Chapter Text
College is scary. Especially for someone who hates change. Change is a natural part of life that occurs every day, and yet Taehyung couldn’t stand it. It kept him up at night thinking that he would have to move into his dorm the next morning. He tried to convince himself that it wouldn’t be that bad and that he could handle it. His only saving grace was his best friend, Jimin, who was going to the same college as him. They were excited to finally get a chance to live together and be independent, but Taehyung was getting cold feet. It was the night before and he knew he couldn’t back out now, so he was left with an anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach the entire night that kept him from falling asleep. Sleepless nights became a regular occurrence throughout the summer with this move-in day looming in the back of his mind. So Taehyung went through the routine he developed to prevent his mind from divulging into his anxiety.
He tip-toed through his pitch black house to the kitchen where he attempted to silently make some tea. He took the bag of mint tea out of the pantry and left the door cracked with the light on in order to dimly illuminate the rest of the kitchen. After stealthily grabbing his favorite mug from the cabinet, he turned his Keurig on to wait until it preheated. The water began to drip out of the nozzle and into the mug and tea bag waiting below. As soon as he could smell the mint aroma loft through the kitchen, he felt his whole body relax. He would have to make sure to bring some to college if he was going to get through this next year.
Once he successfully maneuvered his way through the dark house and up to his room, he lit the candle sitting on his bedside table. It was his favorite candle ever and smelled like the epitome of relaxation: goji berry. It may be a weird scent to think of as relaxing, but it helped him sleep so he didn’t question it. Within minutes of sipping his tea and inhaling the scent of goji berries Taehyung’s eyelids start to feel heavier and heavier and he slipped into a deep sleep.
He is rudely awoken the next morning my Jimin jumping on his bed like a child. Taehyung immediately notices the outfit he is wearing,
“Good morning, Chim. I see you are trying to make a good first impression on all the college boys.” He added a little eyebrow wiggle to tease his hyung.
Jimin was wearing a loose, button-up burgundy shirt untucked from his tight black skinny jeans and black combat boots. It was definitely accessorized more than his usual outfits as well, which gave him away. Jimin smiled slightly, more embarrassed than flattered by Taehyung pointing it out. But Jimin turned to Taehyung with a stern look and owned up to his appearance,
“First impressions are important, Tae, and I am trying to put myself out there this year. I figure I’d better dress the part of a mysterious, sexy dance-major.”
“Ok, ok fine. But don’t think you’ll be raiding my closet to complete any of your ensembles,” Taehyung quipped before getting out of bed and jumping on Jimin as payback.
After they had gotten their giggles out, Jimin wasted no time asking Taehyung what he suspected from his exhausted state,
“So, how are you feeling? Did you get any sleep last night?” Jimin always seemed to know exactly what was eating away at his best friend, even when Taehyung didn’t know himself.
“Eh,” he shrugged, looking at the floor before meeting Jimin’s eyes, “I had to break out the tea at 1 am, so at least that’s earlier than last week. I’ll be fine, though, hyung. How about you? Weren’t you scrambling to finish the roommate form before the deadline?” Taehyung had become pretty good at deflecting when he didn’t feel like having a full conversation about his anxiety-inducing feelings.
“Well, it took me about ten years,” Jimin groaned and laid back on the bed with a huff, “but I finally finished it like two minutes before the deadline.” Taehyung looked at him with surprise and some anger in his eyes, although Jimin knew there was no real threat behind it.
“That is too close, Chim. What if we don’t become roommates? What if they don’t have enough dorms for us to have one together? What if—“
“Calm down, Taetae. I did it on time and I won’t let them put us in separate rooms, anyways. This is a plan that is NOT going to change, especially if I have anything to say about it.”
Taehyung looked down at his hands fidgeting with his pajama shirt, “Yeah, yeah you’re right. I guess I’m just a little more worried about this than I thought I was.”
“Alright well let’s get you dressed so we can go help our parents pack the cars. Then we can talk during the whole car ride about it.” Jimin added with a wide smile to encourage Taehyung to get started with his day before having a full blown anxiety attack.
*****
Thankfully, the car ride did not include an anxiety attack and after talking with Jimin, Taehyung felt much better about changing his entire life and starting a new chapter in college. Jimin had this way with words that Taehyung was quite jealous of and it amazed him every day. When they arrived at the campus, Taehyung took Jimin’s advice from the car ride and looked around him with open eyes. He noticed the modern architecture, blossoming trees, and parents who looked overly enthusiastic for their kids. The dorm looked vaguely familiar from the tour of the campus they took during their junior year of high school. It seemed very new and modern on the outside so they were hoping they wouldn’t have to share a bathroom with the entire floor but would have one to share with their suite-mates.
They decided to walk in the building first and get their keys and room assignments before bringing boxes to move in. As they walked up to the front desk, Jimin greeted the young woman sitting there with a warm smile and a simple, “Good afternoon. I’m Jimin, nice to meet you.”
The woman raised her eyebrows but offered a warm smile in return as she said, “Well hello there, nice to meet you too. I’m Eun-mi.”
Jimin then looked down at the names with room numbers written next to them. Taehyung traced his finger down the list until he got to Kim Taehyung and saw the room number 214 next to it. He smiled and looked to Jimin who looked at his name and then to Tae’s and then to his again. Confused, Taehyung looked at Jimin’s name and his breath caught in his throat. They had different room numbers.