The atmosphere in the Student Council room was awkward, and almost everyone was still shell-shocked by what Min said. Aiden, although taken aback and was initially speechless, mustered up enough will to organize and rationalize his thoughts.

“A-are you stupid or something?” Aiden stuttered as he broke the awkwardness in the room, “This is the Student Council, not some kind of cheap bar where you just drop cheesy lines like that”

“That was a surprising reaction though” Min teased, as his smile turned into a teasing grin.

Aiden slammed his hand on the conference table, “Enough!”. This snapped everyone back into normalcy, wiping the reactions off the faces of the other Student Council members in the room, Amy included.

“We’re here to discuss things that pertains to the Student Body, and any matters related to the university. I will no longer tolerate any deviations of any kind, is that understood!?” Aiden continued, his tone filled with irritation and annoyance, effectively masking the embarrassment and confusion he was still feeling.

“R-Right” Grace stuttered as she cleared her throat, “I would like to remind the International Student Representative to take the Student Council meetings seriously from this point on, is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am. Understood” Min replied, his smile wiped off from his face.

“Now that that’s clear, you can take a seat beside Aaron” Grace added, as her face turned a little more serious. Everyone else tried to move on from the awkwardness that they just experienced, although still affected by it, everyone tried to hide what they were truly feeling at the time, lest they feel Aiden’s wrath. Amy took the empty seat beside Angela, directly in front of Min, exhaling deeply to try and calm herself.

“Moira” Aiden called on his Chief of Staff, a signal to let her know that it was time to start the meeting.

“Y-yeah, in any case. This was an unexpected and surprising start for our first meeting, but let’s get started” Moira announced as she officially started the meeting. Aiden snorted as he turned his head to face Moira, giving her an irritated and annoyed look.

“By the way” Katrina chimed in, interrupting Moira before she could say another word, “Amy and Min, if you both have any questions in regards with any of our topics, don’t hesitate to ask. We’ll try and answer your questions to the best of our abilities, especially you Min, since you are an International Student”

“Thank you, I appreciate that, that would be most helpful” Min responded with a smile. Amy for her part  just gave a thumbs up in acknowledgement.

“Thank you for that Katrina, I seriously forgot about Amy and Min for a second” Moira chuckled as she went on, “As I was saying, if you open your folders, you will find our agendas for tonight. First to be discussed is this year’s Student Organization Fair that’s going to be held this Friday” Moira concluded as she turned her head towards Aiden.

“First and foremost, I would like to inform everyone that there are going to be changes for this year’s organization fair” Aiden announced as he opened the discussion on their first agenda, his tone and expression turned serious.

“Changes?” Grace asked, “What kind of changes are we talking about?”

“I have been informed earlier that the local businesses around the university will be invited to set up their own booths during the organization fair to allow them to promote their establishments. It’s fair to assume that this was done for the International Students and the incoming Freshmen” Aiden explained as the rest of the Student Council members listened on.

“That’s a first that businesses were invited to participate in the organization fair” Katrina commented.

“That’s actually pretty creative” Grace added, impressed by the university’s initiative.

“Vice Chancellor Gutierrez has a knack for doing creative things like these” Aiden replied, “The administration thought it prudent to give the International Students and the incoming Freshmen a chance to acquaint themselves with the establishments around the area by inviting them to join the organizational fair. It’s good optics for the university, and a good opportunity for participating businesses to promote and expand their customer base. It’s basically a win-win situation for everyone”

“Is the Student Council involved in reserving booths for the participating businesses?” Moira asked.

“No, the participating businesses will bring their own booths. The Office of University Relations has already designated an area for them at the Geronimo Center” Aiden clarified.

“Will there be enough space left for the organizations and clubs?” Angela chimed in.

“Yes. There should be enough space for our organizations and clubs. Speaking of, what’s the registration count so far for the organization fair?” Aiden asked shifting the conversation to the student organizations and clubs on campus.

“As of this afternoon, we already have 180 out of the 230 student organizations and clubs signed up for the fair” Grace responded.

“What’s the data from last year’s organization fair?” Aiden asked.

“Let me pull it up, give me a second” Grace said as she searched the Student Council database for the relevant data.

As Grace combed through the Student Council’s files from the previous year, Katrina spoke, “Given that the organizational fair is this Friday, I strongly suggest we close the registration period soon. This would allow the Office of Student Affairs and the Office of University Relations to prepare the necessary equipment and other materials needed for the event”

“I second that motion” Moira concurred as she momentarily stopped typing the minutes for the meeting.

“I agree. Angela, send out an email to all the student organization and club presidents and remind them about the student organization fair on Friday. Inform them that we will close the registration period tomorrow at 17:00. Also, inform the Office of Student Affairs and the Office of University Relations that we should have the final list of registered organizations and clubs by tomorrow at 18:00” Aiden responded as he gave instructions to his Public Relations Officer, who promptly jotted it down on her note pad.

“I have the data” Grace announced, “It seems like there’s an increase in participation for this year than the last, at least 38%”

“It seems like we’re going to have a larger turnout this year. But then again, that’s not the final numbers since the registration period is still open” Aiden commented.

“What time should we tell them to start setting up?” Angela interjected as she faced Aiden.

“Have them start setting up at 16:00” Aiden replied, “What of the other preparations?”

“I’m already working on the music that we’ll be using this year. I also reached out the Office of University Relations to see if they could help us with a video presentation” Katrina stated.

“What are our music genres? What’s going to be in the video?” Aiden asked.

“As of right now, I’m compiling OPM and American Pop Music. The video will have shots of different club activities from last year, as well as shots of different parts of the university” Katrina replied.

“That won’t work, we need to scrap that” Aiden responded in his usual tone, “What we have right now is geared primarily towards the Freshman. We need to consider that we also have the International Students this year as well. We must diversify our music selection and bring in some international music, other than American Pop Music. For the video, we must include some of our International Students and shots of our partner universities as well. If we use what we have right now, it could alienate some of the students”

“I agree” Angela chimed in “The optics would be bad if we just focused on what we usual do, most of the previous preparations for the student organization fair were geared towards our domestic students, now that we have the International Students, we need to expand and improve on what we already have”

“That makes sense. I’ll go ahead and contact the Office of University Relations tomorrow about the proposed changes. I’ll also work on expanding our music selection for the event” Katrina conceded as she started writing down notes in the folder in front of her.

“Have Min and the International Student Council assist you with the music selection. Meet up with them tomorrow and discuss options” Aiden instructed.

Aiden then turned his attention towards his Sergeant-at-Arms, “Aaron, go ahead and draw up plans for traffic and crowd control for the event. We need to make sure that this event is as organized and orderly as possible”

“I’ll have a draft ready by tomorrow” Aaron responded, “Should we have the ROTC assist us?”

“The ROTC stands ready to assist the Student Council with whatever they need. Just give me a rough outline of what’s needed so I can mobilize the necessary numbers of cadets to assist” Amy chimed in, offering her full support to the Student Council.

“Aaron, you and Amy work on the plans for the traffic and crowd control. Coordinate your efforts so we can have an efficient system in place for the event” Aiden instructed both Aaron and Amy. Just as Aiden finished giving his instructions, Min raised his hand.

“Something to add Min?” Aiden asked, his demeanor and voice was serious and professional, as if nothing happened prior to the start of the meeting.

“I know we’ve been told at orientation that we can join any clubs and organizations on campus, but is there a limit to how many we can join?” Min asked, his teasing personality gone, replaced by a more serious tone. Everyone then turned their heads towards Aiden, expecting him to say something smart.

“As far as I know the International Students can join multiple clubs and organizations they want, as long as it doesn’t conflict with their academics” Aiden responded without a hint of sarcasm or wittiness.

“Do you all do club fees as well?” Min followed up.

“Typically no, the Student Council provides the clubs and organizations their budgets for the academic year, some organizations and clubs do ask for some type of fee for any activities they may have that is not covered by their budget for the year” Aiden answered, as Min jotted down the information he was being provided with.

“Do you have any more questions in regards with our current topic?” Aiden asked.

“No, that’s all for now. Thank you” Min responded.

“Do we have any more questions? Anything else that we missed?” Aiden asked as he scanned the room.

“If there’s no more questions or anything else to be added, we’ll move on to our next topic” Moira announced, “The next on our list is the International Student Welcome Party”

“For the International Student Welcome Party, we need to talk about the time, location, food, attendees, and the program” Aiden stated the requirements for the second agenda.

Aiden continued, “Min, since this involves the International Students as a whole, what do you think is the best time to start the welcome party?”

Min pondered for a few seconds before replying, “I think it would be best if start the party around 18:00. That way, the International Students would have enough time to explore the university and the surrounding areas, this would also give some of them time to rest”

“That’s reasonable enough, we’ll start the party at 18:00 on Saturday then. Any ideas for the venue?”

“What about the central ballroom?” Katrina proposed, “It should be large enough to hold all of our International Students”

“The central ballroom is indeed spacious. It should be able to accommodate all the tables we will need and have enough space for a mid-sized stage and activities” Angela added.

“Is the central ballroom available for that day?” Aiden asked as Grace went to the Student Center website to check the availability of their chosen venue for the welcome party.

“The ballroom is open on Saturday, should I go ahead and book it?” Grace inquired, waiting for Aiden’s approval before continuing.

“Is everyone in agreement with the venue?” Aiden asked as everyone nodded in agreement. Aiden gestured at Grace, giving her the go ahead to book the venue, as she promptly entered the necessary information needed to reserve the room.

“We’ll let Grace handle the reservation” Aiden continued, “In terms of food, I’d like to propose serving Filipino dishes for the party. In that way our International Students could have a taste of the local cuisine” Aiden proposed.

“I think that’s a good idea!” Min responded.

“If we’re doing Filipino food, I suggest we call in a catering service. Either from the university or any of the restaurants close by” Angela proposed, Aaron and Amy nodding in agreement.

