CHAPTER SIX
Eye of the Storm

★

͏͏͏͏͏͏⠀⠀If the quadrangle were to be described as the calm before the storm, the girls' boarding house is most certainly the eye of it. Sujin is almost taken aback at the commotion buzzing around all five floors of the large building - girls running up and down the corridors searching for lost bags, reuniting in big bear hugs in between doorways, draped over every couch in the common areas exchanging summer break's juiciest shenanigans.

Jesus, she frowns, what's it take for a girl to be able to catch a break around here?

In the center of the chaos - the eye of the eye of the storm, if you will - is an oak reception desk with a particularly stuck-up-looking woman poised behind it. She looks to be around her late forties, with dark auburn hair chopped at her shoulders and a shade a touch too dark over her beakish lips. She watches over every girl that goes in and out of the main doors with a hawk-like gaze, quick to fire shrill scolds every so often to unlucky passers-by. Sujin squints from her position by the entrance to read the name plaque glinting atop the woman's desk: 'DORM MONITOR'.

The girl's shoulders drop in defeat. This is the person watching over her living area for the next six months? Just kill me already, she grumbles half-heartedly.

Practically dragging the soles of her sneakers along the polished hardwood flooring, Sujin slowly but surely makes her way toward the front desk. The woman's careful eye latches onto her and she scans through the pages of her clipboard as if her life depends on it.

"Han Sujin, correct?" She announces, straight-to-the-point before Sujin even has the time to blink.

Sujin only nods, too drained from her day to offer her a proper response.

"I know every face that comes through these hallways, you know." Sujin never asked, but the woman feels the need to inform her of this fact anyway, "I know a new girl when I see one."

Sujin shoots her a tight-lipped smile that practically screams, "Good for you!" in every way that doesn't actually mean, "Good for you!".

"Mrs Kwak." The dorm monitor introduces herself succinctly, "I run a tight ship here at the girls' dormitory. Matter of fact, I have been for over a decade - and I don't expect that to change any time soon. Certainly not for students like you, Sujin. Follow the rules and-"

"I already got this talk from the Headmistress, thanks." Sujin interjects, growing frustrated with the fact that everybody at this school already seems to know her business.

Mrs Kwak eyes the girl with a less-than-impressed expression. "I've got my work cut out for me," She murmurs under her breath, before spinning around in her chair and rifling through one of the many cabinets behind her desk.

Sujin impatiently raps her fingertips against the desk until the woman fishes out a set of keys. She extends them towards her with a pointed look, "Your curfew is 6pm on weekdays, and 8pm on weekends - subject to flexibility for extra curricular events, of course. Lights out by 10pm every night. And -" Her eyes harden in mention of the last rule, grip tightening on the keys as if battling whether or not to hand them over, "- No boys allowed inside. Ever."

Sujin scoffs, rolling her eyes as she snatches the keys in one swift movement, "Trust me, that's the least of your concerns."

As far as her priorities lie, the biggest bummer out of all those rules is the curfew. Back inside by 6?! She internally groans, this place is a joke.

"You can find the rest of our dorm rules in the handbook." Mrs Kwak finishes, gesturing to her left toward a pair of lifts, "Your room's on the fifth floor."

Sujin nods, wordlessly making her way to the lifts.

A group of girls come pouring out. They look a year or two younger, a flurry of pastel-hued clothing and flowery perfume. She unintentionally catches bits and pieces of their giggly conversation as they brush past - "Oh my god, your skirt is so cute!"; "Have you seen him? He got even cuter over break! How is that possible?!"; "I'm totally calling dibs on all the soccer players this year."; "Bitch, in your dreams!"

Sujin rolls her eyes at the indistinct chatter and steps into the lift, prodding at the '5' button impatiently. She's fully aware that pressing it multiple times does nothing to speed up the machinery, but she still does it anyway.

Much to her relief, the fifth floor is significantly quieter than the lobby. As she steps out of the lift and through the hallways, there's only the sound of quieter talk drifting through the doors of each dorm, interrupted only by the occasional whirring of the coffee machine in the common room.

Finally, she lets out a heavy sigh, some peace and quiet.

Though as she gets closer to her own room - 505, according to the engraving on her keys - she begins to realize that perhaps she'd spoken too soon.

"I know it's in there somewhere! Thief!"

Sujin frowns, pressing her ear to the door curiously.

"Keep your slimy hands off my shit, Riki!"

She stands still with the key half-turned in the doorknob, unsure of whether or not to interrupt the strangers' animated bickering. Ultimately, her tiredness gets the better of her and she flings the door open with a huff.

"I told you to check in the basement before we-"

The sentence is promptly cut short at Sujin's sudden entrance, and she's met with the sight of two people around her age - a girl wearing an exasperated expression, hands scoldingly planted on her hips, and a boy glaring at her as he rifles through a suitcase practically flipped inside-out on the carpeted floor. They share the same jet black hair and soft, yet striking features.

