mental note to self | meteor garden [REVAMPING]

01 | 东

If she didn't get away from the squealing soon, Yuxin was going to lose it.

Swept up in the tide of students exiting the auditorium, Yuxin just so happened to find herself behind the oh-so-amazing F4 boys and their ever-present, ever-swooning cocoon of fangirls. All of them had their phones out, shoving them as close to the boys' faces as possible and squealing every time one of them spared a disinterested glance in the general downward direction.

It was almost enough to make her feel sorry for the four men. At the end of the day they were just like any other student at their large university, bank accounts aside. Maybe better dressed than most. Perhaps, admittedly, better looking.

Oh, but the price of fame, she thought, at least I don't have to deal with that.

But just because the shrieks were not directed at her didn't mean they were any less loud. The cocoon not being around her didn't make it any less crowded.

Desperate for a distraction from the camera flashes and high-pitched tittering, her eyes roved around while she waddle-walked with everyone else. One of the light bulbs had gone out. The girl in front of her to the left had a really nice sweater. Someone had just distractedly slammed their elbow into a locker. The lanky guy to her right smelled a bit too strongly of Axe body spray. A short-haired girl a little ways ahead was... crawling on the floor?

The small girl was on hands and knees at the edge of the crowd. Yuxin felt the urge to laugh at the bizareness of itㅡand she actually might have, had the girl's face not been so alarmed.

She must have dropped something, Yuxin thought. Suddenly, the unmistakable noise of a cracking phone screen pierced through the hubbub.

The girl's face morphed into one of utter horror, hand still outstretched. Ah.

The crowd dispersed slightly as the hallway broadened into a larger space. No longer obstructed by the fangirl cocoon, Yuxin spotted the object in question. The girl seemed to have frozen in shock, so Yuxin bent down, simultaneously retrieving the phone and helping the girl off the floor.

A white spiderweb of cracks starkly contrasted the black screen. They both grimaced at its state.

Handing the phone back to the girl, whose already large eyes had widened almost comically, Yuxin started to speak. "It might still be repairable. I know this placeㅡ"

She never got to finish her sentence, as the small girl regained her wits and dashed towards the retreating crowd with a "Thank you! Sorry!" thrown over her shoulder.

Yuxin's lips curved into a small smile. This cute little freshman (They were getting easier and easier to distinguish every year. She was getting old.) was definitely something special.

Mental note to self: keep an eye out for this one.

‒∙◇❀◇∙‒

News of a freshman attacking the guest speaker, Mr. Bobbit —Yuxin still couldn't say his name without smiling like a maniac— had spread throughout the student body like wildfire.

Dong Shancai, whoever she may be, was all everyone was talking about. Yuxin knew from firsthand experience never to blindly believe gossip, but she was curious as to why this Shancai, whoever she was, would attack the guest speaker for no apparent reason. (Outside the chemistry lab: "I heard they were dating and he ended it!" "You idiot, he's married." "...So? ")

Her friends and acquaintances knew her to be friendly with the freshmen, and she had been bombarded with questions about the elusive Dong Shancai all day, none of which she could answer.