“Before we could talk about catering, we need to have a rough estimate of how many people will be attending the welcome party” Katrina chimed in.

“Aside from the International Students, how many people are we expecting to come, and how many people are we inviting?” Moira asked.

“We could probably put the rough estimate to between 240 – 260 people” Angela responded.

“If we break the numbers down, were looking at the 200 International Students plus 40 to 60 other people?” Katrina inquired.

“More or less” Angela replied.

“Let’s just say we’re feeding 260 people. Do we have the budget for a catering service?” Moira queried.

“Kobe, do we have a rough estimate on our budget for this year?” Aiden asked, turning everyone’s attention towards the Treasurer.

“Yes, I just got the numbers earlier” Kobe said as he pulled out a black binder out of his backpack, flipping through a few pages, “For Academic Year 2022 – 2023, the administration has allocated 2.5 million pesos for the Student Council budget, that’s a 45% increase from last year. Furthermore, there’s at least 150 thousand pesos leftover from the Student Council’s budget from last year” Kobe reported as he read the data on his binder.

“2.5 million!?” Amy and Min gasped after hearing the amount of budget allocated to the Student Council.

“Right, this is both your first time attending a Student Council meeting” Angela chuckled.

“It may seem a lot, but don’t forget, the Student Council is disbursing some of these funds to other student organizations and clubs on campus” Grace responded as she finished reserving the ballroom for the welcome party.

“We’ll go ahead and utilize the left-over funds from last year so we can leave our current budget intact. Kobe and Katrina, explore what options we have with a budget of 150 thousand, and do a breakdown of possible expenses for the party” Aiden ordered Kobe and Katrina

“We’ll get to it; we should have a breakdown of the expenses by tomorrow” Katrina added as she jotted notes down, Kobe nodding in acknowledgement.

“What about the attendees? Other than the International Students” Aaron asked.

“Obviously, the members of the Student Council, the officers of the International Student Organization, and the International Exchange Program staff will be in attendance. We could also extend the invitation to the Executive Council, the Council of Deans, the Board of Student Governors, the MJU Times, the MJU Radio, the MJU TV and the Gang of Eight” Aiden said as he explained his plan of action.

“What’s the Executive Council? The Council of Deans? The Board of Student Governors? The MJU Times? The MJU Radio? The MJU TV? Gang of Eight?” Min inquired, confused as to what Aiden was talking about.

“That’s right, you don’t know what those are. I doubt that was in your orientation” Aiden groaned as he fell back on his chair.

“This may be a good opportunity for us to give Min the rundown of the student culture here” Aaron said as Aiden gestured for them to go ahead.

“Maybe we should break the explanations amongst ourselves” Moira proposed as she temporarily stopped typing up the minutes.

“Count me out” Aiden quipped, “Let me know when all of you are done” Aiden added before putting his earphones in his ears, moving the folder in front of him and putting his laptop where the folder was and started typing.

“There he goes” Aaron chuckled as he closed the folder in front of him, sitting up right.

“Back to his usual self” Angela added, “Well, we are temporarily adjourned, right?”

“For now, yes” Moira responded as she closed the laptop if front of her, “Grace, we may need to use the projector for this one”

“Already ahead of you” Grace replied as she prepped the laptop for their mini-crash course for Min.

“Do you want to join in on the explanation?” Katrina asked Amy.

“I’ll leave it to you guys; I’ll probably add to some things if necessary” Amy responded.

“Right, let’s split the topics up. Moira, you can explain the student culture here at Mount Juliet and the Executive Council. I’ll explain the Council of Deans, and the Board of Student Governors. Aaron you have the MJU Times and MJU Radio. Kobe, the MJU TV. Katrina, I’ll leave the Gang of Eight to you” Grace said as she split up the talking points to everyone, except Amy.

“I guess I’m first up” Moira said as she readied herself to explain the student culture at the university, as well as the Executive Council.

“Okay, so first off I’ll explain the student culture here at Mount Juliet University. Mount Juliet University is composed of 18,000 students, both in the undergraduate and graduate programs, our student body is diverse, coming from different parts of the country, even more so with the  International Students”

“Mount Juliet is composed of 13 Colleges for the undergraduate program; the College of Humanities, the College of Global Studies and Social Sciences, the College of Engineering and Architecture, the College of Law, the College of Medicine, the College of Agriculture, the College of Arts and Modern Design, the College of Natural Sciences, the College of Tourism and Hospitality, the College of Sports Science, the College of Veterinary Science, the College of Education, and the College of Computer Science and Information Technology. The graduate program is composed of 7 centers that specializes in a specific field and area of studies; the Center for Technological and Scientific Research, the Center for International Diplomacy, the Center for Agricultural Technology, the Center for Medical Sciences and Technology, the Center for Global Economics and Finance, the Center for Government Administration and Policy, and the Center for Applied Sciences”

“Mount Juliet is unlike any other universities here in the Philippines, in a sense that the students have a lot of say about the management of the university. Unlike other universities, MJU gives the students a wide latitude in governing, and organizing events and activities.” Moira explained.

“What do you mean by wide latitude in governing and organizing events and activities?” Min asked.

“That’s a great question” Moira responded before continuing, “As you probably could tell already, the Student Council here at MJU is a very powerful and influential organization. The Student Council is tasked with governing and protecting the student body, maintaining peace and order, maintaining a stable student life, and protecting and preserving the unique student culture we have here on campus. We are also tasked with organizing university-wide events and activities that are open for the campus community and the public. The Student Council is considered as the executive branch of the Student Government, the Student Congress is the legislative branch, and Student Supreme Court is the judicial branch”

“It sounds like an actual government” Min commented as Moira explained the core of student governance at Mount Juliet University.

“The Student Congress is divided into two chambers; the lower chamber is the House of Representatives, which is composed of the elected representatives from the different faculties under the different colleges, proportionate to the faculty’s student population. The upper chamber is the Senate, which is composed of five student senators from each of the colleges on campus, and five student senators that represents the graduate programs. The task of the Student Congress is to create bills and resolutions pursuant to the needs of the student body. The Student Supreme Court is mostly made up of students from the College of Law, their job is to review any bills passed by the Student Congress to see if they are in accordance with university policies and does not infringe upon the rights of the students. The Student Supreme Court also has lower courts in each of the colleges, called the Student Courts, which is tasked with hearing cases involving student infractions in the university, for example cheating or plagiarism. The Student Court is composed of a Student Judge, Student Prosecutor, Student Defense, and Jury. Sentences by the Student Courts are sent to the Student Disciplinary Office for approval and enforcement.”

“The student culture here at MJU is pretty unique too, in which most, if not all students are a fan of someone here at the university. Good-looking people are usually admired and sometimes obsessed about by the students. MJU also boasts the largest LGBTQ+ community of any university in the country, as almost everyone here on campus are open-minded. Of course, you are already familiar with the 230 student organizations and clubs here on campus, that forms one of the foundations of our student culture here at the university. MJU holds a lot of pageants and competitions for students as well, which enables our campus to have a vibrant and exciting student life. University wide events and activities are usually joined by faculty and staff as well, so there’s a strong connection between students and university employees”

“Do you have any questions so far? Reactions? Comments?” Moira asked Min, who was clearly at awe with the complexity of the student culture on campus, and the responsibilities that the student body has in terms of governance.

“Are you ready to hear about the Executive Council?” Moira asked Min as he nodded in reply.

“The Executive Council is the governing body of the University, which includes the Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Vice Chancellor for Administration, the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, the Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies, and Research and Development, the Vice Chancellor for Finance, the Vice Chancellor for University Advancement, the Vice Chancellor for Collegiate Athletics, the Vice Chancellor for Enrollment and Student Engagement, the Vice Chancellor for Community Development, the Chief Information Officer, the Chief Communication Officer, the Chief Security Officer, the President of the Faculty Senate and the Student Council President. Some of their duties are the approval of the university budget, curriculum review, administration of university functions, and creation of university policies and regulations. They are basically the chief decision body of the university ”

“Wait, so Aiden is part of the Executive Council!?” Min gasped.

“Yes, since he’s the Student Council President, he pretty much represents the entirety of the student body, hence he is included in the Executive Council” Moira explained.

Min just looked at Aiden with amazement and awe. He never would have thought that someone like Aiden, who is snobbish, and stoic could be part of such an important organ in the university. His interest towards Aiden was only increasing as he learned little bits of information about the secretive and mysterious guy, he met that morning.

“Are you okay Min?” Moira asked, breaking the gaze of amazement Min was giving Aiden.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m just amazed about all of this. I never thought that Mount Juliet was this complex, I just thought this was a normal university like any other” Min responded.

“Almost everyone thinks of that, until they finish their first semester here at Mount Juliet. We all figured this out during our freshman year, and when we joined the Freshman Council” Moira added.

“What’s the Freshman Council?” Min asked almost immediately.

“The Freshman Council is basically elected representatives of the freshmen that works with the Student Council to address the needs and concerns of the freshmen students here on campus” Moira explained.

“The current members of the Student Council were all part of the Freshmen Council last year, that’s how we all met and got acquainted with each other” Moira said.

“Min, if you’re ready, let’s move on to the next one” Grace announced as she prepared to explain the Council of Deans. Min nodded his head in acknowledgement as Moira ended her explanation of Mount Juliet and the Executive Council.