"Oh!" The girl instantly perks up as if she wasn't just mid-argument a second ago, "Hi! Are you my new roommate?"

"Looks like it." Sujin replies with a shrug, carelessly flinging her bag to the opposite corner of the room where her suitcases have been stacked.

"I'm Sora," The girl enthusiastically introduces herself, "Nishimura Sora - and that's my little brother Riki." She flicks her wrist dismissively toward the boy hunched over her luggage.

He spares them a quick glance. "'Sup." He tips his head as some form of a greeting - why do all men do that? - before focussing all of his attention back on searching through the haphazard pile of clothes in front of him.

Sujin bites her tongue to keep from replying with a sour, "Great! Now please get out of my room!". Instead, she opts to give them both the closest thing to a smile she can muster.

"Sorry about him." Sora winces, assuming her brother's presence is the sole reason behind her new roommate's sulky mood, "Mrs Kwak only let him in for ten minutes to help me bring up my stuff, but it's been -" Her eyes dart to the clock mounted above the door, "- Oh my god, half an hour?! Riki, hurry up!"

"It's not my fault I can't find my pump!" He whines, "I'm supposed to meet Jungwon at the soccer field in five minutes - how are we meant to play with a deflated ball?!"

"Firstly, yes - it's very much your own fault." Sora counters, "Secondly, I don't know and I don't care. Shouldn't Won have a pump of his own?"

"But I promised him I'd bring mine!" Riki continues his search with a grumble, now moving on to ransacking his sister's bedside table.

Sujin wordlessly eyes the pair's exchange with raised brows.

"Okay, that's it." Sora leaps forward to seize her brother by the arm, dragging him away from her belongings, "I'm not letting you turn this place upside-down over a stupid little soccer thing that's probably collecting dust back home right now! Go back to your own room and sulk over there!"

"Stupid little soccer thing?!" Riki repeats incredulously, "It's the newest model! The boys are gonna freak when they see it!"

"It's a ball pump." Sora deadpans.

"You wouldn't get it." Riki crosses his arms over his chest dramatically before adding in a matter-of-fact tone, "Plus, Won says it's a need."

"Of course he does." Sora rolls her eyes, "What, would you jump off a bridge if Jungwon said the water's nice and cool down there?"

Riki blinks a couple times, "Yes-"

Sora groans and drags him to the door, nudging him out with an elbow. "Raid the fridge or something, shoo!" She tuts, "I have to talk to my new roommate, who you've probably just annoyed into hating me already! Thanks a lot for that, by the way."

Riki disappears through the threshold with a mischievous giggle, and Sora presses the door shut with a sigh.

"Sorry about him. Again." She apologizes sheepishly.

"Whatever." Sujin redirects her gaze to the floor with a passive shrug.

Sora doesn't miss the cold tinge in the girl's reply, and her brows furrow in mild confusion. What's her problem? The last thing she needs is a roommate she can't get along with.

The Nishimura girl clears her throat awkwardly in an attempt to spark a conversation, "Uh... I didn't get your name."

"I never gave it to you." Sujin states dryly, making Sora's frown deepen. Sujin eyes her with an unreadable expression before flopping backward onto the bed with a grunt. She pauses for a second, then murmurs an actual answer at the ceiling - "Han Sujin."

Sora nods slowly, completely unsure of what to do next. Sure, she's had her share of reserved roommates over the past three years at Darisan - but none quite like this. Something about the girl in front of her gives her the idea that she's about to spend the next six months sleeping under the same roof as a ticking bomb.

"So, like, what's the deal with this place?" Sujin blurts out all of a sudden, much to both of the girls' surprise, "They stick ten foot poles up all your asses or something?"

Sora quirks a brow, "What do you mean?"

"Nothing." Sujin murmurs, absentmindedly tracing patterns into the bed linen. When Sora has no reply, she decides to continue with greater conviction, "I just had some douchebag yell at me across the quad over a lawn maintenance sign... A lawn maintenance sign - can you believe it? Walking around like he owns the damn place... the audacity! I haven't even been in the country over a few hours and I'm already getting shit over the stupidest things!"

She feels a familiar rage start to resurface in her belly as she reminds herself of the incident.

Stupid lawn. Stupid boy with his stupid sense of entitlement and stupidly fluffy hair.

"Ah," Sora hums with an all-knowing, bemused type of smile. There's only one person on campus she knows who would make a fuss over something as miniscule as that - "So you've met Jake."

Sujin stares back at her blankly, which the older girl takes as encouragement to continue.

"Tall, dark hair, shiny badge... devastatingly gorgeous?" Sora lists these characteristics as if they're universally-known truths, even going as far as to exaggeratedly press the back of her hand to her forehead in mock-adoration at the last part.

Sujin scoffs, "Does he have you on his payroll or something?"

