CIVIL ENGINEERING CHAPTER 2

 

Editor : JJG918, NomeHodas

From childhood to adulthood, my life has been full of surprises. The biggest surprise was probably when I saw my older sister again once she returned from Work and Travel, wearing all black from head to toe. Or maybe it was when I raised a cat for several years and continuously gave it food and water, just to find out it wasn’t a stray cat like I had thought. Its owner was the person in the opposite house. Shit! Or maybe it was the time I found out my first girlfriend had started dating another senior in the same school.

A lot of things happened to me I was sure were the biggest surprises, but no, because right now, right now! This was the biggest surprise.

It’s not weird that I wasn’t able to tell them apart, but the fact that everyone knew except me is strange. Where have I been?

"Faifah, stand here for now. Let me find my ally real quick.”

I do not believe I’m the only stupid one. So I rushed to find my best friend Kong in the minimart, and quickly pulled his neck to face the tall person.

"Kong, do you know who this is?" Without saying anything else, I pointed my finger at the target.

“Uuh, Faifah. The one you asked me about before. Hey, how’s it going? I’ve seen you play soccer with the Sophomores. Nice to meet you.”

"Nice to meet you. If you’re free you should come play.” Waaiiiittttt. He answered the question but started talking about something else like it wasn’t important. I know it’s impolite to interrupt someone else’s conversation, but the confusion in my mind is still unclear.

"Wait, my friend. Wait! You know Faifah. Ok, I get it. Did you know he has a twin?"

"Ah, you’re talking about Ai’Yotha? Who would be stupid enough to not know?”

"Me! Who else?!" Even Kongkiat knew. Why didn’t I ever question anything?
* Kongkiat = Kong’s full name

"Err. You didn’t know?" He meekly asked me with an innocent face.

"You never told me."

"I thought you’ve known for a while. Everybody in our faculty has been talking about him. Oiiii. You’re skilled when it comes to butting into other people’s business, but when it’s something important, you’re stupid.”

"I’m not stupid; I didn’t know.”

"Ok, now you know. Well, I’m gonna go buy a coffee to wake me up so I don’t die. See you later Faifah." Ai’Kong is my best friend, but before me comes food. So after talking with us for a bit, he rushed to search for coffee. I calmly stood, confused, in a forest of sweets with my tall friend before deciding to drag Fai to the bench in front of the minimart to explain further.
* Fai = shortened form of Faifah’s name

"You have a twin named Yotha." I repeated it again with a firm voice.

"Yes."

"But I'm stupid. I couldn’t tell you guys apart."

"You’re not the only one. Yotha and I have very similar faces. Most people can't tell us apart. You have to rely on our personality."

"So what’s a difference between your appearance so I can tell you guys apart? To be honest, when I met your brother, I didn’t have the slightest clue except for his gruff look."

"A difference? ..." The handsome-faced man rolled his eyes as if he was thinking. "I may have to take it off."

"Hey, that’s dirty." He offered to take off his clothes to show me; just thinking about it made me nervous.

"What’s dirty about it dude? I’m just taking off my shirt."

Right... I forgot. Just hearing "take off", my brain immediately imagined him taking off his pants.

"W ... why do you need to take off your shirt?"

"Yotha has a small tattoo on the right side of his waist."

"How dare he get a tattoo? He’s still a child." I said that, but I also once dreamed of secretly getting myself a tattoo. I seem to be contradicting myself now. "So what's the tattoo?"

"Go and see for yourself."

"I’m not going to, and if you wear clothes who’s going to see it? Can I have a more obvious difference?" Faifah sighed deeply, but still kindly told me everything one by one. I will have to memorize this just in case I see him again, then I’ll be able to tell them apart.

"I have a little mole here. Yotha doesn't." The other person tilted his face a little and pointed to a really small mole on the nape of his neck. What the hell! If I stand 100 meters away, how would I know whether you are you, or you are him?

"Is there anything else?"

"I'm more handsome than Yotha."

"..."

"I'm kinder and friendlier."

"I don't think so." My mind has been running wild since he said he’s more handsome. Their faces are extremely similar, it is impossible to decide who is more handsome. All I know is both of them are equally outstanding.

"But if you see him, you’ll see that I'm 2 cm shorter than Yotha. He's 187 cm and I'm 185 cm."

