welcome to apartment block 17
Apartment Block 17
Apartment Block 17. A ten-storey apartment block located south of the Han River, surrounded by talent agencies, idol’s dorms and schools that every parent would want their child to attend. Needless to say, it’s a place of high demand.
Located a mere walk away from Apartment Block 17 is Pledis Performing Arts High School, and its associated university, Pledis University. Many aspiring entertainers would compete in endless and ruthless auditions and entrance exams in order to gain entrance to these amazingly high profile, scholarship-only schools. Being so close to these two highly competitive schools means that Apartment Block 17 is incredibly expensive, especially for students, and difficult to secure a place of residence at.
Kim Mingyu, an aspiring actor who’d graduated out of his local high school in Anyang-si earlier that year, had finally been accepted into the acting course at Pledis University after his 5th audition. His mother had said it was because of his good looks, while his father disagreed, saying it was his pure acting skill and perseverance (which Mingyu had hoped to be the truth). His sister insisted that it was probably just a mix up; “There’s gotta be tons of Kim Mingyu’s in South Korea,” she said.
Being accepted into his dream university made Mingyu so happy that he broke down into tears in front of his whole family; something he hadn’t done since he was in diapers. There was just one problem, though; accommodation. He had scoured the depths of the internet for days to find an apartment near the university, but being in such a popular area, finding an available place that was affordable was nearly impossible. He was ready to accept the fact that he’d be stuck in a dingy closet 2 hours away from the university by train.
Growing incredibly desperate, he decided to change tactics; find a fellow university classmate willing to let him stay with them. Searching through a rather dodgy website that advertised people in need of roommates in Seoul, his eyes finally caught the words “Pledis University”.
BLOCK 17; APARTMENT #417 - near Pledis University
My name is Jeon Wonwoo and I study Korean literature at Pledis University. I’m aware that it’s quite difficult to find an apartment near the uni, which is why I’m opening up this offer. I live alone and I’m a bit tight on money, so it’d be great to split the rent over with someone else.
I’ve talked it over with my landlord, and the price is set at ₩ 350 000 per person, per month. No deposit is required as I already paid it when I first rented this apartment.
The apartment has a living room, one kitchen, one bathroom and two bedrooms. It’s a decent size, in my opinion.
If you’re interested, please send me an email at [email protected]! Thank you.
Mingyu couldn’t believe his eyes. He prayed that it wasn’t a scam and it was a legitimate offer. With his savings he’d earned throughout high school, and a job he would endeavour to find in Seoul, he’d be able to afford the rent. He honestly couldn’t wait to move out and begin chasing his dream of becoming an actor. He wanted to wipe the doubtful expressions off his family’s faces whenever he would talk about acting in a drama like the ones they would watch every other day. Thank the lord for you, Jeon Wonwoo.
Jittering with excitement, he decided to send the guy an email.
-------------
[APARTMENT #417; Jeon Wonwoo]
Bling. Wonwoo’s phone lit up with an email notification, just as he was about to settle down with a cup of coffee and a book. He’d picked up the new title earlier that day from his favourite bookstore, ‘20’, which was conveniently located in the mall across the road from his apartment block. Sighing, he put down the book and reached for his phone.
Kim Mingyu 3m ago
hoping to be your roommate :)
hello!! my name is kim mingyu! i saw your ad asking for a roommate and i’m pra...
Oh, another potential roommate. That was the 25th roommate application he’d received in the 3 days since he’d posted that advertisement. Wonwoo never thought he'd get that many applicants; though from briefly conversing with several of them already, he knew that there was no way he'd ever share a room with those people.
As he was about to unlock his phone to read the email, his phone buzzed again.
your one and only junhui<3 now
yo wonu, taehyung went home sick so we need you at jam jam asap
Wonwoo sighed. He was thankful to have such a well paying job at the Jam Jam Café, a rather high-end coffee shop in the same mall as ‘20’, but working there was extremely tiring. He’d recently been put on dishwashing duty for accidentally serving an important customer the wrong order; which happened to contain walnuts, which the customer was allergic to. Turns out walnut allergies can be really serious...
