Pilot: One in a Million

“…this place is ridiculous. Seriously Kookie, how did our parents even afford this place? Everyone here looks like they have multiple butlers.” Chaeyoung pointed at a group of girls who were busy chatting by the fountain in the courtyard. “That girl with the silver hair is wearing a shirt that’s worth like seven hundred dollars.”

Jungkook sighed, hugging his books further to his chest. He knew Chaeyoung was feeling just as nervous as he was, but while his nerves usually manifested as a deep desire to not talk, his twin sister had the tendency to not want to shut up. “We knew this place was for rich kids, Chaeng. The only reason we got in was thanks to our aunt.”

Chaeyoung fidgeted in place, glancing around at the throng of other incoming freshmen that were gathering in front of the school’s administrative building. It was pretty clear they didn’t belong, so she could only hope the other freshmen were preoccupied with their own issues instead of looking at her and Jungkook.

She considered her twin’s posture and how his eyes occasionally darted around to take in his surroundings. She still couldn’t believe that her parents would up and transfer her and Jungkook midway through the school year, but deep down she knew it had to happen.

It all started about a month before school let out for the holidays.

It was no secret that there were people in the world that were born with strange and unique powers. Many of them were able to function perfectly well in normal society because their abilities weren’t dangerous or powerful. People like her parents. Her mother had very minor powers of pyrokinesis and the most she could do was light a candle while her father had an almost uncanny ability to tell if someone was lying. Chaeyoung wasn’t sure how much of that was preternatural power versus just being a parent but it was effective in keeping both her and Jungkook on the straight and narrow.

How people got their powers wasn’t widely understood. Some believed it was genetics, others ran with the whole nature/nurture debate. Chaeyoung never bothered listening to any of it, she assumed that if she and Jungkook manifested with any powers they’d be minor like those of her parents. Boy was she wrong.

They knew something was off when Jungkook suddenly began winning all of his track and field competitions. Not that he was a slow runner by any means, but what started out as him winning by a few milliseconds turned into him absolutely crushing the competition before him. When he set a new record in the one-hundred-meter dash at the national track meet the race officials pulled him aside and threatened to test him for illegal drugs.

 Chaeyoung’s powers manifested only a week later after she quite literally gave another girl a concussion with her mind. Technically it could be argued that the other girl simply didn’t notice the door opening in front of her and accidentally walked face first into it. But everyone knew that the girl was stalking towards Chaeyoung and her friend with the intent to stuff them into their lockers. Chaeyoung was sick of the girl bullying them and wished for the door in front of them to swing open and smack her in the face.

The resulting concussion and broken nose landed Chaeyoung in the office with her parents as the school demanded both she and Jungkook officially get tested to determine the extent of their powers.

Which was why the two of them were now surrounded by a bunch of their fellow gifted students as they waited for the doors to open.

Jungkook’s test results came back astonishingly clear: he was in the 98^th percentile for speed in the nation, and it was recommended that he find a high school that was willing and capable to train his newfound powers. Chaeyoung’s tests were similar. Her telekinetic powers could spell doom if left untrained, so she needed to find a school that could teach her control.

But as to how they managed to get into the nation’s most prestigious boarding school for gifted teenagers? Well they had their incredibly wealthy aunt to thank for that.

Both Chaeyoung and Jungkook were ready to go to the nearest public high school for kids with powers, but once their aunt found out about their test results she all but demanded they attend her alma mater, Hallyu Academy. She even offered to pay the school’s absurd tuition costs, an offer that their parents couldn’t refuse. While their family was by no means poor, the sheer cost of attending Hallyu Academy would have sunk their family into some serious debt. It was a good school, their parents argued.

They weren’t wrong. There were plenty of famous graduates of Hallyu that ended up in great positions. Chaeyoung could even name a few that were working in the government.

“I can’t believe our parents gave in to her demands,” Chaeyoung grumbled. “The next four years are going to .”

“Three and a half,” Jungkook corrected, shifting his grip on the schoolbooks he was carrying. “It’s the spring semester, remember?” Chaeyoung stuck her tongue out at him.

