Night | NCT

Your Own Place

Being new to an already established group is never fun, Shotaro can attest to that. It can be hard, trying to fit yourself into a group of friends that are already close. Shotaro was lucky that the other boys were so welcoming, otherwise, he would have definitely struggled.

So when Taeyong asked if he could help with a girl that was joining the Academy as a senior like he did, Shotaro was more that eager to help.

"You'll be okay, right?" Taeyong asked. Shotaro nodded his head, giving his hyung a smile.

How hard can it be?

...

For some reason, Shotaro felt nervous as he stood outside the school in his uniform, the Upper School red blazer over his dress shirt with grey pants.

It's just a girl, no big deal, Shotaro told himself but it was a bit more than that.

Typically, these things would be given to the members that had been at the Academy longer, but for since the girl would be going through the same scenario he went through, Taeyong had decided to assign Shotaro instead. So to Shotaro, this was his first big mission.

Is it really a mission though? Shotaro thought but before he could answer it, Jiwoo was coming out of the female dorms with a girl that Shotaro had never seen before but was wearing the Lower School uniform, a white headband in her hair.

"So those were the female dorms." Jiwoo said, giving Shotaro a gave. The male immediately smiled, waving back. "And this is Shotaro, and Upper School junior like me. He'll be showing you around and you can go to him if you have any questions or want advice."

"Hello." Shotaro said, politely sticking his hand out for a handshake. His eyes widened as he realized he was shaking but the girl didn't seem to notice as she took it, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you Shotaro. My name is Aeri, Baek Aeri." The girl said, giving him a soft smile.

"Anyways, I'll let him show you around before classes start, I need to rush and prepare for my lab." Jiwoo said with a grin. "Best of luck."

The two watched as Jiwoo entered the school before Shotaro turned to Aeri.

"I guess I'll start showing you around then." Shotaro said, putting his hands that were still shaking in his pockets and smiling.

"Sure." Aeri said, following him up the steps of the school.

...

Aeri seemed to be a nice person, soft spoken and polite as she followed Shotaro through the school. This may seem like a good thing but for Shotaro, it was the opposite.

In comparison to Haechan and Renjun, Shotaro was on the quiet side as well, so there were many times where he would try to continue the conversation but didn't know how. The two ended up walking quietly down the halls, and Shotaro was getting frustrated, feeling like he wasn't being a good guide for the girl.

"Um, why don't we head to the training area?" Shotaro suggested, leading the girl to the dome where the students were gathering for their morning training before classes.

"Sure." Aeri said quietly, following Shotaro.

Shotaro bit his lip, debating on whether to ask a question about what Aeri liked to do in her spare time but before he could gain the confidence to say the words out loud, he heard someone call Aeri's name and looked up to see Mark.

"Mark!" Aeri called back, surprising Shotaro as the girl ran over and gave Mark a high-five.

Is she a wizard?