The place looked exactly like how she remembered it. Well, it has only been two months since she visited the place with her Family. Her family which included both her parents and her brother. Everyone was there to accompany her for the next chapter in her life. They’ve always been there for her, through thick and thin. She couldn’t be any luckier. 

Two months have now passed since the dormitory visit. Before walking past the gate, the girl stood her ground. She inhaled all the fresh air she needed and smirked before exhaling. She couldn’t believe it. Here she was, starting a new chapter in her life.

This is it. I hope I don’t die doing something dumb or whatever.

The girl walked past through the unlocked gate. Her right hand clutching the suitcase that contained her belongings. There wasn’t anything much that she brought with her. She only brought what she really needed. The place had a small yard upfront which gave a good distance between the main gate and the front door. She then marched herself across the yard towards the stairs. 

“Noona, wait up! What do you think you’re doing?”

The girl was startled but then regained her composure. She then turned her gaze to the boy beside her.

 “What?” The girl asked. 

The boy, due to his sister’s nonchalance, rolled his eyes in frustration and grabbed his sister’s luggage. He then proceeded to carry his sister’s luggage up the stairs where the front door awaits. He placed the suitcase down and faced his sister who’s now beside her.

“Noona, you shouldn’t be carrying heavy things! Carrying heavy things will stunt your growth even more.” The boy teases.

“Hey, you brat! What’s up with you teasing my height? You’re not much taller than me, Jeonghoon-ah.”  

“Noona, I’m a man. The chances of me still growing taller is relatively higher. How’s your chance so far?” Jeonghoon boasts. 

“A man? You’re totally far from being a man.” The girl teases. Jeonghoon looks at the girl blankly.

“You’re far from being tall too, 159 cm.” The boy smiles. The girl couldn’t believe what she just heard. This caused her to flick her younger brother’s nose.

“What?? So what? Be careful with whatever you say. I’m ready to throw my hands, Hoon-ah.” 

Jeonghoon smiled as he Shrugged. He looked at her sister and both of them became quiet. 

“Noona…” The boy trails off as he looked around. “Please don’t do something dumb while you stay here.” Says Jeonghoon jokingly, he’s trying to make the situation lighter. 

“Hoon-ah, don’t give mom and dad headaches. Okay? I won’t be there to cover up for your mistakes.” The girl smiled. The boy, Jeonghoon, just nods. 

“Study well. This year is going to be crucial for you. You’re a senior now, so you must study well so that you’ll be able to enter the University that you like. Okay? ” Adds the girl. 

“What if I don’t make it?”

“What if you do? Don’t lean on to the negative things. Just please, study well. Just pretend that this year, your only goal is to pass the entrance exams. You’d do it for us, won’t you?”

 Jeonghoon does not answer. He was only staring at the floor. 

“Hey, cheer up. Next year, if you’re lucky you might get to move out of the house and do as you please.” The girl coerces. 

Jeonghoon lifts his head up. His eyes filled with excitement.

“Seriously?? If that’s the case, I’ll be sure to study hard then!”

Both of them laugh, maybe it’s because they both know that freedom is something that runs through both their veins. They’re siblings after all. 

“Goodness, please be good while I’m away. ” The girl tells him as she ruffles his hair.

“Well, you too. I hope you enjoy your time here. ” The boy smiles at his sister genuinely. 

Suddenly, Jeonghoon’s phone buzzes. He quickly glances at the screen and his eyes widen.

“Noona, I have to go! The subway home leaves in 10 minutes. ” The boy sounded urgent.

“Well, you better get going then!” 

“Are you sure you’ll be fine?” 

“I’ll be fine here, seriously. Go now, Hoon-ah. You don’t want to miss the subway home.”

The boy nods and hugs his sister before running towards the gate like a racing horse. The girl chuckles. What a brat, she wishes he’d truly keep his promise. The girl turns her attention to the front door. She knocks on the door hoping that someone would open the doorway for her. However, no one answered the door.

This is Weird. 

She then decides to reach for the door knob and to her surprise, it was unlocked. 

Huh. Maybe someone’s already here. 

As she opened the door, she was greeted by the living room. The empty living room, to be exact. The girl looked around and realized that the place was enough for a lot of people to live in. She felt quite contented with how wide the place is. The living room would instantly greet you when you enter through the front door. The girl then proceeded to go inside and is now able to see the place better. Just after the living room was the Kitchen, there is also a small dining space with chairs. Five chairs to be exact. 

Huh. Five chairs? So I’ll be cohabitating with 4 other people. 

The girl turned to her right and saw a room with its door plastered with bond paper, with a printed name on it. The girl became curious and came closer to the door.

