Dont call me small (English Translation)

9

Co-translator : acid_wash

Don't call me small [อย่า เรียก หนู ว่า ตัว เล็ก]
Chapter 9: A mentor's duty.

"P'Namkang, hurry up. The bus for the field trip might arrive at the university anytime soon!" A small guy in bright-colored clothes yelled at his brother from their living room on the first floor.

Namtarn must arrive at his university before 6 o'clock that morning. Today he's going on a field trip organized by his faculty professors to Ratchaburi. So, the young master of the house keeps on calling his older brother --who woke up late this morning and will probably cause him late to his appointment-- until his voice echoed throughout the house.

"I'm coming. You go ahead and wait in the car." Namkang quickly walked down the stairs from the second floor while getting dressed. He asked his younger brother to sit and wait in the car instead of keep yelling out his name because he still needs time to prepare himself before leaving for their university.

"Are you leaving now, son?" The lady of the house came out of her room in her pajamas and greeted her two children.

"Yes, but P'Namkang is taking too long to prepare. If the field-trip bus ended up leaving me for being late, I'm never going to talk to him again." The small guy complained to his mother, pointing his mouth at his brother.

Just wait and see Phi. If Namtarn couldn't make it in time, I won't talk to you for real, the small guy thought to himself.

"Have a safe trip, and don't forget to call me and let me know if anything happens."

"I will," Namtarn replied in a reassuring voice despite feeling anxious since he's going to go with a bunch of strangers for the first time. He tried not to look so worried while they're still in their house, although his heart was a little scared.

"Good. Work hard, and have fun." The lady hugged her little son, saying goodbye before the son went to wait for his brother in the car.

"I'm here," Namkang said as he hurriedly got in the car.
He was still panting a bit in exhaustion since he rushed his way to the car, but it was given. Had he been slower than this, he would definitely piss his younger brother.

"Didn't you told me you weren't going to stay up late and watch soccer last night because you'll drive me to campus today? Had I known you'd lie, I would've asked uncle to drive me instead." Namtarn muttered his disappointment. Seeing that, his brother couldn't help but gave a peck on Namtarn's cheeks to annoy him even more.

Phi!

"Huh, no need to kiss me. Just hurry up and get the car going." Namtarn replied, but secretly grinning at his brother's gesture. And just like that, Namkang drove his car at the young master's order.

Since it was still early in the morning, the traffic was relatively mild and not too congested. But had the siblings left half an hour later, they can be sure that Namtarn wouldn't be there in time.

The luxury car drove straight to the university as usual. The driver turned the steering wheel to the Prachum Yai tower, where they gathered students going for the field trip today for a briefing.

Driving straight into the meeting location area, the two brothers saw three double-decker buses parked in front of the main auditorium. Namkang parked near the Faculty of Law, not far from the main hall. They headed to the place where students and teachers were standing together to report and verify their names with the supervisor before Namkang said goodbye to his younger brother.

"Take care. If you don't feel well, you have to tell the professor or your seniors, okay?"

"Okay, P'Namkang, you've said that about ten times already now."

"It's just that I'm worried. If I knew there were going to be a field trip, I'd take this course so I can accompany you," Namkang replied.

This subject was compulsory for the first-year students in their major, and then they can have the same subject as an optional course during their third year. Namkang is in his third year, but too bad he didn't sign up for this subject, so now he couldn't go on the field trip with his younger brother. Only ten students from the same year as him will join the field trip this time. If Namkang didn't have any class today, he would've asked if he can join them.

"Okay." said the small guy. The two brothers talked for a while, and then they can hear the professor's voice from the megaphone, announcing that they should get ready and get on the bus. So, it was time to say goodbye.

"Get on the bus." Namkang hugged his brother again, saying goodbye. He walked Namtarn to the second bus stop, to the bus where Namtarn's name was listed.

The small guy waved goodbye to his brother again before walking to report to the third-year senior in charge of the second bus.

"Hello, are you supposed to be on bus 2?" A kind-hearted female senior immediately greeted the younger student when Namtarn arrived.

"Yes."

