Dont call me small (English Translation)

8

Co-translator : acid_wash

Chapter 8: Oh, boy.

Today, the first-year students are brought up together in a vibrant mood, because tomorrow they will all go and study outside the classroom on a field trip to Ratchaburi.

But actually, the studying part is a secondary issue for them, as the thing that everyone pays special attention to is the trip itself.

And it seems that the members of the Baan Chulaphak gang, who won the performance contest at the freshmen's welcoming party, are especially excited. They’re excited because the travel package to the Suan Phueng district (which they received as a prize from the contest) will finally be used after the field trip and once they've completed their educational mission.

"Have you packed your bags yet?"

"It's been done ever since we knew we won the contest," Muay and Ja, the two girls who are best friends of the group, were happy because they will be going on a field trip for the first time. (Or not?)

"Where are you going in such a hurry? We still have time to organize our stuff after we finish our classes, you know."

"Shut up, artificial Moon. I'm going to Suan Phueng. I've also prepared a dress to take some photos with Nong Alpaca. People who don't understand its cuteness better just shut up." said Muay in an exaggerated tone. Who's Nong Alpaca, though?

"Nonsense, I don't see how alpacas can be cute. They're just like camels. Don't you think so, Namtarn? Deer?" said Meen.

"Maybe." Deer replied.

"Ah." The youngest of the group left no comment because Namtarn didn't know about the alpaca his friends were talking about.

"Be quiet," as their professor's signature low voice was heard, everyone quickly scattered and rushed to their seats so that the person standing in front of the class can start his lecture.

"Good morning, students. How was my first assignment? I hope it is not too difficult for everyone," he said.

"I took a brief look at your work. Some of them are done quite well, up to a point. But I need a little more time to check all of them, and tonight I will announce the score on the project page. Hopefully, the result won't spoil your field trip."

At the end of their professor's voice, the students let out a dry laugh, indicating that it will be exactly as the professor said.

"And before I start my lecture, I would like to ask the following students to come and meet me after class ends."

“Mr. Kittikhun, Ms. Orawan, and Mr. Nararit.”

Hm?
Namtarn immediately looked at the teacher when his name was announced through the microphone in front of the class. But even then, Namtarn didn't know why did the professor call him.

"Why did he call you, Namtarn?" Ja asked the friend who was sitting in the same row as her.

"I don't know either."

"It's okay, Namtarn. Don't overthink it. Just wait after class ends and then talk to the professor. Maybe it's nothing," Meen offered his opinion, prompting everyone to nod in agreement.

Throughout the morning class, the small guy kept thinking about why the professor called him to his office, that everything the professor said in class couldn't go through his head at all.

---

Namtarn's friends walked him to the front of Professor Kamjorn's office, where Namtarn had once been to, but they didn't follow him inside. Only the rest of the students who were called alongside Namtarn joined him into the professor's office.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Excuse me, sir."

"Please sit down." The three of them sat on their chairs as instructed by the professor before he spoke.

"I called you today to ask you the reason why you did not submit your assignments."

Huh?!

"May I ask the reason why you three did not turn in the assignment I gave you?" Asked the professor again in a serious tone.

"Well, I couldn't make it in time, sir. Can I submit it later, please?"
"I didn't have time either," said the two classmates sitting next to Namtarn.

"But I turned in mine, sir. I put it on your shelf on Monday," said the small guy in a trembling voice.

"Hmm, what's your name?"

"Oh, er, Nararit," Namtarn mentioned his name before their professor picked up the assignment delivery slip to check it out.

"Well, Nararit, ah, it's already signed, but why can't I find your work? I even have the assignment from the person who submitted his work right before you." In the signature box, Namtarn saw his signature, along with the date of submission. But then why did the small guy's work disappear like a mystery?

"And do you have someone to testify for you that you submitted the work?"

"Uh, no," Namtarn replied. That day, he submitted his assignment early in the morning, so none of his friends came with him, and that made Namtarn even more worried.

"But I did submit it. I even still have it on my laptop," the small guy tried to explain.

"But still, you can't use that as evidence because it is possible that you finished it later than the deadline. As for your signature, things like that can be forged. If I let you resubmit your assignment, and it turns out that you didn't submit it on time before, then it wouldn't be fair for your friends who have submitted it on time."

"But..."