 IM NAYEON

Nayeon? Im Nayeon. That must be another tenant. Wow,  sounds like she’s younger than me. It would be nice to have someone younger around here. I can’t wait to boss her around. 

The girl, still clutching her luggage's handle started to search for her own room. It was 4 pm and the girl admits that she is a little tired from traveling. 

"Where could everyone be?" The girl mumbled to herself.

Just as she turns her gaze to the next room, she sees another name. The room isn’t close enough for her to actually read the words.  She marches towards the door and sees her name. Her eyes lighten up. Perfection, now she can rest for a little while, her University life starts tomorrow and it would be great if she could catch some z’s.

The girl reaches for the door knob and opens the door wide open, inside she sees her bed, desk , a mirror by a wall, and a closet. She shrugs, there wasn’t much inside the room. There was enough space for two people though. The walls were the color of cream and were visibly empty. The walls were, to be honest, a tad bit boring for her taste. She stares at her room with boredom. 

I guess this will do?

She enters the room and closes the door behind her. On the door, is the tenant’s name. It was printed on a piece of bond paper that’s delicately taped on the door.

SON CHAEYOUNG

The girl’s name is Son Chaeyoung. Right after she entered her room, she hurriedly changed her clothes, placed her remaining clothes inside the cabinet, and sat down on her bed. She looked around and realised how alone she is. She felt alone and to this, she sighed. 

She’s pretty sure that this chapter in her life wouldn’t be easy. Well, life is not easy to begin with. It’s like a journey that you’ve been tasked to do but without your consent. Life is tough but people have no choice but to live and not only exist. That is what Chaeyoung wants. She doesn't want to live life like it is nothing. 

Chaeyoung wants to live her life meaningfully. This may sound sappy. Saying things like this, it’s too serious. However, she wants to leave a mark. She wants to grasp things and enjoy things. She’s idealistic and the girl is not the type to settle down. 

Chaeyoung lays on her bed, she faces the ceiling. The empty cream colored ceiling was not much but it felt comforting. It felt calming, she took a deep breath and turned to her side grabbing the pillow beside her. She hugs the pillow for comfort and even though it’s only a quarter to 5 pm, Chaeyoung, the small girl of 159 cm (as she claims it) fell asleep without even noticing it. 

CHAEYOUNG’S POV

I wake up and feel a little groggy. 

Wait, did I sleep? I must have fallen asleep. Crap. What time is it? I hurriedly search for my handphone and click the home button. The bright light immediately disarms me. I slowly get out of my bed and walk slowly towards the light switch, turning it on not realizing that the light from the lightbulb would also disarm me.

“Ah, .” I curse out of frustration. My eyes haven’t adjusted yet to the light so I walk back to my bed with my eyes closed. I sat on the bed’s edge and slowly opened my eyes. I don’t know why but for some reason I woke up with a little headache and my throat seems to have become dry. Am I coming down with something? I hope not. 

I look around and let my eyes adjust to the light. Wait, what time is it again? Should I be going to school now? I reach for my phone and press the home button. 

8 pm.

Oh, I thought it would be late but for some reason I miraculously woke up in time for dinner. Good job, Chaeng. You’re awesome. This makes me wonder though, are the other tenants here already? Because I do not want to eat alone, and well, I am currently starving.

I stand up and go to the mirror to check myself out. I seem okay, though. I don’t look bad. I ruffle my short hair a bit to create volume and get out of my room wearing nothing but comfortable clothes on. The moment I stepped outside of my room, I realized I wasn’t alone. 

“Oh, you’re awake already?” The girl with long hair greets me. I look at her blankly, not knowing how to respond. She was in the kitchen preparing something. I look at her some more and notice that she was waiting for me to respond. 

“Of course she’s awake, she would not be standing there if she’s asleep. Right ?” 

I let out a little ‘Ah!’ when I heard the second voice. I am thankful though since I did not jump out of shock. I look at the second girl who was facing the television. I couldn’t really see her face since her back was facing me. 

“Yah, Yoo Jeongyeon! Can’t you see you’re scaring the girl?”

“Yah, Im Nayeon! She’s probably scared of your face. She doesn’t even know you and you’re already greeting her so casually already.”

“Shouldn’t I greet her casually? We’ll be co-tenants here for a long time. I don’t see anything wrong with that.” The girl with long hair started to put all the food in a tray and started carrying the tray to the coffee table in front of the television. She placed the tray on  the table. “And, I, for one, know that she wouldn’t be scared of my face because I am beautiful. Right, Chaeyoung-ssi?” 

I was dazed with their conversation for awhile that forgot I existed. I nodded at what the girl said and continuously stared at both of them. 

“Come join us, we have plenty.” The girl named Yoo Jeongyeon turned around and smiled at me. I was taken aback a little, she’s beautiful. I smile back and started to walk towards them. 

