The press briefing that the Student Council held the previous day did more than shift the narrative and news cycle from what happened during the welcome party. Aiden’s gamble raised the morale of the entire student body and amped their expectations of the MJU Hotlist release and the Battle of the Bands. The effects on the former was pretty clear as it dominated the MJU social media circles, while the latter mobilized the student bands across campus, lining up at the Music Club’s registration booths and their club room in droves, a testament on how effective and far-reaching the effects of the press conference and the influence the Student Council holds.

Additionally, betting pools have started popping up, focusing on who’s going to rank first on this year’s MJU Hotlist, as well as the rest of the top 10. The majority – 93% to be exact – has placed their bets on Aiden retaining his current position. Betting for some international students being on the top 10 has ramped up as well, particularly for Min, Ball, and Bank, who are surging well beyond anyone’s expectations, notwithstanding Min and Bank’s negative reception after the welcome party.

The relatively unknown fanbases for the Thai Students from Thammasat University, as well as other international students were beginning to gain traction as the anticipation and hype continued to grow. Responding to the current trend on campus, the AGs, the Jaspernatics, Aaronites, and Mingyunatics have begun a massive PR campaign to boost their respective stans. There was also mass mobilization from other fanbases from within the top 20, an annual reaction at every impending release of the Hot List.

Due to Aiden’s indirect intervention, the release date was pushed up than initially planned, and the chaotic race of the fanbases to promote their respective stans began. The immediate effect on the social circles and the student body was instantaneous as the chatters was mostly dominated by Aiden Kobayashi, Mark Chua, Marco Guzman, Jet Aguilar, Jeffrey Arceo, Mingyu Park, Sherwin Go, Jovee Lao, Lloyd Ferrer, and Jasper Hernandez – the Top 10 Hottest University-wide male division for last year.

As it did the previous academic year, the AGs dominated the PR battle with their well-organized and well-funded PR machine. Their clear and detailed strategy, disciplined members, and overflowing war chest allowed them to easily outmaneuver and outspend all the other fanbases at MJU. The abilities of Heidi were clearly showing as she efficiently, effectively, and aggressively commanded the AGs Social Media, Public Relations, and Intelligence Divisions in their PR campaign blitz, combining and taking full advantage of each division’s strengths, weaknesses and connections with devastating effects.

As the PR battle for the Hotlist raged on, another battle was happening among the students registering for the Battle of the Bands. Not only was the registration forms being taken at breakneck speed, the calculations and projections of both the Music Club and Student Council is putting the numbers of participating bands this year into a new record, poised to break the number of the highest band registration which was set back in 2005 with 35 Bands.

Projections places this year’s band registration almost double the numbers set in 2005 and is estimated to have 68 to 70 registered bands by the time registration period closes. The projection was putting the Music Club and Student Council in uncharted territory, although having a larger band registration was a good thing for the Music Club, the performance time for each band would have to be significantly reduced to one music per band to accommodate this year’s unusually large pool of participants.

Extending the Battle of the Bands into a multiple day event would upend any other events planned by the Student Council. It would also cause unplanned disruptions to classes and would push back the academic calendar which could delay the conclusion of the first semester. To remedy the problem, the Music Club officers held an emergency meeting, with Grace participating as a liaison for the Student Council to discuss and deliberate countermeasures, possible registration restrictions, solutions, and alternatives.

The meeting dragged on for the entire morning with the group reaching a deadlock by noon. With no other way forward, the Music Club decided to adjourn the meeting until later in the afternoon to give members time to rest and brainstorm ideas. Grace reported the result of the meeting to Aiden, Moira, and Angela who tried coming up with a solution to the problem as well. Aiden’s main problem was that the Music Club and Student Council could lose credibility should they impose a limit to the number of participating bands, and he certainly don’t want to restrict the number of songs each band would play to just one, which would cripple the morale of the participating bands and the student body.

Aiden knows that they are in a time-crunch, and they have to decide something with the Music Club soon or the Battle of the Bands would crash and burn even before it starts. The hype and noise surrounding the MJU Hotlist was giving them cover, but once the list is released, the spotlight is sure to pivot towards the Battle of the Bands, which is putting more pressure on the Music Club and Student Council to remedy the problem as soon as possible. Given the current situation that they were on, Aiden placed top priority on finding a solution to the current problems at hand, further, by Aiden’s instruction both the Music Club and Student Council will be keeping this matter a secret until it’s been resolved – to avoid panic and confusion. A temporary measure, until they could find a permanent and sustainable solution to the problem.

At the central cafeteria, a different kind of problem was brewing. Aaron, Jasper, Kobe, and Bank were having trouble coming up with a band name, and like the Music Club and the Student Council, they were on a time-crunch, as they have until the end of the day to turn in their registration. Although the final day is not until Friday, Jasper and his bandmates were trying to submit their registration so they would have a fighting chance to play on the prime-time spot during the Battle of the Bands, which is usually towards the end of the event, and the bands that usually submit their registration the same day gets a higher probability of getting on the coveted spot.

“Argh! I can’t think of any name!” Aaron complained, ruffling his hair in frustration.

“You need to calm down Aaron, it won’t help you think any better” Kobe responded as he looked at their pad paper which already has a page full of rejected band names.

“What about Fireflies?” Jasper suggested as Aaron and Kobe looked at him, “No!” they replied in unison.

“That sounds like a girl’s band name Jasper!” Aaron argued, his eyes furrowed.

“I’d go with Aaron on this one Jas, it sounds a bit feminine” Kobe agreed, siding with Aaron on the matter.

“What do you think Bank? Have you though on any names we could use as a Band?” Aaron asked Bank who was sitting across from him. Bank just shook his head as the group hit yet another dead end.

“Aaron, why is it you could write a detailed 70-page traffic and crowd control proposal, but you can’t think of a band name?” Jasper asked as he placed his pencil between his upper lip and nose.

“That’s a whole different subject altogether!” Aaron responded, getting more frustrated at each passing second they couldn’t think of a band name. The four guys were starting to feel the pressure, though Bank was feeling less pressure than the other guys since he doesn’t fully grasp and understand the situation and the time crunch they were in.

“Let’s take a break!” Jasper suggested as the rest of the group agreed, having skipped their morning classes to focus their energy and effort into thinking of a band name that they’ll write on the registration. Although Bank wasn’t the type to skip his classes, he did so in order to help his newfound bandmates, and more importantly to help Jasper. After his encounter with Amy yesterday, Jasper has been careful not to do or say anything that he thinks might give Bank the wrong signals or impressions. He also decided to tell Bank that he has no feelings for him after the conclusion of the Battle of the Bands, to at least keep themselves focused on their band and nothing else.

Kobe and Aaron decided to buy something heavy, given that they’ll probably be stuck in the cafeteria for a while trying to figure out their band name. Jasper hasn’t decided on what he was going to get, but Bank has been following him around. Although this doesn’t bother Jasper one bit, he was concerned about how he’s going to approach Bank, he didn’t want to be overly friendly towards him, but then again, he doesn’t want to look like a complete snob either.

Although Jasper and Mingyu has some similarities personality-wise, Jasper tends to be a little bit more caring and somewhat conscious of his actions, though sometimes his personality causes him to miss the smallest things, which resulted in his current predicament. His actions towards Bank were more of failing to notice the warning signs rather than playing with his feelings as Amy had implied, additionally, his overly-friendly attitude is something that he’s been used to, especially with Aaron and Mingyu, and he never expected someone of the same-sex would fall for him like that.

It’s not to say that Jasper doesn’t have any admirers in the LGBTQ+ community, rather, this was the first time that someone who Jasper considers a close male friend, actually developed feelings for him. Like Aiden, Jasper isn’t homophobic or against same-sex relationship, it has something to do more with their line of thinking that “this kind of relationship, maybe, isn’t for me”. Although Amy’s words sounded harsh, Jasper knows that what she said is true, and that she means it with the best intentions, what Jasper regrets the most is crossing the line wherein he’s only left with options in which either way he chooses will end up hurting Bank’s feelings.