"It's okay. This assignment will not take the highest proportion for this course's final assessment. If you constantly get good test scores, you still have a chance of getting a B+. I hope you understand. That's all I have to say today."

The other two students nodded before raising their hands and bowed to pay respect to the professor, who had a stern look on his face.

Namtarn looked at the professor with an expression that's hard to read, but then he stood up, thinking that he’s not going to win any argument with his professor. Besides, he doesn't have any proof that he has submitted his work.

---

"What's wrong, Namtarn? Why are your eyes red?"

"Hey, hey" when Namtarn left the professor's office, all of his close friends were already waiting for him. And when he saw his friends, the small guy immediately let out a tear.

"Hey, what's the matter, Namtarn? Calm down, now. Meen, take him to sit down," Muay said before the tallest person in the group, Meen, rushed over to help support his little friend and lead him to a seat.

"Huhuhu…" The small guy cried pitifully. He kept crying no matter who tried to comfort him or ask him why and his friends just stood there not knowing what to do.

"Calm down, Namtarn," his friends tried their best to comfort him, but the little one kept on rubbing his ears and eyes and kept on crying until his face turned red.

"Okay, does anyone have P'Namkang's number?" Ja asked when she figured out that the only way out right now is to call Namtarn's brother.

"I only have P'Mangkorn's number," Meen replied. Mangkorn is a senior he knew from the campus moon contest; he was an ex-moon.

"Okay. Call him now. P'Mangkorn and P’Namkang are close. They're probably together right now."

"Wait a minute." Meen then called his senior.

"Hello, are you with P'Namkang? Uh, Namtarn is crying. We don't know what to do. We're on the fourth floor, right in front of the teachers' lounge."

"They said they'd hurry here, and we should wait until they come," Meen repeated what he heard from his senior before he hung up the phone. So, they followed the senior's order to take care of their little friend first.

Soon after, a group of third-year seniors consisting of Namkang, Mangkorn, and their two best friends arrived at the scene.

Namkang rushed over with a scared expression on his face before seeing his brother cry, covering his eyes with his hands.

"Namtarn!"

"P'Namkang, huhuhu…" when he found out his brother had arrived, Namtarn immediately ran to hug him before letting out his tears again, making the older brother speechless.

"Shh, calm down, don't cry. Let's take a seat first, good boy." Any girl who saw this scene would be screaming, seeing how gentle and handsome Namkang looked right now while taking care of his little brother. But Namkang couldn't care less about that. In his mind, he was more worried about what had happened to his little brother, but he tried to keep calm to not make things worse.

Namkang led his brother back to the chair in front of the professor's office before slowly stroking his head and his back and hugged him, waiting for his brother to calm down.

"Take a deep breath. It's okay. I'm here." The small guy began to calm down, slowly pulling away from his brother's embrace while Namkang gently wiped his eyes.

"Well, I'll go buy some water. Namtarn may want to drink water." Deer said.

"We'll go with you." Muay volunteered to accompany Deer.

Namkang nodded, accepted Deer's offer, and then turned to speak to his brother, who had calmed down slightly.
"Now, can you tell me what happened?"

"Huhuhu. Professor said I didn't submit my assignment, but I have submitted my work, P'Namkang," said the small guy, still sobbing. Listening to his brother’s story broke Namkang’s heart. He's certain that Namtarn took his assignment to the professor that day. Even if Namkang didn't go with his little brother, he could guarantee that Namtarn had finished the task and delivered it ahead of the deadline, and he knew how much effort his little brother had put in that work.

"I tried to explain that I actually turned it in and even signed the submission form. But since there was no one to testify for that, there's nothing that the professor could do to help me."

"Calm down," Namkang tried to comfort Namtarn when he saw the small guy start to cry again.

"Let’s try this, I'll call the people at home and ask them to print the assignment first. Then I'll talk to the professor. As for Namtarn, sit here and wait for me. Guys, I'll leave my brother with you for a while." The older brother made a quick call and ended it before going in to the professor's office.

"Don't worry," Namtarn turned to look at a familiar deep voice, who then gently stroked Namtarn's head with his large palm.

"Even if you have to resubmit your task to the professor, I promise I will help you get a good grade. Even if you can't get any score from this work, you still have a chance to get an A, it might be a bit hard, but I will help you."

"..."

