Later that afternoon, a large number of the student body were headed towards the Geronimo Center, mostly made up of Freshies and international students to participate in the Student Organization Fair. Per tradition when it comes to major university-wide events, all classes that conflicts with the event have been cancelled to allow the students to participate. The mood outside the Geronimo center was festive at best, with banners and fliers strung and posted all over campus and the venue to promote the annual Student Organization Fair, with upperclassmen lining the walkways towards the venue to welcome the freshies, with skyrockets being fired to commemorate the first major event at MJU for the academic year. The glass main entrance to the Geronimo center were decorated with balloons and other decorations, impressing all the freshies and the international students gathering at the entrance.
The main entrance to the Geronimo Center were lined with tables, laptops placed on top of them, manned by a mix of volunteer students and ROTC cadets swiping the WolfCard of students entering the exhibition center to register their attendance and participation – data for the Student Council and the University. The atmosphere at the entrance was one of excitement and anticipation as hundreds of students lined up to scout for prospective clubs to join as well as check out the booths of nearby businesses around campus.
As with previous Student Organization Fairs, freebies are always given away by participating clubs and organizations, like hats, t-shirts, drawstring bags, plastic cups, pens, wrist bands, stress balls, candies, snacks, drinks, among others. Individual booths are decorated to match the theme or the purpose of each club and organizations, one of the most popular and notable booths are from the Veterinary Science Club, which always showcases a small petting enclosure that has cats, dogs, bunnies, non-venomous snakes, and other small animals that students can play and take pictures with.
Another famous booth is the Japanese Club which always showcases the Kimono/Yukata picture booth, which allows students to wear Kimonos/Yukata and have their pictures taken. They are also famous for the Takoyaki and Sukiyaki they give away, this year, as the Japanese Club President, Aiden instructed his Vice President via his Chief of Staff to include writing students' names in Katakana, face painting, and giving out origami.
On the other hand, the Korean Club, whose booth is located directly in front of the Japanese Club, introduced giving away Kimbap and Japchae to students. They also started competing with the Japanese Club's Kimono/Yukata picture booth with their own, the Hanbok picture booth. Both the Japanese Club and the Korean Club has had a rivalry ever since the inception of the latter as an official MJU student Club.
The Greeks' (Fraternities and Sororities) booths are known as the most flashiest and well decorated compared to other clubs and organization; the sports clubs are known as the "Boy watching line" as girls and boys alike would always hang around their area to look at good looking athletes; the LGBTQ+ booth is known as the catchiest and "out of this world"; the Hunters' booth is the most visited as they give students free pictures of their top ten hottest on campus; the newest booth to be added to the Student Organization Fair this year is the Aiden's Guardians booth, which has been projected to become the most popular and visited booth for the year.
As the students began to enter the Geronimo Center, Aiden gave Grace the go ahead to start playing the video presentation and the music playlist compilation, the first music to be played is 'Level up' by Ciara. The video presentation was made without sounds as they were going to use the music being played as the background music for it, the video is being shown on all flatscreen televisions and projectors within the venue. At the same time, other members of the Student Council who were not in the control booth or the ROTC field tent, were making final checks on different areas of the Geronimo Center, before they could go around and enjoy the event.
Inside the control booth, Cadet-Major Del Rosario and Aiden were closely watching the CCTV feeds, Grace controlled the video and music, and Katrina was monitoring the attendance data that were being transmitted from the main entrance. Aaron and Cadet-Major Montanillo were doing a final briefing with the NCOs and executive officers of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ROTC companies inside the ROTC field tent, a few feet away from the control booth.
"Control to all Student Council members out in the field, report your status, over" Aiden radioed in to check on everyone as the students started to congregate in the venue.
Moira: "This is Moira, all checks on the storage area are complete, over"
Kobe: "This Kobe, the server room check is complete, no irregularities, over"
Angela: "This is Angela, just finished the attendance check on the booths, over"
Aaron: "Aaron here, finishing up the final briefing with the XOs, will proceed on our patrol soon"
"Control copies all, good work, go ahead and enjoy the event, and don't forget to report to your shifts, over and out" Aiden radioed back to everyone.
"Moira to control" Moira radioed in again, "Min did not report his status, over"
"Shit, I totally forgot about him" Aiden whispered before getting on the radio again, "Control to Min, what's your status", there was no answer, only static from the other end.
"Control to Min, what's your status, over" Aiden radioed again, the only response was the static.
"Control to Min, come in, report your status, over" Aiden tried again, but the result was the same. When Min didn't not respond the third time, Aiden slightly shifted his head towards Cadet-Major Del Rosario, although Aiden never said anything, she already knew what he needed for her to do.
Cadet-Major Del Rosario nodded her head before getting on the radio, "All stations, this is control, who has eyes on the International Student Representative? Report as soon as you have visual, over"
As she radioed in to all ROTC patrols and stations, Aiden watched the CCTV feeds to try and find Min, irritated and annoyed that he didn't report in, but also slightly worried that something might have happened to him. Aiden was so focused on the monitors in front of him as he looked for Min, that he didn't even notice Cadet-Major Del Rosario calling him.
"Sir!" Cadet-Major Del Rosario called out for the fifth time, finally catching the attention of Aiden, as Grace and Katrina looked at the both of them from their station.
"Yes?" Aiden replied as he turned around to look at Cadet-Major Del Rosario, "Do we have a location?"
"Yes sir, a patrol has located the International Student Representative" Cadet-Major Del Rosario reported.
"Location?" Aiden asked, sounding annoyed and irritated as he raised his right brow.
"Sector A18, at the Veterinary club's petting zoo, sir" Cadet-Major Del Rosario replied as Aiden snorted.
"Grace, I'm leaving you in charge here, I'm heading to the Veterinary Club's booth" Aiden instructed as he clipped the radio on his jeans before leaving, Cadet-Major Del Rosario saluting as he left.
As Aiden walked down the steps of the control booth, everyone in the ROTC field tent was looking at him, catching their attention when Aiden pushed the control booth door open. As he approached the ROTC field tent, he pointed at Cadet-Captain Francisco, "You, with me".
"Sir!" Cadet-Captain Francisco replied as she saluted, "Aaron, Cadet-Major Montanillo, proceed with your patrol, the rest of you man your stations" Aiden ordered as he started walking towards the direction of the Veterinary Club's booth, located close to the back of the venue. The cadets and cadet-officers saluting Aiden as he walked off, with Cadet-Captain Francisco cantering after Aiden.
"Name?" Aiden asked Cadet-Captain Francisco, who was walking a few feet behind him.
"Sir! Cadet-Captain Rebecca Francisco, Mount Juliet University 1st ROTC Company Executive Officer" Cadet-Captain Francisco replied as she introduced herself.
"Where are we going sir?" Cadet-Captain Francisco asked as she tried to catch up with Aiden, who seemed like he was walking really fast, but is actually walking at his normal pace.
"We're going to deal with a minor problem" Aiden responded in an irritated tone.
Hearing how Aiden responded, Cadet-Captain Francisco kept her mouth shut until they reached their destination. When they got there, they found the ROTC patrol, callsign Strange 1-3, waiting by the fenced area of the Veterinary Club as members of the club started squealing when they saw Aiden at their booth.
"Sir! Ma'am!" one of the cadets said as he saluted Aiden and Cadet-Captain Francisco, "The International Student Representative is in the petting zoo, should we get him sir?"
"No, thank you for locating him, I'll deal with him myself" Aiden responded, "Cadet-Captain, you wait here" he continued before walking towards the paddock's gate.
"You three, return to your patrol, thank you" Cadet-Captain Francisco ordered the cadets, giving them a salute as the cadets did the same before returning to their patrol.
When Aiden neared the gate, a member of the veterinary club wearing a white lab coat opened the gate and let Aiden through. After he entered, he saw Min sitting on the other end of the paddock, with snowy white bunnies running around him, some were sitting on his lap. Aiden clicked his tongue before he snorted as he walked towards Min, still irritated by the fact that Min didn't report in.
When he got closer though, Aiden's irritation disappeared when he saw Min playing with the white bunnies, smile on his face, his dimple showing, the sight made Aiden's heart skip a beat, causing him to lightly blush. "Aiden! Look at these bunnies!" Min excitedly called out when he saw Aiden standing outside the bunny pen.
Aiden sighed, opening the gate to the bunny pen, closing it after he entered to prevent the bunnies from getting out, before walking towards Min who was sitting on the floor, "What are you doing?" Aiden asked as he stood a few feet away from Min, the bunnies running towards Aiden's feet.
"After I finished checking the equipment out back, I got distracted by these bunnies" Min responded, still sitting down as he grabbed a chubby white bunny and started rubbing its back.
"Where's your radio? Why didn't you check in when I was contacting you?" Aiden asked as he gently pushed one bunny away with his foot that was gnawing on his shoe.
"Oh!" Min replied as he pulled the radio, which was clipped on the back of his pants, "I have it here, I turned the volume down since it was scaring the bunnies away". Aiden sighed at Min's response, putting his hands on his waist.
"At least radio in and let us know, so what's the status of the sound equipment out back?" Aiden asked.
"Oh, everything is in order, no worries" Min replied as he stood up, carrying a bunny on his hand as he walked towards Aiden, being careful not to step on the other bunnies running around.
"Look Aiden! This one is so cute and fluffy! It's like Snowball from the Secret Life of Pets!" Min said with a smile on his face, sounding excited like a kid, as he moved the bunny towards Aiden's face. The bunny was so close that its hind paws were stepping on his nose.
"Can I name him Aiden?" Min jokingly asked as he moved the bunny away from Aiden's face.
