"Question 29: In the ocean, the clownfish's brightly coloured body often causes it to be the target of numerous predators. Although the bright and vivid colours of sea anemone give it a beautiful exterior, its tentacles are highly poisonous. Therefore, the rest of the marine animals often stay away from it. However, the mucus coating on the clownfish contains some unique properties that allows it to survive the sea anemone poison and live safely beside the sea anemone. Whenever the clownfish encounters danger, the sea anemone would use its body to shield the clownfish from its predators. Similarly, the immobile sea anemone would use the clownfish as bait and attract other fishes to its vicinity in order to prey on them. The clownfish would also share its food with the sea anemone.
In the world of nature, such relationships are known as ......."
Arthit swiftly wrote the answer "A" on the answer sheet.
It was the second half of the school semester, and the school began to hold preliminary tests once every month. The students no longer complained and whined like they did in the first half of the semester; those whose results were poor had already given up all hope, whereas those whose results were excellent simply treated these tests as regular checks to verify their understanding of the school material. In addition, these tests also helped them to accumulate more courage and confidence for the final graduation exam.
Integrated science was Arthit's favorite subject. Within an hour, he had already completed the final problem in the Physics paper. He flipped to the front of the paper and started checking his answers and shading them in the Optical Answer Sheet (OAS). The pencil lead moved swiftly across the OAS. The shaded circles were black and reflected a mild metallic shine. They reminded him of the boy's eyes in the dark of the night.
He suddenly recalled the deep kiss Kongpob gave him that night.
But within a second, he had already collected his thoughts.
Very soon, students started rising from their seats and submitting their exam scripts, causing a slight stir within the classroom. Jay and his minions always handed in their script ahead of the deadline, so that they would be able to head out and play. The teacher warned them to keep their volume down so that the other students would not be affected.
Affected? Nobody would be affected – not a single student seated in the first half of the classroom raised his/her head to look at Jay, their energies totally focused on solving the questions. Conversely, the students seated in the second half had already been preparing to head out of the classroom.
Just as Arthit completed the Chemistry paper, Jamie rose from her seat. Although her results were extremely good, Arthit was still mildly surprised at the unexpected speed at which she solved the questions.
The resultant effect of watching a good student hand up their paper earlier than expected was vastly different from that of a delinquent student handing up their paper early. The moment Jamie rose from her seat, an invisible pressure settled on the remaining students who were still struggling with the papers, and they casted numerous peeks at her from their desks. There were times when Arthit, too, would hand in his paper early and walk towards the podium with a calm and collected expression, casting the invisible pressure on the rest of the students.
You had to be the first in order to exert pressure on the rest; being the second was meaningless.
Jamie raised her head and walked out of the classroom calmly. She didn't stray far from the classroom, and simply leaned against the railing, watching the sky.
Arthit lowered his head and resumed solving the exam questions. When he completed his Biology paper, he cast a quick glance at his watch. There was 40 minutes left. He took a swift look outside the window. There was nobody at the railing. Jamie was gone.
That day, after the incident with the counterfeit money, he told Jamie all that he knew. After he confessed to Jamie, he never contacted Jamie again.
Arthit checked through his answers a few more times. Gradually, people began to hand up their exam scripts. Arthit didn't bother rising from his seat, and instead started to practice his writing on the scrap paper. Higher marks would be awarded to the composition scripts with nice and neat handwriting.
The bell rang, signaling the end of the exams.
The students toilet whether the males or females was flooded with people. Ah, it was always troublesome for them to head into the toilet, because they always had to queue for a cubicle. Every single student in the toilet was chattering excitedly about the exam questions. Gradually, some grew impatient from the long wait, and started banging on the door of the innermost cubicle.
"Hey, what's going on? Who's inside? Why aren't you coming out? Could you not poop since you're experiencing constipation? There's so many people waiting outside."
No response emanated from within.
Arthit glanced at the male who had raised his voice – it was a student from another class. Although the surrounding male students also chimed in and expressed their dissatisfaction, it was to no avail as they weren't allowed to pry the door open.
