03: Introductions.

Kevin woke up to the sound of water running in their bathroom. He shifted in his bed trying to resume his disturbed sleep but it was pointless. He opened his eyes and was greeted with utter darkness.

God…what time is it.

His hand instinctively moved to his left side where the light switch was to switch on the light. He was sure that he had switched on the light but he was still in utter darkness.

Eh?

“, am I blind? ! !” Kevin panicked when he strained his eyes open but still in darkness. He tried to rub his eyes and his hand touched something hairy.

Since when did my eyes’ area become this hairy? Kevin wondered.

Then a bulb light up on top of his head.

“The wig!” Kevin finally found the source of the darkness. His hands adjusted the wig properly until his eyes caught the light illuminated from the table lamp. He breathed out a sigh of relief.

I would never have thought that a wig could reduce a person’s lifespan by 10 years.

Silly. Kevin snickered at his own foolishness. He really thought he was blind but it turned out the wig was out of place and blocked his view.

He then looked to the space not far from him. He noticed the bed was unoccupied. It was most likely Krystal taking the shower in the bathroom.

He picked up his phone on the table to check what time was it since he noticed that the sun hadn’t risen yet.

6.15?! Kevin’s eyes widened when his phone clock read 6.15 a.m.

“Why the hell would someone take a shower at this time?” Kevin muttered.

“Even my grandma doesn’t take shower this early.”

What is she doing showering at this early hour? Class doesn’t start until 10. Kevin tilted his head thinking.

Suddenly, there was a sound of a door being opened which made Kevin turned his head to the direction of the sound. Then, Krystal, her body wrapped in towel and her hair still wet from shower walked out from the bathroom. She slightly jumped back in surprise when she saw Kevin was awake. But she recovered quickly and put on her cold expression. She was not in the mood to talk to Kevin after what he did the day before.

Kevin was still frozen at his spot, not knowing what to say nor do. He wanted to say hi but he was afraid he would be talking to air.

Then, he saw Krystal was about to unwrap the towel on her body.

“Holy !” Kevin cursed silently with eyes wide open, thinking that he would see Krystal’s body. He promised himself that he would save his eyes for his future wife’s body and he was about to break that promise when erted thoughts started to creep into his mind.

Luckily, his erted side didn’t win him over as he managed to say “Stop!” right before Krystal continued her action.

Krystal turned around to face Kevin and said, “What the hell is your problem?” She noticed that beads of sweats started to form on Kevin’s forehead and his expression was tense.

“Y-You should never undress yourself when I’m around. P-Please...” Kevin said, not looking to Krystal.

“This is the first time I’ve ever heard this request from a roommate.” Krystal scoffed.

“We’re both girls and I don’t see anything wrong with undressing yourself in front of the person of the same gender. Besides, we both have the same ‘things’.”

We don’t have the same ‘things’ dummy.

“I—I know. But I—I..umm…” Kevin’s words trailed off as he tried to think of a lie again.

“You what?” Krystal sounded impatient.

“I—I have a phobia of seeing other people’s body. I had it since I was a kid.” Kevin lied. That was the best lie he could think of at the moment.

Nice Kev. Even monkeys know you’re lying.

Ridiculous phobia. Krystal thought.

“Whatever. I couldn’t care less about your ridiculous phobia anyways.” Krystal again was about to undress herself.

“No!!” Kevin quickly jumped out of his bed and wrapped his arms around tightly around Krystal’s shoulders or at least that was where he thought he laid his hands on.

Krystal looked down and saw Kevin’s hands were on her melons. (Note: Krystal was still in towel. So Kevin didn’t directly touch her melons. :p)

She quickly released herself from Kevin’s grip and pushed Kevin away with all her might that Kevin fell into his bed.

“Why did you put your hands on my s?! Don’t you have any? Touch your own if you’re that !” Krystal snapped.

“ert!” She glared before she went to the bathroom to change.

Kevin sighed after Krystal went to the bathroom.

“Never knew you guys are that naughty.” Kevin said to his hands.

“Dude, did she just ask me to touch my own s?”

I don’t have s. I only have balls hanging in between my legs. Kevin snickered.

--

At 10 a.m sharp, Kevin entered the lecture hall where the other business majors were at to attend Professor Choi’s class. Fortunately, Chorong gave him a tour around the campus. If not, he would be a lost puppy on his first day.

 He spotted Krystal and the latter just glared at him with her arms crossed. He swore he could see lasers coming from her glare and Kevin looked away quickly to spare his young life. That glare could kill him and death was definitely not on his wishlist at the moment. He then proceeded to find an empty seat and the only empty seat he spotted was behind Krystal and he didn’t have a choice but to sit there.

Not long after that, a man dressed in neat and smart outfit entered the lecture hall. The man was good-looking and probably in his mid-20s.