"Definitely not!" Aiden quickly replied, with coldness in his voice, "Also, don't forget about your shift later!"
"Why not? You're more adorable than this bunny when you don't have that kind of expression and attitude you know" Min said as Aiden cringed at his comment.
"Stop saying cheesy stuff like that! It's weird!" Aiden countered, avoiding eye contact with Min, "Also, don't put that bunny close to my face". At the same time, Cadet-Captain Francisco was hiding outside the bunny pen and taking secret pictures of the two, intending on sending it to the M.A.S.S. GC later on.
"Are you bothered by what I said?" Min asked, his smile slowly disappeared.
"N-no.." Aiden stuttered before Min interrupted him, "So you like it then?" Min asked, his smile returning, but in a teasing and playful way.
"If you let me finish, then I would have said 'No, I don't like it! Stop assuming things!" Aiden replied, his tone of voice sounding extremely defensive.
"I understand" Min chuckled as Aiden started pursing his lips, "By the way, do you not like bunnies? They're so adorable and fluffy!"
"I never said I don't like them; I just don't want whatever germs they have to get on me" Aiden replied as Min pouted slightly.
"You sound like a girl" Min replied teasingly as he caressed the bunny on his arms.
"Shut up!" Aiden responded, feeling embarrassed that Min thought that he sounded like a girl.
"Anyways, about this morning…" Min said before Aiden quickly interrupted him.
"Forget about that! Don't think about it, don't remember it, and most especially don't ever mention that to any living soul!" Aiden said, embarrassed, but with a murderous intent emanating from him.
Min shivered as he gave an awkward smile, "O-okay, I understand" he said as he gulped, not daring to say anything further.
"As far as you and I are concerned, that never happened! You got it!?" Aiden continued his face looking fierce, but deep inside he was completely embarrassed, flustered and shaken as he tried his hardest not to give off any hints about what he was truly feeling about the matter.
"Alright, I won't say anything else. I promise" Min replied.
"Good! Keep it that way!" Aiden responded as he got ready to leave the pen, as Aiden turned around and started walking, Min spoke.
"Aiden! There's something I want to tell you" Min called out, prompting Aiden to turn around and face Min again. "What is it?" Aiden asked, looking uninterested, "Spit it out, I have to head back soon".
"Aiden, I-" Min said before being interrupted by Cadet-Captain Francisco entering the bunny pen.
"Apologies for the intrusion, President Kobayashi, Representative Nontanakorn" Cadet-Captain Francisco said as she saluted Aiden and Min.
"What is it Cadet-Captain?" Aiden asked as he faced Cadet-Captain Francisco.
"Sir, patrols from the front end of the venue reports increasing volume of students, I strongly recommend we get you back to the control booth before AG members and other students find you here. I won't be able to protect you if you get rushed" Cadet-Captain Francisco said after she lowered her arm.
"Right, prepare to head out Cadet-Captain" Aiden ordered before facing Min again, "Whatever it is Thammasat Kid, you can tell me later. I'm heading back. Enjoy the bunnies. Don't be late!" Aiden continued before he left the pen with Cadet-Captain Francisco.
"Alright, I understand" Min told himself as Aiden and Cadet-Captain Francisco left, looking defeated as he held the bunny close to him, rubbing its back as he pouted, having missed his chance to confess his feelings to Aiden yet again.
As they walked back to the control booth, Cadet-Captain Francisco was able to lowkey breathe a sigh of relief, having been able to interrupt Min's another attempt at confessing, sticking true to their altered objective for the time being. Before they arrived at the control booth, Cadet-Captain Francisco secretly took her phone out and sent the pictures she took of Aiden, Min, and the bunny to the M.A.S.S. GC as well as updating them of Min's almost confession earlier at the bunny pen.
When they arrived at the control booth, Aiden dismissed Cadet-Captain Francisco, who immediately returned to her post, while Aiden returned to the control booth where Cadet-Major Del Rosario was still monitoring the CCTV feeds, as Katrina and Grace watched the data being transmitted from the entrance.
"Situation report?" Aiden asked as he entered the control booth, walking towards the monitors where the CCTV feed was being transmitted.
"Aiden, current student swipes have reached 1200 and continuing to rise, we've also received data indicating that at least 160 International Students have swiped in" Katrina reported.
"Sir, most of the students are still concentrated around the booths by the entrance, although reports from our patrols and CCTV footage indicates that a few clusters of students are beginning to head to sectors A7 through A12 as we speak" Amy reported.
"Any incidents? Anomalies?" Aiden asked as he pulled a chair and sat down in front of the CCTV feeds.
"No sir, all stations have reported that situation on the ground is normal" Cadet-Major Del Rosario replied.
"Good, we just have to keep it this way until the event concludes" Aiden said as Cadet-Major Del Rosario Katrina, and Grace resumed their work, "Cadet-Major Del Rosario, where is the CCTV feed for sector A18?"
"A18, sir? It should be on that monitor over there" Cadet-Major Del Rosario replied as she pointed towards the monitor close to the far end on Aiden's right-hand side.
"Thank you, carry on" Aiden said before sliding his chair closer to the monitor. As soon as he got in front of the monitor, Aiden grabbed one of the wireless keyboards with a built-in touchpad that controls the cameras, looking at the monitor, he found what he was looking for – the video feed for the Veterinary Club's petting zoo.
Aiden lowkey looked around him, making sure his companions were preoccupied before moving the camera and focusing it on his goal, blushing a little bit as he fiddled with the camera, he then zoomed in on the paddock – the bunny pen specifically – and saw that Min was still there, playing with the white bunnies, while members of the Veterinary club watched from outside the paddock, causing Aiden to involuntarily purse his lips and lightly shake his head. As he watched the feed, he noticed a female ROTC cadet wearing a red cross armband, a few feet away from the Veterinary Club members.
At another area outside the paddock that also overlooks the bunny pen, was another female ROTC cadet, seemingly looking at Min, causing Aiden to raise his left brow. "Are all ROTC cadets in their designated stations?" Aiden asked, surprising Cadet-Major Del Rosario.
"They should be sir, is there a problem?" Cadet-Major Del Rosario asked as Aiden connected the feed he was looking at to the 70-inch main monitor before sliding towards Cadet-Major Del Rosario.
"Who are those two cadets right there?" Aiden asked as he pointed at the two female cadets on the live feed, catching the attention of Grace and Katrina.
Since the CCTV camera was located on an elevated angle, it was hard to clearly see the faces of the two female cadets, "I don't know, sir" Cadet-Major Del Rosario replied as she pulled her radio off her belt placing it in front of her mouth, her eyes still focusing on the monitor in front of her.
"Control to Strange 1-3, can you ID those two female cadets by the Veterinary Club's paddock? Over." Cadet-Major Del Rosario radioed in. Outside the control booth, Cadet-Captain Francisco looked at her radio that was sitting on the table where the patrol routes are when she heard "two female cadets" and "Veterinary club paddock" from Cadet-Major Del Rosario.
"Control, this is Strange 1-3, we have visual of the female cadets, over" Strange 1-3 radioed in.
"Control to Strange 1-3 can you identify? Over" Cadet-Major Del Rosario radioed back as Aiden, Grace and Katrina looked at her, awaiting the response from Strange 1-3.
"Negative, will move closer to establish positive ID, stand by control, over" Strange 1-3 radioed back as Cadet-Captain Francisco started silently chanting, "Please don't be them, please don't be them".
"Control, this is Strange 1-3 cadets have been identified as Cadet-Sergeant Joyce Cruz and Cadet-Corporal Jane Domingo of the 1st and 6th ROTC Company, over" Strange 1-3 reported as Cadet-Captain Francisco facepalmed in response, suddenly reports started coming in from all different callsigns simultaneously.
"Control, this is Cypher 1-4 in sector A3 we have an unusually high volume of students heading towards the back area, be advised ETA to back sectors 3-minutes, over" Cypher 1-4 reported in.
"Control, this is Bad Blow 1-1 we have visual on student movements, over" Bad Blow 1-1 radioed in.
"Control, this is Cypher 1-1 at the entrance, be advised students are starting to get rowdy here, over" Cypher 1-1 radioed in
"Control, this Bad Blow 2-2 in sector A14, students have entered our patrol area, likely heading towards sector A18, over" Bad Blow 2-2 radioed in.
"Control, this Bad Blow 2-3 in sector A15, students moving in towards our sector, believed to be also heading to sector A18, over" Bad Blow 2-3 reported
"Control, this is Moonlight 2-3 in sector A9, student traffic is getting heavier in our area, over!" Moonlight 2-3 reported in.
Before Cadet-Major Del Rosario could react, Aiden grabbed her radio and radioed back to all callsigns, "Control copies all, standby for further orders".
"What is happening?" Cadet-Major Del Rosario asked, confused as to what was going in on at the back area of the venue for students to be massing towards there.
"I think I know why" Grace said, placing her phone back in her pocket before walking back to her station, opening her twitter account on the desktop computer. "What is it Grace?" Aiden asked as he swiveled his chair towards Grace's direction, Cadet-Major Del Rosario and Katrina looking at Grace as well.
"It seems like someone took a video of Min with some bunnies and uploaded it on Twitter, the hashtag #BunnyMin is starting to trend and has spread through the campus' social circles" Grace reported as she pulled up the video on the main monitor screen.
Aiden groaned before letting out a deep sigh, "I feel like that Thammasat Kid has been giving us all kinds of bad luck this week".
"Orders, sir?" Cadet-Major Del Rosario asked before Aiden stood up from his chair.
"This is what we've been planning for, prepare to initiate contingency plan 'D-2', alert all stations and prepare to execute on my command" Aiden replied, giving his standby order for the execution of 'D-2'.