“Come sit here. ” The girl named Nayeon patted the space between Jeongyeon and her. I bowed and shook their hands before sitting down. 

“I only ordered takeouts because---” Nayeon was cut off.

“Because you can’t cook.” Jeongyeon interrupts while shoving tteokbokki in . She was still fixated on  the television. Nayeon looked annoyed and just rolled her eyes.

“That’s one of the reasons but mainly because I expected that all my co-tenants would be showing up today.” I nodded at Nayeon and thanked her for the food.

“So does that mean you live here too?” I asked and  turned my gaze to Jeongyeon who was eating her food joyfully. 

“Oh her? She doesn’t live here. She lives next door.” Replies Nayeon, she stares at Jeongyeon for a second and I see this disgusted look on her face. “She’s here whenever she’s hungry. I can’t seem to ward her off too!” Nayeon laughed and shoved another piece of sweet and sour pork in . 

All of a sudden we all hear the toilet flush this made me turn my head to where the sound was coming from. 

“Oh, don’t worry. That’s Tzuyu.” Nayeon looked at me and smiled.

“Tzuyu-ah! Come here and eat! Ppali! Food is getting cold!” That was Jeongyeon calling out for a girl named Tzuyu. I continued to eat while watching a show entitled “running man”  on the television. All of a sudden ---

“Eonni--”

Jeongyeon almost jumped out of her seat. She almost splattered the tteokbokki sauce all over the sofa, good thing she’s not that clumsy.

“What the hell, Tzuyu-ah?! Are you a ghost or something?”

“Why?” The girl named Tzuyu asked, she almost looked bored.

This time I can hear Nayeon laugh hard. When I say hard, I mean HARD. She’s ugly laughing. I can’t help but laugh too, that’s when I noticed how ing tall this Tzuyu girl is. She’s a ing giant. 

“Make some noise when you walk or something. You’re totally acting like a ghost---” Jeongyeon said this while suppressing her laughter. “-- Sit beside me and eat like a proper human being.”

Tzuyu started to walk past me and sat beside Jeongyeon. 

“Thanks, Nayeon unnie. You really know how to order take outs.” Says Tzuyu, she sounded like a Robot with her tone, her eyes, they were deadpan.

The moment Jeongyeon heard this, she almost spat what she was eating. Both Jeongyeon and Tzuyu laughed like maniacs. Wow, I kind of feel bad for Nayeon now. However, she seems to be okay with them teasing her. 

“Anyway, you should introduce yourself.” This was Jeongyeon looking at me. I nodded and placed my chopsticks down. 

“My name is Son Chaeyoung and I’ll be a freshman starting tomorrow. I'm majoring in Fine arts.” I tell them with a smile. They all looked at me as if I was supposed to say something more. “What about you guys?” I asked them and smiled.

“I’m Chou Tzuyu. I arrived here yesterday and I’m also going to be a freshman starting tomorrow. It’s very nice to meet you, Chaeyoung!” She smiled and offered her hand for a handshake and holy , her limbs are freakishly long. This is kind of scary. We both bowed to each other and she continued to eat.

“I’m your pretty unnie, Im Nayeon. It’s very nice to meet you Chaeyoung-ah! I hope we make great memories together.”

So she’s older? I can see that. 

I turn my gaze towards Jeongyeon. I guess she’s also older than me.

“I’m Yoo Jeongyeon. I live next door, but don’t worry Chaeyoung-ssi because you’ll get to see lots of me since I like to hang out here.” 

I bowed to both my Unnies and shook both their hands. I then turned my attention back to the food.

“You just got here, right?” That was Tzuyu asking me.

I nodded.

“I’m sorry for not being here when you arrived earlier, Jeongyeon and me went out for some errands. I forgot to tell Tzuyu about the tenants.” That was Nayeon talking.

“Yeah, I actually heard you come in. I was in my room that time and just didn’t bother.” I just shrugged and realized how much Tzuyu doesn’t give a . All of a sudden my thoughts became about the other tenants.

“Nayeon unnie, where are the others? Are there other tenants too?” I asked.

“Well, yeah. We’re still actually missing two more.” She replies.

“Well, that leaves us with a girl named Sana, and what’s that? Sharon?” This was Tzuyu talking.

“Sharon? Is she Foreign or something?” I asked them.

“Myoui Sharon.” that’s Jeongyeon unnie chuckling as she read Sharon’s door label.

Nayeon unnie is suddenly chuckling as well.

“Yah, Im Nayeon. You know how much she doesn’t like her English name.”

Nayeon unnie smirked and that’s when she told us that Tzuyu and me were the only new tenants in the building. She explained that she’s lived with the other girls before and that all of them are good friends. She explained that she’s even close with the girls living in the house next door where Jeongyeon lived. After a few minutes of talking, we were already finished eating.