"Only someone clairvoyant would be able to see that height difference. There’s barely any difference."

"Our body odor? It's different."

"Why? You stink, and your brother smells sour?"

"Bastard. No. I mean, we have different scents. Like me, I have a pleasing scent, like a handsome man. If you don't believe me, try smelling me."

"I not going to smell you. I’m afraid I’ll die. Is there anything else?"

"Then I don't know. When you see him again, you will be able to figure it out yourself. There are obvious differences. You’ll just feel it." Wow. Witty. I don’t even know what to say to that. What kinda shit advice is that? I couldn’t tell them apart before and I still can’t now. Even so, I nodded my head and said nothing, accepting the fact that I would have to learn on my own.

Next time I will not fail.

“If you don't have any more questions, I’m gonna go finish shopping.” Faifah ended the conversation before standing up.

"Ok. See you later."

"Let me ask again. Who am I?"

"A bitch.”

"I’m going to punch your mouth in a minute. Now say it right.”

"Faifah."

"That's right, N'Beagle."

"Beagle my ass."

"Oh. You didn’t know your face looks like a dog?"

"Stop comparing my face to animals. Go wherever you need to go."

"You should leave too. Don't forget. My name is Faifah, not Yotha." The other emphasized once more before grinning and going back inside the minimart, leaving me to sit alone. Despite those explicit differences, I'm still not sure if I can tell the difference between these twins from hell. Maybe I just have to wait...

And meet the man named Yotha again.

***

"And now, like every year, the important moment has arrived. You should all know that the code reception will be taking place today. So, first year and second year students, prepare and look forward to it. First row."

The activity room was so loud and joyful, like a fair. Not only are the first years participating in this activity, but the second and third years are participating too. I scanned the room; I saw a lot of people bought a lot of things.

I am also nervous. The sitting order was changed because of the height arrangement. My best friend Kongkiat moved two rows ahead of me. I can’t talk to him anymore.

The code-receiving session began with the row of students from the computer department walking out first. The senior, who was serving as MC, began to give an exciting speech.

"N'Pichitpol gets the same gear number 0136."

"Yeah!!”

Drums sounded. The first person looked surprised. All eyes were on the female senior code running across the platform to greet him. So many people were clapping and whistling excitedly.

During moments like this, it is said time will go by quickly. This was exactly what I was expecting. I’m so nervous, it feels like time is moving quickly. In a blink of an eye, the first 10 kids in the chemistry department returned. I was the second to last person in the third row, so I began fidgeting.

"Next row will be the Chemistry students."

Gasp!

I haven’t prepared myself yet and it's already my turn. When I got up, my legs were completely shaking. I don't like situations where I have to go stand in front of people and let them stare at me. Is that weird? I’m usually someone who can get along with others easily, but if it’s something like this, I would get so nervous that my mouth would start to twitch.

There are 10 people in a row. My row is all boys. The first one started to pick a paper from the blue box held in front of him by the female senior. Next is the 2nd, then the 3rd person and the next numbers began to pick. Ai’Kong’s senior code is a guy wearing nerdy glasses just like him. It must be fate he’s so well matched with his family.

"What's your name?"

When it was my turn, the microphone was immediately raised to my mouth.

I do not know if the other departments have this problem, but this year there are some changes in the Engineering department. Not only do we have to clean up the cheerleading room, but the tradition of wearing name tags has also been dropped. So, before picking a code, everyone had to introduce themselves by saying their name through the microphone.
"My name is Gun."

"N'Gun, you seem really nervous. If that’s the case, go ahead and pick." The lottery box was held out in front of me. I reached my hand inside; my heart beat nonstop as I took out a piece of paper and handed it to the waiting senior. She took it and quickly opened it, then announced it through the microphone.

"N'Gun has the same gear number 0513."

"Yeeesssssss!!!”

What’s going on? My classmates and seniors are screaming together. I stood in front of them blankly until finally the magnificent senior code came out with a serious face.

He is a tall person, slightly dark skinned, has a beard, and is holding a Buddha wreath in his hand so I can’t tell whether he is a baptist or is just dirty. Wait! The others have sashes and beautiful flower garlands on their neck. But this senior brought something different. Did he bring a Buddha wreath to worship me?

