Dyed in Your Color

Birth of a Campus Idol

Meanwhile, Xian was finding it more difficult than usual to join his friends at their table. Along the way, he kept getting stopped by random people, some of whom he didn’t even know. They were mostly girls, and the majority only wanted to wave and smile at him, then giggle or scream “kyaa!” whenever he responded hesitantly.

A handful of brazen souls went up to him eagerly and asked that they take a picture together. Xian declined at every turn, smiling politely as he extricated himself and continued on his slow way.

Anyone would think Xian was a celebrity, the way these fellow students were fangirling over him. Xian himself would have liked to claim that he didn’t know what had caused this sudden popularity of his, but he already had a good idea of what it was all about.

Here and there, he’d seen how people would look at their phone screens, then up at him as he passed by.

He distinctly DID NOT recall ever giving permission for his picture to be taken while he was wearing the wig that morning, but it seemed there was at least one individual in that class who didn’t care. And now, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that that picture, taken without his knowledge, had spread within hours throughout the campus.

After what seemed like an eternity, Xian finally arrived at his destination, only to find his foster-brother staring in confusion at the very picture in question.

He caught a glimpse of it over Chase’s shoulder, and he reluctantly had to admit that when he was wearing that wig and acting cute for the others’ benefit, he looked so much better than he usually did.

Will, Connor, and Ira looked up at Xian’s arrival. Still oblivious that his brother was right behind him, Chase seemed to have finally caught on. “Isn’t this… wait… it’s Xian… isn’t it…?”

Before anyone could answer, Xian placed his tray on the table, pulled the vacant chair to Chase’s right, and sat emphatically. Turning to Chase, who’d also turned in surprise to him, Xian answered in all seriousness, “Nope. It’s our long-lost sister. You didn’t know about her because we deliberately kept you in the dark.”

For a second, Chase looked like he was going to buy this barefaced lie. It seemed he found that far-fetched answer much easier to believe than the alternative, which was that the friend and brother he’d grown up with looked extremely pretty with a wig.

In the end, Chase chose not to escape from reality.

“Xian!” he snarled, no longer confused or disbelieving, just angry—as usual. “What have you gotten yourself into now? Do you really have no shame?”

Xian rolled his eyes and shrugged. “If you really want to blame someone,” he began, raising his chopsticks and pointing them rudely at Will, “blame that trickster.”

Will’s eyes widened, and he immediately went into denial mode. Finding Will’s response suspicious, Chase went after him, which was exactly what Xian had intended.

As he now had little appetite, he dug in disinterestedly at his food. Noticing this, Connor asked, “Big Bro… you okay?”

He didn’t want to cause worry to his cute younger friend, so Xian put on a smile and nodded. “I’m sure this will all blow over soon,” he said. “I’m not really that bothered by it.”

However… at the same time that Xian had made that statement…

“Ms. Rivers.”

***

Having eaten a quick lunch with her friends much earlier, Laurel Rivers was walking on an open corridor and was on her way to her club room for a meeting when someone called her name.

Turning around, she came face to face with a tall young man who looked familiar to her. But as he seemed to be from a younger batch and she’d seen him before only in passing, she couldn’t immediately recall what his name was.

The young man noticed that she was having trouble recognizing him, so he offered, “I’m a member of the theater club. My name’s Lance Hill.”

Hearing this, Laurel recalled exactly why she found him familiar. “That’s right—I saw your profile in the files your club gave us.” She smiled in apology and asked, “May I help you with something?”

Without any expression, Lance nodded in acknowledgment. “That role,” he then replied slowly, “have you found someone to play it yet?”

Despite the vague question, Laurel immediately understood what he was referring to.

She sighed. “Not yet. We’re actually about to have a meeting to talk about it—it’s a bit of a shame that not many from your club are willing to be cast in that role, but then again, it’s quite understandable. If worse comes to worst, we’re considering just changing the script altogether.”

From her expression, one could easily tell that Laurel was very reluctant to go with that option. As he was very much familiar with the script in question, Lance understood her reluctance. He also felt the same way, though not exactly for the same reasons.

For a moment, Lance looked at the ground, seemingly hesitating about something. Then, he dug out his phone from his pocket and brought up a certain picture. After taking a quiet, nearly imperceptible breath, he went ahead and showed that picture to Laurel.

Confused but intrigued, she took a look. Unlike her younger brother, Chase, she had no trouble at all recognizing who was in the picture.

Still, her eyes widened. “That’s… Xian?”

She looked up at Lance, who nodded silently.

“What…? But… He…” Laurel trailed off. She’d once again focused her eyes on the picture. Despite all the other conflicting thoughts she had, she couldn’t help but admit that, appearance-wise, her other younger brother possessed the exact look their club was looking for. “His visuals do seem to fit the part, but…”

“It’s not only his looks that make him ideal for the role. I have reason to believe that.”

Her instincts having been triggered, Laurel couldn’t help but look more closely at the young man before her. However, Lance’s stony face was giving absolutely nothing away.