KongArtWeek 2022 - Oneshots and Manyshots

Day7 - Love Letters

AN: Day 7 - Love Letters. I can't think of a better title anymore. ahahaha. 

Summary: they're penpals. That's it.

The last day. Uhuhuhuhuhu. But definitely not the last entry here hehehe. Enjoy the push-pull between Kongpob and Arthit.

Co-written with geekykwok so you might've read this from her account.

--_--

Sighing, Kongpob held his hand up to shield his eyes from the small ray of light that peeked through the leaves. He had imagined this whole time that he would be able to bury his time capsule under this very tree that had given him so much comfort over the years he had been studying here.

But alas, fate had a mind of its own. The school had made a decision to build the long awaited new wing on the very spot the tree was sitting on. So Kongpob was left with no other choice other than to look for a new location. Leaning his head back on the ever sturdy trunk of the tree, he sighed again. He really couldn't think of anywhere else that brought him the same meaning of burying something that was so important to him.

Burying a time capsule was somewhat of the closing rites of being a head hazer. Every head hazer before him had done so too, each leaving a small part of themselves in the school as part of their legacy. It hadn't been easy, the past year and just being in the presence of the tree had brought him so much comfort during his hard times.

Standing up and dusting off his pants, Kongpob made up his mind. He'd heard that there were plans to uproot the tree and replant it in other parts of the school. He'd have to come by another day to check with the construction staff. With luck, it might still be located on the Engineering campus.

~***~

"Phi, do you know where they would be replanting the tree?" Kongpob asked the gardening staff who was carefully digging around the roots in order not to damage it.

"Behind the old block three building it seems. They found a space there with decent soil that should sustain the tree with no problem. I'm glad they did, it would be such a pity for a tree of this size to be chopped down." The gardener said, pointing a gloved hand in a general direction.

"Yeah I'd hate for it to be chopped down. Thank goodness they've found a good place for it." Kongpob mumbled, stroking the trunk and admiring the vast branches and leaves above.

"Are you a student here Nong? Can I pass this to you? It was buried near those roots and it seems to be something that probably belonged to another student here. It's got that same gear that you have on it." The gardener said, handing Kongpob a small cylindrical container.

Kongpob took it over, staring at the gear that was etched onto it. A little '57' reflected off the canister under the sunlight. This had to belong to the head hazer from an earlier year! Looks like he wasn't the only one who spent a lot of time with the tree. With a polite wai, Kongpob made off to the library, hoping to trace the owner of the time capsule.

Counting backwards in his head as he ran his fingers past a row of yearbooks on the shelf, he pulled out the book that tallied with the year. Kongpob flipped through the pages till he finally landed on the Faculty of Engineering. Running through the pictures, he finally landed on the portrait of the person he had been looking for.

"Phi.. Arthit," he mumbled to himself. He tried to pinpoint if he had ever seen the fair skinned senior on campus before but drew up blank. Now what was he going to do? He didn't know any of the seniors in the year either. He could try the administrative office but he doubted they would release any personal information to him.