"what do you think?" jaemin asked, raising up a poster of the popular boy group, nct. "not bad," donghyuck complimented as he added his own touch of 'home' to his part of the room. most of their other dorm mates had already come in, but they hadn't really greeted each other yet aside from exchanging a short hello. 

   donghyuck learned that the other three boys in their room were named, siwoo, yangyang, and yejun. based off of the name, he quickly realized that yangyang wasn't korean and somehow that felt exciting to him. there was already mark, but now there was yangyang too. donghyuck had always wanted to travel the world and make new friends but never got the opportunity to. while having foreign friends in korea was nothing compared to going to other countries and meeting new people in their respective countries, he felt content with the situation and decided to treasure it.

   jaemin already knew everyone in their room, but they weren't exactly friends. while everyone unpacked, mark laid on his bed with his eyes closed. he had put his guitar away when more and more people came in so that he wouldn't disturb their peace. donghyuck had many questions about why he looked so down or why he had gotten there so early, but he decided to wait for the right time to ask them.

   "students, please go to the cafeteria for dinner," the announcement sounded throughout their room. donghyuck heaved a sigh of relief. he was starving, and he couldn't wait to taste what the food was like. before applying for the school, he heard a great deal about the homey foods, so he had been looking forward to it. 

   he and jaemin met up with jeno in the hall and the trio walked to the cafeteria together. they lined up with a tray in hand and discussed where they wanted to sit. the line moved fairly quickly and before he knew it, donghyuck was being served cream soup and a warm roll with butter. he received a glass cup from the staff and poured himself a generous amount of orange juice. the food smelled good and almost like a home cooked meal. i guess people weren't exaggerating when they talked about the meals here, he thought to himself. he wondered what it must've been like to have a family member cook him a warm meal. every decent meal that he had eaten when he lived with his family had been cooked by himself. not once did they cook him a proper meal. 

   "let's sit over there," jaemin pointed towards a more secluded area. together, they walked to the vacant table and set their trays down. donghyuck sat across from jeno and jaemin with an empty seat next to him. "mark!" jeno called suddenly. the cafeteria was noisy and pretty stuffed so only a few people heard, but donghyuck watched as the blonde turned around and stared at jeno expectantly. 

   "come sit with us," jaemin offered. mark seemed like he was weighing his options before he started walking over and slid into the seat next to donghyuck. "hey guys," he greeted, eyes meeting donghyuck's for a brief second. "did you stay here over break again?" jeno asked. donghyuck noticed that the way jeno spoke to mark made him look really comfortable with him. "yup," mark sighed, "i'll let you know if that ever changes."

   donghyuck was surprised to hear that mark had spent a little over two months alone in the junior's floor. "didn't you get lonely?" donghyuck heard himself asking before he could stop himself. he knew that he and mark weren't anything more than acquaintances, so he felt like he was digging in someone else's business where he didn't belong.

   mark didn't seem to mind as he didn't even bat an eyelash at the question. "yeah, but i'm used to it," he explained. he dipped his spoon into his cream soup before bringing it up to his lips and drinking it. donghyuck then noticed that everyone was already eating, and he had yet to touch his food. he tore off a piece of his bread and dipped it in the soup before putting it in his mouth and chewing slowly. it was without a doubt delicious.

   "mark stays here every break. he doesn't really go home," jaemin looked at mark with pity. donghyuck wanted to asked why, but he didn't feel like crossing the line on the first day that he met the male. especially if they would be sharing a room and a bunk bed.

   donghyuck felt mark's eyes on him, so he ate his food to avoid eye contact. "you can ask why, you know. i don't mind," mark told him as if he knew exactly what donghyuck was thinking. donghyuck thought he was annoyed with him for a second, so he was greatly relieved when he heard the reassuring words coming out of mark's mouth. "well... why then?" he asked cautiously.

