UNISTAR : Invisible Moon [English Version]

ลำดับตอนที่ #5 : Chapter 3 : The Moon who wanted to be invisible

 

Invisible Moon
 

Chapter 3

The Moon who wanted to be invisible
 

"The stone wants to be the moon,

but the moon wants to be the stone."

#WINisWIND

They said that many things in this world would stay the way they were forever.

Such as a rock on the ground that could never become the moon in the sky.

The air would always be the air, and a fading person like me — how could I ever shine? Even on the first day of orientation, my existence was already unnoticed.

The first part of today's session was just introducing ourselves with a fun game. All the first-year students of my faculty were arranged to sit in rows. Each person would stand up, introduce our full name and nickname, and turn around to show our appearance. Then the next person would stand up, repeat the previous person's name and do the same for themselves. Every freshman would keep doing it until everyone had their turn. At least for today, we needed to remember the person beside us.

However, when it was my turn - and I had already memorised the previous person's name - another person next to me unexpectedly just stood up and introduced himself. He skipped me as if he didn't notice that I was here.

My introduction was simply skipped. Even the seniors didn't notice it.

Being born as an unnoticed person was sad. I could only feel miserable, there's nothing I could do about it.

"Attention freshmen! I will give you a ten-minute break. You can drink some water or go to the toilet. After the break, we will gather here again and I will brief you about the signature collection book."

P'Noey announced.

I sighed slightly. The first activity was over and I still didn't get to say a word or even make an impression.

Also, when I intended to take a free soft drink from the seniors, someone suddenly took my drink.

Damn invisible!

Although I hated this kind of situation, I was already used to it. So I just took a free bottle of water from one side, which only a few people took. Then, I walked to the balcony and looked at the tree. It made me feel at ease.

Perhaps the feeling of being part of nature — becoming friends with the sky, trees, and little birds, no need to be compared with anyone — allowed me to feel less alienated.

'Oh? Is that P'In?'

While I participated in the activities, I didn't notice P'In, so I didn't know where he was. But during the break, I saw him again in the garden nearby.

I couldn't help getting curious. Why didn't P'In join the activities?

And what was he doing now?

I observed him, P'In was walking around and looking at the warblers. They were singing cheerfully while building their nest on the tree. P'In held his phone to take a few photos of them. He looked at the photos, then, he climbed up to the first branch of the tree and took a few more photos of those little birds again.

I couldn't help but admire how gently and stealthily P'In did it. The birds didn't even realise that there was someone nearby. After he was done, he jumped down.

At the same time, I was surprised yet again when P'In suddenly made eye contact with me.

While I was hesitating, not sure whether I should pretend to turn my face away, P'In tilted his neck slightly, then walked the other way.

I kept looking at P'In unconsciously, wondering where he was going. P'In was also still looking at me.

Later, P'In just stopped walking. He had a doubtful expression on his face. He stepped back, then stepped forward, and stepped back again. He was doing that weird thing while still keeping his eyes on me, with a surprised expression.

'Hm?' I frowned. 'Why did P'In keep walking back and forth? Is he doing a morning exercise at this time?'

"Why can see?" P'In finally said.

"Huh?" I was stunned.

Then, I glanced to my left, right, front and back. I was not sure if he was talking to me or someone else, but there was nobody here.

'Did he talk to me? Or did I disturb his personal time?'

"Oh...just do anything as you please, don't worry about me. I'll go now." I responded immediately.

P'In looked at me for a moment, like he was considering something. As I didn't say anything more, P'In just ignored me and looked at his phone instead.

"Attention freshmen! Break time is over."

The third-year senior was calling everyone. I needed to go now.

But why was P'In still taking photos like that?

"Um, Senior, don't you need to help the third years prepare for the next activity?" I asked without thinking. I immediately regretted it and wished I could take my words back.

P'In could do whatever he wanted. It was none of my business. I didn't have the right to say that.

P'In stood still for a while, then bent down to take a photo of the weeds growing in between the crack of the tiles.

"Will help soon, now doing other things." P'In answered without looking up at me.

"Other things?" I couldn't get it. The 'other things' he meant — walking, watching and taking photos of birds?

"They said update thrice a day." P'In answered.

