Nayeon stood rooted in her spot upon noticing the girl who had opened the door. She wasn’t seeing things, was she? Out of all the possibilities in the world, how could Nayeon’s luck be so bad, that it followed her all the way from her hometown to her college? Behind her shoulder, she could see that Momo was just as shocked as she was.

Minatozaki Sana stood in front of her, sporting a grimace on her face that probably mirrored her own.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe this.” Sana muttered, shutting the door on Nayeon’s face.

“What the hell?!” Nayeon shouted, banging on the door again. Momo groaned beside her, wondering what was going on.

“Huh? What are you guys doing here?” A soft voice spoke from behind the duo.

Momo’s roommate looked at them in confusion, trying to make sense of the situation. Sana had messaged her to come to her dorm room because she was stuck in a problem and hadn’t specified what it was.

“She closed the door on my face. I’m her roommate.” Nayeon growled, annoyed already.

Visibly shaken, she knocked on the dorm door. “Sana? Open up, it’s Mina.”

Momo’s ears perked up at the knowledge of her roommate’s name. She hadn’t managed to get it off her earlier when she quickly introduced herself to Mina in their room.

“If she’s letting you in, I’m coming in too.” Nayeon muttered, earning a nod from Mina.

A few seconds later, Sana opened the door, rolling her eyes as she received a glare from Nayeon. She was about to push the door to not allow Nayeon to enter, but Mina had stopped her, holding onto the door for Nayeon.

“Thank you. At least someone is considerate enough.” Nayeon huffed, pulling in her luggage and getting ready to unpack.

“I am not having you inside this room!” Sana let out a frustrated groan.

“Well, you don’t have a choice. I don’t know what your problem is, but as you can see, both our names are on that bloody list.” Nayeon said, pointing towards the names on the door. “If you’d spent some time looking at that before unpacking, you would’ve seen it. And, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now!”

Sana took a few steps back as Nayeon towered over her, nostrils flaring from the anger building up inside of her. Who did she think she was to argue about who remained inside the dorm room? Just because she arrived there first? Either way, if there was a possibility of moving out, Nayeon would jump at the opportunity, rather than remain in the room with someone who hated her to the core.

“I don’t know what your problem is, but I won’t have you telling me what to do.” Nayeon mumbled, walking away from Sana.

Sana took that chance to talk to Mina, glowering at her for letting Nayeon inside. “Why did you do that?!”

“She’s your roommate. Don’t be inconsiderate. Why are you not letting her inside?” Mina calmly asked.

“Remember my senior year? That’s the girl that’s responsible.” Sana grumbled.

Mina’s eyes widened in recognition, recalling Sana’s struggles in her last year of high school before they graduated. “Look, the past in the past. You can’t hold on to it if you want to move into the future. Also, she seems nice! Maybe she changed over summer.”

“Oh dear god, has she gotten to you already? How?!” Sana stomped her feet angrily.

“She came with my roommate and helped her settle in. She helped me too.” Mina shrugged, pointing to the girl who was awkwardly standing by the door.

“Trust me, that’s not who she really is.” Sana sighed, holding her head in her hand.

She couldn’t be Nayeon’s roommate when it reminded her of everything that had happened in her final year of high school. Sana still held it in her heart because the memories were fresh. They’d only graduated months ago and when she was finally getting over everything that had happened, turns out that they were in the same dorm room.

“Sana, do you really know that it was her fault?” Mina asked.

“Of course! I heard it myself.” Sana scowled.

“Fine. If you think you can’t room with her, go to the secretary together and tell her that you want to change rooms.” Mina suggested.

“Why are we going together?!” Sana screeched.

“Lower your voice, what the hell Sana!” Mina scolded, slapping her friend’s shoulder.

Momo watched the two girls talk animatedly as her own best friend stood across them, furiously unpacking her bag. She moved towards her, helping her out and trying to calm her down together. She tried to put herself in Nayeon’s shoes, silently applauding her for the restraint of her anger in the current situation. Risking a glance back to her own roommate, Momo blushed as she realised that the girl was staring back at her.

She grinned upon noticing Momo’s reddening cheeks, before turning her attention back to Sana. Momo could tell that Mina was doing her best to calm the girl down and it was working, a little bit. It still looked like Sana had steam coming out of her ears, but a little less. Though, she was actually worried for Nayeon. Living with Sana permanently would definitely be a difficult situation. She would offer to swap spots with her but it was strictly against rules to change roommates that were organised by the college.

“Hey, Momo?” Mina called out.

Momo whipped her head so fast, Nayeon snorted beside her at her speed. “Yes?”

“Can you come here for a second?” Mina smiled, gesturing her to follow her. “As you can see, our friends are not getting along well.”

“Not getting along well might be an understatement.” Momo muttered under her breath, freezing upon hearing Mina’s laughter yet again.