Jasper’s thoughts were filled with these late realizations and regrets, his inner self heavily conflicted on how he should approach the situation. He’s left himself walking on a very thin line, on very thin ice, and one mistake could result in him irreparably breaking Bank’s heart. Jasper was really in deep thought that he failed to hear the stall vendor calling for him, Bank had to shake Jasper’s shoulder multiple times to snap him back to reality, a little bewildered, as he tried to regain his focus on reality.

“Oh, I’m sorry. What was I doing?” Jasper asked as he faced Bank, who then pointed towards the lady vendor who seemed worried about Jasper spacing out like he did.

“Oh, sorry ma’am. I didn’t mean to space out like that” Jasper apologized, a half smile forming on his face. This was enough to reassure the lady vendor, as Jasper unconsciously bought food for himself and Bank.

The lady vendor looked at Bank and said, “You’re lucky to have such a sweet boyfriend like him” before handing Jasper the food he bought. Although Bank couldn’t understand what the lady vendor said, the word “boyfriend” was enough to lowkey make him blush, which Jasper quickly noticed.

Jasper was clearly flustered at the comment, though he didn’t deny it either. He simply took the food he bought and thanked the lady vendor, with Bank doing the wai before they walked back to their table. It wasn’t until their walk back that Jasper realized that he bought food for two people, not wanting to waste the extra one, he gave it to Bank who accepted his offer with his usual innocent smile. Another misstep in Jasper’s mind, and yet another mixed signal sent to Bank.

Jasper didn’t say anything during their walk back to their table, his mind preoccupied by his misstep. Bank somehow noticed this and was thinking if he did something wrong to Jasper for him to be that quiet all of a sudden, his usual self not in sight. When Jasper and Bank returned, Aaron noticed the somewhat quiet atmosphere between the two.

“You guys okay?” Aaron asked, looking at Jasper, and then Bank, “You two seem awfully quiet”.

“it’s nothing” Jasper replied with a smile, which easily fooled Kobe, but not Aaron who has been friends with Jasper for a long time. Bank just smiled, slightly tilting his head down, looking at the snack and drink Jasper bought him, unable to bring himself to touch it, afraid that it was the reason Jasper was being quiet.

“You guys should hurry up and eat, we still have to finish thinking a name for our band” Kobe interjected, food still in his mouth.

“Yeah” Jasper said, “You should eat too Bank, it’s my treat, don’t worry about it” he added before he started eating as well. Bank stayed quiet for a few more seconds before he slowly started eating the food in front of him.

Although Aaron noticed something was off between Jasper and Bank, he decided to go with the flow and pretend he didn’t notice anything, opting instead to talk with Jasper at a later time and directly asking him what’s going on between him and Bank. He thought it prudent to do so without Kobe and Bank around so Jasper can speak candidly about whatever was bothering him.

Aaron has two main reasons for deciding to intervene. The first being, he was worried about his best friend, as he has never seen Jasper quiet like that for a very long time. The second was, he needed to make sure that Jasper and Bank are not fighting, since both of them are in the same band, having two members quarrel could lead to the group breaking up and being unable to perform at the Battle of the Bands, which was a dream that he and Jasper shared ever since they were in Mount Charlotte High School. For the meantime, Aaron decided to observe and see any unusual behavior that Jasper and Bank exhibit and try to get as much information that he can between the two before he asks Jasper.

Meanwhile, at the Student Council room, Aiden, Grace, Moira, and Angela were brainstorming any ideas they could present to the Music Club to accommodate the projected record number of bands that will be participating without having to extend the event day, and lowering the performance time of the bands that would allow them to only play one song.

The predicament was forcing Aiden and his team to look at extending the hours of the event itself, but there were still lingering questions about the feasibility of that idea. According to the Student Council’s calculations, if there are 70 bands participating, and each band is allowed 2 – 3 music, the total time that the event would consume would almost be 12 hours, meaning the event would have to start at noon and end at midnight. Although that was doable, the main question that lingered was, how would the Music Club and the Student Council ensure that the students won’t get bored during the 12-hour duration and not leave? Can the students really endure staying in one position for the extended period of time? If not, how can they keep the students on the venue and ensure that they stay for the entire event? These were the major questions that Aiden, Grace, Moira, and Angela faced as they try to come up with a solution and ensure that the Battle of the Bands becomes a success.

“I don’t know why the hype is this big for the Battle of the Bands; these projections are unheard of!” Grace commented as she gave out a huge sigh, throwing the clipboard on the conference table in frustration.

“It’s probably because of the major success of the Student Organization Fair and the welcome party that the expectations and hype for the next events became this large. We can expect more hype for the rest of our events for the academic year” Angela said as she monitored the situation online in her iPad, while trying to come up with ideas.

“I guess we did our job a little too well” Moira commented, with Angela agreeing with her assessment.

“It’s a little bit too late for that don’t you think, Moira? At this point, all we can do is come up with a solution so we can overcome the problem at hand” Aiden said, his usual poker face dominating the table.

“I know it’s not easy, given that we can’t extend the event duration to another day. Trying to squeeze everything down to just a day greatly limits our options and solution” Aiden added.

“We need to get creative and find a way to address our main concerns. We need to do something to keep the hype and the students for the duration of the event” Grace further added, looking at Aiden.

“Think outside the box, huh?” Moira commented, “If we’re going to think outside the box here, then we need to do something that hasn’t been done before” she continued, catching Aiden’s attention.

“You sound like you have ideas, Moira” Aiden said, putting his mechanical pencil down as he gave Moira his full attention, “Let’s hear it”

“Maybe we could upgrade the Battle of the Bands” Moira suggested, causing Aiden to raise a brow, his interest piqued with the suggestion.

“Upgrade the Battle of the Bands? In what way?” Grace responded, at loss at what Moira was suggesting.

“We could turn the event into the Battle of the Bands Festival” Moira replied, “We can setup up tents and booths on the venue, just like we did for the Student Organization Fair. Those booths and tents could sell drinks, foods, snacks, and other merchandises related to the Battle of the Bands, this could also be a fundraiser for the Music Club, of course the main event itself will still be free and open to everyone”.

“You do know the logistics involved in that right? Let’s say it’s doable, that in itself would set a major precedent that succeeding Student Councils and Music Club officers would have to emulate to ensure the Battle of the Bands would be a success” Grace countered as Aiden listened intently on the exchange.

“While that’s true, that can be managed given that the next Battle of the Bands would be a year after this one concludes, giving the current Student Council and Music Club plenty of time to draft a working foundation for our successors as reference, at least then, they wouldn’t be facing the same problem we’re facing at the moment” Moira defended her suggestion.

“I agree with you on that one, but how will we deal with the logistics of an upgraded Battle of the Bands?” Grace queried as Aiden remained silent.

“Well, Grace, if you think about it, we still have plenty of time to plan for an expanded logistics. Unlike the Student Organization Fair, we still have a couple of weeks before the actual event” Angela interjected.

“The question is, would the administration allow us to do it? “ Grace said as she looked at Aiden who looked like he was spacing out, but was actually in deep thought, processing the exchange between his Vice President and Chief of Staff.

“I’ll deal with the Administration, but I need something to give to them. If we’re upgrading the Battle of the Bands, we might as well go all out. If we’re keeping this event to just one day, we might as well make it a whole day event” Aiden suggested to the surprise of everyone else in the room.

“Aiden, wait!” Grace called out, “We’re already having trouble with trying to think of ideas of ensuring that students stay for a 12-hour event, and now you’re going to make it a whole day event!?”

“I agree on Grace with this one, a whole day event for the Battle of the Bands is unprecedented in MJU history!” Moira agreed, trying to absorb what Aiden just said.

“The student body already has high expectations for us and the Music Club to deliver something big, we might as well meet or exceed those expectations” Aiden responded, his voice cold, but was confident.

