The earthy aroma with a herbaceous scent filled the three person room, though there were only two residents present. One who was walking around the space holding a burning bundle of leaves while the other sat on his bed with his shirt covering his nose. "What's the point of this again?"

"I'm cleansing the room, getting rid of all the bad energy. Don't you want to have a good year dude?" The blonde asked in which the other nodded in response. He didn't know much about the processes of saging or the reasoning behind it but the least he could do was trust the guy he'd be sharing a room with.

"But why does the air conditioner have to be off?" He questioned again, the strong smell of the sage and the humidity from outside weren't the best mix. "It's best to set your intentions with a clear mind and no distractions. That's why I told you to mute your phone."

"Right, a clear mind," the boy lingered. The noise from traffic outside and the loudness of fellow freshman moving into their rooms in the hallway made the AC seem practically mute but he digressed. He just watched as the blonde guided the sage bundle up and down the corners of the room.

"Thank you spirit for helping clear our space of negative energy, blocked energy, stuck energy, and negative thoughts. May this space be re-filled with feelings of joy, love, happiness, harmony and y time."

"y time?"

"Yeah dude, don't you wanna get laid?" 

"Yes please."

"Exactly."

Outside Sehyuk avoided people like the plague on his way to his room, with the amount of volunteers and students walking around it was actually kind of impressive. He kept his head down and walked fast not making any eye contact allowing him to be practically invisible through the hustle and bustle of move-in day. It probably helped that he only had a backpack on his back unlike the rest who carried suitcases even boxes full of items that they probably would forget about. When he opened the door to his room he was immediately hit with the strong smell of sage, most would start coughing already but for a habitual smoker like himself the scent didn't affect him much. Though thinking back he probably should've faked a cough to seem like he had a healthy lifestyle.

"Whats happening? Is something on fire?" he asked in a calmer manner than the statement entailed. "No, he's just getting rid of the bad energies," the guy on the bed responded. Sehyuk stiffened a bit, wondering if he was the bad energy in question and his blonde roommate was able to feel his presence coming.

"What's your name?" bed boy asked.

"Sehyuk."

"I'm Arthur and that's Seulchan."

"Welcome home my brotha," Seulchan finally said turning around to face Sehyuk. He was taken aback by his new roommate, on the taller and definitely fitter side than him and Arthur. His hair long and fluffy, resting upon the bottom of his neck, bangs gathering a bit in his eyes making him run his fingers through it to get it out of the way. Even in a simple black T-Shirt and jeans he managed to look better than most. "Not gonna lie dude but you're y as hell."

"Thanks?" It was the first time Sehyuk got complimented so casually by another guy before. It was strange yet oddly flattering. 

"Are you a drama major or something? You definitely look like some handsome kdrama lead," Arthur added to the compliment Sehyuk train.

"Nah he looks more like the bad guy the lead hates in the beginning but ends up falling for somewhere down the line," Seulchan corrected and Arthur nodded frantically in agreement. Sehyuk chuckled, all the attention was making him uncomfortable though he had nowhere to hide, instead resorting to rubbing his arm as a self soothing tactic. "Actually I'm a fine arts major. What about you guys?"

"Accounting," Arthur said first, then Seulchan, "Philosophy."

"I would say that's unexpected but after the whole sage thing it makes sense," Arthur joked. Sehyuk also didn't expect that, he was far from the type to judge a book by it's cover or a fashionista himself but by the colorful outfit he wore as if he threw it all together with no regards for each individual item, he expected Seulchan to be an art major like him.

"It's because my parents want me to be lawyer. A big yawn if you ask me. But I actually want to be a rapper. I have a few songs out too, you probably heard of me. I go by Lil Chanz," he admitted confidently.

Arthur and Sehyuk exchanged a look before both shaking their heads. "It's okay, someday you will. Wait let me show you some of my music." Seulchan got out his phone and started playing a music video that he took with his friends. Instead of letting them just listen he started rapping to it himself using the sage as a microphone as Sehyuk sat next to Arthur on his bed.

Lost in their own world together, the three forgot that the door was left open letting the smell of sage linger into the hallway. Before Seulchan could finish his performance Taekwon barged through the door, "What's that smell? There's no smoking in the rooms."