“The Council of Deans is composed of the 13 Deans that heads the colleges here on campus. The main purpose of the Council of Deans is to consolidate and coordinate the efforts of the different colleges to improve and develop plans and initiatives to expand the different colleges’ education quality and capacity. Another purpose of the Council of Deans is to advise the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs on any additions or improvements to the current curriculum, as well as propose new programs and initiatives to further develop and expand the fields offered here at MJU. They also promote and encourage friendly competitions in terms of academics, sports, and the arts between the different colleges to further help with the development and growth of our student body. In addition, the Council of Deans have overall responsibility in designing, developing, improving, and approving the uniforms for the students on their respective colleges - with the approval from the Executive Council. The overall design of our uniforms is standard, and the only thing that differentiate the uniforms are the sigil of the colleges on the breast pocket, as you probably already know from what happened earlier in the auditorium. Furthermore, the Council of Deans oversees and implement the dress code and the appearance code of our students here in the university. The rules are lax, so we can use jeans with our uniforms, if they are not extremely ripped or too showy. Male students can also have piercings if they are stud earrings and their face are not overly decorated with piercings, they can also grow their hair long if they want to. Coloring the hair or highlights are also permitted, if it’s not too distracting. Compared to the Executive Council, which has overall jurisdiction over the entire university, the Council of Deans’ jurisdiction only covers the colleges on campus, and any initiatives or policies that they want to implement must still go through the Executive Council for review and approval”

“The next one is the Board of Student Governors. The Board of Student Governors, like the Council of Deans is composed of the Student Governors of the different colleges. Each College has a Student Governor that oversees student governance in their respective colleges. The main purpose of the Board of Student Governors is to centralize the planning, discussion, implementation, and enforcement of policies and regulations passed by the Executive Council and/or the Council of Deans, the bills passed by the Student Congress, and executive orders from the Student Council President. The Board of Student Governors also shares ideas, initiatives, and proposals to help the individual Student Governors address the needs and concerns of the students under their jurisdictions. The Board of Student Governors are given the task of enforcing the dress code and appearance code implemented by the Council of Deans. Furthermore, the Board of Student Governors, like the Council of Deans are the main advisory council of the Student Council President as it relates to students, student life, and other matters that affects our students in general” Grace explained.

“I could see now why the Council of Deans and the Board of Student Governors are being invited to the welcome party, they’re an integral part of the university and are basically the heads of the different colleges on the administration and student government level. It would be helpful for the International Students to meet them” Min commented.

“It would be, and it also shows the devolution of responsibilities and powers in the university. The current setup of the University Administration and the Student Government is extremely efficient, as it delegates the powers and responsibilities to the people who are closer to their respective colleges and students” Grace added.

“I get it now. Since the people managing the different colleges, both the Dean and Student Governor, are part of the college that they are managing, they are more knowledgeable to the needs and concerns of their students, so it’s easier for them to develop solutions to address those needs, instead of letting the Student Council or the Executive Council provide the solutions. In addition, one of the important purposes of the Council of Deans and the Board of Student Governors are to share ideas so that each Dean or Student Governor can implement these ideas in their respective colleges if its effective in other colleges” Min said as he demonstrated his comprehension of what Grace explained.

“Exactly! You catch on pretty quick” Grace commended Min for quickly picking up on her explanation of the Council of Deans and the Board of Student Governors, “That’s pretty much the gist of it” Grace added as she concluded her explanation.

“Alright, my turn!” Aaron interjected as he prepared to explain MJU Times and the MJU Radio.

“Mount Juliet has its own newspaper outlet called the Mount Juliet University Times. The purpose of MJU Times is to report noteworthy news on campus, a few examples are upcoming university events, new university policies or regulations, incidents or accidents in or around the university, academic rankings, student and university accomplishments, sports, entertainment, external part-time job listings, new faculty or administration officials, student government elections, bills and/or resolutions pending, being debated, or passed by the Student Congress, and important national news among others. The MJU Times also accepts op-eds, literary works, and poetry from both students and faculty alike, as well as promos or ads by restaurants and shops in or around the university. They usually print a newspaper every week, and is free for students, faculty and staff. They also have their own website that are filled with news articles about the university, fun facts, student, faculty, or staff highlights, tips and advice for new and transfer students, and travel recommendations. They also do reviews on restaurants, shops, and places of interests within and outside the university. The MJU Times is also present on social media, such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, where they post updates and links to university news articles and relevant articles that are of interest to the student body. The entire staff of the MJU Times are Journalism and Mass Communication majors from the College of Global Studies and Social Sciences. The only faculty or staff member on the MJU Times are the overseers” Aaron explained.

“What’s an overseer?” Min asked.

“The Overseer(s) are faculty or staff members that have oversight over student media organizations. They ensure that contents that they publish or communicate to the students are appropriate and abides by university policies and regulations. They mainly filter out hate-speeches, fake news, misinformation, defamatory, libelous, discriminatory, sexual, or dangerous contents. Since the Editor-in-Chief is also a student, they needed another layer of reviewer and filter to ensure that the published materials are acceptable” Aaron responded.

“The next one is Mount Juliet’s radio station, the MJU Radio. The purpose of the MJU Radio is to air musical contents made by students. They do live performances of student singers and student bands on campus, promote upcoming events, do student, faculty, staff, and administration official interviews, radio programs, live streaming of student debates, Student Congress sessions, Student Supreme Court sessions, Faculty Senate sessions, sporting events, and musical performances, weather forecasts, traffic forecasts, on-air games, love advice, contests and in general play music mainly from the Philippines and the United States. Hopefully with the introduction of the International Students, they would also start playing international music as well. Students, faculty and staff can also request any music, ask questions to the university administration and Student Council Members. Like the MJU Times, they also have their own social media account, and most of their staff are Mass Communication majors  and have an overseer as well” Aaron added.

“Both the MJU Times and MJU Radio works with the Student Council through Angela to disseminate important information and announcements to the student body, in addition to mass emails, PA-system announcements, posts on our social media accounts and our website. This is to ensure that these announcements and information reaches our students on multiple platforms. The Student Council President and the Chancellor also uses the MJU Time and MJU Radio to communicate and send their message out to the students via interviews, and question and answer segments. They also cover the Chancellor’s State of the University Address as well as the Student Council President’s State of the Student Body Address” Aaron said as he concluded his explanation.

“Alright Kobe, your turn” Aaron said as he turned it over to Kobe.

“I’ll do my best to be informational” Kobe laughed as he begins his explanation about MJU TV.

“The last media outlet of Mount Juliet University is the Mount Juliet University TV. Unlike the MJU Times and the MJU Radio, MJU TV covers a lot more areas and is probably the most popular communications medium that we have here in the university. MJU TV has different programs that they air on campus, which includes WNN or Wolf News Network that covers important news and events in and around the university; WVN or Wolf Variety Network, which showcases variety shows focused on students, faculty and staff; WLN or Wolf Lifestyle Network, which covers the Student Life on Campus; WMTV or Wolf Music Television, which produces music videos for our bands here on campus, and showcases our singers, choir, orchestra and anything music related; WSN or Wolf Sports Network, covers our entire sporting activities inside and outside the campus, like coverage of our games in the NCAA, cheerleading competitions, sports events in the university, and the pep rally, they also hold interviews for our athletes and coaches; WEN or Wolf Education Network which covers the academic aspects of the university which includes student experiments, inventions, video animations, debates, conferences, documentaries, and thesis defense among others; WFN or the Wolf Fashion Network that focuses on fashion designs by our students and showcases latest fashion trends in the country; WHN or Wolf Health Network covers health information which includes proper hygiene, healthy eating, exercise, first aid, and health advisories; WETV or the Wolf Entertainment TV airs student made skits, dramas, movies, and reality shows, university wide events and activities, college pageants, and university-wide pageants; MJAN or the Mount Juliet Affairs Network which covers sessions of the Faculty Senate, Student Congress, Student Supreme Court, Student Court, the Chancellor’s State of the University Address, the Student Council President State of the Student Body Address. MJAN is different from WNN in which MJAN only focuses on covering important university sessions that involves the University Administration and Student Government, wherein WNN covers a vast area that relates to the university; the last one is the MJU-EBS or the Mount Juliet University Emergency Broadcasting System, this is basically a system that is utilized by the Chancellor, the Student Council President, and the Chief Security Officer to broadcast important announcements pertaining to the university, the student body and security and/or emergency situations” Kobe explained.

“Unlike the MJU Times and MJU Radio, the vast majority of the MJU TV staff are students from across the different colleges, MJU TV has an overseer as well. Although certain areas are mainly occupied by specific majors or students. For example, the WNN is mostly Mass communication and Journalism majors; WMTV are Music majors; WSN are Sports Management majors; WFN are mostly Fashion Design majors; WHN are Nursing and Medicine majors; MJAN are Political Science majors. The MJU TV has their own website that lists their programming times and different channels that cover the different networks. The MJU channels though, are only accessible within the university, they also have social media presence on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. The Student Council and the University Administration works closely with MJU TV through Angela and the Office of University Relations respectively. Like MJU Radio, the Chancellor and the Student Council President utilizes MJU TV to communicate and send out their message to the students. There are also segments where students can ask the Chancellor or the Student Council President question in live a program” Kobe continued.

“The most popular programs are probably “Gossip Friends” from the LGBTQ+ community, “MJU’s Hottest” from the Hunters, “AKS” or Aiden Kobayashi Show from the Aiden Guardians, “Instant Justice” from the Law majors, and “Expose” from the Criminal Justice majors. The Gossip Friends is a Talk Show that includes a pair of Gays, Lesbians, and Bisexuals. They mainly talk about the recent and hottest gossips around the university, as well as provide educational and informative material in regards with the LGBTQ+ and other related matters. The MJU’s Hottest covers the hottest and good-looking students on campus, they air live interviews and recorded interviews of said students, as well as regular students. The AKS is mostly Aiden related material” Kobe laughed as he talked about AKS.

“Wait, Aiden has his own show? The Student Council President Aiden!?” Min reacted in disbelief.

“Actually, no” Kobe laughed again, “It’s basically a show by his fanbase that focuses on anything Aiden”

“Aiden has a fanbase?” Min reacted in awe; his eyes fixed on Kobe

“Yes, he does, but Katrina will explain that in a little bit” Kobe said before continuing his explanation.

