“Woah, so you’re perfect pitch and relative pitch??” Yeona gasped.

“That’s what the professor in class 102 told me…I just sang some scales and guessed which notes she was playing and BAM I have some kind of rare musical talent that makes me a freak.” I rolled my eyes with my mouth full of chips.

Yeona and I finished unpacking our stuff and we were munching on our junk food and watching tv, which only the full scholarship students got in their dorms. We also had our own mini fridge, a microwave and a small balcony. The freak perks.

“Damn, you’re one smart girl!” She exclaimed. I just laughed.

Honestly, I didn’t even know how it came down to all this, which pissed me off because I always had to know how everything worked and why things happened the way it happened. This was all a mystery to me, to my dismay.

“Oh, you know that today is the first and last Monday where we can go to our homes and spend the night there?”

Oh I didn’t know that, “Why?” I asked.

“I dunno, maybe because the parents want to know how their kid is doing on their first day. But after tonight, we’re only allowed to spend the night outside of school grounds on Fridays and Saturdays. And we can leave the campus grounds only from 3pm to 8pm Monday to Thursday and we also have to come back on Sunday before 8pm. Again, not all first years know this but just so you know.” She explained.

“Are we allowed to stay at the campus tonight? Because my dad is away for a meeting with one of his clients and there’s no point of staying at home alone.” I replied.

“What about your m…”

“She..passed away when I was 5. Car accident.” I murmured.

“Oh I’m so sorry…”

“No need to be sorry…” I smiled.

“Well…do you want to come to my house tonight? We can do whatever we want because everyone’s out doing their own . It will just be you, me and endless hours of Sageuk (Traditional Korean drama) films!!”

My heart warmed seeing my new roommate getting so excited over hanging out with me. All my life, I hung out with my textbook and my Hagwon (tutor? I don’t know how to explain it…so ask google!!) teachers because I was so busy studying and trying to impress my dad. I actually made a friend who was willing to spend time with me and it was the first day of school!! Man I love music!

***

Yeona’s house was only a few minutes away by taking the subway. We giggled and talked about life in general like all teenage girls did on our way there. We were surrounded by men in semi formals and students with navy or poop brown uniforms on. One of the things I loved about my new school was that our uniform colors were vibrant but sophisticated looking at the same time. Our soft beige coloured skirts brightened the space around us.

I was in awe when I entered her house. It was so big. I could hear my footsteps hit the far wall and back.

“Yeah, my house is pretty small…” She scratched her head. There was no hint of sarcasm.

“What do you mean? Your house is gigantic!” I exclaimed.

“Oh!! Right!! I didn’t tell you about my family! I’m the maknae of the seven. It feels pretty small when you have nine fully grown adults running around the house.” She took my hand and pulled me inside, “I’m the normal one because the the oldest oppa and unnie each got married super early, the third, another oppa, dropped out of university to travel the world, and the fourth/ fifths, they’re twin sisters, are in university and…don’t tell my mom when you get to see her in the future; the twin unnies are planning on dropping out of school to start their own bakery. Mom’s still mad at the third one for dropping out. She’ll explode if she finds out about the fourth and the fifth. The sixth one…echhh I don’t even wanna talk about it. That kid is soooooooo annoying. So yeah, I am my parents’ lucky seven. You know, the whole seventh one’s the charm…it took them six children to figure that out.”

Yeona and I headed upstairs to change into our comfortable clothes.

“You can change in my room. I have to take a quick shower…you can give yourself a tour around the house.” Yeona said as she opened the bathroom door, “Oh, and my room is at the end of the hall to the left.”

I nodded and turned around. The long hallway was covered with doors. I guessed that they all led to Yeona’s siblings’ rooms. Although the house wasn’t the cleanest, it felt like home. It was so much more welcoming than my house which looked like a picture perfect model house from a DIY home decorating magazine. It was cold and always empty.

“The last room on the left…” I muttered as I twisted the door knob and pushed.

When the door swung open, I expected to see a feminine looking room with a floor-to-ceiling mirror on the wall and a piano to match her major. Instead, the walls were greyish blue, and a set of drums a mic stand stood behind a tall figure that was less than a foot away from me. With only a towel hanging loosely on his waist and another towel over his head, covering his face.

As much as I wanted to turn around and run for the hills, my muscles decided to freeze up and refused to let me do so. Everything happened in less than a second. The towel man bumped into me and my body awakened, bringing my senses back to reality.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry!!” I shouted as I covered my face with my hands and spun around.

“Ara? Is that you?” I stopped to a halt at the mention of my name, and the deep voice that seemed to echo.

I twisted my head around and gingerly dropped my hands down. The familiar warm brown eyes stared at me. It was the sunbae oppa who rescued me from the basement dungeon and the y sunbae unnie.

“Sunbae-nim?” I awkwardly replied. God, I was so distracted by his beautiful upper body. His hard stomach with just the right amount of abs, his wide shoulders and his toned, strong looking arms. They still looked wet from the shower.

“Ah, it is you. And call me oppa. I don’t want you to think that I’m some scary sunbae that throws their hoobaes in dungeons.” He winked at me.

My heart fluttered at the new inside joke that the two of us shared.

“Okay…op..pa…” I mumbled. Blood rushed to my cheeks.

“Good.” He smiled. As he walked pass me, he placed his big hand like he did before and messily petted my hair.

‘Another inside joke for the two of us’ I thought as I finger combed my hair with a big smile on my face.