"Okay, you can look up your name on the list and sign it, don't forget to pick up your snack from a senior on the bus." Namtarn found his name on the paper and signed it. Before walking, he took his small suitcase, placed it on the luggage compartment under the bus, then got in the bus.

"Snacks?"

"Thank you." Upon arrival, Namtarn received a white snack box from the senior stationed on his bus. And the receiver didn't forget to say thank you.

"Who are you sitting with? Are your friends here yet?" Said the older one in a kind voice.

"Well...oh, that's my friend." Namtarn looked around to search for his friend before turning to meet a person waving his hand at him from afar and immediately pointed at him to let the older one knows.

"Oh, you're sitting with Meen. Good. You can go to your seat now. If you have any problems or feel uncomfortable, please let me know." The older one repeated to Namtarn again before the smaller one nodded and headed for the seat in the middle row.

"Hello, Namtarn."

"Hello, Meen." Yes, the person sitting with Namtarn on this trip is the handsome Meen, often referred to by their friends as 'Artificial Moon'.

Namtarn took the outer side of the seat.

"Have you put your luggage in?"

"Yes, you?"

"Me too."

The two chatted a bit more before their friends gradually filled up bus number 2, and this means they would soon be leaving.

Since the bus seat is in twos, and there are five people in Namtarn's group of friends, one person has to sit with another friend from the same major. And that person was none other than Deer, who volunteered to sit with someone else, so Namtarn has to sit next to Meen. As for Muay and Ja, the two girls definitely have to sit together on the first bus. The buses are filled with first-year students and three seniors on each bus to keep things in order and to coordinate with the professors.

As the wheels turned, the loud chattering began to subside, probably because it was early in the morning, so they had not fully charged their energy. As soon as they left the campus ground, the conversations soon turn into rhythmic sounds of people breathing, accompanied by the engine's sound, and it would have been a relaxing haven if it weren't for...

"Good morning, students." The teacher's voice over the loudspeaker echoed throughout the car, waking every student from their slumber, including the startled the small guy who wakes up confused.

"As you know, today we're going on a field trip for the English communication course for the first-year students, in Suan Phueng District, Ratchaburi province. We will travel for about two and a half hours. And once we're in the Ratchaburi district, we will take a break to find something to eat before we go to the school where our project will take place, later this afternoon."

"As we only have one day for the presentation project, we would like all students to make the best out of it. Regarding the evaluation of scores, the professors will be doing it on Saturday. We will evaluate you from your group presentation, which groups have been divided beforehand. The scoring element will be 15 points from your presentation and another 15 points from the audience’s evaluation, so I want everyone to work hard."

As the professor standing in front of the car ended the announcement, the students started whispering among themselves, including Meen and Namtarn.

"Namtarn, you've prepared the presentation material, right?"

"Yes, I put them on my bag," Namtarn said.

For this field trip project, the first-year students will perform a set of tasks that the third-year students have planned for them, but the primary mission for each group is to communicate with local children in English. These kids attend a public school that only provides a few English lessons per week. The first-year students must get the children to understand their presentation content without using any Thai language.

Namtarn's group have decided to do a presentation about the five faculties of their university. They will talk about what each faculty has to face during their college years, when they later graduate, what they can further develop for themselves, and how to apply for admission to these faculties.

There are two scoring criteria: The presentation material, which measures the effect of the presentation results on the audience's study plan, or how much the chosen content can benefit the listeners. And after that, they will do a questionnaire. In this section, the professors did not say how they would evaluate the first-year students. They only knew that the teachers would give questionnaires to the audience who listened to the presentation.

"Now, I invite everyone to rest." Upon hearing the announcement that sounds like a voice from heaven, every first-year student rushed to sleep to save energy. Some took out headphones to listen to music on their mobile phones, and others preferred chatting with their friends.

"Namtarn, are you going to sleep or do you want to eat some snacks?" Meen asked his friend.

"Oh, let me rehearse our presentation script some more," Namtarn shrugged, showing the other person his cell phone screen. On his screen appeared the lines that Namtarn has prepared for his presentation since he's worried that he will make a mistake. This presentation is not a solo task. If he made a mistake, it could affect the score of his group members, so the little one chose to read his line instead of just relaxing like the rest of his friends.

"Namtarn, are you worried?"

