Jongin’s face is pressed against the car window as he ogled at the sight before him, a small circle of the window fogging up with each exhale. Although he had been on campus before during open house, orientation, and accepted student day, it was finally dawning on him that he would be living there for the next four years as he studied towards his degree. The sight of other students in the parking lot unpacking their things from the trunks of their cars made his heart race. Soon he would be just like them, emptying his bags from his dad’s car and slowly moving his belongings into the dorm. Into his room.

“Donovan Hall. Is this the right building?” His dad mumbled from the front as he pulled into the parking lot.

“Oh look, there’s a spot right there.” His mom pointed out and the car quickly entered the parking space before the dozens of other cars spotted it.

Jongin bit back a smile as he leaned onto the console to get a better look at the building. He had seen it last time during orientation but instead of being an onlooker, he was going to be a resident this time around.

Jongin’s mother turned around and looked at the boy. “Are you nervous?”

“Yeah,” Jongin answered truthfully, fingers playing with a loose thread from the end of his shirt.

“Don’t worry. We’re always a phone call away and you can take the train back home if you ever feel homesick,” the woman reassured him.

“Yeah…”

Jongin’s father unclipped his seat belt and turned off the ignition. “Don’t worry, Jongin. You’ll be fine. Now, let’s start unloading the car because it’s going to take us forever since you brought so much with you.”

Jongin’s face flushed and he frowned. “Did not! I just brought what was suggested on the move in list.”

“Which was everything,” the man teased as he stepped out of the car.

Jongin huffed as he stepped out of the car, unable to think of a comeback to his father’s retort.

The trunk of the car was popped open and the man whistled lowly as he looked at all the luggage. Jongin scowled as he started to pull out his suitcases, the bags settling on the pavement with a thud. “Dad, please. It’s honestly not that much. I think the only thing we should be worrying about is the mini fridge.”

“Honey, do you want me to get your bags from the back?” Jongin’s mother piped up.

“Yes please!”

Jongin’s father groaned as he pulled out a small plastic storage container. “What do you even need a fridge for? It’s not like you’re going to cook. Not that you can.”

“Dad!”

“Stop teasing Jongin, dear,” his mother chided from the car.

The man laughed and then nudged his son lightly. “Come on, I’m just messing around with you. You know you’ll miss me when I’m gone.”

“Honestly, I think I’ll miss my babies more,” Jongin said as he grabbed his hamper that was filled to the brim with his pillows, bed sheets, and a large warm blanket.

Jongin’s father gasped and slapped a hand over his chest. “So, you love your dogs more than you love your father?”

Jongin rolled his eyes with a smile and said softly, “Of course I love you, dad.”

The man smirked as he reached for the mini fridge. “You better. Grab the other side of the box, will you?”

The two shimmied the box out from the back of the trunk and set it down on the asphalt carefully. Jongin’s father dusted his hands and straightened his back. “Okay, that’s everything in here. Now we just have to move it into your room, right?”

Jongin nodded and then looked around quickly. “Crap, I have to get my room key first. Wait here real quick.”

As Jongin ran off to his pick up his keys, his parents leaned against the back of the car. His mother smiled fondly at the sight of her baby boy talking to someone and she felt an arm make its way around her shoulders. She turned in surprise and saw her husband looking at her gently. She rested her head on his shoulder and said, “I hope he’ll be okay.”

The man chuckled softly and squeezed his wife. “He will be; he’s our son, after all.”

Jongin ran back to his parents and held up a key, the silver glistening under the bright summer sun. “Got my key so let’s start moving everything in.”

As his dad started towards the building, Jongin lingered for a bit in the parking lot to take in the sight one last time. He was snapped out of his daze when the trunk of the car next to him slammed down loudly. He looked over curiously and saw a tall boy with elfish ears frown at another boy who had a perpetually sleepy look on his face.

“Dude, I told you to get some boxes or something! Now we have to make like three trips back here with all your random bags!” The tall boy complained.

The sleepy looking one waved his remark off and said, “We’ll get it done in one trip, I swear. I don’t even have that many bags!”

“There’s like at least four Victoria’s Secret duffle bags! Even my sister doesn’t have that many! Where are you getting these from?”

