Vasudha walked up the steps slowly, dragging her bags, now filled with crumped clothes thanks to Seohyun, behind her. She cursed in the multiple languages she knew and frowned. She had never come across someone like Seohyun. She didn't feel that she had done anything wrong. There was no reason for Seohyun to do what all she had done. It simply wasn't fair. Vasudha silently promised herself that she wouldn't let that psychopath get to her. 

Huffing and puffing, she hauled her bags up to the third floor. Vasudha was reminded of why she had been forced to take the stairs. The lifts had tonnes of girls around them, with all kinds of makeup plastered across their faces. They wore short skirts and heels so high that Vasudha grimaced at the sight of them. As soon as she entered all eyes spun to her. She could feel them judging her baggy jeans and loose jacket. As she pulled the strap of her rucksack she realized she wasn't about to stand there in front of all these judgemental eyes. Thus, she decided to walk the walk, quite literally. 

Dragging her bags away from the crowd she had found the stairs after much hard work on the part of a passing sweeper. As she hauled her bags with no help she suddenly felt helpless. She felt alone. Pushing the thoughts away she tried hard to strengthen her resolve. There was no way she could afford this school without the scholarship and being here would give her an amazing shot at life. She was no poor person. In fact she came from a rich family but even she wouldn't have been able to afford the exorbitantly priced fees at this school. Being in one of the top ten institutions came with a price, a heavy one. 

She located her room quickly and paused for a moment before knocking the door. She had been informed that she would have a roommate. Had this been a drama she was sure her roommate would have been Seohyun but she had a hunch that Seohyun didn't reside in the hostel. But it could still be someone who would look down on her. Gathering her wits, she gulped and finally knocked on the door. 

"Who is it?" she heard someone chirp from inside. 

Whoever it was sounded friendly and frankly, quite cute. 

"This is Vasudha. Your new roommate." Vasudha said politely and waited for the door to be opened. 

She heard a buzz from onside and with almost a sigh, the door opened an inch, automatically. 

Vasudha blinked and pushed it open, stepping in with her bags and closing it behind her. She spun around to find a girl standing in front of her. She was slightly chubby and had shoulder length hair and a friendly face. A pair of glasses was perched daintily on her nose and she wore a baggy sweater and jeans. 

"Hi!" she chirped, "I'm Pooja!" 

"Pooja? Are you Indian?" Vasudha asked as she slowly put her bags next to the door and glanced around the room. It was surprisingly small. And there were no beds. A chandelier hung from the ceiling and a lavender pouffe was placed in the center of the room, along with a couple of other sofas, in front of a large flat screen TV which had been attached to the wall. 

The entire floor was carpeted except for a small part in front of the door, which was wooden. Even the walls had a soft fabric covering them of a peach colour. There was an ornately carved table placed on one wall of the room, on which was placed a large flower arrangement. A huge mirror, the length of the entire table was hanging behind the flower arrangement. 

"I'm of Indian origin." Pooja said and grinned at Vasudha, instantly making the latter smile.

"But I was born in Korea. Though I did spend most of my time studying in the States. Anyway, let me show you around the rooms!" Pooja said and took one of Vasudha's hands in hers. 

"Rooms?" Vasudha asked stressing on the plurality of the statement. 

Pooja nodded as if it was the most obvious thing and led her towards an arch which Vasudha had previously failed to notice as it was positioned in a corner she hadn't laid her eyes on. 

The arch opened up to a larger hall which had the aroma of fresh orchids. Vasudha noticed a room to her left which had a name plate which stated 'Pooja Kumar'. A lot of smileys and happy faces had been pasted on the carved wooden door with a golden handle. 

"Thats the kitchen." Pooja opened a door and looked expectantly at Vasudha. 

Vasudha instantly looked into the room Pooja was pointing at, shocked. 

"K-kitchen?" she peeked in to see a fully equipped kitchen with a large fridge and an even larger island in the centre. There was a small dining table in the corner with four chairs. Vasudha gaped at the area, speechless. It wasn't that she hadn't done her research. She knew that the hostel rooms would be really good but this was beyond her expectations. This wasn't a room. This was an apartment! 