The girl next to Chaeyoung suddenly turned to her. “Oh, are you new? I knew I hadn’t seen your face around her before!”

Chaeyoung looked startled, as if she couldn’t believe the girl was actually talking to her. “Uh, yeah. My brother and I just transferred to Hallyu. I’m Son Chaeyoung.”

“Kim Dahyun,” the girl chirped, a wide smile on her face. She offered her hand to Chaeyoung, who took it warily. The girl looked nice enough sure, with her dark blonde, almost brunette hair but Chaeyoung couldn’t help but notice the expensive watch on her left hand. She knew it was bad to judge people based on what they looked like or what they wore but sometimes she couldn’t help it, especially when she was this nervous. Dahyun was gorgeous though…

Still, she slapped a smile on her face and hoped the other girl wouldn’t realize it wasn’t exactly sincere. “Nice to meet you Dahyun.”

“Likewise.” Dahyun glanced at Jungkook, who was looking up from where he had been previously occupied with sorting his stack of books. “And who are you?”

“Jeon Jungkook,” he mumbled, a light blush beginning to tint his cheeks. Was everybody in this school so damn good-looking? He averted his gaze and Dahyun shrugged her shoulders, turning back to address Chaeyoung.

“I know this is probably a lot to be dumping on you at once, but it comes time for you to pick a dorm to stay in you’re more than welcome to live with me and my friends. You’re definitely the kind of person that we’d get along well with.”

Chaeyoung looked confused. She knew there was a dorm system at Hallyu, there had to be considering most of its student body boarded at the school. But to have a girl she just met offer her dorm as an option? It was odd to say the least.

“Oh, which dorm are you from?” she found herself asking out of habit. The brochure her parents had showed her had three dorm buildings marked on campus. JYP house, in the East wing, was one of them. The others were SM house in the West wing and BigHit house in the North wing. The South wing was where all the classrooms and facilities were located.

“JYP,” Dahyun said, puffing out her chest a little bit so Chaeyoung could see the silver pin that was on her tie. “Not to brag, but we’re kind of the coolest dorm on campus.”

Chaeyoung couldn’t help but giggle at how sincere the other girl sounded. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad here after all. “I’ll have to consider it once we get inside. Jungkook and I have to meet with the dorm heads while everyone else picks up their schedules so I’ll bring it up.”

The smile Dahyun gave her was as wide as the sun. “I’ll bring it up with the rest of my dormmates but I’m sure they’d love to have you. I haven’t been wrong yet.”

Each dormitory seemed to be very protective of its pride, judging by the things Chaeyoung saw as they walked past the school’s gates earlier that morning. The students often seemed to be segregated by dorm as they roamed around the school grounds in packs. If Dahyun’s dormmates were as bright as her maybe she would choose to room in JYP House.

“Thanks Dahyun, I’d appreciate that.”

Dahyun smiled kindly. “No problem! Besides, I know for a fact that there’s still a few empty rooms and the more people we have, the easier time we’ll have during the Showcase.”

“Right, I’ve heard about that.” Dahyun must be referring to the school’s annual competition between the three dorms. Chaeyoung thought it sounded a bit too Harry Potter-ish for her liking, pitting the dorms against one another to see who was the best but she had to admit it made her curious. She wondered how a competition like that would happen when the entire student body was capable of fantastic feats.

“Oh look, there’s Tzuyu!” Dahyun waved her friend over, standing on her tiptoes so she could be seen in the crowd of students. “And she’s managed to survive another winter break with her family, what a surprise.”

Chou Tzuyu raised her head in acknowledgement as she slowly made her way through the sea of freshmen and towards them. Dahyun greeted her with a grin. “How’d the holidays go, Chewy? I don’t see any scars and your brain appears to be intact.”

 “I never thought I’d be so glad to see this school again,” Tzuyu sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with them but my family is so big it gets exhausting having to deal with them.” She pitched her voice up, “Tzuyu how’s freshman year going, meet any cute boys? You better come home with one next Christmas, Hallyu academy must be filled with attractive young men. Honestly, maybe if I just refuse to go back over the summer they’ll leave me alone.”