Today 8:09 PM
your one and only junhui<3
> yo wonu, taehyung went home sick so we need you at jam jam asap
me
> at this time?!?
your one and only junhui<3
> i mean the shop closes in like 2 hours so you don’t have to stay for long
me
> can’t you handle it by urself :/
> its friday night !!!!
> i was just about to start a new book
> :(
your one and only junhui<3
> no there’s actually quite a few people here rn
> i need u bro
> pls :)
me
> ...fine i’ll be there soon
> i better get paid overtime for this
Wonwoo grabbed his uniform and backpack and began to trudge his way to the mall.
-------------
[JAM JAM CAFÉ]
Seokmin sighed in relief as he saw the familiar sign of the Jam Jam Café as he turned the corner. He was exhausted. After being accepted into Pledis Entertainment, he had also secured a place at the infamous Pledis University in order to study music and simultaneously train to be an idol. Leaving behind his hometown of Yongin-si with his younger brother, Chan, they had moved to Seoul together. He knew that his dream of becoming a singer was far from reached, proved by the brutal hours of training he had to go through from Monday to Saturday, as well as the endless piles of assignments set by his university music course. At this point, he was ready to collapse in his usual seat at Jam Jam with a hot cup of coffee.
Stumbling in with bleary eyes, he caught sight of someone he hadn’t seen in a while. “Wonwoo!” he croaked, throat exhausted from the vocal lessons he had just been at. “Did you change your shifts? I don’t remember ever seeing you working this late.”
“Oh, Seokmin. You’d better sit down, you don’t look good,” Wonwoo guided Seokmin over to the nearest table and left to get him a cup of coffee.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Seokmin mumbled. He flopped his head down onto the table and closed his eyes.
Junhui laughed. “Wonwoo’s filling in for Taehyung, who just went home complaining about some stomach bug. He seems to have a lot on his mind, so don’t bother him too much.” Seokmin raised an eyebrow.
“He's been tight on money lately, so he was thinking about sharing his room with someone to lower the rent. But even though he's received quite a few applications, he's having trouble choosing one to room with,” Junhui explained.
“Ah, good luck to him then.”
Wonwoo returned and set down a cup of coffee in front of Seokmin. He looked around and saw that only a few other people were in the café; among them, a talented artist Wonwoo had gotten to know as a regular customer, Jeonghan. Turning to Junhui, who had sat down next to Seokmin, he flashed a look of annoyance. “Jun, you said the shop was busy! There’s literally no one here. Can I go home now?”
Junhui rubbed his neck sheepishly. “I was bored. Plus, weren’t you talking about getting another roommate application? Let me see!”
Wonwoo sighed and unlocked his phone to read the email from Kim Mingyu. Seokmin, looking much more awake after drinking the coffee, also leant closer in curiosity.
From: Kim Mingyu (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ >
To: me >
hoping to be your roommate :)
Today at 8:05 PM
hello!! my name is kim mingyu! i saw your ad asking for a roommate and i’m praying that you haven’t already taken someone else in as your roommate T^T
i'm entering pledis uni as a freshman in septmeber, as i wasn't accepted for the course than began in march. i want to become an actor, so getting accepted into pledis is a dream come true! i'm so happy :3
i've been looking EVERYWHRER for a place to stay!! and i can afford the rent price you set! pretty cheap, wow.
it'd be cool if i could move in soon so i can get accustomed to seoul life before i start in september! (i'm from anyang-si, btw)
anyway, i'll give you my number if you wanna call me or something, and get to know your future roommate ;)
(please tell me the offer's still standing !!! if not this would be really awkward i'm so sorry)
“Oh, he’s doing the same course as me! And he sounds... normal... and actually kinda nice,” Junhui said incredulously. Wonwoo couldn’t deny that some of the applications he had gotten were borderline ic. Kim Mingyu’s was much more tame in comparison.
“I’m not sure if I want to room with someone who uses emojis in a business email,” Wonwoo sighed. “At least the ic ones seemed more professional.”