Pooja dragged a stunned Vasudha down to another room and opened it for her, switching on the lights.

"And this," Pooja glanced briefly at Vasudha, "Is your room." 

Vasudha's jaw dropped instantly. There was a bathroom to her left and a walk in closet to her right. The floor in this area was wooden but as she moved forward she stepped on carpeted ground and stared around. 

To her left was a king sized bed with huge fluffy pillows. A canopy hung above the bed from the ceiling and covered half of the bed. The walls were a soft cream and a pearly white bedsheet adorned the bed. There was bed side table to the left of the bed, against the wall. On it stood a simple yet elegant lamp. 

To the other side of the bed was an open space where a writing desk stood, in a corner, with a green leather chair. Vasudha's coursebooks had already been placed on a number of intricately carved shelves above the desk.

In the corner opposite the writing desk was a reclinging chair, next to which hung a mirror under which was placed an empty table. Next to the table was a small flat screen TV mounted on the wall. Vasudha's eyes spun towards the floor to ceiling window which was between the writing desk and the leather chair and she realized that a balcony lay beyond it. As if in a dream she slid open the door, making the curtains flutter in the breeze. As she stepped out a breath of fresh air hit her as she saw lush green hills undulating before her eyes. Trees had been planted at regular intervals under which some kids sat working on their laptops, busily. Some other were playing whilst some couples hung around, holding hands. 

"Pity we didn't get the other side." Pooja came up behind her, "It has a better view." 

"There is a view better than this?!" she gasped, turning towards Pooja. 

"Of course." she said, staring at Vasudha, confused. 

Vasudha sighed and looked back towards the hills as Pooja continued, "Well there's free wifi in your room of course. You'll always find food in the fridge. Also, you have to keep your room clean on weekdays but the school sends someone from housekeeping on weekends if you pay for it. All your books are already here. And oh theres a bell, just for next time. You don't have to knock. And theres an intercom system too. To communicate with me that is. Oh and I think you forgot about your keycard. Use it neh?" 

Vasudha just nodded, staring around the room with an open mouth.

Pooja chuckled, "You like it?"

"YES!" Vasudha said and nodded furiously. 

Pooja laughed and went back into the room. Vasudha followed and closed the door behind her.

"Well its better than Harvard. Thats for sure." Pooja said.

"You've been to Harvard?!" Vasudha stared at her.

"Yeah. Summer school. I quite liked it. But then Princeton had a better program for me." 

Vasudha gaped at her as she continued, "But then family stuff arose so I came back to Korea and started studying her. I was about to finish university at Stanford but had a few credits left so I had to return. Only when I returned did I realize I'd have to do all the semesters here. So here I am."

"So you're a scholarship student too?" Vasudha asked, her eyes wide.

"What? No. My father is the CEO of a medical company." 

"Oh..." Vasudha said, wondering if she was way out of her leauge her. 

Pooja was about to say something when a small tune started playing and then a polite voice said, "Breakfast has been laid. Please arrive at the cafeteria." 

The statement was repeated twice before Pooja glanced down nervously and then back at Vasudha. 

"Lets go?" Vasudha asked her but she backed away and before Vasudha could say anything disappeared into her room saying, "You go. I'll be... right there..." 

Vasudha was confused but chose not to say anything. The time wasn't right. She exited the door with a map in hand of the school grounds. She followed it out of the hostel and was completely engrossed in mapping out a route when she bumped into someone hard, resulting in both the parties falling to the ground. 

"I'm so sorry!" she looked up to see that the one she had bumped into was Seohyun. 

She couldn't believe this was happening now of all times. 

Before she could say anything she noticed a face to the side of Seohyun that took her breath away. 

A guy stood there, looking at her suspiciously. His thin lips were curved into a hint of a smile. His ears were pierced and he had sharp features. He wore strange clothes but surprisingly, they looked good on him. A cap with a colourful swear word was perched on top of his head.

"Hi." he noticed her gaze, "I'm Jiyong. Call me GD."