Day 16 

It had been three days since Key's sudden outburst towards Zuri. She didn't know that what he said was untrue, so she stayed away from him, just as he requested. Whenever she'd see him in the halls, she'd turn around and walk the opposite direction. For some reason, the fact that she was supposed to avoid him started to scare her. Key tried numerous times to approach her so he can apologize, but Zuri made sure that he'd stay out of her bubble. After the short three days, Key missed talking to her. 

"Kibum, please speak! We miss your voice" Jonghyun pleaded with his best friend. Key only sat at the table quietly, without making a sound. "I don't feel like talking" he groaned. Onew, Jonghyun, and Minho all rolled their eyes. "Is the reason why you're acting like this because of that foreigner you called out the other day?" Minho asked "Cause if it is.. Just go up to her and say you're sorry. You know what you said was untrue".

Key grabbed his hair in frustration and slammed his head down on the table. "Why did I have to do that? I was just in a bad mood" he mumbled. The other three boys at the table just sighed. Key slowly raised his head up. "I told her to stay away from me..." he said. "Yeah, we know" Minho nodded. "She thinks I really meant it. And now whenever I see her, she doesn't let me go near her at all... Like she has her own personal bubble". Minho and Jonghyun shook their heads in disappontment. "Nice going, buddy" Onew sighed. Key just rolled his eyes and slammed his head back down on the table again. "Hey guys!" Taemin happily announced as he sat down at the table. It wasn't until after he sat down that he realized Key was with them. "Oh, you're here" he spat. Key looked up with desperate eyes. "Taemin-ah. Have you talked you Zuri? How is she?" Key asked. Taemin gave him a 'now-you've-really-done-it' look. "She's been really quiet lately... She's distanced herself from everyone. From me, from Ryeowook, from Jungsu" Taemin exlpained. 

"Jungsu? They met?" Key sprung up. Taemin nodded. "Only for a couple days.. But they've-" Taemin started, but was cut off. "Why??" Key roared. Taemin and the others jumped back. "I don't know. They met cause they met. It's a small world, hyung." he said calmly. Key looked down at the ground and sighed. He didn't want her to be friends with Jungsu. He was a total player and would definitely go for a girl like Zuri. He was also known for breaking hearts. "Not that I care" Key thought. "Is she mad at me?" he asked, hoping Taemin would say no. "I'm not sure.. She says she's scared to go near you" he frowned. Key could slowly feel his heart breaking. "Scared?" he repeated. He felt like crying. He felt like such an evil person. 

"I think it's time to talk action" Onew stated and stood up from his spot at the table. Jonghyun and Minho seemed to know exactly what the leader meant and got up to follow him, leaving Taemin and Key at the table to wonder. "Where are they going?" Key wondered. "Beats the hell outta me" Taemin looked down at the table.

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There was a knock at the door. Zuri looked up from her book and stood up. She looked through the whole in the door and saw a face she didn't recognize. She hesitated, but finally opened the door. "Yes?" she said while she opened the door. "Hi, I'm Park Yong Sun, vice principal. I've come to inform you that our student count has reached 1,500. Which means every student living alone will now be assigned a roommate" the man informed Zuri. Zuri loved living alone, so the news was rather disappointing. "Uggh. Fine. Who is she? I assume it's a girl" Zuri asked. "We don't know her name yet. but as soon as we do, we'll let you know" the vice principal winked. Zuri rolled her eyes. "Don't be like this. I'm sure she'll be a nice girl. Keep your head up" he smiled and looked down at his watch. Zuri sighed one more time and faked a smile. "I have to go. If anything goes wrong, just let us know" he said, and with that, he walked away. Zuri closed the door and scremed into her pillow. "But I don't want a roommate!!!" she cried out. 

