Chapter 6

Sehun stared at his knees as he wondered what he had done to end up in this situation. He heard the office door slam behind him and BoA took a seat in front of him. She looked from Luhan to Sehun expectantly.

         “Well?” she asked. “Explain yourselves. Please.”

         Sehun hoped that he wouldn’t have to say anything and felt an overwhelming relief when Luhan cleared his throat and began to speak. If all went well, BoA might conclude that he and Luhan were not compatible together and therefore could not be roommates. Maybe he could have Room 88 to himself again by dinner.

         “Well…Sehun and I haven’t really been getting along very well…” Luhan began in a hesitant voice. He looked to Sehun for feedback and Sehun gave a slight nod of approval. So far, so good.

         “And why is that?” BoA asked.

         “Um.” Luhan looked at Sehun with a puzzled expression. He stared back, equally confused. Why was that? They weren’t expecting that question. They thought that once it was clear that they didn’t like each other, they wouldn’t have to room together anymore. Honestly, neither of them knew why they didn’t get along. They just didn’t.

         BoA was losing her patience. “Did either of you do anything that might have upset the other? Did you say something rude to each other?”

         I was late to greet him on the first day, Sehun thought. But he knew that that wasn’t an acceptable answer. Luhan hadn’t really done anything wrong, now that he thought about it. The only thing that frustrated him about Luhan was that he took away his opportunity at having a single room, and Mi Sun, his crush for as long as he could remember, fell for him when he hadn’t even said a single word to her.

         “Sehun, you haven’t said much yet. Care to answer?” BoA prompted.

         “We’re just not compatible,” was the first thing that came out of Sehun’s mouth.

         “Just not compatible.” BoA repeated. “Just not compatible. Hmmm.” Suddenly, she leaned towards them and her tone changed from a castigating tone to an understanding one. “Did I ever tell you that I attended this school at one point?”

         Sehun resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Without a doubt, BoA was about to tell one of her long life stories, with the hopes that they were going to learn a lesson. She was famous for her long, boring stories.

         Luhan had heard these rumors too. He glanced at Sehun just as Sehun glanced at him. Both of them resisted the urge to laugh at the bored expression on the other’s face. Then they quickly turned away. They were supposed to hate each other. They couldn’t laugh together.

         “…And by the end of the year we were the best of friends,” BoA finished. “I hope you two will learn to like each other. It’s good preparation for the real world. We all have people we don’t quite click with sometimes. But we need to learn to work with them.”

         “We can learn to work together, but living together?” Luhan asked. “Don’t you think that’s a little excessive? Both of us would find it easier if we just switched rooms.”

         “I think it would affect our academic performance,” Sehun added, knowing his principal was a er for good grades.

         “Hmmm.” BoA said again. “Unfortunately, there are no more free rooms available, so you’ll never be in a room by yourself.”

         “But can we at least switch roommates?” Sehun asked. He wouldn’t mind rooming with Jongin or Baekhyun or even Yixing…

         “You two aren’t the only ones who want to switch. You won’t believe how many emails I’ve received from people who are unhappy with their roommates. I turned them all down because it’s just too much of a hassle. Why make things more complicated? It would be unfair if I allowed you two to change rooms. Then I would have to allow all the others to switch if they wanted and things would be unnecessarily complicated. Next semester, maybe, but absolutely no guarantees. Understood? ”

         “Yes Bo-yes, Ms. Kwon,” Sehun said. Luhan nodded.

         “Very well then. It seems that your last class is over by now, so you’re free to do whatever you wish.”

         They left her office and headed back to the dance studio to gather their belongings. They were silent for most of the way there until Luhan said, “Why did you push me during dance?”

         At that point, Sehun had forgotten the small smile they shared in BoA’s office and responded with, “You deserved it.”

         Sehun stole a glance at Luhan when they reached the dance studio. He looked angry. Luhan made a point of stepping on Sehun toes as he exited.

         Sehun silently cursed and sat on the floor with his back to one of the mirrors. It had been a long day. This year wasn’t off to a good start.

         He felt saw his phone vibrating and reached for it. He had three text messages, all from Jongin.

         From: Jongin

         How’d it go?

         From: Jongin

         I’m in the library with Jessica and Kyungsoo.

         From: Jongin

         Why did you do that to Luhan?