Seokmin rolled his eyes. “Stop being such a nerd, Wonwoo. He seems cool. Hang on, I’ll search him up for you.”
If Seokmin wasn’t training to become an idol, he could’ve easily been accepted into the police force as a private investigator. It seemed like he did background checks on strangers far too often. After a few minutes of typing while taking sips of his coffee, he handed the phone proudly to Wonwoo.
“He accepted by friend request on Facebook, and I added him on Kakaotalk using the number he gave you. Have you seen his face? Dude, even I’m whipped.”
Wonwoo gingerly took the phone from Seokmin, and leant away from Junhui, who was leaning dangerously close in order to catch a glimpse of what was on the phone. Seokmin was right; Kim Mingyu really was gorgeous. Fluffy brown hair and a killer smile, Wonwoo was sure a face like that would look good on a television screen.
Seokmin pegged Mingyu as the loud, outgoing type; the exact kind of person he’d noticed that Wonwoo would completely avoid. In fact, it was a miracle Wonwoo even talked to Seokmin; considering Seokmin was pretty loud himself. But strangely, Wonwoo seemed to be intrigued by Kim Mingyu.
“I’ll message him and see how it goes,” Wonwoo mumbled. Using Seokmin’s phone, he messaged Mingyu on Kakaotalk.
Today 8:35 PM
me
> hey, this is jeon wonwoo.
> i’m using a friend's phone to message you, so don’t save it as my number
Kim Mingyu (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑
> oMG HI WONWOO !!!!
> nice to meet you ! :D
> lee seokmin is your friend right?
> did you get my email?
> aRE WE GONNA BE ROOMMATES??
me
> um, i’m still thinking about it, but if you send this month’s payment in advance, i might consider you.
Kim Mingyu (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑
> OMG ALRIGHT
> i’ll transfer it if you give me the details!
> i’m not a hacker or anything i swear ;)
me
> You sent a file.
-------------
[APARTMENT #118; Choi Hansol, Boo Seungkwan]
“Hansol, I’m going to the mall!” Seungkwan shouted through the apartment. A muffled voice sounded from the shower and Seungkwan took that as an ‘okay’. Grabbing his keys and backpack, he left the apartment.
Upon arriving in the lobby, he was greeted by loud chatter and a group of teenage girls surrounding the front door. Is an idol here or something? That happens pretty often though, given this building’s location...
“Oh my god, he’s got a suitcase!”
“Is he a new resident? I heard Seungcheol mention something about a new guy coming here...”
“I hope he lives on my floor!”
“What’s his name? Do you think he’s a model?”
Seungkwan frowned and pushed through the crowd, who let him through once they saw who he was. Some of the girls smiled shyly at Seungkwan, who smiled back in response.
“Do you know him, Seungkwan-ie?” asked one of the girls.
Standing outside the entrance to the apartment block was an extremely tall, confused looking teenage boy. He looked rather tired, but despite his eye bags and messy hair, even Seungkwan had to admit that he looked good. Pushing past the girls, he approached the boy, who had begun to search through his backpack.
“Hello. Are you new here?” Seungkwan tried his best to sound nonchalant, but it was difficult with a group of teenage girls staring daggers at the two.
“Oh, yes!” the boy said, pulling out a piece of paper from his backpack. Seungkwan was surprised at how raspy his voice was. The boy sneezed and gave the paper to Seungkwan. “Sorry, I’m a little sick,” he said sheepishly, pulling out a tissue to blow his nose. Seungkwan looked at the piece of paper; it had an address on it, the address of Apartment Block 17.
“This is Apartment Block 17, right? Do you know where I can find Choi Seungcheol? He’s the landlord’s son and he told me to go find him when I arrive here,” the boy said.
“Which apartment are you staying in?” Seungkwan asked. The girls behind him were inching uncomfortably close, presumably to listen in on their conversation.
“Apartment #417, with Jeon Wonwoo. My name is Kim Mingyu, by the way! I’m from Anyang-si.”
