FACULTY TRIP? I, Xixi and others from my major are going on a trip arranged by the faculty. So everyone has to go on this trip for team-building and retreat purposes, they say.

"This is stupid." I mumble that to myself. But Xixi can hear it since he's sitting right beside me.

"Come on, it might be fun."

"I hate that I can't bring Baobao with me."

I've asked an aunt next door to take care of him while I'm away. She's actually a great person and I know that, but I still can't help feeling restless about leaving him behind like this.

Where I usually left him at home alone for hours, every single day. Hmm...

Xixi suddenly puts one of his earsets on my ear; the other one is already on his ear. "We can just call him right now." He puts his phone in front of us. It's shown on the screen that we're already calling Baobao.

"Hello?" He answers.

"Hey, what have you broken in auntie's house?" I ask him.

"I didn't break anything..." He pouts.

"Ah... how cute!" I mumble that as quiet as possible while giggling. Baobao can't hear that, I believe.

"I've been diligently doing my homework, just an fyi. Also, I've bathed Xiao Xi with auntie."

He named that thing that because he's inspired by Xixi's name. The Xiao was then added so we wouldn't confuse the two.

"That's cool, Baobao. I want to go home already." I press my lips.

"But we're actually not even there yet." Xixi adds.

I glare at him.

"You know what, I don't want to disturb you two. So bye!" It looks like he's putting the phone away, then leaves. But only after a brief second, he takes it back. "Ge, just bare with jiejie if she suddenly gets angry for no reason, ok?"

"What?" I blink many times. So he was about to hang up.

"Chill, I'm used with that bro." Xixi and he both smile in an annoying way to each other.

He suddenly whispers, "Also don't forget to hit her if she says any bad word. Bye!" He puts the phone away again.

But this time it's for real.

"The ? He doesn't even know how to end a call and still dares to mock me." I roll my eyes.

Xixi flicks my forehead.

"!!!"

I glare at him, and notice that he's about to give me another flick, so I quickly grab his hand.

"You want to die?"

---

Our ride has just stopped on a certain huge parking lot. Once I'm out of it, I can feel the cold fresh air around me.

"Ok,  good start. There's actually something that I don't hate in here." I mumble.

Xixi is taking my bag and his own bag from the baggage cabin.

As he suddenly starts wearing my bag, I tell him, "Hey, I take that myself." I release it from him and wear it on my shoulder.

"You sure you can hold it?"

"Yea yea, of course."

---

After we're out from there, I finally see that our trip is located on a resort that has its own beach. I feel funny just from seeing the picture on a huge banner.

I actually also feel like falling on my , but I've quickly put my palm on a tree nearby so I'm able to support my body.

"You're ok?" Xixi asks, while offering his hand to me.

"Yes." I chuckle uneasily. "Besides, why wouldn't I?" I grab his hand and try to stand properly.

"By the way, do we have any planned activity for this trip? Like in the form of rundown or something?"

"Uh-huh. Wait, you haven't seen it on the group chat, have you?"

"Well..." I take my phone and open the post he's talking about.

"Ugh, can one skip some of it?"

"I don't know. Maybe you're free if you're sick. You're not planning to act like one, right?"

I sigh.

I want to use my time to binge-watch the Flash and/or other superheroes. Isn't this supposed to be my retreat time?

"Attention everyone!" One of my classmates, seemingly the Person in Charge (PIC) of this is giving us some instructions with an unnecessarily too-loud mic. "In 30 minutes, please remember that everyone has to gather near the field on time. We're going to play our first fun game, thank you!"

Fun my .

---

I'm confused with which room to choose for myself. Initially, the people working for our faculty have made a list for our room distributions. But since none of them are present here, everyone's decided to just ditch that and occupy any room they want.

I'm still on the first floor of the hotel, sitting on a certain bench with my bag.

The receptionist here is very accepting, that she keeps on directly giving the key that's requested by anyone from my faculty. I've been seeing couples and squads bickering about which room to get for themselves here.

We're too ridiculously free that I don't know what to do.

I take out my phone and start texting Xixi.

Me: You've got yourself a room?

He calls me.

"Hello." I answer.

"What's up? I can't text right now. I'm helping on the field."

"Have you chosen your room yet?"

"Uh, nope. You?"

"Well.. I'm actually in front of the receptionist, but instead of getting a key, I'm calling you."

"I'm cool with anything. I'll go with your pick."

"Wait, what?" I gulp. "No, you choose for yourself. I'm asking you because I can't even choose for myself."

"Um... how about, I'll be right there in 5 or probably 10?"

"Alright. Bye-bye."

---

Suddenly, I start hearing the sound of a pair of shoes running to this way. As the sound gets louder, I can see that it's Xixi.

"Yiyi! Still haven't chosen any yet?" He asks me.

"Yeah," I tilt my head to the side; I'm more like not in the mood for anything.

"Alright, let's choose." He grabs my wrist and drags me to the receptionist.

"Excuse me, is there any room left for us?" He asks her.

"A room for two? Yes, here are the options." She shows us a brochure of a few types of room with double-bed.

Geez. I furrow my eyebrows. "No, he meant two rooms for each of us." I blurt.

---

So I and he got the two rooms with the same type, next to each other. It's not huge but comfortable enough for me to like, fake stuff.

I'm already in my crop tank top and boxer, ready to go straight to bed.

Should I fake-sick for real? Too random, no one will buy that.

Should I order a taxi to go directly home from this place? Too expensive.

Should I fake-lock myself in here? Too drama and risky.

If I get exposed, I'll instantly lose the cool vibe I've built for a long time.

---

My phone suddenly buzzes for another new post on the group chat.

"Change into something comfortable, guys. The air is pretty cold. Don't get sick, jia you!!!"

I roll my eyes.

I'm not someone who can't stand the cold. But I'm not in the mood to show up in this either.

I take my black hoodie and randomly wears it to cover everything on the top.

I admit that I do have a little internal discomfort for... not necessarily the beach but only the sea.

I know right it’s kind of cringey, because I should've moved on from any kind of dramatic childishness by now, including the one called fear—or a slight phobia.