The next morning dawned bright and sunny with no hint of snow in the air or the forecast with higher than normal temperatures reading on the thermostat. It looked like it was going to be a fantastic day weather wise at least. 

He woke up to the sounds of an alarm clock blaring and he sat bolt up right in shock. In the next bed Minho sat up groaning and stretching. Taemin took a shaky breath and lay back down. He couldn’t remember the last time that he woke up to an alarm clock and not someone pushing him out of bed. 

Minho climbed out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom while Taemin waited. He could wait until Minho was done to get up himself, not wanting to get in the older boy’s way. After the reception last night, he couldn’t believe that Minho was exactly excited to have a roommate. 

Maybe he was use to having the room all to himself and didn’t want to suddenly have to share, especially with a younger transfer student from America. Hopefully they would be able to really move past the whole puke thing and get along.

He didn’t move when Minho came back out of the room and tried to avert his eyes as he watched Minho change out of his pyjamas and dress in running shorts and a t-shirt. Taemin glimpsed a muscled back and Taemin felt his face flush before he squeezed his eyes shut. 

He kept his eyes closed until he heard Minho walk out of the bedroom spot, his feet treading lightly to the kitchen where Taemin heard the fridge open and close before the door to their room slammed shut. 

Then Taemin dragged himself out of bed, determined to at least try and start the day off on a good foot. There was no point in waiting any longer and there was nothing that he could do to change what had already happened so he could only work with what he was about to do. 

Grabbing his uniform, not yet feeling comfortable enough to change in the open room, he headed off to take his turn in the bathroom. As he brushed his teeth, he thought about how nice it was to get a full night’s sleep. To get more than a full night’s sleep, actually being able to catch up on some of the sleep he had been missing his entire life. 

The bags that he thought were almost permanent fixtures under his eyes, had actually lightened so that they were barely noticeable. He finger combed his hair and frowned at his roots coming in. He was going to have to figure out what to do about that since without a job he didn’t have any money to buy a box of hair dye. 

Maybe letting it fade back to black was the best choice. 

Resigned that there was nothing he could do about anything else at the moment, he left the room and gathered up the school books he was going to need for the day according to his schedule. He had found a simple black backpack under his desk and put all his things in it, grateful that he didn’t have to lug around all those books without a bag. 

In the kitchen he looked around the cupboards for a glass. If he was lucky the cafeteria would have coffee but for now a glass of cold water would suffice. His stomach growled and he looked at the microwave clock. It was just after 7 by then and he remembered reading that the cafeteria stopped serving food at 7:30. If he hurried he had plenty of time to eat. 

Finishing his water, Taemin quickly washed his glass and put it away. As he turned to leave the kitchen he caught sight of a fruit bowl filled with a variety of fruit and a bright yellow sticky note. 

His name was written in large letters and he plucked the note up to read it. It took a moment to properly translate it but he figured out the jist of it fairly quickly. Minho’s mother apparently had the kitchen stocked once a week while they were at class and Taemin was allowed to eat whatever he wanted as long as he cleaned up after himself and added to the list on the fridge anything they ran out of when he was eating. 

Trying to take the note at face value and not putting his insecurities in everything, Taemin took an apple and a tangerine, grateful that he wouldn’t have to brave the cafeteria by himself on the first day, first thing in the morning. 

As he munched on his apple, he explored the kitchen better than his quick look the night before. He’d already seen most of the cupboard contents so he opened the fridge and gasped. It was full of containers. Most of them he couldn’t recognize at first glance but somethings looked standard enough, including little yellow boxes that looked like juice. 

He picked one and tossed it in his bag with his tangerine. He smiled, happy to know that regardless of what the cafeteria had, he was going to have something to eat. Old habits died hard and he was grateful that he was going to have something for lunch.

More nervous than usual for starting a new school, Taemin paced around the dorm until it was time to leave for class. 

Opening the dorm door, Taemin was hit with a wave of excited male voices. The hallway he stepped out into was drastically busier than when he arrived. Steeling himself, Taemin stepped outside admits the boys moving in half dressed states between rooms, banging on doors and yelling. Unconsciously, Taemin tried to curl into himself. There were just too many people in one place and that always made him tense and nervous. 

Slowly, he let himself move into the crowd. 

No one paid him any attention, all too busy with their own business, but his eyes darted around trying to take in what was happening in every direction all at once.

Trying to recall what way to go without digging out the school map, Taemin wasn’t noticed until someone jostled into him. 

“Sorry new kid!” The bumper yelled, not stopping in his mad dash up the hallway. 

Taemin shook with fear, it was irrational and Taemin knew that there wasn’t a reason to be afraid of anyone there, yet. So he kept his head down and his shoulders hunched, praying that no one else would notice him or stop him and ask questions. 

He missed that most of the boys behind him were stopping and watching him, whispering about who he was and where he came from. It would have made him even more glad that Minho had allowed him to eat his food. 

As he walked into the main area of the school, Taemin gave up trying to remember his way by memory and dug out his map. The math and science wing of the school was where he needed to go and of course it was the furthest away from the residences. 

The school hallways were still fairly deserted and it was fairly easy for Taemin to navigate his way to the classroom.

Sitting at his desk was the teacher who looked up as Taemin entered the room. “Ah, you must be our new student, Lee Taemin.”

Taemin bowed, “Yes, that's me.”

“Welcome to Seoul.” The teacher had a friendly voice and smile. “I hope you’ve begun to settle in nicely.” 

Taemin nodded. 

“Your desk is over there.” He pointed to the desk in the last row, third seat back. “The other students will be arriving any moment, so if you’d like to ask any questions before they do?”

Shaking his head, Taemin didn’t speak. His mouth felt dry and any words he might have had got caught in his throat. 

“Well if you think of anything, please feel free to ask.” He gave his student a smile. So far the boy didn’t seem like the trouble making kind and contrary to what the records he was given said, the teacher didn’t really believe that that was true. Maybe bouncing back and forth between foster homes so often had a negative effect on his school life. 

He was going to wait and judge the boy as he got to know him. Hopefully his fellow teachers would do the same. “Why don’t you take a seat and when everyone is here you can introduce yourself.” 

Taemin swallowed hard but nodded, he headed to his seat and began to pull out his books for the class. Opening the textbook, he tried to scan it once again hoping that he wouldn’t get too far behind with his lack of practical use of the language.