Behind The Scene

As they are visiting the huge complex, Nai can't stop herself from getting excited. If the hall they saw two minutes earlier only looked as expensive, she couldn't even imagine what their room would be like. But of course, as with everything else in this story, our little group's first step in their dorm wasn't exactly what they had hoped for. Indeed, while probably dreaming of a huge dining room with an LED television, they make their way to a small apartment with three rooms, a small kitchen, and a shared bathroom.

On the verge of tears, Nai turns toward Ms. Kang in hope of a prank camera. The middle-aged woman looks back at her with an apologetic stare, making her understand that this is really happening.

"I am deeply sorry for this; the people who used to occupy the room we assigned to you made more of a mess than we thought, so we didn't have the time to clean everything yet. This is just temporary, and I promise you will move to a bigger place in a week or so."

Looking at the four other people next to her, the Japanese-Columbian starts to wonder if a week wouldn't be enough time for them to kill each other. Meri already looks like she doesn't appreciate Kai (and she kind of understands why); as for Arya and Ailen, they both look even more introverted than her. And everyone knows that an introvert who needs to share a small room with more than themselves is an introvert who might turn into a murderer.

"So, I won't bother you any longer. Don't spend too much time settling down, as you will move again soon, and in that regard, I will see you once the other room is available. Feel free to send me a message through KakaoTalk if you have any questions about the residence. If it concerns school, the secretariat is located at the entrance to the university's main building. If I am not mistaken, you have about five free days before classes begin, so make the best use of them!"

With Ms. Kang gone and no idea what to do, our five students end up back at the doorstep, all of their shoes messily stored in the entrance box. After starting out in the void for who knows how long, reality still doesn't seem to have reached them. Meri is the first one to break the silence, looking quite annoyed.

"- Ain't no way I'm doing this.

- I fear we don't have much of a choice, answers Arya just as mad about the situation"

Kai, surprisingly as bothered as the other, is the first one to take his luggage and to head to a room

"Might as well try to settle down. I know a week is a lot, but you won't sleep on the road, will you?"

Following her Hawaiian roommate into the first double room, Ailen, who hasn't talked since her introduction, finally voices out with a warm smile what goes on inside her head.

"Let's just switch rooms every night so that each of us can have at least one day alone."

After a few seconds of reflection, the three girls left at the doorstep acquiesce and agree on letting Nai, who had the longest trip, have the single room for the first night.

After an hour of "alone" time, the five of them finally gather in the small kitchen, realizing that it is already past noon and that their fridge is obviously empty. In the middle of a Thursday, most restaurants would probably be open, and so they all agreed on asking the janitor, whose office Ms. Kang said would be in the hall, for the best and nearest one.

You would probably expect their first meal in South Korea to be some kind of traditional food, but actually, less than twenty minutes later, our small group is sitting at a fast food restaurant named Lotteria, each of them with a chicken burger, french fries, and a cup of Coca-Cola. The menu costs just about 6 USD, which is unimaginable in their home country, making them jump on it. Each at a corner of the square table and so facing each other (except Nai and Meri, who sit right next to each other), the timing seems perfect to learn a little bit more about one another. Nai, whose meal brought back happiness, launches the conversation.

"- So, why are you all here?

- I want to prove to my dad that I can actually do something with my life, answers Meri almost automatically

- I guess that makes two of us then, replies Kai. My parents still think I am a child and so this exchange is my way to show them that I can live on my own

- As for me, it's more about finally living my life the way I want, says Ailen. It was always about doing what everyone saw as right, but now it is time to do what I feel is my path.

- It's kind of a little bit of both for me, Arya comments. Living my life for me while showing everyone that I can succeed in this field! Turning to the one who first asked the question, she asks, What about you?"

All the eyes are fixed on the curly-haired who hasn't voiced her reason yet. In between shyness and determination, she looks at every single one of her new acquaintances.

"I want to prove my worth to someone too...to myself."

A silence follows this quite relatable answer. Actually, the whole conversation brings all of them into their own headspace, thinking back to how and why they ended up where they are today. This might seem like a lot to say at a first encounter, but what better way to bond than to overshare, right ?

After a while, they leave the restaurant - which they might come back to - in a good mood and return to their pitiful dorm. Becoming friends with one another may take more than a micro-heartfelt conversation over a greasy meal in a loud public space, especially since they appear to have quite different personalities. But one thing is for sure: they need to at least get along well for the rest of the year to go smoothly. In this regard, all we can do is wait for the following chapters, so let's just go back to our five protagonists, who are currently staring at their empty fridge. They obviously need to go grocery shopping, but not knowing much about the neighborhood or the country as a whole, they are quite anxious about getting lost or accidentally buying something awful. On Arya's advice, they decide to sit down around the dining table in order to make a list of things to buy that should last for at least the following week. Rice, tuna, chicken breast, instant ramen, pasta, and some vegetables make it to the final list, and Ailen and Meri are drawn to be the ones who have to go out, find a market, buy food to feed five people for a week, and come back safely.

After putting their shoes on, our two unlucky women make their way to the janitor's office to ask him about a supermarket, or at least a convenience store. Sadly for them, the closest market is 20 minutes away per bus, but it's not like they have a choice anyway, so here they go.

Grocery shopping is not the most interesting thing to describe, so let's go back to the condo, where the three people left are trying to imagine what their upcoming classes are going to be like. Not only that, they are pretty excited to finally find out where their internship will be. Absolutely no information was given to them, to the point where they don't even know if they will be together or not.

"- Honestly, except for a fashion house or a photoshoot company, I don't see where they could send us... wanders Nai

- We might as well have been played and end up in a random clothes store, answers Arya, quite pessimistic"

Just thinking about it almost makes them want to go back home. They didn't fly all the way from their boring lives to end up in an even more boring shop. Annoyed by the mood of the room, Kai slaps the table before standing up abruptly.

"Honestly, there is no need to beat ourselves up about it; we will find out next week anyway."

And he is right; no matter how much they try to find out where the school is going to send them, they will never find out. And that is simply because, even in their wildest dreams, what is going to happen would have looked way too fake to be real. As for you who read this, I believe you wouldn't be here if it weren't for that one internship of theirs. Internship that is, of course, going to be the most Wattpad-like adventure our five protagonists will experience in their lives.

As their minds can't help but keep imagining what the following year is going to look like, Ailen and Meri finally come back from the store with two bags full of food that they all end up organizing in the small amount of space they had to store it. And just like that, the first day of these five students, whose journey we are going to follow for a while, reaches its end as each of them heads to their room, still too full from lunch to eat dinner.

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Yes, yes they did end up eating a cup of ramen each by 11 p.m.

Here we go with the third chapter, hoping you liked it ! 

Still kind of short, but as promised they are getting longer don't worry. 

Anyway, here is a small plan of the room our small group will have to live in for a week (don't take the measurements into account) : 

Thanks again for following the five of them in this journey and see yah ~