1 :  t h e  s t i m u l u s 

Class was dismissed, marking the end of the first week of school. Taemin gathered his things and swiftly made his way towards the exit; no goodbyes, no see-you-next-weeks, nothing. Despite it only being the first week he had already carved some kind of name out for himself when he accidentally let slip to a classmate that he, in his own words, "swings both ways", which also meant the start of him being a loner. News of a freshman's ual orientation coming to light always spread like wildfire in this college, even if it didn't affect anyone else in any particular way. Luckily for Taemin, he had already been exposed to the life of solitude and was used to it by now. Being ostracised for being Asian in high school had, for once, become useful to him. He quickened his pace, parting the crowd in the hallway like some sort of modern day Moses.

Arriving in front of Room 304 several hundred steps later, Taemin punched in the passcode to the front door's digital lock and let himself in, slamming the door behind him. He kicked off his shoes and dropped his bag onto the floor before throwing himself onto the bed face down, groaning. He hated college already. How could he not, when his first week of school had already been made hell after the news of his uality spread to the sophomores on his floor of the college's dormitory? There was never a day he could stroll through the corridors without being called some sort of pejorative name. It made him miss America all the more, where he could openly be himself and not a single person would bat an eyelid. America was home to him, and even though he'd grown up speaking both English and Korean, he couldn't help but to wonder why his parents had decided to move back to South Korea out of the blue when all he had ever known was the States.

It didn't help that he had been told to play host to the new student, considering that he himself had only been in college for a week. The new student, according to the floor's resident adviser, was due to move into Room 304 late Friday evening, which to Taemin's dismay, meant he'd be here very, very soon. It was already half past two in the afternoon. Taemin began to toy with the idea of spending the night out and leaving the new student to settle down himself, but he resented the idea of leaving his belongings in the room with a complete stranger. He sighed. Since I'm going to have to entertain some bloke later today, I might as well go grab something to eat first, he thought. Wouldn't wanna be cranky by the time the poor bloke arrives. Taemin propped himself up, grabbing his wallet and keys off the bedside drawer before heading for the door.

The streets of Seoul were cold that afternoon. Taemin muttered a curse under his breath that translated into a thin fog, stuffing his hands into the pocket of his olive green jacket. He regretted his decision of leaving the school's premise as soon as he set his foot beyond the gate, but couldn't be bothered to turn back now. He followed the pavement, turning a corner before walking through the doors of his usual spot; a small restaurant hidden in the folds of Seoul that sold his favourite Korean dish of kimchi ramen. He smiled at the waitress.

"Welcome to Mukshidonna!" The waitress greeted in response, showing Taemin to his seat. Taemin sat down, rubbing his hands together before pointing to an item on the menu. Smiling sweetly, the waitress took his order promptly; she was familiar with both Taemin and the order that he usually placed, since Taemin was a creature of habit and rarely ever ate anything else there. Then she left Taemin to himself. He shifted quietly in his seat at the far end of the restaurant and looked around. For a Friday afternoon, the restaurant looked pretty busy, with only a handful of free tables here and there. Thank goodness he managed to get himself a table. He wouldn't have had the will to bother finding another place to dine in. He reached into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out a comic book that he had started reading the night before. He cracked the book open and began to read.

Roughly ten pages in, the loud screech of a table being pushed out of formation distracted Taemin from his book. He looked up in search of the source of the painful screech when something, no, someone, caught his eye. Standing barely five metres ahead of him was a man of about his age; redheaded, pale and scrawny with a big black suitcase at his side. The man donned a stylish brown trenchcoat with tight, grey jeans and a red-and-black checkered scarf wrapped around his neck, concealing the bottom half of his face. He sat down, accidentally pushing the table out of position once more as he struggled with his suitcase. Taemin huffed, thinking nothing of it, before poking his nose into his book once again. Minutes later, the same waitress who took his order arrived at his table with a bowl of piping hot ramen, a bottle of soju, and a small glass. She served Taemin, smiling sweetly once more before turning to look at whatever it was that had the man's attention.

"Friend of yours?" She asked, taking a step back. Taemin snapped out of his daze; he didn't even realise he had been in one; and smiled sheepishly.

"Uh, no," he answered, pressing his thick lips together. "I don't know him."

The waitress nodded politely, shrugging her shoulders. "Oh well. He looks cute. Anyway, enjoy your meal!"