Seungkwan’s eyes widened in surprise. Jeon Wonwoo... one of the few people that Seungkwan had never actually talked to. Jeon Wonwoo was a mystery; always quiet, keeping to himself, and didn’t seem to have many friends. Seungkwan had seen him a couple of times around the place, but Wonwoo had always held an aura of inapproachability, which had discouraged Seungkwan from approaching the latter.
“Oh, I didn’t know Wonwoo was getting a new roommate! Well, I’ll show you to Seungcheol’s place, if you want. I’m Boo Seungkwan, and I’m here from Jeju. Welcome to Seoul.” Mingyu nodded gratefully and followed Seungkwan through the crowd of girls, unaware of the girls’ lustful stares at him as he struggled to pull his luggage through.
Boarding the elevator, Mingyu turned to Seungkwan. “D-do you think you could tell me more about Jeon Wonwoo? Last week, he told me I could move in since I paid my rent early... but he was really vague when I asked him about himself,” he said nervously.
“Hmm, I honestly have to say... for Wonwoo to accept you as a roommate is pretty significant already,” Seungkwan said thoughtfully. Mingyu tilted his head in confusion. “I mean, he’s a really quiet guy. I’ve only seen him around this guy called Junhui. To let you, a complete stranger, into his apartment? Pretty interesting.”
Mingyu wasn’t sure what to do with this information. He wasn’t the best at talking to quiet people, as all his friends had been loud and boisterous like himself. If worst comes to worst, he could just leave Jeon Wonwoo alone. Roommates don’t necessarily have to be best friends, after all. Mingyu was just grateful that he had found a decent apartment near the university.
“Oh, yeah. I don’t know much about him, so don’t take my word for this, but...” Seungkwan leaned closer to Mingyu. “I’ve heard that he’s gay.”
Mingyu laughed. “I don’t think that’ll bother me too much, though. If it’s true, then at least we’ll have something in common.”
Seungkwan stared incredulously at Mingyu. I guess the girls were right when they said all the hot ones were gay or taken.
-------------
[APARTMENT #717; Choi Seungcheol]
Seungcheol had to drag himself out of bed to answer the doorbell that was ringing incessantly. “I’m coming, shut up!” he groaned.
He opened the door to see Seungkwan and an unfamiliar boy. Seungcheol knew Seungkwan quite well as they often hung out together with Seungkwan’s roommate, Hansol. The three of them often sang and rapped together, Seungcheol helping to film some of their videos, as the two teenage boys were internet famous for their Youtube and Vine videos. Seungcheol had always wished that Seungkwan and Hansol would let him actually be in their videos, but they always cut him out. Hansol would say that Seungcheol was just taking advantage of their fame to promote himself as a rapper; which wasn’t entirely a lie.
“Why are you here Seungkwan? And who’s the guy?” Seungcheol rubbed his eyes groggily. His black hair was sticking up in weird places and he was itching to go and wash his face.
“Hi, you must be Seungcheol! I’m Kim Mingyu, Jeon Wonwoo’s new roommate,” the unfamiliar boy grinned, showing a set of blindingly white teeth and strangely sharp canines.
Seungcheol’s eyes widened in recognition. “Oh, right! Sorry, I never saw your picture so I wasn’t aware. I was gonna show you round the block, but I’m so tired right now. I’ll take you to your new apartment, though. Maybe Wonwoo can show you around later.”
Seungkwan left after Seungcheol had changed, mumbling something about missing the morning sales at the mall because of Kim Mingyu. Seungcheol locked the door and led Mingyu down the hall and back to the elevator.
“Sorry for asking you to come to my place first. I just wanted to meet you in person to make sure you weren’t some ic murderer. You won’t believe the requests I get from people who want to stay here,” Seungcheol sighed. Mingyu laughed. “I’m Choi Seungcheol, the landlord’s son, which you already knew. Feel free to come to me for help or whatever. I don’t bite, usually. I’m a junior at Pledis, so you might see me around on campus. I study health education.”