Dahyun patted her on the back sympathetically. “Sounds like a wild time. My parents and I just went to Paris for the holidays, it was super low-key. They did give me this really pretty watch though.” She showed off her newest accessory to Tzuyu, who nodded appreciatively.

“Personally I’m more of a fan of Omega but you can’t go wrong with a good Rolex,” Tzuyu said, turning to Chaeyoung. “Sorry, I got distracted. Hi, I’m Chou Tzuyu.”

“Son Chaeyoung. Do you also dorm in JYP House?” Tzuyu definitely seemed like more Chaeyoung’s style, she was witty and looked a bit more serious than Dahyun. And like everyone else she’d seen so far, Tzuyu was absolutely stunning. Was everyone here hot enough to pursue a career in modeling?

“Yup. I’m a freshman too, Dahyun and I came to the academy in August. I have to say, it’s only been a few months but I can’t remember having so much fun in school. Are you thinking of living with us?”

Chaeyoung nodded. “Dahyun is slowly but surely convincing me. I don’t want to leave my brother though if I can help it, he’s my only connection to…where’d he go?” Great, day one and she’d already lost her twin brother.

Dahyun pointed at a head of black hair bobbing in the crowd as the doors to the admin building swung open to admit the pack of freshmen back onto campus. “He left a while ago. I think he was talking to someone but I can’t remember.”

Chaeyoung sighed, moving forward to keep pace with the students as they began to funnel into the building. She could only hope that she’d catch up with Jungkook later before they picked which dorm to stay in. It was only eight-thirty am and she was already exhausted. Still, with Dahyun and Tzuyu chatting animatedly beside her there was something in her heart that told her she was on the right path.

XXX

“Come on!” Dahyun called as she jogged ahead of Tzuyu and Chaeyoung down the stone steps of the admin building and towards the dining hall. They had all met up again after Chaeyoung and Jungkook met with the dorm heads to discuss their living options. Chaeyoung had also gotten her schedule and was pleased to discover she shared some of her classes with her two new friends. Jungkook had disappeared on her again though and she was a little worried about him.

They’d always stuck close together and now it looked like Jungkook wanted to forge his own path at this new school. Chaeyoung couldn’t blame him though. This would be their one chance to start making friends of their own, and although it hurt her a little bit to see him distancing himself from her she understood.

“If we want to catch Sunmi-nim we have to make sure to get into the dining hall on time!” Dahyun grabbed Tzuyu’s wrist and began pulling her in the direction of where she wanted to go. The other girl sighed and let her friend lead her.

“What are we talking to Sunmi-nim about anyway?” Tzuyu grumbled.

“Getting Chaeyoung into JYP House.”

Tzuyu’s burst of laugher died out when she saw the serious look on Dahyun’s face. “Wait you were serious about that offer?”

Chaeyoung interrupted their conversation. “Is there something I’m missing here? Judging by the way you talk about the woman it’s like she’s some scary principal or something.”

“It’s not you, it’s us.” Dahyun sighed, rubbing the back of her head. “This isn’t the first time Tzuyu and I have tried to get someone into JYP House.”

“Or the second,” Tzuyu added. “Or the third or the—” She was cut off by Dahyun’s pointed glare.

“Wow, I feel wanted now,” Chaeyoung joked.

“New students don’t tend to last very long at JYP House,” Dahyun admitted. “It takes a pretty special person to tolerate the crazy.”

“Why?” Chaeyoung was intrigued now. Dahyun and Tzuyu had their quirks like anyone else but overall they seemed to be good people. So what could they possibly be worried about? Dahyun and Tzuyu paused, looking at each other, seemingly unsure of what to say next. “So…?”

“Nayeon-unnie told us not to scare you this early,” Tzuyu said bluntly, staring at her perfectly manicured nails with disinterest. Dahyun lunged for her, slapping a hand over the other girl’s mouth.

“Look, high school is rough. Add hormones and superpowers and this entire school is one fight shy of completely imploding,” Dahyun said. “There’s a hierarchy here, and for the most part everyone respects it. For now let’s just say JYP House is the smallest of the dorms for good reason.”

