"Do you think it's alright?"

"Huh?" Kongpob didn't hear Tew's question.

"The planned presentation for our seniors... I'm asking if you think it's alright."

After the trip, Batch 59 decided to thank the seniors, especially the hazing team, for everything they did for them. They thought about giving the seniors a Keynote presentation with a message from them.

Kongpob nods at Tew.

"Kong, are you okay?" M worries. "Ever since we went back from the trip, you haven't been yourself."

It's been a week since he saw the merman, but he still always thinks about him. One cannot blame him, though. A mystical creature, one that's rude and a certified brute, will surely be difficult to forget.

"Of course, I am. Maybe I'm just tired."

M looks down. He knows Kongpob doesn't open his thoughts to anyone, including him even though he's his best friend. As his gaze lands on the table, a blue object that Kongpob is wearing grabs his attention.

"What's that, Kong?"

Kongpob touches the thing in question. He has made the blue-green stone the merman gave him into a bracelet. He tied dark brown strings around the stone to secure it and attached it to one of his accessories. He thinks of it as a lucky charm.

"Just a stone I found at the beach."

"Prae, can you help me find pictures for the presentation?" Tew cuts the conversation.

"Sure. Good thing the seniors added me on Facebook. We can search for their pictures there."

Not only Praepailin, but everyone helps in finding pictures they can use. For them, it is also fun seeing their seniors' old photos. They first look into their head hazer's Facebook account, Knot, which is basically empty. Aside from inspirational quotes, the latest being posted four months ago, nothing can be found in it. His profile photo is also the only photo in his account.

"How does he even live?" M mutters.

Then, they visit Bright's profile page. His Facebook account is relatively new, and they cannot find pictures that they can use. "How about P'Tutah?" Tew asks Praepailin.

"He hasn't added me yet."

Oak butts in. "Of course, only P'Knot and P'Bright will add you. How about P'Prem?"

"Uh, are you sure you want to look into P'Prem's account?" M asks him.

Prem has built a reputation to the juniors, and it's not a good one.

"We have no other choice, so let's just look into it," Kongpob reasons.

As Praepailin taps on Prem's profile, everyone at their table compresses so they can have a look. Surprisingly, Prem's social media account is very neat and regularly updated.

"Did he really take those pictures?" M questions.

"Hey, let's focus on what we're searching for," Tew tells him. Hearing it, Praepailin goes to the account's albums and taps on "Freshman Year."

The juniors jaws drop as they see how Prem looked like before.

"Was that really P'Prem?" Oak loudly gasps. "He looked like... a nerd."

"He looked just like you!" M teases him.

"Those glasses look good on him, though," Wad at the corner finally speaks.

"Oh. I didn't even know you're here, Wad," Oak says. M hits his head before concentrating back on the pictures.

"Save all the group photos, Prae. Then, we'll choose from them," Tew instructs.

Praepailin does so, tapping the "Save" button on every photo that has all four of the lead hazing team. They sometimes laugh at the funny antics their seniors did in front of the camera, especially at the one wherein Bright, Prem, and Knot are all lifting Tutah as if he's their queen and they are his peasants.

However, Praepailin's finger stops when the picture in front of them does not only contain four faces, but five. It's a picture of the hazers and another guy in a bus. The caption says, "On our way to the beach!"

"Who's that?" M asks. He's referring to the pale-skinned guy seated beside Knot. The guy has a controlled smile, and he's doing a peace sign with his left hand.

"I haven't seen him here," Tew responds.

"Maybe he transferred," Oak guesses.

"Oh my god I think I found MY MAN! He's so cute!" Maprang exclaims.

His round cheeks can really be described as "cute," but one person at the table cannot really call him a man.

Kongpob stands still, eyes frozen on his friend's phone. He doesn't understand, but in front of him is the face of the merman he saw a week ago. His eyes aren't blue in the picture, and his smile doesn't reveal sharp fangs, but Kongpob is sure it's him.

"Skip that," Tew says.

"Wait!" Kongpob stops Praepailin from swiping and grabs her phone. His friends look at him with big question marks on their heads, but he doesn't mind them.

He taps on the picture to see if it's tagged. The names of those in the photograph appear on the screen, and one of them is below the face Kongpob is interested in. "Arthit Rojnapat," he mutters.

"Thank you, Prae," he says as he hands the phone back. "I need to go now, guys. I'll see you tomorrow." He doesn't wait for his friends' response. He grabs all his things and storms off the area.

