During the next handful of weeks, as the summer began to fade out, the temperatures slowly dipped, and the rains came more frequently, Minho often saw Chan walk through the door of the diner, making the bell chime as he marched in with his bright grin and fluffy, curly hair. Today, he brought coffee.
Minho took his fifteen to sit at the counter with him and gulp down a warm caramel macchiato that Chan made special for him, because he didn't like his coffee very sweet.
Chatter flowed between them as lightly as the falling leaves that floated in an easy breeze outside; smooth as the warm caramel running down Minho's throat, because Chan was easy to talk to, and had a habit of putting almost anyone at ease.
Chan reminded Minho of his high school days. The moment he spoke, Minho was back in echo-y school hallways, lugging a textbook-filled backpack on his back as he weaved in-between passing students. As hard as those times were, with all the nights that Minho spent stressing over equations rather than catching up on sleep, it was sorta nice to reminisce about them. Plus, Chan's words were always friendly and sweet. It's hard not to enjoy yourself at least a little while listening to something like that.
Currently, they were talking about college. Minho was quite nervous, though he would never admit it, about what dorm life would end up being. His largest worry was his roommate. What if he got a terrible roommate? Would he spend a year sleeping across from a total creep, someone who hated his guts, or a general annoyance?
So he brought it up, casually, concealing his nerves by putting on fake confidence like cologne. "How's it having a roommate?"
"Depends on the roommate. And the room, honestly. You'll be in a freshman room, so... better have high hopes for the roommate," Chan chuckled. Minho looked a little confused, so he went on. "Freshman rooms aren't as nice."
"Oh. Can you request a specific roommate?"
"Yeah, me and Changbin asked to be roommates last year, but it didn't work out. I dunno why. My roommate was kinda scary... so I ended up taking care of all his trash and laundry because I was too afraid to ask him to do it. And he vaped, like all the time," Chan chuckled. "Sorry, I don't mean to make you anxious."
Minho shrugged. "It's fine. You get what you get, I guess," he muttered, feigning indifference with his nonchalant words. If only that was how he really felt about it.
"Right. Anyway, I'm just glad there's gonna be more people I know this year. It felt like me and Changbin were stranded out there by ourselves. Little bit lonely, 'specially since we didn't get to see each other a ton. Lots of different classes."
"Mhm. Speaking of, has Changbin finally hit that growth spurt he insisted he was gonna have?"
"Nope," Chan laughed. "Still the same."
"Figures."
"I can send you a picture. Or-—actually, I meant to ask you. A couple of the guys from high school are planning on hanging out before college starts. Changbin's gonna be there, so you could see for yourself. Wanna join?"
"I guess so." It sounded nice enough to Minho. After all, wouldn't it be interesting to see some old classmates again?
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