"Oh don't worry dude, we're not smoking. I was just saging the place up to create good energy but got lost in my song. Wanna hear it?" Sehyuk reassured him, getting excited at the possibility of spreading his music to more people.

"No, and that looks like a cigarette to me," Taekwon pointed at the bundle of sage in Seulchan's hand that was about the size of ten cigarettes put together.

"You've never smoked before have you-" Seulchan pointed out making Sehyuk scoff. "Of course not, I refuse to have such a revolting habit, and neither should you unless you intentionally want to end up with a laryngectomy stoma and sound like a robot for the rest of your life or shorten your life span by dying from a smoking-related disease. I must admit that having a robot voice does sound like a quirky trade-off but not at the expense of having a hole in your neck."

The three boys glanced at each other at a lost for words, "What is he talking about..." Arthur mumbled to Sehyuk in which he nodded just as dumbfounded.

Taekwon sighed. "You're so lucky Ms. Kim told me not to write up anyone for the first few days. Just make sure to read the handbook, it provides all the general rules for living on the dorms. Specifically degenerate activities such as smoking and drinking since," he looked Seulchan up and down as he fanned himself from the sage-polluted air. "You seem like you'd be a repeating offender. Also instead of the usual icebreaker game nights that everyone else is holding for their floor, I'll be doing an information session on my own personalized floor agreement that everyone has to sign and abide by." Silence followed his statement like a dead comedy show after a bad joke.

"I know what you're thinking, he's such a genius already we wouldn't need to change any of his rules. However, since it is a floor agreement it's only fair that I take into consideration the opinions of the other residents. So you will get a chance to debate each other for revisions. Doesn't that sound fun?" Taekwon looked at them with an excited sparkle in his eye that wasn't reciprocated.

"I agree, I'm stunned with excitement too. It'll at 5pm today so don't miss it. That's all," the older male just walked away without warning before coming back a few seconds later. "Oh and put the cigarette out, you're putting everyone at risk for lung cancer here and some of us have groundbreaking contributions to make to society. I'd rather not have a reduced timeframe due to your inconsideracy." He walked away again. 

The three roommates stood there in silence unsure of what to make of the situation that just unfolded in front of them. "What's his problem-" Seulchan spoke up first. Arthur shrugged and Sehyuk sighed before getting up to close the door. "Just put out the sage before we get in trouble."

Seulchan repeated his mantra quickly one last time and added, "also please don't let Sehyuk take all the hot girls away from me and Arthur" at the end before putting the sage into a closed container. With the room cleared of negative energy, and the three roommates effortlessly getting along, Seulchan expected it to be a good year, even with a narc like Taekwon as his RA. Though the encounter only brought unwanted attention Sehyuk's way and he was hoping it would be the last.

Jackson was glad he got to his room first, the ability to choose his bed and set up without any interruptions was nice. It alleviated a lot of the stress that came with moving into a new place. His stuff was already unpacked and put away, he left his side of the room with minimal decoration. Not looking much different from the default set up. His room was far from soundproof, but his headphones were. He sat on his bed, pillow propped on his back as he leaned against the wall with his computer on his lap. It’s as if his fingers were moving by default, typing quickly along the keyboard, because his mind was far from concentrating. Flooded with thoughts about the school year instead, a sort of anxiety if you will, there was so much uncertainty around it that it was eating him up inside. A perfectionist since birth like him wasn’t so fond of jumping into things head first and it kind of felt like that.

“And don’t expect me to do your homework for you, you’re not a baby anymore. You have to figure things out on your own now.”

“Okaaaay, if I knew you were going to nag the whole time I wouldn’t have asked you to help me,” Aidan whined as he came through the door with his older sister Aimei, the two already somehow finding something to bicker about. Jackson took off his headphones and got off the bed to greet them.

“Damn you really made yourself at home already,” Aidan said, Jackson smiled sheepishly rubbing his nape as he glanced back at his set up. “I came a bit earlier than my move-in time.”

“Punctual, I can tell that we’re opposites already. I’m Aidan and this is Aimei, don’t let her innocent face fool you, she’s a lot more evil than she seems.”

Aimei gives her brother a glare and pinched  his making him jump up as she kept a cute eye smile. “Don’t mind him, sadly he’s even more of an idiot than he comes off. And you are?”

“You can call me Jackson.”

