Chapter 9

Sun and his friends, except for Pon, are already in their last class for the day. It has been dismissed early by the attending instructor. There is still twenty minutes before the actual end of the class, so they decide to exhaust the remaining time inside the classroom: free use of the air conditioner in a humid weather is something anyone will opt.

“Hey, Sun. Tell us some details about your husband’s conference in Morocco,” asked Nom. Tas’ and Mochi’s faces are buried on their phones.

“I’m not sure, but I think it’s about a type of plant,” Sun responded in a guess. In truth, Exeter doesn’t share much info to him about his work.

“That’s it? A plant?” Tas said, putting his phone down.

“Again, it’s a guess.”

“What does it do? Do you know?” Mochi asked, who is still holding his phone.

“No. He did not give details. Although, he said that it is a breakthrough in Botany.”

“Well, if it is a new species of flora, then I have a new set of bouquet to give Pon,” said Nom with a slight chuckle.

“Yeah, that’s very romantic Mister Nataphong Rabastan,” spat Tas, clearly triggered at Nom.

Nom said nothing back, as surely, he is victorious once again in annoying Tas. Although, Mochi looks at him rather seriously as if to tell him to stop.

“I’m thinking that it is an artificial plant for a specific purpose,” said Sun, gathering all the info he can remember.

“An artificial plant? You mean man-made?” Tas clarified.

“Kind of.”

“That’s interesting – a synthetic plant,” Nom said, sounding curious. “Has he called you again? P’Exeter?” he further inquired.

“No, not yet. Maybe they are busy at the lab,” Sun answered, though with a hint of concern. The last time he heard from Grumpy was before his first class began.

“Or maybe, you are just too dumb to understand. That is why your boyfriend doesn’t even bother telling you more about that synthetic crap,” said an arrogant voice from two seats away. It came from Anurak Wilai – or Guy as he is mostly called in the university – Sun’s classmate.

“Hasn’t anyone told you that it is rude to butt into other people’s conversation, caveman?” Sun said with loathe. He and Guy – the self-proclaimed real moon of their faculty – have had a grudge between each other ever since they were freshmen student.

“Correction – a very cute caveman who everyone drools over.”

Mochi lets out a pretended cough. “Excuse me,” he said, looking at Guy. The villain calms for a moment while Mochi looks at him. Afterwards, he takes his eyes off Mochi and fumes again over Sun.

“But still a caveman. Why don’t you go to the Himalayas? The Yetis may be already missing you,” Sun said, while the others in the room erupt in laughter.

“This caveman gave you a run for your money last year in the University Moon contest.”

“Well, congratulations on your second-place win. However, you are talking to THE REAL MOON OF THE FACULTY OF MEDICINE.”

“You cheated, and you know that!” spat Guy, nearly shouting.

“Sue me and tell that to the judge.”

“You want to step outside for some fresh air, Sun?” said Guy. He quickly stands up with his fists balled.

Sun stands up too, as well as Mochi. Tas takes Sun’s hand trying to make him sit back down, while Nom tells everyone to chill. However, Mochi walks quickly towards Guy instead of Sun, who is nearest him.

“Calm down, Guy. Calm down,” Mochi said in a whisper, holding Guy by his shoulders and blocking his view. Like a tranquilizer, Guy cools down his rather hot engines after just a short while. He picks up his things and walks out of the room.

“Wow. Mochi the peacekeeper,” mocked Tas after seeing what his friend just did.

“Better that than all of us getting suspended,” Mochi answered.

“Is it really us who you don’t want to be suspended or him?” asked Nom. He looks at Mochi with interrogating eyes. Mochi did not answer, at which Nom smirks.

Guy’s grudge towards Sun started when they were in their freshman year at the university. They both auditioned in that year’s University Moon and Star Competition to represent their faculty. During the final cut, the selection was down to three: Guy, Sun, and Mochi.

Mochi was forced to withdraw from the contest due to a sprained ankle. On the same day of the final cut, while he was walking to his car, he was busy playing Plants vs. Zombies that he did not notice a turn at the end of the sidewalk he was on. When he reached the turn, he walked two extra steps forward instead of turning left, causing him to slip out of the gutter at the end. As a result, he lost his balance and landed on his left ankle. The good thing was that Guy was passing by. He helped him to get up and brought him to their school’s infirmary. Despite being enemies with Sun, Guy and Mochi go along well. However, when Mochi is with Sun and his other friends, Guy keeps his distance from him.

With the contenders down to Sun and Guy, it was announced that a voting system will be used to elect one official Moon candidate from the Faculty of Medicine. However, voters were not restricted to their faculty alone: the entire College of Applied Science can participate. The voting was open for two days and closed at noon of the second day. The result was announced shortly after the scores have been tallied.

Guy, confident that since Sun and he were both freshmen, went on to campaign, yet only concentrated in their own faculty. Sun did the same, however, unlike Guy, Sun has an ace card.

During Sun’s freshman year, Exeter and he were already in a relationship, and his Grumpy served as a consultant for Biology at the same university. There were also times when Exeter taught subjects under the Biology course as a part-time professor there. As such, his Grumpy has a network of contacts ranging from school officials, faculty members, as well as students from different majors under the College of Applied Science. During the voting period, Exeter notified those students he can get in touch with to vote for his Snobby. When the votes were computed, Guy got 96 votes, and since the Faculty of Medicine only has a population of 182 students, it would mean that Sun would only have 86 votes and would have lost. To his surprise, Sun got 237 votes, and with that landslide victory, he became the official candidate of the Faculty of Medicine in the University Star and Moon competition. Irate, Guy protested his case. The committee explained to him that the votes can come from all faculties under the College of Applied Science. Additionally, to completely refute his claim of cheating, Guy was shown the breakdown of the votes for Sun and himself. His came only from two faculties, while Sun’s came from six. That night, Exeter confessed to Sun of what he did and why he had more votes – way more – than Guy. To Sun, it was not cheating, and he won it honestly. Guy, on the other hand, knew about this from Mochi, as Sun shared it to him, Tas, and Nom. This truth did not sit well with Guy, as he thought that Sun, somehow, manipulated the voting. His assumptions even went to as far as saying that Sun coerced some of the students from the other faculties to vote for him. Sun, then, went on to win the contest and declared the official moon for the Faculty of Medicine. Since then, Sun has tried to avoid Guy however he can. Although, if unavoidable for them to meet or be both in the same place, it is Guy who always starts the argument – a lowly one, which is not really an argument but a mere exchange squabbles and insults. There has not yet been any exchange of punches between them because of this issue. Although, today could’ve been the first had Mochi not intervened. Though, as our old people say, it is just the question of when.

They are walking towards the elevator when they heard a beep. It is from Sun’s phone – an SMS from Exeter.

“Is your class done?”

“Yes. I'm on my way to the parking area.”

“Call me when you get there, and make sure you're alone.”

“I can call you now if you want.”

“No Sun. Call me only when you are alone.”

“Okay. I love you Grumpy.”

There is an alarm on Sun for not getting a response on his last text message. Exeter usually answers despite how short the reply is.

They go on separate ways after getting off the elevator: Nom to the building where Pon's class is, while Tas to the taxi bay with Mochi. Sun walks towards his car as quick as he can.