“Yah, move it! This box is heavy, I’m gonna drop it on you if you don’t move!” Jongdae yelled at his new roommate.  The tall boy stood up from where he was crouching down to pick up the keys that he dropped, and swiftly took the box right out of Jongdae’s hands.

“Here, let me get that for you.” He said as he flashed a big smile showcasing nineteen of his perfectly white and pearly teeth. The 185cm giant standing in front of Jongdae was his new roommate- Park Chanyeol. They met during their first year, and along with Baekhyun, the three boys discovered that they all shared a similar passion for music. They grew to be close very quickly, and Chanyeol never felt left out, despite the fact that Baekhyun and Jongdae practically grew up together.

Jongdae watched as Chanyeol carried the large box and awkwardly, trying to open the bedroom door with his foot. He chuckled. It was definitely a good idea to move out and rent an apartment for Year 2. He was glad that Baekhyun made the suggestion, and having the clumsy giant as a roommate might not be so bad either. Jongdae looked around for Baekhyun, he remembered seeing him struggle with some large garbage bags filled with clothes earlier, but his best friend was nowhere to be found. Where can he possibly be? Jongdae thought to himself as he looked around. The apartment was pretty small, with only one bedroom and a small den (which Chanyeol agreed to use as his “room” by putting up a shower curtain to separate it from the communal space). The other two boys agreed to share the small bedroom with a bunk bed.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!” someone shrieked from inside the bathroom. Jongdae turned towards the loud noise and Chanyeol poked his head out from the bedroom. Both of the boys ran towards the bathroom as a pale-faced Baekhyun ran out and slammed the door behind him. The poor guy looked like he just encountered a ghost.

“What, what happened?” Jongdae asked his panicking friend. Baekhyun was hiding behind one of the boxes, and as the other two boys approached him, they could tell that he was trembling.

“There’s a spider in there!” Baekhyun pointed towards the closed bathroom door with his eyes shut. It was not the first time Jongdae has witnessed his friend freak out because of a bug, it was nothing new to him. What he did not expect, at all, was the reaction of his new roommate. With the mention of the small creature in the bathroom, Chanyeol joined Baekhyun behind box, crouching down with his hands over his head and his eyes squeezed shut. The two of them looked so pathetic.

“Seriously, you two?” Jongdae sighed and rolled his eyes as he looked around for the hand held vacuum cleaner that his mom bought for him. It took him a few minutes, but he finally found it and was glad that he charged it last night just to test it out. When he looked back, his other two roommates were still hiding behind the box.  Oh great, I’m going to be living with two babies! Jongdae groaned as he marched towards the bathroom.

While Jongdae was in the bathroom battling the oh-so-scary eight legged creature (the size of a peanut) that scared the living daylights out of his two roommates, there was a gentle knock on the front door. The visitor was surprised at how quiet the apartment was considering all the noise that he heard earlier.

“Hello?” asked the visitor as he slowly pushed open the front door that was left ajar. A small body entered the flat and a pair of bright eyes roamed the small space looking for any trace of the three new occupants. There was a weird noise coming from behind the bathroom door, but all three of them could not possibly be packed into that small space at the same time, right?

“Hello?” the timid voice greeted the empty space again. This time, the visitor noticed that one of the boxes on his right side was moving. Curious, he took two steps over and peered over the box and to his utmost surprise, discovered two bodies that were crouched over. What the..? He thought to himself.

“Um, is everything alright?” the visitor politely asked. Chanyeol was the first one to look up and a sense of relief washed over his face when he realized who the visitor was. “Ah, Xiumin hyung!” the giant broke out in a big smile. He slowly stood up and tapped Baekhyun on the shoulder. The smaller boy was still in a state of shock from his encounter with the eight-legged creature.

“We, um, were hiding.” Chanyeol attempted to explain. He scratched his head in embarrassment, realizing what he was ‘hiding’ from and trying to formulate a reasonable explanation to his hyung.

“What were you hiding from?” Minseok asked. “Are you guys playing hide-and-seek with Jongdae?” He tried to make sense of the situation. “This is an awfully small space to play, and the two of you hiding together behind this box isn’t going to work.” He was taking this very seriously, and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Perhaps the two of you might want to hide over in our apartment?” The older hyung offered as he chuckled gently. He liked the idea of helping the two boys hide from Jongdae.

