Fly Away With Me

Introduction

The speakers let out a piercing screech, forcing the student council president to wince. He muttered a quick "sorry" to the crowd, hissed a few instructions to the tech crew, and waited for the feedback to die down. Once the mic behaved, he cleared his throat. "Anyway, I'd like to pass the floor to our headmistress, Mrs. Cho."

A scattered cheer followed her as she made her way to the stage. "Welcome back!" she beamed, adjusting the mic. "It's wonderful to see so many familiar faces, and a warm welcome to those of you joining us for the first time. Like every year, this is your space to grow, to hit the books, sure, but to make the kind of memories that actually stick. I wish you all the very best."

With the orientation officially over, the crowd filtered out of the auditorium. I checked the student portal on my phone for my room details and it turns out I was in one of the mixed-gender halls. I hauled my bags to the door, but just as I reached for the handle, I stopped dead. Standing right there at the entrance was Jaehyun. My grip went slack. Before I could even register what was happening, my water bottle was bouncing off the floor.

His eyes snapped up from his phone. He looked up, the light from his screen fading as he met my eyes with a look that felt like a sudden drop in temperature. "Are you going to pick that up or continue staring ?"

The sound of his voice snapped the tension. "I—right," I stammered, finally breaking eye contact to dive for the bottle. It had rolled further than I expected, forcing me to practically crawl for it at his feet. I could feel Jaehyun's gaze on the back of my neck, making my hands shake as I fumbled with the plastic. "I didn't expect to see you here," I muttered to the floor.

"Look, don't get ahead of yourself. With any luck, we'll barely even see each other."

He didn't even give me the grace of a parting glance before heading inside. Total jerk. Honestly, I'd hoped he might have developed a personality in the time we were apart, but apparently, he was still committed to being a human glacier.

I finally found dorm 127. Inside, a guy was sprawled across the couch, lazily zoned out in front of a show. When he spotted me, he sat up with a grin, wiping his Cheeto-stained fingers onto his white t-shirt. He held out a hand for me to shake. I took it with a tight smile, trying not to look at the orange smears on his chest.

"I'm Haechan, your new roommate. And you are ?" He asked.

"Shin Haerin."

"Well, Haerin," Haechan said, finally letting go of my hand and leaving a faint orange smudge on my thumb. "Welcome to the best dorm in the wing. We've got a working fridge, a couch that's only 20% mystery stains, and—" He stopped, squinting at me. "You okay? You seem zoned out."

"I'm alright, honestly. I think I'm just going to crash in my room for a second and refresh. It's been a long day."

He gave a distracted nod, his attention already drifting back to the TV. I took the cue, hauling my bags down the short corridor to the last door on the right. I let my bags drop and collapsed onto the bed, face-first into the mattress.

I let the silence of the room sink in for a minute before grabbing my phone. My fingers practically flew to Sooyoung's contact,she was the only one who would truly understand the disaster of who I'd just seen. The call barely had time to connect before she was there, her voice already loud in my ear.

"You are never, in a million years, going to guess who I just ran into on my first day of college." I said.

"I'm literally drawing a blank. Just tell me! Who was it?" She asked. "Don't make me guess, Haerin, I'm not in the mood for games."

"Jung Jaehyun."

"Tell me youre fucking joking! Just when you were starting to forget about him he shows up again."

"We literally ran into each other at the dorm entrance. Sooyoung, he looked at me like I was a total stranger, no, worse. He was so cold." I explained. "I dropped my water bottle because I was so shocked and he just stood there and asked if I was going to pick it up or 'continue staring.' Then, before he walked off, he actually told me not to get ahead of myself and that with any luck, we'll barely see each other. Can you actually believe the nerve of that guy?"

"I've said this a million times, but I'm saying it again, especially now that he's literally down the hall. Do not go back there. I know he's gorgeous but we both remember how that ended." Sooyoung said.

After we hung up, I leaned against the windowsill, staring at the fiery sunset and thinking to myself. This year is going to be a disaster. I could already feel the gravity of him pulling at me but God knows I couldn't afford to let myself fall again.

A/N : Hey lovelies! I hope you like this piece of mine and look forward to your continuous support. I'm currently accepting suggestions regarding the plot and character roles, so feel free to reach out! Don't forget to upvote and leave a comment or two.