Finding my way [Complete]

Chapter 9

Kong's POV

It was my first day of engineering and I was not in a good mood. Sure I was smiling but I can fake a smile through practically any emotion. I can plaster a smile on my face when I am sad, or tired or especially when I am angry. Almost nobody can tell the difference between my smiles. I come off as an innocent kid, but I am anything but that. Today was definitely going to be challenging. Not only for me, but also anyone who would try to mess with me.

As soon as the senior hazers walked into the hall I knew they would rub me the wrong way. I was being forced into a faculty I didn't want and now I was being forced into activities for seniors I didn't care about. When P'Arthit started talking in that stern voice, I had him immediately pegged. A young rich spoiled kid who thinks he has to show power over others by demeaning them.

He was obviously a senior and a head hazer and unless I wanted to outright defy him I couldn't challenge him in the conventional sense. But I could also tell he was extremely proud. The easiest way to knocking him off a peg was to embarrass him. And that's what I set out to do. I would say blatantly flirty or cheesy things both in public and in private. I knew I was throwing him off his guard, and it gave me immense pleasure.

The one thing I wasn't expecting was his reciprocation to being embarrassed. I would continuously do and say things expecting heavy retaliation, some sort of cruel punishment, but nothing I did ever resulted in anything too far off the norm. Infact things were a lot milder than what I had heard from some of my older cousins who had attended Engineering here a few years before me. I was thoroughly shocked when I had found the replacement name tag in my locker. It could obviously have not been P'Arthit right? Definitely not. But who else would defy him and give me an additional name tag? He wasn't even cruel when Lila fainted during the activities, in fact he helped her recover and seemed genuinely worried about her.

I was naturally good at studying and although I was studying something I might not be totally interested in, it was not hard for me understand and do well in most of my exams. After all my grandfather was almost a legendary professor of engineering. My own father was a university topper.

I had also made some new friends along with Aim. I genuinely liked them and it was more fun to spend time with them than I was willing to admit, both in and out of class. All in all engineering wasn't treating me as badly as I had dreaded. Yet one thorn remained in my side. P'Arthit.

I had initially made him into the target focusing all my revenge for forcing me into a life I didn't want for 4 years. But the more I interacted with him, the more things changed. I still looked for him every chance I got and I continued to mess with him but I wasn't so sure my motive was so vicious anymore. There were times when it was genuinely amusing to see him flustered after I said something blatantly outrageous.

I think the turning point for me was after he was told to run 54 laps. Everyone including the seniors expected him to stop at some point, but he just kept going. I am still not sure why he did that and it still confuses me as to why I find that so endearing. Maybe because there are very few people that are as stubborn as me. Perhaps that is why I was never punished too harshly, he understood my personality and never tried to squash it out through hazing.

Although we did continue our back and forth I felt we were actually close to becoming friends. And I liked the idea of being close friends with P'Arthit. Over the course of past few months it was glaringly obvious that he had a kind and innocent heart. One moment he would yell in a stern voice and a heartbeat later he would blush bright red at something I would say.

I surprised myself when I realized how much I was looking forward to the beach trip. When had the intense anger towards this faculty and these seniors turned into a reason for fun and joy for me? I was surrounded by great friends, and surprisingly great seniors and for the first time I felt like I could truly enjoy the 4 years here.

Not only were P'Arthit and I getting friendly both of our group of friends were getting along really well too. Infact the first half of the trip could not have been more perfect. I obviously did something to upset P'Arthit but that was absolutely nothing new. People barely batted an eye anymore when P'Arthit got mad at me and walked away.

After receiving the gears we were playing around and drinking at the beach. I could see P'Arthit sitting by himself a little way away. I made a mental note to go and talk to him the first chance I could get away for here. I needed to apologize, again. Also, I wanted to thank him. Genuinely thank him for everything he and the seniors had done for us. I went from hating the thought of engineering to wanting to cherish the gear in my pocket for the rest of my life.

Someone was forcing a beer in my hand again and in my elation I downed another glass. Although, I was decently good at handling my alcohol, I wasn't sure how much I had consumed already.

We were being loud and boisterous and I turned to look for P'Arthit again. P'Knott was sitting next to him. Maybe I can go over in a little while, they seem to be busy.

"I doubt Pearl has the guts to do it" May said loudly, and all the girls started giggling simultaneously.

I turned my attention back to them, "Guts to do what? And with the amount to alcohol in her right now, I bet we can convince her to do all kinds of crazy things."

"Oh she is going to go confess to P'Arthit." My heart clenched. I involuntarily frowned. She likes P'Arthit? That doesn't seem right. Why would she like him? How could she like him? Wait, why couldn't she like? He was a great catch. But something just felt off. I wish I wasn't so intoxicated right now. I need to clear my mind to think. What was off? She could obviously like him, right? No, wait I know what was off, I was almost completely sure she liked me. Multiple people had hinted it to me before. So why would she confess to him and not me? I was definitely good looking. I did well in school, I had lots of friends, I might even be head hazer in 2 years.

"Oh its P'Arthit for you huh? I always thought it would be me" I said cheekily although my speech was slightly slurred.

We heard a cheer of 'oooohs' and 'aaaahs' and I saw Pearl blush prettily. I obviously had a similar effect on people other than P'Arthit it seemed.

"You are obviously immune to all my efforts of flirting, atleast P'Arthit blushes cutely whenever I talk to him". Wait, he blushes when Pearl talks to him? Why would he do that? Again something was just totally off.

"Oh cmon haven't you heard of playing hard to get? I love having pretty girls chasing behind me."

"Hmmpf! In that case it's my turn to play hard to get Kong. Maybe I will make you chase behind me although don't be so sure to be able to catch me."

I threw back my head and laughed. I stood up and brushed myself off. I walked towards her and in an exaggerated manner got down on one knee, spread my arms wide "Pearl, you are the prettiest angel on the shores of this beach and you have captivated my eyes and mind through your enchanting beauty. I promise to lay the stars and moon at your feet every night if you agree to give me a chance."

She screamed an enthusiastic Yes! And wrapped her arms around my neck. While everyone around us was cheering. Pearl and I started laughing, which abruptly came to a halt when she smacked her lips against mine.

She was kissing me. Why was she kissing me? Wait was this real? I seemed to be so confused. For some reason I thought we were just joking around. I tried to think back, what all had I said. I obviously confessed to Pearl otherwise she wouldn't be kissing me right now. I didn't resist or kiss her back. I just needed to clear my head and everything would make sense again. I waited for the ruckus to die down, and then I murmured to our group that I needed to head to bed if I did not want a hangover. Everyone waved their goodbyes and Pearl gave me a quick kiss again. I turned towards my room before I stopped again.

I turned to find P'Arthit. That was the only clear thought I remembered. I wanted to talk to him. I scanned the beach but I couldn't see him anywhere. I turned around and walked back towards my room.