Monica smiled at Hazel as she sat on the garden bench beside her.

"You were faster than me in submitting the assignments," acknowledged Monica.

Hazel laughed, her playful eyes twinkling. "P' I only had to go over to the Electrical Engineering Faculty today."

"While I had to drop off a few notes at the faculty office. Believe me, they are so slow. Sorry for keeping you waiting."

Hazel shrugged her shoulders. "I don't mind P', the weather is nice."

Seated as they were in the university garden, with a balmy breeze blowing after a hot summer day; Monica had to agree.

"Are you going home now?" she asked her companion.

"I should be," replied Hazel sheepishly. "But I don't feel like heading back. Staying in a tiny dorm room with four other girls is rather suffocating."

"Then, how about grabbing a coffee with me? My treat," offered Monica.

Hazel hesitated, "You don't need to P', it's okay."

"Rache is busy in the Student Council room and Mars is in the computer lab. I have to wait for them. Come take a break with me. The café is just opposite the university gates."

Hazel grinned, "Let's go."

Once Monica had ordered a latte for herself and a cold coffee for Hazel she returned to their table.

"So, Hazel. Tell me more about yourself and your family," invited Monica warmly.

Hazel pushed back her hair and smiled. "I am from Narathiwat and I belong to a family of fishermen. My grandparents brought me up as I lost my parents to the sea when I was very young."

"I am sorry," murmured Monica.

Silently they watched the young waitress place the drinks before them.

Monica added sugar to her coffee and stirred it thoughtfully. "I don't mean to be insensitive, but it's so expensive here. How do you manage?"

"I am a scholarship student. Our university has some great scholarship programs. My university fees and dorm fees are taken care of. As for my daily expenses, I work as a waitress on the weekends and as a part-time cashier at the nearby supermarket on the weekdays."

Monica worriedly glanced at her watch. "Won't you be late?"

"No, the supermarket is closed today. It's my rare day off. Besides it will be easier for me to catch a bus to my dorm from here."

Monica took a sip from her steaming mug. "You already work so hard, why do you help me? I am feeling ashamed of myself right now."

"Please don't. You don't need to be upset. I always helped my grandparents whenever I was free. I am used to hard work. Besides you and Sarah are the kindest people I know. Sarah allowed me to borrow her dress for the Fresher's party and you gave me the nicest gift I have ever received."

"You're such a positive person," admired Monica.

"Frankly I have every reason to be grateful. I never thought I would land a scholarship at one of Bangkok's premier universities. I have good friends here and the Professors are also nice. The money I earn is enough for my daily expenditures, and hopefully, after graduation, I will land a good job that will enable me to take care of my grandparents."

Monica leaned back in her seat, taking in the carefree smile on Hazel's face. "You love your grandparents a lot."

"Not as much as they love me," answered Hazel setting down her cold coffee on the table. "I don't think I could have made the sacrifices they did for me."

"My mother died giving birth to me, so I never knew her. But my dad has more than compensated for her absence."

"We all need unconditional love and acceptance, whether it is from our parents or grandparents. We can live without money but not without love," concluded Hazel.

Monica nodded in agreement as she thought about her dear friend, the infamous ice queen. Rachel might be rich but in terms of love, she was probably the poorest of them all.

........................................................................

"I think you can apply for this one," pointed out Prom as he scrolled through the list of upcoming university events.

Marisa desperately searched for a pen in her backpack. "Wait, I'll take down the details."

Prom rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I'll just email the link to you."

Relieved, Marisa set down her abused bag. "Thank God. It would be easier for me to share it with the others".

Prom gestured at the screen. "See this is the link to the university webpage, you just click on it and fill in the form. Now you should be able to do it yourself."

Marisa scratched her head sheepishly. "Perhaps you could show me how to fill it tomorrow."

Prom narrowed his eyes. "This mentorship isn't going the way I had imagined in my misguided youth."

"Huh! What do you mean?"

"I seem to be the one doing all the mentoring instead of vice versa."

"I can give you fashion advice if you want," offered Marisa hopefully.

Prom facepalmed. "Not the brightest bulb in the room."