Chaeyoung just nodded, rather shocked by the response she’d gotten. But her entire world had already been turned upside down, how much crazier could things get? She had to admit, her curiosity was now at its peak.  

“Okay now I’m interested.”

XXX

“Absolutely not.”

Dahyun cranked up the intensity of her smile, and suddenly Chaeyoung saw double as two versions of Dahyun pouted, pleading with Sunmi to convince her to accept Chaeyoung’s application to live in the JYP House.

“I promise you won’t have a single problem with Chaeyoung,”

“That’s what Momo said when she brought Mina.”

“And Mina is still in JYP House,” Tzuyu pointed out happily.

“She is,” the older woman glowered down at them from the faculty table in the dining hall. Even the dining hall reminded Chaeyoung of Harry Potter, with the students all seated at tables according to their living arrangements. A row of faculty tables lined the front of the dining hall. “When Momo vouched for Miss Myoui she forgot to mention that Mina likes hacking into government databases for fun.”

“So she’s a little obsessed with computers,” Dahyun said. She really wanted to get Chaeyoung’s housing application approved. Dahyun couldn’t explain it necessarily, but there was something that told her Chaeyoung was what their little group was missing. She had to make this happen. “We’ve already convinced her to stop hacking into the school’s records to assign dining hall cleaning duty to the SM House kids.”

“I mean she only did it because Nayeon asked her to…” Tzuyu pointed out quietly, clearing so Sunmi didn’t hear her. Chaeyoung did though, and her eyes went wide. “And we told her to stop playing Minecraft in her room for sixteen hours straight. That’s an improvement, right?”

Sunmi shook her head, suddenly feeling as though she was being backed into a corner. “I don’t know how Miss Myoui managed to bypass our school’s firewall, our IT team is still figuring out how to uninstall the program that turned our school’s fire alarm into that one song the rap club has been endlessly promoting.”

“You have to admit it was rather genius though,” Dahyun’s clone said, elbowing the original Dahyun in the ribs. “Come on, the fire alarms blaring that “Fire” song Yoongi and Hobi wrote was super lit.”

The original Dahyun’s cheeks colored and she dissipated her clone. Sometimes she forgot that her clones were able to speak independently of her.

“The point is Sunmi-nim, Chaeyoung is the most normal-looking potential recruit we’ve brought to you so far this year,” Tzuyu jumped in before Dahyun could further ruin their plan.

“I want this,” Chaeyoung said, looking at Sunmi with a pleading look on her face. She’d spent the entire morning with Dahyun and Tzuyu and after getting to know them she felt more and more like JYP House was where she belonged.

Sunmi looked surprised by her response, her gaze moving past the other two girls to settle directly on Chaeyoung. She’d been the dorm advisor for JYP House for almost a decade now. She’d seen many a student come and go from JYP House over the years, and sometimes she even got the privilege of seeing them return after graduation. In recent years affairs at JYP House had not gone as peacefully as she would have liked. JYP House was the most popular House on campus, but their slogan should have been “Arbiters of Chaos” rather than “Honesty, Sincerety and Humility.” One thing was for certain though, life at JYP House was never boring.

She gave Chaeyoung a long look-over. “What’s your name, little one?”

“Son Chaeyoung, ma’am.” Chaeyoung smiled.

Sunmi considered the young girl before her. “Tell me a bit about yourself Miss Son.”

Chaeyoung blinked. She obviously didn’t expect to be interviewed. “Um, I like drawing and painting.”

“Anything else?”

“I enjoy rapping in my off-time. Before my powers manifested it was a dream of mine to perform at a big award show.”

“That’s it?”

Chaeyoung looked confused. “Ma’am?”

“No strange food allergies, unusual habits? Tendencies to destroy school property? Hack into databases, freeze time to cut in line when the dining hall serves steak, send your clones to class instead of yourself?” At that one Sunmi’s gaze fell on Dahyun who at least had the dignity to look ashamed.

“I just came into my powers over the break ma’am. I’m afraid I don’t have much else to say.”

