Only You, Just You [eng]

02 - Memory Lane

Third person's POV

The moment Bright stepped inside their room, the whole class started whispering, eyes darted back at him as if he did a crime.

One student came up to Bright and asked him about what happened.

"What was that about?" Nathaniel asks as Bright takes the empty seat next to his friend's.

He shrugged his shoulders and placed his bag on the armrest. "I don't know. And I also don't know the man."

"Then why did he hug you that way?" Nathaniel asks again and now he's invested in Bright's answer.

"He said he knows me, but you know I can't recall people before my accident." But Bright's eyes went back to Win who was standing outside their room, talking to some students. "He's probably a really close friend back then."

Maybe... But I don't know why I let him too.

He took a deep breath in and let it out. But this time Nathaniel gripped both of his hands which took him by surprise and looked straight in his eyes.

"The professor was your friend? Are you sure?"

And right when Nathaniel said that, Win entered their room greeting everyone 'good morning' with the same smile he always shows.

Bright looked at Win and felt a pang of guilt. Is it because he couldn't remember anything about him? He wondered if they had shared any memories or secrets, or if they had more than just a memory.

"Good morning everyone, My name is Engr. Metawin Opas-Iamkajorn. Your Engineering 101 professor for this semester."

Then his friend remembered Bright's name. He snatched his ID that was hanging around his neck and confirmed that they do have the same last name.

"My goodness, why do you have the same last name?"

Bright then pulls back his ID and stares at it for a moment.

Nathaniel is right. Why do we have the same last name?

"I don't think he's just your friend, Bright." Nathaniel said with a low voice while glancing back and forth from Win and Bright.

It felt like forever for Bright. He didn't know what to do with this new information he discovered. Because as far as he knows, he was the only one who had that kind of last name in their area and it was the first time he heard someone who had the same name as he does.

His thoughts ran through his eyes and Win caught him staring at him and Win flashed a smile. "Settle down students and please introduce yourself to the whole class."

In Bright's mind, there was this question he eagerly wanted an answer.

'What are we to each other?'

He felt a surge of emotions as he looked back at Win, who was standing in front of the class. He wanted to ask him, but he didn't know how to.

He cleared his throat and tried to act normal trying to avoid any eye contact with their professor.

And when it was Bright's time to introduce himself, Win's eyes never left him for a second. It felt as if he was already melting.

He then stood up and cleared his throat.

"Hi, my name is Bright Chivaaree Opas-Iamkajorn. I look young but believe me I'm old enough to be your big brother... I'm a returnee after an accident 2 years ago but I'm all healed now. I like sports, especially basketball and soccer. I play a lot of instruments but I don't sing. I like math but at the same time hates it."

The whole class went silent after hearing his introduction. He felt embarrassed but Bright wanted to have more friends, school friends since his two friends were already working and didn't have that much time to hang out.

Maybe that was too much. After earning weird looks, one by one, his classmates started laughing at him, smiling and some went straight to where Bright was seated, befriending him.

Bright could not believe it but his fear of not fitting in was lifted as soon as everyone called him big Bro and shaking his hand, saying welcome back and let's be friends.

And Win watched these things happen. He was happy for Bright to gain more friends but an ick caught him by surprise when a guy started hugging him.

He didn't like it. He hated it for that matter.

Calm yourself down, Metawin. Don't let you emotions run you.

He stayed silent for a minute, calming himself down and that's when he called their attention back to him.

"Alright, boys and girls. Let him breathe." Win says and their eyes meet again. "Welcome back to college life, Bright. Let's get along this semester."

And there's this one student that raised his hand, catching everyone's attention.

"Yes, Nathaniel?" Win responded.

"Engr, isn't it weird?"

"What about?"

"You and Bright have the same last name." Nathaniel said and this earned him a soft punch in his arm from Bright.

"Why are you asking that? That's too personal." He whispered but Nathaniel was so curious about their last name.

"Dude, aren't you curious too? In my three years on this campus, you and Engr are the only ones I know that share the same last name. Just let him answer it."

"You're unbelievable."

"You'll thank me later."

By this time everyone was waiting for Win's answer because Nathaniel was right. No one in the whole campus has that last name like Win for almost two years he had been a professor.

Win was a foreigner in their country and his features were no ordinary compared to anyone else's. And basing from that fact, everyone believes Win was the only who had that name, Bright was the only exception.

For the third time, their eyes met and this time, Win had eyes only for him.

Everyone became silent and Bright could feel his body heating.

"Class..." there was this pause. "You all know I'm not from here, right?" He asked and the class answered him yes. "So, me and Bright could be related to each other or maybe not. I can't tell for sure."

"But does that mean you could be related by blood?" one student said.

"Maybe. Maybe not." Win answered him.

"But they don't look alike." Another student spoke.

"We don't?" Win playfully smiles at them, joining in their fun.

"Duh? Look closely." The students started looking Win and Bright.

"Maybe they were married but Bright forgot since he had an accident." Nathaniel suddenly spoke which made Win drop his smile and anxiously look at Bright who again punched Nathaniel on his arm causing him to groan in pain.

"What the hell??" Bright was caught off guard.

"What?? There's that possibility." Nathaniel said.

"That's not a nice thing to say."

"I'm sorry. But look at professor." Nathaniel informed him and Bright did.

"He's crying? Why is he crying?" The class started panicking and some rushed towards Win and helped him calm down.

Why are you crying again?

[01.18.24]