Today is the day all the freshmen were waiting all this time. The flag ceremony day is finally here. The head hazers ordered the freshmen to gather at the engineering field for the event by 7 am. The event will take up a long time to end. They gave the due time at 7 pm.

"Gosh, someone, please cover his face. I can't think of anything," said Nate irritated.

"Where did you get that bruise? Did you fight with any outsiders?" questioned Thada as he roughly pushed Ming's bruised face away from Nate.

"Oh, this..... A little kitten hit me," replied Ming with a mischievous smile decorating his face.

He could imagine the angry-looking P'Kit Kat preparing to beat him up. That was the answer he got when he kissed the former last night. His P'Kit Kat punched his face real hard and slammed the door on his face.

"Oiiiii, why are they not giving any orders?" screamed June in frustration.

"They did, remember? The hologram in the sky!" reminded Ming.

"That didn't give any info or orders to follow, meng," complained June again.

"Follow what we taught you all these days," Thada looks up at the sky to re-read the phrase again.

"Wow, I was impressed with our IT senior's capability. How did they make this gear shape hologram with words and made it stay in the sky for this long?" asked Nate to nobody in particular.

"Follow what they taught us. All I can remember was doing sotus punishment," complained June as he whined loudly.

"Guys, try to think again. SOTU, S-Seniority, O-Order, T-Tradition, U- Unity, and S-Spirit. Maybe we should prove the five terms to them," suggested Ming.

"Have any of you watched the Sotus the Series? In that series for the flag ceremony, they did the same thing. But we don't have even a single hazer here to tell us if we are doing it correctly," explained Nate worriedly.

"I don't think so. If our seniors could make this hologram and show us, what makes you think that they're not watching us now?" stated Thada sternly.

"Oi meng, have you noticed that drone? The drone has been rotating in this area since the ceremony started, na," said June, in distress.

"I'm 100 percent sure they are spying on us through that drone," added Ming.

Nate gathered all the freshmen in a circle.

"Does any of you have our head hazers number or any information about them?" she asked.

"I have P'Forth's number," stated one.

"Oi, every freshman has that. I'm asking for third-year head hazer and fourth-year head hazers contact info," explained Nate.

"I have P'Kongbob's," said one of them.

"I have P'Wad's," answered another.

"Good. According's to SOTUS, the first thing we need to do is respect our seniors. Let's bring them here and ask for their blessing to become their juniors. Okay, ba? Let's split up," stated Nate as she instructed them.

"Guys, stop!!!" shouted Ming loudly to gain all of their attention.

"What is it, meng? We don't have time, na weh," whined one of the freshmen from mechanical.

"That's the reason why I'm stopping you. We have already wasted more than an hour thinking about this idea. We can't effort to lose more time now." Ming stated as he looks at them in the eyes.

"So, what do you suggest, meng?" asked a technical freshman.

"I suggest we complete the tasks all at once. How many of you guys finished collecting the 1000 signature task?"

Ming asked every first-year that attend the sotus.

"Hmmm. None of us could finish that," answered a few from the crowd.

Ming's gang was clueless about Ming's plan too. They were confused and worried about the task like everybody else. They just watched Ming, who was walking from one end to the other while thinking about something. Suddenly he stopped walking and returned to the crowd.

"I got an idea," he said with his signature mischievous smile.

~

"Ai Forth, it's almost 3 in the evening. I don't think the freshmen could finish this flag ceremony. I told you, your idea was a bit extreme," whined Park with worry.

"I didn't even give them any orders. I don't even ask them to run. Why are you describing it as extreme, you idiot?" complained Forth as he continued to play games on his phone.

"That's exactly why it's extreme, meng. The freshmen wouldn't know what to do or how to get the flag from you," commented Lam.

"If they could think, there will be no problem in getting the flag from me. Even if one of the freshmen had watched or read any sotus related stuff, they wouldn't have a problem in this simple task," answered Forth calmly.

"I'm worried because it is simple. We made everything extra hard for the juniors since day one," stated Max with a sigh.

"Why don't we think a bit positively and wait until the end," replied Tul to lighten the environment.

"P'Forth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" someone run into the dungeon as he screamed Forth's name.

"WTF," cursed Lam with the loud screaming.