She moved off, attending to another patron at a table nearby. Taemin picked up his utensils and dug into his food, once again thinking nothing of anything. When he was done almost an hour later, he wiped his mouth with a paper napkin and got up, walking towards the counter. He pulled out his wallet and retrieved a few bills, handing them to the lady behind the counter who was busy punching keys into the cash register.

"Busy day today, huh?" Taemin remarked, feeling proud of himself for being the one to initiate small talk for once. The lady nodded in response, placing his bills into the drawer of the cash register. She handed him some loose change and sighed.

"Apparently there are a lot of new students moving into the college's dormitory next door," she shared. "My daughter stays on the second floor."

Taemin followed the lady's gaze, now learning that the waitress was this lady's daughter. He grinned at the lady, stuffing his coins into one of the pockets on his jacket.

"I didn't know she went to that college too." He kept his wallet and exited the restaurant, making his way back to the dormitory.

Taemin quickened his pace as he walked towards the main gate of the college, not wanting to arrive at his room later than the new student would. He couldn't help but to notice the sound of wheels grating against the pavement following close behind him, but as he always did, he thought nothing of it. It wasn't until he felt a tap on his shoulder that he decided to turn around. He gasped.

"Hello," the man greeted, his voice muffled by the scarf around his neck. Taemin sized the man up, wondering where he'd seen him before, before coming to a conclusion: It was the redhead with the suitcase from the restaurant. He forced a smile across his face, prompting the man to push something into his hands. He raised his brows.

"You left this at the restaurant," the man said, handing Taemin his comic book. Taemin pulled the comic book to his chest, relieved. He hadn't even realised that he had taken off without it. He looked up at the man.

"Thank you so much," he exclaimed, grinning at the book that was now pressed against his chest. "This comic book means a lot to me."

He saw the man attempt a smile that was hidden behind his scarf, his cheeks rising. "No problem."

Taemin tilted his head and nodded towards the man's suitcase. "Are you new here?"

Dragging the black suitcase forward and retracting its handle, the man nodded.

"Yeah. I'm from around town, but today's my, uh, first day of school." He swayed from side to side a little, turning his gaze from Taemin to the huge, daunting, copper channel letters that spelt out "Seoul International College" on the wall nextto the college's main gate. "What about you?"

Taemin smiled as benevolently as he could manage.

"I started here a week ago, so I'm kinda new too." He explained. "I'm Taemin, by the way."

The man furrowed his brows. "What a coincidence. My new roommate's name is Taemin, too."

Taemin froze.

"Which room were you assigned?" He asked, a sense of urgency overpowering his tone.

"Room 304."

Oh, Taemin interjected mentally. So you're the new guy. He smiled brightly, holding his hand out for the man to shake it, pushing anxious thoughts to the back of his mind.

"Howdy, roommate."

The man, taken aback, shook his hand.

"Wow. So you really are that Taemin," he uttered aloud. Taemin maintained his composure, not wanting to assume what the nameless man meant by that. He released the man's hand.

"My name is Lee Hyukjae." The man continued. "It's nice to know our fates intertwined earlier than expected over a manga."

Taemin nodded, trying as hard as he could to suppress his anxiety. "C'mon, let me show you around."

The pair strolled onto the school's premise, wheels rolling, engaged in a conversation about their love for manga and ramen and how they had both ended up at the same restaurant earlier. They crossed the foyer and stopped at the elevator lobby of the dormitory building, waiting. There were a few other students, mostly female, waiting for the elevator near them. They began to murmur among themselves, eyeing Hyukjae from head to toe. Isn't that the new student? Taemin heard them gossip. What is he doing with THAT guy? Do they know each other? The elevator dinged and the doors split open. Hyukjae dragged his suitcase into the elevator, with Taemin and the other students following close behind. A brief silence ensued, giving rise to an awkward tension in the packed elevator. Taemin stared at the ground, pretending not to notice how a few of the girls from earlier were still stealing glances at Hyukjae, and practically glaring at him. The elevator ascended, and when it finally reached the third floor after what felt like eons, both Hyukjae and Taemin squeezed through the crowd as soon as the doors cracked open, suitcase in tow. Just before Hyukjae made it out of the elevator completely, a girl shouted towards him in a tone that basically screamed WARNING.

"Hey, new kid! Stay away from Lee Taemin! He likes guys!"

Hyukjae stopped in his tracks and turned around, amused.

"That's great! We can be gay besties!" He yelled back satirically, right before the elevator door shut itself.

