His words are no revelation, yet I find myself pondering over the mistakes that I’ve caused due to my assumptions about people. I don’t want to repeat the same problems. Do I never learn?

So this is it, then. I’m done with going back to the point I already passed.

“How long were you together?” I murmur. My voice stretches over the chairs in front of us. The emptiness of the Hall pulls at the sound until it echoes throughout the building.

“We were ‘high school sweethearts’ for two years,” he says. “I met her in middle school. We were neighbors.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Weird coincidence, right? When I started liking her, it was a privilege. But then it turned out to be one of those things that people would call a curse. Although, in a way, it’s what saved me.” He lets out a chuckle that sounds like a strained whimper, and I can tell that he’s done talking about it. “Kind of like you and Lange.”

“Not really. Technically, everybody is neighbors with each other here. You’re my neighbor. Nam. Everyone.”

“So why aren’t we all friends? And why don’t we have house warmings?” He tsks and adds, “I want to visit your room.”

“Why? It’s not that special.” I picture my dorm room in my head. “We have a decoration of pictures strung together with Christmas lights.”

“That’s cool.”

“Not really.”

“I want to see it, Junah.”

He’s said my name before, but this is the only time I feel as if my heart has physically stopped. It’s bizarre. I didn’t think Chanyeol’s low voice was deep enough to hit me right in the pits of my stomach.

I must be tired.

“All right. Fine. We’ll schedule it. Not today, okay? And in turn, I get to visit your room.”

“Okay,” he agrees readily.

“By the way, who’s your roommate?”

“I’ve never told you about him?” He asks. I shake my head. “Oh. Well, he’s an international student. His name’s Minseok.”

“Minseok?” I don’t think I’ve met anyone with that name. “What does he look like?”

“Like a steamed pork bun.”

“What the heck?” I slap him. “Forget it. But I’m visiting your room.”

“All right. Why don’t you come now?”

“Right now?”

“Yeah. You aren’t doing anything, are you?”

Well. No. But I was hoping to stay with him a bit longer in this alternate universe entitled the Hall. “I guess not.”

“Then let’s go.” He stands up. The seat of his chair flips back up with a quiet clunk. “Come on!” He looks excited again. He must really want me to see his dorm room.

He leads the way out of the aisle and skips down the steps. We make it to his dorm faster than if I had gone alone, and then he walks into the little nook where the RAs take turns working.

“Hey!” Chanyeol greets the RA behind the desk. He’s a short guy with a beard thicker than the hair on his head. He smiles, and his teeth are like white flowers in the middle of a bushy field. I know that’s weird, but that’s seriously what they are like.

“Hey Chanyeol, how are you?” He asks. He sees me and grins. “You have a visitor?”

“Yeah. Thought I’d let you know. She’s dropping by to see my room.”

“Cool. Just give me your ID,” he says, so I hand it to him. “You guys have fun!” He calls as we leave him. “Don’t be risqué!”

“You’d be the one to do that!” Chanyeol shouts back. He scans his ID to get into his hall, and then he points at the two hallways that run from his left and right. “I don’t live here, I live downstairs,” he says. “People like to call this the asylum though.”

“Why?” I say.

“It’s creepy looking,” he points at the hallway to our right. It has white floors, white brick walls, and dim lights. “It’s kind of depressing.”

“Where’s your room?”

“Don’t rush me!” He warns with a fake glare. He approaches a door and opens it to show the stairs. I walk beside him toward the next floor, which is identical to the floor above, except with more wall decorations. We take the left hallway. As we walk, I look at all the names of students taped on the walls. There are random bat-shaped crafts on the walls, too.

“Is your hall supposed to have a theme?” I question.

“It’s supposed to be Gotham, but our RA didn’t try too hard to make it legit.” He reaches the last door in the hallway. “Hey, Min