Qilin sighed "Well it's fine, if she likes Azlin, that's his problem and as for not liking us, does it really matter? We should talk to those who talk to us and ignore those who ignore us, that's what my dad told me and my lil sis"
Sean stood up and dusted his clothes "You're right"
Sean helped Qilin up "So where should we go now?"
Qilin pondered "What's time?"
Sean replied "We still have an hour and a quarter before the departmental meeting"
Qilin pouted "The hostel is half an hour away and I don't like libraries"
Sean had an idea and pulled Qilin "Follow me"
Sean pulled Qilin to a bushy fence and he asked "What are we doing here?"
Sean giggled and looked around then pulled some vines apart "Follow me"
Qilin followed Sean through a path full of vines and they got to a luscious garden full of different kinds of flowers and two pairs of swings in the middle. There were butterflies everywhere and little cute rabbits on the side
Qilin who was still bothered by the leaves in his hair saw the rabbits and squealed in excitement "Awwn this little fella is so cute, how did you find this place Sean?"
Sean was proud when he saw Qilin's expression "This is the garden of secrets, I named it that, even I don't know how I found this place but I stumbled on it when I lost my way. Everything is surreal and quiet here, when you need peace and quiet or just want to be alone, this is the place"
Qilin smiled "I'm glad you trusted me enough to bring me here"
Sean asked "Just don't tell anyone except Andre and Azlin since they're our roommates and are twins. Wanna share secrets here?"
Qilin nodded "Hnn, all worries automatically disappear here"
Sean sat on a swing and Qilin carried the bunny he was playing with in his arms "So the thing is, why I was so shaken that time was because that guy's Devon, a past I don't like to recall but here goes...
When we were in middle school, I had a crush on Devon and it didn't turn out so well, he.. umm destroyed my self esteem and I fell into depression, I don't really wanna explain the whole thing because it brings bad memories. But he is homophobic and I'm bisexual so you get the whole thing"
Qilin smiled softly as he gently patted the rabbit "We both have a past that we don't want to remember. By the way, my secret is I'm gay and I have a female genital, I was born with it maybe that's why I resemble a girl so much but I know I'm a boy at least partly and I like boys. Am I weird to you?"
Sean shook his head "No not at all but I thought most people would just go do a surgery so their gender is just one though so it won't be confusing"
Qilin sighed "My parents didn't have money and my mum also died after giving birth to my sister so everything was on my dad then. How he was able to stand so strong and take care of us all alone is something I'll never be able to fathom but I'm grateful for him"
Sean asked "Does anyone else apart from your family know?"
Qilin had his head down when he said "All of my classmates in high school knew when we were in eleventh grade. The thing is I was found out once when I went to pee then I... I got raped in the bathroom b-by all the boys in my class and they spread it around school that I was a fake boy a-and..."
Qilin had tears in his eyes and couldn't say anything more. Tears welled up in Sean's eyes too and he hugged Qilin and patted his head "I'm so sorry, Linlin. You'll be fine, we'll be here for each other okay"
Qilin and Sean arrived ten minutes before time and got a good seat in the middle so as to not stand out then others started arriving five minutes later
When everyone arrived, they started with introductions and went on to elections to decide who's gonna be their governor and deputy
For the governor post, about five people came out, three boys and two girls in the end the boy with lilac coloured hair and sea blue eyes dressed in black hoodie and blue jeans standing at a height of 167cm whose name was Kelvin Storm got chosen as the governor
Then for the deputy post out of seven people that came out, a girl with dark purple hair and golden eyes dressed in a brown fuzzy hoodie and shorts wearing glasses named Ferri Blavck standing at a height of 165cm
Then someone barged in and everyone turned around to see a girl with waist length lilac hair and sea blue eyes dressed in a mini pink gown and a white fur jacket wearing silver heels standing at a height of 166cm "I should be the governor not him"
Sean whispered "She looks so much like Kelvin, must be his twin"
The girl strutted forward "My name is Melvin Storm and I am more worthy to be your governor"
Kelvin just rolled his eyes and sat on the side then the Year 2 student who was there said "Melvin, you came late and both positions have already been decided so there's no more chance for you"
Melvin rolled her eyes "Seriously, you people won't vote for me? Am way better than him"
Someone whispered "Narcissist"
Melvin squinted her eyes and saw Qilin and Sean whispering among themselves then pointed at them "You two! Did one of you just call me a narcissist!"
Qilin shook his head "No we weren't even talking about you"
Melvin scoffed "Shut up, girly I was talking to the boy. In fact, what makes you think you are in the position to talk to me uhn?"
