"This is good… It's been a while, right, Toffee?" Mok said, looking at the ceiling.
"I think I'm really lucky to have found you guys," Lamon said.
Hearing that, the room fell silent.
"Actually… it's good we found you too," Toffee said with a small smile.
Slowly, the room filled with the quiet happiness of the three of them.
Suddenly, Lamon sat up. "Guys, I heard something."
"What?" Mok asked with a curious expression.
"Everyone is saying our batch is cursed…"
"Why?" Toffee looked at him.
"Oh…" Lamon touched Toffee's forehead. "Are you having trouble remembering things?"
Toffee shook his head.
"Last week was the secret friend selection and the start of the competition with other colleges…"
"Oh! I remember. Then P'Jay… did he win?"
"Well… he didn't. No one knows why. Everyone said he wasn't feeling well that day. So the music department didn't win anything. Forget music—our whole faculty didn't get anything…"
"What?" Toffee looked shocked.
Mok, however, didn't react much, as if he already knew.
Covering his mouth, Toffee asked, "Then what about engineering…?"
"Oh… I'm a fan of P'Kao. Last Saturday there was a match… Oh my God, he played really well…" Lamon said, already turning into a fanboy.
"What did he play? Is it football—?" Toffee asked, his curious puppy-like expression piercing Lamon.
Mok cut in. "Car racing. Not football. He's a racer."
"Oh… really?" Toffee's eyes widened.
"He looks really dazzling and handsome in a tracksuit. Toffee, I'm telling you—we should see it ourselves."
"I don't think so! Is it that amazing?" Mok muttered. "Kaopun, I really need to see you. Wait… why am I thinking this? No way…" He glanced at Toffee, who was staring at him with sparkling eyes.
"What's wrong…?" Mok asked.
"Nothing… I was just wondering…" 'what P'Kao did in his past life…' Toffee sighed.
"Why are you sighing...? What are you thinking?"
"I'm not thinking anything… what are you saying…? Are you crazy?"
"Toffee…" Mok called.
"What?"
They started teasing again while Lamon laughed.
"Oh! I almost forgot, our secret friend selection was cancelled."
"What?" Toffee jumped off the bed. "Why? Isn't that the highlight of every year?"
Lamon nodded. "Guys… I also think our batch is cursed." He pulled them closer. The three of them huddled together, completely forgetting they were alone in their own room.
"Let me tell you… this has already spread around the campus."
"The highlight of the secret friend selection is handwritten, so it's heavy work. P'Oat and his team had already finished writing. They were carrying the boxes one by one…"
Lamon wiped imaginary sweat. "Then, on the way, someone—an anonymous first-year—was on the phone. Rumors say he had just broken up with his girlfriend…"
Toffee covered his mouth and nodded.
Lamon continued—
"Then he stepped on a banana peel. His phone almost fell into the water near the science garden. He tried to save it, but stepped on the experimental plants. While running from seniors, he bumped into P'Oat… and then—one by one—all the boxes fell into the water…"
Outsiders said P'Oat and his team just stood there, frozen, for over three hours, watching all their hard work drown…"
"Well… that's the end. Now everyone says our batch has bad luck…"
"Oh my God…" Mok said, surprised this time.
Toffee slowly said, "Lamon… don't you think this reminds you of someone…?"
Lamon looked at him. "Now that you say it…"
"Don't tell me—"
They both pointed at each other.
Mok watched, curious.
"Phayu!" they both shouted.
At the same time, somewhere on campus…
"Ah-choo… ah-choo… ah-choo…"
"Is someone cursing me?" Phayu muttered. "How is that possible? I'm Phayu, everyone loves me…" He laughed.
Nearby, a girl was carrying a heavy stack of papers. Her hands were shaking.
"Wait, let me help you…"
"It's alright, it's not heavy…"
"No, let me help—"
"I don't even know you…"
"How can you say that, senior? Let me help."
"It's alright..." As she tugged, he refused to let go, and the balance broke.
As they pulled each other, the papers scattered everywhere as people stepped over them.
The girl fell to the ground. "My project… my…" Her voice broke.
Everyone rushed to help, but the papers were already ruined.
She looked at Phayu as if she could kill him.
The memory of a warning flashed in his mind. Phayu swallowed hard and ran.
After running some distance, he slowed down. "Why does everything end like this? I just wanted to help," he muttered.
He turned back while walking—and bumped into someone.
A senior stood there, wearing glasses, a wrinkled shirt, his hair slipping down, hiding half his face.
Phayu lowered his head. "Sorry… I'm sorry…"
"It's alright…" The senior picked up the book that had fallen, dusted it, and gently brushed the dirt off Phayu's clothes.
Phayu paused.
The senior looked at him calmly.
"Thank you…" Phayu said softly.
The senior walked away.
Phayu touched his chest. "Something feels different. He's kind of cute…" he murmured, watching him leave.
Meanwhile, the senior glanced at the book in his hand and smirked.
"What an interesting and cursed soul," he said quietly.
"Looks like I found a toy…"
Phraya smirked, his appearance and outfit shifting as he passed through the hallway.
"Oh my God… is someone like that really on our campus…?" someone whispered.
"He's so handsome…"
"He looks like a Korean…"
"Oppa…"
He smiled, waved his hand—and...
Phayu… an interesting name." He looked at the ID he had intentionally taken from Phayu.
He laughed as he played around...