"Trust me," the big palm gradually slid down Namtarn's cheek before coming to a soft stop in the corner of his eye.

"Okay," although he regrets the 20 points he lost, Namtarn didn't know why at that moment he felt the need to trust his senior. It was as if the person in front of him would fulfill what he promised, and that made Namtarn feel more at ease.

"Uh."

"Oh, the water's here? Thank you, Nong Deer."

"Here, drink some water, Namtarn. I think you hurt your throat while crying just now."

"Thank you, Deer," Namtarn took a bottle of cold water from his friend, immediately open the lid, and drank it thirstily.

---

"So, how was it? " Mangkorn asked as soon as Namkang got out of the professor's office.

"No good, he told me that even if I come on behalf of my brother, I can't change his decision if I don't have the evidence to prove that Namtarn has submitted his work. But he's willing to accept if Namtarn resubmits his work, although he might not be able to get many points from it. Sorry, Namtarn."

"It's okay. In any case, I’ll try to get the rest of the points from other assignments and tests. Thank you so much for trying, P'Namkang", replied the little one. Despite how puffy his eyes were, to his brother's eyes, Namtarn still looks cute.

"Then I'm going to have to head back to class. I asked permission from my professor to go out for some urgent business, so now I have to hurry back." Namtarn nodded understandably before his older brother, and the other seniors rushed back to attend their lecture. But before they went out of the juniors' sight...

"Uh, wait a minute."

"Just leave this matter to me." Mangkorn walked back to the small guy while pointing at himself with an expression that's hard to read.

"Eh…? I mean, thank you, P'Mangkorn." Namtarn didn't know what inspires him to speak like that. He just knew that his heart wants him to trust Mangkorn.

"No problem." The tall man smiled gently. His big palm caressed Namtarn's head again before he joined his friends to return to their class.

Although he didn't understand what was going on, Namtarn couldn't deny that Mangkorn's firm promise made him feel incredibly better.

Even though the small guy's condition somewhat improved throughout the afternoon lessons than what he looked like this morning, his friends noticed that their little friend was still secretive. Namtarn tried to hide his expression so his friends wouldn't see. Still, they feel worried about him.

The group of five (Namtarn and his friends) decided to visit a nearby mall after they finished their classes. Some want to go shopping for the field trip tomorrow. But the most important agenda was to take their little friend so that he could relieve the stress from losing his assignment.

"Should we take a taxi, or should we go in Meen's car?" Muay said. The owner of the car turned around almost immediately.

"Don't you think you should ask the owner for permission first?" Meen replied.

"Then we should stop being friends."

"Okay, okay, then let’s just go."

"Good thing all of you are small. Now, squeeze yourselves into the car." Everyone nodded in understanding. Right now, they're still in the campus area, where most of the freshmen are rushing to prepare their stuff for their field trip tomorrow, including Namtarn's group, who are packing their belongings for a trip to the mall.

Namtarn didn't forget to send a LINE to his brother, asking for permission as usual. His brother allowed him to go to the mall with his friends because it's in the same direction as their house. Thus, the five went to the mall while squeezing their bodies inside the Moon's car (Meen is their faculty’s Moon). And luckily, each of them wasn't too big, so the car wasn't that crowded.

The five people reached their destination in no time. They all agreed to get some dinner first before going shopping. They stopped in front of a famous Japanese restaurant where a receptionist was waiting for them.

"You can choose the menu you want to order by touching the screen. If you get stuck or you feel like ordering in person is more convenient, you can notify our staff."

After being seated, a server greeted them, recommended them the house specialties, and asked them if they would order manually or use the electronic display. They feel more convenient ordering through the electronic display, so they don't have to disrupt the server's time. So, after explaining to them how to use the electronic menu device, the female server allowed them to choose the menu at their convenience.

"What are you guys going to eat?" asked Meen since he was the person closest to the screen.

"I'll have the pork shabu set," said the little girl, Muay.

"Wagyu yakisoba," the noodle menu belongs to the mischievous young girl Ja.

"I'll have the teriyaki chicken rice bowl," followed by the little one, Deer.

Meen nodded before he continued swiping the screen to find the menu that everyone had asked for and then managed to input the orders accordingly. Meen laughs secretly at the thought that the men in this group seem to be more expressive than the women, but anyway, it was better than the first time they met when they weren't that close, and everyone was still awkward.