"Hey, this is Champ. P'Champ is our inferior 2nd year vice president. Cute personality, friendly, and suuchhhhh an alcoholic." It was almost good, and then I almost died when they said he was an alcoholic! Ugh, crap!

After the MC announced his name, my senior with my code number came in front of me and raised the wreath, clasped his hands and bowed before chanting something for about 45 seconds. You did not come to accept me as a junior; it’s more like you came to conquer me as a ghost.

"For you." Then he gave it to me.

"Th ... thank you." If I do not accept it, I am afraid he’ll break my mouth. Not to mention this senior looks ruthless, even though the MC had said he was a good person.

"My name is Champ. I study IE."

"I'm in Chemistry. My name is Gun."

"Nice to meet you. Then, I’ll see you after your row separates."

"Ok."

"If you’re free, I'll take you out to drink and get drunk as a dog."

Damn! We just met and already this senior wants to take me out to drink. He’s not gentle at all.

"Alright Phi."

Haa ... But the only thing I can do is accept it. P'Champ left and I slowly returned to my row amongst the harsh laughter of my friends. It’s obvious they’re laughing at my wreath. Who would think to give this to someone without asking? Bastard.

After picking our code, we must return to our seats and wait for the rest of the students. So now it’s time to watch the action of the code ceremony. Sometimes I felt sleepy and sometimes I would bite my nails. Unfortunately, our phones were confiscated because the last time no one focused on the activities. So everyone looked as sullen as me.

"Next row."

Huh ~

But the boredom we felt disappeared in the blink of an eye, because one person in the line had captured everyone's attention. A tall person with a handsome face.

"Faifah ..." I couldn't help but mutter in a loud voice before being hit right on my arm.

"Yotha, dumbass."

"How do you know? How can you tell them apart?"

"Well, everyone in the department knows it’s Yotha. If you think he might be Ai’Faifah, then you must be really stupid.” Huh! Not only was Kong scolding me, this time his best friend Book, who was sitting behind him, also jumped in to contribute. Just like that, there was a moment of confusion.
Admittedly, once I knew the identity of the twin from hell, I turned to look at him. What the others do, I don’t care. At this moment, I’m observing the older twin, Yotha, in order to find a difference between him and Faifah.

"Now, the 5th row."

I looked at him but couldn’t see any difference. The same eyes. The mouth and nose are the same. The only difference seems to be his taciturn personality that no one would dare touch due to fear of getting hit. His face looks like he could kill someone.

"N'Yotha gets the same gear number 0775."

As soon as the MC announced it through the microphone, the sound of applause and drumming rang out like it did for the other friends when they received their codes. But it was also different because after someone stepped out, the Sophomores also began to scream and cry out loudly.

"AAHHHHHHHHHH."
* This is the sound of screaming

"The besttttttt.”
* They are still screaming

"The divine family code."

What? I don’t understand what’s going on. Please give me some insight.

"What is the divine family code?" I leaned back to ask Book.

"If you don’t know, how should I know? But damn! Yotha's senior code is so cute." I nodded in agreement. The 2nd year senior was very small, white skin, cute face. He had stepped out holding a marigold garland and a crossband in his hand.

It was not until the two of them were facing each other that I noticed a clear difference. Woah! He only reaches to the tip of Ai’Yotha's nose.

"I asked the people behind me. They said his name is Arm."

"Really?"

I was starting to believe this code family was not ordinary. I finally understood how special they were when they had caught the attention of all the people in the faculty.

The code receiving ceremony continues. The topic of Yotha was still being discussed by the extremely rare girls in the department. Then it was Faifah's turn to step out, eliciting soft screams from the people in the room.

I know how these two are different!

The older brother stood to pick a code as if he was being forced. Contrary to the younger brother, who was happily smiling at one person and then another. Is there anyone in the department that you don't smile at?

In the end, he was given the same code as a small girl with monolids and a Chinese-like face, but who was very kind.

"Now that you’re done picking your code, I will let you go row by row to get to know your seniors and your code family. Do you guys remember the next activity?"

"Yes. ~"

"What happens next Monday afternoon?"

"There is a flea market."

"Ughhhh, no! Next Monday there’s a faculty activity. Everyone must wear black T-shirts and comfortable gym pants. Remember. Don't forget. Understand?"

"We understand."