Forth look at the entrance of their dungeon with shock. The engineering dungeon is the engineer student's hidden spot. Since the freshmen are not officially engineering juniors yet, the hazer didn't introduce them. So basically, the freshmen shouldn't know the place.

"How did you find us here?" questioned Park, alarmed.

"We tracked you, Phi. P'Forth, please follow us to the field," requested the freshmen politely.

"Why? For what?" asked Lam this time but, Forth was already on his feet to follow them out.

"Oi Forth......," called the rest of the hazers as they followed Forth to the field.

When Forth and his gang with the other hazers arrived at the field, none of the freshmen was there. Their senior head hazers were standing in the middle of the engineering field. Ten engineering seniors by years from each department were standing by the engineering field too.

"P'Forth, please join the other head hazers at the middle of the field. Other Phis, please gather by the side of the field with other seniors," stated the freshmen politely.

Before Forth could ask why? Those freshmen were gone too. When Forth joined the head hazers in the field, he greeted them politely.

There was a pin drop silence in that area.

"Freshmen!!!

Gather at the middle of the field in 3 minutes and do 25 group sit-ups!"

They could hear Ming's roaring voice giving orders, and in a blink of an eye, the freshmen run into the field to complete the order.

The freshmen gathered around the head hazers and formed a big circle to complete the group sit-up. Ming counted out loud and, the others followed his lead without a hassle.

When Ming finish counting the last number for the sit-up, Nate gave them another order.

"Freshmen!!!!!!

Gear is the heart of the engineering student. Fall into the formation of Gear!"

All of the freshmen followed Nate's and June's lead to form a perfect gear in less than 10 minutes.

"Freshmen!!!!!

Engineering was our dream!

This engineering faculty is our dream place!

It is our tradition to learn, follow, explore, and it is our honor to uphold!

It's all thanks to our seniors.

Pay respect to the seniors!" ordered Thada with authority.

He shouted for the first time, and that was loud and scary.

All the freshmen started to thank them by mentioning each senior's name they have encountered so far in this sotus activity.

The freshman thank them by stating the name of the senior together with their roll number and faculty. Each of them said one senior's name and their details.

It took them around 20-30 minutes to complete the long list of thanksgiving.

"E.N.G.I.N.E.E.R.

ENGINEER! WE ARE ENGINEERS! HEY!"

The freshmen followed after Ming to finish their chanting with the engineering slogan.

Ming walked out of the formation as he headed towards the head hazers.

Since Forth was the head hazer for this year's sotus activity, the fourth-year and third-year head hazers let him stand in the middle.

"P'Forth khrab, May I have the permission to get the flag?" questioned Ming calmly.

"You ......................" Forth dragged the sentences as he looks at the fellow hazers.

"May Khrab," he completed with a proud smile on his face.

Ming bowed down a bit and returned to his gang with a sad face.

"It's okay, meng. We still have a few hours for 7 pm. We can find the solution," stated Nate as she saw how sad Ming looked.

"That's right, Ming. Don't be sad," added June.

Ming smiled mischievously and took a few steps back to face all of the freshmen.

"Freshmen!!!!!!

We did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he shouted happily.

All of them were so happy and celebrated it. There were happy tears and excited screams in the field.

June with Thada and some other freshmen rushed to punish Ming for pulling that stupid prank on them.

Forth choose Ming as his direct junior and as the next head hazer. Today Ming has proved himself as a good leader by leading the flag ceremony.

He has come up with a strategy to complete the ceremony faster. Ming made use of the specific talent of his fellow members wisely. He completed all five terms in SOTUS.

Ming has made the freshmen follow the order and complete the group sit-up without trouble. They even did more than they usually do.

They remembered the main gear tradition and uniquely respected the seniors, which nobody has done before.

To sum it all, Ming made the freshmen work together in unity and presented their spirit graciously.

Due to their strategy, the flag ceremony was a success. The head hazers and the other seniors tied a white string in the junior wrist as acceptance.

The event ended early and, Forth allowed the juniors to return to their dorm early. They have to leave the faculty early tomorrow morning for the final gear-giving ceremony by the beach.

~

'I'm sorry. I'm not helping you anymore.'

A student wearing a Ritya Engineering jacket throws his phone to the floor as soon as he read the text he received.

