don’t know, maybe I’m just overthinking it.

“Just wanted a change of scenery.” I answered with a forced smile.

“Hmm, what faculty are you in?”

“Veterinary, and you, Phii?”

“Medicine. How long have you been here?”

“About a week now.” So, Phii Thanmild is studying medicine too? That means she’s even closer to Phii Hill. But I heard Phii Ohm, who was with her, transferred to Pharmacy at another university. They must have broken up.

   “Have you gotten used to it yet? This place is easy to get lost in, I was super confused when I first came, but Hill was there to help.” she mentioned, catching me off guard because I didn’t expect his name to come up so soon.

“Oh…yes. I’m still not quite used to it, I get lost a lot.” I said, taking a sip of water to calm my nerves.

“Hill is here too, studying medicine. Have you guys met?” Her voice was cheerful, but it seemed forced.

“Really? I didn’t know he was studying here.”

“Oh, the Veterinary and Medicine faculties are close, you’ll definitely meet soon. He became really famous the moment he arrived, no question he was voted as the university moon, he’s super hot. Both real and fake girls are all over him.”    “Is that so…” I gave a dry smile, wishing she would realize I didn’t want to hear about this.

“But you know, I’m also a faculty star. Even though I’m not as famous as Hill, not many people know me.” she added. The star of the medical faculty…Ah! That’s who the girls were gossiping about this morning, saying that Phii Mild, the Star of Medicine, was talking with the society president. Whatever. It’s not my business, let’s not talk about this.

“Hmm, and people often ship me with Hill. They say, ‘The star should be with the moon’, or something like that. The Twitter buzz is strong, I feel like I’m constantly being watched and paired up.” Phii Thanmild said, smiling awkwardly, her voice trying to convey concern, but her eyes told a different story.

“Uh, that’s tough.” I managed to say.

“Well, I should go. See you around.” she smiled at me before standing up and leaving the restaurant.

What’s with all this shipping…

She probably doesn’t realize how I feel about it, huh? Sigh…I thought I had moved on, but seeing it in reality still hurts a bit. Especially since Phii Thanmild is so close to him, it feels like I’ve been completely thrown out of his orbit…

   9:07 AM

   It’s another day I have to wake up early because of club activities, and since I didn’t sleep at all yesterday, I could get a quick shower and rest when I got back to my room, making it on time for the meeting today. I walked into the club room, and Thaam greeted me.

“Hello.”

“Uh, hello.”

“Let’s go over there, it seems like they’ve called everyone together.”    Phii Bua, the same person, explained that we were close to the time for the concert event, which would be held at the sports field and could accommodate the entire university. It’s not a grand event, just something to help freshmen bond and have fun. It’s scheduled from evening until around 10 PM, with some famous bands performing. Our job was to set up the venue. This mostly involved arranging the stage, signs, and such, with the sound, lighting, and effects being handled by another professional team.

“This will be the first event where we all work together. Even though it’s not a big event, please put in your effort. Let me introduce ‘Phii Phim’, he’s in charge of coordination, and he will assign duties to everyone.”

Then the team leader gave out tasks, but the overall management was already being taken care of by the seniors. The manual labor was left for us freshmen. “Ten guys, go carry the wooden boards from the Union storage room, the big ones near the front.” Phii Phim instructed. So, I, Thaam, and several others went to move them.

“Phew, Phoon, how long has it been since they cleaned here?”

“Well, if there’s no need for the stuff, they probably won’t bother to open this room.”

I guessed these boards were for signs to be displayed behind the stage. We carried them out to the front area, while others were busy with tasks assigned by Phii Phim, like preparing paint, cleaning equipment, or getting curtains ready. Mostly freshmen were doing the work because, as the seniors said, they also had to do it when they were freshmen.

“Ah, align the boards, you’ve got that one on the wrong side.”

“Phim, we’ve got all the boards laid out, what’s next?” Phii Bua called for the team leader to come check.

“Paint over the old color with white first, or should we flip them over?”    “Uh…”

“We’re not sure either.”

