Chapter 5 What does he want

Having met more than he expected, Anurak was elated, so he joined his senior in the kitchen, which was tucked in a corner of the sitting room.

It was more of a kitchenette than a standard kitchen. It was narrow and could hardly sandwich two people between the sink slab and the burner slab, as they were separated by a three feet walkway. Each slab had cabinets under it, and Eshin was helping him to store away the foodstuff he brought with him into these cabinets.

He just finished when Anurak came out of the bedroom.

"This is all I can help you with. I also have to report to my school."

"You also want to see your course advisor?" Anurak asked with a sarcastic tone. He was a little annoyed that everyone was ditching him so soon.

"No." Eshin chuckled. "I have a meeting with my fellow students. Remember, I am attending a public university. Unlike you, there are activities we must organize for the new students once registration is over. I am part of the activators for my department."

"SOTUS?"

"Yes."

"Okay. So what will happen now, Hia?" Anurak asked with a long face.

"Didn't you insist that you are now an adult? You will figure it out."

"Hia! That is not what I'm saying."

"*Ala i yi wa?"

"How do we see?"

"Settle down and get your schedule sorted first, then we will fix a time to hang out."

"You promise?"

"Hmm. I promise."

Eshin then started removing his shirt.

"What are you doing?"

"I want to be the first person to bathe in your bathroom," Eshin smirked shamelessly.

Anurak rolled his eyes," it's not like it's a new room. Lots of people have stayed here already."

"It doesn't matter. It is Sunny-Uni hostel's water and electricity we are talking about. It's one in town. After bathing here, I can boast that I have slept on Sunny-Uni's campus before."

"The rep is that good?"

"Sunny students are the biggest boys in town. More than half of Bangkok's elite families have their kids here. Anurak..." Eshin suddenly turned serious. "Make sure to make good friends from here. Such friends can change your life forever."

"Hia." Anurak frowned.

The very thought of making friends made him cringe. He was a reclusive and private person, and used to staying by himself. Apart from his girlfriend, every other person in his life were just casual acquaintances. For Anurak, making friends was hard work.

"I am serious. Most kids here are monies in the flesh. Especially those who are not on scholarships. They are the real deal. They are mostly good-for-nothing, rich kids, but there are some decent ones. Find the good ones among them and make friends with them. Okay!"

"I have heard you, Hai. Go and bathe, or you don't have a meeting to attend again?"

"Ha, yes."

Eshin dashed into the room while Anurak continued to sort through his traveling boxes, bringing out the things he needed to set up his new house.

Apart from curtains, Anurak had everything he needed for his room. He discovered a vacuum machine in one of the kitchen cupboards and was super happy when he found out that it was still working. After Eshin left, Anurak vacuumed the whole house inside out and placed air fresheners in strategic places. Once the room started smelling nice, Anurak started relaxing. He turned on the two AC in the house, took his bath, and then laid down on his bed with a plan to read the brochure he was given at the Dean's office. He wanted to familiarize himself with the school layout and its rules and regulations.

"Grrrrr..."

Anurak sprang up. He had unintentionally slept off while reading. It was expected because he didn't give himself a good rest since he left his hometown. He picked up his phone and saw that it was the guy he gave his line. He picked up the call.

"Hello, New?"

"There are ten people in the queue before you. You should start coming now, Anurak." New said over the phone.

"Okay. I will start coming now." Anurak replied and disconnected the call. He checked the time, it was almost 3 pm. He had slept for more than an hour.

Still feeling sluggish, Anurak was tempted to return to bed but just like Eshin pointed out, he had delayed his registration. Lectures would start formally on Wednesday for new students, while old students were already attending classes. Anurak must do his best to get most of his registration processes done today.

After thanking New, Anurak joined the queue and within 20 minutes, he was seated in front of the bursar.

Unlike the office he entered in the morning, this office was decent. The walls only sported two paintings, and the table was not too clumsy.