“It’s nice to meet you Jackson, I’ll let you guys get acquainted. I’m living in grad housing, 3rd floor, so if you need anything just come look for me. By the way, if he asks you for help unpacking, don’t do it. You’ll end up doing all the work yourself,” Aimei said, proudly exposing her brothers character to the stranger that would have to deal with him for the next year. She tiptoed to give him a kiss on the cheek, purposely him a little before leaving. Aidan wiped his cheek, eyebrows pulled down and eyes narrowed at the door.

“That’s not true by the way-“ he suggested.

“It’s okay, if you need help just let me know,” Jackson lied through his teeth, he hoped the other didn’t ask him for help at all. Instead he wanted an uninterrupted afternoon of coding practice before classes started. As his parents always said, school is just to show off what you know, it’s always best to read ahead of the class. As Jackson sat on his bed again, ready to put his noise-cancelling headphones back on he saw Aidan dumping all the contents of his luggage onto his bed. The chaos of it all made him twitch in frustration, “why-“ was all that Jackson managed to say.

“If I dump it all on my bed, I can’t fall asleep until my bed is clear. So I have no choice but to finish unpacking today. Pretty smart right?” Aidan glanced back at his roommate for approval with a smile.

“Are you always this messy?”

“Oh this is nothing dude, I’m usually way worse,” he admitted nonchalantly as he turned to face Jackson while terribly folding his clothes, despite doing the folding action it ended up looking more like a crumple. The whole situation made Jackson cringe, he could already tell that he’d be making up the only braincell in his room. Oh how he wanted to put his headphones on and get lost in the world of 1s and 0s again.

“By the way what’s your major?”

“Comp sci.”

“That’s not surprising, you look like a smart dude. I’m undecided, still trying to figure out what I’m passionate about.”

Of course you are, Jackson thought. He was about to put his headphones back on when Aidan interrupted him once again. “Not to be racist or anything but you look Chinese as dude. Are you an ABC?”

“A what?”

“American born Chinese?”

“No, I’m from Hunan.”

“Oh me too! Well I’m not from Hunan. But can you speak Cantonese?” Aidan switched to speaking Cantonese which caught Jackson off guard. He didn’t hear him and Aimei speaking it earlier and to him Aidan looked quite Korean. Though Jackson didn’t understand a word he was saying, instead looked at him a bit dumbfounded. Aidan realized this and switched languages once again, “do you speak Mandarin?” he asked in the language in question. Jackson nodded, still quite stunned at the revelation.

“That’s sick, I’m Chinese too. Well, technically I prefer to say I’m a HongKonger instead. My dad’s Korean though.”

Jackson fell silent, he had many opinions on the whole Hong Kong and China situation but one of the last things he felt like doing was arguing with an undecided major that couldn’t even fold his shirt properly.

“So do you have a Chinese name? Or is Jackson your birth name? Aidan is my Chinese name even though it doesn’t sound like it. Since my head was shaped like an egg when I was born my mom named me love egg. Pretty stupid right? She definitely had to be on something to come up with that,” Aidan continued. Jackson wasn’t unsure if he should answer the original question or not. But the silence that followed Aidan’s statement indicated otherwise.

“It’s Yee Qianxi. Jackson is my English name, it’s just easier to pronounce.”

“Oh! In Cantonese your name is Yik Chinsai. Can I call you Chinsai instead?”

“N-“

“Chinsaaai…Chinaaaaai… Chinsaaaaaai. I like it,” Aidan called out his name in a few different ways as if practicing lines in a script. Maybe theatre should've been his major instead. Jackson only gave him  a frustrated sigh in response. He didn’t care what he was going to get called at that point, he truly just wanted Aidan to shut up. With no response from Jackson a silence ensued, Aidan retorted to humming As If It’s Your Last by Blackpink instead. Jackson crawled back to the corner of his bed where he was sitting before and placed his computer on his lap again. As he was about to escape back into his headspace by putting his headphones on Aidan started talking once again, “by the way since we’re roommates, I think we should get this out the way early.”

Jackson didn’t know what he was going to say, but he immediately imagined the worst. He was already messy and talkative, Jackson couldn’t imagine how much worse it could get.

“I like to sleep ,” Aidan confessed.

And somehow for Jackson, it got 100x worse. “I’ll be back,” Jackson said calmly as he got up to leave.