“We’ll come up with suggestions and recommendations, and then bring it to the Music Club, once they agree on our proposals I’ll personally bring this to Vice Chancellor Gutierrez” Aiden added.

“I wasn’t expecting this when I suggested we upgrade the Battle of the Bands” Moira commented, somewhat taken aback that Aiden would go big on the Battle of the Bands.

“It’s only fitting, the Battle of the Bands is one of the “Big three” events for the first semester, and it’s only natural we make a bang out of it” Aiden replied.

“I guess we might as well, this is the only thing we have for right now that is feasible and could somehow solve our problems” Grace conceded as she went along with the plan.

“Social media is going to blow up again when we announce this” Angela commented.

“At least it’s for all the right reasons” Aiden replied, “How are things in regard with the welcome party?”

“About that, the press briefing effectively buried that issue, I think it’s safe to assume that we’ve somehow contained the fallout” Angela responded, a bit relieved that Aiden’s plan worked out.

“Good, continue monitoring the situation, and give me updates if anything major or unexpected unfolds” Aiden instructed as Angela nodded her head in acknowledgement.

“For right now, we need to get our suggestions and proposals in order before the Music Club reconvenes this afternoon. I’ll inform Vice Chancellor Gutierrez of the current situation and our plan of action. The three of you can come up with something from what we just discussed. If feasible, combine it with what we’ve already come up with” Aiden instructed as he got up from his chair.

“You’re informing the Vice Chancellor now?” Grace asked, looking at Aiden.

“Yes, I rather she’s informed of our current situation so she can act when we have something finalized, it will expedite the process that way” Aiden explained as he walked towards the door.

“I expect some kind of progress when I return” Aiden said as he walked out the door. As he left, Grace, Moira, and Angela quickly scrambled to come up with something before Aiden returns.

Meanwhile outside the MJU Aquatic Center, Mingyu was waiting for Ball to arrive, having called him over for something Mingyu claimed to be an important matter under the guise of an all “boys” M.A.S.S. meeting. In reality, Mingyu was planning on checking out the girls’ swim team during their training, a fact that he deliberately omitted to convince Ball to meet and accompany him in his mischievous little excursion.

Normally, Mingyu would be taking Aaron and Jasper with him, but since they’re currently preoccupied with the Battle of the Bands registration, Mingyu decided to take Ball instead. He did consider bringing Min with them, but he knows that he might not get interested knowing the he only has a thing for Aiden.

The Aquatic center is a modern and enormous building with its famous wave-like roof and massive glass windows and is considered as one of the most famous landmarks at the MJU Campus. The Center is located across the Track and Field Stadium and opposite of the Mount Juliet University Central Grandstand and is a 10-minute walk from the Central Gymnasium and the Field Houses, with the former housing the main office of the MJU Athletics Department.

The Aquatic Center houses the aquatics division of the MJU Athletics Department, and it goes without saying is home to the water sports team, which consists of the rowing team, swimming team, water polo team, synchronized swimming team, and the scuba diving club. The facility houses five Olympic-sized swimming pools, as well as other swimming pools of varying shapes and sizes. As with any other physical education facility on MJU, it is equipped with shower rooms, locker rooms, and a state-of-the-art gym which is exclusively used by athletes for endurance, strength, and weight training.

The Aquatic Center also doubles as mid-sized medical facility, in cases of accidents or emergencies, which are manned by licensed medical providers as well as medical students and auxiliary support staff. Although Mount Juliet University also operates the larger and more advanced Mount Juliet Medical Center, it’s location outside of campus makes it difficult for students, staff, and faculty to access medical assistance easily. Additionally, Mount Juliet Medical Center is open to the public, hence it would be a bit more challenging to accommodate and focus on the students, staff, and faculty’s needs properly.

Finally, the center also has classrooms which are mainly used by the Health and Human Performance students, Physical Therapist, and Occupational Therapist students for classes and lectures. There are also laboratories that are used by both undergraduate and graduate students for research. Among the equipment that they have are decompression chambers used for practical and research purposes, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy chambers used for educational purposes and medical treatments.

 

After waiting for around 30-minutes, Ball finally arrived in front of the Aquatic Center, getting off a black 8-passenger seat golf cart that is used by students, staff, and faculty to get around campus. Of course, while there are mini buses that circles within the campus, they only cater to the major throughways and cannot stop on specific locations and buildings due to lack of proper road access.

“Ball! Over here!” Mingyu called out, waving his hands up in the air. Ball immediately saw Mingyu as he stood out like a sore thumb, looking excited and happy to see him. Some of the students in the golf cart that Ball just got off from started squealing and talking amongst themselves when they also saw Mingyu.

As Ball walked up to Mingyu, the latter greeted him with the usual fist bump before they started walking towards the main entrance of the center. The Aquatic Center, which is usually empty and somewhat deserted in the afternoons was occupied by a handful of students, faculty and staff – mostly for lectures and classes in the underground section of the facility.

The spaciousness and modern aesthetics of the lobby left Ball in awe, although the interior design was somewhat similar to the international house, the architectural design of the Aquatic Center was on a whole different level. The lobby was decorated with pictures of different MVPs from previous years, as well as trophies, medals, awards, and other commendations which spans back to the university’s founding. This was a testament to MJU’s edge and prowess in terms of their athletics team, and to the further amazement of Ball, all the awards in the lobby was just for their aquatics team. Mingyu was quick to point out that most of the trophies, medals, and awards for their athletics teams are located at the central gymnasium where the “Trophy Vault” is located.

As they walked across the lobby, people started staring at Ball and Mingyu, the former was still a bit uncomfortable being looked at in every direction, but he knows it can’t be helped given that his profile and popularity has started to skyrocket as a result of the impending release of the Hot List, which he is projected to be included in, at least in the international student category.

As usual, Mingyu was eager to bask at the attention, smiling and waving at people which made them blush, squeal, or even cover their faces in excitement, reactions that Mingyu thought was cute and adorable – both the girls and the guys, but more so on the former than the latter.

As they walked past the main reception desk at the lobby, Ball was finally able to see past through Mingyu’s deception, “Mingyu, we’re not here for a M.A.S.S. meeting, are we?” Ball said, placing both his hands inside his pockets, still walking with Mingyu.

“Wow, I didn’t think you’ll figure it out this soon” Mingyu responded, stopping on his tracks, caught by surprise on how Ball was able to figure it out so quickly.

“So, why are we here?” Ball asked, still not knowing Mingyu’s real objective.

“It’s a surprise! Come on Ball, let’s go!” Mingyu said excitedly as he placed his right arm on Ball’s shoulder, walking him towards the stairs. Ball was somewhat reluctant and suspicious of Mingyu’s motives, but he went along with him anyways, given that he’s already there.

The two made their way towards the second floor before walking down a spacious hallway that led to the central atrium, where the observation platforms that were overlooking the Olympic-sized swimming pools are located. Close to the observation platforms there is a secret area that only Mingyu, Aaron, and Jasper knows, an area where they could watch the swim team’s practice without being noticed by anyone, evidence that Mingyu has done this more than once.

The secret area is an enclosed location used by maintenance personnel to access the catwalk located on the roof. The said area is accessible through a hatch that is located on the second-floor observation deck, it is a small room that connects several areas that leads to the catwalk up on the roof section, the room has small open holes that overlooks the pools below, which is the perfect spot for Mingyu to watch the swim team discreetly.

Ball was somewhat uncomfortable entering the hatch, which has a sign that reads:

 “Authorized personnel only! Risk of injury or death may occur, keep out!”

He followed Mingyu in, thinking that he already made it this far, he might as well go all out. The thrill of doing something like this was fueling Ball to go along with Mingyu, since this was the first time Ball was going against the rules, and he was feeling nervous and excited at the same time, albeit still unaware of what they were going to do in the first place.

“What are we doing here, Mingyu? Isn’t it about time you tell me were doing?” Ball asked Mingyu in an uncomfortable tone as they entered the hatch. Mingyu didn’t respond to the question, though he obviously heard what Ball asked him.