The bursar was a stern-looking man. The kind one comes across at the beginning of the day and starts wondering if it was a good omen or if one should go back to sleep. He looked constipated until he opened his mouth. To Anurak's surprise, the gentlest of manly voices floated out of it. His face says; you are about to have a bad day, while his voice says; you can trust me.

So confusing.

"Khun Anurak, as you can see, according to what is stipulated in the letter sent to you, you can wait until your third year before you start paying your school fees, but the downside of that is that you will have to pay what everyone without a scholarship will be paying. School fees constantly change, and that change will affect you too. But if you pay at the beginning of every second semester, you will keep paying what is stipulated in the agreement we signed. Secondly, If you pay per semester, you will be able to graduate as soon as you finish your studies. If you are consistent in the first three years, you will still be able to graduate and be given one year to pay up your balance, after which you will be issued your certificate if you pay up. Or forfeit your certificate if you fail to pay up. These are your options. You can go with the form to think about your next step, or sign it now." The man didn't dwell on ceremonies and just went straight to the point.

"I will sign it now," Anurak muttered respectfully. He has already gone through all the things the bursar pointed out and planned to use the first and second semesters to gather money for the third semester. No matter how hard things get, Anurak trusts in his abilities.

The tuition fee was almost 3 Million baht in total, and there was no way he could pay per semester. He needed time to grow his YouTube channel. Believing that if he worked hard on the channel, he would have a way out within a year if he didn't lose focus. He was sure that he would get a good job that would supplement whatever Aunty Chaya would be sending him for upkeep.

Anurak's dreams were unrealistic, but he had to try. If I don't try, how will I know if I can make it? Since YouTube pays in American dollars, it should be able to pay my school fees within two years.

Anurak brought out the relevant form and quickly filled and signed it.

After leaving the bursar's office, Anurak found his way to his course advisor's office. There were many course advisors and to find the one allocated to him, he had to read through a very long list containing the names of every science student admitted this year. There were a total of 4,879 students. Scholarship and regular students were lumped together. Beside each name was written their assigned course advisor.

Engineering is supposed to be one of the most expensive courses in this school. How come a lot of people are here? Isn't Thailand going through an economic crunch? Where did they get the money? Anurak was grumbling, forgetting that this wasn't a normal school.

"Anurak!" Someone yelled his name as he stood by the corridor, searching for his name. Anurak looked up and found New, the guy who helped him hold his line at the bursar's office, -approaching him. He had completely forgotten about the guy until now. Folds appeared between Anurak's brows.

What does he want?

"New."

"Anurak, how come you left without me? I was waiting for you, but then discovered you were gone." New said with a reproachful tone.

How was I supposed to know you were waiting for me? Did I ask you to?

"Sorry. I didn't know you were waiting."

After hearing the word 'sorry', the reproachful look on New's face disappeared and a smile quickly blossomed. "Who is your course advisor?"

"I am still looking."

"Oh. Let me see." New snatched the list from Anurak's hand and started going through it.

Anurak's face darkened; he found New's action intrusive but decided not to say anything.

"What kind of private school is this? Why can't they run everything online? Why do we have to be running around like rats with their tails on fire?" Anurak complained instead.

"But everything can be done online." New gave Anurak a strange look.

"Really?" Anurak's eyes widened. "Then why am I running around? Nobody told me."

"What I mean is everything will be done online after our first year. My brother said the school made us do this running around as part of our orientation. If we don't do it, we may never know some parts of the school until we graduate. That reminds me, our class will be holding a tour by the weekend. I was told it would be fun. Are you up for it?" New asked expectantly.

"No. I will pass. I have things to do."

Anurak already read about the school's SOTUS activities prepared for the fresh students. Just like in the public schools, the students of Sunny-Uni were expected to join clubs and associations, but these activities were slotted for the weekends. Unlike in public schools where the first week of resumption was dedicated to such activities alone with a few lectures in-between. Here, there was no pressure and he didn't have to join anything.

"Okay then. We will not go. So what are we doing this weekend?" New asked.

Anurak was thrown. When did it become a 'We' thing?