Chapter Text
Saying TeeTee was excited for the first day of university was an understatement. He was literally vibrating with a silly smile plastered on his face as he dragged North and Wave through the crowded campus paths of Chulalongkorn University.
His best friends since middle school had somehow ended up here with him too, which only made everything ten times better. North was heading to Law, while Wave and Tee were both stuck in Political Science, ready to argue about everything and nothing.
“North is going to crush it in Law,” Tee announced loudly, yanking his friend’s arm harder.
“With that loud mouth of his, judges won’t need microphones. He’ll just yell the verdict himself and everyone will surrender out of fear.”
North shoved him sideways without breaking stride. “Asshole, atleast I have a future that doesn’t involve kissing babies for votes, you future fake-smile politician. Wave, back me up here.”
Teetee gasps offended “Hey! Studying politics don’t mean I’ll contest in election-!”
Wave just sighed already tired with them. “Both of you are going to get us kicked out before orientation even starts. Tee, why the hell are you so excited anyway? It’s just university. Same crap, bigger campus.”
Teetee stopped dragging them for a second, striking a dramatic pose with one hand on his chest.
“Because, my dear unromantic peasants, I am going to be the popular male lead like in the dramas. You know, like the nonchalant cool ones that everyone loves, the one who walks in slow motion with wind in his hair. And maybe, I’d even find the love of my life and have the love story I’ve been waiting for.”
North and Wave looked at each other for one beat, then burst out laughing right in his face. North actually doubled over, slapping his knee like Tee had told the funniest joke in existence.
“Oiii!” Tee pouted, crossing his arms. “Why are you laughing? I’m saying facts!”
Wave wiped a fake tear from his eye. “Bro, first you should try not to piss off our teachers on first day, you’re too loud. And you ain’t no nonchalant male lead you’re the most chalant bastard I've ever seen in my life, Tee.”
“You assholes are so negative minded, have some positivity and be optimistic in life. Like me.” Teetee grumbles dragging them again.
They kept walking toward the freshers’ assembly point for Political Science, still roasting each other the whole way.
North peeled off toward the Law faculty building with a final wave and a “Don’t get hazed too hard, losers,” leaving Tee and Wave to join the crowd of nervous first-years.
At the assembly spot, the teachers lined up like they were about to deliver life-changing wisdom. The first one to speak was Professor Ratchapong, a man who looked pristine clear. He cleared his throat seriously, face grave.
“Welcome, freshers. I want you all to listen very carefully. University life here is… strict. We have rules. Traditions. And if you break them, you will face grave consequences.”
He paused, letting the silence stretch until half the crowd looked ready to bolt. A few students actually gulped audibly.
Tee leaned over to Wave and whispered, “What the fuck is he saying? Is this guy about to announce we’re all getting drafted or something? I didn’t sign up for military school. I want to enjoy my university life!”
Wave whispered back, eyes wide, “Maybe he’s going to make us run laps if we fail midterms. Or sacrifice our phones. This is getting dark man we should have went to Thammasat.”
Professor Ratchapong suddenly cracked a massive grin and burst out laughing, slapping his thigh.
“Relax! I was kidding! You should see your faces. Welcome to Chula! We’re happy to have you. And don’t worry it’s all fun here, we hope you guys study well and enjoy your University life too!”
The freshers let out a collective breath, followed by awkward laughter that rippled through the group like a wave of relief mixed with embarrassment.
The other teachers introduced themselves one by one, keeping things light and welcoming. Everyone clapped politely when they finished.
Then one of the professors smiled and said, “We’ll now hand things over to your seniors, who have prepared a small ice-breaker session for you all. Enjoy!”
As the teachers walked off, the freshers started whispering among themselves.
“Will the seniors do hazing?” one guy behind Tee muttered.
Another student chimed in, voice shaky. “My brother told me they made him do the chicken dance on his first day. In front of everyone. With sound effects.”
Teetee and Wave glanced at each other, communicating through pure eye contact plotting something. Are we gonna do it? Obviously!