When the two emerged in the small room, Mingyu quickly walked towards the small port windows and pointed towards it, “That’s what we’re here for” Mingyu grinned as Ball walked towards the port windows, his eyes widened upon seeing a group of girls doing stretches and warm-ups in swimsuits.

“Alright. I’m out” Ball quickly replied, fully realizing what Mingyu came here to do. As he was about to walk back towards the hatch, Mingyu grabbed his arm, and pulled him back towards the port windows.

“Don’t go killing the mood, Ball” Mingyu said as he pulled the reluctant Ball back towards the window. Mingyu then opened the messenger bag he was carrying, pulling out two binoculars and passed one to Ball, “Don’t waste this opportunity!”

“I really don’t think we should be doing this, Mingyu” Ball insisted as Mingyu started checking out the girls.

“Don’t be such a party poop Ball, you’re the first international student I brought here” Mingyu responded as he focused his attention at the poolside, “You should consider this an honor”.

“This is pretty dishonorable though” Ball said as he reluctantly looked through the binoculars. As they were observing the girls doing their stretches, Mingyu commented on how nice the curves were of the swim team captain, who happens to be #5 on the top 10 Hottest University-wide female division last year.

While there is also a female Hotlist at MJU, it’s not as hyped up and competitive like the male hotlist, which is usually garnering more attention due to the aggressive PR campaigns of their respective fanbases on campus. Furthermore, the male population at MJU is not as aggressive like their female counterparts in stanning and promoting those in the hotlist, hence the gap and disparity between the two.

As Mingyu and Ball continued observing, they spotted Katrina entering through one of the entrances to the main atrium. Ball quickly panicked at the sight of Katrina, as he knew how hot headed she can be, and if she discovers that they’re watching the swim team, they’ll get an earful from her. Mingyu was somewhat calm as he continued watching the girls as they prepared to start their laps in the pool.

“Mingyu, we need to get out of here!” Ball insisted, “If Katrina catches us here, we’ll be in big trouble!”.

“It’ll be fine, this area is safe, I’ve done this a couple of times and not once have I been caught” Mingyu confidently declared as he tried to reassure Ball.

“I don’t know how you can be so confident and calm like that” Ball replied as he looked through his binoculars again, focusing on Katrina, trying to figure out what she was doing.

Katrina was in the Aquatic Center trying to discuss with the swim team’s coach about their budget request for the academic year. Although this was Kobe’s job as the Student Council’s Treasurer, he wasn’t able to do it due to the registration for the Battle of the Bands, and so asked Katrina to follow up on clubs and organizations with errors or/and mistakes in their budget request forms.

As Katrina was speaking with the coach, Mingyu’s phone started ringing in full blast, forgetting to place his phone on silent, with his ringtone ‘Work Hard, Play Hard’ by Whiz Khalifa catching the attention of the entire swim team and Katrina. Since the room was small, the sound of the ringtone was amplified through one of the open port window, and sounded like it was coming from the university’s PA system, which basically echoed throughout the central atrium.

“Is someone there!?” the swim team’s coach called out as she, Katrina, and the entire swim team looked at the direction where the sound was coming from.

“Shit!” Mingyu exclaimed as he looked at his phone, horrified to see that Aaron was calling him at the worst possible moment.

“We’re dead! Oh my God! Oh my God!” Ball cried in a panic as he was at loss at what to do now that they’ve been compromised. As Ball was panicking, Mingyu quickly turned his phone off, putting his binoculars in his bag, before grabbing the one that Ball has.

“Ball, we need to go!” Mingyu said as he and Ball quickly bailed out of the secret spot. The two returned to the observation deck, trying their best to act normal and walk as calmly as possible to not attract any suspicion. They also tried their best to stick close to the wall to hide their presence and avoid being seen from below.

As the two entered the corridor that leads to the exit on the other side of the building, Mingyu was able to breathe a sigh of relief, “That was a close call Ball” he commented as gave out a humorless chuckle. Ball could only slap the back of Mingyu’s head in response.

“Hey! What was that for!?” Mingyu asked as he looked at Ball who was walking beside him.

“We almost got caught! We could’ve been expelled for that!” Ball countered, somewhat annoyed thinking at the prospect of being expelled from Mount Juliet.

“That’s the keyword, almost” Mingyu replied, putting emphasis on “almost” before giving out another chuckle, “Too bad we didn’t get to enjoy the rest of the show. I’m going to kill Aaron for this!”.

“How could you be so positive in this kind of situation” Ball said before giving out a sigh.

“Well, there’s always another time!” Mingyu smiled, “We’ll be extra careful then, and I’ll remember to put my phone on silent”.

Ball facepalmed in response, “How could you even think of doing this again”.

“My motto is ‘Never give up!’ that’s why!” Mingyu said before he started walking towards the exit.

“I can’t believe this!” Ball said in disbelief, “That motto of yours is going to get you in trouble someday” he continued before he started walking as well, trying to catch up to Mingyu who was somewhat already further ahead from where he was standing.

Mingyu was confident knowing that he was able to escape a close call. Had he been caught, he surely would’ve been sent to the CGS3 Student Court and faced disciplinary action. Mingyu’s luck quickly ran out when he exited the Aquatic Center, as Katrina was waiting for him outside, her hands crossed, looking irritated and annoyed – a horrifying sight, at least for Mingyu.

The moment Mingyu saw Katrina, he froze in place, shocked and surprised to see her standing outside his escape route. Ball exited a few seconds later, bumping into Mingyu’s back, rubbing his nose which was the first to hit Mingyu’s back, before standing next to the other boy, “What the hell, Mingyu? What are you doing just standing there?” Ball asked, failing to notice Katrina.

Katrina was equally shocked and surprised to see Ball, not expecting that he tagged along with Mingyu to peep at the swim team’s practice, “Ball!? You’re part of this too!?” Katrina called out, catching Ball by surprise, who also froze in place as he recognized Katrina’s voice.

“For fuck’s sake” Katrina added before facepalming, “Did you drag Ball into this!?” she continued as she glared at Mingyu who was smiling awkwardly after being caught somewhat red-handed.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, Katrina” Mingyu forcibly laughed as he scratched his cheek with his index finger, trying to deflect her accusations.

“You do know, as a member of the Student Council, I’ll have to report this to your college’s prefect” Katrina said, lowkey shocking Mingyu, not expecting Katrina to be so straightforward.

“Why would you report me to the prefect? I haven’t done anything. I thought we were friends. Why would you do something like this?” Mingyu said in disbelief.

“I’m your friend, but our friendship comes second to my duties as a member of the Student Council” Katrina replied as terror took over Mingyu’s facial expression, which he tried to hide.

“As for you Ball, I would have to report this to the International Exchange Program, and you will likely be summoned to the CGS3 Student Court with Mingyu, given that it’s also your College affiliation” Katrina continued, the tension in the air brewing.

Although Ball was nervous, it pales in comparison to how nervous Mingyu is, who knows the gravity of the current situation that they’re in but was keeping his cool and trying not to say anything incriminating that can be used against them at the Student Court. Should they be indicted, they will surely be expelled from the university, with Ball being sent back to Thailand in disgrace - their academic career at Mount Juliet was now hanging by a thread.

The thirteen colleges and the graduate programs have student courts which presides over the infractions brought against any of the students under their jurisdiction. Since Mingyu and Ball are both under the College of Global Studies and Social Sciences, the complaint against them will be filed in their college’s prefect office, who would then file the necessary paperwork before forwarding it to the student court.

The prefects are the chief enforcer of the rules, regulations, and policies as it pertains to student conduct and proper decorum, which reports directly to their respective Student Governor. They are under the jurisdiction of the Judicial Branch of the Student Government and handles the receipt, investigation, and review of complaints filed against students in their college.

The prefect’s office is responsible for forwarding cases to the student court, and should a student is indicted of the infractions that they are accused of, the prefect’s office then forwards the verdict to the Student Disciplinary Office for final review and enforcement of the court’s sentencing, and shall impose the proper disciplinary action on the student - proportionate to the infraction that they have committed.