After she heard the dreadful news, Zuri decided to go on a walk around the ship. "This is nonsense. Nobody likes me. Nobody wants to be my friend. My roommate is sure to hate me" she thought inwardly. While she walked and cursed under her breath, she looked up and saw that she was about to cross paths with Onew, Jonghyun, and Minho. She looked down and rolled her eyes. Trying not to make eye contact, she just kept walking when she saw that Jonghyun had spotted her. "Isn't that her? Yah! Zuri!" he called out to her. "Oh great.. I thought I could steer clear of any bullying today" she thought and just continued walking. When they got closer, she couldn't help but look up to confirm that it was them, so she could probably run. "Zuri. We need to talk to you.." Onew said to her. The three boys were now right in front of Zuri, who still had her head down, not saying a word. She would catch a short glimpse of them every few seconds, but still stayed slient. "We need to tell you something. You need to look at us!" Minho ordered. Zuri figured she had no reason to hear what they had to say, so she started running the other direction.

"Dammit" Minho cursed under his breath as he watched the girl run away. Jonghyun was the first to start running after her. "But Jonghyun-ah! I don't want to run!" Onew pouted, but ended up running anyway. They didn't chase after her long when Jonghyun finally made it to her. He wrapped his arms around her small waist and picked her up with ease. "Let me go! I don't care what you have to say!" she protested, but it didn't matter. She tried to break loose, but Jonghyun's arms were too strong. "Yah, Onew hyung. Grab her legs, she's kicking my stomach" Jonghyun strained. Onew obeyed and held onto her each of her legs. "Where should we take her?" Minho asked. Onew was about to suggest a spot in quiet, until..

"KKKYYYAH!" Jonghyun screamed out in pain as Zuri bit down on one of his arms. Jonghyun couldn't help but let her go so he can take care of his arm. When he let her go, she tried to run again, but this time, Onew grabbed her in the same fashion Jonghyun did, "You're staying whether you like it or not" Onew demanded. Zuri finally gave up and went limp in Onew's arms. "Fine" she simply said. Everything started to calm down and Onew let her down. Zuri plopped herself down on the ground and sighed. The three boys sat down and hey formed a circle. "What do you want? To tell me how ugly or stupid I am, or how worthless or-" 

"We came here to talk about Key" Jonghyun interrupted, still rubbing his arm. Zuri's eyes widened. It was the first time she heard his name in three days. "What about him? I thought he hated me.. Just like everyone else" she pouted. "He doesn't hate you. He said those things because he was afraid of losing his friends' respect" Minho explained. Zuri's heart skipped a beat. "He didn't mean it?" she thought inwardly. She could then feel a small spark of hope in her heart. "He was also having a rather bad day" Jonghyun added. The three boys just watched as Zuri looked down at the ground, deep in thought. "I want to hear him apologize. Bring him to me" Zuri demanded. The boys looked at each other and nodded. "We can do that" Onew said while he stood up. "And, let's make a truce. The four of us. We're sorry we were so mean to you all this time. Key wants to be your friend. And if he's your friend, that means that.. We'll have to be friends. So we're truly sorry" he added. Zuri felt a feeling of warmth in her heart. She couldn't help but smile. "Thank you" she softened and started to walk away. "Bring him to my cabin" she informed and walked away without looking back. The three boys looked at each other briefly and got back to business. 

Jungsu sat at a table alone in the cafeteria while he heard a thunderstorm warning being announced on the loud speaker. He pouted and put his head down and sighed. "More rain.." he thought. He looked back up when he heard a loud thud on the ground. What he saw next was a boy on the ground. He had been tripped by other kids sitting at a table, laughing at him. Jungsu rushed to the kid on the ground and helped him up. "Get a life" Jungsu hissed at the bullies and carried the boy to the table he once sat at. "Are you okay, dude? It looks like you hit your head on the ground. Should we take you to the nurse?" Jungsu asked worriedly. "Ah, no. It's fine.. It's just a bump. Nothing serious" he reassured Jungsu. Jungsu didn't want to buy what he said, but the nurses office was on the other side of the ship. No use going really if all that happened was a small bump. "Okay. I guess you're right" Jungsu sighed and looked down at his shoes. "Thank you though. Nobody really ever stands up for me at a time like this.. It's quite refreshing" the boy smiled. Jungsu admired the boy's optimism. "I'm Park Jungsu. What's your name?" Jungsu introduced himself. The boy held out his hand for a hand shake before revealing his name. "I'm Choi Siwon. Nice to meet you, Jungsu" he smiled. The two shook hands and talked for a while before it got dark. 

