serendipity||choi jiung

one

"oh .. you must be our new roommate," a girl smiled, opening the door for hyejin, "come in. here, let me help you."

the girl helped hyejin with some of her bags and luggages as hyejin walked into the dorm.

it looked just like an apartment, minimalistic with few decorations here and there, but it seemed extremely cozy.

"oh— sorry about all of that," the girl stated, referring to the mess on the sofa, "we have another roommate and he's kind of um .. messy."

"he?"

"yeah .. we have a boy roommate, but honestly, you'll get used to it and he's really fun to be around," she nodded, "but he's not here right now because he has practice for basketball."

"oh my gosh," the girl suddenly spoke, "i'm so sorry .. i'm giselle. sorry i forgot to introduce myself."

hyejin let out a laugh and smiled, "i'm hyejin."

"well hyejin," giselle began, "i can just tell we'll be great friends. now let's get you moved into our room."

"we share a room, but it's quite big, so i think we'll be fine space-wise."
•

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"um i'm currently in the bed on the left, but if you want it, we could switch," giselle stated, "i can help you unpack, but we kind of have class in thirty minutes, so we should start heading there."

"they said that you had the same schedule as me, so you can just come along."

as the two girls left their dorm, they sparked a conversation and giselle got to know more about hyejin.

"so we have this first class which is an hour and a half. then we have half an hour to spare before our next class which is just an hour," giselle explained, "then we have lunch and return for our third class."

"i'm sure you already checked your schedule, but just in case," she stated.
—

"so we have a new addition to our class this semester. hyejin will be joining us starting today and it's her first day back at school in korea, so be kind and help her out."

"now getting back to class," the teacher began, "we'll be starting a project today, so hyejin came just in time. since hyejin is now here, the class evens out, so you will be in a boy and girl pair."

the class began to groan and complain as the teacher proceeded, "i know i know. you won't be able to partner up with your friends this time, but maybe you'll be able to make a new friend through this."

"now let me go ahead and assign your partners before i explain the project."

as the teacher began saying names that were unfamiliar to hyejin, her ears opened to how everyone in the class complained at some point once the project pairs were announced.

"and that leaves hyejin with jiung," the teacher stated, making the room fill with whispers.

"this project is simply called the 'baby project'. you and your partner will both be accountable for taking care of a baby that functions just like a real one. it cries and needs to be fed, but don't worry. we've programmed it so it doesn't do number one or two," the teacher stated.

"now i ask that you please move by your partners and that will be your seat for the remainder of this project. so for the entire semester, this will be your permanent spot."

the entire semester?

whispers and murmurs were heard about how long the project would last as people began moving, hyejin standing in the back not knowing who jiung was.

"hyejin," giselle called, "your partner is over there."

as hyejin walked past giselle to jiung, giselle gave her a friendly smile and whispered, "good luck. you'll need it."

"o-oh .." hyejin nodded before taking the seat.

"now i'll be going around to hand out the things, so please just sit tight," the teacher spoke.

everyone sparked conversations with their partners, but since hyejin was new, she didn't know how jiung was like so she stayed silent.

"where did you come from?" jiung suddenly asked, keeping his gaze forward, "ms. jung said it was your first day back in korean school."

hyejin turned her head to look at him and cleared her throat, "i came from the united states."

"you're american?" jiung asked, turning his head to look back at hyejin.

she blinked and looked away before shaking her head, "i'm fully korean. i was born here too and lived here, but then my family and i moved because they have a business in the states."

jiung nodded his head once in interest before turning his head to look forward.

that wasn't so bad. he seems nice, right?

"hyejin and jiung," the teacher spoke, handing hyejin a folder, "inside the folder are documents about the project that go into more depth."

"as for your baby," she began, "congratulations, it's a girl!"

the teacher handed the hyejin the baby before moving along.

hyejin looked at the baby then at jiung before taking a deep breath and mumbling, "oh boy."