Sunmi nodded her head, considering what Chaeyoung had said. The girl before her certainly seemed normal enough. But then again that’s what she’d thought about Im Nayeon. “And you’re certain you want to board with JYP House?”

“I don’t see why not.” Sunmi sighed. She knew when she was outnumbered. Besides, what did she have to lose? Maybe Chaeyoung could inject a little normalcy into the group of girls under her wing.

Dahyun and Tzuyu were giving her their best puppy-dog eyes too, trying unsuccessfully to convince her. But as long as Chaeyoung was certain about her decision… “Fine. Welcome to JYP House.” She turned her head to address the other two girls. “Make sure you don’t scar this one too much, ladies. After Yuju fled JYP House for BigHit House—”

She left the threat hanging.

Chaeyoung smiled. “So when should I move my things in?”

XXX

Chaeyoung pulled out the worn housing pamphlet her father had handed her on their drive from Seoul up to Hallyu Academy. As far as the dorms went, all of them were desirable, the floorplans were downright luxurious and came complete with a large flat-screen TV and queen-sized bed. While Chaeyoung thought it was a bit much she understood that Hallyu Academy generally catered to those people whose families made more in a week than her family made in a year.

JYP House was the by far the House deemed most desirable. Many of its graduates had gone on to one of the Big Three universities. It was basically like being handed a fast-track to your dream career. At least that’s what it seemed like from the front. When Dahyun and Tzuyu brought her to JYP House for the first time she stared up at the five story manor-style building in awe. The sheer size of the house could put some of Gangnam’s most luxurious houses to shame.

Dahyun explained that the first-floor lobby was a common area for all students, while the second and third floors belonged to the female students. The male students lived on the fourth and fifth floors. Anyone was allowed on the first floor but past that you had to use your ID card to access the upper floors.

“You guys live here?” Chaeyoung said as Dahyun led her inside. Tzuyu walked in behind them, easily carrying all of Chaeyoung’s bags with one hand. Super strength has its perks, the taller girl had said to her. The three of them got into one of the elevators and headed to the second floor.

“Yup,” Dahyun said as the doors swung open to reveal an absolutely massive common room. A set of handcrafted wooden stairs led up to the second floor of the girl’s dormitory, where all the bedrooms were. Hanging from the ceiling was a massive banner that had been dyed a soft blue color, shot through with a black chevron. JYP House’s colors. Below the official-looking dorm coat of arms was a homemade blue banner that had “One in a Million” scrawled on it in neat handwriting. “Come on, your room is up the stairs and to the right. I think you’re next to Mina.”

“Are all the dorms like this?” Chaeyoung asked, running a hand almost reverently down the immaculate wooden banister.

“SM House is similar,” Tzuyu chimed in, easily balancing all of Chaeyoung’s belongings and climbing the stairs two at a time. “I used to live there.”

“Until we poached her,” Dahyun said smugly, stopping in front of a large oak door. A security pad was bolted to the wall next to the door and Dahyun entered in the default code to unlock the door. “Here we are. Room 118.”

Tzuyu gently placed Chaeyoung’s luggage next to the door. “We’ll let you have some time to yourself to unpack and whatnot. There should be a set of directions on the bedside table that will show you how to reprogram the locks. If you need either one of us I’m in room 115 and Dahyun is room 114.”

Chaeyoung thanked both of the girls and pushed open the door to her room, closing it softly behind her.

She thought seeing the décor in the common room would prepare her for the sight before her. It didn’t. Her room was twice as big as the room she had back home and it was tastefully decorated with tints of dark wood. A smaller JYP banner hung above the queen-sized bed. Like the brochure advertised, there was a huge flat-screen TV on the wall opposite of her bed and was her mind deceiving her or was that a cabinet filled with the latest gaming consoles? These rich people were insane.

Chaeyoung collapsed on the bed with a thump, taking a moment to relish the memory-foam mattress. She’d have to find some suitable sheets for the bed, maybe she’d ask Tzuyu. Pulling out her phone she texted Jungkook.