“Instant Justice is a show where students get instant Justice for minor student disputes. The gist of it is a Law Student will be the Judge, and two students, the defendant and plaintiff lay out their dispute and case in the court. After hearing both sides, the Judge will offer his or her verdict and effectively end the dispute of the students. The students who appear on the show sign an agreement to honor the Judge’s decision. If the disputes continue, then they will be referred to the Student Court. The difference between Instant Justice and the Student Court is that the former circumvents the normal justice system to deliver immediate justice, the latter is more formal and follows the justice system by the book, it also offers the plaintiff and defendant a student attorney and trial by jury, wherein the former doesn’t to achieve an immediate resolution to the dispute. Expose on the other hand is where two people or groups, usually a couple, a group of friends, or different cliques, or any opposing individuals or groups confront each other on the show, usually getting close to a confrontation. Pretty much like the Jerry Springer Show. I’ll let Katrina explain MJU’s Hottest as well” Kobe elaborated as he concluded his explanation.

“Alright Katrina, fire way on the Gang of Eight” Grace said as she turned over the explanation to Katrina.

“This is going to be a long explanation Min, just bear with me. This is going to be the last topic too” Katrina said as she began her explanation of the Gang of Eight.

“The Gang of Eight is an exclusive group of the most influential students here on campus. They are basically students who you don’t want to have a fight with, since they can practically turn you into an outcast and torment you until you graduate or drop out of the university” Katrina explained.

“Isn’t that bullying?” Min interjected, his expression showing concern.

“Technically, yes. But the way they do it is not through physical altercations or verbal abuses, but by isolating you from the rest of the student body. Once you’ve been declared an outcast, people would stop associating with you, and it’s difficult for you to rebuild your social standing on campus, that on its own is a form of torment. Any student who interacts with an outcast are pretty much labeled as an outcast as well” Katrina added before continuing, the only exception to that rule are the Student Council members, since we have a mandate to interact with all students on campus, all of us here are pretty much immune to being labeled as an outcast”

“If a student is labelled an outcast, can’t they get the help of the Student Council or a Faculty member to have them remove the label?” Min asked.

“While there are instances that students who are labeled as outcasts come to the Student Council, a faculty member or a member of the university administration to intervene, it’s usually pointless” Katrina responded.

“How is it pointless?” Min retorted.

“Once a student has been labeled an outcast, the student body perception and opinion about that student is already set, it can be very difficult to convince the students to change their perception and opinion. Even if they are convinced, the fear of being labeled as an outcast themselves prevents the students from interacting with labeled outcasts. That label is the ultimate punishment and humiliation one could receive here at MJU. As horrible as it may sound though, the possibility of a student being labelled an outcast is extremely rare, since all the students are aware of this cruel punishment, they tend to not pick fights with members of the Gang of Eight. All the Freshmen are also warned about this by their seniors. To that end, we need to inform the International Student Council and the International Exchange Program about explaining this to the International Students, since it appears it wasn’t included in the orientation” Katrina elaborated, before proposing explaining the Gang of Eight and the outcast system to the International Students.

“I think that is best, let’s bring this up with Aiden before the end of our meeting” Grace concurred, as the other Student Council Members and Amy nodded in agreement as well.

“Who are in the Gang of Eight?” Min asked, curious to know who as part of this exclusive group.

“The first one is the incumbent Student Council President, which is Aiden, the second is Aiden Kobayashi, the thir-” Katrina said before being interrupted by Min.

“Wait, I thought that Aiden was the first? I’m confused” Min said as he asked for clarification on the matter.

“Since the position of the Student Council President changes every year, whoever holds the post is automatically a member of the Gang of Eight, Aiden, by his own reputation in the university was named as a member of the Gang of Eight last year. Aiden held the second spot, while the previous Student Council President held the first. In order to differentiate Aiden as the Student Council President, and Aiden as an individual, the ranking wasn’t changed” Katrina further expounded.

“So, the ranking could change?” Min asked.

“Yes, it used to be the Gang of Six, until Aiden and Heide were included” Katrina replied.

“So, the name of the group changes depending on the number of people in it. I understand now. So, who decides who gets on that group?” Min further inquired.

“The current members of the group decide whether to increase or decrease their numbers. The main factor typically is the influence that the specific student holds within the student body. These people are not only influential, they are also the top-ranking students in the university in terms of academics and are recognized by the Executive Council and the Council of Deans” Katrina explained.

Min looked at Aiden again with awe and amazement. He smiled, as he kept his eyes on Aiden who was still typing on his laptop, his cuteness leaking out again in Min’s eyes.

Katrina continued, catching Min’s attention  “Anyways, the third is RJ “Mama” Espinosa, the leader of the MJU LGBTQ+ community, the fourth is Jason Marquez, the leader of the MJU Athletic Association, the fifth is Hazelyn Mendoza, the leader of the MJU Greek Association, the sixth is the incumbent Student Commander of the ROTC, Cadet-Colonel Joshua Belarmino, the seventh is Oscarlito “Oscar” Hernandez of the Hunters, and the eighth is Heide Enriquez, the leader of Aiden Guardians”

“Although the Gang of Eight are influential in the university, the only ones that has direct influence and can manipulate the perceptions and opinions of the student body are the Student Council President, RJ “Mama” Espinosa, Heide Enriquez, Jason Marquez, and Oscarlito “Oscar” Hernandez, or colloquially known as the P5 or Powerful 5. Their influence is powerful enough to even sway some members of the Executive Council, Council of Deans, and the Faculty and Staff” Katrina added.

“Now, I’m going to explain to you each member of the Gang of Eight” Katrina told Min as she continued.

“I’ll begin with Aiden. Since you were at the welcome ceremony earlier, you may have learned a bit about him, but there’s more to it than his basic introduction. Aiden Kobayashi is the President of the Mount Juliet University Student Council, President of the International Student Organization, President of the Japanese Club, Chairman of the College of Global Studies and Social Sciences Student Advisory Board, Chairman of the Foreign Clubs Association, Chairman of the Mount Juliet University Student Ambassador Association, Student Ambassador for both Mount Juliet University and College of Global Studies and Social Sciences, Chairman of the Mount Juliet University Honors Society, and Student Representative for the Mount Juliet University Advisory Board. He is a Sophomore from the College of Global Education and Social Sciences, and double majors in International Studies and Political Science” Katrina said before Min interrupted.

“How can he manage all of those!?” Min reacted with surprise, wondering how Aiden could be in so many positions within the university.

“That’s simple, the Student Council, the International Student Organization, the Japanese Club, the College of Global Studies and Social Sciences Student Advisory Board, the Foreign Clubs Association, the Student Ambassador Association, and the University Honors Society all have Chiefs-of-Staff. All seven of those Chiefs-of-Staff are consolidated into a single body called the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff. The purpose of this body is to brief Aiden on matters relating to the Chiefs-of-Staff’s respective organizations, such as important matters that need immediate attention, events, and other priority concerns. Aiden designed it in a way that the Chiefs-of-Staff can relay his instructions to his second in command for those organizations and allow them to handle matters even without Aiden being present. His Chiefs-of-Staff are basically his personal assistants, and his representatives to their respective organizations. Aiden only presides over the individual organization’s meetings if the subject is extremely important or a situation is grave enough necessitating his physical presence. Technically speaking, the Chief-of-staff ranks higher than the Vice President as their instructions are basically Aiden’s instructions. The Joint Chiefs elects a Chairman to preside over the body, and the Chairman is the one that informs Aiden of the current status of all the organizations he’s over, for the most part, Aiden sends his instructions through the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, which are relayed to the other Chiefs-of-Staff, occasionally he would meet with all of them to personally relay his instructions - the current Chairwoman of the Joint Chiefs is Moira. I think right now - I may be wrong though - Aiden’s priority is the Student Council and the International Student Organization” Katrina elaborated.

“Aiden doesn’t seem the type to run for all these positions though?” Min commented.

“You’re right, he didn’t run for any of these. Basically, he was elected by the members of those organizations because you know, he has a lot of fans on campus. For the College of Global Studies and Social Sciences Student Advisory Board and the Student Ambassador position, he was hand-picked by the Dean of the College; for the Mount Juliet University Student Ambassador he was hand-picked by the Vice Chancellor for Enrollment and Student Engagement , and for the Student Representative for the Mount Juliet University Advisory Board, he was hand-picked by the Chancellor” Katrina continued.

“That makes a lot of sense. But, couldn’t he just have quit or refused?” Min inquired.

“That’s true, we were wondering about that as well, but in all honesty, we don’t know” Katrina replied, before resuming her explanation.

“Next one is RJ “Mama” Espinosa, the current leader of the MJU LGBTQ+ community. RJ is openly gay and is casually referred to as “Mama” by everyone at the university. RJ is friendly, outgoing, and funny once you get to know him, however, he has little to no tolerance about homophobes or anyone who insults or belittle anyone within the LGBTQ+ community. He’s extremely straightforward, witty, and sarcastic as well. Out of all the members of the Gang of Eight, RJ has the least patience, earning his wrath will also earn you the wrath of the entire LGBTQ+ community on campus, which has a substantial number of members. RJ is intelligent and smart and is very skilled at designing clothes and accessories. RJ has an open dislike for Jason and Hazelyn because of their personalities. He is a Junior from the College of Arts and Modern Design, and majors in Fashion Design”

“Next is Jason Marquez, the current leader of the MJU Athletic Association. The Athletic Association is the association of all varsity sports on campus. Jason is the captain of the Basketball team and is one of the most popular athletes on campus. Jason is overly confident, boastful, conceited, and arrogant. Traits he probably got because his is an only child, spoiled and comes from a rich family. He’s very open and vocal about his dislike for Aiden, though he never really specified the reason for this, it’s probably because his crush, Hazelyn, has a thing for Aiden. While he is open-minded, he’s not very fond of RJ and the LGBTQ+ community either, as he sees them as annoying and pompous. Although he has a very nasty attitude, he is smart and his skills in Basketball are second to none. Because of his intellect and athleticism, he has the respect of the entire Athletic community on campus, even though he can be nasty, personality-wise. He is a Junior from the College of Engineering and Architecture, and majors in Engineering”