“I completely agree.” Mina nodded. “I have an idea. I think we only have two options. Either one of us can swap with them or, we can contact the secretary.”

“Secretary.” Momo answered immediately, slapping her hand over as she tried to compose herself. “Uh, of course, we should let the college do the changes – if we do it by ourselves it won’t be okay? And it’s not a good idea to change the dorms since it’s not actually allowed and I don’t think we should be the ones to make such a decision. I think we should remain roommates instead and–”

“Momo.” Mina stopped Momo’s ranting, placing her hand on her arm. “I got your point and I agree. I was just telling Sana that the two of them should go to the secretary and tell them about their situation. I’m sure they’ll sort something out.”

Momo nodded. “I’ll tell Nayeon. It’s better to get this sorted out now anyway. They’ve both unpacked.”

Mina offered a small a smile before returning to Sana’s side. Momo sighed, mentally scolding herself for her lack of smooth talking. She just froze up whenever Mina touched her or laughed or basically breathed in her direction. How would she survive being roommates with her if she was already like this by just being near her?

“Nayeon, go to the secretary and organise your rooming. Maybe you guys can change rooms. I’m going to head back to my dorm, so just let me know how it goes, okay? If you need more help later, just let me know and I’ll come right away.” Momo nudged her shoulders. “We can go out for dinner later.”

“Why is my luck so bad?” Nayeon groaned, pushing her hair back into a ponytail as she watched Sana talking to Mina. “I don’t know what I did to her, she hates me – and I’m roomed with her.”

“Hey, maybe you’ll be able to change rooms! Mina’s idea is good. The quicker you go, the higher the chance.” Momo grinned.

“Whipped already, huh?” Nayeon teased, patting Momo’s shoulders.

Momo blushed, kicking Nayeon’s shin for revenge. God, that girl really knew when to run sometimes. “You’re the one in this lovely situation. Shut it.”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. Thank you for looking out for me.” Nayeon gave up, grabbing her dorm key and leaving the room.

Sana followed up behind her, refusing to walk by Nayeon’s side. She let out a scoff, not surprised by her behaviour at all. Seeing as she was still being treated this way even after leaving high school, Nayeon knew that Sana would maintain a distance and complain about her presence in her life. It’s not like Nayeon wanted to be stuck in such a situation either. She thought she was going to have a good few years at the college but her first day had already caught her off guard.

---

They didn’t utter a single word all the way to the secretary’s office. Nayeon shook her head as she walked in first, greeting the woman.

“Before you two have a seat, if you have come here in hopes of changing rooms, I’m sorry but it’s not possible at this stage.”

Both girls froze in their spots upon hearing the words leave the secretary’s lips. No way that could happen. They would leave the room with a change of rooms or else both of them would go crazy living in a room together.

“We can’t live with each other.” Sana frowned as she began talking.

“I wish I could help you, but there are no available rooms to change either of you into.”

“Not even another person from our line of rooms?” Sana asked, growing impatient.

“No, I’m sorry about that. All of them have been paired and no one has asked to change their roommate. May I ask what the issue is?”

“We can’t remain in the same dorm room. We’ve known each other from high school and it wasn’t a good time.” Sana explained.

“Well, if you two were classmates in high school, it wouldn’t be hard for you two to get along. You’re acquainted with each other.”

“She hates me. We can’t be roommates.” Nayeon bluntly explained.

“At this moment in time, I’m afraid I can’t do anything for either of you girls. If you feel like you absolutely can’t live with your roommate, during mid-semester break we will try and sort something out for you girls.”

“That’s another 7 weeks away at least!” Sana gasped.

“I have no option for you. You can find a place externally otherwise.”

Sana let out an exasperated sigh, running her hand through her hair as she thought of the options she had.

None.

She had to deal with staying in a room with the smug looking brat standing next to her, who hadn’t even tried to help their situation. Damn Mina and her speaking of the possibility that she’d be living with Nayeon. She stormed out of the room angrily, leaving a bewildered Nayeon behind, who apologised to the secretary before following Sana.

When Nayeon returned to the dorm room, Sana wasn’t in sight. The girl had just disappeared out of thin air when she was following her. She was worried about Sana even though she openly hated her existence. If Nayeon had a choice, she’d find another place to live in to make everything easier. She could remain back at home but daily commute would be an issue. The best she could do would be to live at her family friend’s house, fifteen minutes away from college.

She was contemplating her options, when Sana stomped right into their room, scaring Nayeon. She was carrying a bulky plastic bag – probably from a convenience store nearby. Nayeon turned back to the wall beside her bed, thinking of a solution. A few minutes later, she frowned, hearing the loud ripping of tape that made her turn her attention back to Sana.

Nayeon froze upon seeing Sana standing in their kitchen, peeling red tape off a wheel. She couldn’t possibly be doing what she thought she was.

Sana was getting ready to tape their entire room.