Lullaby

Chapter Three

"Kong, Kong! Get up!" Aim hissed, furiously tapping him on his thigh.

Kongpob jerked awake from his nodding off state in a shock at the touch on his leg. His expressions contorted into a grimace as he shook the sleep from his brain. As he looked up, Arthit was walking back to the stage.

"When I call your names, you're going to stand up to greet your senior that you will be attached to. We have arranged this so that you know more than just your line code senior. But mark my words, I will still expect you to take the initiative in knowing all your seniors. Do you understand?"

The thunderous 'yes' chorused through the hall as the freshmen answered his question.

"Aim," Kongpob whispered. "What's going on"

"Well, sleeping beauty," Aim whispered back as numbers were being called and juniors standing in various parts of the hall stepped to the front to meet their assigned seniors. "We're being assigned seniors as guides for this semester. They said that the previous years freshmen only stuck to getting to know their own line code seniors so they're making sure we know at least more than one senior personally."

"Guides?"

"I don't know man. That's all P'Arthit said." Aim shrugged.

Kongpob groaned internally, bad enough he could barely figure out what was going on with himself these days. Now he had to add another possible person to disclose his condition to? Collapsing on a senior he didn't know well was probably the start of an impending disaster and maybe also the start to the whole faculty finding out about him.

The numbers of freshmen students dwindled down to a hand few who were left sitting in their spots. Aim was called up next and he shot Kongpob a sorry look before stepping off to meet his senior, who had turned out to be one of the main group hazers - Bright.

Envious of his luck, Kongpob prayed he would be assigned a hazer who already knew so that he would be spared the agony of explanation. And so that the other person would be spared the horror.

His anxiety clawed at him from the inside as he looked around and suddenly realised there were less than 5 others left. He watched them leave, one by one before he found himself staring at Arthit, this time in a one-on-one setting once again.

"And you, Kongpob 0062, get me." Arthit grinned, somewhat devilishly.

Kongpob could feel his eyes somewhat bugging out of his sockets as he stared at the senior who was now lazily making his way down the stage. As though in a trance, he stood up slowly from his seated spot, walking towards the other to meet him in the centre of the hall.

Holding out his hand, Arthit said, "Arthit Rojnapat, 0206 and I'm your assigned senior."

Still at a loss for words, Kongpob held his own out to shake the elder's hand, and feeling mysteriously washed over by that strange feeling again the second their hands met.

Oh this was going to be a long and strange semester.

As his eyes struggled to stay open, another hand shot out to wave itself in front of his face.

"Oi. Kongpob?" Arthit called out, watching the junior slowly blink in and out of focus while still holding onto his hand.

He was honestly very confused by this point. He was told that the junior had problems sleeping, so he had to watch out for signs of him collapsing but all he had seen so far was Kongpob falling asleep. Look, the boy was doing it again while standing no less. He'd had to ask him about it soon, maybe when they were more familiar with each other. He didn't want to come across as nosey or invasive.