Like any other judicial system, the defendants are given a defense student attorney, while the plaintiff is represented by a student prosecutor. Both of which are from the College of Law that operates under independent bodies, the Student Prosecutor’s Office and the Student Defense Office respectively. Additionally, court proceedings are initiated  through trial by a jury of peers, which are randomly selected students from all over the university. The Student Judge presides over the entire proceeding and ensures that it runs smoothly, other roles that they have are to: determine whether evidence submitted by either sides is admissible or not; gives instructions to the jury; determine the case using the facts and evidence provided and sentence convicted students.

All court hearings are open for anyone who wants to watch, for the most time however, the majority of observers are from the College of Law. Student from different colleges at MJU also attend, mostly for extra credit opportunity, or pure interest in the MJU judicial system. Court hearings are usually recorded via video and a stenotype machine. The video recordings of different cases can be viewed by students in the central library’s video archives, while the transcripts can be acquired through the College of Law.

Meanwhile, Aiden was waiting outside the office of Vice Chancellor Gutierrez as Annette scanned some documents behind her desk. As she waited for her documents to be scanned, she attempted to make small talk with Aiden, who was sitting on the couch across from her desk.

“So, Aiden. How did your first week of classes go?” Annette asked, shifting her focus from the scanner towards Aiden, who seemed like he was spacing out.

“It was fine” Aiden coldly replied, his arms and legs crossed, “It’s exactly as you’d expect”.

“Right” Annette awkwardly laughed, “Have you been busy lately?” she further inquired as Aiden subtly rolled his eyes, somewhat annoyed that Annette was talking to him out of the blue.

“The answer to that should be fairly obvious, Ms. Bernabe” Aiden responded with a slight attitude.

Annette was slightly taken aback by Aiden’s coldness and sarcasm, not expecting him to have a personality like that, given that he’s quite popular in the university, and didn’t act like that during their previous encounters, “I’m guessing you’re having a bad day? You seem to be in a foul mood today”.

Aiden blinked his eyes before making eye contact with Annette, “I wouldn’t call it a bad day. It’s more like any other day for the Student Council President, that’s all there is to it”.

“What do you mean by that?” Annette asked as she grabbed the papers that just finished scanning before loading another batch of documents in the scanner.

Aiden lowkey snorted, “It means it’s a bad day every day, Ms. Bernabe”. He then repositioned himself on the couch before continuing, “I’m sure you’re aware of what’s happening around campus, so you should also be aware that the Student Council has been very busy. Quite frankly it’s a lot busier than what it usually is for this time of year”.

Annette laughed awkwardly again, causing Aiden to furrow his brows in annoyance, his facial expression remaining the same, “Well, I hope it gets better for you, Aiden”.

“That’s wishful thinking at best Ms. Bernabe, the only time I would have sense of normalcy is when my term as Student Council President ends” Aiden coldly replied, with a more obvious attitude in his voice which Annette noticed, causing her to finally read the awkward atmosphere between them and realize that Aiden wasn’t in a talking mood.

“I understand, I hope your days get better though” Annette responded with a smile before taking the papers of the scanner and prepared the next batch to be scanned.

As she was doing this, the door to Vice Chancellor Gutierrez’s door opened, and the Vice Chancellor for Administration emerged from the office. Aiden quickly stood up as a sign of acknowledgement and respect, nodding his head slightly as the Vice Chancellor for Administration passed by, his nod politely returned.

“Oh! Aiden, I didn’t know you were here” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez said as she stepped out of her office, somewhat surprised by the unexpected visit.

“Have you been waiting long?” she continued before turning to her secretary, “Annette, why didn’t you tell me that Aiden was waiting here?”

“I’m sorry ma’am, President Kobayashi said to not disturb you if you were in a meeting, and that he’ll wait until you were available” Annette responded, holding a stack of papers in her hand.

“I see, well, do come in Aiden” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez said as she gestured for Aiden to enter her office, which the latter promptly followed.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez chuckled said as she closed the door.

“I need to report something to you, regarding the Battle of the Bands, and possibly a favor” Aiden replied walking towards the chairs in front of the Vice Chancellor’s desk.

“Oh? What about the Battle of the Bands? What favor would it be?” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez said as she walked towards her desk, her interest piqued, as Aiden rarely asks for any favors.

“Projections from both the Music Club and the Student Council is showing that band registration for this year would nearly triple from the previous years. Both the Music Club and Student Council are having trouble coming up with a feasible solution to ensure that each band that register would have ample time to perform during the event” Aiden explained as he sat down on one of the chairs.

“Are you planning on extending the event until the next day?” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez asked, seating on her chair behind her desk.

“No. We’re trying to at least keep the event in its original schedule, lest we mess up all of our scheduled events and the academic calendar” Aiden replied, making eye contact with the Vice Chancellor.

“As we speak, Grace, Moira, and Angela are coming up with proposals that we can bring to the Music Club when they reconvene later this afternoon. Although this is mainly a Music Club-led event, the current circumstances require the Student Council to intervene and help come up with a feasible solution” Aiden further explained, the exasperation in his voice evident.

“I see what your dilemma is now – retention of the students and performance time” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez correctly deduced as Aiden nodded his head, indicating that she was on point.

“That’s our dilemma, a proposal made by Moira was to turn the Battle of the Bands into a Battle of the Bands Festival to help with student retention for the event” Aiden said.

“I proposed we turn the Battle of the Bands into a full day event to solve the performance time problem and somewhat give the students a break and fully participate in the event” Aiden continued.

“I’m fine with that proposal. You have full authority to do so, you are the Student Council President” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez said before leaning towards her desk, her arms resting on her desk.

“So, what is this favor? I’m guessing it has something to do with the Battle of the Bands?” she continued, looking at Aiden intently.

“Obviously, what other reason could there be other than the Battle of the Bands?” Aiden quipped, triggering a hearty chuckle from the Vice Chancellor.

“I was under the assumption that it had something to do with Mr. Nontanakorn” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez responded with a grin on her face, trying her best not to laugh at Aiden’s face.

“Why would you assume something so idiotic!?” Aiden responded, internally surprised and flustered at the suggestion. Although Aiden’s reaction stayed the same, Vice Chancellor Gutierrez could tell that Aiden was shaken by the comment through the subtlest change in Aiden’s voice, his nostrils slightly enlarging, and his eyes rolling at different directions.

“I don’t know, probably because I’m assuming you may have developed slight feelings from him since the kiss during the welcome party” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez teased, before finally breaking out laughing, leaving Aiden completely speechless.

Aiden pursed his lips as he watched the Vice Chancellor laughed, tears forming at the corner of her eyes, wholly caught off guard that she would bring up something so mundane and irrelevant.

Aiden sighed, annoyed that he was being teased by the last person he would expect to bring up that awkward and embarrassing moment in his life. He quickly broke the awkward situation, “Anyways!” Aiden loudly exclaimed, causing the laughter to slightly die down.

“How much influence does the university have in the Entertainment Industry?” Aiden continued, his eyes looking more serious.

“Wait! Don’t tell me you’re planning to…!?” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez reacted in surprise, her voice fading towards the end, the sound of laughter completely disappearing when she realized what Aiden had in mind, and the magnitude he was trying to turn the Battle of the Bands into.

“Well, that caught your attention” Aiden commented, as the mood quickly turned serious.

“Like I told Grace, Moira, and Angela, we might as well go all out with this event” he continued, confidence brimming in his voice, “Is it doable?”.

Vice Chancellor Gutierrez leaned back on her chair, her expression becoming serious, “It’s doable, but it will take enormous effort, and some time. Pulling those kinds of strings is not easy, even for Mount Juliet”.

“Do it, I need some kind of confirmation by this afternoon” Aiden said, causing Vice Chancellor Gutierrez to stand up from her chair, shocked by the impossibility of the short amount of time that Aiden has allotted the university for something this big.