“Oh, I’m a freshman studying drama! Though you were probably aware of that,” Mingyu said.
“No, actually. Wonwoo didn’t tell me much about you... just that you’re from Anyang-si, you’re moving to Seoul to study at Pledis and that you’re able to pay the rent.” Seungcheol looked up at Mingyu’s face. “A budding actor, hm? You certainly have the looks for it.” Mingyu looked down in embarrassment.
The elevator arrived on their floor, saving Mingyu from having to react to more compliments from the landlord’s son. The doors opened, and it seemed that there was someone inside. Someone... really tall?
Seungcheol looked in the elevator in confusion. “What the hell are you two doing?”
Mingyu was utterly confused to find two boys, one on the other’s back in a piggyback, standing nonchalantly in the elevator. The boy on the bottom had faded blue hair and was wearing a ridiculously bright-coloured tracksuit. His slanted eyes were glimmering with amusement. On his back, he was carrying a shorter boy with blondish-purple hair and a slightly intimidating grin. The boy with blue hair was about to run out of the elevator when Seungcheol stopped him, causing him to drop the purple haired boy onto the ground.
“Cheol, what the hell?” the blue haired boy groaned, helping the purple haired boy get up.
“Do we have to start again?” whined the purple haired boy. As he stood up, he caught sight of Mingyu, who looked extremely confused. “Who’s the tree?”
“O-oh, hi. I’m Kim Mingyu. I’m new here,” Mingyu stuttered, cowering under the purple haired boy’s gaze.
“Oh hi, Kim Mingyu! I’m Soonyoung,” the blue haired boy, Soonyoung, grinned, his eyes slanting up in the cutest eye smile Mingyu had ever seen. “And this is Jihoon, my roommate!” he added, slinging his arm around the shorter, purple haired boy.
Standing next to Jihoon, Mingyu felt uncomfortably tall. He hoped Jihoon wouldn’t continue calling him a tree; his sister had overused that joke far too much back home.
Noticing Seungcheol’s glare, Soonyoung turned to him. “We were betting on who could run the fastest through all the floors of the building while piggybacking the other,” he explained, making it sound like it was just as normal as doing the laundry. “But we didn’t want to use the stairs in case we trip or something, so we’re not counting the time it takes for the elevator to arrive.” Mingyu couldn’t imagine how Jihoon, who was quite small compared to Soonyoung, would be able to run fast while piggybacking the latter.
Seungcheol sighed and rubbed his temples. “Fine, just don’t... break anything.”
“Sweet,” Soonyoung grinned and allowed Jihoon to jump back onto his back. “Nice meeting you, Mingyu!” he smiled, and Jihoon smiled slightly in acknowledgement. Soonyoung then turned and took off running, Jihoon bouncing on his back. Mingyu burst out laughing.
Seungcheol looked at Mingyu. “Get used to it. People here are all so freaking weird. That’s what you get for living in a place full of performing art majors at Pledis. Word of advice though; don’t get on Jihoon’s bad side. He may seem pretty cool, but he’s terrifying if you get him angry. Plus, you’ll probably have to deal with Soonyoung as well. Those two are honestly complete opposites; beats me how they get along so well.”
“Well, from what I’ve heard, it seems that Wonwoo is pretty different to me as well. Hopefully I’ll be able to get along with him like them,” Mingyu said.
They boarded the now empty elevator and Seungcheol pressed the button for the fourth floor.
-------------
“These paintings are really gorgeous,” Mingyu commented as he admired the meticulously hung paintings at regular intervals along the hallway of the fourth floor. There had been many on the seventh floor as well, where Seungcheol’s apartment was. “They have a really similar style. Were they painted by the same artist?”
Seungcheol chuckled. “Yes, actually. There’s a boy who lives in this apartment block named Jeonghan, and he studies art at Pledis. He’s a junior as well! He painted all these, and since these paintings sell for quite a lot, he gives me one painting a month in exchange for his rent.”
Mingyu hummed. “Man, I wish I had this kind of talent. I’d love to meet Jeonghan someday.”