“Unnie, Tyuzu and I will be the ones to dispose of the trash.” I tell Nayeon unnie. I stood up and suddenly we all heard a knock on the door. Both Nayeon and Jeongyeon stared at each other and smiled.

“It must be them!” They both hurriedly marched to the door and greeted their friends. Tzuyu and I Hurriedly placed the dishes where they needed to be placed and marched to the front door.

“Yah! Sana! Is the water in Japan that good that you became so pretty over the summer?!” This was Nayeon hugging sana and giving her kisses all over her face. Jeongyeon was just standing beside them, only patting Sana’s head. 

“But Unnie! You’re prettier!” The girl named Sana replied with the sweetest smile on her face.

“Really? Well then, we’re both pretty!” Replies Nayeon unnie.

I glanced at Tzuyu who was visibly unamused. I stared at them blankly and noticed that Jeongyeon was cringing. 

“Yah! Jeongyeon! Where’s my kiss?” that was Sana trying to hug Jeongyeon with her lips all pouty. Jeongyeon started to freak out and instantly stopped Sana by placing her hand on Sana’s face. To this, Sana tried to act like she felt hurt but she started smiling when Jeongyeon approached her and gave her a hug. 

“We good?” asked Jeongyeon.

“I’ll get a kiss from you, Ms. Yoo. Mark my words.” says Sana with Conviction. All of a sudden she turns her gaze towards me and Tzuyu. She smiled and went up to the both of us. I stared at both Jeongyeon and Nayeon who were now laughing. Tzuyu however, is still unamused.

“And you guys must be the new tenants! ” says Sana and she proceeded to hug me and Tzuyu separately. 

“What’s your name?” Asks the girl named Sana. 

“Chou Tzuyu. You can call me Tzuyu and it’s nice to meet you, unnie.”Tzuyu smiles Sweetly.

“Long limbs Tzuyu. Cool. What about you?” She stared at me. 

“My name is Son Chaeyoung. You can call me--”

“Short limbs Chaeyoung?” She asked without missing a beat.

The room burst out of laughter. Even the unamused giant started laughing too. I looked at her and instead of getting offended I started chuckling too, she’s too precious for me to be mad at her. I nodded and this time I was the one who hugged her. The girl introduced herself as Sana, she had a sweet smile. She was talking but I wasn’t really hearing anything. I just stared at her. She has this cute and easygoing vibe to her. I casually smiled as she talked.

“Tzuya-ah, I think I’m gonna like it here.” I whisper to Tzuyu. She smiles and nods as if she’s trying to tell me that she agrees. 

Me and Tzuyu helped Sana unnie with her bags, each of us carried a bag and placed them in front of her room. After placing the bags, Tzuyu walked towards the kitchen and started working on whatever she was doing there. I looked at the front door and realized that it still wasn’t closed and that Sana still had some bags left there. I walked casually to the front door to retrieve and place the bags to where it belongs since the older tenants were busy talking.

I was about to retrieve the bags when all of a sudden the older tenants ran towards my direction. 

“Minari!” Shouts Nayeon unnie.

“Yah! Mitang!” Shouts Sana cutely.

“What’s good, Sharon?” Casually asks Jeongyeon. 

As I look up, I see another girl. She must be Sharon. I stand up straight and just observe them interact with each other.

“Yah, Mitang. You were right behind me earlier. Where did you go?” this was Sana asking the girl in a cute way.

“I just accompanied Momo to her place.” Says the girl calmly. 

“Oh, really? You guys traveled together, huh?” asks Jeongyeon.

The girl nodded and smiled. “Anyway, people at your building are already complete. When I accompanied Momo to your place, everyone was there to welcome her except you.” says the girl calmly. 

“Maybe I should go now. Maybe they’re already waiting for me?” asks jeongyeon. The girl smiled and nodded. She seems like a calm person. 

“Yah, how did our Minari’s summer go? Did you miss us? I sure missed you!” says Nayeon as she clings to the girl. The girl named Mina laughs and nods. Suddenly, I realized all I did was stare. It felt as if my mouth was slightly opened. Sana seemed to notice this, to this she chuckles and she started to tug on Mina's shirt.

“Oh! These are our new roomies. This smol bean here is Son Chaeyoung. That Tree over there is Chou Tzuyu.” Says Sana Casually as she pointed at us simultaneously. Nayeon Gets off of the girl and the girl reached her hand out to me and smiled. A gummy smile. A smile that weirdly left an impression to me. Because of this, I  reached for her hand too and smiled back sweetly.

“Hello, Chaeng. My name is Myoui Mina. You can call me Mina unnie.” Says the girl as she casually ran her fingers through her beautiful black hair.