Forever and a Dae

ThursDAE

ThursDAE

Kongpob was just out of class when he spotted the first year transfer student sitting on one of the tables on the lounge head down on his notes, alone.

    It’s not unusual to have transfer students at a university but it’s quite rare. Mostly they have students who shifted majors or department. Being the head hazer of his department, Kongpob took it to himself to guide the transfer as much as he could.

    It could be hard gaining friends when most of the freshmen are already situated with their own circles.

    So he approaches the lone kid, taps on his shoulders and smiles, “How are you doing?”

    The guy – Dae looked at him with wide eyes like he was surprised to see him.

    “Pa – P’ Kongpob,” Dae stutters. “What are you doing here?”

    Kongpob took a look at Dae’s notes and noticed it was too advanced for a freshman to be studying. “I’m just checking on you.” he looks back at Dae and points to the empty seat across him, “Can I sit here?”

    “Uh,” Dae made a gesture as he tidy’s his books and notes. “Sure, sure.”

    Kongpob watched Dae and chuckled. “Don’t be too nervous around me.”

    “That obvious?” Dae said sheepishly. “I’m just – I didn’t – wasn’t expecting you, is all.”

    “Like I said,” Kongpob crossed his legs and said, “I’m just checking up on you.”

    “Oh, uh, I’m good, P’.” Dae smiled awkwardly. “Still getting used to the environment.”

    Kongpob nodded. “I know how you feel.” He studied Dae for a second before saying, “It must be hard being a transferee.”

    “You could say that,” Dae muttered.

    “I would offer help for tutoring but you look like you can handle it,” Kongpob pointed to the advanced calculus Dae was currently working on.

    “I would love to – ” Dae bit his lips, “I mean I just thought of teaching myself but damn this is hard.”

    Kongpob laughed. “Well, don’t push yourself too much, okay?”

    “Yeah, yeah sure.” Dae nodded.

    Dae was fidgeting with his fingers and Kongpob noticed the ring on his index. Somehow, it looked oddly familiar.

    “My Pa gave it to me as a birthday present.” Dae said solemnly.

    He smiled. “You must miss them huh?” From what Kongpob had read from Dae’s file, the kid was from a remote province from the south, and him deciding to study at this university, he must be missing his family a lot.

    “Nah,” Dae shook his head, looked him in the eyes and smiled, “It’s like they never left.”

    Those eyes.

    Kongpob blinked, suddenly remembering that he had to go to the library to browse for some books for his project. “That’s good to know,” he said. “Anyway,” Kongpob stood up, tapping on Dae’s notes and said, “If you need any help with anything just reach out to me, okay?”

    “Yeah,” Dae nodded, “I’ll – I’ll keep that in mind.”

    “I’m your senior. That’s my job.”

    “Thanks,” Dae said softly.

    As he was walking away he couldn’t help but notice the huge bag under the table. He wondered what Dae was doing with all those things in his backpack.