“My mom.”

“God.”

“Jongin! What are you doing staring into space?” His dad hollered from the entrance of the building, his face slightly red from holding two heavy boxes by himself.

Jongin tore his attention from the two bickering boys and quickly grabbed his largest suitcase and hamper from his mom. The woman nodded in the direction her husband and he let out a breath. “Coming!”

The father-son duo began to move the boy’s belongings into the room as Jongin’s mother stayed by the car to watch over everything else. Once they were down to just suitcases, the woman locked the car and joined the two to get a look at the boy’s room.

“Wow, I thought your room would be bigger than this,” his mother commented from the doorway.

Donovan Hall was home to the traditional dorm, each room housing a double. The walls were painted an eggshell white and were blindingly barren. Two twin sized beds were pushed up against either side of the wall with two small dressers in between, sitting nice and pretty underneath the window sill. Desks were placed at the foot of the bed and right behind it was a small closet. There wasn’t enough space for a bathroom and shower so he would have to make his way down the hall to the communal bathroom—something Jongin dreaded after learning more about the residential hall. However, there was a kitchen lounge on each floor so if he ever felt like cooking, he could always mosey down there and fix himself something to eat.

The room wasn’t much but Jongin didn’t mind. He wasn’t too keen on sharing a dorm with too many people right off the bat so he settled on a quaint double that he would share with someone named Sehun. He hadn’t met him yet but they exchanged messages on Facebook after finding out they were roommates so he was quite excited to meet him.

Jongin plopped down on the bed to the right of the door and let out a breath. “It’s small but I don’t mind. I don’t want to keep you guys here any longer so I’ll just unpack everything myself. You can head home first.”

His mother frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “Trying to get rid of us already?”

He laughed and got up to give the woman a hug. “Mom, please. You guys helped enough by driving me up here and helping me move my luggage. I can do the rest myself.”

“He’s a big boy so he’ll be fine.” His father patted his back with a grin.

“He’s only eighteen. He’ll still forever be a baby in my eyes.”

Jongin’s cheeks grew warm and he pulled away. “C’mon mom, I’m not a baby anymore. Now seriously, you guys should get going before you hit traffic. I’ll be fine by myself.”

It took a little bit more convincing from Jongin before his parents finally decided it was time to leave. He walked them back to their car and gave them both the tightest hugs he could muster. “I promise to call when I can,” he said. He stood in the parking lot and waved goodbye to them, waiting until the car slowly disappeared from his sight before making his way back to his room.

When Jongin got back into the dorm, he noticed the door to his room wide open. He was sure he locked it earlier but he realized it was probably his roommate. He tip-toed towards the door and saw a tall lanky blonde standing in the middle of the room, a large black suitcase and—Jongin had to look twice—a black laundry bag by his feet.

“Hey, are you Sehun?” He asked as he stepped into the room.

The boy jumped in surprise and turned around. He blinked and then snapped his fingers in recognition. “, you must be Jongin. I’m Sehun. Nice to finally meet you.”

Jongin grinned and stepped forward, shaking hands with his new roommate. “Yeah, nice to finally meet you too. Hope you don’t mind but I already chose that bed there,” he said as he pointed to the right.

Sehun followed his finger and nodded. “That’s fine. I’m not picky about where I sleep so don’t worry about that. But dude, did you bring all of this?” He did a grand gesture to all the boxes and suitcases on Jongin’s side of the room and then looked back at the boy.

The boy sheepishly scratched the back of his head and said, “Too much? Should’ve listened to my dad and let them bring some of this stuff home.”

“Nah, it’s good. At least you’re prepared for the worst, am I right?”

Jongin relaxed at the boy’s joke and he looked down at the floor. “Wait, is that all you brought? It’s not much.”

Sehun shrugged and kicked his sagging laundry bag. “I figured I didn’t really need much. And that I could mooch off of my new roommate.” He smirked at Jongin and then fell back with a groan. “God, I’m so tired. I think I might take a nap.”

Jongin looked at Sehun incredulously. “Already? You’ve only been in here for like five minutes!”

The blonde waved off his remark and started to get comfy on his bed. “I stayed up last night binging Black Clover so I’m pretty tired.”