   "my parents are too busy managing a company to take care of me for a couple of months, so i just stay here twenty-four seven, three hundred sixty-five days a year," he stated bluntly. donghyuck nodded, not quite sure of what to say. "i'm sorry," he mumbled. "don't be sorry. it's not your fault anyway," he continued to eat.

   the rest of the meal was mostly just jaemin ranting about how his summer break was good until they went over to visit family that lived in the country side, and he couldn't use wifi for about two weeks. jeno kept trying to make jokes that weren't funny, and mark added his own comments now and then. meanwhile, donghyuck remained quiet and took small spoonfuls of soup when he realized that he was in the dining hall where he was meant to eat.

   the sound of jaemin setting his glass of iced americano in front of donghyuck brought him back to reality where jeno, jaemin, and mark were all staring down at him. "are you okay? you zoned out for a while," mark waved a hand over donghyuck's face.

   as if he was being woken up for the first time in a while, donghyuck dropped the spoon that was in his hand into the cream soup. it splattered a bit but it wasn't too serious. he froze in place as he looked down. "sorry, i don't usually zone out so much," he rubbed his nape. jeno passed him a tissue which he used to clean the small mess he made.

   "jeez, if we were that boring you could've just told us," jaemin chuckled lightly. donghyuck shook his head, "i just need some time to settle in." he winced at the tension in his voice. even to his ears, he sounded like he was lying. mark eyed him up and down skeptically without a word. the feeling of being looked at by someone who he didn't really know gave him goosebumps.

   was he judging him?

   jeno cleared his throat, "since we're all done eating, we should probably head back to the dorm rooms. i haven't finished unpacking yet and i want to be done by tonight." mark nodded his head, "i wanna catch some sleep."

   like that, they returned to the dorm rooms, leaving donghyuck with no more time to feel insecure. though he didn't miss the way the three of them shared an evil smile with each other.

---

   "donghyuck," the feeling of being shaken in the middle of the night woke the said male. donghyuck rolled on his side, pulling the bed sheets over his shoulders while his eyes remained closed. "five more minutes," he mumbled, hoping that the intruder would go away.

   "get up, quickly!" the sheets were ripped off of him, and he whimpered at the sudden coldness. reluctantly, he opened one eye and waited for his eye to adjust. based on the darkness of the room, it was still nighttime. perhaps late into the night, or very early morning. either way, he had no clue why he was being woken up.

   he focused on the figure staring down at him as his other eye fluttered open. "jaemin? what's going on?" his voice was raspy and dry, causing him to really want some water. the younger quickly put a hand over donghyuck's mouth to quiet him. "put on some clothes and hurry up! almost everyone is already waiting," jaemin whisper shouted.

   although he was extremely confused, donghyuck listened and carefully picked out some denim jeans and a simple white t-shirt. as he was removing his shirt, he noticed that all the beds were empty and aside from jaemin, mark was still there.

   he blushed when he realized that mark was leaning on the door and staring at him. turning his back to mark, he resumed and finished quickly. "where are we going?" he asked when jaemin tugged on his arm.

   "ready?" mark's hair was messy but still manged to look good. by the looks of it, he was dressed in all black. the simple accessory of a necklace with a ring on it highlighted the look. 

   "yeah, let's go," jaemin pulled donghyuck along behind him while mark led the way through the dark hallways. donghyuck huffed upon being ignored but followed nonetheless. mark eventually stopped walking and donghyuck noticed that they were in the main hall. he saw a group of other boys their age talking quietly amongst themselves. "is everyone here?" mark asked.

   someone who donghyuck didn't recognize, nodded there head after quickly glancing around at the crowd of teenagers. shortly afterwards, the group of people silently slipped outside of the school gates. donghyuck could tell how giddy everyone was as a lot of them were whispering excitedly to each other.

