The dorm is currently in an organized mess. At last, the dorm meeting was about to begin. The 3 Chinese girls finally get to meet all the dormers. They were seated together, waiting and wondering what the Koreans had in store for them. This was the first time to see everyone, but they were all too busy preparing for the meeting, so the 3 girls just sat and talked amongst themselves first.

Xuan Yi’s trying to calm down after her almost fiasco of the first meeting with Jiyeon, who was currently sitting across her talking to a girl in short pink hair. She decided not to look too much at Jiyeon’s general direction for now. Xuan Yi’s sure she saw Jiyeon taking glances at her from time to time, so she rather not get into an awkward staring contest.

The tables were moved to the side of the dining room to make space for a mini stage, and a whiteboard was brought in with “Korean-Chinese friendship day” written in big decorated letters. Yeoreum was going back and forth from the kitchen bringing in food and drinks with a red-headed girl, who Xuan Yi assumes as the other girl named “Dayoung” who could cook.

Exy finally gets the 12 girls to settle down, barely managing to get control.

“Alright, everyone! This is a very special dorm meeting because we would like to introduce ourselves properly to our 3 esteemed Chinese guests. For everyone’s benefit, we would like to ask our guests of honor to stand up to be acknowledged! We welcome Xuan Yi, Cheng Xiao, and Mei Qi!”

As Exy finishes her introduction she leads a round of applause as the 3 girls stand, testing the limits of human hearing. Once the applause started to die down Exy gathers the girls’ attention once more.

“Okay, girls you can sit. So, to start the meeting we have a get-to-know-you game!”

A collective groan is sounded off from some of the girls.

“Exy-unnie, the last game we did back was when the maknaes came in. And remember what happened? You said the human bingo was going to be FUN.” Eunseo shivers to the thought.

“Plus, it’s only our guests that don’t know everyone.” Says the brown-haired girl next to Exy.

“Okay first, how was I supposed to know you were all going to be at each other’s’ necks just to fill your bingo cards? But look we are all friends, aren’t we? And secondly, I have something that is foolproof. I call this, the blanket game!”

Everyone squeals in excitement as Exy brings out a blanket, with some stuff in it.

“Since we are 13, I won’t be playing in this game. There will be two groups. I’ll be holding this blanket in between the groups, and one player from each team sits behind the blanket. The goal of the game is to be the first to identify the other person behind the blanket. We will have 10 rounds of this. To make things interesting, the group who wins gets a month’s supply of ramen!”

All 13 girls were now together in a circle. It was quite interesting for Xuan Yi because she was starting to get small details of the dynamics of the big group. It seems Exy is the de facto “leader” of the group, Eunseo is one of the sociable ones, and Yeoreum must be in charge of food. Xuan Yi wonders what other roles are there, and what her role would be in the future?

Her mind snaps back to the present as the group is already halfway with the names. Xuan Yi spaced out for a while. To be fair it has been a tiring first day, there has been a lot to process. She swore she heard maybe a “Dayoung”, who could be the red-haired girl, or “Yeonjung”, the other blond (she notes being blond as a common hair choice), out there after barely hearing Yeoreum’s name. Maybe a “Seolbin” was thrown in there too but she might have to learn everyone's name one by one the hard way. 

Xuan Yi at least was able to hear the pink-haired girl next to Jiyeon, who introduces herself as Luda. Next to Luda was the tall black-haired girl who was with Mei Qi earlier, who introduces herself as Dawon.

And it was now her turn to introduce herself, right after Cheng Xiao and Mei Qi introduced themselves as “barbie doll” and “y dancer” respectively.

“Hello, I’m Xuan Yi, your happy cider!”

While her 2 friends cringe to the intro, everyone claps in amusement.

“Okay, that’s everyone! Get to your teams and gather by your side of the blanket. You have 5 minutes to fix your order, and for the sake of our guests, recap everyone’s names. ” Exy holds up the blanket as everyone gets to their side.

“Wait I don’t even know my-” Xuan Yi is dragged by Cheng Xiao to their group.

“Don’t worry we got you. We are teammates with Mei Qi, Eunseo, Yeoreum, and Dawon.”

Xuan Yi’s team is already talking when she arrives. She joins in the conversation while they relearn everyone’s names on the opposing team.

Xuan Yi also notices everyone is talking, except for Dawon. The raven-haired girl is leaning on Eunseo, snuggly fitting in the crook of Eunseo’s neck with their hands intertwined. Xuan Yi could see Cheng Xiao’s stare lingering over the two just a bit too long, and when Cheng Xiao looks back at Xuan Yi she instantly shifts the attention to Mei Qi.

Something’s definitely up and she’s going to have to bring this up when the 3 Chinese girls talk later about their 1^stday. For now, Exy signals the start of the game.

“Game start! Teams, pick your first player!”