"Yeah..?" the small guy replied in an uncertain tone. Meen already knows how much of an overthinker his friend is. When the professor decided to talk about their scores just now, he's certain that it would make his friend thinks harder than he already has.

"Trust me, Namtarn. We can do it; we've prepared so much. Besides, it's okay if we forget the script. Just talk a little bit more about the admission part. We don't use difficult words anyway. If you happen to forget, it’s okay to take a look at the slide" Meen tried to cheer him up. Since his group pick a topic that's not too difficult, he was sure that the presentation would be easily understood by the audience, even if they have poor English skills.

"So, I think it's better that you take some rest, and get some sleep, Namtarn. If you insist on reading like this while the car is moving, I'm afraid you'll get a motion sickness instead." Meen convinced his friend.

"Let me read just one more time, Meen. You can lie down and rest first," said Namtarn. Meen nodded in response before leaning back in the seat to get ready to rest for a while. Even if Namtarn refused to rest, Meen thinks that for a handsome guy like himself, he needs to get enough sleep so he can still be handsome in time for the university star contest, even though he already is handsome at the moment. :)

Meen woke up, and when he looked outside, he discovered that the sky had turned brighter, unlike when the bus had left the university. He noticed that the bus they're taking is now preparing to leave the Nakhon Pathom province and heading to Ratchaburi.

He felt a slight weight on his shoulder, so he turned around to look before finding that his little friend was unconsciously moving his head back and forth. Namtarn's eyes were completely closed, but he still held his phone in his hand, making Meen laugh at the sight.

"You always have to be this extra, don't you?"

"Yes", the small guy felt agitated when he felt the touch of the person next to him.

"Continue sleeping, Namtarn. We'll be in Ratchaburi anytime soon," the Artificial Moon took the phone that Namtarn was still holding tightly before propping the other person's head down on his shoulder.

Too sleepy, upon hearing this, Namtarn didn't refuse and rested his head on his best friend's shoulder.

Meen laughed again at how his best friend looked so innocent right now. If Namtarn weren't his best friend, he would have flirted with him. But again, he probably wouldn't, since Namtarn's brother was terrifying. Thinking about it, Meen looked once more at the soft figure next to his body before joining him into the deep sleep.

The tender image of the two best friends with such a height gap made the fans unable to hold themselves to pick up their cell phones and capture the view with satisfaction, not forgetting to send them to the Namkang & Namtarn FC page. In no time, Meen and Namtarn's couple pictures became the talk of the internet.

All three buses stopped at the gas station, which was the rest stop before driving into Ratchaburi province as scheduled. Passengers began to notice when the bus came to a complete stop, with the teacher announcing from the front of the bus for students to get off and find something to eat in less than half an hour.

Namtarn moved a bit as Meen tried to get up. The small guy raised his head from his friend's shoulder and tried to open his eyes. But because he was still sleepy, he acted like a frustrated child when awakened earlier than usual.

"Namtarn, we've reached the rest area. Let's go downstairs and find something to eat first."

"Huh, can I continue sleeping instead?" Answered the small guy without opening his eyes.

"But if you don't eat right now, you'll be hungry later. And we're not going to be able to eat again until later in the afternoon."

"Then let's buy bread and milk, and eat it on the bus." Namtarn bargained.

"Will that be enough?"

"Uh-huh," Namtarn's head moved up and down, indicating that it was okay.

"Okay then, you go back to sleep. I'll eat first, and after that, I'll buy some bread for you" after the other finished talking, Namtarn didn't answer any further because he's extremely sleepy right now. He shifted slightly, allowing Min, who was sitting inside, to get up comfortably before Namtarn moved to the inside seat, leaned his face against the window, and continue sleeping.

Namtarn started to wake up again as the loud chirping sound from his bus mates gradually became more audible as each of them returned to the bus. But that didn't make the small guy even think about opening his eyes. Namtarn felt a body from the side of the seat, a sign that his best friend had returned. But surprisingly, the other person refused to wake Namtarn for him to eat the bread and milk as promised, but Namtarn also didn't care because his sleepiness was taking over.

