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Taeyeon came with him all the way to the bus stop to say goodbye. Quite a few students were standing around at the stop nervously clinging to suitcases with belongings to last them for the year. When the three buses finally pulled up, Taeyeon gave Sehun a farewell hug, tears dripping down her face. He whispered in her ear as he held her close, “Don’t worry, I’m only a phone call away.” She sniffled and the tears stopped fairly soon after the words had left his lips. He gave her one of his rare smiles before boarding the bus that would take him away from his best friend for who knows how long.

The buses were fancy and white with upholstered seats that came in pairs on either side of the centre aisle and a row of four in the very back. Someone was helping students load their suitcases into the bottom of the bus toward the back and Sehun walked over timidly before handing it over to the slightly irate handler. He adjusted the backpack he had slung over his left shoulder and headed to the entrance at the front of the first bus.

He climbed the steps and turned into the aisle to look back and see if there were any free seats. He found an empty pair of seats on the left side and toward the back. He adjusted the backpack he had slung over his left shoulder before heading to the back of the bus. He sank into the seat on the window side, and stared out the window, already missing his only friend. He probably had his usual glower on his face as he thought harder and harder about how much he missed her. While he was staring out the window and brooding, someone came and claimed the empty seat beside him.

This newcomer had tanned skin, large lips, dark brooding eyes, and a sharp jaw line. The boy looked to be not much older than Sehun himself and from this he concluded that this boy was a first year just like him. Sehun didn’t want to start up a conversation with a complete stranger, and one who looked so bitter to at that. He wondered what could have made someone so young have such an expression and then he remembered that Taeyeon told him that half the time he looked like he had just had an especially sour lemon stuck in his mouth so who was he to judge other’s facial expressions.

Despite the fact that most of the occupants of this bus were strangers to one another, there were quite a few conversations around. Most of the students came from different schools, cities, or even countries. Sehun could hear a little English between some guys sitting a few rows back and a Chinese pair speaking mandarin a few rows ahead on the left side. Neither him nor the boy sitting next to him attempted to make small talk as the bus lurched forward. Sehun put on headphones and got a book out of his bag to pass the long bus ride.

The school was out in the countryside about a half an hour’s drive out of the city. The three buses going to Kairin that day were filled with first years. Two weeks prior, the same buses had brought college students, whose school year started earlier and ended later than that of the middle and high school students. Except for ten or so upperclassmen, which had arrived the day before the first years, upperclassmen arrived a day or two before classes started. First years arrived a week before the year began in order to get familiar with the campus and have an orientation. The ten upperclassmen had come to help with orientation.

The bus stopped and someone nudged Sehun’s shoulder. He woke up, not realising that he had fallen asleep in the first place. His neighbour was the one who had nudged him awake and was now smirking at him. Sehun suppressed a yawn and just watched the other with a neutral face. This boy was still looking at Sehun deviously. Slightly annoyed, Sehun asked, “What’s with that look? You look like you just did something bad…” Sehun quickly grabbed his cellular out of his bag and used it as a mirror to make sure there wasn’t any marker on his face. It was clean, no moustaches or glasses.

The other boy was still smirking as he said, “You look cute when you’re asleep,” as casually as if he had said, “The weather is nice out today, isn’t it.” He got up without another and headed down the aisle to the exit, slinging a duffel bag over his right shoulder. Sehun glowered after him, but slung his backpack over his left shoulder and followed. He didn’t notice, but his book and headphones had ended up back in his bag, somehow.

—

The students gathered outside the bus by an adult in a grey suit and tie who was standing looking very important. There was a line of six upperclassmen to the man’s left. Once all three buses were empty and the students had gathered around, the man introduced himself as the headmaster. He continued introductions calling on the tour guides. He read off the names Onew, Joonmyun, Minho, Yixing, and two others but Sehun couldn’t remember the other two because when he saw Yixing step forward, his heart stopped and his mind went blank. His cheeks were heating up but no one noticed.

Yixing had short mahogany hair with bangs swept to the left side. He smiled with thin, soft lips and dimples appeared on his cheeks. His skin was a perfect tint of apricot and was blemish free. The smile reached his warm, chocolate eyes and Sehun got the feeling that this boy was very kind and his personality was probably just as perfect as his face.

Sehun was snapped out of his staring, not knowing how much time had passed or how much he had missed, when he heard his name and the names of two more boys being called. The headmaster instructed them to go to Yixing, who would be their tour guide for the day. The twelve boys in his care shuffled over to him and Yixing greeted them warmly.