"Sir, yes sir!" Cadet-Major Del Rosario responded as she stood at attention.
Contingency Plan 'D-2' is a contingency plan that Aiden imbedded to the final version of Aaron's traffic and crowd control plan that would be activated in the event that an international student was at high risk of being rushed, and that the student movement within the venue has high probability of causing massive disruption to the Student Organization Fair. The core of 'D-2' is to use Aiden as bait to redirect the focus of the students towards him to allow for the relocation of the international student in question to a different location until the situation has calmed down to more controllable and manageable levels.
The plan calls for the activation of a designated trigger to incite the AG to use their influential and massive network to immediately refocus the attention of the students to their booth, located in sector A4 of the venue, an area, which was deliberately given a wider walking space should 'D-2' be initiated. Concurrently, ROTC cadets posted on sectors that has minimal student volume would be redirected to sector A4 to provide enhanced traffic and crowd control operations to regulate the influx of students in the area. Remaining ROTC cadets would also be sent to the entrance to reinforce the cadets and volunteers swiping in the students, as it is expected that there would be some kind of reaction from students still outside the venue. On the other hand, ROTC teams close to the sector where the target is will aid the ROTC patrol stationed in the sector in question, and escort them to the ROTC field tent, where the bulk of the ROTC cadets are stationed.
Using data and experiences gained from the Gerry's Grill incident and a study of how the AG operates, Aiden was able to come up with this contingency, admittedly, this is not a full proof plan compared to what Aaron has prepared. There were multiple factors that were not taken into consideration, such as probable location of the target; when, during the event it could happen; the number of students already in the event; how other organizations might intervene; and would the AG and Heidi Enriquez's reaction would be as predicted. During planning, Aiden admitted that there is a 50 percent chance that this would succeed, and that it was pretty much a gamble, leaving most of it to luck.
The designated trigger in question were pictures of Aiden taken by Grace, per Aiden's strict and controlled instructions, except for one. The first picture is a "stolen" shot of Aiden "sleeping" under a tree; the second one is another "stolen" picture of Aiden eating a pocky stick in the Student Council room; the final picture was a selfie taken by Aiden earlier in the day, before his volleyball class, it was a selfie angled from above that shows Aiden with an unzipped tracksuit doing a finger heart, his sleeves pulled up just below his elbow – a special and super rare treat Aiden calculated would help the chances of 'D-2' succeeding should it be initiated – a moment that Aiden strongly prayed and hoped he would never have to order executed.
"All stations, all stations! This is control, standby to initiate contingency plan 'D-2' , all callsigns prepare to deploy and execute upon President Kobayashi's command, over" Cadet-Major Del Rosario announced over the ROTC radio frequency.
"All Student Council members, switch radio frequency to the ROTC's channel, and prepare to execute contingency plan 'D-2' on Aiden's command" Katrina radioed in on the Student Council frequency as everyone in the Student Council, except for Min responded with "Roger that control".
Grace was aware of the first two pictures, but she has no idea that Aiden added a third picture in the flash drive she was about to insert in the desktop computer on her station. Although everyone who was involved in the planning, except for Min, knew about Aiden being the bait for 'D-2', only Grace knew about the existence of the photos in the flash drive. "At your command Aiden" Grace said as she prepared to insert the flash drive into the USB port.
Grace, Katrina, and Cadet-Major Del Rosario, who was standing beside Aiden were looking at him, awaiting his go ahead to execute 'D-2'. Although Aiden remained expressionless, Katrina could see the hesitation in Aiden's eyes, as if he was second-guessing himself about ordering the execution of the contingency plan. As Katrina correctly deduced, Aiden is in fact second guessing himself, not wanting to release the pictures saved on the flash drive Grace is holding – considering it annoying and irritating.
There was silence in the control booth as Cadet-Major Del Rosario, Katrina, and Grace waited for Aiden to give the go ahead. As hesitation continued to consume Aiden, the corner of his eye got a glimpse of the monitor that was still focused on the bunny pen, where Min was still playing around with the bunnies, oblivious of the fact that swarms of students were headed towards his direction. Aiden then slightly turned towards the monitors, watching the students cantering towards where Min was on different screens. Just then the scene where he saw Min playing with the white bunnies, with a smile on his face, and his dimple showing, flashed in his head, followed by "Look Aiden! This one is so cute and fluffy! It's like Snowball from the Secret Life of Pets!" with a smile on his face, sounding excited like a kid.
After those scenes flashed in his head, his eyes turned from that of hesitation into confidence and dedication. Quickly turning around, he grabbed the radio from Cadet-Major Del Rosario's hand, placing it close to his mouth, "This is Aiden Kobayashi, Student Council President, all stations, execute contingency plan 'D-2'! I repeat, execute contingency plan 'D-2'! All callsigns proceed to your assigned positions! Student Council members be on the lookout for any abnormal movements from students, Strange 1-3 secure the target immediately! – Aiden, over and out".
As Aiden gave the order, the song 'Maintain-Maintain' by Ghost Oracle Drive started playing in the entire venue. Grace immediately inserted the flash drive into the USB port, revealing the photos she took, and the selfie Aiden added, surprising her a bit, but kept her focus, sending the pictures to Heidi and the AG through Twitter, IG, and Facebook's direct message using her own social media accounts. Concurrently, the ROTC cadets moved to their new positions, bolstering their presence around the AG's booth, confusing the members of the clubs and organizations, as well as some students currently in sector A4.
The reaction from Heidi and the AG was almost instantaneous, as they were able to post the pictures on their social media accounts in a span of 50 seconds. In addition to the pictures, they also offered the first 500 hundred students who come to their booth a high-quality version of the pictures - printed on site. Everyone's cellphones, both inside and outside the venue, as well as throughout Mount Juliet started vibrating, followed by notification sounds from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Almost all the students heading towards Min's location simultaneously stopped dead on their tracks, squealing and flailing on Aiden's pictures – most especially the selfie – before making a 180 degree turn and proceeded to race towards the AG's booth. Social media circles within Mount Juliet immediately exploded, Aiden's pictures on Twitter were shared at least 200 times from the moment of upload, and the likes kept increasing per second, the same outcome was the same on IG and Facebook as well.
As expected, squeals and screams filled the entire Geronimo Center, as well as some pockets in and around Mount Juliet. The crowds waiting to get swiped inside the venue started getting more rowdy but was kept at bay by the additional ROTC cadets that reinforced the entrance from within the venue, as well as the deployment of the 10th and 11th ROTC companies, that was placed on standby close to the Geronimo Center's main entrance, per Cadet-Colonel Belarmino's orders. Sector A4 quickly saw a major spike of students, mostly girls, and some boys that were already inside. Multiple sections and callsigns also reported multiple movements from all sectors close to the entrance heading towards sector A4.
The increased presence of the ROTC around the AG's booth helped control the roused crowd and prevent the rush to get Aiden's pictures turning into a full-blown stampede. Everything seemed like it was going according to plan, until Strange 1-3 radioed in to control.
"Strange 1-3 to control, uhmmm, we may have a slight problem" Strange 1-3 radioed in.
"What seems to be the problem Strange 1-3? Have you secured the target yet?" Aiden radioed back, sounding eager to hear about their status.
"President Kobayashi. Err…" Strange 1-3 hesitated as the voice of the cadet on the other end slowly faded.
"Well? What is it cadet?" Aiden asked, sounding a bit irritated by the hesitation.
"Sir, we seem to have lost sight of the International Student Representative" Strange 1-3 finally gave a proper response.
"You what!? How could you lose him!? He's the most conspicuous person in that area! How can you lose someone that sticks out like a sore thumb!?" Aiden responded back, his tone of voice sounding flustered, but had small hints of concern.
"Apologies sir!" Strange 1-3 responded before Cadet-Major Del Rosario grabbed another radio in the control room.
"Control to Strange 1-3, this is Cadet-Major Del Rosario, locate the International Student Representative immediately! It's imperative he be secured and brought to ROTC field tent ASAP!" Cadet-Major Del Rosario ordered. "Switch to channel 03 to avoid drowning out our main frequency! Control, over and out"
"Roger that control! Strange 1-3 switching over to channel 03!" Strange 1-3 responded.
"This is Aaron with Kobe and Cadet-Major Montanillo, we're linking up with Strange 1-3, will be switching over to channel 03 as well! Aaron over and out!" Aaron radioed in before Cadet-Major Del Rosario switched over to channel 03.
"Strange 1-3 this is control, Student Council Sergeant at Arms Aaron Keeling plus two, will link up with you, callsign 'Overlord', how copy, over" Cadet-Major Del Rosario radioed on their new channel.
"Roger that control. Strange 1-3 to Overlord, we're proceeding to sector A17, what's your position?" Strange 1-3 radioed in.
"This is Overlord, moving from sector A12 to A14, rendezvous on my position, over!" Aaron radioed back.
"Copy that Overlord, Strange 1-3 Oscar Mike to rendezvous point, ETA 30 seconds, over and out" Strange 1-3 radioed in reply as they moved to link up with Aaron and his team.
"Overlord, Strange 1-3, this is Aiden, contain your search radius within sectors A13 through A20, report as soon as you have visual confirmation of target, over" Aiden radioed in as both teams responded "Wilco".
"Where do you think Min disappeared to?" Katrina asked as Grace looked at her.
"That's a good question, finding him should be easy, since the back sectors barely have any students, and other students who are in sectors A13 through A21 should be heading to sector A4" Grace replied.
Meanwhile, the international students already inside the venue were perplexed by the sudden squealing and running around happening around them, what was equally perplexing was how the people manning the booths, with the exception of the business booths, were acting as if this was a normal part of their university, which, in all accounts is accurate.