Taemin continued walking, pretending he didn't just hear the redhead boldly express his ual preference on his first day in college, although a part of him was glad he did. They passed a few rooms, some of which had their doors opened upon students finding out that the new student on the third floor had arrived. Heads turned, their eyes following the pair as they approached their room. Taemin had grown accustomed to all the unwanted staring and had learnt to ignore it from the third day of school onwards, but Hyukjae, on the other hand, felt obligated to smile and bow politely at every pair of eyes fixated on the two of them. They came to a halt in front of Room 304. Taemin punched in the passcode and waited for the click of the lock's mechanism, pushing the door open for his new roommate. The redhead dragged his huge, black suitcase into the room and looked around, awestruck.

"," Hyukjae cussed aloud, glossing his eyes over Taemin's side of the room. Taemin had decorated the walls on his side of the room with framed vinyls and abstract paintings, and on top of that, the space was well-furbished. A purple lava lamp glowed from the desktop of a computer table that separated the two living spaces, the light from the lamp emanating outwards, highlighting a framed family photo that stood next to it. Hyukjae looked from the comfy, thick, red comforters of Taemin's bed to the bare, white mattress on what was presumably his bed on his side of the room. He sighed.

"I totally didn't think of bringing a blanket at all," Hyukjae lamented, lying his suitcase on its side. He ped the suitcase and began searching through the items in it, frowning.

"By the way, Taemin," he called out, his hands still rummaging through the contents of the suitcase. "is it true? Is what the girl said earlier, true?"

Taemin crossed his arms, blinking awkwardly several times. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Hyukjae countered, picking up a framed photograph of his own. "Are you gay?"

Flustered, Taemin darted his eyes about, avoiding eye contact with the redhead.

"Y-yeah," he stammered. "Uh actually n-n-no." He cleared his throat and straightened his back, faking confidence.

"I like guys and girls. Sometimes the former more than the latter," he elaborated, lifting his chin in a very superficial, arrogant manner. "And what about it?"

Hyukjae rose, walking towards the computer table. He placed his photo frame next to Taemin's, the two frames separated only by the purple lava lamp. Then he turned to Taemin, lolling his head back.

"Just wanted you to know you aren't alone, that's all. The kids here seem pretty nasty," Hyukjae reassured and began to unravel the scarf that kept half his face hidden. "Don't you find the room kinda hot?"

Th red-and-black fleece scarf that once curled around Hyukjae's neck like a snake fell to the floor, revealing the redhead's full face. Taemin's eyes widened. It was the first time that he'd seen what the redhead really looked like since he first took notice of him at the restaurant, now that the scarf was out of the way. He drew his attention to the features that adorned Hyukjae's pale skin like he was some sort of artwork. He had a wide forehead and thick, messy brows that were a deep shade of brown, hinting at his original hair colour. His eyes were asymmetrical; his left eye was a tad bit rounder than his right, but both eyes glistened beneath identical single lids. He had high cheekbones that guarded his round, button nose left and right, and a pair of plump lips gathered in the middle of the bottom half of his face in a slight pout. Light that made it through the sheer curtains of the room's only window bounced off the parts of Hyukjae's face that stuck out, highlighting them. Something about the redhead struck Taemin right in the heart. He was beautiful.

"Taemin?"

"Huh?"

The redhead blinked at Taemin, quickly snapping the blond out of his daydream.

"Did you hear what I said?" Hyukjae asked, picking up his scarf.

Taemin shut the door gently, taking off his shoes and socks before throwing himself onto his bed. He shook his head, studying the ceiling.

"Sorry," he apologised, his voice small. "Mind repeating yourself?"

The redhead rolled his eyes, rolling his scarf into a ball. "Hold on."

Hyukjae returned to his suitcase, dumping the balled scarf and taking off his trench coat, wearing only a thin black t-shirt underneath. He combined two neatly folded piles of clothing into one, lifting it up and advancing towards the dark, wooden closet stood in the corner in his half of the room. Hyukjae struggled to pull the door open, the tall pile of clothing in his arms threatening to topple over. He stuck his leg out, creating a makeshift stopper to prevent the doors from shutting completely. Then he looked over at his roommate, who was now lying on his belly with his arms tucked under his chin. Hyukjae swayed a little, maintaining his balance and preventing the pile of fabric nestled in his arms from falling. Clearly the blond was in his own world, completely unaware of his new roommate's tussle with the closet.

"A little help here," Hyukjae called out with his foot wedged in between the doors of the closet.

