Dead leaves fell from the barren trees as they twirled around in the late September winds. They landed softly to the damp brick pavement below and Jongin carelessly walked over them as he made his way to the twin doors of the dorm building. A box filled to the top with various sweaters, shirts, and questionable underwear (with so-called clever puns written on them) was held in Jongin’s arms as he walked in a fast pace to his yet-to-be-moved-into dorm room. With two twin beds, one each on either sides of the room, one large desk pushed against the ceiling-floor window, and two drawers placed by the beds, the dorm seemed bleak at the moment. At least Jongin's side did. His roommate seemed to already unpack his belongings but was nowhere to be found; not that Jongin minded all that much. Surely his roommate would arrive sooner or later but for the time being, Jongin laid down his last box of clothes near the window. It had reached the full length of the cream, cinder block wall and was placed parallel to doorway. From the second floor, Jongin could see the other college freshman much like himself carry boxes upon boxes to the brick building, along with cars of parents that pulled out and into the hectic parking lot. The muffled sound of slamming car doors, loud talking and an occasional gust of wind came from outside Jongin’s window as one by one he not-so neatly folded his clothes into what he supposed to be his dresser. A small creak of the wood floor came from door way, followed by another creak caused by footsteps. The footsteps stopped as the bed adjacent from Jongin’s let out a squeak. After Jongin slightly turned his head to take a glance at the source of the sound, Jongin then shut the drawer of the dresser. He intended it to be quiet but failed when the drawer slammed shut, starling him and his roommate. There was nothing but awkward silence between the two guys in the room. Before Jongin could come up with a quick, but witty introduction, the bed creaked once more indicating that his roommate stood up. Jongin had minded his own business as he continued to fold away his sweaters but as he noticed the empty silence of the room, his roommate was no longer there. Jongin then pretended he was ‘busy’ as he finished putting away his clothes. This time he didn't take the time to fold them up due to his sudden laziness.

"Hey, Sehun, you're never going to believe who-"

An energetic and loud voice came from the doorway, and Jongin lifted his head up to see a very...pretty looking boy with light hair (who apparently was looking for Jongin's quite rude roommate). Jongin then pushed his drawer back in, focusing his attention on the sudden visitor as he made a mental note to himself to never leave the dorm door open.

"Uh, he just left a few minutes ago," Jongin stated, still clueless as to why this Sehun kid left without a greeting or word in the first place.

Dumbfounded, the boy who still remained standing in the doorway shrugged it off. "I'm Luhan by the way," he said as his eyes scrunched in an eye-smile that made him seem even younger (and prettier) than before. He extended his hand towards Jongin and without hesitation, Jongin shook it. Despite his delicate appearance, Luhan’s grip was stronger than what Jongin originally assumed. Luhan then reached his pale hand into the pocket of his sweatpants to retrieve his phone. A small yet high-pitched beep came from the phone as it indicated a new message. As Luhan took his focus off of Jongin for what seemed quicker than a second, his fingers swept across the phone's key board as another ding sounded. Luhan’s smile faded as he read the message. That only lasted for a second as he snapped back to reality and smiled kindly at Jongin.

"Sehun is at the soccer field. Do you want to hang with us?" Luhan said cheerfully to Jongin as he let his phone sink back into the pocket. Jongin was never one to go out if he didn't have to, but today was an exception. Jongin gave Luhan a small nod and a nonchalant "sure" before he grabbed his own phone (that had been thrown somewhere on his bed that he had yet to make) and headed out the main oval with Luhan. The walk to the soccer field (which had been quite a distance from the dormitory) wasn’t awkward as Jongin thought it could have been. Luhan had asked what Jongin’s name was, Jongin asked if Luhan was from Seoul, but with a smile Luhan said he was from China and moved to Seoul a little over two years ago to study music in Korea. When they arrived, the unused soccer field was free from the leaves that polluted the rest of the campus. Luhan shouted out Sehun’s name and Sehun, who had been kicking a soccer ball into the empty net over and over again, looked towards the boy’s direction and let out a small grin. When his eyes landed on Jongin, his warm smile faded into an unreadable glance. Luhan, who at one moment was standing beside Jongin, had already joined Sehun as he motioned his hand towards Jongin to join them.

