Jongin really, truly hated his roommates. He knew for a fact that they hated him, too. He’d tried to be nice to them, to become friends, but they had just scoffed at him and pushed him away, literally. After a few more pushes and some cruel words, Jongin had started to hate them. The only thing he didn’t know was why. Why did they hate him so much?

“Maybe they blame us for dad,” his older brother suggested, “he’d not exactly an easy person to love. Or like. Especially when you aren’t a wolf like him.”

“Dad can’t be that bad,” Jongin rolled his eyes, but he knew that his words were a lie.

He’d grown up seeing how their father treated Jongdae. He knew for a fact that his father had hated Jongdae more than words could cover. Once, when Jongin was four, their father had gotten very angry at Jongdae and hit him several times in full view of the servants who just watched like it was a common occurrence, like the sun rising every morning, and nothing to worry about. His mother later admitted that it had happened before and that Jongdae had begged her not to get involved for fear of getting her beaten as well.

That changed when Jongdae had his first change. Suddenly, their father started showering Jongdae with praise, making a point of showing the eldest son off when before he’d never willingly admit to being Jongdae’s father in public or at home. Jongdae and Jongin’s mother were both clearly worried by this change. It was around that point in time that his mother started trying to talk their father into sending the boys to Dark Lake. It had taken a while, but eventually the older werewolf had agreed. Jongdae was happy, but Jongin wasn’t sure.

Now, his older brother was enjoying everything the school had to offer. Jongin? No so much.

“Are you alright?” Jongin looked up to see a female shifter looking down at him with concern.

“I’m fine,” he sighed, “I’m used to it.” Meaning his roommates – as well as their friends – pushing him around no matter where they were. The cafeteria, the halls, his dorm, or the library.

“You shouldn’t be,” said a fae who was standing beside the shifter, frowning deeply, “you’re so sad.”

“We’re going to go eat,” another fae offered, “do you want to join us?”

“Really?” Jongin raised an eyebrow, wondering if the three girls were joking.

“Yes,” the shifter nodded, “I’m Sori. This is Hyuna and Yuri.” She pointed to the first fae and then the second.

“I’m Jongin.”

--

“I don’t think that Jongin is a fitting name,” Hyuna frowned, looking Jongin over before turning to look at Jongdae and Minseok, “or your names.”

“Huh?” the older werewolf blinked in confusion, as did Minseok. Kai just looked at Hyuna with curiosity, wondering what she was going to say next.

After Jongin had joined Sori and her group, Hyuna had seen fit to invite Jongdae and Minseok. It wasn’t long before the two werewolves and the lone vampire had become permanent fixtures at the table that before only had Sori, Kris, Yuri, Hyuna, Hyoyeon, and Jessica.

“You need nicknames,” Hyuna explained, “like Kris and Jess.”

“Don’t bring me into this,” the dragon sighed.

“It’s not a nickname,” Jessica frowned, “it’s as much my name as my Korean name.”

“But we’re in Korea,” Hyuna argued, “You should be using your Korean name. Not the one you got while you lived in America.”

“I lived there for most of my life,” Jessica replied, slowly growing annoyed, “I’m used to being called Jessica. You can’t blame me for using it now.”

“Hush,” Sori finally said, shushing both the fae and the shifter, “what kind of nicknames do you have in mind for them?”

“Well,” Hyuna smiled before launching into an explanation of why Jongdae should be called Chen, Minseok be called Xiumin, and Jongin called Kai. The others all ended up agreeing and Jongin – now Kai – felt a sence of belonging. He belonged there, with Sori and the others, and at Dark Lake in general. He’d never felt that much belonging at home.

A/N: poor Kai, good thing Sori was there to ring him in to her group. Remember, i'm taking next week off, but i'll be back the week after that