He doesn't need to know who Arthit Rojnapat is, but his curiosity urges him to. It's not always that one discovers a merman that was previously a student of SSU.

As Kongpob enters his room, he goes straight to his laptop and opens his Facebook account. He should be doing his assignments right now, but he can't do them until his mind is at ease.

He types the name in the search bar, and a profile of an Arthit Rojnapat appears. He clicks on it.

As the profile picture of the guy enlarges, Kongpob catches himself staring at his eyes again. Like what he felt that night, he feels as if he's drowning in them.

Kongpob blinks multiple times before scrolling down. The last post of Arthit Rojnapat was two years ago. It's the same picture that's on Prem's Facebook account, which was tagged to him.

He scrolls down more and finds more copies of the eyes that drown him. This Arthit Rojnapat does not always smile, Kongpob observes, but when he does, it's the most captivating smile he has seen.

Scrolling more, he stumbles upon a photo of the hazing team with Arthit Rojnapat in a bar, which triggers Kongpob's memory.

The hazing team..  raising their bottles at the beach... They know he's there!

He's sure of it. There's no reason for his seniors to raise their bottles up in the air aside from offering a toast to their friend at the sea.

Kongpob looks at the time. The hazers might still be on the campus, so he decides to meet them. He knows he shouldn't be sticking his nose into the matter, but something pulls him into the tide. He feels the need to know what happened.

After closing his laptop and the room's door, he storms back to the dorm's parking lot and drives back to the university.

~

Their classes are finished for the day, but Prem chose to stay for a while to take some pictures. Now that the hazing activities are over, he has more time for his photography hobby.

He's taking a photograph of small sparrow resting on a branch when the sparrow flies away. He's lowering his camera when he hears a familiar voice.

"P'Prem, sawasdee krap."

He turns around and sees the reason why the sparrow flew. It's one of his juniors, 0062 Kongpob.

Kongpob was well-behaved during the hazing activities, following everything the hazers ordered. They even softened their approach to him, thinking that Kongpob's skinny physique might not withstand some of the hazing routines. Prem also said to himself that after the hazing activities, he would be more approachable to his juniors, so he greets him in his friendly voice.

"Nong, what's up?"

"P'Prem, I just have a question."

Prem waits for it. Kongpob appears uncomfortable, so Prem's tries to soften his face more.

The thing is, Kongpob doesn't know what to ask. So he asks the most basic question:

"Who is Arthit Rojnapat?"

Prem's face drastically changes upon hearing the name. "Why are you asking that?"

"I just saw him on one of your pictures and—"

"Why do you know him?!"

"P', I don't know him. I told you I just saw him in one of your pic—"

"Then, stay out of it, Nong. I need to go."

Prem turns around and walks away before Kongpob even had the chance to stop him.

~

Back on the huge black rock off the coast of Nonthaburi, the merman rests along with his collection. Years of acquiring metal objects made the crate almost full. Some of them, he got on the shore, most of them under the sea, but the latest one, he stole from someone.

Arthit always catches himself staring at the gear. He could've had his own, but he wasn't able to, so he chose to steal one when he was given the chance.

Sometimes, he feels guilty. It's the first thing he stole in his entire life. The guilt is amplified whenever he realizes he stole it from the kind person that saved him.

A smile forms on his face when he remembers his savior. The way the guy looked into his eyes stayed on his mind. Arthit's smile almost reaches his pointy ears when he stops himself.

"Why am I smiling because of that stupid face?" He questions himself as he physically shakes his head. "Everything about him is stupid. He's stupid even for saving me! What if I'm a bad merman and a carnivorous one? What if I'm half-man, half-piranha?! I could've eaten him if I am!"

"But you're not," he hears a fish say.

Arthit has been a merman long enough for him to understand fish.

"We all know you're not a piranha. You're more like a cute guppy," a turtle says. He also understands a bit of what it's saying.

"Shut up!" Arthit could've added the name of the turtle, but it doesn't have a name. The creatures don't stay in Arthit's area long enough anyway for him to name them. They are also not his friends. The creatures in the gulf just know that there's a living merman in the area, and he's not a dangerous one despite his temper.

Shrugging off his neighbors, he goes back to staring at the gear, thinking how he should've thanked its owner more properly instead of simply throwing him a stone.

"."

Arthit's eyes widen as he suddenly remembers the stone he gave the guy.

"! ! Stupid ! !!!!