On the way back to the classroom, two invigilators walked past him. They were discussing the papers, "Jamie seems to have submitted her paper in a hurry. She failed to notice a glaring error."
Arthit had checked through his paper multiple times. He felt that he would be able to do well in this round of examinations – hopefully, he might even manage to reach 610 marks. Every single time he sat for an exam, he would always have harbour some indistinct hopes that soon, he would be able to finish his exams and leave this place. He would be able to go to some place further and better. He would be able to go to the South.
The students congregated outside the classroom, chatting and laughing. Arthit returned to his seat and gradually lost himself in his thoughts. In front of him, Namtarn's seat will still empty. Once again, the image of Namtarn's pale and shivering body flashed across Arthit's mind.
A shadow loomed over him, and Phana suddenly appeared in front of him. He sat himself down on Namtarn's seat, and turned to smile at him. His smile was as bright as the afternoon sun, "Nong Arthit, how did you find the exam?"
"Normal."
"Your results have been rather stable for the past few exams, scoring 600 marks would definitely be no problem for you."
Arthit pursed his lips slightly, and managed a faint smile.
Phana looked at him, "Where do you want to continue studying after graduation?"
"Depends on results."
"Go to Bangkok!" Phana's eyes shone brightly. "It's right beneath the Emperor's foot! There's history, and there's culture too! Nowadays, people all refer to Bangkok as the 'City of Emperors' – doesn't it sound grand and magnificent?"
Arthit kept mum.
Nai's pitched in as well, "Ai Phana, aren't you encouraging people to head to Bangkok only because you've accepted the offer from there?"
Phana openly admitted his motives, "Of course, I hope that I won't be alone in the University without a single friend from High School – if that's the case, I wouldn't even have a friend to eat out with on weekends. However, to speak the truth, Bangkok's such a great city! Don't bother staying here, it's so meaningless."
Nai laughed aloud, "Don't worry. Arthit and I both want to go to Bangkok. Isn't that right, Arthit?" he gave Arthit's arm a slight push.
Arthit calmly replied, "Perhaps.......I can't......can't get in......."
Nai glared at him, "That's impossible! Unless you decide to miss the exam!"
Phana: "You'll definitely be able to get into a university there! Shall we arrange to meet in Bangkok after examinations?"
Arthit didn't respond to Phana's request, and simply gazed out of the window.
"Pha, I heard that your aunt is teaching in the High School Affiliated to Bangkok University." Nai said, "Our small school definitely won't be able to compare to such a well known High School. Could you please help us to get their test scripts? I think it would be useful for us to practice using their scripts!"
Phana was extremely glad. He could almost visualize his colourful and wonderful University life away from home. "No worries, just count on me."
Just then, the shrill clang of the bell rang out, signaling the start of class. Phana returned to his seat.
As it was class time allocated for the students to engage in self-studying, Arthit took out last month's test paper and analyzed the questions which he had answered wrongly. When he raised his head, he realized that Jamie's seat was still empty. After the conclusion of the monthly exam, teachers are generally busy marking the exam scripts. With no supervision, self-studying had always been undertaken based on the students' own initiative. Those who didn't wish to self-study were generally considerate enough not to loiter around the classrooms, and would head to the field to play. Arthit mulled over Jamie's absence for some time before finally deciding to continue with his own revision.
However, Jamie still failed to appear after a long period of time.
When it was nearing the end of self-study class, Arthit strolled out of the classroom. The corridor was empty, and the entire building was extremely quiet. The only noises came from the faraway field where various students were playing basketball.
The toilet was located at the far end of the corridor. It was so quiet, Arthit could hear the water dripping out from the tap, and the splashing sounds it made as the water droplets fell onto the ceramic floor.
The door of the innermost cubicle remained tightly shut.
Arthit stealthily tiptoed over to the innermost cubicle. The occupancy indicator was red. Arthit slowly pulled out some tissue and lay it on the floor. Carefully, he knelt down, lowered his body such that his head was nearly plastered onto the ground, and peeked into the cubicle.
He saw two legs, along with some red liquid.
