The roar of the audience echoed throughout the whole stadium. Ella just smiled as she held hands with Vic and Aaron for a final bow, along with the other casts and Teacher Mei. She can see a lot of standing ovation. The crowd continues to clap like no end to it. At least now she can relax knowing that her comeback stage received a good response.

A few people from the front row have thrown a few roses to the stage. Some students even gave Teacher Mei bouquets of flowers for the successful production. Same goes for Vic.

As Ella looked up to the audience, she can see Chun standing and clapping. And when their eyes met, he smiled at her while mouthing ‘great job’. Ella smiled back at him while mouthing ‘thanks’.

Just right before the final bow, everyone saw a girl rushing towards the stage with two bouquets in hand. It was GuiGui. She quickly went over to Ella and handed her one of the bouquets. It was white carnation, a symbol of admiration.

She gave her a hug, right on stage, which sprang jealousy from both boys and girls around.

“You truly inspired me, Jie. Welcome back.” She whispered to her.

Ella did not think twice upon hugging her back and saying a big thank you towards her, in which once again earned a lot of stares from boys and girls in the auditorium. Why? Because it turns out that Ella’s popularity has been increasing around girls lately because of GuiGui’s, Hebe’s, and Selina’s visits, and also because GuiGui’s beauty and bubbly persona has preceded her reputation and earned her numerous admirers.

Not wanting to stay on stage for too long, GuiGui quickly released Ella. With still one bouquet in hand, she immediately bowed at Aaron and gave it to him. It was a bouquet with white and red lilies.

Apparently, Aaron did not expect her to give him a bouquet, so he was just standing there, stunned. Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to accept the bouquet so that GuiGui can quickly walked down from the stage for them to give the final bow. Sensing that Aaron was to shock to even move a muscle, Ella immediately went to his side and grabbed his arms. And just like how a puppet should behave, Aaron just stared at GuiGui while Ella took the bouquet from her using his hands.

As soon as Aaron grabbed the bouquet, GuiGui immediately backed away, gave her bow to all the cast and crew and went down from the stage. The cast and crew all give their final thanks and bow down in front of the still excited audience. They finally left the stage, still hearing the cheering of the crowds that seems to have no end.
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The loud thumping sound from the speaker was deafening, yet everyone does not seem to care.

“I want you to SCREAAAAMMMMM!!!!” the DJ shouted. And the whole room was suddenly filled with scream and shout from all over the place.

The gym has somehow turned into a club for the play’s after party/the ending party, complete with disco ball, colorful lights, lasers, DJs, huge speakers, and - believed it or not – free flow alcohol. Yes, that is alcohol, not just soju, wine, or beer, but alcohol, as in all kinds of alcohol, courtesy of the sponsors and the board of directors of the university, and also a generous amount of donation from Teacher Mei in celebration of the successful play.

The gym was filled with students dancing like there is no tomorrow. Some played it safe with only jumping and swaying here and there, while others, well, let’s just say ‘Thank God the gym doesn’t have any pole’, okay? Supposedly it will not be that bad considering the university is an all boys’ school, but apparently the boards have been very generous, especially regarding this event. Other than turning the gym into a complete paradise with the free flow alcohol, they had allowed the students to bring any guest they preferred, which only means one thing, girls.

Aaron and GuiGui have been dancing next to each other for God knows how long. It was like they are glued together. Aaron has been known for his high alcohol tolerance, but seeing his red face and not so focus expression, even a drunk person can know that he had already reached his limit.

Jiro was busy trying to be DJ, emphasized on trying because the original DJs still have not let him. Danson is busy with the girls as always. And the other students are either in the dancing floor or sitting to grab some more drinks.

Ella however, was doing both. When she came to Farmosa University, she had made a promise to herself not to get drunk so that she did not do something stupid, or worse, reveal her secret, but somehow that promise was easily broken tonight.

It started light with a shot of baileys, followed by a bottle of soju, and then vodka, whiskey, and somehow she ended up drinking half of the drink menu available. And now, forgetting everything about herself, she is dancing like crazy with a bottle soju in hand, sliding and roaming her hands along Chun’s chiseled physique.

Chun is also under the influence. He, and everyone else, had known that he had low alcohol tolerance. Initially, he was not going to drink much to stay sober, just in case Ella does something stupid that may jeopardies her identity. However, when Ella over him a shot of vodka he simply has to drink it, then followed by numerous kinds of drinks from Aaron, Jiro, Danson, and all the other boys who had already lost their senses. To put it simply, everything basically went out of hand after his third glass.

So now, Ella and Chun are basically doing dirty dancing right in the middle of the gym for everyone to see, not caring what gender Ella supposed to be. Luckily, almost, if not everyone are in the same stage of mind as the two, so everything is just a big blur.
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Somehow Ella and Chun managed to get themselves back to their dorm room without facing any major accident. Sure there are a lot of trips here and there, and the occasional swaying back and forth, but after an hour or so, they finally made it; which is quite a considerable time, since it takes roughly 10 minutes when they are sober.

And it is quite amazing that in the state they were in, they were able to put the key into the key hole and managed to get inside their room, while other students either collapsed on the way there or in the hall.