“Next is Hazelyn Mendoza, the current leader of the MJU Greek Association and President of the Tau Omega Sorority. The Greek Association is the association of all Fraternity and Sororities on campus. Hazelyn has a few similarities with Jason, such as coming from a rich family, being conceited, and overly confident. Hazelyn loves being the center of attention on every occasion, she has the latest gadgets and fashion items, is pretty much a party animal, and 100% plastic. She likes to show-off her things to everyone on campus and enjoys reviling other students for their “cheap and ugly” things, which makes a lot of people dislike her. She doesn’t care much for people other than her sorority sisters and fraternity brothers and doesn’t like to associate herself with people who she considers as “poor”, this is the reason why she doesn’t like RJ, Oscar, and Joshua, the only exception is Aiden, since she has a huge crush on him. Though she has an ugly personality, she is smart, and her philanthropic activities on campus and the community – she despises doing this but does it anyways for show – are extremely popular. She is a Sophomore from the College of Tourism and Hospitality, and majors in Tourism and Hospitality Management”

“Next is Cadet-Colonel Joshua Belarmino, the current Student Commander of the ROTC. Joshua has a serious demeanor, and like Grace and Amy, is stern and by-the-book. He comes from a military family, just like Amy. Joshua takes everything seriously and is probably one you could call the “Model Soldier” as he carries out his orders without question and can suppress his emotions and think calmly and rationally. Joshua doesn’t speak his mind, and only speaks when spoken to. Since he has a “Soldier Mentality” and strongly believes in the notion of “civilian control of the military” he pretty much goes along with what the rest of the Gang of Eight decides. Joshua doesn’t speak his mind and pretty much just listens, the second quietest person in the Gang of Eight, second only to Aiden. His life pretty much revolves around the ROTC and his studies. He is diligent and smart and has the respect of all the ROTC Brigade on campus. He is a Junior from the College of Global Studies and Social Sciences, and majors in Military Science”

“Next is Oscarlito “Oscar” Hernandez, the current leader of the Hunters. The Hunters are basically a sub-group of the LGBTQ+ community, their main purpose is to collect information about all the good-looking and hottest people on campus. Although part of the LGBTQ+ community, the Hunters are considered a separate entity from them. The tenacity of the Hunters with information collection and sharing said information to the Student Body has earned them a cult following and gave Oscar a spot in the Gang of Eight. Oscar and RJ are pretty much similar, personality-wise. Oscar is very opinionated and sometimes usually clashes with Jason and Hazelyn on several issues, especially relating to the Gang of Eight and the Hunters. Oscar has a warmer relation with RJ and Heide as he shares overlapping interests with them. Oscar, like everyone else in the Gang of Eight is smart, and is highly skilled in information gathering, especially social media stalking. He has the respect of the LGBTQ+ community, the Hunters, and all his followers on campus. He is a Junior from the College of Computer Science and Information Technology, and majors in Computer Science”

“The last one is Heide Enriquez, the current leader of Aiden Guardians. Aiden’s Fanbase and the largest fanbase on campus. Their main purpose is to “Stan” Aiden and know everything about him. Heide is a hardcore Aiden fan, and is alleged to have a crush on him, though she never explicitly admits it. Since most of the students on campus are Aiden fans - some Faculty and Staff included - Heide has a huge cult following, larger than the Gang of Eight combined, both within and outside the university. She can be outgoing, friendly, and approachable, but is extremely cunning, manipulative, over-protective and possessive of Aiden. She has a bitter hatred of Hazelyn and finds Jason repugnant. She has no problems with Joshua and is close to RJ and Oscar. She is also smart, has leadership qualities, and extremely organized. She is a Sophomore from the College of Arts and Modern Design, majoring in Fashion Design”

“You probably noticed that I barely had anything to say about Aiden” Katrina said, deviating from her explanation of the Gang of Eight.

“I did notice, you were pretty detailed about the other members of the Gang of Eight, but you were pretty vague about Aiden” Min replied.

“That’s because I don’t know much about Aiden’s personality, other than what we already know. Though I might as well mention few things I assume that I know. Based on my observations Aiden is extremely smart and intelligent, has an exemplary leadership, organizational, and oratory skills, has total control of his emotions, calm, impartial, rational, knowledgeable, extremely perceptive and sharp, knows how to put aside personal feelings, and doesn’t let it affect his decision-making. Even though he has such good qualities, he is extremely cold, witty, sarcastic, blunt, can sometimes be selfish, stoic, lazy, a huge sloth, doesn’t liked being bothered, and likes to disappear a lot. Though, once he gets serious about something, he tends to see it through to the end, he becomes extremely meticulous and decisive. That’s why sometimes I think he has a strong sense of duty” Katrina elaborated.

“I could be wrong though, since these are my personal opinion and assumptions” Katrina added.

“How can you tell all of those? I can barely read him?” Min commented, but before Katrina could respond, Moira, Grace, Kobe and Angela said in unison, “You kinda have to get to know him to be able to tell”.

This surprised Amy, Aaron, Katrina and Min, prompting a response from Katrina, “How did you guys know?”

“That’s pretty much yours, Aaron, Mingyu and Jasper’s response 99.9% of the time” Angela replied. Katrina and Aaron just smiled awkwardly in response.

“In any case, I’ll go ahead explain the Aiden Guardians and the Hunters so we could go back to our actual meeting” Katrina announced before continuing with her explanation.

“I’ll start with the Aiden Guardians. They may seem like a mob of obsessed fans at first glance, but they are extremely organized and coordinated due to Heide’s leadership. Although Heide is the leader of Aiden Guardians, the core leadership of Aiden Guardians are made up of representatives from each of the colleges here at Mount Juliet, forming what they call as the Supreme Council. Heide is not only the leader, but she was also the founder of Aiden Guardians as well” Katrina explained as Grace pulled up Heide’s student picture from the student database, projecting it on the projector screen.

“The organizational structure of Aiden Guardian is divided into five; the Supreme Council, the Social Media Division, the Intelligence Division, the Public Relations Division, and the Sales Division”

“The Sales Division?” Min asked.

“I’ll get to that in a little bit” Katrina replied, as she explained the inner workings of Aiden Guardians.

“At the very top of the organization is the Supreme Council, where decisions pertaining to their organization are debated and discussed. Their council also has a set of rules that they enacted that everyone in Aiden Guardians must follow closely, or they risked being expelled and getting labeled as an Outcast. The most prominent rule that everyone knows is the “Collective Will” rule, which states the no one from the Aiden Guardians could interact with Aiden, unless it’s related to class. The collective will of the entire fanbase is placed on Heide as the leader of the organization, and this gives her permission to openly interact with Aiden. It’s a draconian measure, but everyone who is a member of the Aiden Guardians are bound by this rule, and they comply without question”

“The Social Media Division is tasked with maintaining and handling the Aiden Guardians’ Facebook Page and group, Instagram and Twitter. The Social Media Division posts updates about Aiden and shares it with their followers, examples of this are his current location on campus, his activities and events, as well as his movements. They also share Aiden’s “official” pictures, and pictures taken by their members, though they have standards on what pictures can be shared through their official social media accounts”

“The Intelligence division handles all information gathering about Aiden, like his favorite food, favorite drink, favorite movie, hobbies, interests, classes, class schedule, extracurriculars, his movements and current location in the university, with all the members they have its pretty easy to know the last two, but none has ever figured out anything about Aiden in a personal level, not myself, Aaron, Mingyu nor Jasper.

“Who’s Mingyu and Jasper?” Min interjected, curious to who Mingyu and Jasper were.

“They’re our other friends who are also officers in the International Student Organization. You’ll probably meet them at the welcome party” Aaron responded before Katrina continued.

“The Public Relations Division handles Aiden Guardians’ website and informs their members of any new rules that their Supreme Council has enacted. They are also responsible for the recruitment of new members, and conversion of other students at the university. The Public Relations Division is also tasked with regularly updating the “Aidenclopedia” which lists any and all information that they have on Aiden. I pity them because all they have on Aiden is his name, major, college, hair color, eye color, height and his extracurricular activities”

“So, Aidenclopedia is basically like an encyclopedia, but pretty much all about Aiden?” Min asked.

“Pretty much, but the information that they have are information that we already know” Katrina replied.

“The Sales Division handles the Aiden Guardians’ Store. They are tasked with generating money for the organization, since they don’t receive any funding from the Student Council. Their main function is selling Aiden related goods, such as his “official” pictures, photobooks, posters, cutouts, T-Shirts, Hoodies, sweater, masks, keychains, necklace, bracelets, paper bags, pillow cases, comforters, blankets, plushies, name signs, and other memorabilia. They also handle their online shopping website, that is mainly geared towards Aiden fans around the country, they offer free shipping for non-MJU members who have spent over 10,000 pesos or more. You’d be surprised on how much they make weekly from selling all these products. Last year, the AG Intelligence Division found out that Aiden was drinking an Apple flavored C2, within an 8-hour period all the Apple flavored C2s were sold out within a 25-mile radius of the university, and the C2 supply that the Sales Division bought sold it for 600 pesos a piece, they sold out within 2 hours”

“I remember that from last year, we didn’t have any apple flavored C2 for at least 3-weeks because of the Sales Division!” Kobe recalled.

“Aiden was in a bad mood for the same duration, I think he really liked that drink back then” Aaron laughed as he recalled Aiden’s reaction.

“I didn’t know that people are capable of creating such an organization just for one person” Min said in disbelief as he tried to process and comprehend the details that Katrina just explained.

“Oh, you’d be surprised “Angela quipped.

“Should we move on to the Hunters then?” Katrina asked.

“Please, I’m getting more and more interested about this university” Min chuckled.

“The university or Aiden?” Angela teased, as Min slightly blushed in response.

“Well…” Min hesitated, “Probably a bit of both?” he added before giving a chuckle.