   "what's going on?" donghyuck asked again, leaning towards jeno who they had managed to find within the crowd. "you'll see," he smirked mysteriously. donghyuck rolled his eyes. no matter who he asked, no one would tell him what was going on and it was really getting on his nerves. 

   he crossed his arms and kept quiet the rest of the way. "jaemin-ah," mark tapped him on the shoulder. jaemin turned to him and waited for him to speak. "have you told him yet?" he asked, nudging his head in donghyuck's direction.

   told me what?

   jaemin shook his head with a grin. mark smiled too, "good, it's more fun this way." "everyone gather around," a tall male with brown locks waved everyone over. he seemed to be older than everyone else but donghyuck couldn't be sure.

   since the four were already directly next to the male who had just spoken, they didn't have to worry about moving. "hey," mark gave a bro hug to him and spoke in english. donghyuck was curious about what their relationship was, but he didn't want to intrude and ask.

   the other teenagers quickly settled down and the tallest began speaking. "for those of you who don't know, i'm johnny suh," everyone cheered and donghyuck then noticed how close and friendly everyone seemed. only a few people stood out. he figured that they were new just as he was before wondering whether he was viewed in the same way that he had just viewed them.

   "ten," johnny called. the person who donghyuck assumed was ten stepped out from behind him holding bottles of alcohol. donghyuck froze while everyone cheered again. even jaemin who was next to him was cheering. johnny continued talking and soon, girls from the boarding school a little over showed up in skimpy skirts and clothes.

   it didn't take long before a party was full in swing and donghyuck was secretly panicking inside. if his parents found out about what was happening, there was no way that they'd let him stay there. in fact, although they were the ones who brought up the idea of donghyuck studying at a boarding school, as soon as donghyuck agreed, they began setting up many conditions and rules for it. at that moment, donghyuck knew he needed to get out of there.

   "jaemin, what's going on?" he gripped the brunette's arm tightly. jaemin was laughing and moving with the music that was playing from a set of speakers that someone had brought. "it's an opening party that we have once a year. fun, right?" he giggled. 

   donghyuck sighed when he noticed a cup of alcohol in jaemin's hand. he pushed passed the drunk male and walked through the crowd, trying to find anyone else that he recognized. a red solo cup was handed to him, and he rolled his eyes, dropping it. the contents of the drink sloshed onto the grass beneath his feet, but he couldn't care less. his eyes scanned the crowd and landed on a certain blonde. donghyuck was tempted to ask them—mark—for help, but he didn't want to disturb him as he was making out with another girl.

   he frowned in defeat, taking one step backwards. misplacing his foot, he bumped into something solid and firm. he turned on his heel to see jeno looking at him. "jeno!" he threw himself at the older, wrapping his arms around his neck.

   "i literally left to get a drink for two seconds, did you miss me that much? are you drunk?" jeno asked. donghyuck could tell that he wasn't joking but rolled his eyes anyway. "was is that hard to tell me that this school secretly throws a party on the first day of school every year?"

   jeno laughed, he was definitely amused. donghyuck glared at him but jeno's laughter didn't subside. "your face is red," he managed to say through it all. the younger slapped him on the shoulder before he calmed down. "okay, okay," jeno finished laughing but his eyes remained in the form of crescents. "you want to go back to the dorms but you don't know how to get there, right?" donghyuck nodded.

   "see that guy over there?" he pointed at a ravenette with an annoyed expression on his face. "yeah...," donghyuck was curious as to where the conversation was going.

   "his name's doyoung, he's in the same year as johnny hyung and ten hyung. i'm assuming that he's probably going to head back to the dorms soon since he's not much of a party person. go ask him to walk you back in a few minutes or if you see him start to leave," jeno instructed. "got it," donghyuck nodded. 

   jeno was nice enough to stay with him in the crowd of busy and sweaty bodies before donghyuck said goodbye and approached 'doyoung'.

   "hi," donghyuck waved politely at doyoung who was leaning against a tree trunk. doyoung nodded his head at him but didn't speak a word. "um, i'm a friend of jeno's, this is my first year here and i was hoping you could take me back to the dorms."

   doyoung eyed him up and down for a moment, seemingly in thought. "jeno...," he hummed before giving a weak smile. "sure."

-----

word count: 2496

since it's the beginning of the book, updates will happen quicker than usual. i hope you guys are enjoying this!!

✎ ---- dreaminghyuck⤾