As soon as the door closes behind them, Ella immediately fell to the floor, dragging Chun with her. It was lucky that their floor has carpet on it, or they will have a lot of bruises in the morning. Chun, being in a very drunk state, did not realize that Ella had dragged him down and that he actually fell on top of her.

As he looked down upon her, not alarmed in the position they were in, he gazed upon her eyes that are half open, staring back at him.

“You have beautiful eyes.” He said.

Ella blinked a couple of time before continued to stare at him, as if blinking her eyes is going to help her hearing.

“I know.” She said. “You’ve told me twice already.”

Chun, although drunk, still managed to carry on with the conversation.

“Really? When was that?” he asked with questioning eyes.

Ella made a thinking face for a while before finally answering him, half sleepy, half serious.

“The last time was when we had a one-on-one in that private gym.” She said.

Chun did not say anything, trying to remember the moment she was talking about despite the fact that he cannot even remember where his bed is right now.

“And the first one…” she suddenly giggled, looking away from him.

“Hey, why are you being shy all of the sudden?” he asked while turning her head to face him.

“Because it’s embarrassing to say it out loud.” she answered.

“Why? What happened? Tell me. I want to remember it too.” he begged.

“I don’t think you will remember it.”

“Why?” he asked again.

“Because you were drunk that time too.” she answered.

“Really?” he asked; a bit bewildered by her answer.

“Mmmhmmm.” she nodded. “You came back drunk and I help you to your bed, but you drag me and I land on top of you, then you said I have beautiful eyes.” She suddenly stopped, her face turning even redder then it already is.

It is amazing how she is able to remember that incident into the fullest details in the state she is in, but unable to remember the fact that she supposed to protect her identity and gender by shutting . If her sober-self looked at her right now, the sober Ella probably can only shake her head, not believing in what just happened.

“You mean like this?” Chun asked while turning their position.

With Ella on top of him, looking straight into his eyes, he said to her “You have beautiful eyes.”

Ella’s face turned even redder as if it could. Her heart was beating so rapidly that she thought it will jump out any second. Not wanting Chun to see her tomato colored face, she immediately sank her face in his chest.

“Why are you being shy?” he asked while trying to make her face him again.

But Ella kept refusing, saying that it was embarrassing.

Chun finally gave up and just let her be. “So what happened next?” he asked while snaking his hands on her waist.

“Well, you pinned me down to the bed and then kissed me.” She said.

“Am I a good kisser?”

“The best. We were making out for so long that my lips were bruised.” She answered. “And after that, you kissed me all over the place.”

“Really?” he asked, somehow not 100% sure that what she said was the truth.

She nodded. “Yeah. We were so that time.”

“Did we make love?”

“No.” she shook her head. “I punched you and kicked you until you passed out on the floor.”

Chun let out a sigh and looked at her. “I wished I had made love to you though. Why did you kick me anyway?”

“I was surprised and not ready.”

“Well, then.” He said while caressing her head, down to her back. “When you are ready, just tell me, okay?”

Ella just nodded still burying her face in his chest, her face is burning and she knows that if she looked at him right now her heart will burst.

They just stayed that way, for God knows how long; just breathing each other’s scent and the alcohol they had on that after party.

And after some time that felt like an hour, while in reality only five minutes had passed, Ella finally looked up to meet his gaze and opened .

“Chun, I have something to tell you.” She said with a serious tone.

“What is it?” he asked with questioning eye.

Ella took a deep breath before finally saying “My name is Ella and I’m a girl.”

Ella just looked at Chun’s eyes, waiting for him to reply. She was anticipating a huge wave of shock and surprising look in his eyes, complete with a whole set of curse words, telling her how untrustworthy she is.

But somehow, those things she expected to happen, never happen. He just looked at her, with the tender gaze. So tender and warm and filled with love and longing that she felt she is going to cry if she looked at him too long.

Chun suddenly held her closed, holding her face in his chest, close to his heart. She can hear his heart beating as rapid as hers.

“I know.” He finally said. Ella’s eyes immediately widen out of shock. “That’s why I said I wanted to make love to you.” And with that, all that shock was washed away.

She looked at him, trying to find some tiny bit of uncertainty and lie in his eyes, and when she found none, her gaze immediately turned from shocked and surprised to longing and loving instead. Her lips slowly turned upward, making her smiled for him; which he gladly replied with a smile too.

Slowly she rested her head on his chest, closing her eyes, listening to his heart beat that somehow matches hers.

And after a long silence, just when both of them thought that the other was sleeping, Ella suddenly opened once more.

“Chun…” she called.

“Hmmm?”

“I love you.” She said.

Chun’s eyes immediately shot wide open upon hearing what she said, trying to confirm that he did not hearing things. He wanted to ask her again, but seeing how she already closed her eyes, he did not push it further. Instead he caressed her hair once more, breathing her scent, cherishing each second with her in his arms.

“I love you too, Ella.” He finally said before finally closing his eyes.

Ella let out a small smile before continued to snuggle on his chest. And with that, both of them drifted to dreamland, not minding on the consequences of what they had just said to each other. With only each other in their minds and smiles plastered on both their faces, they slept. Tomorrow is going to be a long way ahead.