Kookie, where are you? I’ve been looking for you all day. Threw my lot in with JYP House, this whole place is insane. It wouldn’t surprise me if they had maid service here. -CY

The reply came back a minute later and Chaeyoung hurriedly unlocked her phone to read his response.

Hi Chaeng. Sorry I’ve been MIA, I found a nice group of guys to hang out with and I think I’m going to move into their dorm. I know you wanted us to bunk together but I think the BigHit dorm is calling my name. Still, you’re right about the school. I think there is a maid service, Seokjin-hyung told me if I needed anything I should go downstairs and talk to someone named Mr. Bang. -JK

I’ll miss you, you big loser. -CY

Same. But this is a whole new start for us, Chaeyoung. We’ve got powers now, these next three years are going to teach us how to properly control them. -JK

You with Flash level superspeed and me with the ability to move things with my mind…who would have thunk it, eh? -CY

I definitely didn’t see this coming… There was a moment where he didn’t respond and Chaeyoung stared at her phone, willing him to come back,

, sorry to cut things short Chaengie, but I hear Seokjin-hyung telling me to come downstairs for something. -JK

Don’t worry about it. I need to get to unpacking anyway. But let’s meet up at breakfast tomorrow okay? I want to hear all about these boys. -CY

Done. Good night sis. -JK

Chaeyoung let her phone drop onto her chest as she took a moment to just breathe in and decompress from all the chaos that happened so far today. The clock next to her bed showed that it was only half past three in the afternoon—she still had the entire evening to get through.

She rolled over onto her stomach noting the instruction manual to change the locks was exactly where Tzuyu said it was going to be. She made a note to do that before going to bed later, the first thing on her list was to begin unpacking her things.

Chaeyoung levered herself into an upright position with a grunt and opened the door to her room to drag her things inside. If only her telekinetic powers were strong enough to move large objects. Her doctors said she’d almost certainly get there one day with enough practice. But today was not that day, she lamented as she heaved her largest suitcase onto the bed, opening it and beginning to put her clothes away in the massive closet.

On the other side of the closed door, Dahyun and Tzuyu stood next to each other, grinning as they heard Chaeyoung turn on some music to distract her while she unpacked. Dahyun pumped her fists victoriously. “We did it! Nayeon-unnie will be so impressed we managed to recruit the new transfer student.”

“I admit, you did good this time, Dubu,” Tzuyu smiled, calling Dahyun by her unofficially official nickname.

“Why thank you, Chewy. She looks like a perfect fit for JYP House, doesn’t she?”

“I even think Mina will take a liking to her and we all know how often that doesn’t happen.”

Both girls glanced at the closed door next to them. Mina’s room was almost always locked, and like usual, if the two girls honed their hearing they could hear the sound of a mechanical keyboard clicking away beyond the locked door.

“You think they’ll get along?” Tzuyu looked doubtful.

“Have I ever been wrong about these things?” Dahyun winked.

“Yes. Multiple times,” Tzuyu replied bluntly.

XXX

Several hours later Chaeyoung found herself completely lost on the second floor. She remembered that Dahyun and Tzuyu were rooms 114 and 115 respectively but whatever numbering system the House had was completely different than what was standard.  This is the beginning of a badly-written horror movie, she thought as she looked out one of the windows at the sun setting outside.

And it didn’t help that she got the feeling someone was watching her.

Chaeyoung nearly tripped over her own feet in surprise when she walked past an open door and saw a gorgeous girl with shoulder-length brown hair that looked like it had the barest tint of red to it. “Holy , you scared me.”

“Hello Tiger Cub,” the girl’s brown eyes sparkled. Belatedly Chaeyoung wondered how in the hell this girl knew her nickname. Only Jungkook knew.

“Hello…” Chaeyoung said, still trying to calm her heartbeat down.

“Welcome to the jungle,” said a lighter voice from directly behind the first girl. Chaeyoung watched with wide eyes as another girl seemed to materialize out of thin air behind the first, this one with lighter brown hair that tumbled past her shoulders, stopping halfway to her stomach. She had an almost identical grin to the girl with reddish-brown hair.