Arthit straightened his body gingerly, and disposed of the tissues in the rubbish bin. When he reached the entrance of the toilet, however, he chose not to exit; instead, he chose to turn back into the toilet, and dumped all the rubbish around the entrance of the class.
When he returned to the classroom, Nai asked, "Did you go to the toilet? You should have called me along as well!"
"Nope." Arthit replied slowly. "I couldn't.......solve a quest......question, went to......consult teacher."
"Did you manage to find the teacher?"
Arthit shook his head.
"Let me take a look at the question."
Arthit pointed to a question offhandedly. Nai looked at the question for some time before exclaiming, "You can solve it using this method. I'll teach you!"
Just then, Jay and his group of friends entered the classroom. When his gaze collided with Arthit's, Jay shot him a cold, harsh look. However, Jay's face displayed no other emotions.
Arthit collected his gaze, and glanced at his revision materials. One statement instantly leapt out to him – "The eagle preys on wild rabbits and snakes. When the amount of wild rabbits sharply decreases in the ecosystem, there would be a sharp increase in the percentage of snakes being successfully hunted."
After school had ended, Arthit and Nai walked out of the classroom together. Jay brushed past the both of them. Nai took a quick look at Jay's arrogant posture before asking Arthit, "Oon, I've been mulling over something."
"Hmm?"
"Do you think that it could be Jay?"
Arthit turned his head sharply to look at Nai.
"There were several times when I saw Jay intentionally picking on Namtarn in school. I felt that Nam was very affected by the bullying." Nai didn't wait for Arthit's response before shaking his head severely, "But it shouldn't be. Who would commit suicide over some bullying incidents? Since our teacher warned us not to spread rumours, I haven't been able to discuss this incident with anyone else."
Arthit kept silent, a creeping sense of danger crawling up his spine.
As Arthit and Nai's homes weren't located in the same area, they parted ways at the school entrance.
Arthit had just turned round the corner when he heard a sharp whistle ring out, along with the urgent braking of a motorcycle. Arthit turned his head around, only to find Kongpob on a red and black motorcycle. He was donning a black t-shirt and jeans, and carried a huge guitar case on his back. His entire person seemed to be glowing, as though he was a beautiful picture.
Arthit stared at him.
With his back remaining arched, Kongpob turned his head to look at Arthit, his sun-kissed fingers softly drumming the handle of the motorcycle. Having looked at Arthit for some time without receiving any response from him, Kongpob straightened up his body, his brows furrowing slightly. "Come over here."
Arthit walked over to him, and stood at the edge of the curb.
Kongpob gestured to his back with his jaw, "Come up."
Arthit was about to crawl onto the motorcycle when Kongpob stopped him. "Wait." He threw a helmet over to Arthit. It was similar to his – it was a black helmet, with some white bolded numbers at the side.
It was brand new.
As the helmet was slightly tight, Arthit had to expend some effort in putting it on properly. After wedging the helmet onto his head, he clumsily hooked the strap together.
Kongpob took a quick glance at Arthit and pushed his hands away. With a quick tug on the strap, Arthit staggered and stood right before him. Kongpob lowered his eyelids, his fingers quickly managing to tighten the strap properly.
With Arthit's helmet strapped on properly, he removed his guitar from the back and hung it on Arthit. Upon receiving the guitar case, Arthit did a slight stagger – the guitar was rather heavy.
Arthit crawled onto the motorcycle. Kongpob had planted his feet onto the ground to support the motorcycle, but when Arthit crawled on, the motorcycle slightly swayed to the side. Frantic, Arthit quickly grabbed hold of Kongpob's shoulders. Arthit's palms could feel the warmth emanating from the hard bones under the latter's T-shirt. Meanwhile, Kongpob remained stationery, his hands still perched on the handles.
When Arthit had seated himself properly, he released his hold on Kongpob's shoulders.
The motorcycle roared into the distance, the youth speeding in the night breeze.
