The Seoul all boys boarding school was huge. Even bigger than any of the shy new students could have imagined. A tall, stern looking woman in a black blouse and pencil skirt strutted around the school with a group of nervous looking new students on her tail, sticking behind her like sheep in a herd, so not to get lost in the maze-like corridors.
 

“So I hear you’re all transfer students,” she called back to them, earning a chorus of “yes ma'am” behind her.

“That would be why you’re a mix of ages. that so?” again, “yes ma’am”. She continued walking until she stopped suddenly at a hallway of doors, turning around.

“These are only a small portion of dorms,” her hand gesturing to the few doors lined along the walls.

“Not all of you are here, but this was the first stop, so I’m going to drop off those of you who are in these dorms.” She opened the folder she was carrying under her arm, glazing over the array of names.

“So in dorm number 18 is; Jeon Jungkook, Jung Hoseok, and Park Jimin. In dorm number 19 next door is Kim Taehyung, Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, and Kim Namjoon. I should mention that the dorms are mixed age. This is to prevent age cliques from forming, we want all different ages to mix. And rightly so- this is an all boys boarding school, you’re already gender limited, so we wouldn’t want you to form age cliques too much. At least if the different ages are mixing, there won’t be any older boys ganging up on younger boys or anything like that. We’re all friends here! Anyway, there are pamphlets in your dorm room containing all the information you need to know about attending here. So the names I just called- would you please enter your respective rooms. Dinner is at 6 o’clock.” And with that, she walked off, the rest of the transfer students following suit.

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The trio in room 18 silently chose their beds quietly and began to unpack, before someone decided they had to break the silence.

“My name’s Jung Hoseok, but most people call me Hobi,” he said. Hobi was a bright person, his very presence seemed to radiate a certain happiness about him that could lift the mood any day.

“I’m Jimin,” another said. The two looked over to the only boy who hadn’t introduced himself, still standing there timidly.

“Jungkook,” he simply said, giving the other two a small smile before returning to unpacking. Hobi and Jimin glanced at each other before

also continuing to unpack.

“You guys are pretty shy,” Hobi commented, chuckling slightly to justify that he wasn’t saying it like it was a bad thing. Jimin and Jungkook just chuckled back.

“So why are you guys here then? I suppose we all have a reason why we transferred. I’m here because my parents think that I’m smart and want better for me than just- well you know- normal school,” he laughed, almost sounding like he didn’t believe his own worth. “I’m not trying to say that proudly!” he added quickly, “I don’t want it to seem like I was boasting, I’m really not that smart, my parents just make too much of me,” he laughed again, more nervously now.

“Oh, no it’s okay, I understood what you meant by it,” Jimin confirmed.

“Enough of me babbling- why are you guys here then?” Hobi asked. Jungkook looked over to Jimin, his facial expression underlining the fact that he didn’t want to say anything. Jimin threw him back a similar sort of look.

“I’d rather not talk about it,” he admitted.

“I understand,” Hobi replied, “Jungkook?”

“Me too,” the latter said quietly, “sorry.” Hobi nodded in understanding, smiling at both of them as he carried his folded clothes to the wardrobe.

“So how is this wardrobe working then? We each get-” he counted the shelves, “two shelves each? And then of course our bedside table drawers.”

“I’m fine with that,” Jimin confirmed.

“Me too,” Jungkook joined in.

“How old are you two?” Hobi asked, closing the wardrobe going to his bedside table to fill the drawers with his stuff.

“16,” Jimin smiled.

“Ah, just one year younger than me!” Hobi chirped. “What about you, Jungkook?”

“15,” he muttered.

“Aww!” Hobi cooed. “So young! Don’t worry, me and Jimin will take good care of you, right?” he announced, looking over to Jimin, who turned around in surprise.

“Oh, yeah, of course,” he said quickly, smiling over at the youngest. The three boys continued to unpack their things in silence. Hobi had figured out that they weren’t really the talkative type and decided to give them a break from question firing. He knew he’d get to know them soon enough, once they’d warmed up to him.

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The four boys in room 19 entered the room and stood in the middle of it.

“So whose bed is whose?” one said.

“I’ll go by the window.”

“I’ll go by the door.”

“I’m cool with this one.”

“Then I guess that just leaves me,” the last boy said, going to the bed by the bathroom door. “I’m Taehyung by the way,” he chirped.

“I’m Namjoon,” the one by the window said, waving slightly to the others.

“I’m Jin,” the one by the door said.

“Yoongi,” the final boy said.

“So I’m 17, how old are you all?” Namjoon asked the group, looking over to Taehyung first.

“16,” he replied. “What about you two?”

“18,” Jin said.
 

“Also 18,” said Yoongi. The 4 boys all just nodded awkwardly and turned around to unpack.

“So Taehyung,” Namjoon began, also grabbing the attention of the other two, before they realised that we weren’t bothered about trying to join in the conversation and turned back round.

“Yeah?” Taehyung replied.
 

“Bed neighbours,” Namjoon laughed, gesturing to their close beds on one side of the room. Taehyung laughed along.
 

