"I'll be back to visit, okay? Don't worry too much about me," I smile and kiss my mother on the cheek, moving on to hugging my father as we stood in front of my new home. Being 18 years old and moving out to a whole new city on my own isn’t easy, but I was tired of being in the big city and needed a smaller town to live in and feel more comfortable in my shoes than I did at my old home.

            "Just call us if you ever need anything and study hard," my mother cheered me on. We exchange more goodbyes as they walk back to the car and began their long drive back home. Home was about six hours away and yet, they insisted to drive their only child out.

            I let out a deep breath as I knocked on the door. The door opened right away and a couple about in their middle thirties to early 40s stood before me with wide smiles.

            "Hello, you must Park Seoul!" Yes, I was named after the home city that I was born and raised in and yet, left to go somewhere else into the beyond. The older couple greeted me with a bow, and I let out a small smile and bow back to them.

            "Yes, I am," I respond with another bow.

            "It’s good to finally see you. I'm Ahn Minju and this is my husband, Ahn Jiwoo."

            "Ah, hello, it’s very nice to meet you too," I, awkwardly, said. Meeting new people was not my forte. Of course, I talked to Mrs. Ahn through text messages and some phone calls, but it is now awkward meeting face to face.

            "Well, come on in and let's get you settled," Mr. Ahn grabbed both of my large suitcases and hauled them inside as I situate the backpack and duffel bag on my back. "How did a small woman like you carry these?"

            'I didn't...' I thought and chuckled. "Well, you never know what’s hiding underneath these sleeves, but I am merely joking. My father helped with the heaviest one and I helped with the other." He nodded in response. I slipped off my shoes and shoved them against the wall where the others were.

            “Your parents didn’t want to come inside? It would have been nice to meet them especially when they are sending their daughter off for the next four years of her life for school,” Mrs. Ahn chuckled.

            I bit her lip. “Oh, it’s already pretty late now and home is nearly 6 hours. They didn’t want to be driving too late into the night.” It was a lie; however, it wasn’t entirely a lie since it was late, and no one really likes driving at night since it got so hard to see the lines and drowsiness kicks in more easily. The truth more lies on that I insisted they don’t come inside and that I’ll let them video chat with me later. I wanted to handle this on my own.

            "No worries, dear. We understand and driving at night can be quite dangerous. Ah right! Keys... Honey, can you help me find her keys," Mrs. Ahn dragged Mr. Ahn out into the home. I giggle at their cuteness.

            I stood alone in front of the hallway and took a long look around the home. It's a very modern and classic look to it. The floors are a rich, dark hardwood and the walls were painted a light gray to contrast the dark floors. The stairs (matching the deep brown floors) pushed against the wall. In the middle if the small room was a table where a tall bamboo plant stood and blocked the view of the hallway, so I had to look around it. Also, on the table was an organizer where everyone's mail was organized. Everything just seems to fit perfectly and match so nicely. I swore it felt like walking right through a home decor magazine.

            The couple returned with a key ring and envelopes. "Here are the keys to the home and your room. The envelopes are from the school."

            "I have to take my leave first for a lecture, but I’ll be back for dinner and I hope you move in with ease," Mr. Ahn said. He kissed his wife on the head and left out the front door.

            "I'll take you to your room," Mrs. Ahn smiled. “Your desk and two other boxes arrived this morning and were moved into your room already.” I nod and grab both of my suitcases in each hand, but they wouldn’t budge or, at least, only one did. Mrs. Ahn attempted, but she’s a little too weak to get it to move and she even said so herself.

            "Changkyun-ah! Changkyun-ah, can you come down here?" Mrs. Ahn yelled up towards the staircase.

            "Yes, Auntie," a tall and handsome boy appeared from around the corner at the top of the stairs. He wore sweats and basic gray tee and it looks as if he was sleeping by the way his hair was fluffed up in different directions. But sure enough, his deep voice was to die for.

