SOTUS PROJECT - Chapter 4

RULE FOR FRESHMEN No. 4

Don’t Forget What You Have Warned

“W

Here is your nametag?”

It was just a simple question for anyone but for the first year students of the Engineering Faculty, this kind of question is a death call. The one who was being asked was standing in the very middle of the common room. He had been spotted by Arthit, a third year student who’s also the chairman of the initiation committee. He surely has sharp eyes. He made people feel uncomfortable just by looking at them.

The other party was inanimately aware of the stare. He must answer the question or else, he would be damned.

“I—I lost it, sir,” he said.

Arthit took a very deep breath. He was furious of the answer. He had told them enough about it and the greenies were still unaware of his warning.

“Don’t you know the reason why did I command you to always have your nametag?” he asked. “To make fun of you?” he continued. “Don’t you know how important the nametags are? They’re telling your friends who the hell are you. You really get on my nerve, you know. Or you are intentionally avoiding us—the seniors.”

The greenies were left speechless. Some of them shook their heads, shuddered, or denied in murmurs.

“No, sir…” said the nameless greenie.

Their defenses didn’t help much. Arthit already narrowed down his eyes. He had jumped to his own conclusion.

“Well then…” Arthit said. “It must be because of you thought that your friends already know you well. And that was why you didn’t need your nametag anymore. This is pretty reasonable, right?”

…

“So let’s take a guess. Are you really this popular?” Arthit said. “Do any of you here know this guy? What’s his name?”

Arthit took a fabulous walk to the front row of the freshmen. None of them dared to speak. Mostly might be because they didn’t know the guy’s name but some who might know were too afraid to speak. They could have it wrong and ended up being bullied by the committee.

The struggle was real. The nameless greenie was terrified. He didn’t want to get the punishment—and he already saw what was it like to be Arthit’s nemesis.

 “Surprisingly no one knows him,” he said. “You’re not dating anyone here, aren’t you?”

Arthit mocked him. He insulted the nameless greeny’s capability as a man. Arthit’s question did hit his pride and if this humiliation continued, he might shed his tears. Arthit was ready to continue his humiliation when he heard a quite familiar voice.

“His name is Aim!”

It was loud and clear. Everyone in the room can hear it.

“And who’s that?” Arthit asked—unsure where did the voice come from.

“It’s me,” said the same quite familiar voice.

The voice owner raised his hand and stood up. And that was when Arthit realized that he has finally met his true nemesis. His eyes was unnaturally wide and the anger consumed him.

…and it’s none of the one famous savior, the greenies’ hero; the true nemesis of the Chairman of the Initiation Committee.

0062, Kongpob!

He has been my rival in many occasions and he still has gut to challenge me? What is he—shameless?

Arthit showed an impairing smile. He was a little bit lost a moment ago but he finally found his senses again. The rival has come to the stage and he asks for a rematch. I will not lose… I need to set a new goal.

“You know him?” Arthit asked.

“Why wouldn’t I?” said Kongpob.

That was a strong answer. It was no mistake that the fucker wanted to play with me.

“Give me your ID card!” Arthit demanded.

Aim was astonished. He took out his wallet and hurriedly gave Arthit his ID card.

Arthit briefly presented his annoying grin. He was already into the game. All he had to do is to ask Kongpob a few questions and he would have his prize.

“What’s his first name?” He asked.

“Kathawuth.”

“His surname?”

“Hathaiprasert”

“Date of birth?”

“December 12, 1995.”

Good Lord! He got them all right.

Arthit really wanted to scream by then. He surprised that Kongpob did know about all of these stuffs.

How on earth he knew about these? Did he plan this beforehand? Or did they coincidentally talk about this matter before? It’s not strange for the freshmen to talk about their names and date of birth at the beginning of the school year. That’s probably why he courageously answered my questions.

But Arthit had not yet finished. He still had his backup plan. He would not let Kongpob get away this time. Don’t call me Arthit if I couldn’t take him down. He swore for it.

“Go back to your seat!” Arthit said. “It looks like that your friend did know you well.”

Aim got back to his seat and exhaled.

“But what I need to know is,” Arthit continued. “Do you know your friends other than him?”