They were not scared. If anything, this sounded fun. But scaring the new classmates? That was prime entertainment.
Tee turned around with a straight face.
“Yeah, my brother warned me too. Said the seniors here are brutal. Last year they made a whole batch crawl across the field while singing the national anthem backwards. And if you mess up the lyrics? Extra punishments. Like… reciting political theory while doing push-ups.”
Wave nodded solemnly, piling on. “Heard they once locked freshmen in a room and made them debate policy until someone cried. Real psychological stuff.”
The classmates nearby went pale. One girl looked like she was calculating escape routes.
Tee and Wave held it together for about five seconds before cracking up, laughing so hard they leaned on each other.
“We’re kidding! We’re kidding!” Teetee said between gasps, waving his hands. “It’s just ice breakers, guys. Relax.”
Wave patted the nearest scared freshman’s shoulder. “Sorry, we couldn’t resist. We’re Teetee and Wave. Nice to meet you guys.”
The guy shoved Tee’s arm, grinning despite himself. “Assholes.”
But just like that, the five of them clicked, joking around and swapping names.
There was Kong, a tall guy with an easy laugh and cutest cheeks.
Save, who looked like a baby and so cute! Why’s everyone so cute here!?
And Love, a girl with sharp eyes, short and pretty and an even sharper tongue.
Teetee hearing her name, couldn’t resist. He shot his shot with a grin.
“Love, huh? Guess it’s fate. Want to make this political science thing a love story?”
Love deadpanned instantly. “I’m lesbian, don’t waste your energy dude. Try that line on someone who swings your way.”
The whole group exploded into laughter.
Tee clutched his chest like he’d been shot. “Rejected in the first five minutes. My drama lead arc is already suffering.”
They were all still cracking jokes when the chatter suddenly died down. A group of about ten seniors walked in, confidence radiating off them like they owned the campus.
Tee’s eyes, though, locked immediately onto the one at the front. The leader.
Fuck. Did he just see an angel?
The senior was shorter than him, with neat black hair that somehow looked effortlessly perfect, and these pretty doe eyes that scanned the crowd with calm authority. His white uniform shirt had the top two buttons undone, revealing just enough to make Tee’s brain short-circuit.
Angel face. Actual angel face. Like God took his sweet time sculpturing his face.
Holy shit, his stomach just did a backflip and invited butterflies to a rave.
Is this what love at first sight feels like? Or did I accidentally eat bad street food this morning? No, this is it. This is the main character moment.
Wave, catch me, I’m ascending.
The senior’s eyes passed briefly over everyone landing two seconds on Tee too. Tee almost passed out right there.
Wave kicked his foot hard. “What the fuck, man? You’ve been pinching my arm like it’s a stress toy for the last ten seconds.”
Tee blinked, realizing he had indeed been unconsciously mauling his friend’s arm. “Sorry. I… uh… saw an angel.”
Wave followed his gaze, then smirked. “Oh no. Not on the first day itself.”
The seniors lined up at the front, and the ice-breaker session was about to begin. Tee, for once, had zero interest in the activities.
And as the pretty senior spoke “Alright, freshers. Let’s get to know each other. Myself, Por. I’m the head of the department.”
Fuck even his voice is pretty.
TeeTee did not hear a single word of the other seniors introducing themselves. His entire brain had blue-screened and was now running on Por.exe only. He kept staring like the pretty senior was the last mango sticky rice on earth.
Por must have felt the laser beams because he suddenly looked up, eyes landing straight on Tee.
Then he lifted one perfect eyebrow in that slow, judgmental way that said “the fuck are you looking at, kid?”
Tee almost fell off his plastic chair.
Heat rushed to his face so fast he felt like on fire. He whipped his head away so hard his neck cracked and kicked Wave’s shin under the seat. It was all Por’s fault!
Wave hissed, snickering so badly he had to hide his face behind his hand. “Ow! Control your horny legs, man.”
Thankfully the ice-breaker started for real and snapped Tee back to planet Earth.
Seniors began randomly pointing at freshers, making them stand up, introduce themselves, and do silly little tasks.
