VII - Human again

20 6 5
                                    

Seoul, Hannam the Hill

Se Jin arrived at the BTS residence the next morning to hear their answer. He did not always understand his supervisor's ideas but was content to do his job.
Even after so many years, Hannam the Hill still made the same impression on him. He felt very small compared to the size of the place: no matter how big he was, when he passed through it, he felt intimidated. The whole hotel looked like a city perched on top of a mountain. It was always quiet and interactions between residents were not always noticeable, except for hellos and good evenings. The place wasn't cold either, just, sophisticated and not warm enough. At least he knew that once he would enter the boys' dormitory, the heavy atmosphere would immediately dissipate. There, he always felt a little bit like home.

The manager knocked on the door, no answer. A deafening silence was taking place inside.

- Are they still asleep at this time? He asked himself, knocking a second time.

Still nothing.

- It's true that after last night's long concert they must be exhausted but I have to let them know their program...

He adjusted the sides of his shirt and prepared to knock a third time when, to his great relief, the BTS leader opened the door. Nam Joon looked bad, his hair was messy and his eyes were puffy. He blinked several times and could only recognize Se Jin after a few moments.

- Oh, hello... he said, leaving the door open behind him.

He dragged his body inside and yawned for a long time. Se Jin took off his shoes, put them carefully next to the pairs of sneakers and then looked for slippers. Not even a pair! He was not surprised and simply followed Nam Joon in socks.

- Aigoo, my poor boy... Murmured Se Jin. Tell the boys to wake up. We need to talk about your program.

They stopped at the living room and Se Jin found a place for himself on the couch. He grinned: next time he would think of visiting them after the cleaning lady's passage. It would save him from sitting on a bag of chips or crushing a still wet box of ramyuns.
He pushed himself reluctantly and then began to observe a little bit everywhere to forget this disgusting experience.

The BTS had had some work done on the loft since they knew they would not move out anywhere anymore. If they were going to stay there for years, they might as well make it a cozy nest they'd all be happy to return to. Se Jin could see their explosive excitement again when the interior designer came to help them. The boys were all talking at the same time and the poor man could barely get his idea across. In the end they all agreed on one thing: it just had to be warm.

They had painted the walls with a slightly ochre yellow wallpaper, except for the one at the back which was covered with beautiful red bricks. The latter was also decorated with a pretty green climbing plant. All the lights in the living room had been replaced by Japanese wall lanterns and the chandelier had been removed and changed into beautiful ball lamps. The staircase that was once made of white marble was now covered with elegant solid wood planks with a glass railing. While the boys had insisted on having the huge duck blue sofa, the designer had imposed the addition of a large wooden wall shelf.

Se Jin could still remember the first BTS dormitory. They had only one room with three bunk beds and a sofa for the youngest boy. It was very cramped and there was only one bathroom. They had to make an extra chamber for the dressing room and the house was always in a mess because of the lack of space. Luckily, they still managed to clean up...sometimes.

Now their apartment was big enough to hold seven growing boys. They were only two or three per room and the upstairs was dedicated to bedrooms only.
RM, Suga and J-hope even had their own studio in the loft and it became hard to get them out of there.

Happier | BTS | [Eng]Where stories live. Discover now