Kongpob was relief because Arthit let Aim back to his seat. He was a little worry back then, but now he would face another hardship because the next game would be involving the other freshmen. He concerned about the things his classmate would face for his reckless action before. Kongpob was not afraid of being punished. He could get use to them. In fact, he already knew that he had always been the target.

“EVERYONE,” Arthit shouted, “TAKE YOUR NAMETAGS OFF YOUR CHEST!”

The greenies had no idea what would Arthit do next but one thing for sure; they must obey the order immediately.

Soon after they took off their nametags, Arthit began his expansion.

“0023, stand up!”

The one who had being called was instantly standing up. It’s a she. And we could tell that she was obviously terrified from the way she held onto the tip of her shirt.

Arthit approached the young lady from across the room. Then, he turned back—facing the rest of the audiences with his undesirable sharp eyes.

“Why don’t you tell me what’s her name?” Arthit asked.

Everyone was motionless. It was a lot like in the movie when an actor punched his enemy and the surrounding was frozen for a couple seconds while the camera moved fast to get a better angle of the attack.

Kongpop, in the other hand, was already expecting it. He might be clueless before but he positively sure that the bullet was prepared for him and him only. So he decided to be on the game. He took a long breath before answering…

“It’s Maprang, sir.”

For a millisecond Arthit was so sure that Kongpop will not able to answer his question but then he heard him. He was furious but he must check his answer first.

“Show me your nametag!” said Arthit.

The girl showed him her nametag and there was clearly written ‘Maprang’.

So… now you know her name. But this is just the beginning.

“0038!”

This time, a humble looking young man from the left row stood up. Arthit rushed off to him and repeated the same question as before.

“What’s his name?”

“It’s Oak, sir!” said Kongpop.

Arthit didn’t wait for the answer. He personally checked the name and was once again, surprised. The moment he saw the nametag gave him a double headshot. But he’s not yet defeated.

Phew! What a mess, right? But the Industrial Engineering students this year are more than two hundred people. There is no way he could remember all of them. As long as it’s not a girl, I surely will punish him and that poor unlucky guy.

The calls continued for a few rounds until…

“0151!”

A greenie girl with glasses stood up of her seat.

Everyone—including Arthit—was waiting for the answer but the silent had conquered the room.

Whoa, see!!! I got you, boy.

“Why can’t you say her name?”

Arthit was on his feet again. He showed his sharp looking face again. The whole greenies are in terror. They were expecting to hear some painful truth from Kongpop.

“I don’t know, sir!” said Kongpop.

And it killed all the light in their—already death—eyes.

In the end… Kongpop, you don’t really know everything. I should say goodbye to you, this time.

But the real deal was on. What am I going to do to this lifeless soul? Should I punish her? I don’t think it wise to punish an innocent girl. What if I blame that guy over there for this cutie girl over here? …yes, I could. I should give him a valuable lesson today… he must get what he deserve—a payback.

“Give me your nametag!” said Arthit.

The girl took off her nametag and walked across the room to give Arthit her one valuable nametag—while everyone’s eyes followed her every single trembling moves.

“I told you that I gave you this nametag is to let your friends know who you are. So you can get to know each other—and remember each other names,” said Arthit. “But the thing that has just happened told me that you don’t want to get to know each other. You don’t even remember their names,” he continued. “So I’ll just rip it for you…”

Arthit then rip off the girl’s nametag into two pieces. It was made of a bright orange cardboard with a label-like hanging rope at the both of the top sides.

“It’s just useless if you don’t even read them.”

He threw both pieces to the floor in the most dramatic way possible. Everyone was stunned and the nameless innocent girl was left in astonished.

“Just remember… this-is-what-happen-if-you-don’t-pay-attention-to-your-friend.”

Arthit walked back to his position up front. He then warped up his speech by saying, “My duty is over. And tomorrow, I want every one of you to wear your nametag properly. But if you think you are popular enough, you can just leave them out.”

“Yes, sir!” the room howled in unison.

Arthit nodded. He then led a small group of the committees to get out of the room in a well known lineup. His had a mixed feeling in his head. He admitted that he did go turbo[1] back then but that was also his duty to discipline the greenies. It’s like set a sprat to catch a mackerel[2].

