-—❩☘︎❨—-
"Hey! I'm Dahlia!"
He looked down at her outstretched hand that was probably clammy from moving boxes and back up to her face, which was shiny with sweat and still split into the derpiest smile.
He was this close.
Last year, he had somehow managed to skate through the semesters without a roommate, leaving him with the peace and quiet that solitude provided, and also the envy of his regretfully paired friends. When this year's intake came around he counted down the minutes to the deadline the way one does the New Year's ball dropping at Times Square.
This was the last day for students to move in. It was supposed to be that cathartic moment that heralded yet another coming semester being spent alone and disaster free. Instead, he would be like the rest of his friends: paired up with a disgusting, lazy, noisy, roommate.
He heaved a heavy sigh, his ears drooping about an inch in disappointment. Not even the fact that she was a rabbit hybrid like him was any consolation.
"Y'know, when someone offers their hand, the average person will shake it," she said, her smile becoming more synthetic the longer he ignored her.
"Lucky for us both, I'm not the average person," he said.
Her eyebrows shot upward and she took her hand away, clutching it to her belly and rescinding her offer of a handshake.
"Ok, I was just—"
"Here are the rules of the dorm," he interrupted. "No loud noise after 8 pm. Clean up after yourself. No major changes to the common area without discussing it first. No overnight companions for more than two nights in a row or things get awkward."
Dahlia scrunched her nose at that one. No matter her reaction, it needed to be said.
"No eating of the other person's food without permission, except the honey butter chips. Don't even ask, the answer will always be no. Half of the dining room table is yours if you prefer to eat there, but I need the other half. That's the only place I study here. And lastly, report all needed repairs to me first.
"Was anything not clear?" He asked, his voice bored.
Gone was her cartoonish smile. She stared at him incredulously, her jaw nearly touching the floor and her tall, black ears tilting towards the back of the room and almost disappearing behind her big head.
"No. I got everything just fine," she said in a small voice.
"Awesome," he said flatly. "Have a great semester."
With that, he turned on his heels to leave, not bothering to ask if she needed help with the multiple boxes she had stacked in the living room. That was her problem to solve. He had already settled in on the first available day.
Which was a day that couldn't come fast enough. Home was unbearable. He just prayed that this wouldn't become the same. Up until now, this tiny dorm with its four faded and cracked walls was his utopia.
"Wait! I don't even know your name! Shouldn't I know who I'm supposed to report repairs to?"
He only turned slightly towards her squeaky voice. "What did you say your name was again?" He asked.
"D-Dahlia."
"Dahlia, what?"
"Ehm, Dahlia Clover."
"Clover?" He raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
Dahlia shrugged. "What's wrong with my name?"
A rabbit hybrid.
Named Clover.
And she didn't see anything cliche about that?
"Nothing," he sighed. "Jeon."
"And your first name?" She prodded.
"Jungkook. Jeon will be fine."
-—❩☘︎❨—-
"He's a jerk!"
Dahlia's tone was like acid into her headset's microphone. She paced back and forth in her small bedroom, each breath shaky from her first encounter with the lanky dictator as she gave her older sister an update.
"All I said was hi, Ivy! He stared at me as if I had six heads, then starts spitting out house rules and such as if I'm one of his little kits!"
"Calm down, Dahlia. Maybe he's had some bad experiences with roommates in the past."
"That doesn't give him the right to judge me! I always clean up after myself!" She spat.
"He doesn't know that. He just met you today."
"I have half a mind to call Cypress," Dahlia said, her voice becoming wobbly.
"Do not call Cypress! You know he's crazy, and the last thing you need on your mind is him beating up your roommate and going to jail before the first day of classes," Ivy warned.
Dahlia sat on her bed and wrapped her arms around her middle. Ivy was right. Cypress, the eldest son of the Clover family, was just as large as the trees whose name he bore and was no stranger to causing bodily harm in the name of his sisters.
One phone call and he would kill Jeon and have a slice of red velvet cake afterward to celebrate.
"You're right," Dahlia sighed. "They were just words. It's not like he actually hurt me."
"Thank you for being reasonable. John was rude, but give things a chance to settle down. He's probably had a crappy roommate before and he's a little jaded. That's all."
"Jeon. His name is Jeon."
"John, Jeon, who cares. You have to live with him for a while, so try to make nice. He'll warm up to you. But don't let him walk all over you. You know how you get."
Dahlia's frown deepened. Why did she always have to be the bigger person? "I want to come home," she mumbled.
Her tiny voice tugged at Ivy's heartstrings. "You just got away from here like you've been wanting to for a while, and I know what happened made you a little homesick, but give it some time. Things'll straighten out."
"Ok, sissy. I gotta go unpack. Tell momma and daddy I said hey."
"I will. Love you."
"Love you, too."
Dahlia took the earbud out of her ear and exhaled a cleansing breath to steady her emotions. She wasn't here to make friends, she was here to further her education.
That's what was most important, and Jeon wasn't going to stand in the way of that.
She straightened her shirt and pulled her shorts down to cover the cuff of her bottom, squared her shoulders, and walked back into the living area to retrieve her boxes.
He stood by the dinner table staring at a set of blueprints tacked to the wall, ears confidently straight and erect, posture strong and commanding, presumed fluffy tail curiously hidden under his clothes.
Eyes sharp enough to pierce Kevlar as he scanned the map of an engine in front of him.
Those eyes turned to her after a moment, conveying his disinterest more acutely than his harsh words had, making her ears involuntarily droop and lay against her head. What had caused him to be this way was a mystery that Dahlia wasn't sure she wanted to uncover, but one thing was certain:
This was going to be a long 3rd year...
—❩☘︎❨—
3rd Year
Coming Soon