Sora lets out a loud laugh at that. "Nah," She grins, "Just Darisan's entire population wrapped around his finger. Student Body President... top of the Honor Roll... captain of the soccer team... has probably never sinned a day in his life - you know the type. "

Sujin feels her eyes roll to the back of her skull.

Of course she knows the type. It just so happens to be the one copy-and-pasted across every nightmare idea of prestigious schools she's ever had. The type who grew up with everything spoonfed to them on a silver platter. The type to think they've got the whole world in the palm of their hands. The type her mother loves; and the type she absolutely hates.

"Yeah." Sujin lets out a huff, "I don't think we're talking about the same guy, though - this one had blonde hair."

Not that it makes any difference, she thinks, one privileged asshole is just as bad as any other.

Sora cocks her head to the side, silently pondering this new piece of information. If not Darisan's esteemed golden boy, who could this mystery guy be?

"I mean, Jake did dye his hair over the summer."

The two girls whip their heads around in unison to see Riki prance back into the room with a bag of chips - one that he most definitely just swiped from the girls' kitchen - in hand. He snacks on a couple with a clueless look on his face, seeing as he just joined in to whatever part of the conversation he heard through the door without thinking twice.

Mystery solved.

"Blonde, huh?" Sora muses, "That's a change."

"Right?" Riki adds with a laugh, "Sunghoon's been calling him Malibu Ken all week!"

"Ha! Typical."

Losing interest in the new topic of conversation all too quickly, Sujin drowns out the siblings' casual chatter and resorts to wordlessly staring up at the ceiling.

Until the door opens yet again with another distinctive Whoosh!

Oh, come on. She instantly sours, shooting up to face the intruder with a scowl. Do these people know nothing about privacy?!

Said intruder happens to be another boy - so much for Mrs Kwak's number one rule - who looks to be around Riki's age as well. He looks awfully friendly, Sujin thinks immediately, and she wonders whether it's all a facade hidden under glittery eyes and dimpled cheeks.

"Sorry." He scratches the back of his neck bashfully upon seeing the girl's irritated expression. He also realizes he's never seen her before, so he offers his name as some sort of peace offering - "Yang Jungwon. Nice to meet you, uh... Sora's new roommate."

Charming, Sujin drawls to herself sarcastically.

"That's Sujin." Sora pipes in helpfully, jumping to her feet, "And what are you doing here?"

"Picking Riki up." Jungwon replies in a 'Duh' tone.

"Well, hurry up with it!" Sora urges, "Before Mrs Kwak catches you both and burns you at the stake."

There's a certain seriousness in her eyes that makes the two boys burst into fits of laughter.

"You're so dramatic, Sora." Jungwon rolls his eyes, "Mrs Kwak allowed me up here. Pays off being in her good books, you know."

"And every other staff member's too." Riki adds with a playful jab at his friend's ribs, "Did someone say teacher's pet?"

Sora side-eyes Sujin with a knowing look. Another one of that type.

Sujin purses her lips. Noted.

"We should get going now," Jungwon chuckles, shooting the girls an earnest smile, "See you guys around!"

"Wait! I'll come with you," Sora swiftly fixes a bucket hat atop her silky hair, "I have to drop by the main building anyway."

"Cool." Riki shrugs, holding the door open for his sister to fly through.

Her head pops back in for a split second, "Oh - you should come with me, Sujin! I can give you a little tour of the grounds while we're down there too!" And her eyes are glimmering with something comparable to hope. Another peace offering.

Unfortunately, Sujin doesn't quite seem to share the sentiment.

"I'm good, thanks."

"Ouch." Riki comments unhelpfully, earning a slap on the arm from both Sora and Jungwon.

"I'll see you later tonight then." Sora recovers, cheeriness unwavering, "Rest well!"

"Later, Sujin!"

"It was nice meeting you!"

And the door shuts behind the trio with a click.

Sujin lets out a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding.

Finally, after almost a full day of nonstop traveling and getting settled into the school, she has a chance to rest. The girl curls herself deep beneath the covers, feeling the crisp coolness of the linen swallow her whole.

She faintly remembers telling Heeseung she'd call him again this afternoon. And the hundreds of pages of rules waiting to be read in the depths of her discarded bag. But everything around her grows fuzzy, and her eyelids are heavy, and she feels her head begin to sink deeper into the pillow.

Fine, she gives in silently, just a couple hours.

And she's out like a light in no time.

SAGE'S SPACE! 🗯️

another long chapter sorry 😔🤚 ... or not sorry, depending on how you feel about them <3 i started writing this chapter with such a specific vision in mind and i'm actually so pleased with how it turned out !!! i love sora so much honestly like that's best girl 💕💗💓💝💖💘 and the nishimuras are gonna carry this book on their backs, just saying. i can't wait for you to get to know and grow as attached to all these imaginary beings as i am 😭💔

til next time,
sage ♡