-

"Sehun," he said with his voice dripping with 'enthusiasm'. Jongin crisscrossed his legs on the freshly mowed grass. Never once had Jongin’s roommate Sehun bothered to shake Jongin's hand or even bow his head in acknowledgement since their first run-in at the dorm room. Jongin didn't know why he acted so cold. As much as Jongin wanted to accept the possibility that Sehun didn't exactly like him, deep down he at least hoped to get along with his roommate. After all, they were supposed to share a room for rest of their freshman year.

Luhan who sat in between the two in the freshly cut grass noticed Sehun's cold-shoulder towards Jongin and let out a forced smile. "So, Jongin, what’s your major?” he asked curiously.

“Composition,” Jongin said as he picked at the blades of grass by his feet.

Luhan’s face lit up as he lightly nudged Sehun with his shoulder, “The same with us.” In reply, Sehun nodded soullessly, boredom evidently showing on his face. The rest of autumn sunlight had been spent on the soccer field with Luhan and Sehun playing a small scrimmage as the warm sun faded behind the city skyline. At some point in time, the overly-bright field lights illuminated the field as Jongin sat alone on the relatively clean wooden bleachers and watched the two friends from afar. Even though he watched Luhan fake a goal on Sehun and accidently slip on the turf in the process as the two laughed it off, for some reason he didn’t feel out of place.

Luhan and Sehun eventually walked back to Jongin with sweat glistening on their foreheads. Jongin watched as Luhan pulled out a full water bottle from his sweat pants and when Luhan noticed Jongin’s staring, he smiled kindly and offered Jongin a sip. Not wanting to cause a bother, or to be rude, Jongin didn’t decline.

When Jongin and Sehun returned to the dorm, Jongin didn’t even feel like he was tagging along that tonight despite Sehun’s rude behavior towards him. After all, it had only been the first day out of many to come. People changed along with time, after all.

-

The leaves that once drifted in the crisp wind still remained on the ground covering the pathways of the campus but now created a blanket. Most of them turned brown from decay. Some were still stuck in gutters, windshield wipers of cars, or even on student's abandoned bikes; almost as if they were pasted onto everything. Jongin's head pounded; the intensity of pain grew quickly as he awoke to find his sheets pushed to the edge of his bed. He could barely sit up as the stabbing pain caused his head to fall back to his soft pillow. Jongin's eyes shut tightly as he slowly turned his head to see if Sehun had woken, but Sehun was still asleep; one hand lay underneath his pillow as his other arm hung off the bed. A wave of pain swept through Jongin's mind again, but this time he let out a small groan. He knew he didn't drink any alcohol last night. This meant this headache of his wasn't from a hangover if anything. So why did it feel like his head was being stabbed by a million knifes?

In the opposite bed of Jongin’s, Sehun stirred underneath the sheets. Other than Sehun’s deep breaths, silence blanketed the early Saturday morning. The bright green numbers blinked eight o'clock. Exactly forty five minutes remained before Jongin’s classes (which Sehun and Luhan were attending as well) were to begin. Jongin assumed Sehun had awoken by the sound of the rustling sheets as the younger’s eyes groggily scanned the cubical room before he flopped back down into his mattress with a groan. Although the two of them had now less than forty five minutes to get ready and still somehow make it to the music hall, Jongin wanted to stay in bed all day as his headache continued. Jongin refused to roll out of bed while Sehun had already slipped on a shirt and shorts. Fixing his mop-like bed hair, he gave a small glance to Jongin’s reflection in the mirror before leaving the room. He didn't even bother to alert Jongin that class was about to begin, or what building the class was in. Defeated, Jongin rubbed the crust from his tired eyes and when 8:20 flashed on his alarm clock, his eyes widened. The building was at least four blocks away and he had less than thirty minutes to throw something on his body and leave the dorm building. That alone would take away ten minutes of time that could be spent on walking to his class, but instead he would arrive late…on his first day of college. 

With time strained, Jongin rummaged through the unorganized pile of clothes (that he felt too lazy to properly fold at the time. Now he regretted it) in his drawer. Without particularly caring what shirt he grabbed first, Jongin quickly slid a soft white cotton shirt overtop his head; zipped up a pair of jeans (that he found lying on the ground) on his body and ran out the door, not minding his messy hair.