            "I'm not his aunt by the way," Mrs. Ahn woke me up from my dazed awe at the newcomer. "Everyone who lives here just get so comfortable with each other that we start becoming family so just call me aunty from now on.”

            "Hi, I'm Lim Changkyun," his deep voice sent shivers down my spine as he ran down the stairs and bowed.

            I bowed back. "Park Seoul, nice to meet you."

            "Ooh, I love your name," he gaped at me. "I'm your neighbor by the way."

            The place I had chosen was a shared home type place. It's essentially small homes within a big home. It can be thought to be like a college dorm or hotel room, but a little bit of a difference. In all other words, there are the owners/renters, Mr. and Mrs. Ahn, who (obviously) rent rooms to people. The rooms are just equipped with a bed and a small nightstand and other small amenities.

            "Ah, okay," I smile, shyly.

            "Can you be a dear and help with her bags and we can show her to her room?" Mrs. Ahn asked Changkyun.

            "Oh Auntie, don't worry I can show her," Changkyun replied. "You go in and rest for the day. You've been cleaning the house all day for Seoul's arrival."

            "Such a sweet boy," she ruffled the male's hair. "Seoul, I hope you enjoy your stay and if you need anything, I'm just down this hall to the right." And with that, she disappeared behind the bamboo plant.

            "Let's get on, shall we?" Changkyun tilted his head toward the stairs and grunted as he lifted the heavy bag up.

            My room was on the left side of the stairs and the second door of the left side (wow, lots of lefts) while Changkyun's was the third door. My room was also the nearest to the bathroom which Changkyun told me was the biggest con to living here. He thinks everyone should've had their own bathroom in their room, but for that to happen, the house needed to be bigger for all the pipes and they would be paying a lot more for rent since that's a lot of water. So instead with the two large bathrooms upstairs, they split it to the girls’ and the boys’ bathrooms conveniently placed next to each other. However, it's a big downside for the boys since there are more of them than girls living here.

            Anyhow, I unlocked the door with the keys and pushed through. The room was extraordinary clean. It did resemble a college dorm or a small apartment room. The bed was placed in the far corner of the room with a small nightstand to the right of the bed and above the nightstand was a small window looking towards other homes and buildings.  At the end of the bed, stood my desk and the swivel chair with the glass window staring into the small-town square sitting to its left. Across the room from the bed are a sliding closet and a dresser. Other items in the room were things like a small flat screen, mini couch, mini fridge, and bookshelf. I could have brought my own mini fridge and bookshelf, but the room was already equipped with them so why bother? There was going to be a desk, but it turns out that my room was the only that didn’t have one. It’s fine though since I have my own desk that I love and wouldn’t dare to have left it behind back in Seoul with my family.

            "Too bad everyone else left for their classes or jobs. Most of us here are students at the university" Changkyun spoke. "I'm sure they would like to meet you."

            I nodded my head in agreement. It would have been nice to meet all 8 others I'm living with. “Hey, do you think you can help me set the place up?”

            We conversed a lot as we placed my small number of books in the bookshelf, stretched my thick black blanket as sheets and tucking it tight under the mattress. I’m not too fond of lying on two thin sheets of fabric separating me from the mattress below. I like having something soft with a little lift to relax on it. Anyway, we talked about anything and everything there is to know each other.

            A few things I learned about Changkyun are he's three years older, likes rapping, had lived in Boston in the United States for two years, and has lived in the Ahn's home for about a year now so he’s also a fairly new member to the household. Changkyun also has told me a lot about the town and how small it is. It’s so small that everyone practically knows everyone. I told him that I'll check it out after doing the finishing touches to the room. After finishing the main items to unpack, I thanked and dismissed him so that I can set up her personal items.

