It hasn't been long since he moved into the dorm. It was still as awesome as ever. Of course, he was already told by Ing-Wen that it was actually just the standard college dorm you would find everywhere in Taiwan, but that was the thing. In Taiwan. It was awesome by his standards.
Your own top bed? Your own desk? Your own nightlight? Your own closet? Your own bookshelf? The room had air conditioning and a heater? Heated water? Its own personal bathroom? He could go on about how awesome this room was. The downside was that he had to share it with five other people that he didn't know. He wasn't sure if his stuff were safe or not.
After locking his closet with a padlock that he made sure to bring before coming to Taiwan (he didn't care if his roommates would feel insulted. It's hard to break this paranoia) after stuffing it with his stuff, Arlan decided to go outside and take a walk. He didn't take many walks back where he was from.
Wrapping his scarf around his neck, he hopped out of his room with sparkling eyes.
He walked through the hall and entered the lobby. Right now, he was living in the international student's dorm building. It was designed in a way so that all the girl lived at the top half and all the boys lived at the bottom half. Since he was at the first floor it was convenient for him.
Plus, the dorm wasn't that much expensive. Well, it was still pricey, but it wasn't something that he couldn't fix by working an extra part time job. His family was counting on him to study hard and graduate, and with their financial situation, he needed to make sure that he wasn't a burden in their pockets. He still had younger siblings that needed to go to school too, after all.
The moment he left the building a strong breeze came his way, making the end of his scarf slap his face.
It was too cold!
He checked his phone and found out that it was 22 degrees. He was already ready to start shivering, but when he looked around he even saw people still wearing sandals. Amazing.
Arlan continued walking but couldn't help but wonder if he will be able to survive against the cold by the time December comes rolling in. Was there snow in Taiwan? He had to google that later on.
This campus was too large. It might as well be a small town. Finally, after walking uphill (the college took up space on a mountain) from his dorm to the lake, he finally made it to the park that surrounded the body of water.
Since it was a college that specialized in arts and design, around the park you would be able to see different sculptures of different themes. After admiring them for a while, Arlan sat down on a bench and took out his phone to practice his mandarin on a app.
You know another thing that was awesome? The campus had free wifi that was accessible to the students.
Arlan had his legs propped up on the bench and he had his phone so close to his face that he wasn't able to see anything. An unhealthy practice, but yeah. He was so focused on the language app that he didn't realize that two people were passing by.
The caramel colored boy said the words out like to get a feel. "Wo men zai chi nali?" the words left his mouth without him thinking.
Suddenly, a shadow loomed over him, scaring him to bits but he didn't let it show. Frightened, he looked up to see a Taiwanese boy smiling. His bright blue... hair was a little longer than most and covering up his eyes a little bit.
"It's chu, not chi."
At that moment, Arlan felt his heart jump again out of fear after realizing that the boy had his face too close. He was also super tall so he was basically standing over him.
He must've been staring for a while because before Arlan knew it, the boy repeated his words. "It's chu, not chi. Chu means to go somewhere while chi means to eat. Be careful, you might say something wrong when talking to someone." his eyes were dark as if they absorbed all the colors of the world.
Arlan snapped out of it and straightened his sitting position by putting his feet down, this made the stranger back away a bit. "A-ah thank you. I will practice more."
"Wei-Ting!" shouted another guy who was already exiting the park. "Wo men chi ba!"
The stranger looked back at the sound of his name and shouted, "Ah!" he looked back at Arlan and gave him a small wave. "Bye bye."
He could do nothing but wave back slowly. "Bye bye?" he replied a little lost with the situation. He watched as the stranger, whose name is apparently Wei-Ting, walk away with his friend.
Arlan held his hand close to his chest and realized that he still hasn't calmed down from the fright.
His heart was beating so fast.
A/N:
And at the first chapter they meet. What do you think???
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