“Hello, my name is Yixing and I would like to welcome you to Kairin Academy,” he said beaming, dimples deep and eyes glowing. There was a slight accent on his Korean but it wasn’t very significant. Sehun only wondered briefly what it was and came to no conclusion in particular. That face almost made Sehun lose everything right then and there. His cheeks had turned a darker pink but no one really seemed to notice.

“Well then. I guess we’ll be going on the tour now,” he chirped. The line of boys followed nervously behind him like a line of ducklings.

Sehun couldn’t pay attention to a word the older boy said. He couldn’t tell you where the dance studio or amphitheatre was or the names of the buildings. For the whole tour, all he could do was watch Yixing and follow numbly behind, hoping he didn’t have a stupid look on his face as he watched.

“And this is where your tour ends. Any questions?” No one said anything although a couple of the boys shook their heads slowly. Yixing was smiling as he sighed lightly. Everyone was usually this shy when they first came to the school but it was understandable as most of them didn’t know each other, with a few exceptions.

“This is the administration building and you will be getting your keys and room assignments here. Your suitcases and other bags have already been taken to your rooms, so all you have to do is get to your rooms and meet your roommates. I’ll see you all later,” he said brightly, grinning broadly before bowing and leaving all of the nervous first years alone outside the building.

The eleven other boys from his tour group shuffled into the building and found a table with paper name cards and keys lying underneath them. A few of the keys were already gone, meaning that another tour group must have ended a little before theirs did and that group got their keys first. The key underneath the placard reading “Oh Sehun” had a keychain with a diamond shaped charm hanging off of it. The number on the charm said 408w. Sehun racked his memories for anything remotely resembling instructions as to what to do with it. The w, he thought meant the west dormitory. He thought back to the tour and remembered the general direction they went between the west dorms and the admin building.

He walked out and branched off from the group, not feeling like discussing his lodgings with any of the other first years. Luckily all of the buildings had their names written on a sign just outside the main entrance so after a bit of wandering around in the general direction of the dorm, he came across it.

—

The large glass doors looked intimidating and it was even worse that they were automatic. He stepped into the extravagant lobby. Sure Kairin was an academy with a huge endowment from some rich pop star, but this seemed almost ridiculous. The lobby was rather empty, with a few potted plants in the corners of the rooms. He walked in and the doors closed softly behind him. There were hallways leading off to the left and to the right, each blocked by a glass door. On the wall facing entrance there was an elevator on the left and another hallway to the right. To the left of each hallway door listed the numbers down each hallway. On the left were rooms 1-20, the centre hallway had rooms 21-30, and the right hallway had rooms 31-50. Sehun guessed that the 400s were on the fifth floor.

He walked up to the golden doors of the elevator and pressed the circular up arrow button. There was a light ding, a treble b flat, and the doors slid silently open. The number buttons were in a fancy script and he pressed the five. The doors slid closed just as easily as they had opened. Sehun didn’t realise the elevator was moving until he heard the b flat ding again indicating his arrival because the ride was so smooth. There were no jostles or the sounds of gears and motors running.

On the wall opposite the elevator was a large white board, presumably for morning announcements or something of that sort. Today it read “Welcome new students. To access dorm rooms, press number tag on keychain to sensor pad.” Sehun didn’t understand what that meant but he guessed it was something about getting through the glass doors that blocked the hallways. The floor plan for all of the floors of the dorm was the same so Sehun turned right to find 401-420.

To the left of the glass door, he noticed a circular sensor pad that had a red light above it. He quickly rummaged through his backpack and pulled out the key, pressing the diamond shaped tag to the sensor. The light above it turned green and the glass door swung inward, allowing entry to the hallway. There were two visible rooms before a turn in the hallway. On the left was room 401 and at the end of the short hallway was room 402. There was no room on the right side in this hallway. After a right turn to the rest of the hallway were the rest of the rooms. To the left was room 403 and to the right was room 420. Room numbers on the left side were increasing and room numbers on the right side were decreasing. At the end of the hallway was what looked like a common room for all of the students in that hallway.

Sehun wandered down the strangely deserted hallway and toward the end found his room on the left. The number was written on a diamond shaped plate that was wider than it was tall in the same fancy script as the elevator numbers were written in. He was just about to insert his key in the lock on the door when someone opened it from the other side, his roommate. Sehun’s heart practically stopped. He was face-to-face with the dimple-cheeked tour guide from earlier. He was rooming with Yixing. It was all he could do to stop his face from turning bright red and his jaw from dropping.

A/N: Sorry for any TaeHun feels, once again. Also sorry for any grammatical mistakes. So yeah, awkward Sehun is awkward but we love him anyways. He's just the awkward doesn't know how to deal with romance maknae.