“Who is he?” Kevin asked to the person next to him.

“That’s Professor Choi.”

Kevin’s eyes widened when he heard that. The professor he had in mind was definitely oldies, the ones who looked like they only had the 60s outfits in their wardrobe.

“T-that’s Professor Choi?” Kevin stuttered, still in the process of digesting the information he just heard.

“Yup. My reaction was exactly like yours when I first attended his class but I can assure you, he’s good.”

“Whoa.”

Kevin was mind-blown.

“I heard there is a new student coming today. So, introduce yourself to us, newbie.” Professor Choi’s loud voice echoed in the hall as his eyes scanned the seats to find the new face.

“He’s talking about you.” The person who talked to Kevin just now nudged Kevin to stand up and introduce himself.

Kevin awkwardly stood up.

“Ah, there you are. Introduction, please.” Professor  Choi said as he shoved both his hands into his pockets.

“H-Hello everyone. I’m K-Karen Woo. Nice to meet you guys.” Kevin introduced himself awkwardly. He noticed all the eyes except Krystal’s in the room were on him.  If feeling embarrassed could kill him, he was definitely pronounced dead at the scene where all the attentions were on him. He could see a lot of judgmental eyes and he disliked that.

“I’m Professor Choi Seunghyun or Professor Choi for short, as you probably already know. You’re joining us quite late but nevertheless, welcome to my class, Ms. Woo.” Professor Choi said and gave a small smile.

Kevin nodded slightly and sat back down.

“I’m Hongbin.” The brown-haired boy who sat next to Kevin outstretched his hand for a handshake.

“Karen.” Kevin simply said and accepted the handshake. Hongbin smiled at him and Kevin awkwardly returned the smile. Kevin found Hongbin’s smile gayish because he was a guy himself and the smile Hongbin flashed to him was a smile meant for a girl.

Gawd, that was gay. Kevin nearly puked at the thought of his girlish smile to Hongbin.

They then turned their heads to the front as Professor Choi was about to start his lesson.

The first class went quite well for Kevin because he had already learned all these stuffs before and this class was just a recap but he found Professor Choi’s class was more interesting than the one had in college before.

---

Lunchtime.

The cafeteria was so cool with the modern interiors and designs plus it was quite spacious. The windows were all ceiling-to-floor windows which offered a great view of the campus and the areas around it since the cafeteria was on the top floor.

Kevin gingerly walked to the empty table near the window with his foods. He could feel eyes on him and heard people whispering about him. That was understandable since he was a new face after all.

--

Krystal was seated 3 tables away from Kevin with her group of friends.

“Hey Krys, isn’t that your roommate?” Sulli asked.

“Shut up Sul. Never ever mention her in front of me again. I don’t like it.” Krystal said coldly. A couple of days of awful episodes with her new roommate were hell and that was the first time she had ever disliked a roommate that much.

Nobody dared to say anything. Nobody wanted to mess with Krystal as they did not wish to deal with the consequences.

“Ah, I lost my appetite. Thanks Sul.” Krystal remarked sarcastically as she pushed her plate aside and leant back and crossed her arms looking annoyed.

The other girl named Luna mouthed ‘Apologise! Quick!’ to Sulli with glaring eyes and mouth pointing to Krystal’s direction.

“S—Sorry Krys. I—“

Sulli was cut when Krystal abruptly stood up and walked away, not bothering to hear Sulli out.

They watched Krystal went to the desserts station.

---

“, I forgot my desserts.” Kevin said to himself. He stood up from his seat and walked to the desserts station to buy some desserts for himself.

“May I take your order?” The lady asked with a smile.

Kevin scanned the menu quickly to not keep the lady waiting.

“I’d like a mango pudding with vanilla.” Kevin said.

“Okay. Is that all?”

Kevin nodded and paid.

The lady then proceeded to the fridge to take out the mango pudding and vanilla.

The lady handed Kevin his pudding and they both exchanged ‘Thank You’.

Right after Kevin walked away, Krystal came to the desserts station to order her regular dessert.

“Hello Ms. Jung, what would you like today?” The lady recognized Krystal as she was a regular.

“Mango pudding and vanilla, as usual.” Krystal replied casually.

“I’m sorry Ms. Jung, but the last mango pudding was bought by that girl.” The lady said as she pointed to Kevin’s direction. Krystal followed the direction the lady pointed and her eyes landed on Kevin.

Krystal gripped her purse tightly when she saw Kevin was eating the mango pudding.

“It’s her again.” Krystal’s lips quivered trying to suppress her annoyance towards Kevin. First, she lost her appetite because of him and next she lost her favourite dessert to the same person. How annoying could that be?

Krystal immediately exited the cafeteria before she could burst out at Kevin.

“Aargh! That girl again!” Krystal screamed out of frustration which attracted the attentions some of the students outside the cafeteria.

