Preferences - Chapter 2
Kay, here's chapter 2~~~
Enjoy!
Preferences
Chapter 2: First Day
Shit, Yoochun thought to himself as he came to yet another dead end. It was his first day at his new college and he was already late for his first class. Over twenty minutes late. Shit. Why do they have to make these places so easy to get lost in?
He tried following another hallway for a while, but threw his hands up in frustration as he found himself in the same place he had been three hallways ago. “This wouldn’t be happening if that jerk had just waited five minutes for me. Five minutes! Is that so much to ask?” Yoochun ranted to himself. He had asked Junsu that morning - very nicely, too - if he could wait a few minutes and show him to his first class. He had been running a bit behind and Junsu was already halfway out the door. But what had Junsu done? Brushed him off, that’s what he’d done.
“I’d prefer not to,” Yoochun repeated Junsu’s words to himself, scowling. He couldn’t believe how selfish his roommate was.
After another ten minutes of going in circles and hitting numerous dead ends, Yoochun finally located the right room. He opened the door slowly and sat in the first empty spot he could see, murmuring an apology to the professor. As he took out his notebook and pens, he glanced briefly around the rest of the classroom. He felt a spark of anger ignite in his chest as he saw Junsu sitting by himself in the far corner of the back row.
That selfish asshole! I told him what class I was looking for! He knew we were in the same class but he still wouldn’t wait for me?
Junsu gazed at the board with a blank expression, completely ignoring Yoochun’s fiery glare.
Yoochun decided to do the same thing. He pushed Junsu from his mind and concentrated on copying down as much of the rest of the lecture as he could. When the professor finally dismissed them, Junsu swiftly put his things away and left the room without speaking to anyone. He didn’t even look at anyone. It was like he was in a protective, impenetrable bubble - he didn’t acknowledge anyone around him and no one seemed to be able to reach him.
Yoochun put his things away and pulled out his schedule with a sigh. The student next to him gave him a knowing smile as he read the schedule over Yoochun’s shoulder. “Ah...you’re new, huh?”
Yoochun smirked. “How’d you guess?”
Why are you so tall?! Unfair!!
The student smirked back. “Maybe I’m psychic. Do you want help finding your next class?”
“Yes, please!”
The student grinned at Yoochun’s enthusiasm and slight desperation. “Ok, just follow me. Oh, my name’s Shim Changmin, by the way. What’s yours?”
“Park Yoochun.”
Yoochun and Changmin talked and laughed with each other all the way to Yoochun’s next class. Changmin started to leave for his own class but turned around after a few steps.
“Hey Yoochun, I noticed when I looked at your schedule earlier that you have a break after this class. So do I. Do you want to join me in the cafeteria for lunch?”
“Sure!”
“Great,” Changmin smiled, “I’ll introduce you to my friends! See you soon!”
Yoochun couldn’t wait for his break. Any distraction from his frustrations over his stubborn, selfish, antisocial roommate was more than welcome.
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Yoochun had a much easier time finding the cafeteria than the classroom - all he had to do was follow the smell of food. He glanced around the large room, unable to find any recognizable faces in the crowd.
“Yoochun!”
He looked around again, searching for the source of the voice, and grinned when he saw Changmin stand up to wave at him. He suddenly felt glad that his new friend was so tall and walked quickly to Changmin’s table. It was in a more secluded area of the cafeteria, tucked away in a corner beneath a wide, sun-lit window. Two other guys were already sitting at the table with Changmin, who introduced them as Jung Yunho and Kim Jaejoong. They both greeted Yoochun with welcoming smiles and gestured for him to sit down.
“Changmin was just telling us that you’re new here. Is that true?” Jaejoong asked.
“Yes, I just transferred here. I arrived yesterday,” Yoochun answered with a smile.
“Ah...so you’ve missed the entire first week of classes, huh?” Yunho winced sympathetically.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Yoochun nodded, “But if I’m lucky, I’ll be able to find classmates who are willing to lend me the notes.”
Yunho smiled encouragingly. “I’m sure you’ll find some.”
Changmin happily stuffed his face while the other three talked to each other.
“So how do you like it here?” Jaejoong asked.
“It’s alright so far...” Yoochun answered with a smile, “The professors seem nice, the classes seem interesting...I just wish my roommate wasn’t so distant. I don’t think he likes me very much...but I hope we can get along better in the future. Maybe we’ve just gotten off to a bad start.”
Jaejoong and Yunho looked at each other.
“Hmm...what’s your roommate’s name?” Jaejoong’s eyes gleamed with curiosity.
“Kim Junsu.”
“Ah...” Yunho smiled, “That makes sense.”
“What?”
“Kim Junsu has a reputation for behaving...strangely,” Jaejoong explained, “He’s in his own little world a lot of the time. He ignores everyone and the only time he speaks is when he’s telling someone he’d prefer not to do something. No one can figure him out. Last year, he went through a ton of different roommates because none of them could deal with him. They all asked to be transferred to different rooms after a week or two. None of them lasted more than two weeks.”
Yunho nodded. “Apparently he was on his own this semester until you showed up. His reputation was known school-wide by the end of last year, though, so I guess it’s not too surprising.”
“Did they ask if you minded rooming with him?”
Yoochun nodded at Jaejoong. “Yeah, but I’d never heard of him before so I said I didn’t care who they put me with.” In all fairness, the DA had warned him that Junsu could be...difficult.
There’s an understatement...
He picked up his garbage with a sigh. “I’ve gotta go. My next class starts soon...hopefully I can find it in time...”
Changmin reached over and grabbed Yoochun’s schedule as he walked away to throw out his garbage. “Hey, Jaejoong,” he pointed to Yoochun’s next class. “Aren’t you in this class, too?”
Jaejoong examined the class information. “Yep.”
Changmin held the schedule out to Yoochun as he returned to the table. “You share a class with Jaejoong next. He can show you the way there.”
“Really? Thank you, Jaejoong!”
“No problem,” Jaejoong smiled, standing up. Yunho grabbed his arm before he could leave and pulled him in for a quick kiss. Jaejoong returned the kiss, lovingly running his fingers through the taller man’s hair before breaking away to join Yoochun.
Yoochun’s eyes widened. Oh my god...they’re a couple?!
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Yoochun returned to his dorm that night to find Junsu examining a large textbook. He was sitting cross-legged on his bed with the book spread across his lap. A few highlighters were on the bed beside him, in easy reach.
“Um...hi, Junsu.”
Junsu ignored him, completely focused on his book.
“Do you want to watch TV with me?” Yoochun really didn’t feel like studying, especially since he only had a fraction of the notes at this point.
“...I’d prefer not to,” Junsu replied in monotone voice.
Yoochun wasn’t about to give up easily. He was determined to make friends with his difficult roommate. “Are you sure you don’t want to take a break from studying?”
“I’d prefer not to.”
“Well...” Yoochun frowned, trying to think of some way to connect with Junsu. “Then tell me a bit about yourself. What hobbies do you have? What’s your favourite food? Are you a second-year student like me? What kind of music do you like to listen to? What’s your favourite sport? Do you like playing video games?”
Junsu remained silent, occasionally highlighting a line here and there in his textbook. He hadn’t even looked at Yoochun yet.
Yoochun sighed. “Am I annoying you?”
Junsu ignored him.
“Can you at least answer me?” Yoochun could feel his frustration growing.
“...I’d prefer not to.”
“Fine.” He walked to the living room and flopped onto the couch. Grabbing the remote, he turned on the TV and flipped to a sports channel. There was a football game playing - he watched the first half but both teams were playing horribly. He finally got fed up with the game. It was painful to watch, really. He flipped through a few other sports channels before settling on one that was showing a soccer game.
He heard a soft thud in the bedroom - it sounded like Junsu had finally closed his huge textbook.
“Done studying?” Yoochun turned his head to find Junsu standing behind the couch, staring at the TV. He was as still as a statue except for his eyes, which constantly shifted to follow the movements of the ball and the players.
Yoochun slid over, opening up a space for Junsu on the couch. Junsu made no move to take the spot.
“You can sit down, you know.” Yoochun gestured at the empty spot.
“I’d prefer not to.”
“Why?”
Junsu shrugged, still completely focused on the game.
Yoochun decided to drop the subject and returned to watching the game. At halftime, he glanced back at Junsu again. Junsu hadn’t moved an inch.
“So...you like soccer, huh?”
Junsu offered no response.
“...are you sure you don’t want to sit?”
Yoochun sighed as he received more silent treatment from Junsu. When the game ended, Yoochun turned off the TV and the two roommates got ready for bed.
“One thing...” Yoochun said before turning off the lights, “Please walk with me to class tomorrow morning.”
“I’d prefer not to.”
“And I’d prefer not to get hopelessly lost again.”
Junsu responded with more silence...not that Yoochun was surprised.
“...goodnight, Junsu.”