“Wait, you mean the anime? I watched like an episode and got so annoyed with Asta screaming all the time.”

“Well, that’s his character. Anywho, I think I’m going to knock out for a few. Wake me up if you need anything or if you’re about to get food,” Sehun mumbled as he turned to his side.

“You’re really just going to sleep like that? Without a bedsheet or covers or a pillow?”

“I’ll live.”

 

 

 

Surprisingly, Jongin didn’t take too long to put away majority of his belongings and to settle in. Most of the boxes he brought were storage containers but maybe he did bring one too many. He’ll have to call his dad up one of these days to get him to bring some back home with him. Or he could lend some to Sehun.

As Jongin neatly folded his clothes into his dresser, Sehun let out a groan and rubbed his eyes. “Yo, what time is it?” He asked as he stretched his arms and legs, his hand nearly smacking Jongin upside the head.

He swiftly dodged the gangly limb and reached for his phone on his bed. “Uh, it’s almost seven. You knocked out for like four hours.”

Sehun sat up, his hair all mussed up and sticking up in different directions. “Seriously? It looks like it’s still three in the afternoon out there,” he said as he pointed to the window.

Jongin chuckled as he stuffed his last shirt into the drawer and pushed it close. “Well, that’s summer for you. Hey, do you need like extra storage bins for your stuff? I have like two that I don’t need so they’re all yours if you want it.”

The blonde yawned as he ran a hand through his hair. After refocusing his eyes, he finally noticed that Jongin’s side of the room looked homier than before with the bed all set up, clothes put away, and a few small posters on the wall. His eyes than dragged over to his unpacked suitcase and laundry bag and he sighed. “Yeah, I’ll take them.”

Jongin grinned and he pushed the two containers towards Sehun. He eyed his luggage and asked skeptically, “Are you sure that’s everything you need for the semester? If you think about it, we’re basically living here for four months.”

Sehun hopped out of bed and laid his suitcase flat on the floor. “I don’t really need much to survive. I just brought what I needed. Besides, I think I hit the jackpot rooming with someone who came so prepared so I’ll probably just mooch off of you during the semester.” He flashed him a cheeky grin and then started to rummage through his belongings.

Jongin nodded and leaned against his bed, his head reclining back to rest on the edge of the mattress. “I don’t really have a problem with that but are you sure you don’t have to like buy stuff? I heard there’s a shuttle that takes you to the mall nearby if you ever need anything.”

Sehun snorted as he sorted through his clothes. “I’ll be fine.”

“If you say so. Man, I wish we were allowed to bring pets with us. I miss my dogs so much…”

Suddenly, Sehun perked up and looked at him with bright eyes. “You have dogs? You have any pics?”

Jongin was slightly taken aback by the sudden enthusiasm as he reached for his phone behind him. “Wow, you must really like dogs,” he said as he started scrolling through his gallery for pictures of his dogs.

“ yeah, man. I’ve wanted a dog for the longest but my parents always said that they didn’t have enough time to help take care of it and to train it so here I am, dog-less.”

Jongin gave him a look of sympathy as he passed his phone to the blonde. “Taking care of a dog is a lot of work so I can see where your parents are coming from. If anything, you can always get a dog when you’re older and have your own place. Better late than never, right?”

Too engrossed by the cute pictures of Jongin’s three poodles, Sehun just grunted as he stared at his phone. A wide smile appeared on his face and he even cooed at the screen. He passed the phone back and let out a sigh. “Man, dogs are the best.”

“They really are.” Jongin had a dopey smile on his face as he looked at his babies. He missed them so much and he couldn’t wait until he could go back to see them again.

Sehun sniffled as he looked at his suitcase and then Jongin’s side of the room. “Wow, you really cleaned up. Since you’re done, wanna help me put my stuff away?”

Jongin gave him a look and then sighed. “Yeah, I guess.”

 

 

 

Helping Sehun settle in took barely any time because the blonde literally only brought with him the bare necessities. Jongin honestly wondered if the blonde could survive on only what he brought with him but at least he had enough to lend Sehun toothpaste or detergent or maybe a clean shirt once in a while if he needed it.