            First it was my clothes, then things that should belong onto my study desk like a few textbooks, pens in the pen holder, and some cute little souvenirs from Japan. On the shelf above the desk, she organized her music albums and back down to the desk, a couple photos of family, and a couple of friends. I never really like any one of her other friends, but I preferred not to really talk about it. The nightstand has my speaker and the lamp that came with the room, and my glasses case. Finally, the room was complete.

            Nighttime has already fallen and the only thing lighting up the room was the desk lamp. Of course, there was the room light, but I found it more soothing with the dim light.

            I stared at the letter from the University that I would be attending this fall which is tomorrow. I was sad and excited to go to school. Meeting new people and learning exciting things. I didn't know what I wanted to major in yet and that honestly is terrifying. I do have an idea of what I want to do, but I’m scared I might not follow through with it. Every time I think to myself "what am I going to set my life to?" And I know it's so bad to not know my major… it’s just that I’m scared. I'm not really good at a lot of things and many things won’t satisfy my parents unless I'm going to make a good amount of money to buy them a home in the countryside. I received some major scholarships from school and this school especially, which is very surprising just because of my talent less self. I was told by the school that since it's such a small university that giving out a scholarship is nothing and that since I don't know what I'm majoring in that I can toy around my first year and then figure something out second year.

            I threw the paper somewhere on the floor and rolled under the covers of my bed. A couple knocks sounded through the room and Changkyun peek his head in.

            "Hi," I greeted sitting up in my bed.

            "Oh shoot, were you sleeping?" He kept his position behind the door.

            "No, I was just thinking about stuff," I responded. "What's up?"

            "Dinner is going to be ready and almost everyone has arrived back home if you wanted to come down and join us."

            "Oh okay," I stood up from the bed and slipped on a pair of slippers and headed downstairs with Changkyun. Since I hadn’t had time to explore the house yet, I had Changkyun lead the way to the dining room. Moving deeper into the home amazed me even more. Most of the home seemed be made more hard-wood and more modern furniture and fixtures. The kitchen was straight across from the front door and the dining room right next to the opened-up kitchen.

            The table is a very large glass table that was covered with plates and utensils and the main dish, barbecue beef. A couple people already sat down at the table, but I could tell that everyone wasn't there yet with all the empty chairs.

            "Oh, you must be the new neighbor," a girl in a tan trench coat stood from her seat and bowed. The others around her did the same. "I'm Son SeungWan but call me Wendy."

            "Hello, I'm Park Seoul," I greeted back with a bow.

            "I love your name!" The male to her right took my hand and shook it lightly. "Kim Jongdae."

            "Hi, I'm Park Sooyoung, but call me Joy. Sooyoung is so plain," the other girl greeted.

            "How old are you, Seoul?" Wendy asked.

            "I'm 18," I responded, and they all gaped at me.

            "Ah, so you're the youngest in the household then. Man, I'm 8 years older and you're pretty too," Jongdae laughed.

            "Yah~ don't be weird," Wendy hit Jongdae lightly on the arm.

            "Age is just a number~" I sang out to play along.

            "Really?" Jongdae's eyes lit up.

            "Hey!" Wendy hit him one more time.

            “I also turn 19 next month,” I added.

            “Okay so we’re only 7 years then,” he winked at me and I could see Wendy give him the biggest eye roll of the century.

            A couple more people came down the stairs, well, more like running down the stairs and into the kitchen. They pulled and pushed at each other until they saw me. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought these two were twins

            "Oh, hi, you must be the newcomer," the slimmer boy greeted. "I'm Nam Joohyuk."

            "I'm Kim Jisoo," the toner, fit boy pushed himself in front of Joohyuk.

            "Hi, I'm Park Seoul," I smiled. 'Dear lord, why is this house full of attractive men? This is just like Scarlet Heart: Ryeo where all the princes are hot.'

            "Lovely name for a lovely lady," Joohyuk flashed his pearly whites and I swear I would have died right then and there.

            "Aigoo~ flirting again," a girl came up from behind the boys and whacked Joohyuk's head.

