"Trouble... What trouble...?" someone blurted out.
The female student clutched her chest, her eyes locked on Win. "It's them. They won the competition against us."
Before she could even finish—
"Those bastards..." one of the boys from the workshop growled, almost storming out, but Win blocked his path.
"Why are you stopping me, Win? Those bastards win most of their games by cheating. We all know they're using their family power."
Win slammed his hand on the table. "Calm down." He paused, scanning the room. "Does anyone have a pair of glasses?"
Total stillness settled over the room before whispers spread. Some even wondered if the fight had anything to do with the glasses.
"Win is going all out."
"Let's show them our power."
After putting on a pair of glasses that shaded the dark spots on his face, he let the female student rest.
Their steps echoed through the hallway crowded with students, who quickly made way for them.
They paused at the railing and looked down.
Various models of motorcycles were lined up in a neat row outside the building. Across from the bikes gathered a crew of guys dressed in casual clothes instead of university uniforms.
From the rear of the crowd, one boy approached the front, passing his friends to whisper something to the black-shirted leader. "It was him."
The leader narrowed his eyes at Win. "So he's really just like the rumors say." His gaze swept over others, while one explained, "On his right... Kao... twelfth rank. As for the left, we don't know."
With a contemptuous sneer, the leader declared, "I challenge you," pointing directly at Kao. "He's only twelfth. I can handle him."
"See you at the Bound." he screamed.
Thud!
A round red candy dropped onto the ground.
A slow smirk formed. "Boss," the candy-dropper called out. "Can I choose my own opponent?"
"Yeah—" the leader began, waving him off, but another member interjected. "A nobody like you dares speak to our boss like that?"
Clearing his throat, the leader extended a hand to calm his defensive teammate.
Unwrapping another candy, the smug boy tilted his face up until his target became Artit.
"You... I want you."
Suddenly, a roar of engines split the air as gray dust kicked up around them.
Screech! Screech!
The tension around the Engineering Faculty grew even hotter. But they weren't alone. During the month-long intercollege competition, students from participating colleges were allowed to challenge one another under the official regulations.
The entire campus felt like a desert burning beneath the blazing sun.
...
"Who said you're the sun? Our college will be!" one student yelled, seizing the collar of a white Phassakorn uniform.
"You bastard! You messed with the wrong person!" The student in white clutched his opponent right back.
"Guys, stop!"
"Don't fight! My name is Sun! It has nothing to do with any of this!" a sharp voice barked.
Everything froze for a moment before the uproar grew even bigger near the Medical Faculty parking area.
Far away, inside the Faculty of Arts—in Mok's workshop—
"Shh... Shh..."
An unfamiliar noise came from outside the door, but everyone stayed focused on their pieces.
"Shu... Shu..."
"Toffee, did you hear that?"
Toffee, totally drained from burnout, didn't even bother to respond.
Tossing his paintbrush onto the table, Mok headed out to check. A figure lingered there, hidden beside the dark entrance.
"Phayu," Mok muttered, surprised. "Why are you here?"
With an awkward smile, Phayu scratched his forehead. "I'm here to see you. I mean..." His words trailed off. "Thank you... for letting me stay in your dorm. Can I buy you guys some drinks?"
"You don't have to," Mok replied.
"You can," Toffee chimed in from behind him.
"Toffee, aren't you supposed to be dead...?"
"I revived a second ago."
"Sawasdee khap..."
"Then can I choose where—"
Phayu nodded, but Mok shot a sharp side-eye glare at Toffee.
...
Toffee and Lamon drank their cold shakes.
The four of them sat around a table near a food stall beneath the large trees.
The straw got stuck in Mok's cup, making him struggle to get a sip. Giving up for a moment, he turned to Phayu instead.
"Sorry..." Mok muttered.
Phayu blinked in confusion.
"Sorry for hitting you. I thought you were a thief."
"It's alright. It was my fault."
"So... did your dorm problem get resolved?"
Lamon, who had been staring longingly at Toffee's pink beverage, sneakily slid his hand toward it. Noting the movement, Toffee said, "You can have it."
He gladly accepted the cup, while Toffee offered to get him another one if it wasn't enough.
"I'm moving out of the dorm," Phayu announced.
His three friends gaped at him in disbelief.
Whatt!!!! They screamed, making the others flinch.
"Wait... why?" Toffee blurted, shuffling over to sit next to him.
"If I stay there, it'll only bring more nightmares for everyone." Phayu hadn't even touched his cup. Cold droplets rolled down the glass, leaving wet trails on the table.
Nudging Toffee, Mok urgently gestured for him to speak up.
"How about stayy... staying with us?"
He didn't answer, swallowed by the thought that he was becoming a burden again.
Cruel remarks rang in his ears along with haunting gazes.
"Why are you always getting involved in other people's business?"
"If only you weren't my friend..."
"Don't look at him. He's cursed..."
"Don't touch me... who knows what will happen to me..."
A warm palm rested on his shoulder, pulling him back to reality. Toffee smiled. "So... you're agreeing to stay with us?"
Phayu slowly shook his head.
"Is it because you think it'll inconvenience us?" His tone was completely gentle. "You've always helped everyone, no matter who they are. So now... it's your turn to accept our help."
"But..." Phayu's response got stuck in his throat as he gripped his shirt. A deep chill crept over him despite the warm weather.
