Through The Blinds | Skz

Chapter 1 - Changbin

First chapter released!!! 🎉🎉 hooray! This one has no TW so you can read comfortably ☺️ this story is going to flip between the first person perspectives of Changbin (below) and Bangchan~
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It didn't really hit me until I parked my car in front of the university dorm building that I wasn't going back home for a long time. The feeling was a mix of relief and fear. Even though my relationship with my parents has always been virtually nonexistent, knowing I don't have the familiarity of my life with them gave me anxiety about the future.

I gathered my boxes from my car, walked up the sidewalk and noticed the long metal staircase that wrapped around the outside of the building. It connected all the dorm rooms together with platforms at each door. The place was all exposed brick and historic embellishments, laced with ivy. I'm not really one to have much opinion on architecture, but seeing the rustic design gave me a cozy feeling I appreciated.

The dorm village I was staying in consisted of six buildings all connected to a mid-size parking lot. The whole campus was surrounded by forest, my dorm village was no exception. It had three girls buildings and three boys buildings each with five floors, things weren't packed too tightly though since the old college campus had many little dorm villages surrounding the main buildings. It was private and remote, but old streetlights were placed along the roads, providing some guide around the confusing campus.

I only had a few boxes, but the climb up the rusty stairs was still a chore. I work out a lot, so the actual physical strain wasn't the problem. The stairs were very narrow and made worrying noises when I set too much weight on a stair. The fact that the whole thing was all outside with only a rail to keep you from falling off added to the tension. I carefully stepped up the stairs, keeping my eyes on my feet to keep from slipping. I was worried I might bump into someone since the stairs were so narrow, but I was able to make it to my dorm without running into anyone. It was almost eerie how quiet the building felt.

I pulled out the key to my dorm, number 126, and maneuvered the boxes in my hand so I could unlock the door. I clamored into the room, sighing as the door slid closed behind me. The room I walked into wasn't large, barely enough room for more than a desk and bed for me and my roommate. A large window across from the door showed the diverse trees of the surrounding forest, and a direct view of the parking lot. The room itself had dark wood floors and off white walls, a bed and desk on each side, and a light in the center of the ceiling. The place looked and smelled old, it was comforting.

I set my boxes on the right side of the room, and unpacked the few things I bothered to bring with me. One box, the largest, was just my clothes and hygiene products. I'd never been into fashion much so it was a lot of the same outfits in different colors and workout clothes. The other two boxes were mid size, one had all my books and my laptop for college, the other had some miscellaneous things from home. A couple old pictures and the materials for my cork board sat on top.

It was a large cork board with pins and string I had gotten from my friends in my hometown when they found out I was going be a detective. We had been fairly close, but I didn't see myself keeping much contact with anyone back home now. I pulled out the board and set it on my bed, I felt lost in all the freedom that had been dumped on me. Before I could get too spaced out though, I heard the door handle turn.

"Hey, is someone here?" A male voice asked calmly, I heard a soft footstep on the wood floor.

I instinctively jumped to my feet and turned around, moving to a quick offensive stance. I was met with a mildly surprised young guy with short, black hair holding a large blue duffle bag stepping tentatively into the room. He had bright eyes, and seemed pretty fit. He was dressed preppy, I don't know a lot about brands but everything he had on was clearly expensive.

I relaxed my stance and sighed, "Hey sorry about that, muscle memory."

The guy in the doorframe blinked at me before relaxing his face and stepping the rest of the way inside. "No- urg- it's fine, I'm s-still getting used to campus and I wasn't expecting my roommate to be here already."

He pulled his bag in the door, which seemed pretty heavy as he set it down with a huff. I hadn't noticed while he was in the doorway, but he was pretty tall, at least a few inches more than me. He put his hands on his knees and breathed heavily, smiling awkwardly at me while he caught his breath.

"T-the stairs." He motioned behind him to the rusty trek to our room. "I'm not used to climbing so much."

"Yeah I got worried whenever the metal would creak- the railing is horrible." I tried to sympathize and ignore his breathing so it wasn't uncomfortable for him.

"Name?" He stood up and walked closer, still breathing a bit heavy, but he seemed much better. I noticed he had full mouth braces on his teeth, it added to his preppy schoolboy look.

"I'm Changbin, Criminal Justice major."

"Oh cool, I'm Seungmin, I'm taking computer science." He ran his hand through his bangs, "Would you mind helping me carry my bags up here? You seem like you lift a lot."

"Of course, how much do you have?"

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Me and Seungmin remained pretty awkward for the first couple hours we unpacked and set up our room, but we surprisingly got along really well.

"Yeah my parents never really taught me how to cook..." Seungmin mentioned.

"Hahaha me neither, I can make basic stuff but I've never cooked anything all that complicated." I replied, we were sitting on the floor of our dorm eating burritos we Doordashed after lugging all Seungmin's boxes up the rickety stairs.

"We had a chef who cooked everything for us so I never really had a reason to cook for myself." Seungmin continued, he told me how his parents own a pretty big tech company and he grew up really well off. No surprise to me based on his clothes and the fact he owned a luxury car at nineteen.

"What made you decide to go to a remote college like this?" I asked between bites of burrito, "I would have thought someone from a family like yours would go to an Ivy League or something."

"Long story, basically I'm in exile." He shrugged while taking a bite of his burrito. "I don't really mind, I just want to enjoy my time away at this point."

"Haha relatable." I melancholically laughed and continued eating, maybe me and Seungmin were pretty similar. "I'm glad to get away too, don't worry I won't pry."

"Thanks." He replied, the mood had become kinda dark, I didn't feel like we were close enough to get much deeper, Seungmin was pretty calm so I wasn't worried about becoming close over time.

We ate our burritos in silence, mutually agreeing to work separately. I peeked at Seungmin from my side of the room while he typed on his computer, textbook open. His serious expression while he worked was inspiring.

I turned to my computer and got my materials arranged for my first day of class tomorrow. It was nerve wracking, and exciting thinking about navigating and going to class. But somehow I was still able to fall asleep in my new bed with my new corkboard hung above me on the wall.

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First chapter complete! \^0^/ I had no clue what major to give Seungmin...so I guess he's a computer geek 🤷 I based this campus loosely off one I saw on the news one time because someone went missing there. Also I know this dialogue is really awkward...I'm still learning how to write ok 😭😭

See you tomorrow 🫡