Some of the nervous ones looked like they wanted the ground to swallow them, but after the first couple it actually got funny. The whole hall was cracking up.
One guy named New was called up. He struck a dramatic pose like he was in a boy group MV, chest out, finger guns blazing. “Hi everyone, I’m New, I like football and sleeping through lectures.”
Then the seniors demanded aegyo. New went full baby mode, puffing his cheeks and doing the finger-heart while saying, “Phi, nong is a good boy na~ take care of me,” in the squeakiest voice possible.
The entire freshman batch lost it. Teetee cringed so hard while Wave was laughing and slapping his arm.
Teetee was laughing along until his traitor eyes drifted back to Por. Again.
The senior stayed mostly quiet at the side, letting his friends run the show, but he had this small, soft smile on his face like he was trying not to laugh too obviously. Tee’s stomach did another illegal backflip.
He only snapped out of it when a tall, handsome senior — Auau, Tee thought, though he had been too busy staring earlier to be sure — pointed at Wave.
“You. Confident-looking guy there. Come.”
Wave strolled up like he owned the stage. “Name’s Wave. Political Science. I plan to argue with everyone and probably win.”
The seniors grinned.
Au smirked. “Nice. Now do the chicken dance, nong Wave. Make sure to put on a show.”
Wave groaned as everyone cheered, but he didn’t even hesitate much. He started flapping his arms, bobbing his head, and making the most ridiculous “bok bok bok” sounds while strutting in a circle.
At one point he added a little twerk for flavor.
The whole hall erupted. Tee was laughing so hard he nearly slid off his chair again. He whipped out his phone and started recording. This was blackmail material worth the next three years of university.
“This is going straight to North,” Tee wheezed under his breath.
Wave finished his performance, still perfectly confident, and bowed like a rockstar. “Thank you, thank you. I accept tips in food.”
Next, a tall senior girl named Phi Milk called Love.
Love walked up shyly, cheeks already pink. “I’m Love. I like reading and… cats.”
The seniors cooed.
Phi Milk tilted her head. “Show us a cute cat then.”
Love did a tiny meow, brought her paw-hands up to her face, and blew a little kiss.
The seniors melted audibly. “Awwwww!” echoed around the hall.
Even Tee smiled, but he was busy sending the chicken dance video to North with the caption: “Look what your friend is doing, take him back.”
Then a quiet, pretty voice cut through the noise.
“You.”
Tee looked up. Those doe eyes were staring right at him. His heart did a full gymnastics routine.
Por pointed casually. “Yes, you. Fourth row, fifth one. That’s you. Introduce yourself.”
Tee pointed dumbly at his own chest. “Me?”
Por raised that deadly eyebrow again. “Yes, you. Come on.”
Tee’s brain screamed: Don’t embarrass yourself, Tee! This is your main character moment. Impress him. Be cool. Be hot. Be everything.
He walked to the front with confident strides. He was not shy. He loved attention, thank you very much. But having Por’s pretty eyes on him made his knees feel suspiciously like jelly.
“Hi everyone,” Teetee said smoothly, no stuttering, thank God.
“I’m TeeTee, first year Political Science. My hobbies are photography. I like capturing pretty things. Also, I’m really good at convincing people to do stupid stuff with me. Ask my friends. They have trauma.”
He grinned at Wave, who flipped him off from the audience.
The seniors immediately laughed. Yim, one of the guys with a mischievous face, clapped. “I like this one already.”
Yim stepped forward with a teasing glint in his eyes. “Okay TeeTee, your task. Look around. There are so many pretty people here.” He gestured dramatically at the freshmen. “You have to propose to someone. Make it convincing. Sell it.”
The whole class cheered like it was a concert.
Tee groaned loudly. “Awh Phi, are you sure? I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.”
The seniors waved him off. “It’s just fun! Ice breaker rules. And we are here, there’s no trouble. Go for it.”
Tee shrugged, easy smile back on.