As the flow of students became heavier and concentrated towards sector A4, other ROTC cadets who were not assigned to the detachment deployed at the AG booth and the entrance per contingency plan 'D-2' were directing students who were not interested or clueless about the commotion about Aiden away from A4 to allow them to explore other parts of the Student Organization Fair.
Some of the International Students and other freshmen who didn't know who Aiden is, continued exploring the club and organization booths, which continued to be lively and welcoming despite the ongoing commotion on one part of the venue. The video presentation and the song playlist continued playing, with KANA-BOON's 'Silhouette' started playing in the background.
The international students who were exploring the booths moved around with fellow students from the same country, among those groups were the Japanese, Koreans, French, Germans, Italian, Thai, Taiwanese, Canadians, Americans, New Zealanders, British, Spanish, and Mexican students among others. The mood amongst the international students were mainly excitement and nervousness, given that everything around them is pretty new to them and the effects of their culture shock were still lingering. Luckily, most of the international students that Mount Juliet has this semester were pretty outgoing, friendly, adventurous, and carefree, to say the least.
The only exception to the cliquing that was going on is Ball and Bank who chose to explore by themselves, breaking off from their fellow Thai students from Khon Kaen University. For the most part, Ball and Bank have visited several booths, but have yet to decide which clubs they want to join. Among the clubs they visited were the MJU Book Club, MJU Cooking Club, MJU Photography Club, MJU Anime Research Society, MJU Gamers' Guild, MJU Music Club, MJU Astronomy Society, and the MJU Dance Club among others. Ball and Banks exploring has yielded a large number of free stuffs, ranging from drawstring backpacks, notepads, pencils, pens, coffee mugs, MJU Wolf plushies, t-shirts, wristbands, snacks, keychains, lanyards, planners, calendars, and fliers from the booths they've visited.
Unsurprisingly, almost all the booths that Ball and Bank visited asked for a selfie before they left, with some girls giggling after taking the pictures with the Thai students, a testament to Ball and Bank's good looks and attractiveness. A precursor to what would be the start of their popularity on campus.
As Ball and Bank walked around, they noticed the booths for the Japanese and Korean clubs, which has attracted a number of students. Both clubs also had people giving away their fliers, in a manner like they were competing to get the most people.
Ball and Bank agreed to check out the clubs. As they walked towards the booths, the students, who were mostly made up of freshman started looking at them, whispering to each other, as scattered squeals can be heard from the background. At this point, Ball and Bank were standing dead center between the Korean and Japanese clubs' booths, with students and club members from either club checking them out and commenting how good looking they are. Suddenly, the two students who were giving out the fliers, came running towards them at almost breakneck speed. As it turns out, those two students are the President and Vice President of the Korean and Japanese Clubs respectively.
Like two restaurants fighting over customers, the President of the Korean Club and the Vice President of the Japanese club quite literally argued in front of Ball and Bank on which booth the two Thai students should go to first, it got heated to the point that things seemingly would turn into a slapping match. To diffuse the situation, Ball suggested that he would go to the Korean Club's booth first, while Bank would go to the Japanese Club's booth, and then trade places with each other, in that way, both clubs could be graced by their presence – a compromise that was quickly accepted by the two club officers.
Ball then explained to Bank what they were going to do, which the other boy happily agreed to. As soon as the matter was settled, the Korean Club President started pulling Ball to their booth, wanting him to try on the Hanbok. The Japanese Club Vice President did the same to Bank, wanting him to wear their Yukata. The two officers rushed the Thai students into the changing area, and another competition started between the rival clubs – who would finish dressing up the Thai students first.
In a shrewd maneuvering, Jass Salazar, the Japanese Club Vice President and Aiden's protégé in the Japanese Club, announced to all the students in front of their booth that they will be giving everyone the opportunity to take a photo and a selfie with Bank wearing a Yukata, in return, they have to upload it on any and all of their social media accounts with the hashtags #MJUJapaneseClub #MJU_SOF22 in return and mention the Japanese Club social media account on their post.
The announcement caused a ruckus, prompting squeals and excitement to everyone who heard the announcement, even pulling the students that were on the Korean Club booth. In retaliation, the Korean Club President, Janna Hermosa, offered the same opportunity, except with Ball wearing a Hanbok. This in turn furthered the excitement of the students present.
The promotions offered by the Japanese Club and Korean Club were quickly shared in social media, attracting some of the students entering the venue and those who were already inside the Geronimo Center. The hype was large enough that the control booth dispatched three additional ROTC teams to the area, utilizing any free ROTC team as to not remove any manpower from the AG booth and the organized search teams looking for Min. Coincidentally, Jasper and Mingyu were passing by the area when they noticed the massed crowds in front of the Japanese and Korean Club booths.
"Oh? What's going on over there?" Jasper asked, Mingyu's arm wrapped around his neck.
"I don't know. It seems like a huge crowd though?" Mingyu replied as he and Jasper looked at the large group of students.
"Let's check it out!" Jasper said, playfully slapping Mingyu's chest before breaking off from Mingyu's hold, walking towards the large group of students.
Mingyu slightly groaned as he rubbed his chest where Jasper slapped him, "Damn Jasper! Your hand is fucking heavy bruh" he groaned before catching up to other boy. As Mingyu and Jasper walked towards the Japanese and Korean Club booths, all the club members from the other booths were looking at the pair, with some taking their phones out taking pictures and videos, with some squeals coming from both sides of the aisle that the boys were walking on.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Jasper asked when they reached the clumped students. When one of the female freshmen turned around to answer, she immediately squealed at the top her lungs the moment she set her eyes on Jasper and Mingyu, catching the attention of everyone else, which caused a further chorus of squeals and excitement – the ROTC cadets present included.
"OMG! I'm so glad I went here at MJU! So many cuties and hotties!" One of the female students exclaimed as she started fanning herself.
"This is like the ultimate dream university! Cute and handsome guys, plus the clubs and organizations are fun and exciting as well!" another female student said.
The commotions prompted Jass and Janna to race out of their respective booths, when they got outside, they saw that everyone outside was surrounding Mingyu and Jasper, quite literally the center of attention. Like everything else, Janna and Jass took advantage of the opportunity and quickly waded their way into the crowd, emerging at the center where Mingyu and Jasper are.
"Hyung! Come and check out the Korean Club!" Janna asked Mingyu first, beating Jass to the punch.
"Senpai! Come to the Japanese Club!" Jass countered as the rivalry between her, and Janna heated up even more, escalating their competition to the next level.
"Come on Hyung! You're half Korean, so you should come to the Korean Club booth!" Janna argued, causing Jass roll her eyes.
"Go to the Japanese Club senpai! You should support your best friend's club!" Jass pushed back, putting Mingyu in a tight spot.
"Stop using Aiden as a trump card for everything!" Janna shot back at Jass as she faced her rival.
"I could say the same! Stop taking advantage of his ethnicity to further your club!" Jass fired back, further escalating their heated rivalry.
"Hey, doesn't this seem familiar?" Jasper whispered at Mingyu's ear, forcing a smile.
"Yeah, you got that right. I could practically hear Moira and Grace right now" Mingyu whispered back as 'Hollaback Girl' by Gwen Stefani played in the background, giving their rivalry more tension.
"So, what would it be Mingyu!?" Jass and Janna asked at the same time as they both stared at Mingyu, their dedication and uncompromising stance burning in their eyes. Mingyu could only stutter in response as he was faced with a huge dilemma.
"Ah, is this my Karma for what I did to Min and Aiden this morning?" Mingyu thought to himself as Janna and Jass' stares intensified, causing Jasper to comically step away from Mingyu to avoid ending up as a hapless victim.
"Well, Hyung!? Are you going to turn back from your brethren?" Janna pressed Mingyu, causing him to step back a bit, a forced smile on his face.
"Remember who's the President of the Japanese Club, Mingyu-senpai!" Jass added, putting more pressure on Mingyu as Jasper watched, trying to hold his laughter in as he watched Mingyu being pushed back by two girls who were smaller in height compared to him.
"I.. ah.. I'll.." Mingyu hesitated, stuttering in the process, divided between honoring his heritage or supporting his best friend's club. "Damn it, Jasper, why did we even go here!?" Mingyu thought to himself as everyone around them waited for him to choose between the two clubs.
Just as Mingyu was about to reach his limit, resonating squeals came near the Japanese and Korean Club booths as Ball who was wearing a Hanbok, emerged from the Korean Club's booth, handing Janna a victory over Jass on who was going to finish dressing up first. Seeing Ball all dressed up in a Hanbok made Jass click her tongue as Janna looked at her rival with a smug on her face.
"It looks like I won this round easily" Janna confidently announced to the irritation of Jass who was quite disappointed with the outcome of that competition. The students surrounding Mingyu, Jasper, Jass, and Janna started heading towards where Ball was, thinning the ranks around the four students.
"Is that… Ball?" Mingyu asked in a surprised tone as Jasper stood next to him.
"It seems like it. Wow, he looks nice in that Korean outfit" Jasper commented as Janna and Mingyu looked at him before simultaneously saying, "It's called Hanbok", to the surprise of Jasper, who apologized for not knowing what the "Korean outfit" was called.
Just as the song 'Shake' by Sompob Pokepoon started playing, Bank emerged from the Japanese Club booth wearing a Yukata, which generated another round of squeals from the students, catching the attention of Jass, Janna, Mingyu, and Jasper - again. Upon seeing Bank in the Yukata, all Jass could say was "Kawaii" her eyes sparkling as the outfit made Bank look cuter and more adorable, which went well with his baby looking face and slender body.
