StellarMarine EN SampleTranslate by Punnachat Pradubphong and Prim TantilipikornCH.1: Sasin & ArnopIn the vast universe, countless stars were scattered all around in different sizes. Sphere planets floated in dark space, cosmic dust from asteroids drifted into stardust. Saturn’s rings, galaxies with enigmatic colors, and the great vastness of the cosmos, exquisite, beautiful, and mysterious. These images were the graphics created and put on the rectangular screen from the classroom’s projector.The classroom was dim-lit with only the projector’s light in the room to show the course material on planets and the beginning of the universe. The professor’s voice was soft and velvety, every word he let out was perspicuous. Though the class materials may not seem interesting, and the photos and video clips with audio were so lulling that they may have made one feel drowsy and dreamy, the lecture was anything but boring.
Still, some students lost focus.Some doodled on their class material, some chitchatted with each other, and some others were absent-mindedly watching the lecturer instead of the lecture video.
Professor Sasin’s face was one out of fine sculpture, too ethereal to belong to a man in his thirties. The raven of his hair made his face even more prominent, the high bridge of his nose, and the upturn angle made his phoenix eyes look unrelenting. His eyes were void of emotion other than doing his job of teaching what was on the course presentation. Despite the ill-lit room, the lecturer’s breathtaking face was visible through the faded light, making several students pay attention to their professor more than their class.The gorgeous professor moved the microphone closer with his graceful fingers, his shaped lips moved.“Any question?”Of course, the whole room was silent, no questions, nothing to ask about, it was a truthful reaction but not a sincere one. Everyone followed the flow of the class, no one raised or questioned anything to drag the class longer.Hence, Sasin ended today’s lecture.No one had a question about the lecture but the reflecting spark from the professor’s ring finger made many students wonder how on earth did this professor, who was so rigorous and intimidating, was taken by someone.His elegant finger was still bare last semester. But today, this man’s left fourth finger was claimed by a lovely ring, unmistakable, dazzling, and beautiful like Saturn’s rings.Our professor was married? To whom? What kind of person would his partner be? We didn't even know he was in a relationship? How was he like with his significant other, being this stern and all?Several questions were whispered among the students’ circles. Sasin was pretty popular for his looks and his legendary tough grading.He wasn’t a tough grader, it was the students who didn't meet his standards.Even so, Sasin’s face was incredibly pleasing to the eyes that many people were willing to take his class to just stare at him while he gave his long course lecture. Sometimes it was worth it even if they had to sacrifice their grade for it.Sasin was a well-known legend among many generations of students, everyone remembered his notable features from his baby face in contrast with his age, his alluring lecture voice, and his brutal exams. They all remembered that Sasin was a young, single, professor. These were what many students made notes of him, but today, they saw Sasin wearing a ring on his left fourth finger. It was truly an unfamiliar sight.College students exchanged stories, both real and fake, about the chronicles of this stunning professor, like how he spent hours grading each student’s paper from after class to nine p.m. Sasin didn’t think it was late and he wasn’t content with the work. If no one interrupted him, he probably would continued working just like that.
Sasin usually ate alone, his students sometimes saw him sitting with other professors on rare occasions. But everywhere he went and everything he did, they often saw him alone.Sasin read every student's report, carefully and committedly, perhaps it was a little too committed because some students whined. Sasin had good eyes, he was attentive to almost every single small detail that even the writer of that report couldn’t see, such as an accidental double space, a single paragraph being out of organized lines, and typos. It was like he was a report-detecting robot. And if the report was plagiarized from the internet, Sasin would immediately know, of course. He wouldn't grade that report until it was rewritten by the students themselves with their very own analysis.Edit and polish the work repeatedly until the pretty professor was content with the outcome.Though Sasin taught introductory courses, the subject was extremely difficult. The seniors warned their juniors not to fall and take this class just because of the lecturer’s pretty face. But that warning might not always work because there were still plenty of students taking his course as if they were enchanted by the wicked wizard's charms not knowing that they were in danger until the midterm scores came out.
