Insomnia ◑ A K-Pop Mafia Story

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Daechul was left speechless as Joshua began strolling toward his family's residence hall. Joshua was her secret treasure from her days of being cooped up and relentlessly trained. Namjoon had hired a company to send a trainer for her but he hadn't known that they would become so close. He hadn't known that Joshua and Daechul would become wrapped up in something that couldn't be. And that was exactly why Joshua had disappeared all those years ago, leaving her alone. She couldn't be angry because she understood that Joshua was only protecting them both.

Ever since he had left her, she had craved someone to love her and to care for her. Thus, the frenzy that had taken place at Bangtan a few years ago with Yoongi, Jimin, and Taehyung. It was all because of him — someone she promised herself to never reveal. But now he was in her life again and in a safe position. She was no longer under Namjoon's watch. Fate seemed to continue tossing the wildest of things at her.

As they entered Seventeen's building, Joshua explained his room situation, "I'm in a room by myself but there's an extra bed. There are sheets in a bin under the bed if you want to use them while you wait for your things to arrive. There's also a bathroom. Since I'm by myself I'll move my things around and make room for you."

"I'm sorry if I'm making more work for you," she apologized.

He shook his head, "Not at all."

Joshua pointed out where everything was, including the structure of the shared rooms. Each room had a small plaque with the names of its occupants hanging next to the door. All of the rooms had two occupants until they reached Joshua's, which only had his name scribbled in chalk.

"This one is mine," he stated, taking a small piece of chalk from a box hanging on the wall. He held it out for her, "And now it's yours too."

Daechul slowly took it, staring at the plaque before scrawling her name onto it.

Room 107
Joshua Hong
Kim Dae Chul

"I'll show you inside," Joshua took the chalk, returning it to its place. Opening the door, he allowed her through first. "This is it. It's nothing extravagant, but there is a lot of room and closet space."

The room was large, clean, and tidy. Two beds sat spaced out on one side of the room and ample closet doors on the opposite. The bathroom was at the far end — opposite the entrance. There was a TV, a few shelves that held books and other objects, and a few potted plants for decoration. Lastly, the wall with the beds was actually more window than anything. Natural light flowed inside.

"It's nice," Daechul concluded, "I like it."

He smiled, "I like things to be neat and orderly. The sheets are under your bed. While you work on that, I'll begin moving some of my things around."

She nodded, "Alright. Sounds good to me."

The two parted ways and tended to their own tasks. While Daechul made her bed, Joshua went into the bathroom and organized his stray objects into his side of the shelves and cabinets. Even though he knew the bathroom was already clean, he couldn't help but make sure the mirror was polished and wipe down the sink and counter. He then moved on to the closet and moved a few hung clothes to his side.

When Seungkwan had switched rooms, Joshua spread his things out a little since the room seemed so empty afterward. But now he had a roommate and he'd have to make room for her things too. He couldn't help being a little excited.

Joshua didn't like having a room to himself all that much. He missed being able to have late-night conversations and watch TV with someone before bed. He also missed waking up to a friendly "good morning" and taking turns watering the plants. It was the small things that made sharing a room enjoyable.

After Daechul had finished with the bed, she found Joshua to offer help. From the looks of it though, he was almost finished. He had just moved the last pair of shirts to his side.

"So which room did Seungkwan move to?" she asked, leaning on the closet door.

He peered up, "Oh, he moved in with Jeonghan a few months ago."

"Do you regularly rotate rooms?"

"Sometimes. It depends if one of us wants to switch rooms," he answered, "And Jeongha had been the one alone in a room for a while so Seungkwan volunteered to move in with him."

"That must be lonely, right?" she asked as they left the closet area and back into the bedroom.

"It is," he sat on his bed, "I miss having Seungkwan as a roommate sometimes but now I have you."

Daechul smiled, "I'll try not to be a disturbance all the time."

"Even if you are, I don't mind."

"Do you have a schedule for this place?"

He nodded, "I'll give you one later. Since it's your first day here you don't have to do much, if anything. But since there are two families here, we take turns with things. NCT has the night shift and Seventeen has the day shift. When we're off duty we have our workout and training sessions. We also run errands whether it be for the family or personal ones. When we're on duty, we go on patrols and any business missions if we have any assigned."

"So will I be sticking to your family's schedule or...?" Daechul inquired. She wasn't sure if she was considered NCT or not because of Doyoung. But if she was staying with Seventeen, it would only make sense to follow their schedule.

"I think you'll be with us," Joshua replied, "Usually the roommates are capo partners and go on assignments together with their group of soldiers. So since we're sharing a room, that should be us now. But NCT may have you go on some assignments with them since that's your brother's family."

"I see. What are the shift hours?"

"The shift hours are from six to six," he explained, "Our shift begins at six in the morning and ends at six in the evening. That's when NCT picks up."

"That's a long shift," she commented.

"Well, we also alternate within our families. As I said, we have capo partners so some of us go on patrols while others go on assignments. We aren't all doing the same thing every day."

"Ah, I understand now."

Joshua chuckled, standing and patting her shoulder, "You should get some rest. I'll come back later to check up on you." With that, he closed the door quietly behind him.

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