"Ba-Bank!?" Jasper said as he pointed at Bank, shocked to see Bank, "Woah, he looks adorable in that outfit" Jass turned towards Jasper with a weird expression on her face, "It's called Yukata, Jasper-senpai".
"Errr.. Sorry" Jasper replied, scratching the back of his head as he gave an awkward smile.
"Come on Jasper, let's go to Ball and Bank" Mingyu called out as the two started walking towards their friends, with Jass and Janna following behind them.
When Mingyu and Jasper walked up to Ball and Bank, they immediately gave each other fist bumps. Bank was visibly shy wearing the Yukata in front of everyone, while Ball seemed to be comfortable wearing the Hanbok. Jass immediately interrupted their meeting and opened the Japanese Club booth for a photo op with Bank. Janna doing the same with Ball for the Korean Club booth, leaving Mingyu and Jasper standing between their booths. The students who have finished taking a picture with Bank and Ball, also asked if they could take a selfie with Jasper, Mingyu, or both, with the latter extremely open with doing selfies with the freshies.
"You know, Ball and Bank probably would make it into MJU's Hottest top 10 this year, Min as well" Jasper commented, catching the attention of Mingyu who just finished taking another selfie with a student.
"That's pretty obvious, just look at that line" Mingyu responded as he pointed at the growing line of students that came to get their photo Ball and/or Bank.
"We even got dragged into taking pictures and selfies as well" Jasper said as Mingyu gave out a chuckle.
"Well, I mean we're already doing a photo op with the freshies, we might as well go all out" Mingyu said.
"Let's join Ball and Bank!" Mingyu continued when he noticed Jasper's confused reaction.
"You mean wear a Hanbok and Yukata?" Jasper said, trying to confirm what Mingyu was thinking.
"Ping-pong!" Mingyu responded with a smile on his face.
"That actually sounds fun. Which one do you want to do?" Jasper asked, looking at Mingyu for guidance.
"I'll go with Ball; you go with Bank" Mingyu replied.
"Alright, bet!" Jasper replied as the two gave each other a fist bump, before they each headed to their designated booths.
Since the members of both clubs were busy tending to the students, they didn't notice Mingyu and Jasper sneaking into the changing area. After a few minutes, Mingyu and Jasper emerged almost at the same time, wearing a Hanbok and Yukata, catching the members of the Korean and Japanese club members by surprise, with Janna and Jass blindsided by what was happening. The students who saw Mingyu and Jasper reacted witch excitement, seeing how hot they were wearing the Hanbok and Yukata, increasing the hype already surrounding the two rival clubs.
Jasper upped his game a bit by wearing the Yukata in a way that exposed his chest, his cross necklace visibly hanging, causing more hype and excitement. The extra hype in the Japanese Club made Jass look at Janna with a smug look on her face, returning the favor that the latter gave her earlier.
Jasper almost immediately walked up to Bank, placing his arm around the younger boy's neck, which caused Bank to slightly blush, making the students who saw what Jasper did squeal in excitement, taking their phones out and taking pictures of Jasper and Bank before the next student in line went to get her picture with the two boys. Mingyu on the other hand, did a chest bump with Ball before both of them wrapped their arms around each other's necks, causing an equally loud squeal at the Korean Booth club.
Janna and Jass were quick to take advantage of the unexpected opportunity that came out of the blue, as they took to social media to spread the presence of Mingyu and Jasper in their respective booths, calling for other students to come and check out their booths. At the rate that the students were coming to the Korean and Japanese clubs' booths, they quickly ran out of food and fliers to offer, as well as other activities that required materials to make, only leaving the photo session available to those who were dropping by – which at this point were their most popular activity. To the surprise of Mingyu, Jasper, Ball and Bank, there were also several international students who joined in, with the number of male student arriving increasing by the minute but was still dwarfed by the number of female students present.
Although the Japanese Club, Korean Club, and Aiden's Guardians' booths were getting a large amount of students, all other clubs and organization in the Student Organization Fair were getting their fair share of students visiting their booths. By this time, a vast amount of students has entered the Geronimo Center, and the students by the entrance has dwindled down to the point wherein the 10th and 11th ROTC Companies were withdrawn from the entrance and half of the deployed ROTC teams from inside the venue were recalled in the interior to assist with crowd and traffic control. Most of the ROTC teams were reassigned to sector A4 where the AG booth is, which still has a significant amount of students lining up to get the photos of Aiden, though at this point was nearing the 500 limit that Heidi has set, the remaining ROTC teams were redirected to sector A15 where the Japanese Club and Korean Club's booths were located, which are seeing a significant increase of student volume.
Concurrently, the ROTC search teams organized and dispatched by the control booth to find Min was still unable to locate him, almost over an hour since 'D-2' was initiated. At this point, Aiden, Cadet-Major Del Rosario, Kobe – who was already on shift – Aaron, and Cadet-Major Montanillo were wondering if Min has left the venue, since he couldn't be reached via his radio nor his phone.
"Sir, still no sign of the International Student Representative" Cadet-Major Del Rosario reported after getting off from the radio with Aaron and Cadet-Major Montanillo who were spearheading the search.
"Check-in on all sectors again, see if there has been any confirmed sighting or visual of the International Student Representative" Aiden ordered as he locked his eyes on the monitor, trying to look for Min, and at the same time trying to monitor things in the Student Organization Fair.
"Sir" Cadet-Major Del Rosario responded before radioing in to all ROTC Cadets on the main channel, "Control to all stations, has anyone sighted the International Student Representative? Over", one by one, all ROTC stations have reported a negative on any sighting or visual of Min.
"You think he's still in the venue? I mean, from what I understand he disappeared right when 'D-2' was initiated. We have Aaron, Alexis, at least six ROTC teams looking for him, but none of them have found him yet" Kobe commented as Cadet-Major Del Rosario looked at him.
"There's that possibility as well, however none of the ROTC teams at the entrance have seen him leave, and that's the only way in or out of the venue, except for the fire escapes, which can only be opened during an actual fire, and even if he did try to open one without a fire, the alarm would sound" Cadet-Major Del Rosario explained as her and Kobe looked at Aiden who was still glued to the monitors, his eyes shifting from monitor to monitor as he looked for Min.
As the last station reported in, Cadet-Major Del Rosario radioed back, "Roger that, control copies all. Over".
"So, he probably is still inside the venue then" Kobe concluded as Aiden sat back down, feeling frustrated and lost that they couldn't find Min anywhere, Cadet-Major Del Rosario and Kobe looking at Aiden as he leaned his head back, rubbing his eyes.
Outside the control booth, in the ROTC field tent, Cadet-Captain Francisco was busy monitoring the patrol routes of the remaining patrol teams, coordinating the deployment of ROTC teams in each sector, as well as coordinating with Cadet-Major Montanillo with the search operations when a female student wearing an MJU polo with the College of Natural Science sigil on the breast pocket carrying a brown paper bag walked up to the tent.
"Excuse me, ma'am, what is your business here?" One of the cadets posted outside the field tent asked as she stopped the student from going any further.
"I'm here to see Aiden Kobayashi, I have some things to give him" the female student responded.
"Can I have some identification please?" the cadet asked the female student.
"Yes, of course" the female student replied as she took her WolfCard out of her breast pocket, handing it over to the cadet.
"Danica Enriquez, Biology major from the College of Natural Sciences, is that correct?" the cadet asked, holding the WolfCard up to see if the person on the picture was the same., Please state your ID number"
"960-96-8278" Dani replied as the cadet nodded.
"Alright, please stay here while I run your WolfCard though our systems" the cadet told Dani as he entered the tent, leaving the other cadet outside the tent.
After the cadet entered the tent, he went to the table where their laptops were located, and swiped Dani's WolfCard on the card reader, confirming her status as a student currently enrolled at MJU. As the cadet was about to head outside, Cadet-Captain Francisco stopped him, and asked what he just ran through the MJU database.
"Ma'am, there's a female student waiting outside, here to see President Kobayashi" the cadet reported, "I went ahead and swiped her WolfCard to see if she's actually an active student"
"Did her WolfCard check out?" Cadet-Captain Francisco asked.
"Yes, ma'am, everything checked out" the cadet responded as he handed the WolfCard to Cadet-Captain Francisco.
"Thank you cadet, I'll take it from here. Have her wait outside for a little longer, I'll be out in a few seconds" Cadet-Captain Francisco said as the cadet saluted her and exited the tent. As the cadet left, Cadet-Captain Francisco reached for her radio that was clipped on her pants, holding it close to her mouth before radioing in to the control booth.
"Field tent to control, please come in, over" Cadet-Captain Francisco radioed in.
"Control to field tent, go ahead" Cadet-Major Del Rosario radioed back.
"Ma'am, we have a Danica Enriquez from the College of Natural Sciences to see President Kobayashi, over" Cadet-Captain Francisco reported.
"Copy that Cadet-Captain, please stand by" Cadet-Major Del Rosario radioed as the line went silent.
"Control to field tent, this is Aiden. What is her visit's purpose? Over" Aiden radioed back.
"Will inquire to the purpose of her visit control, stand by. Field tent over and out" Cadet-Captain Francisco replied before stepping out of the tent. As she walked outside, the two cadets clicked their heels, startling Dani who was looking around.
"Ms. Enriquez, President Kobayashi wants to know the purpose of your visit" Cadet-Captain Francisco asked as the two cadets stood at attention behind her.
"Oh, I have something to give Aiden" Dani asked, lifting the brown paper bag she's carrying.
"Field tent to control, come in, over" Cadet-Captain Francisco radioed in to control again.
"Go ahead Cadet-Captain, over" Aiden radioed back.
"Ms. Enriquez has a brown paper bag with her that she wants to give to you, sir. Over" Cadet-Captain Francisco radioed back.
