Chapter 2 - The “Human Building”

The “Human Building”

Human, man (Noun). An animal capable of self-awareness and reasoning, a Living being with an advanced mind, a human being. (Dictionary)

The next morning, I threw away my – jobless, got dumped by my boyfriend, had a hangover, and just recently had a one night stand with a college student – self away and became a diligent man. By daybreak, I took a taxi from my dormitory to take the sky train before finally stopping to stand at the front of a tall building in the heart of the city which stands crowned by the other building almost like a forest made of concrete.

I took a deep breath, clutching the envelope with my adorable 2.00 GPA in my hand, before heading to the door. My first objective is the reception desk which has good-looking sisters sitting next to each other.

After telling the detail of my appointment to the sister at the counter, she gives me the visitor pass along with an envelope of documents before pointing to the corridor, with a short reminder of “to The Human Building, 10th floor, please.”

Phew… that was exciting.

I try to suppress my loud heartbeat while walking through the corridor which is filled by many people. I look up to the sign which tells the way to the human building, which leads me to a hall so wide that it took me by surprise.

In this office building, there is a big waterfall flowing down from above, making a loud splashing sound. The ceiling is made from clear glass that you can clearly see the sky above while the floor is covered with shiny black tiles. There are two large ponds on either side of the hall, filled with large lotuses all in full bloom.

I tilt my head looking up above, feeling my hair standing on end for an unexplainable reason. The atmosphere here is so clean that it somehow made me feel like a strange being.

“May I help you?” A voice sounded. I was startled before I noticed that the speaker is an older man in a security guard uniform. The man gave me a smile which made me feel more at ease. Fortunately, he is quite patient, the security guard in some company would treat a guy who gets lost like a spy intruding in their territory.

I give him an awkward smile, before turning my body so he can see the visitor pass pin on my shirt. “Um… How do I get to the human building?”

The security guard looks at my visitor pass, before pulling out a card to show me. “Do you have this card? Usually, the front desk should give you one in the envelope.”

I search through the document envelope I received, before letting out a relieved sign when I find the dark green card. The serious face security guard points me to a door. “Use this card to scan at the door, then continue straight to wait for your ride… the ride comes every fifteen minutes, have a safe journey.” with the last sentence, he gives me another smile while tipping his hat. I bow my head while thanking him.

The automatic door opens when I press the card on the scan, inside is a long corridor… How big is this building exactly? I continue to walk along the path until I hear a resounding round from the front. “Alright, almost there.”

I hastened my pace, but the sight that greets me when I take a turn almost made me trip on my own feet.

“… Wow.” I am dumbfounded by the picture in front of me… so much that I want to try slapping my face to see if I am just imagining things. I thought the ‘ride’ that the security guard brother told me is just a small golf cart which will take me to another building, similar to the one used in the Siam Paragon Mall [1] , but instead, what I see is an underground train station. I stood there, stupidly looking at the people walking into the train straight-face.

Wait a minute… Is there a building like this in Bangkok? … or have I come to the wrong place? My face paled. Until I see the employee card on the neck of a worker which prints ‘ES Company’ that I start to feel relieved… Wait!! This is crazy. Even in dump Thai dramas where every character wears makeup to bed and the houses of the rich male lead are all massive, I have never seen any company in the story that is crazy enough to have an underground train underneath like this!

I start to sweat as I take out my phone to connect to the wifi and start searching for `a company with an underground train inside.’ Of course, I could not find any. I continue to sweat as the train passes through a dark tunnel. Will I be taken by line to experiment on? I slowly move closer to a pole… which would not help me if anything happens, but having something solid nearby still makes me feel much safer.

“Next station, the Singh (lion) Building. Tha Singh gate. Passengers can connect to inner buildings from this station.” Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit. It really sounds like the Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story [2] – cough, I mean the metropolis train, except for the last part. “Please check your belongings before exiting the train. If you find that you have forgotten an important document, please contact the security department. Extension No. 7”

A person enters the train from the station. I was frightened and watched him attentively for anything strange, but he is just a normal-looking office worker. He glances at me before raising his eyebrows in bewilderment, so I give him a smile trying to take the bull by the horns- I mean tiger, lion, alien, or whatever. He smiles back at me, before turning his attention to the document in his hand. I secretly sigh with relief, but still keep an eye out with paranoia.

After a while, I reach the station that is my destination, the Human Building. On this whole train, I am the only one who gets off at this station. I walk straight into the elevator before pressing the button for the 10th floor. When I look through the panel, I discover that this building consists of 15 floors in total, with a small sign telling the name of the department on the side of the button. Maybe because it is related to myself, but my eyes can’t help but stop by at the sign of ‘IT Department’ …. “9th floor.”

The state of my mind right now is just like a new graduate looking for their first job, easily getting excited by anything that related to what they are applying to, so much to the point that I almost feel like the whole 9th floor is my own place. Noticing that I am being too merrily in my excitement, I try to collect myself and turn to observe the area above the panel in the elevator. There is a poem on the wall, so I move closer to read it.

I cry tear flooded to the Brahma

All the creatures drown to death

Mount Phra Sumen rot to mud, sink into the field

Only if the highest heaven helps, I can cope.