Kelvin stood up "Melvin, that's enough. You're being rude now, that's no way to speak to a fellow girl like you"
Melvin rolled her eyes "So what? I'm not a feminist and I'm way prettier than her, gotta let her know her place"
Kelvin was about to say something when Qilin raised a hand "Excuse me, I'm not a girl and you have no right to talk down to me like you got some special thing going on in life. We're all in our first year and should be friendly with each other since we're in the same department but if you don't hold your loose tongue and tone down your high ego, you're gonna stay on the same level while the rest of us are gonna move up and yes, the truth is ugly so change your ways"
The others were shocked and Melvin was speechless while Kelvin was smiling on the side then Sean gave Qilin a thumbs up "That's my bestie"
Melvin stomped out of the place in anger and the Year 2 student continued the meeting like nothing happened
After the meeting, Ferri gave a thumbs up to Qilin as they went out the door and Kelvin came over "You did pretty good back there, err what's your name?"
Qilin answered "I'm Qilin, Fang Qilin"
Kelvin noticed Sean beside him "And you?"
Sean replied "My name's Sean Green"
Kelvin smiled "Nice to meet you, Qilin and Sean, wanna go to class together?"
Sean looked at Qilin who also looked at him then they both shrugged "Sure"
They got to the lecture theater early because the place where they had the meeting was a floor below where they had their twelve o'clock class
Kelvin said as they took their seats in the second row "So I stay on the fifth floor, what about you guys?"
Qilin and Sean were surprised then Sean replied "Linlin stays on the fifth floor too"
Kelvin was curious "Who's Linlin?"
Qilin replied "That's my nickname"
Kelvin was surprised "Oh nice, can I call you that too?"
Qilin nodded and Kelvin said "My dorm is Dorm D, room 508"
Sean giggled "Linlin, his room number is the same as yours"
Qilin said "We both stay in Dorm B but his room is on the third floor while mine is on the fifth"
Kelvin asked "So are you guys coming for Freshman Night?"
Qilin and Sean were puzzled "When?"
Kelvin raised an eyebrow "You two haven't checked your phones yet? It's tonight starts by seven tomorrow evening at the Ben Shurse Hotel twenty minutes walk away from the school gate. There are no lectures tomorrow for first years and there are sports activities to partake in too which will end by three so everyone can rest and get ready for the evening party"
Sean replied "We'll..uhm think about it"
Kelvin smiled "I hope to see you guys there"
Qilin and Sean then checked their phones after they left the lecture theater building
Qilin asked "Wanna go grab lunch?"
Sean nodded "Sure. Linlin, Andy's asking where we are and he said Azlin's evening class was canceled so he's with him"
Qilin pouted then sighed "Fine, you can tell them to meet us by the cafeteria's entrance"
Gaeul sent a text to Qilin: Me and Maddie's classes have been canceled so we wanna go shopping for tomorrow's party and grab lunch at the same time, wanna come? You can bring the boys along too"
Qilin showed Sean the text "You wanna go?"
Sean pursed his lips "That depends if you wanna go"
Qilin shook his head "Nah, I don't feel like"
Sean worriedly asked "Is it because of what I said? I shouldn't have mentioned it"
Qilin shook his head "Nope, it will be uncomfortable watching my roommate being uncomfortable because of my friend so I'd rather not. Anyways, are you going to the party?"
Sean had a finger on his chin "I have a superb idea, wanna hear it?"
Qilin curiously asked "What's that?"
Sean said in an excited whisper "Let's go as girls"
The idea excited and worried Qilin at the same time "What if we were found out or err boys come after us?"
Sean shrugged "What do we have to fear if we're taking Azlin and Andre along?"
Qilin was surprised "We're gonna tell them? Won't they see us as weird?"
Sean waved his hands "Don't worry, The twins know about me and it's not gonna be my first time dressing up as a girl in front of them. In fact, the first time I met them when we were kids, I was dressed up like a princess on Halloween which attracted Andy to me and he said he wanted to be my prince"
Qilin chuckled "I can imagine the expression on his face when you told him you were actually a boy"
Sean laughed "It was hilarious"
The duo reached the entrance of the cafeteria and waited on the side so if the twins were coming, they'd spot them
Sean asked "So deal? We'll skip tomorrow's sports activities and go shopping?"
Qilin said "You do know that if we want to go shopping for girl clothes, we need to be dressed like girls so we could try it on?"
Sean looked at Qilin's hair "Your hair just needs a little styling but I would need a wig"
Qilin asked "I would also need a wig, I don't want people to recognize me, I look like a girl already and if I dress up with my hair, people will surely know it's me no matter how much makeup or whatever"
Sean thought "That's true so you'll need a wig too! What colour do you want?"
Qilin pointed at the purple part of his hair "Definitely purple, I'm gonna go with purple pink aesthetics tomorrow. What about you?"
Sean smiled "Orange and black, it would be fantastic"
Then a voice sounded out behind him "What would be fantastic?"