“Didn’t you hear what I just said!? It will take some time!” Vice Chancellor responded, putting emphasis on ‘it will take some time’ to underscore the enormous undertaking the university would be taking to satisfy Aiden’s request.

“Yes, I heard you the first time. Unfortunately we don’t have the luxury of time in our hands right now, and the quicker we get the ball rolling, the quicker we can fix this problem before it drags longer than necessary, and derail all the planning and effort of the Music Club” Aiden replied, unfazed by Vice Chancellor Gutierrez’s reaction.

“You’re an impossible kid, you know that?” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez said, sounding defeated as she sat back down on her chair, “It’s pretty ironic that you hate your father so much, yet you have the same demanding attitude as he does”.

“Ironic as it may be, I have no control over genetics, and I never wished to inherit pieces of his personality” Aiden coldly replied, the mention of his father hitting a nerve, but stopped short of reacting in a way the could cross the line.

“Can you do it or not?” Aiden bluntly asked, “If not, tell me now so I can plan for contingencies”.

“You do know that I’m the Vice Chancellor and you’re the Student Council President, not the other way around right?” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez responded, scratching her forehead.

“I’m well aware of our respective stations, yes” Aiden replied, unmoved by the Vice Chancellors’ words.

“You know this would be a lot easier if you, as your actual identity asked the entertainment industry, they would all scramble to help you out” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez suggested.

“Unfortunately it’s not that easy, and it’s a complicated matter. If I did that, not only would my existence be revealed, it could also put you in hot water for sheltering me all these years and hiding my real identity” Aiden said, somewhat bothered by what the Vice Chancellor had suggested.

“You know what a joke is right? Try to lighten up a bit! Why are you so moody today, huh?” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez asked, a bit worried about Aiden who seems to be a little off.

“I apologize. It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it” Aiden said as he gave a huge sigh.

Vice Chancellor Gutierrez snorted, “You know you’re a bad liar, Aiden. I practically raised you, I know when something’s bothering you. So what is it?”.

Aiden paused for a minute, silence enveloping the room. Aiden shifted his eyes before making eye contact with the Vice Chancellor, “I feel like I’m regressing” Aiden confessed.

“What happened?” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez asked, concerned about Aiden, “I think, maybe, we should set an appointment with Dr. Lee, see if counselling could help you again”.

“I’ve been hearing voices inside my head these past days, it feels like a memory of mine, but I can’t recall anything specific or detailed. My memory is just hazy, and I don’t know if it’s even real or something that my mind is making up to compensate” Aiden explained, as Vice Chancellor Gutierrez listened, the worry in her eyes becoming visible.

“Do you want me to set up an appointment with Dr. Lee? I think it’s best if we see her?” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez suggested.

“I’ll be fine. This is just a rough period, you know, with Mom and Itsuki’s death anniversary coming up” Aiden replied, trying to project strength and determination, “I’ll let you know if I need to see Dr. Lee”.

Vice Chancellor Gutierrez sighed, reluctantly agreeing to Aiden’s decision, “If that’s what you want, you’re all grown now, and you know yourself more than I ever would”.

“Anyways, about that favor of yours, I’ll use my influence and all the connections I have to expedite your request. I’ll try and make it to the deadline you set” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez continued, giving a warm smile to break the somewhat tense mood that developed.

“Thank you” Aiden replied, his expression remaining the same, his eyes soft and vulnerable, obviously shaken by the possibility of him regressing, “I really do appreciate this”.

“You know I’ll try and support you the best I can, with anything that you want to do” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez said as Aiden nodded his head again.

“Right, please let me know about any progress on your end” Aiden said before standing up from the chair he was sitting on.

“I’ll do my best. I’ll contact you when I have something” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez replied before Aiden started walking towards the door.

“I appreciate your assistance on this matter. I’ll go ahead and check in with my officers and see what they have come up with. I’ll update you with any progress from our end” Aiden said as he continued walking towards the door.

As Aiden reached for the doorknob, Vice Chancellor Gutierrez called suddenly called out, “Aiden”, prompting the boy to stop and look behind him.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez asked again.

Aiden just snorted before facing the door, “I’m fine, I’ll go on ahead. You have other matters to attend to” he replied before leaving the office. The coldness in Aiden’s voice was somewhat different, a difference that Vice Chancellor Gutierrez noticed and was very familiar with – something was really bothering him.

“You really are a bad liar, Aiden” Vice Chancellor Gutierrez whispered, smiling, as her office door closed.

After Aiden left, there was an eerie silence that filled the room. Vice Chancellor Gutierrez was filled with worry but was somewhat relieved that Aiden was able to show great strength and determination given the personal weight he was carrying, in addition to the full burden of responsibility placed on his shoulders as the President of the Student Council.

She opened her drawer and slowly pulled out the picture frame of her, Yuriko, Yukari, Aiden, and Itsuki, “How would you handle this situation, Yuriko?” she lamented before reminiscing of the past when Aiden was still his cheerful, happy self.

“I guess it would be futile wanting to wish for the past to come back, right, Yuriko?” The Vice Chancellor smiled, thinking how Yuriko would have laughed at her for thinking something so illogical. She gently placed the picture frame on top of her desk before reaching for her office phone.

Back in the Student Council room, Grace, Moira, and Angela were able to make some progress in regard to ideas and suggestions for the Battle of the Bands festival. The pressure and the anxiousness of being able to present something to Aiden before he comes back pushed the girls to come up with feasible ideas. They were so focused on their task that they failed to notice the crumpled papers, folders, pens, pencils, and other notes littered on top of the conference table.

The silver lining to it all was that they were able to at least fill three full-page of their notepad with ideas that was within the powers and authority of the Student Council, but most of all, something the was doable and realistic, given the tight schedule they were on and the enormity of what they were planning to do for this year’s Battle of the Bands.

“I can’t think of anything anymore, our criteria are pretty strict, and so we only narrowed it down to these” Moira said as she held the notepad up.

“It can’t be helped, we only have one day for this event, and so our options are greatly limited, but I’m still proud at the very least that we were able to come up with something” Grace replied as she rested her head on the conference table, pure exhaustion from pushing her brain into overdrive.

“I wonder how it went with the Vice Chancellor?” Angela asked as she stretched her arms in the air.

“Knowing Aiden, he probably made more progress than we did” Moira replied before giving out a sigh. Just then, her phone started ringing, causing Angela to look at her friend, with Grace shifting her head towards Moira who took her phone out of her pocket, her forehead still laying on the table.

“Oh, it’s Katrina. I wonder what she’s calling me about” Moira said, answering her phone as she got up from her chair, to stretch her legs out.  

“No, Aiden’s not here. He went to see Vice Chancellor Gutierrez, why what’s up?” Moira said as she talked to Katrina on her phone, as Angela and Grace listened on.

“Mingyu and Ball did what!?!?” Moira responded loudly, her eyes widened, her face losing color as she reacted to what Katrina just told her.

Moira’s reaction forced Grace to sit upright curious and worried by how Moira reacted just now, a gut feeling telling her that something must have gone wrong “Oh my God, now what?” Grace whispered to herself as she anxiously waited for Moira to finish her call.

“I don’t think it would be wise to inform Aiden right now. We’re in a middle of something that’s quite urgent, and we don’t need to add anything else for Aiden to think about!” Moira responded, trying to compose herself as she leaned towards the conference table, her other arm supporting her.

“Yes, that’s an order as the Student Council of Chief of Staff. Do whatever you can to deal with the CGS3 Prefect’s Office, we can’t let the word out, especially with the Mingyunatics and the Student Press Corps. We’re now just stabilizing the fallout from the welcome party, and I’ll be damned if something like this leak out in the open at a time like this” Moira added, her face looking serious and stressed.

Grace and Angela looked at each other after hearing the words “CGS3 Prefect’s Office”. Although they don’t know the details of what Moira and Katrina were talking about, the involvement of the Prefect’s Office could only mean one thing, and it’s big – in a not so good way.

