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“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.” - Robert Frost

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Chapter 1: Meetings & Secrets

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Seunghyun stood outside on his first day for the first time in his life. He wore jeans, a green turtleneck, and carried two suitcases, one in each hand. Before him was a giant brick building with the words ‘Kongnamul Boarding School for Youth’, it was long and rectangular, with a square courtyard in front of it. As Seunghyun walked towards the entrance – which was large wooden doors flanked by Gothic pillars – he struggled dragging his suitcases up the stone steps.

Luckily for him, a young man was passing by on the other side of the courtyard when they saw Seunghyun in front of the entrance.

“Hey!” called the young man. He waved and Seunghyun looked over his shoulder and saw him. He tried to wave back but he dropped the suitcase down the stairs.

The young man paused and laughed, before hurrying across the courtyard to grab the suitcase and easily lift it up the stairs. “Are you new? Is this your stuff? Do you go here?”

Seunghyun floundered to reply, taken aback by the person’s vivacity. “Oh – my name’s Choi Seunghyun, and I’m transferring from the Noa School in the south. I – thank you for picking up my suitcase.” He took a good look at the other person. The young man was dressed in a black wifebeater and jeans, with hair spiked up and a silver earring in his ear. His face was bright and he smiled widely, “oh, that’s awesome!” He leaned in towards Seunghyun conspiratorially, “do you know what kind of school this is?”

Confused, Seunghyun blinked and frowned. “I think so… An all-boys boarding school, right?”

The young man’s face fell. “Yeah. Yeah, just that.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and Seunghyun felt bad for disappointing him.

“You could tell me, y’know,” he offered.

The young man cocked his head, “nah, I think I’ll keep the surprise for myself.” He laughed. “Hey, Seunghyun, right? My name is Youngbae, I’m a student here. I’m in the eleventh grade. Seventeen. You?”

“Same, actually.” Seunhyun smiled uncertainly. Youngbae seemed nice – helping him with the suitcase and all, but he was everywhere with his facial expressions and feelings. And he was sort of intimidating looking with his exposed, well-built arms. Also, what did he mean by ‘what kind of school is this?’ Wait… that must’ve been why Seunghyun’s parents had moved him Kongnamul in the first place… He might actually know… but it was impossible…

“Oh, that’s great!” said Youngbae loudly, snapping Seunghyun out of his thoughts. “You’re in the eleventh dorm, with me and the others. I know exactly where to drop your stuff off. Oh man, Jiyong’s gonna be pissed that he has a roommate!” He smiled gleefully, and grabbed one of Seunghyun’s suitcases before opening the giant wooden door and entering inside. “C’mon, Seunghyun! We’re neighbours now! And you can see the headmaster after you’ve dropped your stuff off, right?”

Obediently, Seunghyun followed, but his thoughts were still in disarray. The inside of the building was wide and open-ceilinged, with old chandeliers and marble arches. It was obviously an old building – the wall décor being black and white photographs and paintings of various men and women looking seriously into the distance.

The walls were smooth and hardwood, and the roll of his suitcases was loud as Youngbae easily rolled it down the various halls and past various rooms. Eventually, they ended up in a circular common room with elevators. Promptly, Youngbae let the doors open and stepped inside, Seunghyun followed. All throughout this journey, Youngbae kept talking: “So, there’s not a lot of us – there’s me, you, Jiyong – he’s your roommate, I’m sure you guys’ll get along, you’re pretty quiet and you look clean, yeah, he’s such a mess sometimes, but he’s my best friend, so it’s all right, I mean, you have to like your friends even for their faults, right? I’m sure you get it, Seunghyun, you seem like a good guy. But you gotta speak up man – you’re so quiet!”

Youngbae stared expectantly at him and Seunghyun, once more startled by the sudden silence, stared blankly back before his brain caught up.

“Yeah, I’m pretty quiet,” he agreed.

Youngbae laughed, and somehow managed to sling an arm around Seunghyun’s shoulder despite being shorter than him. “Yeah, though, I gotta warn, Jiyong’s probably gonna be asleep right now. We have to be quiet.”

“It’s two in the afternoon,” said Seunghyun, checking his phone from his pocket, “why would he still be asleep?”

Youngbae winked at him. “You’ll figure it out soon. But, man, once I drop off your stuff, I have to run, alright? It’s already two? Damn. I have to sprint if I’m gonna make it to poti – ” he paused, “I mean, chemistry class. Don’t tell anyone I was blowing off math, okay?” After confirming that Seunghyun nodded, Youngbae let out a relieved sigh. “Thanks, man.”

The elevator opened up to a long hallway with paneled wooden walls and a maroon rug that went on till the end of the corridor. There were six doors – three doors on the left and three on the right, with numbers on them. Youngbae strode forward confidently, bringing Seunghyun’s suitcase along behind him as Seunghyun followed and stopped at the first door to his left. “That’s my room, I have a roommate too.” He didn’t comment on the other doors they passed until they got to the end of hallway. Quietly, Youngbae faced the door to the  right and slowly turned the doorknob, making as little noise as possible.

Seunghyun only watched. It was overwhelming being with someone so loud and talkative after only living with his parents for most of his life. After the first few years at primary school, his parents had decided to homeschool him until they thought he was ready to be around other kids again because of his… condition. And, now, here he was, in Kongnamul Boarding School for Youth, because his parents thought that he could do it. That he could be on his own and with other people, and while Seunghyun was excited, he was also scared.

It was then that he vowed – standing at the front of the courtyard with the school in front of him, that he would never talk to anyone about his condition. He was going to live a normal life, and have friends and play video games and go to karaoke, though he wondered if Kongnamul even had karaoke. He was going to be a normal teenage boy. And, only a few minutes in, it was clear that maybe Youngbae wanted to be his friend. He was so friendly, and he had helped Seunghyun all the way to his room. Maybe this was it – the beginning of Seunghyun’s normal life.

Youngbae looked at him and grinned. “You’re smiling. Are you excited to go in?”

“Yeah,” said Seunghyun, who smiled back widely. “I’m really excited.”

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A/N: Yeah, I really like GTOP! And don’t worry, they’ll meet next chapter! But what is TOP’s condition? And what is GD doing sleeping all day? do you guys think I should add any other pairings? Tell me if you want to see anything! and, of course, constructive criticism is okay too! Thanks for reading! :D