“I’ll definitely make you suffer before I leave this college. Just watch.” Krystal said.

She was determined to make this college a hell for Kevin.

---

For afternoon session, both Kevin and Krystal did not have any classes but Krystal had a volleyball practice at the gym and Kevin was free. If it wasn’t his job to keep an eye out on Krystal, he would rather date with his bed at the dorm for the whole afternoon.

But here he was dragging his lazy self to the gym to watch the volleyball practice.

After 10 minutes of walking, he finally reached the gym. He could hear sounds of shoes screeching and balls being hit. Sound of the coach shouting out instructions could also be heard.

When he entered, he could see the college boys and girls’ teams practicing diligently at courts. The boys were practicing at the court at the gym’s end court while the girls were practicing at the court near the gym’s entrance.

Kevin casually walked to the bleachers at the side of the girls’ court and took a seat on the fourth row. Krystal hadn’t noticed him yet as she was focusing on her practice.

As Kevin was busy watching the girls’ practice, someone tapped his shoulder. Kevin’s shoulder jolted up a lil as that tap startled him. He lifted his head up to see who the tapper was.

“Hi.” The tapper smiled and waved.

Gawd, I thought I will never see that gay smile again. Kevin heaved out a sigh.

“Hey.” Kevin scooted to the side to give space for Hongbin.

“What are you doing here? Watching someone from the team?” Hongbin tried to start a conversation.

“Nah, I’m just lurking around.” Kevin said. Kevin could see a look of disappointment painted Hongbin’s face and he wasn’t sure why.

“You? What are you doing here?” Kevin returned the question.

“I’m part of the team.” Hongbin said. Proud was clearly written on his face.

“Oh.”

Then, awkward silence started to come in between. They continued to watch the practice in silence.

“I never knew there is a uni team in volleyball.” Kevin suddenly said when he spotted a boy practicing with the girls’ team.

“What are you talking about?” Hongbin raised his eyebrow.

“There is a boy practicing with the girls.” Kevin pointed to the boy in the girls’ team.

Kevin then heard a snort followed by a laugh soon after. He turned to his side and saw Hongbin was laughing.

“What is so funny?”

“It’s a she. People always mistook her for a guy since her appearance is like one.” Hongbin said after his laughter died down.

“What? It’s a she?” Kevin was quite surprised because he really thought that was a boy.

“She gets that a lot and it’s always amusing to see people’s reactions after knowing that she’s a girl.”

“Her name is Amber by the way.”

“I see.”

Kevin soon noticed a hot blondie hitting the ball like a pro.

“Who’s that tall blondie?” Kevin asked.

“Ah, that’s the girls’ captain, Nana.” Hongbin said.

“Damn, that is one fine .” Kevin unconsciously said when he eyed Nana.

Hongbin raised his eyebrow upon hearing that and he turned to his side to say something but he was interrupted.

“Man, she’s hot.” Kevin was on his way to drool over Nana’s body. That was a body he wished his future wife would have.

Hongbin raised his eyebrow again as those remarks were often said by guys, not girls.

Hongbin nudged Kevin a couple of times and that brought Kevin back from his fantasy about Nana.

“What?” Kevin asked, not bothering to take his eyes off Nana.

“Are you gay?” Hongbin asked straight –forwardly.

That question sure stunned Kevin.

“W-What?”

“Of course I’m not!” Kevin pressed.

“Then, why do you seem like you have a thing for Nana?”

Kevin mentally face-palmed himself because he failed to control his male hormones.

“It’s not that I have a thing for her. I just admire her. Like how boys admire Rain for his abs.”

“Ah, is that so?” Hongbin seemed to be buying his explanation.

“Who’s that tall man?” Kevin quickly switched the topic to stop Hongbin from suspecting further.

“That’s Coach Choi Siwon. He’s the coach for both teams and also Sport Science’s Professor.” Hongbin said.

“Young professor again.” Kevin said.

“Who’s the young lady standing next to him?” Kevin noticed the coach and the pretty lady seemed more than just colleagues. The pair was hardly unnoticeable because they were really good-looking pair.

“That’s Professor Im Yoona, his wife. She’s teaching Arts.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Kevin remarked when Hongbin introduced another young professor. Kevin bet this college was the only college that had young and good-looking professors.

Hongbin chuckled hearing Kevin’s response.

“Don’t be surprised. This college has a lot of young professors.”

Kevin just nodded slightly.

A few minutes had passed and Kevin started to feel bored.

Krystal will be fine on her own. Kevin reckoned.

“I gotta go back to the dorm now. See you around.” Kevin stood up to leave but was blocked by Hongbin.

“W-Wait. I—I’ll walk you to the dorm.”

Before Kevin could protest, Hongbin had already gone to pick his things.

This walk will bring awkward to whole new level. Kevin face-palmed himself.