"Friends should help each other," Lamon added.
Another picture played in Phayu's mind, echoing the word friends.
A blurry figure in a white gown manifested before him. Her clothes fluttered in the sea breeze as she held his small hand, looking out toward the distant ocean.
"Phayu... are you crying?" Mok exclaimed.
"Lamon! You made him cry!"
"I didn't!"
"You did!"
"I didn't!" Lamon whined.
Moments later, another loud sob rang through the area—this time, it was Lamon's.
Whack!
Lamon hit Mok to make him stop. Mok quickly ran away with Lamon chasing right after him, leaving only Toffee and Phayu behind.
"If it's really hard..." Toffee let out a quiet breath. "...you can tell us." He gave a bitter look. "I have a friend who always helps everyone. Sometimes I think she'd be better off not doing it. So one day I questioned her, "Why are you doing this? Don't you even care about your own life?"
Phayu listened quietly.
"Do you know what she said?"
He shook his head.
Toffee imitated her tone, "I just don't want to hear you cry. I don't want to see you suffer. I just want to share that pain... so it'll become a little lighter for you."
"Weird... right?"
With watery eyes, Phayu let out a quiet hum.
Toffee let out a long breath as he watched the bright sky above.
'She really is a weird one...'
'Chim...'
'I miss you.'
'Are you in this world too...?'
"Are you okay, Toffee?"
"Khap... "
Leaves rustled across the campus as both boys recalled broken pieces. Yet, they didn't even notice that Mok and Lamon had gone.
"Damn... does he have some kind of superpower...?"
Mok kept darting his eyes backward, looking for a spot to hide.
Clank!
A stack of papers scattered across the floor.
"I'm sorry," Mok said quickly. He knelt to gather them, but froze upon spotting a familiar pair of heels.
"Bua... Why are you here?" Rubbing a hand over his face to adjust his glasses, the shock hit. "Don't tell me—" He cut himself off the instant he noticed the specific documents in her hands.
In the meantime, Lamon ran all over for Mok.
Eventually, Mok guided Bua toward the others.
Along the way, Lamon caught up and gave him a light smack, while Toffee started scolding him as expected.
...
The five of them now crowded around a four-seat bench farther from where they had been sitting.
"Ow—Lamon, don't squeeze so hard! My arm will fall off before I even graduate!"
"So dramatic," Lamon scoffed right in front of his face.
"Forget everything. This is important." Toffee was now wearing Mok's glasses while Mok kept trying to grab them back.
"Bua... I'm in."
"If Toffee is, then I am too," Phayu volunteered, raising his palm.
"Then I'll be in charge of the music," Lamon said.
Following him, Mok took charge of decorations, Phayu chose the flowers, and Bua only needed to decide on the location.
Soon, they were structuring their ideas while the clouds gradually darkened above.
Nobody realized a new problem was waiting.
Rapid footsteps pattered nearby.
Out of curiosity, the five friends turned alert as a crowd of students sprinted straight past them toward another building.
Their focus shifted toward the rushing students, catching only broken strings of the panicking voices.
"A fight broke out!"
"Did you hear? It's Mechanical Engineering!"
"I heard there were some injuries!"
Without waiting for more, Toffee and Mok bolted first. The others hurried after them, barely keeping up.
Panting, they finally stopped.
"I can't run anymore..." Lamon nearly collapsed, supported by Phayu.
"Where's the fight?" everyone wondered.
The place was strangely peaceful.
"Mok!"
"Toffee!"
Two recognizable figures stepped toward them.
"Hia..." Toffee cried out, complaining that his feet hurt.
The others could hardly believe how quickly he became a baby again.
"You guys look like drowning ducks," Kao teased, coming over to Mok.
Upon learning about the misunderstanding, Kao and Artit tried hard to suppress their laughter, giving them a hard time for sprinting all this way for nothing.
With that, the five tagged along behind their seniors.
"Hia... why is everyone staring at us?"
"You're famous, Toffee," Kao answered.
Artit simply chuckled as they headed toward the workshop. Embarrassed, Toffee tried to stay behind the others.
Kao quietly reached for Mok's sweaty hand, but Mok snatched it away, panicking that someone might see.
"No one is watching." He slipped their joined hands into his pocket. Their damp fingers intertwined. "Everyone's paying attention to them."
After a few moments, Mok gently freed his hand.
"Don't do that again..." Mok muttered, quickening his pace to rejoin the others.
He didn't speak as they reached the workshop, where the heavy smell of burning metal hung in the air.
They knocked and went inside, but the room felt even hotter than it did outdoors.
...
Win, Kao, and Artit looked over at the group.
"Are you sure they're okay staying there? It isn't exactly clean," Win asked.
Artit hummed. "We can't leave them out there. Good thing we have our jackets." He faced Win again. "They were talking about some kind of plan... but I only understood one thing." He paused. "It has something to do with May."
"Now that both your sweethearts are here, there's no need for a break, right?" Win grabbed their collars and dragged them away.
Inside, Toffee placed his hands on the desk. "So it's decided. Tomorrow night, Bua is confessing."
Everyone nodded.
Bua hugged Toffee while the others happily continued planning.
The day was still long.
Waiting for them.
Welcoming them.
Embracing them.