"This useless piece of shit!!!

No use in trusting this stupid Kasetsart freshman!

I'll attack him during their gear-giving ceremony myself!" he shouted.

"P'See, it's dangerous. We can't risk our men's life for stupid revenge. It is not even our revenge. Why are you taking so much risk in this matter?" question the head hazer of engineering, Kim.

"That's right, P'See. We will be in big trouble if our management finds out about this," added another third-year student.

"Do what I'm saying. Don't further question me," P'See shouted again before leaving their hideout.

The rest of the engineering students we perplexed to follow the order from the former engineering student.

"P'Kim, what should we do? We can't follow this order," said this year's head hazer.

"I'll find a way out of this," said him with a stern look on his face.

~

Ming and the rest of his gang decided to hang out by their faculty's cafeteria. Ming wanted to contact the fierce kitten but was reluctant to disturb the elder's class period. He doesn't know if his P'Kit Kat is still angry at him.

"Congrats, guys," wished Wayo as he dropped by the engineering faculty after class.

"Thank you, meng," replied the rest of the gang while Ming was busy staring at his phone.

"What the hell happened yesterday? You better explain the whole story to me," warned Wayo as he sat beside him.

"I decided to start courting P'Kit Kat," replied Ming calmly.

"What the- when? How?" asked Wayo in shock.

"Yesterday and my life feel empty without him. So, yeah. I am going to fight for my life, and my life is P'Kit Kat," said Ming with a sweet smile.

"You cheesy bastard," commented Wayo as he smiled at his stupid friend.

"Yo, I think that I miss him so much. I keep seeing him everywhere," complained Ming like a spoiled brat as he looks at the entrance of the cafeteria.

"Oi meng, you are not. P'Kit is here together with P'Pha and P'Beam. Look at there," replied Yo by pointing in their direction.

"P'Kit Kat............................," Ming runoff before Wayo could stop him.

"P'Kit Kat, we get the flag early. I'm the next head hazer in line. Aren't I'm great?" he bombed Kit with non-stop questions.

Kit ignored him and continued to walk towards Forth with his friends. Phana hand over the medical team involvement-related documents to him.

"How many of you are following us tomorrow?" questioned Forth as he looks through the documents. They need to submit a proper letter with all this information to the dean after the gear-giving ceremony.

"Five of us from the medical team will assist you in this program," replied Phana as he noticed the way Ming kept on trying to grab Kit's attention.

"P'Kit Kat, did you sleep well last night? Shall we have dinner out tonight?" Ming questioned him continuously.

"Pha, I'm leaving first," said Kit with his straight face and left without even sparing Ming a single look. It looks like the dimpled guy is still mad at him.

"P'Kit Kat.....," before Ming could follow Kit, Pha hold him back.

"I guess we need to talk, Nong," stated Phana sternly.

Ming looked at his hands in Pha's control and looked up to face the somehow angry-looking Phana. Wayo couldn't avoid being tensed with the Phana's dominating nature too. That guy is very protective of his people.

~

"Let me get to the point straight away, Nong. If you're playing with my friend, I'll kill you," warned Phana directly.

"I don't have any intention to play with P'Kit, P'Pha. I genuinely like him," replied Ming without backing out.

"Like and Love is two different things, Nong. If you just like Kit, then drop this act right now," added Phana sternly.

"I don't just like him, P'Pha. I love him. Past weeks have been a living hell for me without him by my side. I don't want to go through that ever again," explained Ming with a sad look.

"It's not easy to get Kit's love, Nong. He is very preserved and, you're on his bad side now,"

"I'm very competitive, P'Pha, and I learned to be patient. I'll try my best to make him like me back and, I'm good at waiting. No worries, P'Pha," replied Ming calmly.

Phana smile at him with a satisfied look,

"Good luck," he said.

Ming was happy and confident after gaining Phana's blessing in courting Kit.

From the way P'Beam was throwing daggers at him through his eyes and the way P'Pha was ready to chop his head off, he understands that he needs both of their blessings in courting Kit officially.

The day ended just like that and, now he needs extra plans to make P'Kit open up to him again. Since Wayo couldn't follow him to the beach, he has to do all the work by himself.

________

End of Chap 18.

TBC.

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