That's when they realized they were in hell all along, not in some paradise.There were so many rumors about Sasin that one could say he was the faculty’s highlight.Sasin was a determined lecturer since the first year he became a professor. This year, since the semester started, he continued to fulfill his duty until it was past midterm towards the end of the semester. Nothing changed except a silver ring that suddenly made an appearance on his finger. Not that it was strange for someone like Sasin to have a life partner, the man was incredibly good-looking, it wouldn't be surprising if he were to find a significant other. But one time, a word got out from a professor in the same faculty.That Professor Sasin’s partner was a fellow professor.That created a soft commotion because no one ever saw Professor Sasin being particularly close to any professor. Everyone spilled the tea to each other and exaggerated the rumors into something like how Sasin was dating a male professor, or female professor who was a decade older than him. This was the largest faculty in the university so it wasn’t like the students got to see every professor in their department. Even so, there were still students who were determined to find out who owned the matching pair of that ring.But until now, no one could tell who was the owner of Sasin's left-hand ring.This type of tea was, of course, far more entertaining than the lecture itself. Everyone often talked about it, and despite not getting the answer, many people still couldn't help but look at Sasin’s left fourth finger where a simple silver ring was adorned and paraded. The ring glistened in the light like a bright star, illuminating and distinctive in the darkness of the universe.✳“Oh, hey, when did you get back?”Sasin got off at six today, later than he normally did but he was burying himself in the work piling on his desk that he completely lost track of time. He rented faculty housing on the campus because it was more convenient to travel to work without the traffic commute to worry about. Sasin didn’t like to go out anyway, he preferred to stay home and read books or go to the faculty to look up information for writing his lecture instead. He hardly stepped out of campus at all.Much like the other person in the house.“Since afternoon,”“Did you have fun on the field trip?”“Yeah, but I was so tired that I knocked off the moment I got back. Just woke up when you arrived.”“Hm, go shower first. I’ll make something for dinner.”“Sure,”Arnop said as he stretched on the sofa before standing up and walking past Sasin to the bathroom on the second floor.One person turned on the stove and another turned on the shower. Both of them did their chore separately, without a word needed between them.As speculated, Arnop was indeed the owner of the ring on Sasin’s left hand…But no student found out about this. The reason for that is fairly simple, Arnop only taught graduate classes, and he only had class on campus once a week. He spent other weekdays in the lab, burying himself with his research much like Sasin, or going on field research in other provinces with his students and colleagues.It isn’t that surprising that they couldn’t find him.The graduate students didn’t really care about rumors and gossip concerning their professors. Unlike the undergraduate students, the graduate classes didn’t pay attention to the ring on Arnop’s finger, their thoughts were much more centered on whether or not Arnop would approve their thesis so they could move on to the next topic, or do they have to edit the previous one over and over.Arnop walked out of the bathroom wearing only a towel to cover himself, loosely around the waist. He picked up the glasses that he placed in front of the bathroom and grabbed a pair of sweatpants across his shoulder before walking downstairs to today’s chef who was plating the food.“What did you make?”“Clear soup and Thai omelette.”Sasin said as the practically naked man placed his face on his partner’s shoulder. Because Sasin’s frame was smaller, it was difficult for him to move around when Arnop glued to him like this and almost covered his body.“Move, I’m going to get the soup.”“Smells nice,”“Go put something on.”