He scanned the crowd. Wave was aggressively flipping him off again. Some classmates avoided eye contact like their lives depended on it, suddenly very interested in their shoes or the ceiling. One guy even started whistling the national anthem.
Supportive bunch, truly. Love you guys.
Tee pouted, genuinely disappointed. None of them felt right.
Then he heard it.
A soft chuckle from the seniors’ line.
Por had looked down, smiling at Tee’s frustrated pout, and when he looked back up their eyes met.
Tee’s eyes glinted with pure chaos.
Por frowned at the look in the junior’s eyes.
He walked straight toward Por instead.
Gasps rippled through the hall. This was supposed to be seniors teasing juniors, not the other way around!
Por’s eyes widened. “Wha—”
Before he could finish, Tee dropped to one knee dramatically, took Por’s hand like a prince in a drama, and looked up with full heart-eyes.
“Phi Por, you’re so pretty and handsome at the same time it should be illegal. I liked you the second I saw you. My heart is beating so loud. Are you an angel?? Please accept my proposal na~”
Por’s ears turned bright red.
His friends lost it completely. Au was bent over laughing so hard he had to hold onto Milk’s shoulder. The rest of the seniors were howling.
Tee pouted even harder, still holding Por’s hand. “Phi Por please~ Say yes! Don’t break my heart on the first day! I’ll take care of you so well, na ter.”
More gasps were heard when he addressed the senior as ‘ter.’
Por spluttered, dumbfounded and embarrassed. “Okay okay, time’s up. Get up!”
Au waved his hands wildly, still dying. “No no no, let him continue! I’m enjoying this way too much!”
Por shot Au the deadliest glare.
Tee, full of confidence now, kept going. “I can see our future already. Ter, me and our puppy.”
Thomas, another senior who looked like he was holding back tears of laughter, finally took mercy. “Task complete! Well done, nong. Get up before our friend actually explodes.”
Tee gave Por the brightest, most cheeky smile and stood up, still buzzing.
The seniors immediately started praising him.
“Damn, this junior has balls,” Yim laughed.
“Best proposal I’ve seen in years,” Milk added, wiping her eyes.
Por cleared his throat, ears still red, and tried to look stern while glaring at Tee.
“Session dismissed. It’s lunch break. Go eat before you cause more chaos.”
He gave Teetee another glare before leaning toward him.
Tee’s smile faded a bit. Shit, did he fuck up already?
Por scanned his face before saying, “A junior and over-smart. That’s not a good combo, you’ll get yourself into trouble.”
At that, Teetee’s smile came back.
“I just did what I was asked to do, phi. Did I make ter too flustered?”
Por’s eyes narrowed at him. “Watch that smart mouth of yours, nong.”
“Is that a challenge, Phi Por? Don’t worry, we will have a lot of encounters like this in the future too.”
He leaned closer, now whispering so only Por could hear him.
“And I was honest about one thing. You truly are pretty.”
He even dared to wink at a Por who was now red with embarrassment and anger.
Tee sauntered back to his seat like he just won the lottery.
Wave’s jaw was literally hanging open.
“Ain’t no way you just did that.”
Tee dropped into his chair, grinning like an idiot. “Damn right I did. Did you see his ears? I think I’m in love.”
“Dude, you met him half an hour ago!”
“Love is timeless.”
Wave stared at him like he’d grown a second head. “You proposed to a senior. On your first day. In front of everyone. And he looked embarrassed and was glaring at you. Did you take a vow to always drag trouble everywhere you go??”
Tee said, waving his phone, “I got your chicken dance on video. We’re even. And you just wait and watch, I’ll make him mine.”
“You. You truly are a gone case.”
Their new friends Kong, Save, and Love crowded around them immediately.
Love poked Tee’s arm. “You’re actually insane. I respect it.”
Kong was still laughing.
Save slung an arm around Tee’s shoulders. “Welcome to the group. You are officially our leader.”
Tee laughed along with them, already feeling the five of them click even harder.
As they headed out for lunch, he couldn’t stop replaying Por’s red ears and that tiny almost-smile in his head.
First day is already good.
He was going to have a good university life.