“Okay, so since we’re going to be rooming together for the entire year, we should create some ground rules,” Jongin said from his bed, legs and arms crossed.

Sehun laid comfortably on his side and propped his head up with his hand. “Ground rules? So just don’t get on each other’s nerves? Got it.”

“Well I mean, that’s a given but like we should have a cleaning schedule and garbage schedule so that the work is evenly distributed,” Jongin reasoned, a serious expression on his face.

The blonde rolled his eyes and turned so that he was laying on his back. “I guess you have a point. Should we have the schedule written on your little dry erase board so we don’t forget?”

Before Jongin could say anything, the two jumped at the thundering beat of an EDM song that sounded like it was coming from across the hall. The two looked at each other before slipping out of bed and heading to the door to see what was going on.

Sehun opened the door and saw that the room across from them was wide open and was indeed the source of the loud music. He could see a few people were mingling inside, all talking to one another as they held red Solo cups.

One of the tall boys inside the room turned around and caught Sehun’s stare. He broke out into a grin and made his way to the door. “Hey! I’ve never seen your faces before. You guys freshmen?” He shouted over the music.

Jongin’s head appeared above Sehun’s just as the blonde nodded. The tall boy seemed to smile even harder, if that was even possible, and waved them over. “Sweet! Hey, why don’t you come over and join the party? There’s some booze, if you guys want.”

Jongin recognized the tall boy as the one who was complaining about all the Victoria’s Secret duffle bags earlier and wondered what were the odds that he would be living across from him.

“Free booze? I’m in,” Sehun said. He ducked underneath Jongin’s body to put on his slippers and then opened the door wider so he could leave the room. He looked at the brunet and cocked an eyebrow. “You coming or what?”

“We can’t drink! We’re not even twenty one yet!” Jongin cried.

Sehun rolled his eyes as he made his way across the hall. “Who cares? This is college. Someone could be doing crack in the room next to us and no one would care so loosen up!”

“There actually was a dude doing crack on the fourth floor last year,” the tall boy piped up, pushing an empty cup into Sehun’s hands. “Cops arrested him when word got out but yeah, literally no one cares about what you do.”

There was a look of consternation on Jongin’s face and he sighed in defeat. “Alright, I’ll come too.” He put on his slippers and trudged across the hall where Sehun was waiting for him with a grin.

As soon as he stepped into the room, Jongin recognized the boy sleeping on the left as the owner of all the Victoria’s Secret duffle bags from earlier. Well, it was pretty obvious they were his since he was surrounded by them in his slumber. How he managed to sleep through the loud music was a mystery to him but then again, he slept like the dead too.

There was a total of six people in the room, including Jongin and Sehun. The tall boy with the elfish ears introduced himself as Chanyeol and his sleeping roommate as Yixing. Then there was Jongdae, the boy with a kitten-like grin and Baekhyun, the boy that strangely reminded Jongin of a puppy.

“Sorry the room is a mess.” Chanyeol grinned sheepishly as he plopped down on his bed. “Yixing decided to take a nap instead of unpack so things are all over the place and I’m messy in general. So, you guys are freshmen? What are your majors?”

“Computer science,” Sehun said as he looked at the various bottles of alcohol on Chanyeol’s desk.

“Nice. What about you?”

“Um, I’m actually undecided,” Jongin answered meekly.

Chanyeol tilted his head and had an intrigued look on his face. Baekhyun swung back the last bit of fireball left in his cup and pointed a dainty finger at Jongin. “Whatever you do, don’t choose business. It’s the worst.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re barely passing. I’m honestly surprised how you aren’t even under academic probation with your grades,” Jongdae retorted from the lip of his cup.

Baekhyun’s lips curled into a frown and he huffed. “Shut up. You just think you’re all cool and stuff because you’re in postgrad.”

Jongin’s eyebrows shot up and he asked, “Wow, you’re doing postgrad already? That’s amazing.”

Jongdae puffed his chest out a bit and had a smug look on his face. “Thanks, but it’s no big deal. There’s actually another postgrad among us. His name is Minseok and he’s super chill. You’ll probably meet him later along with his suitemates, Junmyeon and Kyungsoo.”