Huh? The way that he spoke, short and terse, had me confused. But P'In then walked to the other side. I didn't have a chance to ask because I had to go back to join the orientation session.

When all the freshmen came back, the seniors walked around and gave us each a black notebook. I had to call the senior twice before I finally got mine. Otherwise, he would surely not see me.

I looked at this notebook. It was black, with our faculty symbol on the cover. There were only blank papers inside and a band holding a ballpoint pen.

"The notebook you've just received is the senior signature collection book." P'Tong was using the megaphone to explain.

"Do not lose it! All freshmen must get as many signatures of the seniors as you can. The signatures must include their name, surname, year, faculty and signature. We'll check your progress next week."

The senior signature collection book? I had read up about this activity on the internet. Some seniors would give their signatures easily, while others would request the freshmen to do something in exchange.

There were more than a hundred seniors in this business and management faculty. If I wanted to collect all the senior signatures from the second year and above, it would be around three hundred people. I must complete it! Although I believed that even if I managed to get their signatures, most would probably forget that they had signed for me.

"Next, P'Noey will talk about the Moon and Star contest for our faculty."

Upon hearing 'the Moon and Star contest', I listened attentively. Because P'Wun, my sister, was the Star of the Faculty of Accounting. My parents were so proud. She was the centre of attention of her friends and our cousins. Anyone would feel proud when their friends or cousins became the Star.

For a fading person like me, would there be any chances? I sighed. Perhaps, my dream was too big.

"Hello! My name is P'Noey." That lady who was introducing herself was the one I met at the registration table.

"I know that all freshmen are interested in the Moon and Star contest, as I have been asked about it a lot. Normally, our university will hold the contest before the midterm exam, so each faculty needs to have a list of nominated candidates at the beginning of the semester."

Hearing the announcement about the Moon and Star contest got everyone excited.

"Senior," a first-year girl raised her hand. "If our faculty candidate becomes the university Moon, then he'll be eligible for the UNISTAR contest, right?"

"That's right." P'Noey smiled. "Same as the last year, N'Wayu — the Moon from the Faculty of Engineering — also entered the UNISTAR contest, then became a UNISTAR member."

When the word 'UNISTAR' was mentioned, the freshmen became more energetic.

"Freshies, please be quiet." P'Noey said.

"Please don't scream. Because in last year's UNISTAR 4th generation contest, the committee included the 1st to 3rd generation of UNISTAR members. So our university has set up new contest regulations, as the aim for this year for our university Moon to win the UNISTAR contest again, so then—"

Everyone, including me, was listening carefully.

"This year, for our university Moon contest, P'In and N'Wayu will be part of the judging panel."

Whoa! Just like that, many female freshmen suddenly became excited. They were all saying something like 'can we vote for the judges', 'we must go to watch the judges', and more.

"Senior, how will our faculty select the Moon candidate?" This question from one of the first-year students might also be the question that everyone was curious about.

"We've already discussed this. The task will be given to P'In."

"P'Innn~"

Just the word 'In' could bring up a roar of screaming sounds.

"Yep! Our faculty won't hold the official contest. P'In will be the one to select the Moon candidate and some Seniors and Teachers will be helping him. So, all freshmen must attend the sessions everyday. Do not skip. P'In will keep observing to find outstanding freshmen."

When P'Noey said that, everyone looked around immediately.

"Then, where is P'In?" "Well, I don't know either."

"I wanna see P'In!" "Will P'In come?"

"He is around here somewhere. P'In is the Invisible Moon, isn't he?" P'Noey answered.

I was looking for P'In as well while thinking about the fact that P'In came to this faculty but did not participate in any activities.

I had already understood why P'In had free time to enjoy watching birds and trees. It's because he didn't have any duty other than to find the most outstanding first-year students for the Moon and Star contest.

However, P'In — who was playing an important role in our faculty Moon and Star contest — was nowhere to be seen. I was looking around and then I found him! Oh, he was still walking in the garden.

Hm? I scratched my head in confusion. The senior said that P'In would be observing and selecting outstanding students, but he didn't even come to look at any freshmen — he was still taking photos of the trees.

"Okay, freshies, since we're already clear on the Moon and Star contest, I'll arrange everyone in a group next. Each group will be doing different activities. All freshies, please stand up..."