“I heard the RA on the second floor is giving away free cookies can you get me one?”

The door closed behind Jackson without a response.

“Chinsaaaaai!” He heard Aidan scream from the hallway but he kept walking. His roommate was everything he didn’t ask for. Nothing was aligning, their interests, their way of life, their personalities. The only thing they had in common was their nationality but even that was questionable with Aidan’s opinion on the matter. He wondered how he could’ve gotten so unlucky, if this was some kind of foreshadowing to the ty year that he was going to have. As he squeezed his way through the crowded hallway his social battery was at 1%, he needed to find refuge somewhere since his own room wasn’t feeling much like home right now.

Back in the room, Aidan’s side was a mess. His drawer was open and overstuffed with clothes hanging out of it. The pants and shirt that he was originally wearing were on the floor and the pile of clothes on Aidan’s bed didn’t light up much. The only difference was that on the top of the mountain laid a half Aidan, mouth open as he slept soundly in his underwear. Somewhere off in dreamland with not one ounce of worry plaguing his mind.

The car ride to the campus was bittersweet, a conflicting sense of happiness and sorrow made Yooseong uneasy. Though it proved how much he’s changed over the years, school and grades we’re once everything to him but now the only thing on his mind was leaving his family behind. Hearing “we’re only two hours away if you need us” wasn’t as comforting as he thought it would be, it was two hours too far. A warm kiss on the forehead from his mom and an attempted tight squeeze from his little sister gave him a fuzzy feeling of comfort that he would definitely miss.

“Can I see your room?” Eunhee asked, Yooseong chuckled, she seemed more excited than he did as if it was her first day instead. “You two go, I want to ask a few questions,” Haeun responded shooing them towards the door. Eunhee sat on the empty spot on the dolly looking up at Yooseong with a smile, he chuckled and starting pushing it out the door with a grunt, the extra weight was making his arms sore but it was the least he could do since he wouldn’t see his little sister in a while.

“Do you think I can sleepover some weekends?” Eunhee asked, tilting her head back to look at Yooseong with her big cat-like eyes.

“I don’t know, it depends on my roommate.”

“Since I’m not that far away maybe I can sleep over sometimes,” Soojin said, she was in Hyunwoo's room, legs dangling off the side of the uninhabited bed as Hyunwoo unpacked his stuff.

“I don’t know about that, it depends how chill my roommate is. I’d prefer not to be on bad terms with someone that could potentially kill me in my sleep. Besides, I’ll visit you often anyways.” Being good friends with his roommate was something Hyunwoo hoped for, he burned some bridges in his past and didn’t want history to repeat itself. Though time and time again it did have the tendency to do so. 

“You better, or I’ll be the one to kill you in your sleep instead,” Soojin retaliated making Hyunwoo laugh. “Yeah right, name one other friend you have besides me in 3 seconds.”

As Hyunwoo counted down Soojin’s brain was on overdrive trying to think of a single person she considered as good of a friend as Hyunwoo but in the end couldn’t think of not one. “My point exactly,” he said.

Soojin whined and grabbed her hair as she fell back onto the bed, “Ahh my head hurts I used too many braincells~ don’t you know I need all the braincells I can get? My mom would kill me if I get anything below a 4.0.”

“I guess it’s you that’ll be getting killed then since we know that won't happen,” Hyunwoo laughed on his own, not noticing the deadpan look that Soojin was giving him. Before she could have a comeback Hyunwoo blurted out, “goddamnit.”

“What happened?” Soojin piped up.

“I forgot my controller in the car, could you get it for me?”

“The spinny thingy?” Soojin wasn't familiar with the technical terms of Hyunwoo's DJ equipment but her little nicknames proved to be enough everytime.

“Yes that.”

Soojin sighed as she sat up making all types of noises like she was way beyond her years. “You’re lucky you’re my bestie and I’m going to miss you.”

Hyunwoo turned towards her and blew a kiss her way that she caught and crushed in her hands with the most aggressive angry face she could make though on her it just looked cute on her. Hyunwoo laughed as he watched her close the door behind her, he knew that was her way of saying she loved him.

As she walked down the hall to the elevators a sense of familiarity overcame her that made her stop in her tracks while she passed a black haired boy pushing a dolly with a girl hitching a ride. She took a moment to look back at the two though didn’t linger on the feeling and went on her way.

