3:44a.m. → taewin

001

3:54a.m.
dorms
— sicheng.

sicheng's still stood in the same place ten minutes later. the stranger in his doorway doesn't seem to care, and is persistent in his unpacking, now stacking his possessions to arrange them in some way. it's almost like he doesn't even realise sicheng is there.

it's getting ridiculous at this point, so sicheng finally speaks up. "um." his voice is shaky and kind of embarrassing. "what are you doing?"

his question appears to attract the attention of the stranger, but not so much that he looks up from his bag. "unpacking." the boy states, like it is the most obvious thing in the world. this is not the answer sicheng had been looking for.

"i can see that." sicheng tries this time, clutching his phone in his hand with a sort of weird urge to call campus security, "but - why are you unpacking?"

"because this is my new dorm."

this is news to sicheng. he's had the dorm to himself ever since he arrived at the university, so someone just walking in and claiming they live there now is just a little unsettling. he's not even been contacted about it by anyone.

sicheng opens his mouth to speak, but he can't find the words to express his confusion. if he could vocalise '???', he would, but unfortunately he's not quite sure how to without sounding like he's dying. instead, he decides to leave the stranger in his doorway to his own devices, disappearing into the kitchen and seeking help from his best friend via text. he can only hope that he's awake at this ridiculous time in the morning.

sichengie
3:56a.m.
yuta

nakayuta
3:56a.m
??

sichengie
3:56a.m
some stranger just walked
into my dorm and started
unpacking his stuff??

sichengie
3:57a.m
what do i do??

yuta takes a little longer than usual to reply, so sicheng pokes his head around the door of the kitchen, just to see that new-dorm-boy is still sorting his stuff into weirdly neat piles. it's unsettling really, how organised he's being. he's being so meticulous about how he's arranging things and he's not even started moving his stuff into his room yet.

sicheng's phone buzzes in his hand right as the stranger looks up, and sicheng darts back into the kitchen to check his message.

nakayuta
3:59a.m
is he drunk?

sichengie
3:59a.m
no... i don't think so

sichengie
3:59a.m
he just said that this is
his new dorm?? but
nobody told me i was getting
roommates

nakayuta
4:00a.m
huh... weird

nakayuta
4:00a.m
do you know his name?

sichengie
4:01a.m
no

nakayuta
4:01a.m
you should probably ask

ah, rational friend yuta. what would sicheng do without him.

putting his phone into his pocket, sicheng leaves the kitchen again and confronts the stranger in his living room. he's stood up by now, some of his stuff gathered into his arms ready to move into the other room. now that he's stood up, sicheng has to admit he's almost intimidatingly pretty with his bleached-white hair and angular face. sicheng almost wants to go back into the kitchen without another word when the stranger's dark eyes settle on him. he has a glare that is really quite unsettling.

sicheng stands his ground anyway, clearing his throat. "um. do you mind telling me your name?" he stumbles over the first couple of words in the sentence because his grasp on korean isn't quite as good as it could be, and the stranger frowns a little. sicheng almost regrets asking.

after an uncomfortably long silence, the stranger speaks again. "lee taeyong." he states, "why?" he almost sounds suspicious. sicheng doesn't know why.

"taeyong." sicheng tests the name on his tongue, liking the way it sounds. "i wanted to know because we're roommates now. nice to meet you anyway, taeyong. i'm dong sicheng." his ever-cheerful personality holds true even now, and he gives taeyong a pleasant smile as he speaks, but taeyong seems... less than impressed.

"i know." is all he says before he's stepping around sicheng to go to his room and put his belongings away, leaving sicheng feeling just a little lost as he stands alone in the middle of the dorm. he stands there, completely immobile, for a good fifteen seconds before he pulls his phone out of his pocket and texts yuta again, skimming through the string of texts yuta had sent him while he was waiting.

nakayuta
4:02a.m
sicheng?

nakayuta
4:02a.m
you've not been kidnapped
right?

nakayuta
4:05a.m
... do i need to call campus
police

nakayuta
4:05a.m
chennie come back

sichengie
4:06a.m
i found out his name

nakayuta
4:06a.m
oh good i thought you
were dead

nakayuta
4:07a.m
what is it??

sichengie
4:07a.m
lee taeyong

for some reason, yuta stops replying there. sicheng assumes it's because he's fallen asleep - it is 4:07a.m anyway - and decides that perhaps he should go to bed also, and just leave taeyong to his unpacking. he'll ask one of the staff in the morning if taeyong is actually supposed to be in his dorm, but for now he's going to finally get some sleep.

as an afterthought when he gets to the door of his room, he figures he should probably... tell his new roommate. "i'm going to bed," he calls across the flat just in case, "shout me if you need anything." he's only met by a barely-audible grunt from the other room in response, but at least he gets one. with a gentle shake of his head, sicheng just enters his room and closes the door, getting changed and finally slipping into bed.

his new roommate seems interesting at most, he muses, but he wouldn't have been sicheng's first choice of roommate, admittedly. he would've chosen someone social and yet studious, not... not this.

but of course, sicheng can't always have what he wants.