“I heard my name.”

The boys in the room (minus Yixing) all turned their attention to the voice that came from the door and Jongin felt his heart skip a beat. Leaning against the doorway was a short boy with thick eyebrows, plump lips, and the widest eyes he had ever seen behind a pair of black framed glasses. He was downright staring down the boy, completely mesmerized by his eyes, and only snapped out of his daze when Sehun elbowed him.

“Chill, dude. You’re gonna burn a hole in his head,” the blonde whispered.

Chanyeol got up from his bed and happily greeted the new arrivals. “You guys made it! Oh, this is Jongin and Sehun. They’re freshmen and they live right across the hall from us. The one with the glasses in Kyungsoo, the one next to him is Minseok and the last guy is Junmyeon. Minseok is the other postgrad while Kyungsoo and Junmyeon are juniors like the rest of us.”

Right before the two could introduce themselves, the pounding EDM song faded and was replaced by a bubblier sounding instrumental followed by a girl saying, “Aha, listen boy. My first love story…”

The boys simultaneously paused as the girl continued on. “My angel and my girls. My sunshine…”

Suddenly, Jongdae doubled over in laughter and wheezed, “Oh my god, is that Girl’s Generation?”

Chanyeol’s face grew red as the poppy song continued playing in the background and he fumbled for his phone. “S-Shut it! There’s nothing wrong with listening to k-pop!”

“I never said anything about that. I just wasn’t expecting that song to be on your playlist,” Jondae panted as he tried to catch his breath.

“Sometimes I need a little GG lovin’ to get through the day.” Chanyeol scowled at the boy before switching to a Drake song, the chill beat of Passionfruit replacing Gee.

“Whatever you say.”

The three boys made their way inside the already cramped room, some settling on Chanyeol’s bed, some carefully sitting around Yixing and his multiple hot pink duffle bags, and some standing in the middle. Jongin kept on watching Kyungsoo’s every move and Sehun rolled his eyes at how obvious his roommate was being.

“You gotta stop staring at him or else you’re gonna creep him out. Drink this instead.” Sehun offered Jongin a cup with a suspicious clear liquid in it.

Jongin took a whiff of it and pulled back with a grimace. “Is this alcohol? Sehun, we can’t drink yet!”

“Lighten up. It’s just a little vodka; it’s not going to kill you.”

“Still, I’m not that comfortable drinking.”

A hand appeared out of nowhere and took the cup from Jongin’s grasp. The boy turned his head and gasped when he saw Kyungsoo downing the drink in one go. The shorter frowned when he pulled the cup from his lips and crushed it in his hand. “If you don’t want to drink, I’m pretty sure Chanyeol has some Arizona or something in his fridge. You,” he pointed to Sehun, “don’t pressure him into drinking if he said he doesn’t want to drink. And you,” he pointed at Jongin, “next time someone offers you a drink and you don’t want it, just say so. You don’t have to explain yourself, just say you don’t want it. Okay?”

Sehun pouted and muttered a soft ‘okay’ before slinking off to talk to the other boys.

Jongin stared at Kyungsoo in astonishment and whispered, “Thank you.”

Kyungsoo shrugged as he nudged his glasses higher up. “No problem. You’re Jongin, right? Freshman?”

“Yeah.”

“What major?”

“I’m undecided.”

Kyungsoo hummed as he tossed out the crushed cup. “So, you’re in the exploring phase, huh? Nothing wrong with that. Your schedule must be full of crazy classes then, huh?”

Jongin played with the hem of his shirt and said, “Not that crazy. I’m still doing the core requirements like math and English but I threw in a dance class and science just to expand my choices a bit.”

There was a look of interest on Kyungsoo’s face and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “You dance?”

Pink bloomed on Jongin’s cheeks and he bashfully smiled. “Yeah, been dancing since I was a kid but I’m not sure if I should major in it or choose something that’ll ensure a more stable career.”