“What kind of coordinator are you?”

“Ugh, the president didn’t brief us fully.” Phii Phim rolled her eyes.

“And where’s the president? He just leaves everyone else to work hard while he disappears.”

“He’s asleep in the club’s lounge, hey juniors.” PhiiPhim called out to me, who was standing closest, “Sorry, could you wake up the president? He’s sleeping on the sofa in the club room so we can continue with the work.”

“Sure.” I responded without thinking much about it and ran into the club room as directed by the team head.

It was a glass-walled room with a sign saying “No Entry Without Permission.” but I had been given permission by Phii Phim. I gently opened the door to be greeted by a blast of cold air. Ah…it must be nice to be in an air-conditioned room while we’re all out there getting tanned and stressed.

I tiptoed inside, not sure why I was sneaking as if the room’s silence made me afraid to make noise, but aren’t I here to wake someone up? If the noise wakes him, that’s fine, right?

I saw a figure lying on the long sofa, a tall guy, lying on his back with a book covering his face, as if he had fallen asleep while reading.

“…Phii, Phii.” I whispered softly, but the person in front of me showed no signs of waking up, so I had to nudge him.

“Phii, Phii Phim sent me to wake you up.” I shook his arm gently, and when he still didn’t stir, I had to increase my force until he seemed to be waking up. He then reached up to remove the book from his face.

“Hmm…” I quickly stood up, expecting him to be upset, but I was just following orders.

“Uh, sorry, Phii Phim told me to…” My voice trailed off when I saw his face. At first, he looked annoyed, his eyebrows furrowed, but seeing me, he was as shocked as I was.

“…Ter.” He murmured my name, bringing me back to reality.    Thump!    Thump!

I didn’t know what to do; suddenly, my heart was pounding so hard I could feel something shaking violently in my chest. What should I do? I never imagined we’d meet like this, and my plan to avoid him for six years had crumbled in just two days!

There was silence between us for about three seconds before I decided to run! My legs moved before my brain could command them, and I sprinted out of the room. He, still on the sofa, was startled but then quickly followed.

“Wait…wait.” I heard him shout after me. When I ran outside, everyone was taken aback.

“Hold up, Nong Ter, what’s wrong?” Phii Pim shouted after me as I ran out past the Union courtyard, then stopped, panting heavily. It looked like no one was following me.

Damn it!! Why did I suddenly run out like this? Everyone must be so confused right now!!!

…

“Where’s Hill?” Dew, another senior from the Union, came over to ask the team and Bua who were talking.

“He must be asleep, so I sent a freshman to wake him up.” Pim said.

“Are you crazy? Hill hates being woken up. Last time I made a freshman wake him up like this, the kid came out crying. I don’t know if he yelled at the kid or what.”

“Oh no, I didn’t know. What do we do if we don’t wake him up?”    “Maybe we just wait for him to wake up on his own. Will the freshman be okay?” Dew asked. Pim and Bua looked at each other, “Let’s hope he doesn’t do anything to the freshman…”

After a while, they saw Easter running out from the Union room, looking as if he was about to cry, with Hill shouting after him.

“Hold up, Nong Ter, what’s wrong?” Pim shouted after him, but the freshman didn’t stop. When Hill ran after him, everyone intercepted him.

“Damn it, what did you do to him?” Pim asked in a displeased tone. If something went wrong, it wouldn’t be good, especially since the professors had repeatedly instructed that the seniors should look after the freshmen.

“…” Hill didn’t answer, just kept looking at Easter who had run off.

“We told the freshman to go wake you up themselves. Pim didn’t know you’d get mad.” Dew said.

“He’s crying, this is bad, what should we do?” Bua showed concern, since she was the one who brought the freshman here, she couldn’t help but worry.    “Yeah, this is bad, what should we do?” Hill spoke up, his face showing a bit of worry. The three friends looked at each other without any prearrangement.    “Normally, you’d say ‘forget it’, right?”

 

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