“Yes, dear.”Arnop said while nuzzling Sasin’s smooth cheek. The person who was smooched bit down his lips hard, pursing them tight, struggling to keep his face straight.If Arnop found out that he was flustered, the man would tease him to no end.The thing was, Arnop could always tell. They lived together since college, he knew Sasin as well as Sasin knew him, like an open book. But Arnop would be generous today and let the flustered man go for now. He hadn’t seen Sasin for a week. Naturally, he would want to shower his partner with affection to his heart’s content.The naked man went to get dressed at the chef’s order. Though, he only put on sweatpants, showing off his bare chest as he joined Sasin at the dining table, sitting opposite him.The gorgeous professor sighed and secretly rolled his eyes. At least he wasn’t eating with a single towel.They ate their meal and took turns cutting pieces of the omelette and placing them on each other’s plates repeatedly. Not a sound was needed between them, simple quiet acts didn’t make them feel shy or embarrassed. They were simply eating together, usual and ordinary.Arnop finished the meal first but he didn’t get up to leave. He continued to sit and watched the man in front of him as he carefully gathered the rice until it became a spoonful on the utensil before lifting it to his mouth. The movements of his jaws as he slowly and steadily chewed the food until he deemed enough and swallowed. Sasin sat upright, his eyes weren’t on Arnop, he was looking at the food, comparing its quantity with the rice on his plate, calculating how many more times he needed to eat so that he could finish the omelette at the same time as the rice.Watching these little movements for years didn’t make Arnop feel bored in the slightest, every moment Sasin made was magnetic, his gestures, his looks from the tip of his hair to the end of his toes, everything was captivating to him.Arnop waited, as Sasin ate his last bite, he waited for the man to chew, swallow, and drink a glass of water at the end of the meal before he began to chat.“Did you see the news about leatherback sea turtles?”"Yeah, saw it online. It means that the ecosystem is being restored, right?”“Precisely, I got to watch the live video where the leatherback turtles are laying eggs too. Too bad I didn't get to see it with my own eyes. It was very near.”“I was probably watching NASA's live at that time… wait, no, that's not it. There was a news about a giant meteorite that crashed near the Dead Sea thousands of years ago that day, it was probably that.”“Alright, now, I bought something for you.”Arnop cut the conversation short before Sasin could give a lecture about the source and references of astronomy news. The other man, who was being cut off, simply hid a smile.“Is it a leatherback turtle keychain?”“Nope, it's a leatherback turtle magnet.”Sasin let out a soft laugh. He opened his hand, waiting for the souvenir, and walked to the fridge to place the gift along with many other magnets that Arnop bought back for him. Sasin turned and saw the other man carrying the plates to the sink.“You don't have to do that, I'll do the dishes. Just get some rest.”
“It's fine, let me help.”Sasin couldn’t stop the stubborn man who insisted on doing the dishes, so he decided to grab a wiping cloth and clean the dining table, pack up the leftover clear soup, and organize around the house.There was only silence filling the house, they didn’t turn on the TV or the music.
With the exception of their talks, they both preferred silence over any other noise.
After finishing up everything, Sasin took a shower and prepared for bed. Of course, he didn’t immediately go to bed, he had a pile of work that needed to be done. Arnop also locked himself up in his study, determined to write a report from this time’s sea field trip.The clock struck eleven, and both of them got up from their work. Sasin, who worked in their bedroom, stretched his muscles while Arnop shut down his laptop and walked into the master bedroom. It was a habit of them both to have an early night and to sleep for six to eight hours a day. No one set the rule that they need to go to bed together at eleven.But they always did it anyway without needing to be told.Arnop turned off the light before jumping to the bed. There was only a soft orange light from a little lamp in their room, it glowed warmly in the wooden and concrete house when they lived together. The large man lay down next to him as Sasin organized the documents on the headboard’s shelves. Arnop still wore only his sweatpants and that fact didn't escape Sasin's phoenix eyes, colors as dark as the universe. Before Sasin filled the room with darkness by turning off the light, he said to his partner.“Put on a shirt, you'll get sick like this.”Arnop paid no mind to those words, he took off his glasses and placed them on the headboard. Then he turned his attention to Sasin, making eye contact so the man could get lost in those pools of ocean eyes, he smirked and said invitingly.“Why would I? I'll have to take it off soon anyway.”Arnop finished his sentence and Sasin blushed..

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