As Kongpob intended to bring Arthit out for dinner, he came to a stop when they reached a restaurant. Arthit crawled off the motorcycle, staggering slightly as he hadn't recovered his balance. Just then, Arthit accidentally staggered into a pedestrian behind him, his foot stomping on the pedestrian's foot and his guitar case crashing into the pedestrian's face. Arthit immediately whipped around, "So......Sorry."
The male pedestrian was flanked by two others, "Don't you have eyes?"
Kongpob removed his helmet and swiftly hopped off his motorcycle, "Well, you clearly have eyes at the back of your head."
"..."
Arthit saw that Kongpob had succeeded in angering the pedestrian. He immediately used his body to block Kongpob and apologized profusely, "So......Sorr......"
Enraged, the pedestrian hollered, "Do you really stutter or do you simply not want to apologize."
Another pedestrian looked at Kongpob and pondered for a bit before breaking out into a sudden, mocking smile, "Well, well....Isn't this Kongpob Suthiluck? Isn't your mum the whore and your dad a rap......"
Kongpob pushed Arthit aside, a strange smile forming on his lips. He threw his keys to Arthit, "Hold them for me."
Arthit hurriedly caught the keys, and gripped them tightly in his palm.
Kongpob did a cursory scan of the three pedestrians, before unleashing a sudden kick on the opposing party. Arthit's eyes widened in surprise. He could no longer discern the reason for the Kongpob's sudden fight – is it for himself, or is it because of him?
With the flames of war ignited, even the plastic chairs from the roadside stalls weren't spared.
The three pedestrians weren't Kongpob's match, and were quickly defeated.
Kongpob dusted his palms. Having totally lost all desire to eat at the restaurant, he returned to Arthit's side and retried his helmet and keys from him. Perching himself onto the motorcycle, he inserted his keys and swiftly put on his helmet. He glanced at Arthit whilst tightening the helmet straps, "Are you staying here to enjoy the show?"
Arthit hurriedly clambered onto the motorcycle.
When they reached a traffic junction, the traffic light suddenly turned red. The inertia caused Arthit's body to keep moving forward, and he found himself plastered against Kongpob's back, like two pieces of scallion pancakes on a frying pan.
The summer clothes were extremely thin. Coupled with the fact that the two of them were seated at such close proximity, Arthit wasn't able to escape the smell of Kongpob's scent. Slightly embarrassed, Arthit gingerly shifted his butt backwards. However, given that he was seated on the slope of the backseat on top of carrying a huge box at his back, the effect was minimal.
He froze on the spot.
The glow of the setting sun shone on them. The numbers on the timer of the red light gradually decreased with the passing of each second, from 153 to 59. Finally, Kongpob turned back to look at him, their gaze colliding into one another. Kongpob didn't avert his gaze.
"You seem very surprised just now."
"I was......afraid......that you would......" Arthit pursed his lips, trying his best not to repeat the word 'would', and continued "get, beat, up."
"You thought that I was going to lose?" Kongpob raised his eyebrows, a cold smile forming on his lips.
"That day......"Arthit stammered, "The first time......"
Kongpob maintained his posture, with his head turned back towards Arthit, his gaze meeting the hazel eyes over his shoulder. Even though Kongpob knew what Arthit wanted to say, he nevertheless chose to patiently wait for Arthit to complete his sentence. Arthit continued, "I saw......you, you were......getting beat......up."
"I had a fever that day, and there were too many of them." He had a certain degree of pride in him. "Don't you know the saying – 'A wise man knows when to retreat.'?"
"Oh." Arthit replied, nodding while supporting the helmet on his head.
Kongpob looked at him for some time before concluding, "You look rather stupid."
Arthit: "......"
What the....??
Having stared at each other for far too long, Arthit snorted and asked softly, "You......you're good at.......at fighting?"
"That's not a good thing?"
Arthit shook his head gently. His clear gaze held Kongpob's as he declared, "I think.....it's good."
Kongpob's face betrayed no hint of any expression. He scrutinized the latter for some time before turning back. Arthit fell into silence.
When the light turned green, Kongpob took a left turn.
Arthit pressed his lips together tightly. In order to reach his home, Kongpob had to go straight.
29/11/2021