"Disband."

When leaving the rows, the situation was not much different from an ant’s nest. Some left and some ran to find their seniors with the same code. As for me, I was just chilling because my senior with the same code is easy to find. His mustache was all over his face, that I could see him even a hundred yards away.

"P'Champ, I'm here." When I finished, he threw me a bunch of meeting presents. At first glance, I see a Japanese-style table, basket, broom, mop, dustpan, basin, and clothes-hangars. Erm ... everything but school supplies.

"Necessary items for the dorm."

"Thank you very much."

"So, what do you want to do? Do you need me to take you back to your dorm so you can store your stuff first, and then do you want to eat lunch?"

"I drove over. I plan to send 'darling' back home."

"You have a girlfriend?"

"No. My car is called 'darling'."

"Damn. That's a cheesy name."

"If that’s the case, then I’ll change it. Give me a second, I'd like to go store my things in BM."

"Hoi. You drive BM too?"

"No. Do you not know what a joke is?"

"You’re asking for trouble.” P'Champ is someone who talks briefly and in a low voice, but he’s not evil. Which is obvious since he has the position of vice president. So he must be suitable for that position if the family code can trust him with their lives. But on the way to the parking lot, I couldn't help but ask him questions.

"Why are you the vice president? Do you want to be a leader or something? Or are you a man of dedication and want to work for society?"

"No. No one wanted to do it, so they picked me." How unlucky ...

You’re telling me it was all just a waste praising him in my heart for so long? I want to cry, but I have no tears. After throwing all my belongings into my car, I sat on the back of P'Champ’s old motorbike to go to a cafeteria on campus. This shop has a good atmosphere. It also has air conditioning, and various dishes. But I don't like that it's crowded.

Most of the guests are from the Faculty of Engineering. It seemed like they couldn't think of any other restaurant, so they just dragged the first years here.

"Hey, Champ." While opening the menu to choose our food, someone's greeting forced us to turn our heads and look in the direction of their voice. I rolled my eyes, because the person standing in front of us was the junior with the same code as Yotha. I looked behind him and was shocked. It’s the whole family. Everyone's face is so beautiful. You guys are truly divine.

What about me? Suddenly the pet filter on a cellphone flashed in my head.

"Demon Arm. There are a hundred places you could go, but you chose the same shop."

"P'Japan chose it. Is this your Nong?"

"Yeah ... I brought the dog. Doesn’t my nong’s face look like a Beagle?" Hoiiiiiiii. Bastard senior. How could you sell your nong out like that?

"It’s similar."

I don’t even deny it anymore! I just clenched my teeth in anger and didn’t do anything. Waiting for them to finish greeting each other and say goodbye took a while.

"How can you compare me to a dog? I'm angry." After they left, I didn’t hesitate to quickly ask him.

"Don’t sulk. You’re a Beagle; they’re expensive ..." Who wants to be expensive? "Stop glaring at me. Let's order food."

"Is it fine to order anything?"

“Anything is fine. But just order one."

"Why are the other family codes ordering so much?"

"There are a lot of people in their family. It’s enough to order one each for our family. Don't order too much."

"Huh?"

"We’ll save money for now. It’ll be better to save it and use it to get you drunk."

"Huh?"

"I'm going to hit you. Hurry up and order. I’m feeling kind today, so I’ll treat you to ice cream as well.”

"Can I change it to bingsu?"

"Yeah, that’s fine. But I like the mango bingsu." Is this senior letting me order this so I can eat it, or so he could eat it? Geez. But in the end, I decided to order mango bingsu because I also liked it, thinking that after the bowl is clean, we can continue eating dessert without having to wait.

"I want to ask. How are the rest of the family code members? Is everyone nice?"

"No. Our family is in short supply because my highest senior dropped out of school and my senior and code number never took care of me.

"What rotten luck”

"There are only 2 people left, so I want to take good care of you. When you have free time to hang out, lets hang out."

"Again?"

We continue to learn more about each other. P'Champ is the 2nd year vice president, studying Industrial Engineering. His hobbies are soccer and drinking. But is drinking really a hobby? He’s also good at his studies. He has a score of 3 (out of 4). I don't know if it's true, but I’ll just believe it for now.