“I hear you,” the elder sighed. “I remember when I told my parents I wanted to go into film studies. They just gave me this dumbfounded look and asked what I was going to do with that in the future. Figured I could be a producer in the future but they weren’t too happy about it. Like every other Asian parent, they’d rather I become a doctor or lawyer. They came around soon after but I totally know what you mean. If anything, I think you should do what makes you happy. I mean, it’s important to have a stable income and all that, but you should be happy doing whatever it is you’ll do in the future. Oh , my bad. I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

Jongin had a small smile on his face and he shook his head. “It’s fine. I really appreciate the advice. You sure you’re not a philosophy major?”

Kyungsoo chuckled at the tease. “God, no. I hate philosophy. I don’t know how Junmyeon convinced me to take philosophy with him back in freshman year but I hated every second of it. Learned a few life lessons but I don’t think I can see myself taking any more courses. You didn’t sign up for philosophy, did you?”

When Jongin shook his head, Kyungsoo let out a breath with a smile. “Good. But hey, you could be one of those people who genuinely enjoy stuff like that so don’t stop yourself from taking it if you’re interested. If anything, you could always ask Junmyeon.”

Junmyeon turned his attention from his conversation with Jongdae and Sehun and blinked. “Is someone talking about me?”

“Yeah, I was just mentioning how you’re a philosophy major and how I absolutely hated that class you made me take with you,” Kyungsoo said.

“Hey, philosophy is interesting! Don’t you think it’s cool to learn how people use to perceive existence and how their school of thoughts differ from ours?” The elder responded.

Baekhyun gagged and poured himself another drink while saying, “Philosophy is literally the most useless major there is. I get you wanted to do a double major so physics is fine but philosophy? Useless.”

Junmyeon frowned and he retorted, “You can do a lot with a philosophy major.”

Jongdae gave the boy a look and said, “Name one thing you can do with a philosophy major besides teach.”

The philosophy major’s eyebrows scrunched together as he thought and right when he thought of an answer, he realized it didn’t apply and he fell silent. Jongdae snorted and said, “Exactly.”

“I just can’t think of one at the moment but there are plenty of employers out there who are looking for philosophy students. Besides, I’ve been focusing more on physics lately.” Junmyeon tried to justify himself.

“You’re basically saying philosophy is useless.” Minseok had a teasing smile on his face and Jongdae took a sip of his drink with his pinky up in an obnoxious fashion.

“So, don’t take philosophy, got it,” Jongin said. “Hey, so you said Chanyeol might have some Arizona in his fridge?”

Kyungsoo straightened up and nodded. He headed for the mini fridge under the boy’s desk and pulled out a whole gallon of green tea Arizona and poured two cups. He handed one to Jongin and held his up, lips curled into a boyish grin.

“Cheers to freshman year,” he said.

Jongin gently knocked his cup against Kyungsoo’s, the liquid sloshing around a bit, and flashed a matching smile. “Cheers.”

“Wait, we’re doing toasts now? Me first!” Baekhyun suddenly exclaimed. He pushed Chanyeol out of the way and stood tall and proud on the boy’s bed. “To the new semester and to trying not to fail!”

Jongdae mumbled from his cup, “Amen to that.”

Chanyeol shot up from his seat on the bed and bellowed, “To the all-nighters that we all can’t avoid!”

“To fewer parties so we can focus on studying!” Junmyeon followed after, throwing Chanyeol a faux glare.

“To more parties so we can all get faced!” Sehun whooped, ing his cup into the air.

“To finding a good job after postgrad!” Minseok tossed in.

“To getting the out of here in one piece!” Jongdae exclaimed.

“To you guys leaving so I can get some sleep,” Yixing sleepily muttered, much to everyone’s surprise.

All eyes then swung to Kyungsoo and Jongin and the two froze. They looked at each other before Kyungsoo broke out into a heart-stopping grin and said, “To new beginnings.”

Jongin bit back a smile and held up his cup. “To college.”

The boys all cheered and threw back their drinks, hollering and cheering excitedly as they danced around the room. Kyungsoo looked up at Jongin and said, “Welcome to college.”

 

 

 

a whopping 5k just for the first chapter so hope ya'll enjoy it!
i had a fun time writing it and just a little heads up, there's gonna be a lot of roasting of suho in this fic (his character is loosely based around one of my good friends and we roast the out of him all the time)
also sorry if there are any mistakes, i'll come back to fix them c: