Donghyuck's last class that Friday afternoon seemed, at least from his perspective, to last for an eternity. Every five or so minutes, he surreptitiously checked his phone under the table, staring down at his newest message from Jaehyun as if to check that it hadn't vanished since the last time he'd checked. The few lines of text on screen were nothing special, just the address of his brother's dorm on the university campus one town over, but they stirred up an overwhelming cocktail of emotions inside him that made concentrating on foreign languages almost impossible.
For the remainder of the hour, having quickly resigned himself to not getting any productive work done, he watched the clock, cursing how slowly the second hand seemed to move when it was being observed. Finally, however, the bell rang to signal the end of class and the student body surged towards the classroom door en masse, Donghyuck at its helm. He managed to get ahead of the majority of the crowd in the hallway by brute force, quickly making his way out into the parking lot and over to the well-situated parking space he'd scoped out early that morning for a quick getaway.
His overnight bag was already on the passenger seat as he climbed in, and he'd said his goodbyes to his friends at lunch, so there was nothing left to do but plug the address into his phone's maps app and crank the volume on the radio. He pulled out onto the main road a few minutes later, the line of cars behind him already starting to tailback around the building, and settled back into his seat to get comfortable. It wasn't a long drive, but he hoped that the hour or so predicted by the satnav would be enough to help calm his nerves.
He'd almost gotten cold feet in the class immediately after lunch, texting Renjun from a locked stall in the nearby bathroom to ask if he maybe ought to call Jaehyun and tell him he wasn't coming after all. The older boy had come and found him, trekking from a classroom across the opposite side of the building just to reassure him that he had nothing to be worried about.
"What if they don't like me, Injunie?" he'd asked, voicing for the first time the fears that had been bubbling up inside him since he'd spoken to Jaehyun and Yuta on Wednesday. He hadn't been able to fully make sense of his fear, knowing it was irrational to be more nervous about meeting his hyungs than he had been about meeting the members that were in school with him, but logic hadn't done much to dissipate his worry over the past two days.
"What's not to like?" Renjun had said stoically, staring him down when he'd begun to protest. "Donghyuck, they're your family. You've said it yourself; they all adore you where you're from." He'd tried to protest again, but Renjun had simply folded his arms and glower in a way that made him swallow his words. "They might not know you here yet but, when they do, they will love you all over again. They'd be idiots not to."
That had been the end of that debate, without another word from either of them. Donghyuck had returned to his class, waiting out the rest of the day with a slightly smaller knot of anxiety in his gut, and Renjun had disappeared off to whatever elective he'd been in when he'd dropped everything to reprise his role as the wisest person Donghyuck knew--yet again.
Over two hours later, Donghyuck pulled up on the side of the street, squinting down at the phone on the dashboard in front of him as he tried to make sense of the coloured squiggles on the map on the screen. He hated to admit it, but he was pretty sure he was hopelessly lost. The address Jaehyun had given him was correctly inputted, he'd checked that three times already as he'd driven slowly around campus in circles, but the location marker didn't make any sense.
He'd spotted a sign for the main campus quickly, after leaving the main road that connected this town to the one he'd just left. Half a mile later, there had been another sign, this one indicating that he was getting close to the university dorms, but the navigation guidance had taken him straight past that exit and into a far more residential area. It wasn't exactly like the neighbourhood where his own house was situated, there were far too many college-age people populating the sidewalks for that, but there definitely wasn't a single dorm in sight by the time the disembodied voice on his phone announced he'd arrived at his destination.
"Lee Donghyuck, that is clearly not a dorm," he muttered to himself, peering out of his window at the vast brick structure that sprawled out in either direction from where he'd parked his car. It wasn't quite a mansion, he thought to himself, but the house was certainly bigger than any other residence he'd seen since he'd woken up in this reality. There was a large sign above the door, which he thought might hold some answers, but the dimming light and his lack of comprehension of the strange language made deciphering it impossible. He'd initially dismissed the place entirely the first time he'd pulled up outside, choosing instead to drive up and down the row of equally massive houses in search of something that looked more like what he expected of a dorm, but this was definitely where the map wanted him to be.
Palming his phone, he found Jaehyun's number and dialled. The phone was linked to the audio system inside the car, so he let the device and his hands rest loosely in his lap as he listened to it ring once, twice, and then keep ringing. A bit further up the street, a pair of girls were leaving one of the other houses, laughing with one another as they crossed the road and started to walk off in the opposite direction. He watched as they linked arms and easily fell into step with each other, distracted enough by their footfalls that the sound of Jaehyun's voice made him jump.
"Hyuck-ah?" Jaehyun's deep tone was amplified by the speaker system in the car, making it sound like his disembodied voice was speaking to Donghyuck from all directions at the same time, with a little extra bass in his left ear for reasons Donghyuck couldn't explain. "Where are you?" He could hear another voice in the background, but he couldn't quite make out the words, so he assumed Jaehyun was with at least one of his roommates. He didn't want to disturb them if they were all home, having fun as they waited for him, but he thought he'd probably need someone to come and find him. For all he knew, he could be miles from the dorms at this point.
"I'm not sure, hyung," he answered honestly, peering up at the house next to him again. "I used the address you sent, but I'm not at the dorms. I ended up outside some house somewhere instead." He considered trying to describe it to his brother but figured that probably wouldn't help much. There were a lot of big houses on this street and only so many ways to describe bricks and mortar. "I don't have a clue where I am."
There was a long pause, then Jaehyun groaned. He heard a brief rustling sound in the background, as though several people were moving around inside a room made of tissue paper, and then a door slamming. "Damn it. I forgot that I never told you. Are you still outside the house, Donghyuck?" He nodded, then remembered that Jaehyun wouldn't be able to see that.
"Yeah." He reached out and touched a finger to the key that was still in the ignition. "I'm parked on the kerb outside." The sound of another door being closed loudly assaulted his ears from multiple angles and then the background noise died away abruptly, leaving only the faint sound of Jaehyun breathing into the receiver on his end. "Why?"
"Hang on," the older man told him. "I'll be out in a second."
Jaehyun didn't immediately disconnect the call, which Donghyuck was grateful for as he scanned his surroundings. Another small crowd of students passed by the car as he waited, several of the men breaking off from the group as they reached the house and heading inside. He got a few strange looks from the remaining students, huddled together on the kerb before they continued on their way, but then Jaehyun emerged through the large, double doors at the front of the house and took the steps two at a time as he hurried towards the car.
"Hey," he said breathlessly, as Donghyuck stepped out of the car and allowed the man to pull him into a tight hug. "I've missed you, little brother." Donghyuck's lips split into a broad grin and he pressed his face into Jaehyun's shirt. His fingers still grasped his phone as he wrapped his arms around Jaehyun's waist, ignoring the loud squeal of interference from the car stereo as both phones ended up in close enough proximity to start producing looping feedback through the speakers.
"Missed you too, hyung." Jaehyun released him reluctantly, and Donghyuck stepped back to look up at the man smiling affectionately down at him. "I was starting to think I'd never find you." His eyes momentarily flicked to the house behind them, the one Jaehyun had just vacated, and, when he returned his gaze to his brother, he noticed that Jaehyun's ears had gone red. "I'm guessing this isn't your dorm."
"Not exactly," Jaehyun admitted, as the blood rose in his cheeks to match the tips of his ears. He glanced over his shoulder, before indicating Donghyuck's car with a wave of his hand. "Grab your stuff and I'll explain on the way inside." Finally remembering that they were both wasting money and battery life on a phone call they no longer needed, Jaehyun disconnected his device as Donghyuck collected his bag and locked the car quickly. Then Jaehyun wrapped an arm around his shoulders, steering him towards the large house that he'd driven past too many times to count that afternoon already.
"What does that say?" Donghyuck asked, before Jaehyun had the chance to launch into any sort of explanation, pointing up at the large sign above the door. From this angle, as they approached the house head-on, he could see that the sign was actually built into the eaves of the house. It looked to be made of smooth stone, like marble, and the lettering carved into it was unlike anything he'd ever seen before, outside of images he could vaguely recall seeing in some of his old world history textbooks. There were three characters in total, each carved to span the height and width of at least half an average-sized human, and they loomed imposingly over the whole street, lit from below by three tiny spotlights as the evening closed in around them.
"They're Greek letters," Jaehyun explained, pointing to the one on the far left with his free hand as he spoke. "That's the symbol alpha, which is the first letter in the Greek alphabet. The other two," his finger tracked across accordingly, "are the symbols for the letters beta and eta." He glanced down at Donghyuck, whose mouth hung open slightly as he stared up at the foreign text in fascination.
"What does it mean?" he asked. Jaehyun laughed softly, his fingers tightening their grip on Dongyuck's shoulder as they approached the door to the house. Again, Jaehyun pulled it open with his free hand, not releasing his brother even as they had to twist sideways slightly to make it through the doorway together.
"It's the name of my college fraternity. Alpha Beta Eta." Here, just inside the doorway, Jaehyun paused, allowing Donghyuck to get a good look at the vast interior that sprawled out in front of them. He blinked up at what looked to be a cast-iron chandelier, dangling at least eight feet above their heads, as Jaehyun continued to speak. "I've--well, I haven't been exactly lying, since mom has never actually asked, but I don't live in the dorms anymore. I haven't since my second semester last year."
At its most basic, Donghyuck knew what a college fraternity was. He'd seen his fair share of American movie releases, so he understood the concept. However, he struggled to reconcile that image, which was often painted as one of chaotic young adult rebellion, with excess drinking and partying, with the mild-mannered man at his hip. The Jaehyun he knew, in both realities, had never seemed the type to get involved in something like this, or at least Donghyuck didn't think he was.
"You said you had five roommates," was the only thing Donghyuck could think to interject, taking in the three massive sofas situated in this first entryway alone. From the outside, he wasn't sure how many people could comfortably fit into this house, but he suspected that number was much closer to fifty than five.
"Ah." Jaehyun nodded in understanding, reaching around Donghyuck to take his overnight bag from him, before grabbing his hand. "That's easier to simply show you." Donghyuck allowed the man to pull him through several vast hallways, all leading deeper towards the rear of the house. As they walked, they passed dozens of closed doors on either side of each hallway, each boasting a small, metal plaque with several names embossed on it, and Donghyuck was inclined to adjust his estimated capacity up once again.
Eventually, they reached another door, one that was open and led out into a large, open garden area. They passed a few other male students standing together on the terrace outside, each of whom approached Jaehyun to offer him a fist bump or a word of greeting, before they arrived at a much smaller building, which sat nestled at the far end of the neat, sloped lawn area. An almost identical, yet somewhat miniaturised stone carving sat over the entrance to this building too, the now-familiar Greek symbols carved in stone for the world to see. It wasn't nearly as imposing as the main house had been, but it still looked fancy and expensive.
"We call this building the Annex," Jaehyun told him, pushing open the door and waving Donghyuck inside. "It was built a decade or so ago, when the Korean chapter of the frat expanded so much that there wasn't enough room left in the main house." Donghyuck couldn't begin to imagine how many people that would need to be, considering the number of doors he'd seen on the ground floor alone, but he nodded anyway. "There are ten bedrooms in the Annex in total, but only six of us live here at the moment."
"Oh."
"Well, five now, actually," Jaehyun added, shrugging. "There were six, but not anymore." His face fell as he said this, and there was clearly something painful behind his words, so Donghyuck quickly changed the subject.
"I like it better in here," he said, taking in the homely, relaxed decor of the compact living space around him. "I much prefer it to the main house." There had been an awful lot of marble, wood and polished metal in the larger building, from what he'd seen so far. Donghyuck imagined that it would be murder to keep it all clean, whereas this room looked profoundly lived in. There was a pair of Xbox controllers abandoned on a low coffee table in front of a large, lumpy-looking couch, a precariously stacked pile of magazines and textbooks on the floor by the window, and several pairs of shoes piled haphazardly in the corner by the door.
"Me too," Jaehyun agreed softly, then strode over to the base of a narrow staircase on the far side of the room and shouted up at whoever was upstairs. "I'm back with my brother." There was a rumble of footsteps against the ceiling above his head, then Donghyuck saw two very familiar figures hurtling down the stairs towards them, followed by another, distinctly slower individual.
"Donghyuck-ah!" He was almost catapulted against the exterior wall by the force of the impact, as Yuta crossed the living room in a few long strides and swept him into a bear hug. He froze in surprise for a moment, during which Yuta seemed to sense his hesitation and started to pull away again, but then he wrapped his arms around Yuta's waist, tucking his forehead into the older man's shoulder.
"I've missed you," he whispered into Yuta's shirt, knowing that there was no way of anyone hearing him. He couldn't help it, desperately needing to speak the words into the universe as he let Yuta's scent and energy envelop him and burrow into every pore. He pulled the man closer, which he thought Yuta would probably find strange for their first meeting, but his hands had a mind of their own as they gripped the back of his t-shirt.
"Hi," he said a few moments later as Yuta released him, this time speaking at a normal volume. The man in front of him beamed, flashing his teeth in a grin so wide he rivalled Jaemin on a good day for exuberance. Donghyuck tried to feed off his positivity but he couldn't help but hate the next words that left his lips, even as he knew that they were necessary in this situation. As natural as that hug had felt, this Yuta barely knew him yet. "I'm guessing you must be Yuta-ssi."
"Call me hyung," the older man said without hesitation, clapping a hand down onto Donghyuck's shoulder and squeezing gently. "Any brother of Jaehyunie is a brother of mine." Donghyuck grinned and nodded, grateful for his quick offer. It would make life a lot easier, without having to be careful to address him formally until they were more familiar. Behind them, someone else let out a quiet, deliberate cough, and Yuta spun them around to face the other two newcomers.
"It's very nice to meet you, Donghyuck," the nearest man said, and Donghyuck found himself being passed into Jungwoo's awaiting embrace. "I'd like to say I've heard a lot about you, but Jaehyun kept you a closely guarded secret." This hug wasn't as all-encompassing, and it ended much quicker, but Donghyuck still squeezed his eyes closed and let himself relax into his hyung's embrace as much as he was able. He didn't say the words out loud this time, even under his breath, but a continuously repeated chorus of love you, miss you cycled through his head as the seconds ticked by.
"It's nice to meet you too." He forced himself not to say Jungwoo's name, knowing that it had yet to be mentioned by Jaehyun. Thankfully, however, the man made his introduction quickly and extended the same offer of familiarity as Yuta had, before allowing Donghyuck to finally turn his attention to the third, silent addition to the room.
"Hello." He waved shyly at his dearly beloved hyung, wanting nothing more than to run to him and leap into his arms. His heart stuttered in fear as the man stayed oddly silent, staring at him without moving for a beat too long, then an arm was extended to him politely. He blinked back a tear at the man's rigid posture and tight smile, but greedily accepted what was offered. He'd take anything, as long as they were willing to accept him all over again. Grasping the proffered hand, he shook it firmly. "It's nice to meet you."
"You too," the man said quietly, only making eye contact with him for a few seconds at a time, in between loaded glances at each of the others over Donghyuck's shoulder. "My name is Moon Taeil. Welcome to Alpha Beta Eta." As Donghyuck knew he often was among strangers in his own reality, this Taeil was a man of few words thus far, but just the unmistakable cadence of his voice filled Donghyuck with a sense of warmth and longing. His oldest brother had been on his mind a lot over the last few weeks, such was the void his absence had left in Donghyuck's heart, so seeing him again was a blessing that Donghyuck was determined to cherish, however briefly.
"Taeil-hyung is our chapter President," Jaehyun explained, stepping up to stand beside the two of them when Taeil didn't offer up anything further in the way of conversation. "He graduated last year, but he stayed on at the university as a graduate student." Jaehyun smiled affectionately at Taeil, whose gaze softened as he met the younger man's eye. "We voted unanimously for him to stay on as President, even though his term was technically up at the end of last year."
"Which I've told you repeatedly was a mistake," Taeil said, his voice neutral but with the barest hint of a smile curving one corner of his mouth. "I still maintain that there were several better-qualified seniors this year, including you, Yuta, but I can't say I wasn't flattered."
"There are a hundred and fou--" Yuta quickly did some counting on his fingers. "A hundred and three of us now, and there's no one better, hyung." Taeil did smile properly then, and Donghyuck's heart did a little flip of happiness at the sight. He vowed to make it his mission to have Taeil smile at him like that at least once before he went home tomorrow, whatever it took.
"Where's Dongyoung-hyung?" Jaehyun asked, diverting everyone's attention from Taeil. "I thought he'd be here." Jungwoo glanced down at the watch on his wrist, before his gaze shifted towards the door. Jaehyun sighed and nodded, seeming to understand without anything being said, but Jungwoo answered him anyway.
"His evening class isn't over until seven, so he'll be a while yet." Jungwoo glanced down at Donghyuck's bag in Jaehyun's hand thoughtfully. "Hyung, maybe you should take Donghyuck upstairs and show him to his room."
"My room? I thought--" Donghyuck started to speak but Jaehyun sent him a meaningful look that had him closing his mouth quickly, cutting off his next question. When his brother moved, heading towards the staircase, he followed, waving goodbye to the three men in the living room. Yuta returned his wave happily from his spot in the middle of the room, while Jungwoo moved to sink onto the couch and Taeil simply watched his departure with detached interest.
Once the two of them were upstairs, far enough away that he wouldn't be overheard, Jaehyun stopped walking and turned to look at Donghyuck. "Sorry about that, Hyuck," he said, speaking softly so that his voice wouldn't carry. "It's a touchy subject, especially at the moment, and I didn't want to upset Taeil-hyung."
"What is?" Donghyuck asked, confused, but Jaehyun led him to a closed door halfway down the corridor before he answered. Pushing it open, he shifted so that Donghyuck could see the interior. It was partially furnished, the bed stripped bare but with a few personal items scattered around in a way that looked like it had been lived in and then vacated in a hurry.
"I mentioned before that I had five roommates," the older man started to explain, placing Donghyuck's bag down on the floor at his feet. "You've met three of them, and I also mentioned Dongyoung-hyung before." Donghyuck nodded, and Jaehyun ran a hand through his hair as he considered his next words carefully. "Our sixth roommate was an international student from the United States."
Donghyuck's breath hitched at his brother's words, wondering if that student could have been someone he knew, but Jaehyun's next sentence divested him of that fear immediately. "Daniel was from our main chapter in Texas--I forget exactly what university--but he was here to study international relations abroad." Jaehyun's expression was dark and solemn as he spoke, and Donghyuck couldn't fail to note the deliberate use of past tense.
"What happened?"
"First off, you have to understand, Hyuck, that I'm not the same person I was before I left for college," Jaehyun began. He moved over towards the bare mattress on the bed in the half-lived-in room and sank down onto it. Donghyuck stayed in the doorway, watching him intently. "This frat is well known for our," he hesitated for a moment, "particularly extravagant lifestyle on campus. We host most of the biggest parties each semester, and it often gets pretty rowdy. I'm not proud of it, but I went a little bit off the rails as a freshman last year."
"Why?" Donghyuck asked, but the haunted look in Jaehyun's gaze as they locked eyes told him just about everything he needed to know.
"Things at home were so bad back then that it felt like I was escaping." Escaping from you, Donghyuck filled in for him in his head, but Jaehyun didn't say the words. He didn't need to. "When I got here, I was so excited to start over, and joining a fraternity seemed like a great way to do that." Donghyuck nodded. He could see why he might think that, however out of character it was for the Jaehyun he knew.
"I pledged Alpha Beta Eta, not really expecting to get in. They are notorious for being the most popular frat, and they had way more pledges than spare beds last year, but I guess Taeil-hyung saw something he liked in me." Jaehyun smiled then, glancing down at the floor as though he could see the older man through the wood panelling below his feet. "He really isn't interested in all the partying and the chaos that goes on in the main house. That's why he claimed the Annex as his own when he became President last year."
"But he lets it happen though?" Donghyuck asked incredulously, surprised that the quiet grad student wouldn't have stopped things if they were that outrageous.
"He steps in if things go too far," Jaehyun admitted with a shrug. "He's the President, and that comes with a lot of influence, but he can't change history that much on his own. The members need to make their own choices and Alpha Beta Eta has a reputation for a reason, no matter how much Taeil-hyung has changed things for the better. You should hear some of the stories from the US chapters--actually, maybe you shouldn't. You're still a baby."
"Am not," Donghyuck said with a huff, and Jaehyun snorted with laughter at the indignant look on the boy's face. "Anyway, continue. I'm not judging your life choices, but I don't see what that has to do with your roommate."
"Right. Daniel." Jaehyun sighed again, scrubbing a hand across his face wearily. "Like I said, it can get pretty rowdy up in the main frat house. Daniel and I became good friends after he got here early last year. He was a sophomore and I was a freshman pledge with nothing to lose. I was excited that he wanted to be my friend, and I let him influence me into making some decisions I regret." Donghyuck half wanted to inquire further but decided it was probably better that he didn't know.
"Eventually, Taeil-hyung moved us both into the Annex to keep an eye on us. It was only a matter of time before one of us got into more trouble than we could get out of on our own, so he stepped in." Jaehyun's expression became reverent for a moment as he reminisced. "That's why he was unanimously re-elected this year," he explained. "He's not the most forceful leader, but he cares about us all, and he saved me from doing something I'd regret."
"What about the others? Yuta-hyung and Jungwoo-hyung. Why are they here?"
"Well, Jungwoo is a legacy pledge," Jaehyun said, and Donghyuck imagined he was supposed to know what that meant when Jaehyun didn't elaborate further, "but the other two have their own stories to tell." His lips pursed briefly before he continued the story Donghyuck had interrupted yet again. "Anyway, Daniel and I tried to reign in our behaviour after that. We still got into some shit, and there are a whole lot of nights that I barely remember, but I found a sort of healthy medium. He didn't."
Jaehyun's gaze landed on a notebook that sat on the bedside table next to him. Picking it up, he flipped it over a couple of times in his hands, before dropping it onto the bed beside him. "That Saturday when I came over to the house a few weeks ago, Daniel and Dongyoung got into a huge argument over an incident at a party the night before. The police got called and Taeil-hyung got dragged in front of the university disciplinary committee over it. Daniel refused to admit to being behind it, but we all knew it was him." Jaehyun tapped the cover of the notebook with his fingers absently, staring into the middle distance without really focusing on anything. "I know it killed him to do it, but Taeil-hyung reported him and Daniel got sent back to America."
