KimKim's Kids

XIV. Orientation Week

The second they stepped in, it was a mess of bodies colliding with theirs. Wonyoung, Nako and Hitomi were lost. They were the ones who told their sisters that they didn't want to be babied and that they could figure things out on their own. But they started regretting their words when the worry started settling in.

"Girls!" a familiar voice called out to them. The three of them turned around to see Chaeryeong jogging toward them. They all sighed out of relief. "Lost, huh?" and the three of them nodded like little puppies. She chuckled, "You're in luck since the we, juniors, are the ones who will be showing you around this week," she said and guided them towards the other freshman.

"Thanks Chaeryeong," Nako said. After Chaeyeon reconnected with her sister, Chaeryeong started to spend more time at their house and eventually she got close to all of them. She was just like another sister to them.

"No problem. Now," she paused, stopping at one of the groups, "I already checked which orientation groups you guys are assigned to. Tomi, you're in group A. Your group leader is Lia," she said while pointing to a girl sitting on a chair while focused on whatever it was she was reading on her iPad. Her face was straight, no trace of a smile on her lips. She was gorgeous but intimidating. 

The fear on their faces was evident. Chaeryeong chuckled once again, "I know she looks scary but trust me, she's the nicest person ever. Just watch,". Chaeryeong called out to Lia and the girl looked up to find the voice.

It was a complete 180 from just a few seconds ago. The girl skipped to the group with a spring in her step. Her straight face was replaced with the widest smile and her eyes curved into crescents. "Hello! Nice to meet you guys, I'm Lia! I'm guessing one of you is in my group," she said in the most chipper tone.

Chaeryeong leaned in to whisper to the young trio, "I told you. Harmless,".

Hitomi hesitantly put her hand up and stepped forward as she shyly introduced herself. Lia apologised for not noticing her sooner because she was engrossed in looking through the group's schedule for the day. She gave Hitomi a huge hug and guided her towards the rest of the group. 

Nako and Wonyoung noticed how Hitomi's shoulders relaxed a bit after that. They hoped their group leaders would be just as nice. As if she had read their mind, Chaeryeong took them both to the next groups. 

"Nako, you're in my group," Chaeryeong said and Nako let out the breath she didn't even realise she was holding. She was glad she could be with someone she knew. "Wonyoung, don't worry. Your group leader is the best," she said and for a minute, the two girls could swear that they saw pink tint Chaeryeong's cheeks.

As if on cue, a girl called out, "Ryeong!" and approached them.

"This is Ryujin, Wonyoung's group leader," Chaeryeong introduced.

"Hello, you must be Wonyoung," she said while facing the youngest.

Wonyoung nodded, "How did you know?"

"Sakura described you as a 'giant baby' and you seem to fit that description. She also told me to make sure you felt comfortable here," Ryujin told her while they separated from the other pair to join their group. 

Wonyoung mentally scolded her sister for using such an embarrassing nickname to describe her but she was also grateful that she was looking out for her. Ryujin was a really cool leader. She cracked lame jokes the entire time but was also very good at giving advice on how to manage studies and extra-curricular activities. She wasn't the basketball team captain for nothing.

///~///

Day one of orientation week was just a boring principal's speech, ice-breakers with the freshman class and a tour of the school so that none of them would get lost. The fun began from day two onwards when they got to try out the different clubs in the school and go out for bonding sessions like laser tag, paintball and dragon boat racing.