“In any case, try and contain this information as long as you can. The last thing we need right now is another problem to deal with. You’re well aware of what can happen if this story spreads throughout campus, right?” Moira said as Katrina spoke on the other line. Moira nodded her head a few times before ending the call, placing her phone back in her pocket.

“Tell me it’s not another problem” Grace asked, somewhat passively, her face wincing as she mentally prepared herself for Moira’s answer.

Moira gave out a huge sigh as she fell back towards her chair, massaging her temple before lifting her head up, facing Angela, then Grace, her eyes rolling in the process. “Katrina brought a case against Mingyu and Ball at the CGS3 Prefect’s office” Moira explained, her complexion and tone of voice drained of life.

“WHAT!?” Grace and Angela simultaneously reacted to the news, Katrina massaging her forehead to try and calm herself down and prevent herself from getting stressed more than she already is.

“What the hell happened!?” Grace asked as she stood up from her chair.

“Did they have a fight or something?” Angela added as Moira gave another sigh.

“Mingyu and Ball “allegedly” sneaked into the Aquatic Center to take a peek at the girls’ swim team earlier” Moira explained before Grace facepalmed, while Angela covered her mouth, unable to react to the news.

“We absolutely cannot let Aiden know about this! We already have our hands full with the Battle of the Bands! We don’t have time to deal with this right now!” Grace cried out, stress and pressure starting to get the best of her.

“Grace is right. Mingyu is on the Hot List, and Ball is an international student, if this story breaks out, all hell would break loose, we could have another fallout with the same caliber as the welcome party. Additionally, in an optics point of view, it could damage Aiden’s reputation given that Mingyu is known to be Aiden’s closest friend on campus. I’m sure people who doesn’t like him would take full advantage of this fact, and undermine his authority, if not attack him personally” Angela added.

“I already had Katrina ask the Prefect’s Office to keep this information in the downlow, lest we get besieged by angry Mingyunatics on campus and damage our reputation with Thammasat University. For now, all we could do is keep this matter confidential among the senior members of the Student Council and we’ll promptly deal with this once we solve our current problem with the Battle of the Bands” Moira said garnering a nod of agreement from Grace and Angela.

“In the meantime, Angela, can you draw up contingency plans for this? It’s better if we’re prepared for the unexpected, so if the word does go out about Mingyu and Ball, we’ll be in a position to quickly react and contain the situation” Moira instructed.

“Did Katrina go into detail about what happened?” Grace asked, somewhat frustrated that another problem landed on their feet even before they could solve the Battle of the Bands problem.

“No. She was pretty brief about it, but if memory serves right, according to the Prefect’s Office’s protocol, an official copy of the complaint should be available by the end of the day. We can use the executive privilege of the Student Council to discreetly acquire a copy” Moira explained.

“We need to acquire a full copy of the complaint without Aiden knowing, can that be done?” Grace asked, as Moira nodded her head, “We can go with that for now, in the meantime, Angela, go ahead and draft an initial step for a contingency plan?”

“Right, I’ll get started right away, it shouldn’t take long” Angela replied as she pulled a nearby note pad to begin drafting their contingency plan.

Before Angela could write something down, Grace interrupted her, “I think it would be best if you do that in the Control Room. If Aiden walks in, he’ll for sure start asking questions”.

“I think that’s a good idea, he doesn’t need to know about this now” Moira agreed as Angela nodded her head before getting up from her chair, taking her notepad with her as she walked towards the control room to start working on the plan.

After Angela entered the control room, Aiden entered the Student Council room, carrying a large Iced coffee in his hand, “Any progress on your end?” he quickly asked, surprising Moira who’s back was turned towards the door, as well as Grace who didn’t expect Aiden to return at that moment.

“We made some progress, though I don’t know if it’s progress enough” Grace responded as Aiden walked towards the conference table, trying to control herself as to not expose what Angela was doing.

“What about on your end, Aiden?” Moira said swiveling her chair towards Aiden, somewhat relieved that he entered just as Angela closed the door to the control room.

“We’ll find out later on if I made some progress or not” Aiden responded, the vagueness of his reply took Grace and Moira aback, who were assuming he had made more progress than they did.

“What does that supposed to mean?” Grace retorted as Aiden took his seat in his usual spot, slowly scanning the littered conference table before responding, “It means what it means” Aiden said rolling his chair closer to the conference table.

“Can you get any vaguer?” Grace asked, raising her right brow.

“I can actually, but I rather not. We can end our brainstorming session here, I’ll review whatever progress you made, and I’ll incorporate it into whatever progress I might get” Aiden said.

“Also,” he added, pausing for a few second as he cleared the crumpled papers, and folders in front of him, “The last time I checked, this was the Student Council room, not some pigsty in some farm” he continued as he looked at the mess in front of him, sipping his coffee nonchalantly. 

“Sorry for that Aiden, we’ll clean up right away” Moira apologized before sitting up from her chair and started cleaning up, Grace doing the same.

“Also, where is Angela?” Aiden asked, before taking another sip from his coffee. Moira and Grace stopped as soon as they heard the question, the two girls looked at each other, trying to come up with an excuse that they could use to convince Aiden.

“Oh, Angela…” Moira responded accompanied by an awkward laughter, which didn’t seem to faze Aiden.

“She’s working on our daily Student Council press release” Grace quickly interjected.

“Isn’t it a bit too early for that? Our weekly press release is not until Friday, so what’s the rush?” Aiden asked, setting his coffee down on the table as he looked at Grace, before shifting his gaze towards Moira.

“Given the current circumstance, I thought it prudent to have Angela prepare a draft, just in case the matter with the Battle of the Bands drags longer than expected” Grace skillfully replied to deflect the somewhat suspicious Aiden.

“Right, carry on with it then” Aiden responded before grabbing his coffee again, Moira and Grace lowkey sighed in relief before continuing cleaning up the conference table. Just as Aiden was about to take another sip from his coffee, his phone chimed, indicating he received a text message.

He placed his coffee back on the table before pulling his phone out, looking at the banner, he received a message from someone named “Themis” with a message that reads “Code-113A. 98-337. 99-0146. 13:52”. After reading the message, he got up from his chair and went straight to his office, causing Moira and Grace to stop what they were doing as their eyes followed Aiden until he entered his office.

“What was that all about?” Grace asked, looking at Moira who was equally clueless as to what was happening.

“Whatever it was, it must’ve been important for Aiden to go to his office like that, in any case, let’s hurry this up before Aiden returns” Moira responded before she went back to what she was doing. Grace on the other hand continued staring towards Aiden’s office, her focus disrupted when Moira called on her to hurry up with finishing cleaning.

Inside his office, Aiden was looking at his monitor, his brow raised, “Huh, now that’s interesting” he whispered, as his eyes scanned whatever it was that he was looking at on his monitor. His concentration was broken by two knocks on his door, although his focus was taken away from what he was doing, his eyes remained locked on the monitor, half his consciousness directed towards the door.

“We’ve finished cleaning up, we’re heading out now to grab something to eat. Is there anything else you need, Aiden?” Moira called out from the other side.

“That would be all. I’ll message everyone on the group chat later. Leave your proposals on the conference table” Aiden responded; his eyes still glued on his monitor.

After looking through with whatever he was reading, Aiden leaned on his chair and looked up at the ceiling, his eyes closed. He snorted before whispering to himself, “This is really interesting, very well played”. After a few minutes, Aiden got up from his office chair and returned to the main area of the Student Council before going through the proposals that Moira, Grace, and Angela did.

That afternoon, Aaron, Jasper, Kobe, and Ball were still trying to figure out their band name, the pressure increasing as their window frame for submitting their registration form was quickly closing, with only an hour left before the submissions for the day closes.

“How about “The Four Tacos”?” Kobe suggested, half-serious, his appearance almost drained of energy.

“No!” Aaron strongly objected as laid his forehead on the cafeteria table, “I didn’t think it would be this hard to think of a band name” he continued, his voice muffled. Kobe and Jasper sighed as another suggestion was rejected.