– Si Prat (One of the most well-known poet in Thai’s history) [3]

“….” Yeah, I don’t understand a thing. When I was in school, I simply just copied my friends’ work every time, to the point that I can write without even looking at my own book with nice handwriting to boost. Too bad this kind of skill can’t be put on a resume.

Seeing my 2.00 [4] grade which would not help with this situation, I simply turn my attention to the view outside of the elevator.

“Wow!”

Through the clear elevator glass wall, I see the small garden outside with a large pond in the middle, which is surrounded by smaller pools encircled with a water channel. The plants are all in strange vibrant color, contrasting with the clear blue water in the pond. The garden is enclosed with tall white buildings almost seem golden under the light from the sun.

“Amazing…” while saying that, I feel strange inside. This office building seems small from the outside, it is unbelievable that there is enough space in this crowded city of Bangkok for such a big facility like this. However, when I look back to my 2.00 GPA, my wilting heart continues to wilt even more. A big company like this… would they accept someone with a poor grade, who could not find any permanent job even after 2 years post-graduation like me?

Not only 2 years post-graduation with no job, but I also spent a full 8 years graduating from the university. The last class that I keep receiving F, I could finally pass only because an alumni who finished his master degree offered to help to tutor me with the past examination papers since my university only allows students to study for a maximum of 8 years, otherwise, I would not have gotten my degree at all.

I take a deep breath, turning to speak to the poem on the wall with a raised fist for morale.

“Alright, Phat! Let’s try my best!”

Ding!

I jumped, almost couldn’t lower my fist back down fast enough. At first, I thought I had reached the floor that I needed to go to, but it turned out to be another man walking into the elevator. He is probably another employee of this company. The other person stands at some distance across from me, I secretly peek at his t-shirt, jeans, and flip flop shoes… maybe he is not an employee, but a delivery boy… or maybe even the son of the CEO.

Suddenly, he shouts, “Elder brother [5] Phat! … Is it you, Phat?”

I look at his face in astonishment. His face is white and clean like those Korean or Japanese idols, with hair dyed red… wait a second… this face is really familiar. “Yu!”

The guy shows a big smile. “Elder bro, you finally remember me.”

Yu, or Sudayu, is a junior from the same high school as me. Actually I have graduated long before Yu gets into high school, but I get to know him when he came to chase after a girl in my year who is a senior of Yu by 6 to 7 years… Yeah, he was a highschool boy chasing after a university girl. Moreover, that girl was the most popular girl in my year. We meet each other because Yu plan gets closer to that girl by using me who is a senior from the same school.

To be honest, we hate each other’s guts at first. It is only after getting drunk together that we finally hit it off. Later, Yu got into university in another city, so we did not contact each other as often. We talked once or twice while Yu is still a freshman, before cutting off any contact since my phone went flying into the Chao Phraya river in an incident with one of my ex who found out that I was cheating on him.

“I just started working here recently. On yeah, elder bro, you also graduate in Computer Science, right? Then, are you applying for the IT department? Hehe, don’t forget to buy me a meal to celebrate!”

I think about my adorable GPA and zero work experience, feeling my heart wilting, I give him a strained smile. “Sure, if I get accepted to work here.”

“It’s a promise then. Oh, I have to get off on this floor. Hopefully, we will meet again. See you, elder bro.” Yu raises his hand to give me a wai [6] , ever so polite.

“I hope so too.”

While the elevator door is closing, I hear Yu’s speak with a mysterious smile. “I believe you have good enough ‘eyes’. Good luck, bro.”

…Eyes? I rapidly blink. Did I hear it wrong? Maybe he meant to say ‘Fate’ [7] ?

Ding!

I jump again. This time, it really is the floor of my destination. I decided to put away the matter of Yu first and focus on the big battle in front of me.

Alright! Rattiphat will try his best!

It is said that the human first step on the moon is a great historical moment of mankind, the first step of mine out of this elevator, too, is the unforeseen step which forever transforms my life, turning it upside down 180 degrees.

I at the time never imagined that, among this big company, there would only be one human being, which is me.

Footnotes:

[1] One of the most popular & largest shopping malls in Bangkok, Thailand. Picture

[2] Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story, a Thai romantic-comedy movie. The movie’s name in Thai is a wordplay from the name of the Thai metropolis train.

[3] This is a poet expressing deep longing. The poem uses “I” for a man. It depicts a man crying tears of longing for his loved one to the point where his tear floods to heaven, the animal drowns and even the mountain is submerged. Only the highest level of heaven that the tears can’t touch, just as how the highest heaven can experience hot and cold, but not human love and hate.

[4] In Thailand, we usually use the number grade from 1 to 4, which approximately is equivalent to 1=D, 2=C, 3=C, 4=A.

[5] This “Elder Brother” or “เฮีย” is in a casual way to call someone (male) who is slightly older than you. Mostly used by Thais with Chinese heritage (since the word is taken from one of Chinese dialet).

[6] Wai, a form of Thai greeting by putting the palms together and bow your head. Picture

[7] .Eyes or “duang-ta” in Thai sound similar to Fate/destiny or “duang-cha-ta”

Translator Note:

Thai poems are REALLY hard to translate. The words are in ancient Thai and are hard to understand in the first place. I try my best using various sources, hopefully, it comes out understandable and not terribly inaccurate .