Marisa looked up, "Should I switch on the other lights too? I figured this would be enough."

Exasperated, Prom let out a deep sigh. "No, let's continue. I have a doctor's appointment at 5 pm."

"Are you not well? I can recommend my family doctor. He is quite good."

"Only if he is a therapist," retorted Prom as began to scroll through the webpage. At the moment, he was hanging on to his sanity by the skin of his teeth.

..........................................................................

Rachel had a headache, a towering one. Was it only her imagination or had P' Day become even weirder than before? Not for the first time did she wonder how he had even won the elections. Perhaps it was a prank played on the Student Council by the university students, hell-bent on revenge. Well, the revenge part had certainly worked. Right now, all 11 student council members are as traumatized as her. Already in the past three months, 10 new rules with several subsections had been added to the rulebook. Who even had the time to remember them? Far less implement them.

Lost in her thoughts as she weaved through the garden, Rachel almost tripped over another warm body sitting on the grass.

"I am so sorry," apologized Rachel. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

Sarah looked up at the familiar face. "It's okay P', I didn't get hurt."

"Why are you hiding among the bushes when there is a perfectly good garden bench over there?"

Sarah gave her a pained smile. "I'd rather keep a low profile. Things haven't been the same after P' Gia's suspension. Most passersby either stop to offer me sympathy or accuse me of being an attention seeker."

"The unwanted attention will die down after a while, hang in there."

Sarah grimaced, "That's what I figured."

Rachel gestured at the yellow bracelet on Sarah's wrist. "You still wear that?"

Sarah smiled ruefully as she ran a finger over the faded strands. "I am hoping it blesses me with half the courage it gave its previous owner."

Touched, Rachel gracefully sat down beside Sarah. "So, what are you doing?"

Sarah placed her notebook before Rachel. "I am trying to finish my physics assignment but I can't understand Maxwell's equations.".

"Why don't you ask your brother? His physics is way better than his maths."

Sarah looked away, "Hia is barely available. He is busy with the swimming club and his internship project. We stay in the same tower and barely meet."

"You stay at Vivera?" asked Rachel surprised.

"Hmm. On the 18th floor," replied Sarah. "Why?"

"I live opposite your brother. Feel free to drop in whenever you wish. But there is one problem. It's a secret, so lean over."

Sarah cautiously leaned closer as Rachel whispered in her ears. "I have OCD."

Sarah giggled, "P' that's hardly a secret. I am sure the whole university knows."

"How?" demanded Rachel miffed.

"P' the uniform checks you conduct every Monday are enough of an indicator!"

"Am I that bad?" asked Rachel sadly.

"No," denied Sarah. "You are worse."

"Hey! That's harsh."

Sarah shredded the blades of grass she had plucked. "Discipline is necessary. Especially when you have a reputation to uphold."

Cocking her head to the side, Rachel patiently waited for Sarah to elaborate.

"Everyone assumes that our lives are easier because our dad is a trustee but that's not true. Instead, we have to work harder than the others to prove that our achievements are not a result of nepotism. We can't trust random strangers. We can't carelessly accept offers of friendship. Most of the time there is always a hidden agenda behind the simplest assistance given. Hia abstains from dating for the very same reason."

Rachel patted her back comfortingly. "Surely someday both of you will find people who don't give a damn about power, politics, or money."

Sarah shook her head in denial, "Hia thinks the same, but I know that is highly unlikely."

"Well, you'll see when the time comes."

"P' Rachel, why don't you date?" asked Sarah curiously.

Rachel smiled wistfully, staring into the distance. "Because I am not allowed to. Besides it would complicate my life further".

"Huh? What do you mean not allowed to?"

"Focus on Maxwell instead, it's way easier to understand than the lack of my love life," retorted Rachel patting Sarah's head. "Here let me explain it to you."

..........................................................................

"Come in", said a refined voice.

Danish pushed open the door of his father's study. "Hi, Dad!" he offered as he strode over to the row of luxurious white couches dominating the room.

Niam wai'ed respectfully, "Sawasdee krab uncle."