It’s for a greater good. Arthit said to himself. Because to make everyone follow the order, I sometime need to do the sacrifice. The greenies need something to be fear about.

…it’s the noble tradition of the faculty. Arthit convinced himself. The girl probably got hurt by now. His common sense talked to him. She might understand it later…

Arthit looked back at the common room right before he got to the door but what he saw was something inevitably disturbing.

Kongpop—he approached the girl; ignoring the very unusual look of the entire room, Kongpop went to the girl who was sweeping her tears off of her face. The girl raised her head and looked up to him. She suddenly stopped crying.

“What’s your name?” asked Kongpop.

She hesitated for a moment but answered him with a little sob.

“The name is May” said she.

Kongpob nodded. He then did something what Arthit really didn’t ever think about: took of his own nametag; grabbed his pen; and at the back of it, he wrote something down; and smiled at her.

“For you,” said Kongpop.

The words are clear. They are ‘May’ and her code number ‘0051’. People who saw it had been patronized. And Arthit—Arthit was the opposite of being calm. He’s getting angry, angrier and furious.

What the hell are you doing, Kongpop! What the fucking hell is this?

He hurried back to the scene; held up Kongpop’s hand and started yelling.

“What was that for?”

Arthit’s tone was killing and full of anger but Kongpop knew it already. He tried to keep calm and responded Arthit in the calmest way possible.

“I’m giving her my nametag,” he said.

“And why did you do that? Who told you to do that?”

“No one,” he answered. “But it was my fault that I couldn’t remember her name. So I’ll take the blame.”

Kongpop’s answer startled him. Arthit could see the sharp stares from Kongpop eyes and he was sure that Kongpop was deadly serious about what he had said.

…I don’t want to challenge you either. In fact, the decision has already made.

Arthit released his temper down. He loosened his grip and spoke calmly.

“You know that once you gave your nametag to your friend you’ll never get the new one,” said Arthit.

“Yes, sir,” said Kongpop.

He already know it but still give his friend his. So that means he’s also aware of the consequences.

“So, if you don’t have the nametag, it’s means that you’re breaking the rule. And because of that, I command you from now on to sit separately from your friends—and to accept double punishment if your friends ever get punishment. Is it clear for you?”

“Crystal!”

And Kongpop went off to the other side of the room by himself waiting for the double punishment if ever any of the freshmen in the room got punish for whatever they did.

For this answer, Arthit backed away. He already heard the answer he wanted to hear: A double punishment. He went off of the room immediately, leaving the other committee by the door.

Arthit was being confused by himself. He couldn’t stay any longer in the common room. Even though he already finished his duty for today, gave them the punishment they deserve, deep down he already felt defeated. He had lost his temper back in the room.

What would everyone think of me?

One thing for sure, Kongpop was surely his nemesis and he wanted to put the whole lot of his shoes into Kongpop’s mouth.

And I don’t like the way his sharp looking eyes looking at me.

---

[1] Getting out of control.

[2] The original text is hold the rooster head to lure the monkey. It’s a Thai proverb, I believe. I couldn’t find the similar one in English proverb so I translated them into one Spanish proverb that already familiar in English. The meaning is do a little crime to catch a bigger thief or something like that.

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PS: It's a free-form translation of SOTUS novel and some of my personal rendition of the story. I read the Thai version from https://my.dek-d.com/-bittersweet-/writer/viewlongc.php and found also found some English translation online. But I'd like to add my personal translation for the story so I created this one.

If you found my translation somewhere else, please contact me.

PS2: I am currently studying Thai, so Thai is not my first language. If you found this translation a little off, I'll edit them for sure.

PS3: Thank You, Bittersweet, for the original novel. I bought one but they're in Thai, so in the end, I didn't read the book, instead I went to the site and spent hours reading on the screen.

PS4: I've changed some terms in Thai into common English terminologies. I'm sorry for that.

PS5: Chapter 5 will be a little late. I had some other jobs for the rest of the week, so I would be 2 weeks or maybe a month until I finish my translation.

pS6: Have a nice weekend.