“Okay…this is weird,” Chaeyoung backed away from them slowly. The two girls stepped out of their room and approached Chaeyoung together in the middle of the hall. “I’m Son Chaeyoung, I’m—”

“The newbie,” the girl on the left chirped. “We know.”

“I’m Hirai Momo,” the girl on the right introduced herself. “And this is Minatozaki Sana.”

“Welcome to JYP House,” Sana added, offering a hand to Chaeyoung. “Momo and I are two-thirds of this dorm’s Japanese line. We’re also the only two that share a room, but more on that later.”

“Here at JYP House everyone usually gets their own room unless there’s a special circumstance that requires you to share,” Momo added. “In my case I’m here to make sure Sana doesn’t accidentally trip over her own feet and fall down the stairs and break her neck.”

“That was one time, and you saved me with your super speed,” Sana pouted. “It’s not my fault I’m a walking disaster.”

“Yes it is.” The two of them began bickering back and forth good-naturedly while Chaeyoung began slowly backing away from the two girls.

She didn’t get very far though because Sana soon caught her trying to escape and she wrapped an arm around Chaeyoung’s waist to stop her. The close contact made Chaeyoung’s brain utterly stop.

“Don’t mind Sana, she’s a touchy person,” Momo said, noticing the blank expression on Chaeyoung’s face. “If you don’t like it, just ask her to stop.”

Chaeyoung’s mind was still stuttering but she was able to croak out a, “No, it’s fine. I was just surprised.”

Momo nodded, returning to her conversation. “Anyway. I’m sure you know about the dorm hierarchy on campus but I’ll reiterate. There are three dorms—JYP, SM and BigHit. We like BigHit the least.”

BigHit? Wasn’t that the house Jungkook was pledged to? Why would JYP House hate BigHit?

“Why?” Sana jumped in. “Because they’re a bunch of snooty s and that’s pretty much all you need to know.”

Momo waved her hand. “Basically our House and the BigHit house have a huge rivalry. They’re always trying to one-up us in one way or another. The basic rule stands: protect your fellow JYP girls and we’ll do the same for you. No one wants to see BigHit take home the dorm competition again this year.”

“Yeah, JYP is the best House,” Sana said. “Don’t pay much attention to SM House, they’re harmless and some of the people there are actually pretty cool, like Irene and her girls. But BigHit is out to get us since we’re currently at the top of the list points wise for the competition.”

“Bottom line is, do not trust BigHit house,” Momo finished with a flourish. The almost manic gleam in their eyes died down as they conversation shifted away from talking about BigHit.

“So just in case no one else has told you, curfew is ten on the weekdays, eleven on the weekends.” Sana pulled out her phone and tapped something on the touch-screen. A second later Chaeyoung’s own phone beeped with a notification. How in the hell had Sana gotten her phone number, she hadn’t even shared it with Dahyun and Tzuyu yet. She was beginning to see what Sunmi was talking about when she said it took a special person to tolerate the crazy. “I sent you the full list of dorm rules.”

“If you’re not back by curfew you’ll get locked out,” Momo added. “But that’s not too big a deal, just let Mina know and she’ll let you back inside. The girl can bypass any electronic door or firewall, literally and figuratively.”

Chaeyoung felt a little bit overwhelmed by the flood of information both Momo and Sana told her. Something they both seemed to notice because they smiled reassuringly at her. “This what be what Sunmi-nim meant when she asked me all those questions at lunch.”

“Ah. She told you we all had something “off” about us, right?” Sana rolled her eyes. “We simply enjoy having fun where we can.” She smiled sweetly and pulled a Nerf gun from behind her back, offering it to Chaeyoung.

Chaeyoung seemed to consider the proposition, then she returned the smile and took the proffered weapon.

“Good choice,” Momo said approvingly, pulling out her own set of Nerf pistols and shooting Chaeyoung point-blank in the head. “Welcome to JYP House, Tiger Cub.”

“We’re one in a million,” Sana laughed, pulling the dart off Chaeyoung’s forehead and dashing down the hall.

What in the world have I gotten into?