Jay smiled at him, "Come Niam, take a seat. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Niam and Danish exchanged a glance before Niam handed over a nondescript brown file and sat down beside his friend. As Jay studied the contents of the file, Niam felt his cold hands tremble.

Finally, Jay set down the file and looked at them. "What is this?"

"It is the cost-benefit analysis of opening a Research and Development department," explained Danish.

Jay's expression hardened. "I thought I had clarified my stand on this already."

"Yes, you have Dad. But this time I have come to you with solid evidence. There are many things the marketing department and the accounting department are sweeping under the rug because the senior management is unwilling to listen."

"What do you mean?" asked Jay flabbergasted.

"On page 3 is the detailed analysis of the sales of our flagship smartphone for the last three years. In 2020, Samsung released its first foldable phone. Our sales fell by 15%. In 2021, Apple released its AirTags. Our sales fell by a further 20%. And in 2022, our sales were down by a whopping 50%. At the same time, Apple introduced its crash detection feature and Thailand reached close to 85% 5G coverage. It is already the last quarter of 2023 and we are way behind our sales target."

Jay stiffened. "This report should have been presented to the board."

Danish sighed, "Which employee would have the guts to tell the Board that our products are aging? That one day, OPG would become obsolete."

"How dare you?" thundered Jay.

"It has happened before," ventured Niam. "Blackberry was once a market leader, but it became obsolete because it refused to change."

Danish gestured at the file. ''Dad, change is not a bad thing. Resistance to change is. The OPG smartwatch and OPG EarPods were launched by purchasing third-party technology. Even the software development was outsourced. I am sorry to say this but the build quality of both these products is so poor that most of them are being sent back for repair within the warranty period itself. The report from the customer service department is on the 10th page."

Jay flipped through the pages, stopping at the relevant page.

"Dad, OPG products are being compared to cheaper Chinese alternatives. Even the OPG smartphones are considered outdated as we haven't updated the software in the last two years. Technology-wise, we are lagging way behind. Our smartphones are not 5G enabled nor do they have better camera resolution or screen resolution. If we don't change course now, we will soon be filing for bankruptcy."

"But developing our technology and software will be quite expensive," remarked Jay doubtfully.

"True," agreed Niam. "If you turn to page 15, there is a detailed breakup of the cost involved initially but we hope to break even within the next five years."

Intrigued, Jay sat back. "Interesting, how will that happen?"

"We will begin by enabling 5G on our existing smartphones. And also improving the camera quality and screen resolution. Once the sales of our smartphones stabilize. We will add a nano sim to the OPG smartwatch along with an SOS button. GPS tracking will be using cell towers so the location will be far more accurate and the SOS button will endear it to parents with small children, women, and the elderly. Of course, we will have to improve its health tracking," explained Danish passionately.

"As for the OPG EarPods, we should partner with an established audio company to improve its quality," concluded Niam.

"Your plans are rather impressive and ambitious. It would take a minimum of 3 years to implement them all," observed Jay thoughtfully.

"Dad, if the Board stubbornly refuses to implement our action plan or Mr. Kanaphan Wongratch -the CTO puts up objections, it will take a lot longer than three years."

Jay shook his head. "Niam would you be around that long? I dearly hope you consider joining OPG after graduation. We desperately need you."

"I'll consider it," replied Niam humbly.

"I hope you boys don't have any plans this Saturday?" Jay got up from his seat.

Danish looked at Niam before shrugging. "Nothing special, Dad."

"Good. Both of you will personally present the proposal for an R and D department before the Board and CTO on Saturday. I expect to see an impressive presentation."

Danish and Niam gaped at the Chairman and CEO of OPG Technology as he casually handed back the file to them.

"Are you throwing us to the wolves, Dad?" asked Danish in a hoarse voice.

Jay removed his coat from behind his chair. "If you can convince me, you should also be able to convince the others."

Niam opened and closed his mouth, unable to think of a way to excuse himself.

Jay glanced at the giant wall clock. "I am going to take a shower. It will be dinner time soon. Your mother hates to be kept waiting, Danish. Join us for dinner, Niam."

He strode out leaving the two friends to stare at one another in horror.

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