While the third-year seniors were arranging the groups, many freshmen started to make noise, mostly talking about who P'In would select as the Moon and Star candidate.

"Hey! P'In updated Instagram!" One first-year student said, causing everyone to turn to their phones.

"Yeah! This is the Black afara tree, isn't it that tree over there?" They pointed to the balcony.

"Ahhh! P'In must be there!"

Then, many female students shouted and ran over quickly.

"Hey, where are you going?" A senior asked.

That was chaotic. The arranged group became messy.

"Where? P'In? Where is P'In?" They were busy trying to find P'In and had temporarily ignored the other seniors.

I could only stand on tiptoe and look. I remembered that P'In was still around here, but now I couldn't find him.

"Tong, did IN really come?" P'Noey went to ask P'Tong, along with other third-year seniors.

"Of course. I called to remind him yesterday. I also asked him to become an activity leader but he rejected me. He doesn't like talking. So I asked him to select the Moon and Star candidate. He seemed to agree. He also volunteered for cleaning duty."

"Huh? What? IN will be cleaning up?"

"Oh, what a pity. A handsome guy like IN became a cleaner." P'Noey laughed.

"By the way, how did you manage to call him? Do you really have a UNISTAR member's number? Their agency has a very strict privacy protection policy."

What the senior said just reminded me of one news article. At that time, a UNISTAR member, Leo, was often harassed. He needed to change his phone number over and over. Later, the agency only allowed managers and family members to have UNISTAR's private numbers. If a UNISTAR member wanted to give this number to any friend, they must inform the agency first, to prevent the friends from sharing their number.

"I don't have it. I usually call him via Facebook. Sometimes he didn't pick up. When I left a message, he also often forgot to call back. But if you contact In's manager, you can definitely reach him."

"Huh? The manager of the UNISTAR project?"

"Yep, the telephone number 'for work' on Instagram."

"Oh, I understand. Has he ever used Facebook? Whenever I saw his Facebook, his status was always 'active seven days ago'."

"He rarely uses Twitter too."

"I only saw him using IG. But he just posted photos on it. He never checks his inbox, but he reads the comments."

"We don't even have his LINE or phone number. Furthermore, I rarely saw him. Don't know where he is."

I agreed. While I was listening to the third-year seniors talking, I also wondered where P'In had gone, so I looked around.

I widened my eyes when I saw P'In walking around collecting empty plastic glasses and leftover candy packages on the table, which many freshmen left behind. He also used the broom to sweep the floor.

I glanced at P'In in surprise.

Normally, the celebrities probably wouldn't choose to do this sort of duty. They might prefer to do the more outgoing tasks, which would allow them to get to know more people and be in the centre of attention.

P'In's behavior reminded me of myself during high school. During the sports events, many friends got the cheering duty, some were selected as athletes, while nobody would know whether an unnoticed person like me joined them or not. So I could only take on the task that most people ignored — cleaning.

P'In was doing the same thing I used to do.

But I still didn't understand why a famous person like him chose to do this.

"Oh, a moment ago, the table was still dirty, but now it's clean." A senior, who was responsible for preparing drinks and snacks, was surprised.

"Who cleaned the table? Who cleaned the floor as well? You?"

"No, not me. It seemed like someone had just finished cleaning. Might be the janitor."

I saw P'In again. He was washing the table wipes at the outdoor sink, where other seniors couldn't see. Perhaps, he did everything so quickly while they were talking, that when they turned back, P'In had already gone to the sink.

"Being an invisible celebrity like IN is so good, he can skip his duties easily." One senior said.

"Don't say that. I trust IN. He will do it if he said he would." P'Tong Interrupted.

"Tong is right. I used to work in a group with IN. He rarely spoke, but he was willing to cooperate. He came to each discussion and delivered work on time. The work was done well too." P'Noey supported.

"Well, I know. I just complained recklessly.

While the seniors argued, P'In had just finished washing the wipes. Then he proceeded to mop the floor.

From what I had seen today, P'In was indeed a strange person.

For me, I've had enough of my fading life. If I could choose, I would choose to be born as a person who stood out. And here I saw P'In, who had gotten attention from many, choosing to be invisible. He concentrated on doing various tasks without letting anyone know.

Suddenly, it occured to me.

I wanted to get to know P'In better.

☽------------☽