Once again snapping out of his personal thought bubble daydream, Taemin looked at his new roommate and sprung out of his bed, rushing forward to help the man. He pulled the closet doors wide open and grabbed Hyukjae by the shoulders as if to help steady the man, an odd tingling sensation charging through his veins upon skin contact. Both of them jump back, clearing their throats sheepishly. They diverted their attention to the closet in front of them. Taemin had taken the liberty of leaving literally half the closet empty for his new roommate to use, the visible split indicated by a bright yellow tape that marked the inside of the closet like a crack down the middle. The right half of the closet had been utilised to its maximum potential; most of Taemin's outfits hung from his half of the rack with several piles of folded apparels hiding underneath.

Taemin took an instinctive step back, giving the redhead more leeway to move about as he unpacked his things. He observed quietly as the redhead traveled to and fro between his suitcase and the closet, gradually filling up his side. Even though only slightly over a week had passed since he first moved into the dormitory, he had already begun to feel lonely and out of place, especially after news of his ual orientation got out and started getting passed around like some sort of horrific game of Pass The Parcel that made him the target of the masses. It felt nice having someone who, for starters, did not give a single hoot what his ual preferences were (and being openly gay himself at that) as company, and on top of that, shared similar interests. A tidal wave of relief washed over him; perhaps having been appointed the task of showing his new roommate around wouldn't be so bad after all.

"So as I was saying," Hyukjae started, taking them back to the conversation he had attempted to start right before Taemin had gone into one of his weird trances, "you speak Korean with an accent. Couldn't figure out the accent though. Are you from around here, or..."

"Ah. No. I was born in America," Taemin replied, punctuating the end of his sentence with a soft smile. The redhead slowly nodded an implied oh, no wonder and continued unpacking, placing the last of his apparels and hangers in the closet before shutting the doors. He turned around. 

"Are people more, uh, how should I put it...accepting towards people like us in America?" Hyukjae wondered aloud. Unable to conceal how unprepared he was for the sudden diversion of topic, a look of surprise took over Taemin's expression. He looked around the room awkwardly, trying as best as he could to maintain a straight face while the neurons in his brain darted about frantically in search of a way to respond to the redhead's question. Mental images of the people who used to harass him for being a minority in high school back in America fleeted in his mind like wandering spirits. He recalled his experiences, pursing his lips. They bullied me for being Asian, but I don't think anyone ever said anything about my uality, he concluded in his subconscious, contemplating whether or not to tell the redhead that. He walked over to his bed and sat down.

"They definitely are!" He shared, sounding almost too excitable, as if talking about America brought about some sort of mix of nostalgia and happiness. "I never got bullied for being openly bi, although I did get bullied for other reasons. Maybe that was what made me assume I could openly talk about swinging both ways here. Worst ing decision ever. I wouldn't recommend it; not that it matters though, considering you basically let the entire hall know you're gay when we got out of the lift."

Hyukjae laughed, taking a seat on his bed. "Don't worry. I'm not the kind of person who gives a what anyone thinks of me."

"I can see that."

"You seem to care what others think, though." Hyukjae remarked, deadpan.

Taemin shot the man a sideways glance. He felt relatively insulted that the redhead, who he barely knows, would make such an accusation. A small part of him even felt like the accusation stripped him bare of self-defence and left him vulnerable to some degree. He was so used to solitude and constantly being on guard since he'd moved to Seoul several months back that he wasn't sure how to handle the vulnerability, but something about the way the redhead stared back at him made him feel like it was safe for him to let his guard down. He sighed.

"Maybe I do," he admitted, hanging his head. "I'm not exactly good at being.....likable." He turned, looking Hyukjae straight in the eye, anticipating a response of some sort. Any sort. Instead, Hyukjae simply smiled, lying down with his hands behind his head.

"Well I'm glad we're roommates then," he said, staring straight at the ceiling with a smug look swept across his face. "I'd be more than glad to teach you the beautiful art of not giving a single ."

He his side, back facing Taemin. "I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me up in about an hour, please. I wanna explore the place a bit."

Taemin nodded, more as a form of affirmation to himself and a reminder to take his new roommate on a little tour around the college than to acknowledge the redhead's instructions. Hyukjae drifted off, soft snoring escaping the gap between his parted lips as he slept. The silence (apart from Hyukjae's snoring) beckoned a myriad of thoughts to bloom in Taemin's mind like flowers in spring. He leaned forward with his hands clasped together, staring at Hyukjae's back and frowned. For god's sake, Lee Taemin, he cussed himself, don't fall for every person who shows you the slightest bit of kindness.