As he pressed on the menu selection and prepares to submit their orders, he realizes something. Wait a minute, why are there only four orders, aren't there the five of us? Meen turned to look at the small guy who was sitting silently beside him. He immediately understood that the missing order belongs to this guy.

"What do you want to eat, Namtarn? Or do you want me to choose for you?" Meen immediately turned to the little man to ask him.

"I'm not hungry yet. You guys can eat first. I only need a cup of green tea." Namtarn replied in a bright tone. He tried to make himself sounded as normal as possible, but even so, his friends could see that he's not.

"You should eat, Namtarn; even just a little bit, just order anything. Or would you want some poached eggs so you can eat easily?" Muay tried to talk Namtarn to eat after finding her friend looking depressed and not wanting to taste any of the food on the menu.

"Well, I guess poached eggs are okay." Namtarn nodded. Meen then pressed the poached eggs menu from the screen before sending their order to the kitchen.

While they waited for their food, each person got busy playing with their phones and minding their own businesses. There were times when they looked away from their phones to discuss their field trip, but they became silent again after that. During the silence at the table, suddenly the moon screamed. It was so loud that everyone from other tables turned and stared at them.

"GUYS!"

"What's wrong, Meen? You surprised the hell out of everyone. See, now everyone's staring at us." After realizing what Muay said, Meen quickly bows to apologize to the people around them before continuing.

"Guys, the assignment scores have been announced!" Even though he tried to speak in a softer tone, he still sounded loud. Not to mention that Meen also brings up the issue about their assignment score while everyone else is still trying to console Namtarn.

"Ai Meen!" Muay scolded Meen when she turned and saw Namtarn with a visibly sad expression.

"No, Namtarn, you have to check out your score." Meen tried to hand his cell phone over to his little friend. But the other party kept shaking his head.

"I don't want to see it," said the small guy. He's speaking in this sad voice, making those sitting in front of him, specifically Muay, Ja, and Deer, gave a vengeful look at the moon (read: Meen).

"Look, trust me, Namtarn, you'll be surprised." Meen insisted. Namtarn gave up and finally took Meen's cell phone, even if he doesn't understand why he needs to see it, since his score will flop anyway...

"17!" The small guy let out a loud exclaim that the people sitting next to their table turned to look at them again. If they made another ruckus more than this, the restaurant management would definitely have to ask them to leave.

"What did you say?" this time, it was the other friend who was screaming in shock. Muay took her phone and opened the project page to see the announcement, sliding her gaze to stop at Namtarn's student ID, barely paying attention to her own score.

"But how?" Muay said, confused when she saw the two digits written on Namtarn's student ID box. It's impossible to say that the professor made a scoring error because the other two people who did not submit their work had no scores.

"See! I told you!" Meen said.

"But," Namtarn could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the number written next to his name. His score should have been 0, but here he is, having 17 as his score. He's almost tied to the class' highest score, which was 17.5 when he only expected a 0.5.

"Or did the professor finally find Namtarn's work? Anyway, I don't think the announcement is wrong. Three people made the mistakes, but he only wrote the zero points for two people. The professor must have checked it thoroughly until he was confident to post these notes," Ja commented.

"We think so too. Congratulations, Namtarn, your score is second from the top." The friends congratulated Namtarn, but he stood still, feeling confused. He doesn't want to get overly excited. What if the scores are changed later? Maybe the professor put the wrong score.

Incoming call.

Namtarn was a little startled when he felt the buzz coming from his pocket. He pulled out his cell phone to find his brother's name appeared on the screen, to which he answered immediately.

"Hello, Namtarn, have you seen the score?" Namkang said at the end of the line in a happy tone.

"I've seen it, but isn't it a mistake?" Asked Namtarn.

"No, I've confirmed it to your professor just now. He said someone went to testify that you actually turned in the work. So, he agreed to review the new assignment you submitted. And you were to get 19 as your score, but the professor thinks it wouldn't be fair to give you a higher grade than the person who has submitted it before.

"Really?"

"Yes, Nong. My little brother indeed is the best."

"Can you ask who was it that testified for me?" A cute smile appeared on Namtarn's face for the first time that day. He was delighted, but he wanted to know more about this witness who got his score back.

"The professor said it was Mangkorn."