"Can you please tell Aiden it's from Chief?" Dani interjected.
"Sir, Ms. Enriquez says that the paper bag is from a Chief" Cadet-Captain Francisco radioed in again before Aiden could respond to her last report.
"Right. Please escort Ms. Enriquez to the control booth. Control out" Aiden ordered as Cadet-Captain Francisco clipped her radio on her pants before leading Dani towards the control booth. When the pair reached the base of the 4-step stairs to the control booth, the two cadets on guard clicked their heels as they started climbing the stairs.
Cadet-Captain Francisco knocked on the door three times before entering, Dani standing behind her. As soon as they entered, Cadet-Major Del Rosario and Kobe looked at them, Aiden swiveling his chair around to face Cadet-Captain Francisco and Dani. Cadet-Captain Francisco immediately saluted Cadet-Major Del Rosario and Aiden, as the two saluted back.
"Everyone except for Ms. Enriquez vacate the control booth immediately" Aiden ordered as Cadet-Major Del Rosario, Cadet-Captain Francisco, and Kobe looked at each other.
"Sir?" Cadet-Major Del Rosario said, confused as to why Aiden wanted the control booth vacated.
"Ms. Enriquez's business is a personal and private matter, and I would like to speak with her alone. Cadet-Major Del Rosario, stand by at the field tent until further orders" Aiden explained as Cadet-Major Francisco and Cadet-Major Del Rosario saluted.
Aiden then turned towards Kobe, "You as well, you may leave your post now. It's only 5 minutes until the next shift, so it'll be fine, and I doubt Min will show up for his shift at this point" Aiden continued before Kobe, Cadet-Major Del Rosario and Cadet-Captain Francisco promptly left, leaving Aiden and Dani alone in the control booth.
As soon as the door closed, Aiden spoke, "What are you doing her Dani?" his tone changing from cold-commanding to his usual cold-uninterested – his expression remaining the same.
"I love how your demeanor changes depending on your tone of voice" Dani chuckled as she commented on Aiden's shift in his tone of voice.
"Well, I'm glad that amuses you" Aiden replied sarcastically, "So, what did Chief have you bring?"
"Oh! Here you go!" Dani said as she handed Aiden the paper bag she was carrying. Aiden looked inside the bag, and inside were a Styrofoam to go box, a cup holder with a large, iced cappuccino in it, and a cloth underneath.
"What are these?" Aiden asked, shifting his focus from inside the paper bag back to Dani.
"Chief dropped by at the entrance earlier, she brought some snacks and drinks, and told me to give those to you. She also said to report to work at 18:00 on Monday" Dani replied as Aiden looked at the paper bag again, pulling out the Styrofoam box, followed by the drink carrier, placing both on the desk behind him. He then looked inside the paper bag again and pulled out the cloth at the bottom. The cloth Aiden pulled out turned out to be a Café Confiture Apron, it was black and had the logo of the café printed on the front.
"It's a good thing I cleared the room before I started pulling stuff out from this bag" Aiden said, causing Dani to react in a surprised way.
"Oh? You don't want to let other people know about your part-time job?" Dani asked.
"Of course not. It'll be a pain in the ass dealing with everyone if they learn where I work at. Café Confiture is the only place I could get away from all the annoying things and people here at MJU" Aiden responded as he laid his black apron on his lap.
"That's not to say there's nothing annoying in the café, Beans can get annoying at times as well" Aiden continued, "Even some of the middle aged and older customers are annoying, asking if I have a girlfriend"
Dani laughed at what Aiden just said, "That's so typical of you, Aiden".
"Of course it's typical, it's the truth" Aiden wittily responded, "In any case, don't mention this to anybody, and let Chief know for me that I'll be at work on Monday before 18:00"
"I'll let her know" Dani said before walking towards the door, as she was about to open the door, she suddenly remembered something. "Oh! I almost forgot!", pulling something out of her pocket.
"What is it?" Aiden asked as Dani walked towards him.
"Here" Dani said as she extended her arm towards Aiden, clutching something in her hand. Aiden opened his hand, palm facing upwards, signaling Dani to drop whatever it is she was holding in her hand.
"Welcome back to Café Confiture Aiden, I look forward to working with you again" Dani said with a smile as she placed Aiden's name tag on his hand. After giving Aiden his name tag, Dani left the control booth, leaving Aiden by himself.
As Dani left, Aiden looked at the name tag, it was a magnetic tag, with a black background and Aiden's name written in a white colored font and a cartoonish looking wolf character at the end of his name. Aiden snorted on how cheesy the tag looked before putting it in his breast pocket, he also folded the apron and placed it back in the paper bag before hiding the paper bag in the cabinet under the desk, not risking the chance of anyone peeking inside.
Aiden opened the Styrofoam to go box and was delighted to see that it was Chief's famous coffee crumble cake with truffles. Before Aiden grabbed the fork inside the Styrofoam to go box, he grabbed the iced cappuccino that has whipped cream sprinkled with cinnamon powder, and on the side of the plastic cup was Chief's handwriting that reads "Lg. IC 4x", Large Iced Cappuccino with 4 extra shots of espresso – just how Aiden likes it.
As Aiden enjoyed the drink Chief gave him, 'Boy with Luv' by BTS started playing, causing Aiden to quickly place the cappuccino back on the desk, rolling his chair to the station where the desktop computer that was playing the music playlist was located, turning the volume up, before reaching for the sound controls , turning the volume on in the control booth. On the other screen, the current numbers of attendees for the event stood at 3,672 students, with all International Students in attendance.
After Aiden turned the volume on, he rolled his chair back to where his cake and cappuccino were, and started eating, slightly moving his head from side to side, enjoying the cake and the music, and for a little bit, was lip synching with the song. For a moment, Aiden was able to forget his duties as President of the Student Council, and the fact that the search teams haven't found Min yet, encapsulating himself in his own personal world and closing out everything that is happening.
It was a small reprieve for Aiden, given the tremendous amount of responsibility that is placed on his shoulders, managing a large-scale event with over three thousand students in attendance plus the non-university students (local business' booths), ensuring their safety, enjoyment, and security. Additionally, he's in command of the entire ROTC battalion deployed to assist with the event, overseeing their deployment, patrol routes, the coordination and monitoring of contingency plan 'D-2' and the search for the still missing International Student Representative. All of which was stressing Aiden out, albeit never showing it to anyone, preferring to keep it all to himself.
The truth of the matter is Aiden is a huge BTS fan – a closeted ARMY, as popularly known on the internet. A fact that he has hidden from everyone he knows – even Vice Chancellor Gutierrez. Additionally, he's a multi-fandom fanboy who stans both K-Pop and J-Pop groups, he also watches Anime from time to time. Personal hobbies of his that he keeps to himself, a secret that he would religiously and zealously protect.
Within the BTS Fandom, Aiden stans Jeon Jungkook, his bias wrecker is Kim Taehyung, and is the reason why the name for the contingency plan he initiated earlier was named after Min Yoongi's second solo mixtape 'D-2' which was release two years ago. The callsigns for the ROTC teams on each sector of the Student Organization Fair, 'Cypher, 'Moonlight', 'Bad Blow' (Daechwita), and 'Strange' were songs derived from songs in 'D-2' while 'Cypher' was a reference to Cypher Pt. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 from BTS' rap line.
Within the J-Pop Fandom, Aiden stans SixTONES from Johnny's Entertainment, as well as older groups such as NEWS, Arashi, and Hey! Say! JUMP. Aiden's 'Ichiban' in SixTONES is Matsumura Hokuto; NEWS is Shigeaki Kato; Arashi is Matsumoto Jun and in Hey! Say! JUMP, Inoo Kei. It was due to Aiden being half-Japanese that he was exposed to Japanese culture at an early age, quickly becoming enamored in Anime, Manga, J-Pop, J-Dramas, and J-Movies. This was also in part because his mother was a huge Johnny's Entertainment Fan and was up to date in the latest fashion trends in Japan. Aiden and his late younger brother, Itsuki, shared almost the same interests, usually watching Anime, and reading Manga together.
The strong influence that the Japanese culture had on Aiden is what pushed him to agree to become the Japanese Club President without much resistance and reluctance compared to the other positions he was voted into. His fascination with Korean culture, as well as his exposure to different countries, cultures, people, and languages due to him being brought along by his father to his business trips overseas at a young age greatly influenced him to take International Relations as a major at Mount Juliet University. Additionally, his openness and accepting stance towards multiculturalism and anything international was the main motivator for Aiden to collaborate with Dr. Carla Harrison and Dr. Kaori Honma to draft the proposal that would eventually lead to the creation of the International Exchange Program that made it possible for Mount Juliet University to accept International Students this academic year.
Although Aiden has this side of him, it rarely ever shows due to the personality he's projecting, and to a certain degree, he's duty-bound to carry the responsibilities, duties, and functions of all the positions at MJU he currently holds, and he prioritizes this over anything else, not his hobbies, nor his social life. Even his studies come second to his duties, although Aiden could still make impressive grades even without trying or studying as much as other students.
Aiden was planning on going back to his duties and calling Cadet-Major Del Rosario back to the control booth after 'Boy with Luv' finished playing, however, the next song that played was 'Idol' by BTS, causing Aiden to delay his initial plan and continue enjoying being a fanboy for a little longer as he finished his cake and iced cappuccino. Since Aiden was too distracted fanboying, he didn't notice that it was already 18:37, and as he was lowkey jamming to 'Idol', the door to the control booth suddenly opened, and the Mount Juliet University Wolf Mascot entered, rudely interrupting Aiden's peaceful moment.