They arrived at Apartment #417, Mingyu’s new home. Loud arguing could be heard from inside, and Seungcheol hesitated on unlocking the door with his spare key.
“Don’t lie to me, I saw you making out with him at the club last Friday!” an angry male voice shouted.
“You always misunderstand! He was my cousin, for god’s sake,” a different, deeper voice said in exasperation. “It was dark, and there’s no way I’d make out with my cousin!”
A loud sigh was heard. Mingyu looked at Seungcheol, who looked just as confused about the ordeal. “I’m sorry, I’m just not feeling the best today...” the angry voice from earlier seemed to have calmed down.
After a few moments of shuffling, the room went quiet. Seungcheol slowly unlocked the door and opened it with a creak. Mingyu’s heartbeat picked up; was Wonwoo one of the people who were arguing? He didn’t want to meet his future roommate like this.
The two of them took off their shoes and tiptoed into what Mingyu assumed was the living room. Standing a paper’s width apart from each other, were two teenage boys. They were both the same height, and had similarly dyed dark brown hair. Their faces were so close to each other that they were a centimetre away from kissing. Upon realising that Seungcheol and Mingyu were in the room, they broke apart hastily.
“Well, well. Junhui, last time I checked, weren’t you dating Minghao?” Seungcheol tutted.
“I’m here,” a small voice piped up from the living room couch. Sitting in a relaxed position was a tall, skinny boy with hair a darker shade of purple than Jihoon’s. At this point, Mingyu was considering getting his hair dyed a weird colour, since it seemed to be the norm around this apartment block. The boy’s ears were also quite pointy, like an elf’s.
“Oh, Minghao. What’s going on?” Seungcheol furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
One of the brown haired boys, with fox-like eyes and an intimidating stare turned his attention to Mingyu. Mingyu stared back, not knowing what to do. His eyes are really mesmerising.
“Oh, it’s you, Mingyu. Sorry about that, we weren’t, um...” he looked at the other brown haired boy for help, but all he got was a smug smile. He sighed and walked towards Mingyu.
“I’m Jeon Wonwoo,” he shook Mingyu’s hand rather formally, all the while maintaining an unnerving poker face. His hands were really cold.
“I’m Wen Junhui, but you can just call me Jun. I'm a friend of Wonwoo's, and I live on the sixth floor along with Minghao,” the other brown haired boy said. Mingyu noticed that he had a slight accent, but he couldn’t pinpoint where from. Probably China, since his name is Chinese?
“We weren’t actually arguing or anything...” Junhui continued, “You see, I’m studying drama at Pledis, like you; though I’m a year older; and there’s a really big audition coming up for a play.” He pointed at Wonwoo. “Wonwoo was just helping me practice, since Minghao can’t act for ,” he grinned at the boy sitting on the couch, who pouted back at him. “Minghao was just helping judge my performance. Oh, and he’s taken, by the way. By me. Just thought I’d put that out there. But Wonwoo, on the other hand...” he winked, which made Wonwoo glare at him.
Mingyu laughed. “It’s nice to meet you, Junhui, Minghao.” He turned hesitantly to the boy who just shook his hand; his roommate, Jeon Wonwoo. “And Wonwoo, I hope we’ll get along! Thanks for letting me stay here. I look forward to getting to know you better!” Mingyu gave Wonwoo the best smile he could muster.
Wonwoo nodded. “I’ll show you to your room, then.” He turned and walked briskly in the direction of Mingyu’s new room.
Mingyu thanked Seungcheol and smiled at Junhui and Minghao before following Wonwoo. He had to admit; it was a really nice apartment. Neat, organised and spotless; it really did match Wonwoo’s personality as far as Mingyu knew.
This place is pretty interesting.
a/n;
lol idk what this is tbh
guess this will be an ot13 fic; each member will have some sort of plotline going on for them and they'll all intertwine into one giant story..... somehow.... i swear it'll work out in the end !! :)
hope you'll get some enjoyment from reading this :3
ps. i love seventeen ok bye
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