I also told him about myself. Because he wasn’t a complicated person, and I get along with people easily, we quickly became friends. After eating we had some free time, so the next topic of conversation was about the divine family code, which had nothing to do with me at all.

"P'Champ, the person who greeted you earlier, does he belong to the divine family code?

"You’re going to get kicked in the mouth.” This entire time we’ve been verbally hurting each other. I’m really hurt.

"..."

"You see the person sitting over there?" My same code senior pointed to a group of people sitting in the deepest corner of the shop. "That guy, Jet, is a graduated senior. He used to go to this school. The girl sitting across from him is his girlfriend, Japan, who was a beauty. She’s now a 3rd year. "

"Wowwww. Good job."

"That tall guy with a handsome face, wearing a MU football shirt next to P’Jet, his name is Arc, year 4, he’s ‘over-the-month’." I was stunned because he was really handsome. So beautiful that I wanted to be born with a face like him, but if I'm being honest, my face is not bad. *Cough*
* No joke, he really coughed hahahaha
* For any Arc-Arm fans, in this book it translated to “Over-the-month” not “over the moon”

"Why is he called ‘over-the-month?"

“He didn’t want to be the man of the month, so people gave him the position of ‘over-the-month’. That guy’s in year 2, his name is Arm. "

"Ah, was he the one who was talking to you earlier?"

"Yeah. He’s P'Arc’s lover."

"Shit."

"Not only are they the family of divine codes, but they’re also the family of codes that eat each other. How depressing." P' Champ said, leaning back in his chair, flossing his teeth like an old man. "They have a first year joining them. What's his name?"

"Yotha." I know it by heart now, because I’ve been stupid so many times already.

"Just as evil."

"How do you know he is evil?"

"Just looking at his eyes I know his heart already. Shit. I want to get acquainted. I want to take you to get drunk." Oiiiiiiiii. Annoying. All day he’s been talking about alcohol. I was tired of arguing so I ignored him.

I also don’t know how evil this person is, because judging by his appearance I can only tell he is indifferent to the world, rigid and not very friendly. But no matter what someone like Yotha is, it has nothing to do with me.

**********************

Ai’Kong was out late having fun with his family code. Not only did they treat him to lunch, but they also went to karaoke with each other. Even so, I am not lonely. I visit this room, then stop in that room to beg for a little food. Everyone in the Engineering faculty are my friends.

Who would fight me?

In the middle of the night, I went back to bed and waited for my best friend, but I didn’t see him. The start of the term is a few days away, but the activities that started before the term will continue until the middle of next month.

"I’m going to sleep."

After sending the text to the other person, I put my face on my pillow. I don’t know when I fell asleep.

When I wake up, the rays of the new day shine straight into the room.

Luckily, I had enough sleep, so I felt extremely refreshed. I sat up and stretched my body for a while before my eyes suddenly saw the person on the opposite bed.

"Shit!!"

"Hi ~ Two-eared boy." Kong said, looking like a zombie. Pale face, dark circles, and dry lips. Not only that, but his clothes were also the same as yesterdays. Where did you go? To battle?

"Are you okay?" I hurriedly got off the bed and rushed over to my roommate. I put my hand on his forehead to check his temperature. Fortunately, he is not hot, so I’m somewhat reassured.

"I went to sing karaoke last night."

"What time did you get home?"

"1 a.m."

"Why?"

"I was sleepy, so I planned to go to sleep. But I couldn't sleep because the light kept shining in my eyes." As he spoke, Kong seemed flustered as if he was about to cry. "If I turned off the lights ... I was afraid you'd have nightmares."

Stop the drama.

"Sorry it kept you up. But I have to ask. When we were sleeping with the lights on before, could you sleep peacefully?"

"I could sleep, I just put a blanket over my head. But I don’t know what the hell happened last night. I was so exhausted, but I couldn't sleep."

"Try to close your eyes and sleep again."

"I can't sleeppp. The light keeps shining in my eyes. Ugh ..."

"Let me close the curtains. Wait a second."

"Torture. It was torture.”

"Need me to ask the dormitory manager about changing rooms?" To be honest, I was wondering if anyone could live with me. At first, everyone said it was fine. But when we moved in together, living in the same room for a year didn’t seem easy.

"Don’t worry. I’ll live."

"Okay. I'm afraid you won’t be able to sleep and you’ll die."