“Sounds like 10% Mount Juliet and 90% Aiden by how you have been staring at him” Moira interjected. Before Min could react, Katrina chimed in and continued with her explanation.

“I’ve touched on the subject of the Hunters during my introduction of Oscar, but I’ll reiterate it. The Hunters are a group of the LGBTQ+ community here in Mount Juliet whose purpose is to collect information about the good-looking and hottest students here on campus. Although considered as a sub-group of the LGBTQ+ community, they are loosely considered as a separate entity and organization. The Hunters have a unique set of followers and have already garnered a cult following within the university because of their activities”

“Like the LGBTQ+ community and the Aiden Guardians, the Hunters are extremely influential on campus, their social media accounts are closely followed by students, especially the photos and videos they upload. Unlike the Aiden Guardians which are organized and coordinated, the Hunters are not, their members are divided into different groups and basically acts independently, but all share the same goal”

Amy suddenly interjected, “You’ve seen the influence of the Hunters first hand this morning, so you can see how deep their influence runs”

“This morning? Ah! Those students!” Min reacted as he remembered what happened that morning when he arrived on campus.

“That’s pretty much the work of the Hunters” Amy added before turning it over back to Katrina.

“Yeah, basically what happened at that time was the Hunters got wind of us picking you up at the east entrance, and they took pictures and went live on their page, their followers saw that and some of the MJU students came rushing to see you” Katrina explained.

Grace interjected before Katrina could continue, “If it wasn’t for Katrina’s gut feeling, they would have dropped you off at the International House and you would have been mauled by far more students than those that chased us this morning”

“Is that what you meant earlier by the change of plans?” Min asked, starting to piece together the confusing and chaotic scene that transpired that morning.

“Yes, that was the whole reason” Katrina answered, “In any case, the Hunters have their own website that display their rankings of the good-looking and hottest people here at Mount Juliet. They have a ranking for each of the colleges and have a ranking for the entire university. The ranking is organized by the most votes that a candidate receives, and right now, Aiden ranks as number one in the entire university, and number one for the College of Global Studies and Social Sciences.  Although Oscar is widely considered as the leader of the Hunters, they also have a co-leader as well, her name is Princess “Prince” Geronimo” Katrina explained as Grace pulled Oscar’s and Princess’ school photo from the student database and projected it on the projection screen as Katrina continued her explanation.

“Oscar is openly gay, and Prince is openly a lesbian. Although both are influential because of their leadership of the Hunters, it was ultimately decided that Oscar will be the one to represent the Hunters in the Gang of Eight. Even though Prince wasn’t included in the Gang of Eight, she has a pretty powerful influence as well. The Hunters in general are notorious for taking stolen pictures and videos of the people in their rankings, and the people on their “Target List”, although normal people may take offense to this, the people whose pictures are secretly taken generally doesn’t mind, as this helps their own social standing, popularity and reputation on campus. Probably the most powerful platform that the Hunters have in their disposal is their program at MJU TV called “MJU’s Hottest”, where they update the student body about their rankings, do a highlight of a specific student for the day, the week, the month and the year. They also hold live interviews with people on their rankings and broadcast their recorded interviews of the people in their rankings, their target list, and the regular students at MJU” Katrina further explained.

“Has Aiden appeared on any of those interviews?” Min asked.

“The answer to that is pretty obvious, but I’ll say it anyways. No, Aiden hasn’t appeared on any of their live interviews or their recorded interviews. Once he disappears, it’s close to impossible finding him, he also places his phone on “Airplane Mode” to cut off communications from everyone, especially because his Twitter and Instagram accounts gets bombarded by notifications all the time” Katrina responded.

“Wait, so Aiden has an Instagram and Twitter account?”

“Yes, he does, he has a lot of followers, but he never follows anyone back”

“How come? What’s the point of getting on social media if you’re not going to follow anyone?”

“We don’t know either, one theory that we have is that Aiden would utilize his social media account as an alternative platform for his duties as President of the Student Council. But it’s just that, a Theory”

“Have you asked Aiden?”

“Good luck with that. The most you’d probably get from him is a sarcastic reply, a weird stare, or he’ll just ignore you completely” Katrina responded, “In any case, that’s pretty much what we have to explain, do you have any questions?”

“No, not really. But everyone’s explanation was insightful, it answered a lot of questions, especially about what happened this morning” Min replied, seemingly content and enlightened with the explanations given to him by the Student Council.

As Katrina concluded her their mini orientation, everyone turned to face Aiden, who was still busy typing on his laptop. When Aiden noticed in the corner of his eyes that everyone was looking at him, he took this as a signal that they were finish. He immediately stopped typing, and removed his head phones. Returning his laptop and the folder he moved earlier to their original positions.

“I assume everyone is done. Good, let’s continue where we left off” Aiden said, “Where were we?”

“The attendees for the welcome party” Moira reminded Aiden where they left off as she got ready to type the minutes again.

“Right. In any case, that’s my proposal for the additional attendees to the welcome party” Aiden added, although internally annoyed of the prospect of inviting the Gang of Eight to the party.

“What will be the program for the night?” Katrina asked.

“We could have an opening speech at the beginning of the party, have dinner, a few introductions and games” Angela proposed.

“That could work, let’s keep it simple and to the point so it doesn’t bore the International Students. Can you make program proposals for the party then? Aiden asked.

“Yes, I’ll draft multiple options you could choose from, I’ll share it with everyone else so they can have an input on the options as well. I will have those ready by tomorrow” Angela said as she jotted it down on her notepad.

“I have a suggestion regarding the program” Katrina announced, “Given that we’re short on time for the preparations, I suggest we let Aiden choose the option for the program, it should speed things up”

“Does anyone have a problem with that suggestion?” Aiden asked.

“I think that would be the best option, if we offer our input, it could take us longer to decide on the program” Grace spoke up as she scanned around the room. Given the lack of time for an extended debate, everyone agreed on Katrina’s suggestion to expedite the planning for the welcome party.

“Alright then, I’ll choose the program for the party. I’ll let anyone know as soon as I have decided” Aiden said as they concluded their current topic.

“The next topic is the budget allocation for the student organizations and clubs” Moira announced as they moved on to the third topic in their agenda.

“Kobe, Katrina, you guys are up” Aiden said, signaling the Treasurer and the Comptroller.

“Right, as I’ve mentioned earlier, the MJU administration has allocated 2.5 million to the Student Council this academic year. We haven’t received any budget requests from the clubs and organizations yet, but the Student Council will receive 750 Thousand of the allocated budgets. The International Student Organization for its part will receive 250 thousand, and the rest will be divided amongst the organizations and clubs on campus” Kobe said as he read the report on his binder.

“When are we setting the deadline for the budget requests?” Aiden asked.

“My target deadline would be next Friday; it should give the organizations and clubs enough time to plan and assess their budgetary needs for this academic year” Katrina responded.

“Do we have a breakdown on the expected expenses for the Student Council yet?”

“As of right now, we don’t have a general idea, that would depend on the type of activities we will hold for the 1^st and 2^nd semester”

“If we’re looking at the current budget for the Student Council, we could break our budget to 250 thousand each for the 1^st and 2^nd Semester. That should leave us with another 250 thousand as reserve. Another option would be to allocate 300 thousand each for the 1^st and 2^nd semester, and it should leave us with 150 thousand for reserves” Kobe explained.

“What does everyone think?” Aiden asked.

“Well, since we now have the International Students on campus, I say we should go all out on our activities this academic year. I say we go for 300 thousand per semester” Moira proposed, Kobe and Grace agreeing on the proposal.

“I’m sorry, but I rather play it safe, I’d go with 250 thousand per semester” Katrina counter-proposed, Angela and Aaron agreeing with the comptroller.

“It seems like there’s a tie” Moira said as the council was evenly split on the proposal for the Student Council budget for the academic year.

“What do you think Amy?” Aiden asked turning his head towards her.

“I think we should play it safe” Amy responded, siding with Katrina on the issue.

“Min?” Aiden asked, turning his head towards the International Student Representative.

“As an International Student myself, I agree with Moira’s proposal” Min replied, siding with Moira.

“It looks like you have to break the tie on this impasse Aiden” Katrina said as everyone turned their attention to the Student Council President, “We’ll accept whatever your decision may be”

Aiden leaned towards the conference table, his fingers steepled. Aiden was in deep thought, knowing that his decision would greatly affect the outcome of the activities that the Student Council would plan for the Academic Year. While Katrina does make sense about conserving their budget in case of emergencies, the International Students factor also plays well with Moira’s proposal. The Student Council room was once again quiet, everyone waiting for Aiden’s decision on the matter.

“We’ll do it this way” Aiden finally broke the silence, seemingly deciding on the budget impasse.

“Kobe, where does the funding for the International Student Organization fall under” Aiden asked as Kobe referred to his binder.

“Discretionary Spending” Kobe responded, “Why, what’s up?”

“We’ll appropriate 50 thousand from the ISO’s budget to the Student Council’s budget. This should give the Student Council 800 thousand total. We’ll split the budget to 300 thousand per semester and it should still leave us with 200 thousand for emergencies” Aiden proposed.

“If the whole purpose of Moira’s proposal is to increase our activity spending for the International Students, then transferring a portion of International Student Organization funds into the Student Council’s budget should be fine. It should still leave us with a sizeable amount of reserve funds in cases of emergencies as Katrina proposed. This should be a good compromise” Aiden added.

“That could work actually” Kobe responded to the proposal, “I would need approval from you and the administration for the re-appropriation of the 50 thousand”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, I can approve that immediately. Although, I would have to bring this up to the Executive Council meeting on Thursday to get the administration’s approval for the transfer”

“I’ll work on the re-appropriation request” Katrina said, approving of Aiden’s proposed compromise.

“Please do. Is there anything else we need to discuss in terms of budget appropriations?” Aiden asked.

“Until we get the budget proposals, there’s nothing else to discuss. We could meet again when the deadline for the budget request expires, so we could further discuss the budget appropriations” Katrina responded as Kobe nodded his head in agreement.