Aiden quickly stopped his jamming and swiveled his chair to face whoever entered the control booth, 'Idol' still playing in the background, but was getting close to ending. When Aiden saw who entered the control booth, his facial expression was screaming "What the fuck is the mascot doing here!?".
Before Aiden could say anything, the mascot removed the wolf head, revealing Min to be inside just as 'ติดกับ' by Max Jenmana started playing. Aiden slightly cringed at the fact that Min was wearing the official university mascot, and has this sweaty look again, reminding him of that time he entered the Student Council room looking all sweaty and haggard before the meeting with the Hunters. As Aiden looked on with his cringy expression, Min started taking off the mascot suit, neatly putting everything on the side, his polo wrinkled and somewhat drenched in sweat.
"I'm sorry for coming to my shift late Aiden!" Min apologized as Aiden looked at the digital clock mounted on the wall just above the door – 18:39.
"What the hell Thammasat Kid! Where were you!?" Aiden raised his voice, sounding irritated, not only because Min appeared out of the blue, but his fanboying moment was rudely interrupted.
"It's a complicated story" Min replied, infuriating Aiden even more.
"Are you kidding me!? It's a complicated story!? Do you know that we had to organize a search party and pull Aaron and Alexis along with several ROTC teams just to look for you!?" Aiden exclaimed.
"And where is your radio!? And why were you not answering your phone!?" Aiden continued as Min listened as Aiden reprimanded him.
"I seem to have lost my radio, and my phone died" Min explained as Aiden forcefully got up from the chair he was sitting on, walking towards Min.
"Lesson Seven: Don't ever pull a stupid stunt like that. EVER!" Aiden continued as he got in front of Min.
"Lesson Eight: When I say don't be late, I seriously mean it!"
"FYI Four: You unnecessarily diverted our manpower to a wild goose chase! "
"FYI Five: Most of the ROTC teams had to carry out responsibilities that they weren't supposed to because our manpower was sapped by our search operations!"
"I'm sorr-" Min was about to apologize when Aiden grabbed Min by his shirt with one hand and pulled the taller boy towards him in his frustration, their faces an inch apart from each other. Before Aiden could continue, Cadet-Major Del Rosario suddenly opened the control booth door, catching Min and Aiden in a position like they were about to kiss.
Cadet-Major Del Rosario stopped dead on her tracks when she saw Aiden and Min's position, her face blushing, "O-oh. Please forgive the intrusion, President Kobayashi, Representative Nontanakorn" before quickly saluting and closing the door.
Amy's face was flushed as she made her way down the steps, where Cadet-Captain Francisco was standing, "Ma'am, did something happen?" Cadet-Captain Francisco asked as she noticed her superior officer's face, her expression looked like she saw something she wasn't supposed to see.
"Eh.. Err.. It's nothing Rebecca, carry on" Cadet-Major Del Rosario responded, accidentally addressing Cadet-Captain Francisco by her first name, surprising her and the two cadets on post at the base of the steps of the control booth. "Re-Rebecca?" Cadet-Captain Francisco whispered in disbelief.
"Cadets, no one is to enter the control booth without President Kobayashi's orders!" Cadet-Major Del Rosario ordered as the cadets stationed on the base of the steps clicked their heels before she started walking back to the field tent, with a confused Cadet-Captain Francisco following her.
Inside the control booth, Aiden released Min's shirt before giving out a deep sigh, his frustration disappearing, replaced by embarrassment and humiliation after Cadet-Major Del Rosario walked in on them at the worst possible position, causing another misunderstanding akin to the ice pack incident at the Student Council room the other night.
"Why is it that whenever I'm with you Thammasat Kid, all kinds of embarrassing situations keep on happening to me" Aiden commented as Min stood upright.
"I'm sorry Aiden" Min sincerely apologized before Aiden started waving his hand around, letting Min know that he doesn't have to apologize for anything.
Aiden sighed again before looking at Min, "I lost my cool, I apologize" slightly turning his head away from Min as he said 'I apologize' before looking at Min again who was smiling even though he just got reprimanded a few seconds ago.
"I don't know why you're smiling in a situation like this" Aiden said as he pushed Min's left shoulder, causing Min to slightly turn to the left before returning to his original position.
"So, where the hell were you Thammasat Kid?" Aiden asked, in a calmer, but cold tone.
"Oh! That!" Min grinned, causing Aiden to cringe again, "Actually, I was racing to the other side of the Geronimo Center to get these" he continued as he pulled out a small brown envelope from his breast pocket before holding it front of Aiden.
"What the hell is this?" Aiden said as he quickly snatched the brown envelope from Min's hand, causing him to start panicking.
"This better be important for you to just disappear and have us organizing a search party" Aiden continued as he opened the envelope and pulling out the contents inside. Min started chuckling when Aiden pulled out three photo papers, with his pictures on it. Aiden's faced winced, his eyes squinting as he glared at the other boy. Before Aiden could do anything with the pictures, Min quickly snatched it back from Aiden, and held his arm upwards preventing Aiden from snatching it back due to their height difference.
"YOU DISSAPPEREAD AND WENT TO GET THESE!?!?!?" Aiden exclaimed in disbelief before facepalming as Min smiled cheerfully, his dimples once again showing, like it did when he was playing with the bunnies.
"Why not? The AG announced it on their Twitter and Instagram accounts" Min responded teasingly.
"You follow the AG's social media accounts!?" Aiden said, giving a deep sigh, as if he's given up on Min.
"Why is this happening to me, I feel like you're a curse that was brought upon me Thammasat Kid" Aiden continued as he made his way towards the monitors, dropping his body on the chair as he sat back down, rubbing his forehead. Min just laughed at Aiden's comment and reaction as he walked towards him, making sure to keep the pictures away, lest he risk them getting snatched again.
"I mean, yeah. I really want to get to know you, and the best source would be the AG's right?" Min said as he squatted down in front of Aiden, "I have to say though, your sleeping face in this picture looks so fake. I feel lucky though since I saw your genuine sleeping face".
"You're something else Thammasat Kid" Aiden said, sounding defeated and exhausted as if Min drained all his energy in one fell swoop, "MJU has 230 clubs and organizations, 230! Out of all those choices, you had to choose the AG of all clubs and organizations"
"Like I said, I want to get to know you, so I followed them, plus their Sales Division has a lot of goods" Min responded with a teasing smile,. "They even have this cute plushie of you"
"Oh for fuck's sake Thammasat Kid" Aiden sighed as Min looked at Aiden who seemed to be stressing out.
"Are you stressing about me following the AGs on social media?" Min asked as Aiden removed his hand from his forehead, "If you are, I'll unfollow them, if it helps destress you".
"No, I'm stressing at the fact that you disappeared to go to the AG's booth!" Aiden raised his voice.
"Well, I'm here now aren't I?" Min replied, annoying the hell out of Aiden.
"That's not the point!" Aiden shot back as Min gave a confused look.
"What do you mean?" Min asked innocently, legitimately curious at what Aiden was trying to say.
Aiden used both his hands to grab Min's collar, surprising Min, "I was worried!".
"Wait what?" Min asked, surprised by what Aiden said, blinking his eyes twice as he absorbed what he just heard before a smile started forming on his face, Aiden slowly removed his hands from Min's collar as he covered his mouth in shock after that inelegant Freudian Slip.
"Shit! What the hell did I just say!?" Aiden thought to himself as he started visibly blushing.
"Did you just say you were worried about me?" Min asked teasingly.
"No! You stupid Thammasat Kid! I-I said hurried!" Aiden responded defensively, stuttering close to the end of the sentence.
"You said worried! You're also blushing!" Min said, his smile almost reaching his ears.
"No I did not, and I'm not!" Aiden insisted, "I was hurried into initiating 'D-2' is what I was trying to say! Plus it's really hot in here you know!"
"What is 'D-2'? Also, stop deflecting, I know what I heard! Plus it's 19°C in here!" Min continued as he pointed at the digital thermometer in the control booth before Aiden pushed himself and the chair backwards, trying to get away from Min, hitting the desk which was a foot away.
"Just drop it Thammasat kid and head to your station!" Aiden ordered; his face started to become flushed.
"Just admit that you got worried about me!" Min insisted as he hopped closer to Aiden like a huge bunny.
"You're a pain in the ass!" Aiden exclaimed before grabbing the radio on the desk, "Leave me alone!"
"I would never have thought you were that worried about me" Min smiled, lightly biting his lips, happy to learn that Aiden was worried about him, "You even organized a search party to look for me".
Aiden clicked his tongue, annoyed at the fact that Min was teasing him before radioing in to all stations, "Control to all stations, this is Aiden, stand down from contingency plan 'D-2' and resume normal operations, repeat, stand down from contingency plan 'D-2' and resume normal operations" Aiden radioed in, before looking at Min who was staring at him like a cute little bunny, similar to those at the bunny pen earlier, "Also, terminate search operations, repeat, terminate search operations!".
"This is Overlord, termination of search operations acknowledged, returning to regular patrol routes, over and out control" Aaron quickly radioed back as other stations acknowledged Aiden's orders for the termination of contingency plan 'D-2' and the search operations.
"Hey Aiden" Min called out as he stood back up, Aiden looked at the taller boy, his head tilted upwards, shifting his eyes to avoid eye contact.
"Wh-what?" Aiden stuttered, his face still blushing, shifting his eyes in every direction.
Without warning, Min suddenly slammed his hand on the chair, causing it to move slightly backwards before hitting the desk again, leaning towards Aiden's face, moving closer and closer until their foreheads touched before telling Aiden in a soft, sincere, and caring voice "I promise I won't make you worry again".