Qilin scrunched up his face "It's Andre"
Sean said "Me and Linlin are dressing up as girls to the freshman party tomorrow evening, cool right?"
Azlin and Andre asked in unison "As girls?"
Qilin suddenly became shy as he looked at the ceiling with his cheeks heating up
Sean giggled "You are gonna go buy wigs for us after we're done with lunch. Get good quality"
Andre pouted "Why me?"
Sean rolled his eyes "Because we're the ones that are gonna wear it so we can't go buy it. What if someone from the university spotted us? Our plan will be ruined"
Andre looked at Azlin "Then Azah has to come with"
Azlin looked at Andre "Are you a kid who needs someone to accompany him everywhere?"
Andre blinked his eyes severally "Yes!"
Azlin answered "No"
Sean nudged Qilin and whispered "Psst, Linlin, convince your roomie to go along with Andy or he'll never go"
Qilin nodded and said "Lin, just go along with him. Besides, I'd be more reassured if you're there too that way he won't go buy fake stuff"
Azlin looked at Qilin then took a glance at Andre "Fine"
Sean said "Lunch first. Linlin, let's show them how we do it"
Qilin excitedly said "You have twenty minutes to get your lunch"
Sean continued "And meet us by the other door at the end of the road, don't get lost!"
Qilin shouted as the duo ran away "See ya!"
Andre looked at Azlin and ran away too while Azlin held his forehead 'Bunch of kids'
Twenty minutes later, the squad met up the other door. Azlin was the first to arrive followed by Sean then Andre and finally Qilin
Sean teased Qilin "I knew you'd be the last"
Qilin replied with a silly face
Sean and Qilin carried their food inside plastic bags while the twins had theirs in takeouts
Then they headed in towards the vending machine, Azlin got coffee while Andre got energy drink and Sean got banana milkshake while Qilin got boba tea
Then they found an empty table to sit at and Azlin was about to start eating when Sean and Qilin suddenly shouted "Wait!!"
Which puzzled the twins and drew a bit of attention from other tables in the area but the duo didn't mind as Sean said "Everyone's supposed to introduce their meals then we start eating together"
Azlin just looked at the expectant duo then covered his food back "Okay"
Sean started it off "I got Italian bread and apricot jam, graham crackers and guacamole. Andre you next then Azlin and lastly Qilin"
Andre asked "Why is Qilin last?"
Sean and Qilin smiled at each other then Sean said "Oh you'll know soon enough"
Azlin thought 'Must be because Linlin's a big eater'
Andre said "I got Steak and gravy, hamburger and lemon chicken"
Azlin then spoke up "I got Balsey lasagna and Fruit salad"
Sean told Qilin "Azlin's a vegetarian that's why"
Qilin then started on his own "I got Omelette and orzo pasta, Oat meal, dutch apple pie, Quail meat and Quince pasta, Beef,bacon and basil"
Andre's mouth was agape in shock as Qilin mentioned his food "And you're gonna finish all of that?"
Sean and Qilin started laughing at Andre's expression then Qilin replied "My normal everyday meal"
Sean said "He ate about this much in the morning too"
Andre looked at Qilin with his lips pursed "How are you so slim?"
Qilin proudly said "It's a gift"
Azlin then said as the squad left the cafeteria "Me and Andre will go get the uhm stuff for you two while you head back to the dorm, anything else you want?"
Sean and Qilin said in unison "Ice cream!"
Andre asked "Uhh which flavor?"
Sean replied "Blueberry for me and Raspberry for Linlin, right?"
Qilin gleefully said "With a cherry on top"
Azlin nodded "Sure"
Qilin added "Oh get us some black contacts too"
Sean nodded "Linlin, you're so smart, I completely forgot about that"
Then the squad separated into duos
Sean said when they got to his floor "I'll go get changed first"
Qilin agreed and wanted to go up then Sean offered "Wanna use this chance to check out me and Andy's room?"
Qilin's eyes sparkled and he nodded
Then the duo got to the front of Room 324 and Sean unlocked the door then Qilin saw two colours, cyan and blue "Waow, your sides are very distinct, your side must be the cyan one while Andre's side is the blue one. I love how aesthetic your room is"
Sean said "Andre didn't want to do it at first but he gave in later on"
Qilin gave a thumbs up "Nice job. Looks great"
Sean changed into an armless gray hoodie and cute hello kitty shorts
Qilin unlocked the door to his room "Behold, my humble abode"
Sean had his mouth wide open in awe "Waow, where did you get a curtain and how did you hang it up. It must have been a lot of work for you"
Qilin closed the door gently "Nah, Lin helped me with it"
Sean smiled "Really? He did that on his own will?"
Qilin nodded "Yup, I was also surprised when he offered to help"
Qilin entered this curtain to change and Sean went to his reading table "I love your bunny lamp, it's so cute. Aww look at this little kitty clock"