"Yah," Namtarn protested as he felt a disturbing touch. His tiny body was slowly being adjusted, from leaning against the window to tilting his head to the side of the seat, with a strong shoulder waiting to receive him. Namtarn didn't open his eyes because he thought it was his friend's doing who was worried about his sleeping position. So, he went back to entering his world of relaxation.

"In about 10 minutes, we will arrive at the school. Please prepare yourselves." The small guy moved frustratingly as the professor's annoying voice being crammed out of the loudspeaker.

"Wake up, time to go."

"Um, I'm awake."

"Then why are your eyes still closed?"

"Okay, Meen, just stop talking to me." The laughter from the person next to him frustrated Namtarn.

"Your eyebrows are all wrinkled, little one." A large palm touched Namtarn's eyebrows that were wrinkled due to his frustration. But wait, what was that at the end of the sentence? Meen never calls me that way.

"P'Mangkorn!" Namtarn pulled his small body away from Mangkorn's shoulder. The sleepiness was gone entirely. He opened his eyes wide when he realized that the person sitting next to him was not his best friend but his mentor.

"Yes, it's me, Nong," Mangkorn replied while giving his Nong a gentle smile like he usually does.

"This can't be. Where did Meen go? Did you leave Meen at the gas station? This can't happen. I'll call Meen!"

"Wait a minute, listen to me first." Mangkorn grabbed the phone from his junior, who was getting ready to call his friend. Namtarn glared at him. As he thought, Namtarn really got angry, even though he had talked about this with Meen himself.

"Meen went to sit with my friend on bus 3. And why can't you sit with your mentor?" He said in a slightly sad tone; of course, he was faking it, but the junior seemed like he had no idea.

"Okay, then. You can sit with me."

"Thank you." The tall man patted his Nong's head with affection.

Namtarn didn't know why he didn't dare to look at the other person. Lately, his mentor has always been there to help him. But even if he wanted to treat his Phi nicely, Namtarn knew that in the past, he had hurt P'Mangkorn, so he always felt awkward whenever he has to talk to him. So, he just sat there quietly, not knowing how to invite the other person to speak.

"Are you hungry?" seeing his junior sitting quietly, not making any sound whenever Mangkorn is around, as he always does, Mangkorn tried to persuade the little one to talk, to brighten up the atmosphere around them.

"I am." Namtarn nodded. His eyes sparkled in an instant when he heard food being mentioned.

"Okay, then. Eat this. Meen told me to buy it for you." Namtarn looked at the sandwich and a box of milk in the other person's hand. He did not hesitate to take it, hurriedly opened the packaging, and ate it hungrily.

"So, how did you end up here?" Namtarn asked as he ate. The small guy looked Mangkorn in the eye as if waiting for an answer.

"I took this course, so I had to come to the field trip as well."

Namtarn nodded. His mouth pouted as he was chewing his sandwich.

"But under which senior's supervision is your group in?" Mangkorn asked.

"P'Fern's," replied the small guy, referring to the third-year senior in charge of his group.
 
For their field trip project, third-year seniors taking the same course must oversee the first-years' work, so the result can correspond with the given task as planned by the third-years. This supervising work will also score points for the seniors.
 
"Baifern is a good senior. Just follow her lead."

"Okay."

"But for this subject, if you want to get a high score, you should use simple words that everyone can understand, or else, it's over..."

Namtarn sat and listened eagerly while his senior talked about his own experience with the same project during his first year, trying to collect as much information as possible to apply it to his group work.

The more he considered his mentor to be reputable for getting top scores in many subjects, the more he has to take advantage of his advice.

"Since it's the first year, the professors won't expect you to do it perfectly."

"Ah." The small guy nodded. And then, the silence resumed as the bus headed straight to the school where the project would be taking place. The two did not continue their conversation because they were about to reach their destination when Namtarn suddenly spoke.

"P'Mangkorn..."

"Hm, what's wrong?" The university's Moon turned to look at the small junior who seemed to have something bothering him.

"Well, thanks for helping me with everything." The small guy then suddenly turned to look out the window, causing great amusement to the person next to him. So Mangkorn leaned closer to the startled junior before then whispered to his ear softly.

"No problem, good Nong."

After getting off the bus, the students gradually went down and collected their bags from the luggage compartment under the bus before gathering in the school's meeting room.