“Mei Qi!”

“Seola wins that round! Everyone is now tied up!” Exy runs to the whiteboard to mark the point. She runs right back to raise the blanket.

Stakes are now high as the prize of ramen is on the line. Xuan Yi is the last person to go. She’s already once and guessed Luda’s name right. Once again she has absolutely no idea who’s in the other side but she isn’t quite ready on how she’s going to react or what to do. Next, to seaweed, ramen is her favorite food and a month supply of ramen will definitely help with the late night studying.

She sits right behind the side of the blanket, waiting for Exy’s signal.

“Okay girls, final round!”

“Ready.”

Xuan Yi really wants that ramen.

“Set.”

A flurry of names enters her head just to make sure.

“Go!”

The blanket drops and time seems to slow down to Xuan Yi. The blanket hasn’t even fully reached the floor and Xuan Yi immediately knows who is behind the blanket. That cute gummy smile from earlier is something she won’t miss. Xuan Yi notices many things about her, it’s like an overload of the senses. Her name is already at the tip of her tongue, just waiting to be said.

“Jiyeon.”

Bona doesn’t even get the chance to speak, completely shocked by how fast Xuan Yi said her name. Xuan Yi can’t even process what she said as her team gathers around her, celebrating their victory of two months of ramen.

Exy calms everyone down as she hands the bag to Xuan Yi, gaining another applause from everyone this time.

“And that’s the game! Congrats girls, you win a month’s supply of ramen! But this meeting isn’t over. No, it’s not, we got to party tonight to celebrate our new members of the dorm. DJ Dawon, drop the beat!”

As soon as Exy finishes, the lights go on and Dawon gets to work. Xuan Yi did not notice that a DJ booth was already set up and Dawon was already mixing songs. Some of the girls used their flashlights as impromptu strobe lights, dancing along to Dawon’s remix. Some girls went directly to the food tables.

“Well, this is going to be a long night.” says Minji as she grabs her headphones and her book, heading into the living room.

Xuan Yi’s not one to miss out on dancing. She starts rocking to the beat of the music, feeling out the base. She joins in the circle that Cheng Xiao and Mei Qi started, the 3 becoming the center of attention. That’s until someone taps her shoulder from behind.

“Mind if I dance with you?”

Even in the dark Xuan Yi could still make out the who the person was and what she said. It was Bona. If Xuan Yi felt butterflies that time she met Bona, now it felt like the whole zoo was in her stomach. Xuan Yi gestures to Bona by giving some space.

And Bona dances really good. Like Mei Qi good. No wonder at first Xuan Yi thought Bona was Mei Qi, they both have the same aura. It’s powerful, yet it’s also graceful, fluid, and Xuan Yi can’t help but be enthralled.

After some time passes, Dawon slows down the music just a bit. Xuan Yi checks her watch and it’s almost 12 am, the party is slowly going to a halt. Bona drags Xuan Yi to the kitchen for fresh air. They both grab drinks from the ref and sit by the counter.

After moments of silence, Bona speaks up.

“I know it’s only been 2 days, but how do you like it here so far?”

“So far I haven’t gotten into any trouble, and people have been pretty very nice.” Xuan Yi says. She’s still processing how it was only 2 days since she’s arrived but she’s done so much.

“The people here are really kind. Well, I’m lucky I ended up in this dorm with these crazies” Bona says.

“I can see why you’re lucky. You are all so welcoming.” Xuan Yi says, but she’s still a bit curious with the last thing Bona said.

She risks it and asks.

“How come? You weren’t from here originally?” It must have been a sensitive question, however, as Bona flinches just a bit but puts up a quick smile.

“Another story for another time Wu Xuan Yi. Look, I think Exy is calling us.”

True enough, Exy is in the center of the dining hall. Dawon has stopped the music.

“Okay everyone, Minji told me is time to end the party. Before we adjourn, I want to address something. We can’t keep addressing our guests as the “three Chinese girls”. We need to come up with something.” Exy says

No one speaks up for a while, till Eunseo exclaims eureka by raising her hand.

“I know the perfect name.” Eunseo says. And since no one else follows up she continues.

“They’ve only been here for 2 days but it feels they’ve bonded with us so well! Like they were literally heaven sent. So, I think we should call them the “Chinity”!”

“Excellent! From now on, we address them as the Chinity! Meeting adjourned!” Exy says.

Everyone cheers to the idea. The idea of a mini-group name for them felt like they really truly belonged in the group, and this made Xuan Yi really happy. A family outside of the family. Even if it was just one sem, Xuan Yi vowed to make this the best 4 months she can to get close to her new 10 Korean friends, and even closer to her "Chinity”. No one knows who started it but the 13 girls gather into a big group hug, celebrating the start of new friendships and the start of a new adventure with the Chinity.