-

When Jongin walked into the small instruction room, the overweight professor stood in front of the class of about a hundred sleep-deprived students and faced the white board, writing out his name. All of the students, including Jongin, wished they all could slip back in between their linen sheets. To Jongin’s surprise the class didn’t seem to acknowledge his rather late entrance. They had ignored his presence except for a lavender-haired kid who sat in the third seat in the second row. It took a brief second for Jongin to recognize him as Luhan. Seated next to him, with his hood pulled up, was Sehun. Unlike Luhan, Sehun remained a cold spirit as he stared at the white board in front of him with one ear bud in, the other out which hung lose on top of his stack of untouched books. Jongin scooted through the rows of bags and feet until he finally reached Luhan. He placed his bag so that it stood up against the seat in front of him. He plopped down in the soft auditorium seat as he noticed that Sehun was glaring at him. Sehun’s glare wasn’t so much snotty as it was curious. Jongin felt like his every move was being dissected, but as he returned the glance, Sehun quickly turned around towards the professor as if he had been caught. The professor who also had metal-frame glasses resting upon the bridge of his nose introduced himself as Mr. Oh in a monotone.

-

The first half hour of the lecture was more boring than Jongin expected it to be. He now rested the left side of his face by his hand and let his eyes flutter shut. Luhan lightly nudged Jongin’s arm.

“Hey, are you alright?"

Jongin groaned a “yeah, I’m fine,” in response. There was a sudden pounding pain in his head, but Jongin ignored it.

-

Jongin's headache from the early morning still remained as the lecture continued. After a while, Jongin thought the constant pounding was because he wasn't fully awake (and maybe it was just an illusion that he felt unwell) but the professor rambled on for at least a half hour and the pain failed to subside. Mr. Oh, who previously wheeled in a grand piano from a corner of the room, swept his pudgy hands over the keys and although Jongin wanted to hear the mellow sound, all his brain allowed him to hear was the throbbing inside his head that seemed like a faint whisper.

-

Cool November winds blew through the half-open window; the smell of fire and burning leaves filled the dark dorm room. The only light had come from Jongdae's desk, where six guys had gathered around. Empty beer cans and filled solo cups cluttered the desk as well as the stacks of cards. In between Jongin's cold fingers were five cards, none of which would help Jongin in the game they were playing. Sehun was on his left, taking a swing from a cup, Luhan was across from Jongin and drank water (because he didn’t want to get caught drinking underage, or that's what he said), while Yixing and Jongdae sat a little too close to each other as a sly smile appeared on Jongdae's awfully smug face. Without hesitation, Jongdae placed an ace down causing Baekhyun to groan in annoyance.

A chilly breeze rolled through the half open window and the faint whistle lingered in Jongin’s ear. He shivered slightly which caused Sehun to stare at him in confusion. Again, another whistle hissed by, but this time a small whisper followed. The whisper sounded like an echo from far away; a voice Jongin couldn’t identify.

“Jongin, it’s your turn,” Luhan motioned at the cards beside Jongin and let out a weak smile. The rest of the boys just stared blankly at Jongin as if he had been acting strange. In response, Jongin avoided eye contact and took a swing of the alcohol in his cup as he picked up his stack of cards. From the corner of his eye he saw Jongdae whisper in Yixing's ear. Jongin thought they were just flirting again, but then Yixing looked straight at him. He was judging; analyzing a lot like Sehun did two months ago. Jongin experienced this feeling before and he hated it. The whisper of the wind returned in his ear but this time it sounded more like a voice, no longer nonsense. Jongin could barely make out the words. He watched as Sehun placed one of his cards down. Another breeze followed another whisper;

Tell them, Jongin.

Jongin’s body froze and he looked at Sehun who had been laughing at a text. Sehun didn’t hear it and neither had the rest of the boys as they all watched Jongdae win- again. Jongin anticipated the eerie phrase, but it never returned. He continued to play cards with an empty beer can placed in front of him and the wind stopped all together. Jongin then noticed someone had left the group; Luhan.