            "Hi. Lee Jieun. Sorry about the twins, they're children."

            "You guys are really twins?" I asked and they shook their heads and chuckled.

            "No, everyone just says we look alike and have the same personalities," Jisoo explained.

            "Okay, okay, everyone sits," Mrs. Ahn and Mr. Ahn came in a sat down at the table. I chose my seat in between the 'twins'. They insisted at least. "Is everyone here?"

            "Hyunnie has to work late at the University so he won't be eating dinner tonight, Aunty," Jongdae explained. He patted the empty seat next to him that was in front of me. “It’s the usual.”

            "Poor boy, all he does is work," Mrs. Ahn shook his head.

            "He enjoys working though," Jieun stated.

            "But he needs a girlfriend. If all he does is work, then how is supposed to get married?" Joy exclaimed. “It’s not like he’s getting paid to work overtime anyway. I should set him up with one of my good friends from Japan.”

            I stayed quiet in my seat as I sifted around uncomfortably. I never was a talker in groups, and they were talking about someone who I didn’t know so why bother to in on the conversation?

            "Well, we should start eating before everything gets cold," Mr. Ahn said. "Tonight's celebration is our welcoming to our new friend, Park Seoul."

            Everyone clapped and cheered, never felt more embarrassed and awkward in my life. "Please introduce yourself once more."

            "My name is Park Seoul. I’m from Seoul and I'm 18 years old. Um, I like dogs and kettle popcorn."

            “Excellent choice in popcorn~ I like you already,” Joohyuk and placed his elbows on the table and settled his head on top of his folded hands looking rather dashing as he smiled at me. I giggled and rolled my eyes at him.

            "Any other words you would like to say?"

            "Um... thank you for all the warm greetings and please take care of me well," I added a little bit of aegyo and, honestly, I felt the need of throwing up. The guys seemed to like it a bit too much though as they clapped and cheered louder.

            Dinner went exceptionally well with good food and laughter. I automatically felt happy and comfortable with everyone.

            "So how do you like everyone so far?” Changkyun and I sat in a small living space outside of the kitchen. It reminded me of a gazebo, but an inside version.

            “I’m not sure yet,” I picked at my fingers. “Everyone is very nice, but like we’re all still meeting each other and practically still strangers so I would think that everyone is just acting nice for first impressions.”

            “Everyone is pretty nice like most people can get annoying like Jongdae Hyung and the twins, Joy gets too excited about things, and Baekhyun Hyung works all the time and is just weird sometimes, but I understand what you are getting at. I’m sure that you’ll fit in just fine and you’ll get to know everyone quite easily,” he replied.

            “Yeah… the twins are quite interesting,” I tapped on chin. “Jongdae too, but I kind of like Jongdae. He’s funny.”

            Changkyun laughed. “Don’t mind them. Their attempt at making a good impression isn’t that great, but they are memorable people. I would like to assume that Jongdae will try to be your best friend.”

            “Why is that?”

            “Well, he joked about being too old for you, but you gave him some hope so he might actually try for you. You don’t have a boyfriend, do you?”

            “I wouldn’t have moved if I did,” I couldn’t help, but blush. It never occurred to me that I would receive this much attention so fast. “This is weird, but weird in somewhat of a good way. I’m glad he likes me though. I feel like it would be hard to live in a house with someone you didn’t like.”

            "Yeah, you’re right,” Changkyun sighed. “You start school tomorrow, right?"

            "I do… I'm kind of scared though," I gritted my teeth together. "I feel as though I haven't had enough time to breathe yet."

            "Oh..." he whispered. “I'm sure you'll great! You have us now to count on and we'll always be by your side; perks of living with multiple people that will soon be just like family."

            "I hope so."

            "Oh, come on, stop being so gloomy. We should head upstairs since it's getting late and you have a big day ahead of you."

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!!! I can't wait to share more of this magical story as time goes on~

And I hope my readers are having a great day as well!