         Sehun sighed. Luhan, Luhan, Luhan. He didn’t want to go the library, on second thought. They were probably just going to talk about what he did and Jongin was going to take Luhan’s side since they were so chummy after lunch.

         Instead, he gathered his belongings and headed back to Room 88. Hopefully, Luhan wouldn’t be there. As he walked, he thought about what Jongin had asked. Why did he do that to Luhan? The answer he was going to give most people was that Luhan was his roommate and was annoying him. The true answer was that he had gotten Mi Sun to fall for him without even trying.

         Mi Sun had joined SM Academy in seventh grade, and she was the only new student in their grade that year. She didn’t know anyone, but everyone wanted to know her. Sehun fell for her right way. He thought she was so pretty. And she didn’t try to gain attention, that’s what really appealed to him. She seemed oblivious to all the boys’ stares, and unfortunately that included Sehun’s. Sehun was one of the few boys who liked her that actually had the nerve to talk to her. Even though Mi Sun never returned his feelings, he was grateful to be on speaking terms with her, grateful to say hello to her and wave to her even if she rarely responded. He would win her heart one day; he knew it. That is, until Luhan came into the picture. He saw the look that Mi Sun gave Luhan. It was a look that he had never seen her give anyone before and Sehun didn’t like it.

         He had finally reached his room. He opened the door and was glad to see that it was empty. His phone vibrated with a new text.

         From: Jessica

         Where are you?

         He flopped on his bed and replied.

         To: Jessica

         Room 88. Don’t feel up to talking to Jongin. Can you come? Alone? And don’t say you’re coming to see me, please.

         He received his reply five seconds later.

         From: Jessica

         Gotcha.

         Jessica knocked on his door about five minutes later. “So I heard you beat up Luhan during dance,” she said. “Can I get the full story?”

         He told her about how he and Luhan got in a scuffle while practicing the choreography and how they were sent to the principal’s office. And how they were still roommates. Jessica’s face practically had “why” written all over it, and he responded with, “Mi Sun likes him. I can tell.”

         Her face softened. “Sehun…I’m sorry, but I think this is the kick you need to finally get over her.”

         Jessica didn’t have the same sugarcoated, delusional view of Mi Sun that Sehun had. She knew her for the lying, backstabbing b**ch that she really was. She had tried everything from introducing Sehun to some of her friends to asking some of his friends to talk some sense into him in an effort to get Sehun to stop chasing her. He was like her brother, and she knew that she was going to end up hurt if he kept this up.

         Maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing, she thought. Maybe now he can get over her.

         Sehun crushed these thoughts by deadpanning, “I’ll never be over her.”

         “Luhan’s really not that bad, you know. I have vocal class with him. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would like Mi Sun. Mi Sun will probably get over him when she sees that he’s not interested,” Jessica said, trying to cheer him up. Even though secretly she hoped that wasn’t true because then Sehun would be trapped in this cycle forever.

         After a slight pause, Sehun said, “Maybe.”

         She sighed.

Luhan saw Yixing and Jongdae sitting under a tree outside and headed over to them.

         “Everything go okay?” Jongdae asked.

         “Well, I got sent to BoA’s office for getting in a fistfight with Sehun,” Luhan replied.

         “Wait, what?”

         Luhan told them everything excluding the part about Mi Sun.

         “That’s really weird,” Yixing said. “Sehun’s moody and everything, but he would never do that without a reason.”

         “Hi, Luhan,” a feminine voice said.

         It was Mi Sun. She was walking by with one of her friends.

         He waved back nonchalantly. When he looked back, he saw Yixing looking at him with wide eyes and Jongdae with his head in his hands, muttering incoherent phrases.

         “What?” Luhan asked.

         “Is she in the same dance class as you and Sehun?” Yixing asked.

         “Yeah. She actually volunteered to be my partner.”

         Jongdae patted his shoulder. “Well, my friend, that’s why Sehun beat you up. Sehun’s liked her for ages.”

         “But he could do much better than the Devil’s daughter if you ask me,” Yixing added.

         “What’s so bad about her?” Luhan asked. He didn’t like Mi Sun since she acted so cold, but she didn’t seem as bad as Jongdae and Yixing were saying she was.

         “You’ll find out, my friend, you’ll find out.”