“Looks like it,” he said. “Do you snore?” he teased.

“I don’t know, I’ve never slept in the same room as someone who could tell me. You’ll have to let me know. Do you snore?” he grinned.

“I’ve been told I do…” Taehyung trailed off, “but only quietly!”

“Hmm, that’s okay then,” Namjoon teased.

“So how come you transferred here?’ Taehyung asked. Namjoon chuckled lowly.

“I suppose I kinda mixed with the wrong friend group at school and got into some trouble, so my parents sent me here so I would focus on

education more. There’s more to it though, it’s a long story. I’m sure I’ll tell you about it someday. What about you?”

“We’re not too different then, I didn’t do anything bad at school, but I just didn’t focus, I was always daydreaming too much so my grades dropped. My parent’s also sent me here to focus on education more,” Taehyung said. Namjoon nodded, understanding his story.

“I guess our parents just want what’s best for our future, huh?” he mumbled.

“Yeah, I guess,” Taehyung agreed. “How come you two are here then?” Jin and Yoongi both turned around in sync, both looking equally taken aback. Yoongi shuffled awkwardly, fiddling with his hands and looking down, not willing to speak.

“Well, I was sent here because my parents are just really strict and want me to go to law school one day and become a prosecutor when I grow up, so they wanted me to go to a really good school,” Jin said.

“Ah,” Taehyung nodded.

“I see,” Namjoon chirped in. “Do- do you want to go to law school?” he asked. Emphasizing the word ‘want’. Jin looked down and shook his head.

“Oh, I’m sorry, that must . You know, not being able to choose your own life choices and drive your own future,” Namjoon sympathised. Taehyung nodded in agreement.

“It’s okay,” Jin confirmed. “I’m used to it. And at least I’ll make a lot of money in the future,” he laughed, trying to humour the situation he was in.

“Yoongi?” Taehyung asked.

“Oh, I- I got into to trouble at school too,” Yoongi stuttered, still fiddling with his hands and refusing to look up at his roommates, hoping they’d drop the subject. Luckily, the others just nodded before going back to unpacking, all moving between their bed and the wardrobe, quickly filling it up. Jin looked up at the clock on the wall, noting the time being 5:50pm.

“Dinner is at 6 right?” he asked.

“Yeah, but we should leave now, because we don’t know how long it will take us to find the dining hall,” Namjoon suggested, picking up one of the provided pamphlets and surfing through it, looking for the map of the school. The others put down what they were doing and headed towards the door, waiting for their somewhat appointed leader.

“Got it,” he announced, leading the group out of the dorm. The 4 of them shuffled out one by one into the corridors.

“Oh,” Taehyung exclaimed, almost running into the trio from room 18.

“Our neighbours! Nice to meet you, I’m Namjoon, and this is Taehyung, Yoongi, and Jin,” he said, gesturing to his roommates, who all muttered a ‘nice to meet you’ almost in sync.

“Ah, I’m Hoseok, but you can call me Hobi, and this is Jimin and Jungkook,” he announced in a similar way to Namjoon, however Jimin and Jungkook just bowed their heads slightly rather than saying anything.

“We’re going to dinner, are you coming?” Taehyung asked.

“Yeah, we’re coming,” Hobi replied. At this, the 7 of them set off to the dining hall, walking in an uncomfortable silence for the entirety of the journey, right from the dorms to the dining hall; no one said a word. Although it wasn’t too long of a journey, they were quite close to it. But it felt like hours until they finally arrived there. Once they entered the large room, full with tables and various food stations, they naturally separated into their roommate groups, got some food, and sat down. Hobi, Jimin, and Jungkook ate in silence at a table, Hobi wanted to talk but didn’t even know what to say. He opened his mouth to speak but then decided against it, and ate another mouthful of food.

“I-” he finally decided to say, “I’m sure we’ll all get to know each other, right?” he smiled encouragingly. Jungkook and Jimin smiled back at him with their mouths full of food and just nodded a little.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Taehyung and Namjoon chatted a bit at their table, but Jin and Yoongi sat opposite them without joining in on the conversation.

“So Yoongi,” Namjoon started, “what kind of did you get up to in school then?” he teased. Yoongi laughed uncomfortably.

“Oh, just this and that, the usual stuff,” he managed to say without stuttering. Namjoon raised his eyebrows and nodded understandingly.

“What about you, Jin?” he asked, “how were you in school? I’m guessing you were a good student?”

“Yes, I was a good student,” he laughed.

“Did you leave behind many friends, you know, coming here?” Namjoon asked, sympathy slightly evident in his voice.

“A few,” Jin replied sadly, “but it can’t be helped,” he finished, smiling. Both tables continued to eat in silence, with only the occasional chatter on Namjoon’s table. After the meal, the seven boys headed back up to their dorms, both at separate times. Hobi, Jimin, and Jungkook went up first, then Namjoon, Jin, Yoongi, and Taehyung came up about 15 minutes later. They all quickly got ready for bed and went straight to sleep, tired from spending their day travelling to the school.