You sat in the hallway, back against the door. You had been sitting here for almost two hours. Standing up once again, you attempted to get your roommates attention.

“Pleaasseee let me in!” You whined miserably, banging on the door. You laid your forehead on the door, and slid down to the ground.

“Look- I don’t really want to room with you either! But right now- this is the only room available! I PROMISE that I’ll move out as soon as another room opens up!”

Seeing that you weren’t making any progress, you looked down to the cat carrier sitting by your feet.  

“I’m going to have to pull out my secret weapon. Pickles- show him your stuff.” You said, opening the cat’s cage. He slowly crawled out, smelling the air, and quickly retreated to your lap. Then looking at the door, he began to howl. Loudly.

“That’s my boy.” You smiled, giving him thumbs up. For about twenty minutes he continued, until your heard a door slam open to your left.

An attractive young man marched out, and walked up to you.

“Hi Grace. My name is Kai. What’s going on? I’ve been trying to get some sleep but I keep hearing that thing-“ He motioned to the howling cat sitting in your lap, “So I can’t really do that until it gets quiet around here. Anything I can do?” He said, sounding a bit frustrated. It looked like he was trying to be nice to you, since you were new around here.

“Oh I’m sorry! I should have known this would bother others.” You said snapping your fingers. As soon as you did, Pickles stopped and looked up at you, giving you an innocent look.

“What’s the problem?” Kai said, running his hands through his hair with annoyance.

Damn, he was really attractive. Even more so up close.

“Well, my roommate is having a bit of a hard time letting me in.” You said motioning towards the door.

“Oh. Tao? Usually he’s pretty laid back about things like this. I wonder why he’s giving you a problem about it.” He said raising an eyebrow.

“Ahhh. So his name is Tao. Interesting. Well do you think you can somehow get him to open the door?” You asked, moving your bags away from the door frame.

“Yeah, sure. Anything for someone as cute as you.” He said giving you a wink.

You rolled your eyes.

“Yeah, whatever.” You laughed.

Kai cracked his knuckles, and walked up to the door, rapping on it slightly.

“Tao, it’s me. I wanted to return the book you let me borrow last night. Think you can let me in?” Kai said tilting his head sideways.

You both heard some scuffling from behind the door.

“I don’t think I let you borrow a book last night.” Tao replied.

Kai cringed.

“Damn.” He muttered.

“I actually took it without you knowing. I hope you don’t mind.” He added just in time.

You gave him thumbs up and he returned it.

“Oh you did? Is that girl gone? You know, Grass? Or whatever her name was?” He said bored, and you scrunched up your nose in distaste.

Wow. It’s not like my name is that hard to remember. Even Kai knew it.

“Nope- she left a few minutes ago.” Kai said.

You heard heavy footsteps as he approached the door, and then a click, as he unlocked it.

His eyes opened wide when he saw you standing there, and in a quick motion he tried closing the door, but Kai was a step ahead, sticking out his foot.

“Listen Tao, just let her in. She’s been sitting out here for hours. Stop being such a wuss. It’s not like this is the first time you’ve shared your room.” Kai said rolling his eyes dramatically.

Tao grunted in frustration.

“Fine. But as soon as a room opens up, your taking it.” He said looking down at me. Both of the men were much taller than you.

You turned to Kai.

“Thanks Kai. I really appreciate it!” You said thankfully, smiling widely. He ruffled your hair. “No problem Grace. Anytime. Hey- you guys wanna go grab some dinner in 15 minutes?” Kai asked, looking at both of you.

“Sure.” You both said in union. You turned around and glared at each other.

Kai laughed.

“All right. You two roomies get to know each other. See you later!” He said, turning down the hall and giving a wave.

You turned to Tao.

“So… You gonna let me in or what?” You asked innocently.

He glared, but opened the door as you grabbed your bags. You slowly walked in, and he closed the door behind you.

“I get bottom bunk.” He stated, and you set your bags up on the top bunk.

“Sit.” He said, pointing to the table with two chairs. You both sat down, and you crossed your arms, looking anywhere but at him.

“There are some rules to staying here, so you better follow them all. One- don’t talk to me. Two- don’t get in my way. Three- keep that thing away from me.” He said, pointing to Pickles.

“And lastly, the most important rule of all, Don’t fall in love with me.” He said completely serious, looking right into your eyes.

Your mouth dropped open. Was this guy serious?

You stared at him for a few seconds, and once you realized he actually wasn’t kidding, you burst out laughing.

“BAHAHAHAHA! TRUST ME. You don’t have to worry about that. The only man I need in my life is Pickles.” You said, almost choking. Standing up still giggling, you walked over to your bag and began to unpack.

“And another rule-“ Tao began again, shaking off your amusement from the previous rule- “Keep your things clean and tidy. Oh, and my alarm is set for 9am. Training begins at 10am.” He said walking out of the room.

After unpacking, you set Pickles things up in the bathroom. As you began to scoop out some of his food, Tao walked in, looking at the scene before him. He didn’t seem to be bothered by any of the cat things lying around everywhere.

“I don’t think he needs any more food. He’s already a fat .” He said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

You stuck out your tongue.

“Shut up.” That was about the only comeback you could think of.

“Oh yeah, about the other day-“ You began.

Tao interrupted.

“Don’t worry about it. I already got it cleaned. I don’t like it when people are in debt to me. Just forget about it. Anyways, let’s go. Kai should be already waiting for us.” He said sounding annoyed.

You made a face, but followed him anyways.

You both walked for about a minute, until you arrived to a very large cafeteria where about fifty people already occupied most of the seats.

 In the corner of your eye, you saw Kai stand up and wave you over.

“Hey guys. Come sit with us!” He said excitedly.

Tao sat next to Kai, and you sat across from him and next to a girl.

“Mi Do, this is Grace. Grace, this is Mi Do.” Kai said introducing you to her. You smiled and nodded, and she did the same.

You had a feeling that you would be good friends.

"So, did you look around the place?" Kai asked, shoveling some rice down his throat.

"Ah~ not yet. I was too busy trying to get into my room." You said, eyeing Tao evily.

He looked away and sighed.

"Well then we should definately show you around. Right Mi Do?" Kai said turning to her.

"Yes, definately. Actually, you should let me. I want to get to know Grace better." Mi Do said, looking over at you.

You nodded.

Kai shrugged. "Ok- that's fine. Eat Grace! The food is good here." He said smiling.

Once you finished, Mi Do stood up.

"Let's go Grace! Let me show you around."