“Actually, we are not playing hide-and-seek, although we definitely should do that later!” Chanyeol said as a pale faced Baekhyun slowly rose to his feet, grabbing on to his 185cm roommate for support.

“There’s.. there’s.. there’s a spider.” Baekhyun whispered.

“What?” Minseok asked. He could not make out what the younger boy said.

“A spider.” Chanyeol repeated. “And Jongdae is taking care of it for us right now. He is our hero!” The tall boy smiled proudly. Minseok nodded as he acknowledged what was going on, but could not seem to figure out how these two boys decided that hiding behind a box in the middle of their living room was the best method to avoid a spider.

Just then, the bathroom door swung open and out walked Jongdae with his hand held vaccum cleaner. “It’s gone!” He exclaimed, hoping that it will help ease the panic. The newly appointed exterminator noticed the visitor in the living room and quickly walked over to him, handing the vacuum over to Chanyeol who almost dropped it when he realized what was inside.

“Xiumin hyung!” Jongdae greeted his neighbor. “Are you here to check if we have ruined your old apartment?” He asked jokingly. The flat that the three boys occupied now was previously inhabited by Xiumin and his roommate Kris. The latter took a year off to complete an exchange program in Germany so Xiumin moved into a larger suite down the hallway with Junmyeon and Lay. Their corner unit has three small bedrooms, allowing each of them to have their own privacy. However, Xiumin did miss sharing the small space of his old suite with Kris, so Jongdae was probably right that he wanted to come for a visit.

“I’m just here to check on you boys and see if you needed a hand with anything.” Xiumin replied. “I’m all moved in to my room, and Junmyeon moved in two days ago. We are just waiting for Lay to return from visiting his family in China and he will move in too in the next couple of days.”

 “Oh, thanks for the offer, but I think we’re okay. We don’t really have much stuff...” Jongdae said as he looked around at the small space currently filled with boxes. “Oh, but Baekhyun’s sister is moving into the dorms next week and could probably use some help. We’ll let you know!”

“Baekhyun has a sister?” Xiumin was surprised. “How come I never heard about her?” He asked.

“Well, that’s probably because the only girl that Baek ever talks about is his Taeyeon noona!” Jongdae said as a mischievous grin took over his face . Although his statement was quite truthful and accurate, it earned him a slap from his best friend.

“Yah!” Baekhyun exclaimed. “I do not! I love my sister and I talk about her all the time!”

“Not really, Baek. I don’t even know her name.” Chanyeol innocently stated as he started to push some boxes around. Come to think of it, it was quite unusual that the tall boy did not know much about Baekhyun’s sister. Although they have been friends for less than a year, the three of them bonded over music and were inseparable all throughout their first year of university. Chanyeol has shared everything about his family and friends back home with the two boys, but Baekhyun really has not mentioned much about his life back in Autumn Hill- well, aside from Taeyeon.

“Her name is Byun Ji Yeon and she is 15 months younger than me.” Baekhyun started to tell his friends about his sister. “She will be moving onto campus next week with her best friend, Sehun. If you guys want to do some more manual labour, let me know!” Hoping that his friends were satisfied, Baekhyun lifted a box and started to make his way into this new bedroom.

“Just ask me if you guys want to know anything about JiJi.” Jongdae added. “She’s basically my sister too.” He picked up a box and followed his best friend, leaving the other two males standing in the living room.

Seriously, he must have been born with a tardy gene! JiYeon thought to herself as she texted Sehun for the fifth time to tell him to hurry up. Her dad rented a truck to help them move all their things to their new dormitory in the big city. It was almost noon and everything has been loaded onto the truck. JiYeon took one last look around her bedroom, gave her Rilakkuma bear one last pat on the head, and closed the door behind her. She made her way downstairs into the kitchen where her mom was making lunch. It was her favourite potato pork bone soup! If Sehun does not arrive soon, she will just eat without him!

As JiYeon was trying to steal a spoonful of soup, her phone buzzed with Sehun’s “BT2”.  How does the boy always manage to make it there in time for food? JiYeon thought as she savoured another spoonful of her mom’s cooking. She was definitely going to miss this when she moves away. Nope, I will not get emotional! JiYeon had to remind herself. She promised Baekhyun that she will be strong, because her brother told her how difficult it will be for their parents to send another (their youngest!) child off to school so far away. Although she felt like a big bottle of emotions, she knew she had to hold it in for a bit longer. Her thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell- Sehun was here.

