Fated Love [BL]

Chapter 12: Milk Foam

The press briefing that the Student Council held the previous day did more than shift the narrative and news cycle from what happened during the welcome party. Aiden's gamble raised the morale of the entire student body and amped their expectations of the MJU Hotlist release and the Battle of the Bands. The effects on the former were pretty clear as it dominated the MJU social media circles, while the latter mobilized the student bands across campus, lining up at the Music Club's registration booths and their club room in droves, a testament on how effective and far-reaching the effects of the press conference and the influence the Student Council holds.

Additionally, betting pools have started popping up, focusing on who's going to rank first on this year's MJU Hotlist, as well as the rest of the top 10. The majority – 98% to be exact – has placed their bets on Aiden retaining his current position. Betting for some international students being on the top 10 has ramped up as well, particularly for Min, Ball, and Bank, who are surging well beyond anyone's expectations, notwithstanding Min and Bank's negative reception after the welcome party.

The relatively unknown fanbases for the Thai Students from Thammasat University, as well as other international students were beginning to gain traction as the anticipation and hype continued to grow. Responding to the current trend on campus, the AGs, the Jaspernatics, Aaronites, and Mingyunatics have begun a massive PR campaign to boost their respective stans. There was also mass mobilization from other fanbases from within the top 20, an annual reaction at every impending release of the Hot List.

Due to Aiden's direct intervention, the release date was pushed up than initially planned, and the chaotic race of the fanbases to promote their respective stans began. The immediate effect on the social circles and the student body was instantaneous as the chatters was mostly dominated by Aiden Kobayashi, Mark Chua, Marco Guzman, Jet Aguilar, Jeffrey Arceo, Mingyu Park, Sherwin Go, Jovee Lao, Lloyd Ferrer, and Jasper Hernandez – the Top 10 Hottest University-wide male division for last year.

As it did the previous academic year, the AGs dominated the PR battle with their well-organized and well-funded PR machine. Their clear and detailed strategy, disciplined members, and overflowing war chest allowed them to easily outmaneuver and outspend all the other fanbases at MJU. The abilities of Heidi were clearly showing as she efficiently, effectively, and aggressively commanded the AGs Social Media, Public Relations, and Intelligence Divisions in their PR campaign blitz, combining and taking full advantage of each division's strengths, weaknesses, and connections with devastating effects.

As the PR battle for the Hotlist raged on, another battle was happening among the students registering for the Battle of the Bands. Not only were the registration forms being taken at breakneck speed, the calculations, and projections of both the Music Club and Student Council is putting the numbers of participating bands this year into a new record, poised to break the number of the highest band registration which was set back in 2005 with 35 Bands.

Projections places this year's band registration almost double the numbers set in 2005 and is estimated to have 68 to 70 registered bands by the time registration period closes. The projection was putting the Music Club and Student Council in uncharted territory, although having a larger band registration was a good thing for the Music Club, the performance time for each band would have to be significantly reduced to one music per band to accommodate this year's unusually large pool of participants.

Extending the Battle of the Bands into a multiple day event would upend any other events planned by the Student Council. It would also cause unplanned disruptions to classes and would push back the academic calendar which could delay the conclusion of the first semester. To remedy the problem, the Music Club officers held an emergency meeting, with Grace participating as a liaison for the Student Council to discuss and deliberate countermeasures, possible registration restrictions, solutions, and alternatives.