Different door number entirely but there was a similar shoerack/ plant at your door. 

When my seniors told me that college days would be "gone in a daze", I didn't expect it to be literal. At the very least, I would expect to end my freshman orientation week in a more sober state. I couldn't recall anything that happened that night, nor how I manage to stumble against the weight of my-similarly-drunk-friends all the way back to the dorms. We reeked of alcohol and was an unsightly mess. Yet our minds were dancing on cloud nine, too lost to bring ourselves back to senses. I must have left them at some point, probably by the road as they tumbled and fell. Did I laugh then? Probably. I could be mean when I get drunk. Being drunk that night was accidental. I hardly drink, so when my friends tested my limits, it didn't take long for the alcohol to overcome my system. Miraculously, I stayed on my two feet all the way back to the familiar sight of the dormitories. Anything thereafter, I heard from him in time to come. 

- ∞ -

There are exactly two times in my life when I woke up hoping that I would fall back asleep straightaway. The first time was the day following my first break up, and when it hit me that the words he said were not a dream but reality, I realised the truth could be scarier than nightmares. I went straight back to bed, hoping to sleep away the unbearable feelings. 

The second time is this very moment. I woke to an unfamiliar room plastered with soccer posters and, for reasons I do not want to know, video game character bedsheets. Amidst the soccer trophies and sports gears scattered around the room, I noticed a relatively clean desk with nothing but food and laptop with a piano keyboard wired to it. My hangover was more or less gone, but I was taking my time to make sense of the situation. Based on the configurations of the room, it was definitely the dormitories. Yet this was in no way my room. Definitely some teenage boy's den. Video game bedsheets, soccer fanatic and dabbling in music on the sidelines. Pfft.

My clothes were intact but my head was packed with a pounding headache and a hell lot of confusion. I knew I wasn't in immediate danger of anything, and in fact it felt like I woke up in a place that I could get comfortable to. I was ready to leave before the owner of this room came back, but then I noticed a trail of post-its, starting from the one right next to my pillow. 

"Heol~ good morning ^□^/"

"You can borrow my sweater before class :)". 

"I've outgrown this tee so you can borrow it for the day!"

"Your clothes sorta stink >.<" " 

"Breakfast is on the table. You can choose between the soup and the bread." 

I moved to his desk. Even the food were labeled with post-its. 

"Choose me! Good for hangovers~~~" The post-it on the soup declared. 

"Choose me! Good for the go and holding in stomach upset!" The pink post-it on the bread sounded similarly animated. 

I chose the soup. The idea of soup, compared to other food, is slightly different. Soup just warms you up, and gives you a fuzzy feeling inside. It's not just because you have to serve it hot, but because you have to sit down, let yourself stay in a fixed location, when you have soup. Sure, you can pack your soup and drink it in a cup on-the-go, but it really doesn't feel like soup anymore, does it? You can nibble on that corner of the bread as you rush to your next destination, but nothing forces you to calm down and confine yourself to the dining table space like soup. You have to be comfortable with the place to drink soup. Soup makes you feel like being home. 

Maybe it was the soup, or the post-its, but everything made me feel homely in the room. As I helped myself to the breakfast, I started playing probing around the belongings in his room. I was attempting a very failed glissando on his keyboard when his laptop screen suddenly lit up to a music program window. From what I make out of the program, it was some form of digital composing platform. I was not a music major but I could at least figure out this was a half-finished composition that he was working on. Out of curiosity, I pressed the space bar. 

A soothing ballad filled the room. The sensitive and light melody seemed slightly out of place in the room with with video game and soccer items strewn all around. Did he write this while snuggling in his video game blanket? Or while playing absentmindedly with his soccer ball, throwing it mindlessly into the air? 