“Do you have anything, Ball? You haven’t said much since lunch time” Kobe asked, turning his head towards Ball who was sitting across from Aaron. Ball could only shake his head; his mind was still preoccupied with Jasper’s sudden quietness earlier in the day.

“Jasper?” Kobe continued, turning towards Jasper who was sitting in front of him.

“I’ve got nothing. Maybe we should take a break? We’ve been at it since lunch” Jasper suggested as Aaron gave a huge sigh, with Kobe throwing his pencil on the table as he stretched his arms out.

“I’m going to the restroom; I’ll be right back” Jasper continued as he got up from where he was sitting. Just as Jasper was about to leave, Aaron sat upright, “I’ll come along, I need to take a piss”.

As Jasper and Aaron walked off towards the bathroom, Kobe took his phone out, taking advantage of their break to check his messages and social media accounts. Ball also did the same, checking his LINE account and replying to the messages he hasn’t read all day, mostly from Min.

After responding to all his unread messages, Ball started scrolling through his chats, and stumbled upon the “Cappuccino Power” group chat which was buried under all the messages he received from Min, Ball, and his friends back in Thailand. Out of boredom, Ball looked through the conversations they had, the last being when Min explained to everyone the meaning of “Cappuccino Power”.

Ball decided to backread as a way to kill time, and also practice his English while he waited for Aaron and Jasper to return from the restroom. As he was reading through the messages, he reached the part where Min explained his reasoning for choosing “Cappuccino Power”.

As Ball was about to scroll down to read the rest of the conversation, something suddenly dawned on him, causing him to scroll back up the explanation that he just read, “Maybe, this could work!” Ball thought to himself in Thai as a smile started forming on his face.

Meanwhile, Aaron and Jasper were using the urinal to relieve themselves when the former asked Jasper a question he’s been wanting to ask all day, “Hey, Jas” Aaron called out as they stood in front of the urinals.

“Sup?” Jasper replied, turning his head to the left where Aaron is, “If it’s about the band name, can’t it wait until we return? Not really game on thinking of a name while we take a piss” giving out a chuckle.

“Is everything chill with you and Bank?” Aaron asked, his voice sounding a bit serious. The question caused Jasper to cut short his chuckle, turning his head away from Aaron as he redirected his focus on the wall in front of him, trying to avoid the topic.

“So what’s the deal with you and Bank?” Aaron continued as Jasper finished his business, zipping his pants up before walking towards the sink. Aaron finished a few seconds later, walking up to Jasper as he zipped his pants, the sound of running water and the urinal flushing dominating the restroom. Aaron stood next to Jasper who started washing his hands, remaining quiet, his mind seemed preoccupied with something.

“Did you and Ball have a fight or something?” Aaron continued to press as he turned on the water to wash his hands.

“It’s nothing like that” Jasper finally responded, turning the water off before turning his back towards the sink as he stared at the urinals they just used, “It’s complicated”.

Aaron sighed as he turned the water off, “Nothing’s complicated, well, probably Calculus and Physics” giving off a chuckle, lightening the mood up a bit.

“I know that attitude” Aaron smiled as he placed his damp hand on Jasper’s shoulder, slightly soaking his uniform, “It’s the ‘I don’t want to talk about it yet” attitude”.

Jasper snorted as he looked at Aaron, “I didn’t think you’d still recognize it; it’s been years since I’ve been like this, probably back during Mount Charlotte”.

“How could I forget, that’s one of your rarest trademarks” Aaron jokingly said as he playfully punched Jasper’s arm, “It also shows how serious this is for you, whatever this may be”.

“Though seriously, I have to ask, will this affect our band?” Aaron continued.

“No, it won’t. I promise. I’ll deal with this as soon as the Battle of the Bands concludes, until then I can assure you that it won’t affect the band whatsoever” Jasper assured Aaron just before the latter’s phone message notification chimed.

At the same time, at the Music Club’s room, the meeting suddenly screeched to a grinding halt as Grace reacted to the message that Aiden sent to the Student Council group chat, “No way!” Grace exclaimed, surprising the officers of the Music Club.

“Is something wrong, Grace?” the President of the Music Club, Jonathan Lopez asked, as everyone present at the meeting looked at the Student Council Vice President.

“A-ah, it’s nothing” Grace stuttered before rephrasing her response, “I mean, it’s something. President Kobayashi just messaged me his proposal for the Battle of the Bands problem”.

“Oh? Let’s hear it” Jonathan replied, keen on hearing any suggestions and proposals at this point.

“I’ll send over what Aiden sent me; you could send it to your officers” Grace replied as she forwarded the message that Aiden sent to the Student Council group chat.

When Jonathan received the message, he immediately forwarded it to his officers before he started reading what Aiden had in mind. Not even halfway through Aiden’s proposal, Jonathan reacted the same way Grace did, followed by his officers.

“President Kobayashi can’t be seriously thinking about doing this!” Jonathan exclaimed as the people in the room started whispering at each other, the conversations were varied, but their facial expressions where all the same.

“Unfortunately, when Aiden decides on something, he will push through with it. Besides, his proposal does solve all of the problems we currently have, and then some” Grace explained.

“The Music Club doesn’t have funding to host something this big!” Jonathan countered as his officers nodded in agreement.

“If it’s the funding that you’re worried about, you don’t have to worry, I have discussed this with Vice Chancellor Gutierrez and the university is willing to take up 90% of the expenses using their excess funds from the previous academic year. In addition, the Student Council will handle all the logistics and preparations needed to pull this off. Furthermore, the changes to the Battle of the Bands will be announced by both the Student Council and Music Club at the time of our choosing – or so Aiden says” Grace said as she read Aiden’s second message to their GC, surprising and shocking the Music Club officers.

“If that’s the case…” Jonathan said as he looked at his officers, who were all nodding in unanimity in agreement to the proposal that Aiden has put forth - effectively adopting the Student Council proposal.

Back at the central cafeteria, Aaron and Jasper were still reeling after reading the proposal that Aiden sent through the Student Council group chat, which Aaron was a part of. As they walked back towards where Kobe and Ball were, Aaron was quick to remind Jasper not to tell anyone about the proposal until the announcement has been made by the Student Council and the Music Club – even from Kobe and Bank.

As Aaron and Jasper were walking back to their table, they could see Kobe waving his arms out in the air, his face looking excited and full of energy, “What the hell has gotten into Kobe?” Aaron commented as they approached their table.

“I don’t know, he probably lost his mind with all this thinking” Jasper jokingly commented, which garnered a small chuckle from Aaron.

“Guys! Hurry up!” Kobe called out to Aaron and Jasper as they got closer. Kobe’s sudden excitement and energy had Aaron and Jasper curious.

“Oh man! You guys sure took you time!” Kobe said as Aaron and Jasper arrived at their table.

“Well, holding your pee for over an hour will do that to you. So what’s with all this excitement and energy?” Aaron asked as he and Jasper sat back down.

As he sat down, Jasper noticed at the corner of his eye that Ball was smiling, which caused him to turn his head towards him, “Did something happen? You guys look like in a good mood?”

“We might have found the perfect band name!” Kobe excitedly announced, “Well, Ball did” he clarified.

“Wait! Ball did!?” Jasper asked, surprised that Ball thought of a name, given that he barely suggested any names throughout their brainstorming session.

“What’s the name that you thought of, Ball?” Aaron asked as everyone’s attention was directed towards the Thai student.

Ball blushed as everyone looked at him, somewhat embarrassed to share his idea for their band name, he was feeling nervous, unsure whether Aaron and Jasper would like his suggestion like Kobe did.

“What’s the name that you thought of, Ball? Jasper asked, looking at Ball intently, waiting for him to reply.

“Yeah, won’t you share it with us? We’re all friends here, more importantly, we’re all in the same band” Aaron smiled as Kobe excitedly waited, not wanting to spoil Ball’s moment.

Ball took a deep breath, his heart beating, excited and nervous. “Milk Foam”