Yooseong stopped in front of his room door leaning against the dolly trying to catch his breath.

“You should work out more, girls don’t like noodle arms,” Eunhee commented to her big brother getting off the dolly with not even a drop of sweat beaming down her face unlike Yooseong whose bangs were now damp. Yooseong reached in his pocket for the key but felt nothing, triple checking both pockets got him the same results.

“Ugh mom has the key,” he said between pants as his breathing became more steady.

“It’s okay I’ll wait here,” Eunhee went to sit on her spot on the dolly until she saw the face Yooseong gave her and stood back up. “Finee, I’ll get it. You’re lucky I love you.”

Yooseong smiled and took her spot instead as she skipped down the hall. Once he caught his breath he turned the knob to check if it would budge and the door opened slightly. He chuckled at his mistake and got up peeking his head through the door before making his way inside.

“Hello?” He didn’t see anyone but a pair of shoes abandoned in front of the door, inside the room looked like someone gave up unpacking halfway through.

“In here, sorry I’m just organizing my stuff,“ a voice said from inside. Yooseong took off his shoes as well before stepping into the room and seeing a male with his back turned to him.

“I’m Hyunwoo by the w-“ Hyunwoo started yet stopped abruptly once he turned around to face the other. Hyunwoo's face lost all the blood that was going through it with how pale it got like he just saw a ghost. The cord that was in his hand hit the floor and the sound seemed louder than normal due to the silence that fell between the two. Hyunwoo knew guilt was eating away at him for years, haunting his dreams whenever it got the chance but there was no way he was hallucinating.

“Yooseong…?” He said softly. The chance he was waiting for for so long, but all the things he wanted to say were stuck in his throat, like the mere presence of the other knocked the wind out of him. He hoped so much to make him smile again someday but instead Yooseong was staring at him with a frown that pierced right through his soul. Though Yooseong was no longer pushing his sister around, his heart rate began beating faster than before from pure rage.

“I-it’s been a while..” Hyunwoo hesitantly said, he rubbed his nape and looked at the floor to escape Yooseong’s glare. “There’s so much I wanted to say…” Hyunwoo trailed off. He stared at the floor instead, Yooseong’s feet in front of him being the only indicator that the other was still there, hearing him out.

“I-“ a knock on the door cut him off. A lanky boy with no ability to read social situations  wearing a sweater vest stood at the door holding a clipboard.

“Hello, my name is Oh Taekwon and I’ll be your RA for the year. I have a document for you to sign that states you vow to keep the room in a good state or else you’ll be liable for any damages.”

Hyunwoo gulped as he took the clipboard, glancing at Yooseong who kept his gaze forward and emotionless. The way he was able to not give the slightest hint towards what he was thinking was killing Hyunwoo inside, though he guessed it was along the lines of causing room damage and Hyunwoo being laid out on the floor with a concussion.

“I was told not to make my speech long so I’ll be holding an information session for my own personalized floor agreement that everyone has to sign and abide by, don’t worry I will be open to plausible revisions,” Taekwon included while the two signed the document.

“What’s your policy on changing rooms?” Yooseong asked as he handed Taekwon the clipboard, Hyunwoo felt his chest tighten as he looked at Yooseong with furrowed eyebrows. But the others features were unshaken and cold, like he'd been through too much too young.

“That’s something you’ll have to take up with Ms. Kim, her office is on the first floor. Why? Do you not like your roommate already?” Taekwon looked Hyunwoo up and down then around the room trying to find a visible flaw.

“Just asking,” Yooseong trailed off, “I’ll go first.” He slipped his shoes on and left the room leaving only Taekwon and Hyunwoo.

“What’s your major?” Taekwon suddenly asked.

“Composition, why?" 

“Well in that case I don’t blame him for wanting to change rooms,” Taekwon bluntly confessed before  walking off.

Hyunwoo sighed as he stood there alone, fingers running through his hair and pulling in frustration. Fate had a weird way of playing out, out of all the freshmen in Chungsam Hall there had to be a reason he was assigned roommates with the only bridge he truly regret burning. The only person that actually had a reason for killing him in his sleep and as a pre-mes major could probably do it effortlessly. This might be his only chance to make things right and he refused to let history repeat itself, at least not so easily.