“If there’s nothing else, we’ll move on to the 1^st Semester activities” Aiden announced as Grace pulled up the previous year’s activities on the projector screen.

“In total, the previous Student Council held six university-wide events for the 1^st semester. These are the Battle of the Bands, Foundation Day Festival, MJU Olympics, Halloween Festival, F/S Prom, and the End of Semester Festival. For the 2^nd Semester, nine university-wide events were held. These are the Welcome Back Festival, Valentine’s Day Festival, the Greek Festival, Homecoming, Pride Festival, Recreation Week, Pep Rally, J/S Prom and the End of the Academic Year Bash” Grace said as she presented the previous Student Council’s activities from the previous academic year.

“For now, we’ll focus on what we’ll do this semester, and then we can plan the activities for the next semester. Given our budget situation, we could expand and add to the activities that the previous Student Council did” Aiden said, “Let’s recycle the activities that the Previous Student Council did last year, we’ll take this opportunity to improve and further expand those. Let’s also add another activity for this semester”

“I think that’s a good idea, almost all of those activities were successful last year, and the student body seemed to really enjoy it” Moira said.

“We could tweak some of those activities to include our International Students, especially for the Battle of the Bands, MJU Olympics and the F/S Prom” Aaron proposed.

“Uhmm, can anyone give me a background on these events? Just so I can have a gist of what we’re talking about” Min chimed in.

“Yeah, of course, we could give you an explanation” Katrina said, with Aiden nodding his head in approval.

“The Battle of the Bands is a competition amongst the bands in the different colleges on campus and was held early September last year. Foundation day is a whole-day event on the 23^rd of September to celebrate the university’s founding. The MJU Olympics are basically our Intramurals on campus, all the colleges compete on different sporting events, although we call it the “Olympics” we also hold other competitions around the campus, such as dance competitions, art competitions, poetry competitions, cooking competitions, among others, this is a week-long event, and is held during the 2^nd week of October. The Halloween Festival is held on the last day of October, for that event everyone on campus can wear a costume, and students are able to do trick-or-treat in the different colleges and offices on campus, there was also a party held at the end of the day. The F/S prom, which is basically the Freshman-Sophomore prom was a new activity that the previous Student Council launched last year. It was basically designed for the Freshmen and Sophomores, compared to the J/S prom held on the 2^nd semester, which are geared towards the Juniors and Seniors, this was held somewhere on the 2^nd week of November. The End of the Semester bash is on the last day of the 1^st Semester” Katrina elaborated as she explained the MJU events that were held last year.

“For the 2^nd semester we have the Welcome Back Festival, which is a university-wide welcome back party for our students on campus, this is held on the first day of the 2^nd semester. The Valentine’s Day Festival is self-explanatory, however MJU does hold a competition wherein the different colleges would choose a couple, and those couple would compete in a university-wide competition. The winners are named as the following academic year’s MJU Official Couple. The Greek Festival is a competition between the Fraternities and Sororities that we have on campus, they usually compete in the areas of sports, dance competition, and philanthropy. Homecoming is where our alumni come back to campus to visit, it’s usually a free day, and there are booths set up around campus for foods and other activities. Homecoming is held annually on the 2^nd Friday of March. The MJU Pride Festival is held on the last week of March to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community here at MJU, there are all sorts of activities for that week, like Drag Queen Competition, Ms. Gay MJU and Mr. Lesbian MJU, among other activities. The LGBTQ+ community plans this event in conjunction with the Student Council. Recreation Week is held on the 2^nd week of April where student can participate in different recreational activities, like Humans vs. Zombies, Video Game Competitions, and such. The Pep Rally is held almost immediately after the Recreation week, and mostly geared towards the Athletes on campus. The J/S Prom is held on the 1^st Friday of May, and the End of the Academic Year Bash is held on the last day of the academic year” Katrina explained, as Min nodded his head, indicating he understood Katrina’s explanation of the events.

“That’s basically the gist of it” Grace said, as Katrina finished her explanation.

“For this semester, let’s hold an International Week for our International Students, and each day of the week we can have different activities that our International Students could host, which will be open for the university and the public. On Monday, we could have a band performance that would let our International Students perform a song from their home country; Tuesday an International Movie Night; Wednesday a pageant that showcases the International Students’ national costumes; Thursday an International Showcase that would exhibit the students’ home countries and universities; Friday an International Café, where the students would cook dishes from their respective countries, and Saturday could be an International Sports Day” Aiden proposed.

“Aw man, that sounds awesome!” Kobe excitedly proclaimed.

“That’s actually pretty smart, that way we could give our International Students exposure to the university and public community” Grace added.

“I’m already getting excited” said Moira who was rubbing her hands together.

“That would be a blast!” Angela chimed in as everyone sounded excited about Aiden’s idea for another event for the semester. Aaron and Katrina just smiled, as if they knew that Aiden was going to suggest something in that scale.

“For now, we’ll recycle the activities and events that was done last year, and further improve them, keeping the International Students in mind when we do the improvements. This semester, our new event will be International Week. Does that work with everyone?” Aiden said as the Student Council members unanimously agreed.

“For now, we’ll keep the 2^nd semester activities as is, we can make modifications, improvements and additions once we get data and feedback from the activities and events we’re going to organize this semester with the International Students” Aiden added.

“That’s a good idea, we need to have a test-run for our activities with the International Students this year and apply what we learn from this semester to next semester’s events” Grace said.

“With the massive budget expansion this academic year, we could definitely do it” Kobe added.

“Is everyone okay with the proposals for this semester’s activities? If so, I’ll bring this up to the Executive Council for approval before we could finalize the planning and organization” Aiden asked, as everyone nodded in agreement, before moving on to their next topic.

“The last one is the International Student outing for this semester” Moira announced.

“Min, what do you think? You should have an input on this since this will directly affect the International Students” Aiden asked.

“I think we should keep the cost cheap, but still make the trip enjoyable and memorable” Min responded as Katrina, Kobe, and Angela nodded in agreement.

“If we want to keep this cheap, we may have to focus our excursions within Luzon, and at least a maximum of 2 outings” Aiden said.

“Maybe we could do Tagaytay and Baguio?” Moira suggested, as the other Student Council members focused on her.

“Why Tagaytay and Baguio?” Aaron asked.

“For one, it’s within Luzon, so it should keep the travel expenses to a minimum. Secondly, it would give the International Students an opportunity to see parts of northern and southern Luzon. Lastly, those places are popular destinations, and has picture perfect sceneries as well. ” Moira explained her reasoning.

“That does make sense” Amy chimed in, having been quiet for a while, “Tagaytay and Baguio would be the optimal locations for an outing, especially to escape the craziness and humidity of Metro Manila. Plus, the International Students will have the opportunity to see attractions like the Taal Volcano and Mines View Park”

“You guys have a point” Grace conceded.

“If we really want to keep the travel expenses to the very minimum, we could put in a request to use the university buses to make this a road trip as well.” Moira proposed, “Like what Amy said, Tagaytay and Baguio has great views, it would be the perfect places for the International Students to take photos”

“Where’s Baguio and Tagaytay?” Min asked, horribly butchering the pronunciation. Angela quickly took her phone out and searched images for Tagaytay and Baguio on her phone and showed it to Min, who was sitting next to her.

“They do look nice; I think this could work!” Min said as he looked at the pictures on Angela’s phone.

“If you think it’s fine, then I want you to bring this up with the International Student Council and get their feedback. If they approve, we could get the proposal started” Aiden said.

“The Student Council is not going to approve it?” Min asked.

“No. The International Exchange Program instructed the Student Council to come up with a proposal for an outing for the International Students this semester, and depending on how this goes, they might ask us again to plan for another one next semester. Once we have the proposal, we’ll submit it to Director Guerrero who would review it, and then submit the proposal to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for approval” Aiden explained.

“I didn’t realize it was a complicated process”

“I think since this is the first time we’re holding something like this for International Students, the university wants to make sure that the outings would be a safe incursion. Any accidents or incidents will greatly damage the reputation of the university and could jeopardize our International Exchange Program, the university does take our students’ safety seriously”

“If you put it that way, it makes a lot of sense” Min replied.

“Angela, I’ll leave the itinerary proposal to you since it’s your proposal. You can give me the draft by the end of the week” Aiden instructed Angela as the latter wrote it down on her note pad.

“Does anybody have anything to add? Min? Angela?” Aiden asked.

“I think this proposal is a good start, I’ll bring it up with the International Student Council, and have them give me a feedback, I should have something by next week” Min responded.

“This should be okay for now; we’ll worry about the rest of the details once the International Exchange Program and Vice Chancellor Gutierrez approves our proposal” Angela added.

“This ends our agendas for today’s meeting, do we have anything that anyone wants to bring up?” Aiden announced.

“There is one thing” Grace said, “While we were discussing the Gang of Eight earlier, Katrina proposed we inform the International Exchange Program and the International Students about the Gang of Eight and the Outcast system”

“Was that not included in the International Students’ orientation earlier?”

“No, and it was the first time I heard about the Gang of Eight and the Outcast system” Min responded.

Aiden sighed, “Moira, setup a meeting with Director Guerrero and the International Student Council as soon as possible”

“I’ll send out an email to Director Guerrero tomorrow morning” Moira responded to Aiden, before she turned towards Min, “Min, can you coordinate with the International Student Council, see when they are available to have a meeting?”

“Okay, I’ll ask them tomorrow” Min replied, writing it down on his folder as a reminder.

“Is there anything else, other than the Gang of Eight and Outcast System?” Aiden asked again.

“Okay. Before we officially end our meeting, there is a matter I’d like to discuss with everyone” Aiden said with a serious expression on his face.

“I plan on re-organizing and expanding the Student Council” Aiden announced to everyone’s surprise.

“How do you plan on re-organizing and expanding the Student Council?” Grace asked, visibly surprised with Aiden’s announcement.