After that, they walked to the entrance.

On their way to the entrance, Krystal spotted them and a smirk formed.

“I’ll teach you a lesson today.” Krystal said to herself.

“Sul, give me the ball.” Krystal said to Sulli and Sulli complied without hesitation.

“This is for invading my privacy.” Krystal said.

Krystal locked her target and threw the ball up in the air and smacked the ball to the target. As expected from one of the best players in the team, the target was hit.

“Oops!” Krystal remarked sarcastically.

“Aargh!” Kevin cried in quite manly voice and that had heads turning to his direction. The gym was all in pause, surprised such voice could be heard from a girl. He was rubbing his right shoulder to ease some of the pains when he noticed all eyes in the gym were on him. He figured that would be because of his manly scream earlier.

“I mean, Aaah!” Kevin cried in girly voice and exaggerated the pain on his shoulder even more. The coach and his wife rushed to Kevin together with some of the girls to check on him.

“Are you okay?” Professor Im asked. She seemed concerned.

“Krystal! Work on your aim! Don’t hurt innocent people.” Coach Choi said to Krystal.

“Ah, my shoulder.” Kevin acted weak and girly to keep the suspicions low.

“Here. Let me help you.” Hongbin gingerly grabbed Kevin’s hand and tried to help Kevin to walk.

“Make sure you bring her to the college clinic.” Coach Choi said to Hongbin.

“Yes, Coach.”

Kevin could spot Krystal highfiving and laughing together with Sulli.

It must be that brat. Kevin guessed from the way Krystal giving him a smirk.

Kevin decided to let it slide and continued to walk with Hongbin’s help.

Krystal wasn’t done yet. She couldn’t let this opportunity slide right in front of her eyes.

“This is for stealing my dessert.” Krystal locked her target again. This time she aimed for the face. She threw the ball in the air and smacked harder on the ball.

“!!” Kevin cursed when the ball hit him right on the face.

Krystal laughed when the ball smacked Kevin right on his face.

That was it. That hit on the face really killed the last ounce of patience Kevin had. He definitely wouldn’t let this one slide.

Kevin picked up the ball from the floor. He needed to avenge himself.

If you want to play this the hard way, I might as well return the favour.

Kevin loosened up his shoulder and prepared to hit.

“What are you doing?” Hongbin was clueless why Kevin was holding the ball and loosening his shoulder.

“Payback time.” Kevin smirked.

As soon as Kevin locked his target, he threw the ball in the air and smacked the ball with all the energy he had left. The ball hit Krystal’s .

“Ow!!” Krystal cried out of pain. That hit seemed so painfully that it brought Krystal to her knees rubbing her sore while her teammates checking on her. She totally didn’t see that coming. If it wasn’t for her sore , she would have run to Kevin and rip him apart.

She glared at Kevin and Kevin replied with a smug smirk.

Revenge is sure sweet.

Everyone in the gym was so impressed with Kevin’s spike.

“That was amazing for someone who just hurt her shoulder.” Hongbin still couldn’t believe that Kevin could hit that hard and on target.

“That was amazing, kid. Any thoughts of joining the team?” Coach Choi said to Kevin.

“M-Me? In the team?”

“Yea. You can be a great addition to the team since your spike is sharp and on target.” Coach Choi said.

Kevin looked to Krystal’s direction and the latter still holding her glare.

“Sure, why not?” Kevin smirked at Krystal.

“So, I guess, welcome to the team?” Coach Choi outstretched his hand and Kevin accepted the handshake without hesitation.

“Practice is every Tuesday and Thursday. 2 to 4 p.m. Be here on time!” Coach Choi said.

“Yes, Coach.” Kevin said.

“I’m curious tho, how can you perform that spike with an injured shoulder?” Coach Choi asked. He was wondering how an injured person could perform that spike.

“It’s my left shoulder that was injured so it doesn’t really affect my hit.” Kevin said.

“Eh? I thought it was your right shoulder?” Hongbin butted in.

“It was right shoulder right, Hongbin?” Coach Choi said.

“You two must have seen wrongly. It was my left.” Kevin giggled awkwardly, seriously hoping this topic would be closed as soon as possible.

“I need to see the nurse now. Come on Hongbin. Bye Coach.” Karen quickly grabbed Hongbin’s arm and dragged him away with him to avoid further questions.

Krystal was walking to the bleachers with awkward steps because her was still sore.

“Stupid .” Krystal cursed under her breath.

“The game isn’t over yet. I’ll make you pay.” Krystal begrudgingly said. She was humiliated in front of many people and her revenge plan was reversed. This just fuelled her anger up. This was the first time someone had the nerve to do that to her.

Krystal crushed her water bottle when Kevin’s smug smirk replayed in her mind.

Let’s see how long you can keep up that ugly smirk on your face.