LONG SLOW DISTANCE

03 | nerds r us

The dorm number was 18 and it was a small but spacious room with two single beds and an empty desk at the end of each. There was one window which let the midday sunlight flood into every corner, and no other doors since the dormitory didn't have an ensuite. With Jaehyun moving out at the same time, Jaemin's accommodation budget hadn't exactly been too flexible, and so he would spend first year at least sharing a bathroom with whoever else was on the same floor.

"This is nice," Taeyong said positively. He put down the stuff he was carrying and paused to cast his eyes around the room.

"What Taeyong-hyung means to say," Jaemin remarked jokingly to Jaehyun, in the same tone his older brother had used earlier, "is that he prefers Renjun's dorm."

"Hey, I never said that," Taeyong argued. "Renjun might have the benefit of extra privacy... and a double bed, but university is all about making friends. I'm sure you'll love your roommate once you get to know him."

Speaking of his new roommate, nobody else seemed to have arrived yet as the room was almost empty. Jaemin glanced between the two single beds, spoiled for choice, ultimately deciding on the one to the right side of the room. Taeyong and Jaehyun sorted out his bedding, while Jaemin organised his textbooks in the drawers underneath the desk, and all of his blue jeans and white t-shirts were arranged in the closet. His hoodie collection ended up going in one of the drawers, though it wasn't an extensive collection by any means as he'd only brought a few with him: a pale blue sweatshirt, another in baby pink, one with black and white stripes, and finally the infamous white hoodie.

Jaemin figured that he would mostly be studying hard in his dorm or in the library, so there wasn't really a need to bring any flashy clothes with him.

"Daehwi's probably back at school already, right?" Taeyong remarked out of nowhere. He smoothed out a crease in the beige sheets and took a step back to look at the bed. It looked a little empty without any extra blankets or pillows, or plushies of cartoon characters on it.

"Hm?" Jaemin closed the closet doors and turned around, shrugging his shoulders. "Oh, yeah, I guess so."

Taeyong tried to hide the confusion that was evident on his face. "Right," he said. "It's just that I thought he would've wanted to come today, that's all..."

Jaehyun placed a hand on Taeyong's shoulder and shook his head. Taeyong threw him a questioning look, but Jaehyun's brief smile just said, I'll explain later. So Taeyong dropped the subject.

"You hungry?" Jaehyun tried his best to change the conversation topic and lighten the mood, but it was difficult when Jaemin was so unusually quiet.

Jaemin just shrugged. "Yeah, kinda."

"We can run down to the cafeteria and pick up some food," Taeyong suggested. "We'll leave you to settle in. Come on, babe."

He grabbed Jaehyun's hand and dragged him out of the dorm room, closing the door behind them. Jaemin was left alone with his thoughts, so he kicked off his sneakers and tried out the bed.

It was comfortable, but something about the mattress wasn't quite the same as the one he had at home. The room, though not vastly different from his own, felt empty and bare in comparison. When packing, he hadn't thought he would need his poster of all the planets in the Milkyway, or his periodic table. Or that he would miss them this much. Of course, he had smaller copies of the periodic table (and he had almost all of it memorised anyway) but it wasn't the same.

Though, it wasn't about the periodic table, so much as it was about the change. The newness of the place was overwhelming, in its white walls and dark floors and cotton sheets.