"O-okay. F-fine. Just get away.." Aiden stuttered as his voice faded at the end of his sentence, his face deep red, the coldness of his voice nowhere to be heard.
After hearing Aiden's response, Min slowly stood upright, with a smile on his face before telling Aiden teasingly, "I still love the fact that you were worried about me".
"I-idiot! I wasn't worried! Shut the hell up! Stop pestering me Thammasat Kid!" Aiden responded defensively, his cold tone returning, but wavering in the process as his ears started turning red from embarrassment, "You're annoying!"
Min laughed at Aiden's reaction, "Don't worry Aiden, I worry about you too you know". Aiden blushed more, prompting him to grab his empty cappuccino cup and throwing it at Min, hitting the other boy on his forehead. Min didn't mind getting hit by an empty plastic cup, knowing that the person he likes was worried about him, worried enough that he even sent Aaron, Cadet-Major Montanillo and several ROTC teams to search for him. As Min walked towards his station, he suddenly remembered his interrupted confession earlier, and decided to use this opportunity to finally tell Aiden his feelings now that they were alone again.
"Hey, Aiden" Min said as he turned back around to face Aiden.
"What now?" Aiden replied, his face still flushed.
"I li-" Min uttered before Cadet-Major Del Rosario entered the control booth.
"Sir, Cadet-Major Del Rosario, I'm sorry for intruding again!" Cadet-Major Del Rosario said as Aiden and Min looked at her, coming just in the nick of time to prevent Min's reattempted confession.
"It's fine, what is it Cadet-Major" Aiden replied, returning to his cold-commanding tone, his face starting to return to its normal color, but was still blushing a little bit.
"I just wanted to report that all callsigns are returning to their assigned patrol routes and sectors. Overlord and Cadet-Major Montanillo are heading back to the field tent as we speak" Cadet-Major Del Rosario said as the door behind her closed.
After the door closed, Cadet-Major Del Rosario noticed the Captain Wolf mascot on the floor, her reaction was both surprised and confused. "Min was in it that? Is that how we weren't able to locate him?" Aiden sighed after Cadet-Major Del Rosario realized how Min was able to completely disappear.
"No wonder there have been no sightings of the International Student Representative, he was hiding in plain sight inside that mascot" Cadet-Major Del Rosario commented as she pieced together how Min was able to avoid detection from all the ROTC teams looking for him, as well as their teams posted in different sectors of the venue.
"Wait, but how did you get past the cadets stationed outside the control booth?" Cadet-Major Del Rosario asked as she looked at Min.
"Well, there weren't any cadets outside when I ran in here" Min replied, causing Aiden to look at Cadet-Major Del Rosario.
"How is that possible that he slipped through?" Aiden asked Cadet-Major Del Rosario who then shifted her attention towards Aiden.
"It must've happened during the change of guards sir; there was a 30-second window where the posts were unmanned" Cadet-Major Del Rosario explained.
"That needs to be remedied immediately Cadet-Major" Aiden quickly responded.
"Yes sir, we will do a thorough review and patch up the loopholes" Cadet-Major Del Rosario replied as Aiden nodded in acknowledgement before walking towards her station to resume monitoring the event.
"Cypher 1-2 to control, please come in, over" Cypher 1-2 suddenly radioed in just as Cadet-Major Del Rosario reached her station.
"This is control, go ahead Cypher 1-2" Cadet-Major Del Rosario radioed back.
"We seem to have a problem, we can't seem to locate Captain Wolf anywhere, how copy, over" Cypher 1-2 radioed back before Aiden and Cadet-Major Del Rosario simultaneously looked at Min.
"Wha-what?" Min said as he noticed Aiden and Cadet-Major Del Rosario looking at him.
Aiden grabbed his radio, still looking at Min, "Cypher 1-2, this is President Kobayashi, Captain Wolf will be in your sector, ETA 6 minutes, stand by, over" Aiden radioed in.
"Yes sir, ETA of Captain Wolf's arrival 6 minutes, Cypher 1-2 copies, over and out" Cypher 1-2 responded as Aiden ordered Min to wear the Wolf mascot again, ordering Cadet-Major Del Rosario to have Cadet-Captain Francisco and a team of cadet's act as Min's escort detail until the Student Organization Fair ends to the immediate protests of Min, but was countermanded by Aiden, saying it was his punishment for disappearing without warning and being late for his shift.
Meanwhile, back in the Japanese and Korean Club booths, the photo session finally slowed down as Mingyu, Jasper, Ball, and Bank, still wearing their outfits, managed to take a break. Janna and Jass were still competing, this time, on how many students went to their booths for the photo ops promotion that their respective clubs had.
Due to the sudden participation of Mingyu and Jasper, Ball and Bank never got to switch booths, renegading on the compromise they reached with Janna and Jass earlier, which the two club officers completely forgot as they got fixated on their competitions.
As Mingyu, Jasper Ball, and Bank were relaxing, Moira and Angela showed up, bringing them drinks and snacks – lemon flavored C2, chippy, v-cut, piattos, clover, pringles, boy bawang, nagaraya, and sky flakes. Since Moira and Angela saw on Twitter that the guys have been doing photo ops with the freshies, they figured that they could at least bring them some drinks and snacks.
As the guys were eating, they talked about the #BunnyMin hashtag that caused the sudden uproar at the beginning of the event, contingency plan 'D-2', the AG's promotion, Min disappearing and the consequent organizing of a search party for him and Aiden finally terminating 'D-2' and the search party. After the group talked for a little bit, they all decided to go to Min, Ball, and Bank's suite the next day, before the welcome party to hang out, at the invitation of Ball and Bank, with Ball boasting about Bank's superb cooking skills. After they concluded their small group conversation, they all decided to walk around the fair and enjoy the other booths, since they only have a little over an hour before the event concludes.
Grace spent most of her time in the Music Club after her shift rotation, recruiting prospective new talented members to grow their club further and ensure that they have enough members to assist with the upcoming Battle of the Bands; Katrina on the other hand, helped around the debate club's booth after her shift rotation; Moira dropped by her track team's booth, and then her sorority's booth after her shift, then met up with Angela to walk around and grab some snacks for the guys; Kobe joined his teammates in the Basketball club after his shift, since he spent most of his time before his shift assisting Aaron.
Members of the Gang of Eight spent most of their time in their respective booths. RJ Espinosa spent his time between the LGBTQ+ booth and the Hunters' booth; Jason Marquez hanged out in the Basketball Club's booth, but from time to time, visited the other athletic clubs' booths as well; Heidi Enriquez was mostly in her sorority's booth, sending some of her fellow sorority sisters to the other sororities and fraternities' booths on her behalf to check on them; Oscar and Prince were mostly in their booth, doing surveys and interviews of people passing by and coming to their booth; and lastly Heidi Enriquez was busy running the AG's booth and coordinating the distribution of the pictures that Grace leaked early on the event – as part of Aiden's contingency plan 'D-2'. Aiden Kobayashi spent the entire event in the control booth, while Cadet-Colonel Joshua Belarmino monitored the situation at the venue off site via Cadet-Major Del Rosario. The event concluded exactly at 20:00, with most of the students started leaving at around 19:30, while the clubs and organizations started taking down their booths at 19:45. Min spent the remainder of the event as Captain Wolf, escorted by Cadet-Captain Francisco and a team of cadets, making sure he doesn't disappear again, and to ensure that he completes Aiden's punishment.
The Student Organization Fair is considered a great success, with preliminary surveys and data suggesting that the approval ratings of both the event and the student council was over 90% - an extremely rare feat. The swipe-in data that the student council and the university collected was used to send out surveys to the students that attended and participated in the event, which in turn was used to calculate the approval ratings of the event and the student council, it was also used to allow the students to vote for their favorite booths, and send any recommendations, concerns, or comments that they might have regarding the event.
The International Students also have positive views and feedbacks for the Student Organization Fair, with almost all International Students joining a club or organization. The event also caused a spike in activity on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram – the top 3 most used social media platforms by students on campus. Almost all activities recorded had a hashtag or mentions that were directly tied to the Student Organization Fair and the booths that participated. As a testament on how successful the event was, almost 94% of the booths reported that their food, freebies, and promotion materials nearly ran out, with the remaining 6% reporting that they ran out of everything they brought for the event.
Later that night, at the International House, Min was overly exhausted after going around as Captain Wolf, the photo ops, and other activities that he did for the last hour of the event draining most of his energy as he walked around in that bulky wolf mascot. As he entered his room, he took out the brown envelope where Aiden's pictures were kept, tossing the brown envelope on his desk. Holding on to the photos, he went to his bed and laid on his back, stretching his arms out towards the ceiling as he looked at the pictures, with a smile on his face Min said, "Good Night Aiden, sweet dreams" before placing the pictures under his pillow as he quickly dozed off.
Later on, Aiden, who was already laying down on his bed, was having a hard time falling asleep as his interactions with Min during the Student Organization Fair and in the shower room kept replaying in his head, his face blushing more as the awkward, and embarrassing moments flashed in his head. In a desperate attempt, Aiden tried rolling side to side on his Queen-sized bed, trying to forget Min and to try and roll himself to exhaustion so he could fall asleep - to no avail. As he settled down in the middle of his bed, he stared into the ceiling, "I swear to God, that Thammasat Kid really enjoys teasing me!" Aiden said, his face still blushing. Just then, he remembered when Min pushed against his chair in the control room, his words reverberating in his head, "I promise I won't make you worry again", making him blush even more. Just as Aiden was about to brush it off, the words "I promise.. I promise.." kept repeating inside his head, causing his head to experience a sharp pain, as a fragment of his childhood flashed in his mind, a child's voice saying "I promise" echoed deep from his subconscious, causing him to pass out.