Back at their dorm, the trio were greeted by the senior resident whom they have been well-acquainted with since their acceptance into the institution.

Zhang Xinyi, endearingly known among the students as Er Jie, was sitting on the couch of their living room. “You’re all back! Have you eaten already?”

“Lili and I did. Wenwen just bought something to go. You should scold Wenwen for not eating on time, Tiger Mom.” Cici pointed behind her before settling down beside Xinyi.

Xinyi only chuckled at the special nickname that only Cici called her by, her eyes landing on Lili and Kelly as they passed the threshold.    

“I brought some snacks for us later, Er Jie. I’ll put them in the pantry for now.” Lili raised her bag of goodies for Xinyi to see before heading for the kitchen.

“Er Jie, I bought dinner for the both of us. We should eat.” Kelly nonchalantly motioned for her senior to get up as she followed Lili into the dining. Xinyi smiled, touched by how thoughtful, despite her aloof demeanor, Kelly had been.

While Cici and Lili had retired to their shared room, Kelly and Xinyi sat at the dining table with steaming bowls of noodles and dim sum.

“Er Jie…”

“Hmm?”

“What do you know about the foreign student?”

“Hm, not that much. Why do you ask? This is the first time I’ve seen you become curious about the new transfer. Is it because she’s not from China?” Xinyi questioned back, wondering if Kelly had been comparing her own situation with that of the incoming transfer.

“Well,” Kelly poked around her bowl, wondering why she had even bothered asking the question, “I don’t know, Er Jie. I was just wondering…”

Xinyi stared at her empathically, “Oh, Wenwen. We’ll see when she gets here, and I hope you’ll find a friend in her. All I know about the new student is that she was born in America and studied in Korea. She’s Korean American from what I’ve heard.”

“And how did she get into the academy? I thought we were exclusive?”

“Xie Na told me that she’s very good at singing and dancing. She was quite famous back in her home country, but she suddenly stopped going to school there. I heard from rumours that the academy heads personally invited her to join our school. She must be that good since she had been accepted in Phoenix Academy.”

“Hmm.” Kelly nodded, not looking up from her bowl, much to Xinyi’s curiosity and amusement.

‘Things will be fun in the academy this year.’ Xinyi thought with a delighted smile on her face before shifting the topic, “By the way, you should stop skipping meals, Wenwen. You’re getting thinner. That music draft can wait.”

“No, it can’t.” Kelly insisted, “If I stop thinking about it, then I won’t remember what notes come after where I left them off. I’ll end up starting from scratch.”

“But you’re losing sleep and meals because of your draft. Is that your entry for the yearly competition?”

“Yes…”

“Wenwen, give yourself a break. You should take care of your health before anything. You can’t perform well for the annual contest if you’re not well.”

Kelly looked back down to her now empty bowl. She had been hungry, and her stomach was feeling it.

“Hm. I’ll try, Er Jie. I’ll try.”

Xinyi leaned back into her seat, not entirely convinced at Kelly’s response.

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