Minho slid the last cardboard box, which had been over-filled with various sorts of clothing until the top bulged, into the trunk of the car he'd been given for his eighteenth birthday, fitting it in between his roll of bedding and another box filled with toiletries.
"Make us proud, son."
Minho wasn't quite sure how to feel about that— what would you call it—request? Demand? Whatever it was, he didn't reply to it, lacking a suitable response. He'd never heard that, or anything of the sort from either of his parents. Had they ever payed attention enough to be proud of him?
"Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad." He would have to admit, he was a little miffed that his sisters weren't there, but it was to be expected. The oldest was working, and seemed to be oblivious to the fact that he was leaving today. He sent her a text, upon realizing she wouldn't be there to say goodbye to him. That was hours ago and she hadn't replied. Nice. Though his second sister was not working, she wasn't outside. She wasn't inclined to get out of bed before the sun was up just to say goodbye to Minho. She offered a brief farewell earlier as she noticed him packing the previous night, and that was all Minho would get from her.
And that was it. He was leaving. He wouldn't be back for about three and a half months. He was saying his last goodbyes to his childhood home, the place where he grew all of his five feet and eight inches. The carpet of his bedroom probably soaked in at least a gallon's worth or two of tears throughout the years, though he hoped that no one would ever know that. The walls were scuffed and filled with thumbtack holes and drawn on in tiny, hard-to-spot places that he alone knew about. The little space between his bed and his wall, the place he would hide when he was afraid or upset, still remained, and he still wondered how his parents never found him in that obvious spot, or maybe it was just that they were never really looking. It was where he brought each kitten he found and declared his own, and brought up to be his closest companions, who where always there to hear anything he had to say.
And he was leaving it all behind. Minho hadn't really stopped to consider it all that much until now- now it really got to him how terrifying this entire situation was. Everything was going to be different and unpredictable, and that weight of that realization finally hit him like a kick to the stomach.
But, in a way, leaving this place behind made him feel like he was freeing himself of a leash that his parents seemed to have put him on, so maybe it wasn't all bad that things were changing.
He tried to swallow his worries as he slammed the trunk shut, then got into the car for a very long, lonely, four-hour ride to a terrifyingly new beginning as the sky began to lighten, and the sun peeked over the trees. All on his own. No decisions to be made for him, and no one but himself to rely on.
He pressed his foot to the gas pedal and left his old world behind.
♡
Four hours of sitting in a car really has a way of thoroughly tuckering you out. However, being tired wasn't much of an option for Minho.
The dormitory was bustling, with new students rushing in and out with carts and arms full of luggage; the parking lot was having its own traffic jams.
With a small stack of boxes piled in his arms and a heavy backpack weighing him down, navigating the crowded corridors of the dormitory was even more difficult than it should've been, and climbing flights of stairs was almost a nightmare. A dramatic sigh of relief fell from his lips when he finally found his room.
With his elbow, he opened the door and slipped inside, setting down his burdens as quickly as he could and reveling in the sudden quiet of his new bedroom that was starkly different from the parking lot, lobby and cafeteria, stairways- even the hallway outside the room. After enjoying his moment of quiet, he realized he wasn't alone.
His new roommate was sitting on the right-side bed, watching him stand, closed-eyed, head against the door. Minho lifted his head when he heard the quiet snickers.
"Hyunjin?" Minho exclaimed, feeling his cheeks go a light pink.
"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise." Hyunjin sat on the bed he'd clearly claimed already, legs crossed, eating a bag of cheetos, looking quite amused.
Minho had to admit, he was relieved to see Hyunjin sitting there (even if he hadn't been Minho's favorite underclassman in high school), instead of some random stranger. It seemed that Hyunjin had not checked who his roommate would be beforehand, either, and was just as surprised as Minho to find out they were together.
"Felix and Jisung are right down the hall, too. Seungmin's the only one that got stuck by himself with some rando."
Minho replied with a short, pensive hum. He wondered how it was going for Seungmin; what kind of person Seungmin be spending his year in the same room as. All he could say was he was glad he wasn't Seungmin.
Despite all the relief pooling in his stomach, still and calm, unlike the anxiety that had been frantically swimming in it before, there still remained nervousness for what would come; how life would now be, away from home and from everything he was used to. His eyes searched his new room, soaking in the scenery, from the white concrete walls to the hard, scratchy brown carpet; the desk that would become his and the third-floor-view window. And then his eyes were back to Hyunjin.
Hyunjin just looked so relaxed. Minho figured he should be, too. He was used to concealing his discomfort, but it was always hard for him to really look convincingly at ease.
Calmly, he sat on the edge of the unclaimed bed. That's how the left side of the room became his. The side with the black curtain which covered the cramped closet, and with the desk by the window. The bed creaked and groaned where he sat. It didn't feel like it was going to be very comfortable. His back was probably going to hurt for the next several months.
꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