Mrs. Byun went to open the door, and Sehun greeted her with a hug. “Eomma!” the tall boy chirped like he was five years old. He held her for a bit longer than he normally would, knowing that he won’t be around to see his ‘eomma’ for a while. But the scent of food entering his nostrils was too overwhelming so he took the older woman’s hand and happily skipped into the kitchen where JiYeon was filling bowls with the hearty pork bone soup.

Sehun knew that his best friend was having a hard time bidding farewell to her parents and hometown- the only place she ever knew for the seventeen years of her life. He was proud of her that she was holding herself together because he knows how emotional she can get even if she looks so tough on the outside. It’s funny to think that he was actually more excited than anything to finally be moving out to the big city to start university. To be honest, he had no idea how he even got admitted. Will he miss his grandmother? Absolutely. She’s the only family he’s ever known. But he also knows that he cannot be her little boy forever, so this is his time to shine. To learn to be a real man so that he can in turn take care of her. Wow, where did all these mature thoughts come from?

The boy sat down in his usual spot at the Byun dining table (next to JiYeon) and tipped his head politely thanking his Eomma for the food. The first few minutes was filled with sounds of the two youngsters aggressively scooping the soup and rice as if they were racing to be the first to refill their bowls. Mr. Byun broke the silence saying, “JiYeon and Sehun, I just want to remind you two that no matter what happens out there in the big city, you always have Baekhyun and you always have us. Autumn Hill will always be your home so you can call us anytime you need.” He paused to look at his daughter and her best friend as they slowed down their eating to listen to him. “Sehunnie, I know you are worried about your grandmother, but you can rest assured that Mrs. Byun- uh, your Eomma, and I will be looking out for her.” Earning a smile and sincere “Thank you” from the young boy.

It was Mrs. Byun who let the first tear fall. Her husband gently her back as she tried to contain her emotions. JiYeon looked at her mother and was on the verge of bursting out in tears when she felt a hand squeeze her knee tightly. Sehun knew how hard this was for his best friend, and he also knew that it would be even harder if the mother and daughter ended up in a sobbing mess. JiYeon breathed in and said to her parents, “Eomma and Appa, I know you may worry about me, about us. But Baekkie will be there and Jongdae Oppa will be there to look out for us.” She held onto Sehun’s hand for support before she continued, “I promise you that I will call you often and we will come back to visit you during our school holidays.” JiYeon tried to smile for her parents.

“Eomma, Mr. Byun, I promise you I will take care of JiYeon.” Sehun added when he knew that his best friend was having a difficult time keeping her cool. Of course he knew, he was losing all sensations in his right hand.

“Alright, let’s not get emotional. Today is a big day! Let’s finish our lunch and get going. Shall we?” Mr. Byun tried to lighten the atmosphere when he saw his wife and daughter teary-eyed.

The four of them finished the rest of the food and JiYeon’s mom packed some snacks for their car ride. It was almost 2:00pm by the time they were ready to go. JiYeon and Sehun went down the street to bid farewell to his grandmother before they hopped into the truck that would take them and all their belongings to the university residence.

With one last wave out the window to her crying mother, JiYeon held tightly onto Sehun’s hand as her father pulled out of their driveway. Once the truck got onto the highway, JiYeon could not hold it in anymore and broke down in tears sobbing into Sehun’s boney shoulder. It definitely was not the most comfortable place to cry on, but having her best friend by her side made her feel safe to express her emotions. Mr. Byun tried not to let his crying daughter distract him from driving, but it pained him just as much to be sending his little princess off to school so far away from home.

Sehun knew the routine. At a time like this, it was no use to try to talk to JiYeon. All he can do is let her cry it all out. He rested his cheek on top of his best friend’s head while she drenched his shirt with her tears, and quietly hummed her favourite childhood tune in hopes to ease her pain. After about 20 minutes, the sobs soften to heavy breathing and Sehun realized that JiYeon has fallen asleep. He took his jacket to cover his sleeping friend as he made himself comfortable and closed his eyes.

This was the beginning of a new chapter for the seventeen year olds.