"Don't jinx it. It's okay. I said it's okay." Then Kong snuggled his head into the blankets, not planning to show himself and talk to me anymore.

If he wants to pretend to not care, that's fine. But he is my best friend, how could I not care.

So ... the next night's mission of trying to sleep at night began.

We discussed with each other and then reached the unanimous conclusion that he’ll try sleeping in the same room for another night or two, this time wearing a blindfold enhancement option. Maybe it will help. But if the results are still the same, I will have to quickly work with the dorm manager to change rooms, or I’ll have to pay twice as much so I don’t inconvenience others.
* Gun is saying if he can’t solve this issue with Kong’s sleep, he’d have to pay for a room for himself, which means he’ll have to pay twice as much.

And as expected, Kong couldn't sleep ...

But when I’m in the room I just get so scared I need to turn on the lights. When I start thinking like this, I also can’t sleep.

As a result, I had to run and handle the room change. The entire hall was packed because there were two guys requesting to move rooms too. One guy was asking to move rooms and the other guy wanted to kick the older persons ass, but the dormitory manager didn’t give anyone permission to move, except me who really needed to.

"This is the name of the new roommate you will be staying with." A sheet of A4 paper was held out in front of me. I took it but didn’t read it.

"Then, this guy will be ok?"

"He’ll be fine. He told me it wasn’t a problem."

"Everyone says that at first, but I’m scared we won’t be able to live together, even though I really want to get along with him.” Even a guy that is close to me, like Kong, couldn't survive. The saddest thing is that he tolerated not sleeping for a week without saying a word to me.

"There will be no problem this time. A new roommate will move downstairs into your old room."

"I’m sorry for the trouble. But anyway, I would like to thank you."

"You’re welcome. If you’re all set, let's get everything moved today."

"Ok."

I bowed and exited the dorm administration room and read the paper with the name of my new roommate in suspense. He's on the 4th floor, room 423.

"The name is Yotha Thanawanyotha."

Shit!!

Tell me it's not true.

***

Kong has been searching for more information on the twin brother Yotha for me. There is not much to know about him.

His nickname is Yotha. His real name is also Yotha. His full name is Thannawanyotha.

He’s studying Engineering; Civil engineering. Even better than that, his father was also in the Faculty of Civil Engineering.

Was he born just because of the word "Yotha"? If I was Faifah, I would be so sad. Oh yeah, I forgot. Their mother is also an alumnus of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. It’s very difficult to understand.

"Gun, dude, does this damn crate pop up?"

"Move. Let me do it myself. I'm afraid you guys will break it." The thoughts in my mind were interrupted, once again I was pulled back to focus on the work in front of me.

My friends from the Chemistry department came to help me move my things from the 3rd floor to the 4th floor, while the Electrical students struggled to bring things from the 4th floor to the 3rd floor. Surprises always happen to me. The biggest surprise happened in the middle of the day, because my new roommate, whom I will be sharing a room with for a year, is the twin Yotha, while his brother Faifah, has moved in to room with Kong.

My friends are out now, leaving only me, my furniture scattered on the floor, and the owner of the room.

"I'm sorry I moved in and separated you two. And that you no longer get to sleep with your brother."

"It's okay. I was getting bored of it anyway." The other guy replied.

When I look at him like this, I can clearly see the height difference between us. Even though I’m 176 cm, I still feel like I'm short and die every time I'm near him.

"To pay you back for your kindness, I'll be a good person and clean the room for a week."

"You don’t need to pay me back. I don’t normally stay in the room."

"Err ... Then, where do you go?"

"Nosy."

"I want to be nosy."

“Do you have a girlfriend yet?

"W ... what?" The question just now made me extremely confused. However, the opponent asked again.

"I asked if you had a girlfriend yet."

"Not yet."

"Boring. Hurry up and get a girlfriend."

"Why should I get a girlfriend?"

"People who have girlfriends often become attached to their girlfriends and will have less time to poke around in other people's lives."

What kind of logic is that?

Yotha is a strange person. Every time I look at his handsome face, there are times I feel like he’s indifferent to the world, but other times I feel like I’m looking at a dangerous gangster.