“I intend to expand the Student Council positions to include a Secretary, ROTC Attaché, Events Coordinator, Student Ambassador Attaché, and University Intelligence Officer. I also would like to formalize the position of the International Student Representative as an official member of the Student Council” Aiden explained.

“That’s a sweeping re-organization and expansion Aiden” Katrina commented.

“What does each proposed position entail?” Moira asked.

“The position of Secretary would take over writing the minutes, prepare the agendas for the meetings, interact with the MJU Press, coordinate communiques between the Student Council, student organizations and clubs, and the university. The ROTC Attaché will be the representative of the ROTC to the Student Council and will serve as the commander of the Student Council ROTC Battalion which will report directly to the Student Council President, the Events Coordinator will handle all matters related to activities and events to be organized and hosted by the Student Council, the Student Ambassador Attaché will be the representative of the Student Ambassador Association to the Student Council, and the University Intelligence Officer will head the Student Council’s Intelligence gathering efforts within and outside the university. All of these positions would help distribute the workload equally and ensure that the Student Council operates effectively and efficiently on multiple areas and fronts relating to the Student Body and university” Aiden elaborated.

“Those positions would help ease the workload of the current Student Council members, and the position of the ROTC Attaché would help centralize our command and control authority on the ROTC for operations related to university activities” Grace conceded, “What about the Student Ambassador Attaché and the University Intelligence Officer? What purpose could they have for the Student Council?”

“I plan on proposing to the Executive Council about opening up student level relations with our partner universities and intend to post Student Ambassadors in our partner universities as representatives of our university. Our partner universities will in turn send their own Student Ambassadors to act as their representatives here at MJU. The purpose of the Student Ambassador Attaché is to handle all matters related to our relations with our partner universities on the student level, of course the creation of this position would depend whether the Executive Council approves my proposal or not. In the case of the University Intelligence Officer, their job is to collect intelligence around the university of possible threats to the student culture, and collect data and information about troublesome students, organizations or groups within MJU, in that way, we could respond to any troubles that may arise before it happens. The University Intelligence Officer will also be tasked on keeping an eye on the Gang of Eight” Aiden added.

“You plan on spying on the other members of the Gang of Eight!?” Kristina reacted with surprise.

“All of you are already aware, the Gang of Eight are influential individuals here at MJU, and each of them has control over groups and organizations that makes up a big part of the university Student Body. I believe that all of you are also aware that tensions between Jason, Hazelyn, RJ, Oscar and Heide are increasing, it would be at the best interest of the Student Body and the university if we keep a close eye on them and step in as soon as possible if the probability of an escalation presents itself. Imagine the chaos it would cause if the leaders of the largest groups at MJU starts a conflict with each other” Aiden said, as he justified the creation of the University Intelligence Officer.

“That would effectively fracture the Student Body and would pretty much be a civil war between our students” Amy deduced.

“Exactly. As Student Council President, I cannot allow that to happen, our mandate as the Student Council is to serve the best interest of the Student Body, defend our students from harm, and protect the image and reputation of the university” Aiden said.

“If you put it that way, that does sound like it would necessitate the position of the University Intelligence Officer on the Student Council” Moira conceded.

“What about the International Student Representative?” Min asked.

“Right, technically speaking, you are not officially a member of the Student Council, rather, a guest on our meetings. Officially creating that position would effectively give the International Student Representative privileges reserved only for the Student Council members. It would also give the Student Council stable oversight over the International Student Council and the International Students in general” Aiden replied.

“So that’s how it is” Min murmured.

“You have my full support on this Aiden” Katrina announced.

“Same here” Aaron added, as everyone in the Student Council offered their support for Aiden’s plan to expand and re-organize the student council.

“If that’s everything, we’ll end the meeting here” Aiden announced as he closed the folder in front of him and started packing his stuff.

It was already 20:50 when the meeting ended. The conclusion of the meeting was a sigh of relief for everyone in the Student Council, as it marked the end of their tumultuous first day back in school. It was especially a relief for Amy, Grace and Katrina after the scuffle they had to face that morning, in addition to the classes and other extracurricular activities that they are involved in. Out of everyone in the room, Aiden remained stoic, his personality returning to the cold, expressionless person that he was after taking off the mask of the Student Council President.

“That was a long meeting” Kobe yawned as he stretched his arms in the air.

“It really was, it did drag on longer than usual since we had to give Min a crash-course about Mount Juliet” Angela added, closing the folder in front of her and started writing down notes on her note pad.

“I’m sorry. The meeting dragged on because I asked too many questions” Min said as he offered his apologies to everyone.

“Don’t worry about it, I did tell you and Amy to ask questions if you need to at the beginning of the meeting” Katrina responded.

“Besides, we were going to have to explain to you what we just explained earlier, since you’ll be joining our meetings now as the International Student Representative” Aaron chimed in, giving Min some reassurance.

“Thank you” Min smiled, appreciative of the understanding the members of the Student Council were giving him.

“Also, I want to Thank you. Amy, Grace, and Katrina for this morning” Min added.

“Don’t worry about it, we were just doing our job” Grace chimed in as she returned the laptop she was using earlier at the charging station.

“Yeah, you don’t need to thank us. We’re just glad you weren’t mauled by our students on your first day here at Mount Juliet” Katrina added.

“We’re just glad you made it to the Student Center earlier without any major problems” Amy continued.

As Min thanked the girls for assisting him that morning, Aiden went into his office, leaving his bag on top of the conference table. Entering his office, he immediately started up the computer on his desk, as he pulled out some folders out of the drawer to his right.

“Are you staying Aiden?” Katrina asked as she peeked inside his office from where she was standing.

“For a little bit, yes. I have some things to attend to. All of you could go” Aiden responded without looking at Katrina.

“If that’s the case, I’m off. I’m exhausted” Kobe commented as he put his backpack on.

“Hold on a second Kobe, I’ll go with you” Amy called out as she quickly grabbed her folder from the conference table.

As soon as Amy grabbed the folder, her and Kobe headed out, waving goodbye to everyone as they walked out the door. Moira and Angela were still busy writing down notes, while Grace started putting her stuff in her backpack, Aaron and Katrina grabbed their backpacks from under the conference table.

“Can you wait up for me?” Grace called out to Aaron and Katrina as she placed her stuff inside her backpack, trying to finish as fast as she can as to not keep Aaron and Katrina waiting.

“Yeah. Take your time though” Katrina replied, “You want to head out with us Min?”

“Uh, you guys probably should go ahead” Min responded, “I’ll stay for a little bit”

“Are you sure? You should probably head on out too; you’ve had a long day as well” Grace commented as she put her backpack on.

“Yeah, I’ll head out in a few minutes”

“Do you know how to get to the International House from here?” Aaron asked as Grace walked towards him and Katrina.

“I’m meeting my friends at the lobby of the Student Center, I should be fine” Min said as Grace, Katrina and Aaron headed out the door.

“We’ll see you guys tomorrow!” Katrina said as she walked out of the Student Council room.

“What’s wrong Min? You have something else to do?” Moira asked Min as she looked up, her hand stopped writing.

“I wanted to talk to Aiden” Min responded, causing Angela to stop what she was writing as she tilted her head up to look at Min.

“I wouldn’t bother him if I were you” Angela said, putting her pen down.

“How come?”

“He’ll probably yell at you, or just plain ignore you to be honest”

“I could try can I?”

“Be my guest, but don’t say I didn’t warn you” Angela said as Min took a deep breath before walking towards Aiden’s office. As Min walked towards the office, Angela immediately stood up and walked towards Moira, who was on the other end of the conference table, taking her notepad and pen with her. Grabbing the free chair next to Moira, Angela sat down, placing her notepad and pen on the conference table in front of the chair she sat on.

“How do you think it would go?” Angela whispered.

“I don’t know to be honest, it’s hard to tell Aiden’s mood as it is” Moira whispered back.

“I guess we’ll find out” Angela responded, as the two girls watched.

The moment Min took a step inside Aiden’s office, he was immediately greeted by a cold “Get out” from Aiden who was working on the desktop computer, not even looking up to see who it was.

“Can I just say something?” Min said, looking at Aiden who was busy working, the sound of the keyboard clacking filled Aiden’s office. Aiden didn’t respond, his eyes were locked on the two computer screens in front of him.

“Aiden” Min called out. Forcing Aiden to stop whatever he was doing a he slid his chair to his right where he can visibly see Min.

“I told you to get out” Aiden responded; his voice as cold as ever.

“Can you at least let me speak?” Min asked as Aiden got up from his chair and walked towards the other boy, who was standing by the door.

As Aiden got closer to Min, he raised his left arm and grabbed the taller boy by the chin, his grip a little tighter than when he did the same thing this morning.

“Lesson Four: When I tell you something, you do it right away. Especially when I’m working” Aiden said as his grip got tighter.

“Lesson Five: Knock first before entering someone’s office” Aiden continued as he held on to Min’s chin. The other boy just stood there, listening to what Aiden had to say. No resistance or attempt to resist Aiden’s grip on him.

“FYI One: You annoy the hell out of me” Aiden added as he removed his grip from the taller boy’s chin.

“FYI Two: Just because I helped you out this morning doesn’t mean we’re friends. I did it out of necessity and my duty as Student Council President. Don’t mistake it for something else” Aiden concluded, turning his back from the other boy before walking towards his desk to continue what he was doing before being interrupted. As Aiden walked back to his desk, Min turned his back towards Aiden who was pulling his chair towards him to take a seat.

“I just wanted to thank you for your help earlier, and for stitching and washing my polo. And I’m sorry for disturbing you and teasing you earlier. That’s all that I have to say” Min said as he walked out of Aiden’s office, grabbing his stuff on the way out of the Student Council Office.

Aiden just stood behind his desk, his expression and eyes softened after hearing what Min had to say to him. He lowered his head, focusing his gaze on his table, as he bumped his fist on his desk.