Zuri looked out at the ocean peacefully. She could feel the wind picking up, and she could hear and see the thunder and lightening from a distance. She rolled her eyes at the inconvenience of an upcoming thunderstorm. Sure, she loved thunderstorms because where her hometown is, storms only come around five or six times per year. But ever since she's attended school at sea, they've become more frequent. Zuri waited patiently for Key to swing by and apologize. She really wanted to see his face in front of her's. She wanted to hear his apology, she wanted to hear from him and only him that the things he said to her were all untrue. She waited for 10 minutes, then 20. Then 30. Then 40. 

After an hour and a half of waiting. It was finally dark outside and she could feel small raindrops hit her forehead. She sighed and walked back to her room's door, which was only ten feet behind her. While she walked, something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. It was a person walking in the hallway. A girl. While Zuri studied the girl's figure and face, she realized that she was a foreinger. And this foreigner was looking right at her. "Do you live here?" the girl asked, pointing to Zuri's door to her room. "Yes. Are you my new roommate?" Zuri asked. She tried to sound polite, but the thought of having to share a room with another student made her head hurt. "Yupp. Can I go in to look around?" she asked politely. Zuri slowly opened the door for her and invited her inside. When the girl walked in and looked around, she looked unimpressed. 

"It's a small cabin, I know. But since our student count has gone up, we're being forced to live together" Zuri explained. The girl snapped back to her bubbly mood and sat down on the small couch that was in between the bunk bed and the vanity. "Want something to drink?" Zuri asked with her head stuffed in the small mini fridge. The girl shook her head "No thanks". Zuri shut the fridge and sat next to her new roommate. It wasn't until after Zuri examined her more, that she realized that the girl started to look familiar. "You look oddly familiar" Zuri said slowly. "Well, maybe. I mean, we're two of the only foreigners on this ship. We tend to spot each other out" the girl giggled. Zuri tilted her head. And then it hit her. The girl sitting before her was the girl that Taemin has been chasing for so long. "You're her" she whispered. "I am?" she squeaked. Zuri snapped back to reality and asked her for her name. "What's your name anyway? I'm Zuri. I'm American by the way if you were wondering" Zuri explained. The girl's eyes widened. "Really? I've never met an American before!" she beamed. "I hear they're fascinating". Zuri rolled her eyes. "Not really" she disagreed. "Well.. I'm Rainy. I'm Spanish" The girl(Rainy) introduced herself. Zuri nodded her head, feeling satisfied. "Rainy, when this storm blows over, there's someone I'd like you to meet" Zuri smiled contently. Rainy smiled "Great! I love meeting new people". "Trust me, this kid has been dying to meet you" Zuri laughed. The two girls talked and got along well

"Go now! Before the storm gets worse!" Onew yelled in Key's face, rushing him out the door. "Hyung, wait! I still need to tie my shoes!" Key protested. The storm started to get closer and closer. Key planned on going to Zuri's cabin at 7pm, but he accidently fell asleep and didn't wake up until 9pm. Soon, the storm would be right over their heads and it would be too late. "The storm is getting closer and her room is on the way other side of the ship. You must hurry! Or else you face another sleepless night!" Onew demanded. Key finally was done tieing his shoes and threw himself out the door. He didn't know which way to go at first. "Left. Go left" his mind told him. When Key made it to Zuri's dorm, water had started falling from the sky, and there was a thunderstorm advisory announcement repeating over and over on the loud speaker. Key ran as fast as he could down the hallway. When he made it outside Zuri's door, she wasn't standing there. "She must be inside. Staying warm" he thought. He was about to knock on the door when a faculty member ran down the hall. "Yah! You shouldn't be out of your cabin! The storm is going to get much worse and we're going under lockdown! Let me you back to your room" the woman faculty member said shoving Key the opposite direction, away from Zuri's room. Key looked back behind him. Waiting for her to peek out and see him. But nobody did. Key turned back around and walked with the woman back to his dorm, getting rained on. He felt like crying. But why? "Why does she feel so important to me? Can't I just not care about her so much?" he thought inwardly on his way back to his cabin. Zuri most definitely had an effect of him.