But I don't care, I quickly dismissed the thoughts wandering around my head and began to arrange the furniture, not paying attention to the opponent. Honestly, Yotha doesn't really want to talk to me. So, later in the afternoon, we went out separately to find food without either of us telling the other anything, then I went back to our room. At that time, the opponent was no longer there.

1 a.m. He hasn’t come back …

But people who are lonely know how to keep themselves entertained. I knocked on the door of my best friend Kong’s room and asked him to play mahjong. Meanwhile, Faifah also joined us to play. When he was out of the game, Ai’Kong went to sleep first. So Faifah took the opportunity to invite me to sit and enjoy the wind on the emergency staircase separate from the building.

"Yotha hasn’t gone back to the room." The tall best friend spoke like he knew what I was thinking. I nodded and replied.

"Yea. Where did he go?"

“Somewhere.”

"Is he sleeping in a hole?"

"If it weren't for my legs feeling so tired, I'd have kicked you off the stairs." Always so violent with me. Cruel.

"I just wanted to relieve my stress." Faifah can't take a joke, huh? I wrapped my arms around my pillow and turned to talk seriously. "Why is your brother so different from you?"

"Because we were each raised differently. My parents are divorced. My oldest brother, Newton, and Yotha lived with my father, and I lived with my mother. Then in ninth grade we moved back into the same house because my mom remarried."

"Wow! That’s crazy."

"So, try to sympathize with him a bit. He grew up in a house with only guys. He’s rough and insensitive, but he is not a bad person.”

"Ha, he’s not bad." I said, and then clenched my teeth.

"When you get to know him, you will love him."

It's hard to believe.

I should look at this optimistically. I can learn how it is living with an alien. I can take it as a test that will help me move forward and help me grow as a person.
* Yea, Gun really called Yotha an alien. As in “E.T. phone home”

The two of us sat chatting for less than 10 minutes. Faifah yawned the entire time, so we said goodbye and went back to our rooms. Who would have expected that after opening the door and entering the room I would see a tall guy, that sorta looked like Yotha, sitting at the end of the bed drinking milk in yellow pajamas with a funny chick design.

Wait, is it because I'm tired or am I dreaming?

"W ... when did you get back?" My voice completely cracked. He can make himself look cute like this too?

"A while ago." The other person immediately replied, still holding his milk.

Damn! He’s so cute. This is not Yotha.

"The dorm closes at 1 o'clock. How did you get in?" It is 2 o'clock now. He’s not obeying the rules at all.

"I just signed in and wrote down a reason. What's so hard about that?"

"So, what reason did you write?"

"Porridge."

"Huh! With a face like yours?” There's no way someone like this would eat porridge at 2 a.m. It’s definitely something else. I once saw him draw cigarettes out before. Trust me. He must have disappeared to go do something bad. I’m certain of it. But he’s trying to hide it by sitting there and drinking milk in those pajamas with that chick design. He’s just trying to trick me.

"That’s a cute shirt, huh?" I can’t stop myself. I have to tease him just a little bit.

"One of my senior code family members bought it for me."

"P'Arm? He thought it would be good to buy it and give it to you. Hahahaha."

"Laugh at your bed."

"Can't I laugh here?"

A deep sigh resounded. I can’t mess with him anymore. I quickly jumped onto my bed and covered myself with my blanket, revealing only 2 eyes. Although I told myself to close my eyes and try to sleep, my two ears could still clearly hear the opponent's movements. Footsteps. The sound of furniture moving.

"Hey ... If I sleep with the light on, can you really sleep?"

It’s the first night. Suddenly I’m worried about the safety of my roommate.

"I’ll sleep fine." He gave me an answer, but I’m not sure if he is being sincere or not. Suddenly I remembered something important in the wardrobe, so I turned around to ask.

"Do you want an eye mask? I have one. I haven't taken it out and used it yet."

"No need. I can sleep under any circumstances."

"Hey,"

"Aren’t you asleep yet?"

"That time we met, why didn’t you tell me you weren’t Faifah?”

"I was too lazy to tell you." Simple. Just like that. If it was somebody else, they probably wouldn’t want me to mistake them for someone else. Forget it. This is Yotha, the exception to everything.

"But now I can tell the difference."

"..."

"You're taller than Faifah. Less talkative than Faifah. And ... your body odor is not the same as Faifah."

"What does that mean?"

"The smell on you is like formalin-soaked marigolds."

