((A/N This starts the new school year so everyone is in college~ Sehun, Jongin and ZiTao are first years, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo and Jongdae are second years, Yixing and Junmyeon are third years and Minseok, LuHan and Yifan are all on their last year 

Not much else to say. I hope you enjoy ))

Chapter Fourteen:

Harmonic Rhythm

The car ride had mainly been quiet, and Jongin’s mother soon slowed to a stop when they came to the first sign outside the dorms. 101-105, 201-205, 301-305 401-405. He gave his head a small shake when his mother looked at him from the driver’s seat.

“We need 347,” He stated, glancing over at his mother and then back out the window at the dorm building. She turned her attention forward and started down the long stretch of parking lot on the side of the dorm building, reaching almost the other end of it before they read a sign that had 345-350 on it and a small frown crossed Jongin’s lips. He saw the entrance to a staircase, he had seen several scattered along the stretch of building but so far the only elevator had been back by the first sign.

His mother backed into a parking space and the car that had been following close behind them pulled in beside them. The black haired male glanced to the car as his cousin got out of it and he soon followed suit, welcoming as his cousin looped an arm around one of his own.

“Okay, where’s the elevator?” Jongin looked to him before offering a small shrug.

“I don’t… think there is one over here, Sehun,” He said, meeting the other’s displeased expression with a sheepish smile. He looked to his mother and Sehun’s parents as they came over to the pair.

“Are you sure you two will be okay away from home? This place is so far away from the house,” Mrs. Oh said, placing her hand on Sehun’s cheek as he gave her a deep frown in response. Mrs. Kim laughed a little, looking to Mrs. Oh.

“They have each other, they’ll be fine,” She said, trying to keep the other from tearing up any more than she already was. Mrs. Oh nodded, retracting her hand from Sehun’s cheek.

“These boxes aren’t going to move themselves,” Mr. Oh teased as he opened the trunk and Sehun released Jongin’s arm, making his way over to his father. Jongin turned to the car with his own things, tensing when he saw his mother reach for the last box he had packed into the car.

“I know that one is really heavy,” He said quickly, moving beside his mother and grabbing a hold of the box. She watched him struggle a little with the box, reaching out to help but received a ‘no, no, I got it’ so she picked up a couple of smaller boxes and followed Sehun and his parents to the stairs, Jongin slowly behind them.

Mrs. Kim set the boxes she had grabbed on the kitchen counter, looking around the dorm. There was a decent sized kitchen with a breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from a small living room like area. The area was furnished with a couch, coffee table and recliner, a TV was mounted on the wall. On each side of the room was a door, one labeled AB and the other CD.

Sehun opened the door labeled AB, revealing two beds, each with their own night stand and a large wardrobe at the far end of the room. He set the box he had carried up by the wardrobe since he it had been labeled ‘closing’ looking back at the doorway as Jongin made his way in, setting the box he had carefully in the corner.

“Isn’t there someone else staying in this dorm with you two?” Came Mrs. Oh’s voice and the pair exited the room to see their parents gathered by the front door.

“The front desk said he wouldn’t be here until tomorrow. I think it was something about a flight problem,” Jongin explained.

“Flight problem?” Mr. Oh asked, opening the door so they could head back down the three flights of stairs for more boxes.

“He’s part of the exchange program; he’s from China,” Jongin said before they started down the stairs.

“Won’t it be hard for you two to talk with him? I didn’t know this school had an exchange program,” Jongin shrugged, looking to Sehun.

“If we don’t talk to him, it won’t be the end of the world,” He said, grabbing another box and stepping back from the trunk.

-

Just over an hour later they were hugging their parents good bye and grabbing the last two boxes. Up the stairs for thankfully the last time of the day, Sehun flopped back on the couch after setting the box on the coffee table.

“Why did that take so long, why didn’t we hire movers?” Sehun whined, closing his eyes. When there wasn’t any sign that Jongin had heard him, he looked at where the other stood in the kitchen. His hands were still on the box he had set down, a dazed look in his eyes. “Jongin? … Jongin!” The dark haired male jumped, finally looking over at Sehun. “You okay?” Jongin nodded once.

“Yeah, fine,” He said, releasing the box and walking around the breakfast bar, towards their room. “I’m gonna start unpacking,” He said, entering the room and closing the door behind himself. Sehun’s mouth crooked down in a frown and he sat up before sliding his legs off from being hooked over the arm of the couch so he was sitting up right. If Jongin was feeling nervous, Sehun was who he should go to; they both knew that He stared at the door for a few minutes before pushing himself up off the couch and over to the closed door. He opened it in one smooth motion, freezing ahis eyes widened at what resided inside.