I supposed it was the effects of the alcohol, but I was extremely melancholic all of a sudden. It overwhelmed me almost too suddenly, leaving me no time to prepare for it or steel myself up for the challenge. It just hit me there and then, as I listened to the song in this unknown boy's room. I blinked, and something hot touched my cheeks. I wiped the hot tears away. It was a strange feeling. Like love that had come and gone. I picked up a random pen on his desk and left him what I thought was the best way to repay his kindness. 

"I love you. I'll love to stay. But I rather leave you loved, than hurt you for another day." 

Very carefully, I pasted that post-it on his keyboard and left the room as I put on his sweater. 

- ∞ -

As it turned out, that room was in a completely different dorm from mine but I went in because there was a similar shoerack at the door. And he just happened to have the same running sneakers as I did. 

The semester got busier and the sweater lay forgotten in the corner of my closet. That was, until fall came and I randomly took it out and the piece of clothing finally saw daylight again. I didn't pay special attention to what I was wearing that evening, and to be honest I completely forgot it wasn't mine. I was simply wondering where I had bought it as I made my way to the bar, where I was going to attend my college friend's birthday party. 

My bestie from college, Kim Sunggyu, was a singer-wannabe. Okay, maybe I was a bit harsh, because that dude can really sing. The party was meant to be his birthday farewell party since he was scouted to go Japan to further his career. 

There were a mix of different groups at the bar, some whom I knew, and some whom I had never met. Sunggyu was busy going round the place drinking with different groups, so as the female best friend, I just sat in one corner and drank some juice on my own (I figured I should refrain from alcohol). Occasionally I would talk to the bartender when I ordered more drinks and served everyone else. I was so glad that I was wearing sneakers because both the bartender and I agreed that I might as well worked there for the night. 

The bar had a mini stage where people would go up to perform. After two rounds of drunk singing by Sunggyu and his friends, the bartender finally managed to politely invite their off the stage and squeeze in a slot for his regular band. The music and immediately I felt like I was transported somewhere else. 

It was a familiar melody that I had heard before, but I wasn't sure where. A commercial? In another pub? On TV? I was entranced by the music, and I stopped serving for a while so that I was sitting right by the bar, sipping on my orange juice and watching the band intently. 

"They're good, huh?" Minseok the bartender said beside me as he wiped another mountain of glasses. 

"Yea. Do they play here regularly?" I asked, my eyes not tearing away from the lead singer and guitarist. His voice was deep and emotional, like he was putting his soul into the song. He couldn't have been much older than I was. 

"Yup, for almost a year now. They're an independent band. The drummer is called Key, the one on keyboard in Yoseob, the bassist is Gikwang and the lead singer is Woohyun. I heard Woohyun writes the songs for his band. I think they're from your school actually." 

My school?  I don't recall ever seeing them around campus. Or maybe because I don't go to campus concerts. I might have heard of them. 

It was the chorus, and suddenly familiar words came into my ears. 

I love you. I'll love to stay

But I rather leave you loved, than hurt you for another day.

Darling, goodbye, goodbye.

Our love is not for today.

Not today.

"AH!" I stood up so abruptly and yelped so loudly that everyone turned to look at me. I was lucky the lights were dim and the music masked my scream, but nonetheless dozens of people turned around to look at me quizzically, including the band the on stage. I was pointing at the lead singer as I finally recalled where I've heard this song, and where I've seen that face.

The soccer team photos in that room. 

That laptop with the sorrowful tune. 

Nothing happened as I apologised to everyone with a nod, and they assumed the freshman in the room got drunk again. I took off my sweater at the counter. 

"You didn't even drink, should I lower the AC temperature?" Minseok asked, concerned. 

"OK, you know that Woo-Woohyun dude? Tell him this is his sweater, I'm returning it and I really liked that song. I think I better go." I stuffed the sweater into Minseok's chest before dashing out of the bar. 

The night breeze was cool on my flushing cheeks. I didn't know why I ran away, but at the moment when I found out that the boy on stage was the one whose room I had trespassed and whose sweater I had been wearing for months, I felt adrenaline rush