"You smell like dog drool. I haven't even said anything yet."

Oh wow. Hearing that, my blood boiled immediately. Forget having a good night's sleep, I sat up and argued with him so much that I was spitting. But do you know how the battle ended? It ended with just one sentence from Yotha.

"I’m tired. Let’s fight again tomorrow.”

That’s all he said before lying down to sleep. I obediently did so too, not saying a word. The saying "let’s fight again tomorrow" is not a bad sentence. On the contrary ...

It was the beginning of a good relationship.

The second night we stayed together, Yotha returned at 2am (again).

And as usual, he filled out the reason for coming back late as eating porridge.

Oddly, I didn't feel sleepy at all tonight. Probably because the faculty side stopped all activities until Monday, which is also the start of the term. So during this time, we are completely free and don’t use up a lot of energy.

"Are you not going to lie down and sleep, or what?” Yotha walked out of the bathroom in light blue pajamas with seal patterns. It doesn't suit his face at all. Now look over to me. I’m sleeping in a t-shirt with stretched boxer shorts.

"No. Did your same code senior buy you that shirt?”

"Yeah."

"How many sets did he buy for you?"

"Nosy."

"Hahaha” He’s always ready to curse me and fight whenever I disturb him. "I’m not tired. Tell me a little story." I climbed onto the bed, leaned back against the pillow, and watched the tall body that was getting into the same style bed.

"What the hell is this nonsense about a story.” Shit! Look how he responds.

"You’re heartless. Shall we play a game?"

"I don’t want to play."

"After playing, I promise I’ll go to sleep. I won’t say a word."

"Yeah, that’s what you say." As he spoke, his thick hand turned and grabbed a Japanese manga to read. I remember this book but I’ve never read it. It is Guntz.

"Good. I’ll ask first. When you see me, what's the first thing you think of?"

"A dog." Damn it. He replied so fast. He barely had to think.

"Does my face look like a dog?" Many people love to call me a dog, whether it's a senior with the same code or even Faifah.

"It's similar. It’s like that dog ... Ogle."

"Beagle, you bastard."

"Yeah, that's it." When he answered me, his tone was super cold. He didn't even look up to meet my eyes once. Must be a good manga. But I am a lonely person who likes to talk non-stop.

"Let’s talk about something else. What about love? When it comes to love, what do you think of first?"

"Next question. I can’t think of a damn thing."

"You really don't have a heart." I used to play this game with my friends in high school. It helped us understand each other better. It’s even better playing with new friends. But I forgot that this game is not for people like Yotha. "For me, the first thing I think of when it comes to love, is mother."

"Ugh, baby."

"You’re one to talk, childish bastard. Speaking of Japan, what do you think of?"

"AV."

"Rude. I think of Mt. Fuji. I’ve seen it when it was covered in snow. It looked like a cup of shaved ice.” Speaking of shaved ice, my stomach began to grumble again. But that’s too bad. I already brushed my teeth, so I can’t eat anymore. "You're not cooperating with me at all Yotha."

"Cooperating with what? Your game is bullshit."

"I made it up. Faculty of Engineering. When you hear Faculty of Engineering, what do you think of? This must be answered in complete sentences."

"What about you?" I was being asked in return. So, I have to respond a little.

"When I hear Faculty of Engineering, I think of uniforms, gears, interview judges, midnight canaries, the image of a girl screaming. Uh ... Pork burned garlic in Chemistry. And then ... "

"There’s more?" Before I had time to finish my sentence, I was interrupted.

"Well, that’s everything that comes to mind. What do you want me to do?"

"Damn game. Go to sleep."

"Uh, fine, we can go to sleep. But you have to answer the question first. When you hear Faculty of Engineering, what do you think about?"

"You, obviously."

"..."

"The number one crybaby.”

"How cruel."

I said in a sad voice. However, Yotha must have known that I was pretending, because he slowly lay down on the bed and pulled up the blanket to cover himself, even though he didn't want to sleep. Having an alien as a roommate is exhausting. But someone like Gunyukol has to endure.

"Good night ..." That was it. I wasn’t expecting him to say it in return.

The silence once again enveloped the room. When I finally stopped paying attention to it, I unexpectedly heard someone's low-pitched voice in my ears.

"Yea, good night."