“Jongin?” He started, eyes on his cousin who had turned to look back at Sehun from his position, sitting on the floor in front of the box he had put in the corner. The box was now open, Monggu and Jjangu’s heads peeking out over the top, Jjangah in his arms. “You did hear your mom when she told you that pets weren’t allowed, right?”

“I… Yeah,” Jongin sighed, looking back at Jjangah. “But Sehun I… How could I leave my babies? They need me.” Sehun stared at the back of the other’s head for a moment before he shook his own with a sigh.

“If you get caught and we get kicked out, you’re the one explaining it to our parents,” He said flatly.

“I won’t get caught!” Jongin retorted just before his mobile started to ring. He set Jjangah in his lap, digging a hand into his pocket, selecting answer after glancing at the caller id. Why was his sister calling?

“Hello? Noona, is something wrong?” he got out before flinching and holding the phone from his ear.

“Mom told me to check on your dogs while she was gone to take you to your dorm, and guess who I can’t find?” They heard from the speaker, and Jongin sighed, holding it back to his ear.

“You can’t find them?” Jongin asked as innocently as he could, and Sehun was sure that his sister was pinching the bridge of her nose in irritation.

“I called mom, she should be back there in half an hour. And she better come home with all three of your dogs. They belong here keeping Ddalgi company.”

Before Jongin could reply there was a soft click and he lowered the phone, sighing as it read ‘call ended’, and he looked over at Sehun.

“I guess that means hiding them under my bed isn’t going to work as well as I thought…”

~

How LuHan had managed to be a fourth year that still needed a basic class for his degree was beyond both Minseok and himself. At least it would be easy to pass the class, so he didn’t need to worry all that much about it. All he needed to do was be sure he participated and he would get credit for it. Another upside was it was a dance class. Those didn’t have much stress attached to them, which was a pleasant thought to start the year off- he was under enough stress from the spats he had been having with Minseok lately.

He strolled into the dance room, slipping his bag off his shoulder and removing his shoes and socks. Turning to scan the room, his gaze stuck on a pair in the corner- one was blond his lips; the other had black hard and slightly darker skin. Both appeared to be a little on edge, and LuHan found himself making his way to them.

“No need to look so nervous-” He trailed off as the pair looked to him, a feeling of Deja vu flowing over him. “Wait, how old are you?” He asked.

“Nineteen,” the blond replied, shifting from one foot to the other.

“So you two are freshies,” He stated, the blond offering a small frown in response that almost pulled a laugh from LuHan at how the corners of his mouth tugged down in a literal frowny face. “I’m a fourth year, so be sure to call me ‘hyung’.”

The dark haired boy jumped a little as the dance instructor entered the room with a loud call of ‘I hope you’re all warmed up already’ which gained displeased groans in response. LuHan started to turn away from the pair and get in a good position to follow the instructor when he felt a slight tug on his sleeve. He looked back, a little surprised to see the hand belonged to the blond.

“What, Hyung?” He asked and LuHan’s eyebrows knitted together, confusion spreading across his face.

“He means your name,” The dark haired boy piped up and the blond released LuHan’s sleeve.

“LuHan,” He replied and the pout left the blond’s face.

“I’m Sehun. He’s Jongin,” he said, gesturing to the dark haired male.

LuHan gave a nod then went to make his way to a good position to follow the instructor, calling ‘don’t worry about being bad at first’ over his shoulder. He watched the pair move to the second row from the front, and they kept looking over at one another as the class went through several arm, leg and torso stretched before the instructor showed them a simple routine. He turned to face the class after walking them through it, watching the students go through the motions as he called out the moves. This process repeated through a few different routines before the teacher clapped to still their motions. He looked around, his expression pleased.

“Do we have any dance majors here in class?” He asked, Sehun and Jongin looking at each other again.

LuHan watched them look back at the teacher as they took one another’s hand, intertwining their fingers together and raising their free hands. The instructor waved them over to himself, other students moving back as he shooed them away from the center of the dance floor.

“Please, show everyone what you can do,” He asked.

Their handhold tightened on each other’s hand before they slowly let go and stepped a few feet apart. The instructor flipped on the music player and the pair stood still long enough to get a sense of the beat before they started to dance. Jongin didn’t appear nervous as all, as if dancing was as natural as breathing for him, and while Sehun didn’t seem entirely sure of himself, LuHan felt his mouth hang open a little at the way he moved. When he felt someone grab his arm he jumped a little, turning to meet Lao Gao’s gaze.

“Dude, you’re staring,” Lao Gao said and LuHan felt his cheeks burn. “Also, class is over. They’re just practicing by themselves now, not demonstrating,”  added and LuHan turned away, fumbling with sliding his shoes back on and picking up his bag before bolting from the dance room.