"Hmm," at first, Namtarn wasn't sure if Mangkorn would know if he turned in the work or not. Because that day, he was the one who secretly followed Mangkorn to the professor's office... If Mangkorn knew when and where Namtarn submitted his assignment to testify for it, does this mean Mangkorn knew that Namtarn had been following him??

"Well, you have nothing to worry about now. Have you finished eating yet? I'll hurry up and go pick you up."

"I'm still waiting for my food."

"Okay, then I'll call you in a few minutes."

"Okay," Namtarn said before hanging up the phone.

After that, how Namtarn got his score back became the hot topic on their table. The small guy told his friends the story his brother had told him. The group listened to Namtarn happily as they were relieved to see him smiling as usual before they then changed the topic of the conversation. Each of them then takes turns complaining about their scores, saying that the professor's scoring standards are a bit high since everyone else scored lower than Namtarn.

After finishing dinner, the five of them went shopping, buying things for tomorrow's field trip. But it seems that instead of shopping together for everyone's necessities, it's more like the three guys just followed the girls around to buy what they like. When Muay and Ja entered the clothing and cosmetics store, time passes by very quickly, from almost 1 in the afternoon until it quickly became seven at night.

They walked around picking things together until their legs almost dragged, before then parting ways to go to each of their homes. Our small guy, of course, went home with his older brother. When he got into the car, the small guy urged his brother to tell him the whole incident right away because he was still not convinced with what he was told before.

"In conclusion, P'Mangkorn went to talk to the professor for me, right?"

"Yes, he was the one who spoke to your professor. The professor told me that 'your Phi' went to testify that you had actually submitted the work. Apparently, Mangkorn talked with the professor for a long time."

"Is that so?" The small guy unconsciously nodded before speaking again.

"P'Namkang."

"What's wrong?" Namkang replied, his eyes still fixed on the road.

"Can you give me P'Mangkorn's LINE account?"

"Hmm, you guys haven't exchanged your LINE contact yet?" Namkang asked. He thought his best friend already have his little brother's contact.

"Yes."

"Here, take my phone. You can share Mangkorn's LINE contact from my phone to your own account." Namkang gave his phone to his brother before the little one pressed the password numbers he memorized perfectly and signed in to the application to find the contact of the person he was looking for.

"This one, right?" Namtarn turned the cell phone screen that shows the profile of a handsome man in a college uniform so his brother can see it. Namtarn would've believed it had someone said that the person on the screen must have put on a little make-up to look this good. Even though he was familiar with the person, Namtarn still wasn't sure, so he asked his brother when he stopped the car as the traffic light turned red.

"Yes, you can share it." Namtarn nodded before sharing Mangkorn's contact to his own LINE account.

Ding!

The small guy took his own cell phone and signed in to the LINE application. He selected the chat window between himself and his brother, and clicked to add the recently shared contact to his contact list.

Namtarn hesitated for a moment before clicking on the profile of his new friend. The boy finally decided to write a short message. After pressing the send button, he immediately put his phone down and put it in his pocket. He doesn't understand why he was so excited. But that's okay because he already said what he wanted to say :)

Namtarn: Thanks for today, P'Mangkorn.

On the other side of the chat was a man who had just come out of the bathroom. He was topless, with a white towel loosely wrapped around his waist. The water droplets sticking to his body made him looked even better. He had just the right size of muscles, not too small, not too big. In addition, his skin color was a little more on the darker side. In general, he's the kind of guy who, when you see him, you won't be able to resist him.

Ding!

Mangkorn managed to wipe his hands dry before rushing to pick up the phone he left on the bed just as he heard a notification sound.

He was a bit surprised when he clicked the famous green icon application, finding a new contact, along with a message from an unknown person.

"Who are you?" He clicked into the profile of the person who sent him a friend request. His phone started to load the small profile picture, slowly showing a picture of a child-like face with drooping cheeks and a wide, affectionate smile. Unconsciously, the owner of the phone smiled at the other party's profile picture.

He immediately accepted the friend request, making both him and his Nong friends on the chat application. And when he remembered that he still has a pending message unread, he hastily exited the friend request page and opened the chat window.

The short message from his new friend made Mangkorn smile again. He shook his head slightly before sending a reply, hoping he would get another response from the other party.

Mangkorn: It's okay. See you tomorrow.
Mangkorn: Don't forget to put some ice packs for your puffy eyes :)

End of chapter 8.