"I'm sorry, hyung," Donghyuck said, crossing the small space to sit next to Jaehyun, wrapping his fingers around one of Jaehyun's arms in solidarity. This had clearly affected his brother deeply, as it would have also affected the others downstairs, and Donghyuck understood now why Jaehyun had seemed so absent the last few weeks. He felt instantly guilty over the way he'd pressured the older man to let him visit. "That's why you didn't want to invite me. I shouldn't have forced you to let me come. I didn't know. I'm sorr--"
"Don't be," Jaehyun said quickly, cutting him off. He extracted his arm from Donghyuck's grip and wrapped it around his shoulders again. "I shouldn't have burdened you with all of that." He smiled weakly down at Donghyuck. "I wanted you to know the truth, especially since this side of me will be impossible to hide while you're here, but I'm really glad you came." He squeezed tighter, and Donghyuck practically melted into his side. "I wasn't lying when I said I wanted us to be close again. This way, by laying everything out in the open, we can be. I'm not the crazed party-animal I was last year anymore, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't still enjoy the freedoms that college has offered me. I hope you can understand and accept that, Hyuckie."
"Of course, hyung." It wasn't even a question. This might all be entirely alien to him, but what wasn't these days? He was just grateful that Jaehyun had felt able to be honest with him. He didn't know if he would ever be able to reciprocate that honesty, not about who and what he really was, but it was a step towards a healthy relationship between them.
"I'm glad," Jaehyun told him quietly, before glancing over at the open doorway. "Just so you know, I'd appreciate it if you didn't bring any of this up with the rest of them." He nodded towards the floor, indicating that he was referring to his roommates downstairs. "It's been a tough few weeks for all of us, and they're still a bit sensitive about it." Donghyuck agreed immediately and Jaehyun smiled appreciatively down at him.
"Now that's all out of the way, you have a choice to make, little brother. Taeil-hyung suggested you might be more comfortable in here tonight, but you're welcome to sleep in my room with me if you'd prefer."
Donghyuck quickly took in the knick-knacks, assorted stationery and books taking up space on the desk and shelves by the window, along with the notebook on the bed next to Jaehyun, and put two and two together immediately. "This was his room, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. The other spare rooms are locked at the moment because they're not in use. I guess I could ask Taeil-hyung for the key if you want, but that would be a hassle..." Donghyuck waved a hand dismissively in front of him before Jaehyun decided that would be a good idea.
"That's fine. I don't need another room." He hesitated, eyeing a single black dress-shoe that lay on its side on the floor by the empty wardrobe, before turning his attention back onto Jaehyun's face. "Can I stay with you? This room feels like it's waiting for someone to come back." Daniel, his mind supplied, whoever this mystery sophomore had been, but he knew that wouldn't be a helpful thing to say right now.
"Of course. My bed is more than big enough for both of us." Jaehyun picked up the notebook again, placing it back onto the table it had come from. "As for this room, Dongyoung-hyung has been saying he'll clear it out for over a week. We'll almost certainly get another international transfer at some point this year, probably from the US or from Europe--whichever chapter they decide to send someone from--so it won't be empty for long. The international transfers always stay in the Annex." He paused, expression transforming into something far more contemplative. "I just hope they'll be a good fit. We were a pretty close group, the six of us, and it'll take someone special to live up to the hole that Daniel left behind."
Clearly deciding that this conversation was over, Jaehyun stood up and retrieved the bag from the floor by the door, shutting said door behind them firmly as he led the way to his own room further down the hall. He dropped the bag onto his bed, and he was in the middle of an impromptu room tour when raised voices from downstairs caught both of their attention. A brief, muffled ruckus below them followed, before Donghyuck heard the rapid footfalls of someone climbing the stairs at speed. A few moments later, a panting Jungwoo stuck his head around the door.
"Dongyoung-hyung is home," he informed them, voice shaking slightly following his quick ascent. He took in the scene, Donghyuck and Jaehyun huddled together over the older man's desk, where he'd been showing Donghyuck his class list for the year, and grinned at the pair excitedly. "And he brought us all Thai food."