Namtarn took his bag and tried to search for his friends before seeing his former bus mate walk towards him with a dry smile as if he was afraid of what he had done.

"Don't say a word".

"Look, I didn't want to leave you to sit with him, but..."

"But what?" once he heard his friend's sentence, Meen realized he shouldn't have said anything.

"Nothing. Let's hurry up and unpack," Meen tried to change the topic of their conversation. Just then, Namtarn saw their other friends, so he thought of catching up with them, but the problem is his bag was too heavy.

Since this morning, Namtarn hadn't had a chance to carry his bag even once. And that was because his brother always helped him carry it. Namkang even carried his bag and put it in the bus' luggage compartment. The small guy let out a sigh, thinking that he shouldn't have packed so many things, lest it is so heavy.

"Why haven't you left yet?" Mangkorn asked when he got off the bus. He was the last to leave the bus when he found his Nong standing alone in the area.

"Yes, Phi. P'Mangkorn, can you help me carry my bag, please?" Namtarn said in a pleading tone as he realized that he has a mentor that he can ask for help, and luckily that mentor had not gone far.

"And why do I have to help you carry it?" Mangkorn asked.

"Well, you are my mentor. Do you know that when you help others in need, that makes you a gentleman?" Namtarn said as if he was teaching his senior the principles of life.

"And if I don't want to?" Mangkorn asked cautiously, looking to see if his junior can be more desperate.

"If you won't help me, then you're not a gentleman."

"Help me, please, P'Mangkorn…."

And who would have thought that the university Moon like Morakot, would have to carry the bag of a stubborn kid like Namtarn?

Mangkorn carried his Nong's bag with both hands, luckily his own bag was a medium-sized backpack, so it didn't feel that heavy. However, he did not know that his Nong was carrying so much stuff in his bag. Is he planning to move to a new house or what? How is he going to use all these things in just a few days?

"The room is on the second floor. You can go upstairs," said a school staff who was standing in front of a large three-story wooden building to Namtarn and Mangkorn, who had just arrived.

And, of course, Mangkorn has no other choice but to carry his junior's bag until they reached the second floor.

"Thank you very much, P'Mangkorn." Upon reaching the second floor, Namtarn thanked the person who helped him carry his bag. Mangkorn couldn't help but think about how cunning this kid is.

"A gentleman is always happy to help the weak, right?"

"No, not at all."

"?"

"Aww… it's not that heavy, Phi. Besides, think of it as your duty as my mentor. Now, I better go and unpack my stuff!" The small guy laughs before responding.
 
"You cheeky little one!" Mangkorn shouted behind Namtarn, who ran fiercely and escaped into the room. In conclusion, Namtarn tricked him. But to be honest, he already knew he was being used by the boy who thought he was sly. And actually, it was Mangkorn who let himself be fooled by the small guy who begged his P'.
 
-----

Half an hour ago.

Namkang & Namtarn FC added new image.

"Ah, look at these two best friends snuggling. If P'Namkang sees this, will he break Meen's neck?" – tag @NamkangNarawat.

On the Namkang - Namtarn brothers fan page, they posted a photo they took secretly. A picture of Namtarn sleeping, with his head leaning on Meen's chest. And it became a trending topic and was shared many times because of how cute the two best friends looked.

Comment 1: This girl screams, "I can now die in peace".
Comment 2: Huhu, this is the ideal god.
Comment 3: P'Namkang, hurry come and handle Meen!

And people posted many more comments under that photo. Among the people who've seen the picture, one person twitched his eyebrows when he saw the person in it.

"Hey, Meen."

"Yes, P'Mangkorn?"

"Can you switch places with me and sit with the third-year students?"

"Oh, but why is that?"

"Nothing. I'm just a little bothered."

Although Meen didn't entirely understand what this was about, he couldn't do anything but sit with the third-year seniors.

-----
* Nakhon Pathom is a city in Thailand, located in the province of the same name, of which it is the capital, department of Amphoe Mueang Nakhon Pathom. Its most important monument is the Phra Pathom Chedi pagoda. The city has a Silpakorn University campus in the Sanam Chan Palace.


End of chapter 9.