Building D was spacious and had five floors. Each floor had around thirty double rooms which had numbers starting with the number of the corresponding floor: 1 for the first floor, 2 for the second, 3 for the third, 4 for the fourth and 5 for the fifth. 

There were no bedrooms on the ground floor, only a large, luxurious, carpeted entrance hall with armchairs for resting and chatting, tables and chairs for working, and vending machines selling vitamin drinks and food to study in the best conditions.

Seokjin was impressed: he couldn't wait to tour the whole school because if a simple dormitory hall was so luxurious, as was the huge amphitheater where they had been welcomed by the principal, he was asking himself what the library, classrooms, music rooms and of course... the football field looked like.

The students gathered in the entrance hall of the building where there was also an office opening onto a bay window and guarded by a security guard responsible for monitoring the comings and goings of students in their dormitory and intervening in the event of an incident.

The head of the dormitory took out a sheaf of papers from the pouch he was holding and consulted it with prodigious speed.

"Kim Taehyung, come here," he ordered, searching for him in the crowd of students.

Sensing that Taehyung was reluctant to obey, Seokjin encouraged him by whispering:

"Just go. It's better to do what he says otherwise he'll get angry with you again. I'm waiting for you here with Jimin."

So, Taehyung finally complied and joined Ra who gave him a small piece of cardboard on which his room number and door code were written.

"Who am I with?" Taehyung asked with unmasked aggressivity, seeing that Ra wasn't pointing him out.

"You'll know when you see him come into your room," the man sneered. "Next... why not big brother: Kim Namjoon!"

Internally cursing his brother who had just arrived but was already damaging their name, Namjoon stepped forward with the majesty of a king and Seokjin could see that most of the students respected him unlike Taehyung. He took the paper Ra gave him with dignity and Taehyung hurried to check that he was not in the same room as his brother.

"So? Relieved?" Namjoon grumbled in a low voice before walking away without waiting for a response to join his friends.

Relieved indeed, Taehyung hurried to join Seokjin and Jimin and impatiently waited for them to be called in turn. When Jimin was called, they realized that he wasn't Taehyung's roommate or Namjoon's.

Then, finally, Seokjin was called. He went there trying to regain his usual self-confidence, the same one he had had when he entered Gugbo, even though he was not the same and had since experienced brutal harassment from his classemates for the simple fact of being poor and the enemy of an heir.

But this time, the principal had warned the students that they were not allowed to harm him, so he had nothing to be afraid of. At least that's what he thought.

"Be careful," the dorm leader whispered to him, handing him his sheet and checking his box.

"I- I beg your pardon?" Seokjin asked, surprised.

Ra smirked as he saw Seokjin struggling to speak politely. 

"Those little heirs here don't have such manners. Kang thinks you have a worse education than the others but he doesn't know how wrong he is. You seem like a nice guy Seokjin, so I want to give you some advice: don't think you're safe now that Kang has warned the other boys. He just said he didn't want to see anyone pick on you. With him, you have to understand the subtlety of the words chosen: that means that if he doesn't see or if he decides to turn his head, you won't be safe.  Because that's how I operate too, and so does everyone else at Eunma: you're all free to do whatever you want as long as you're not seen. It is the law of demons that reigns here."

Seokjin's eyes widened at this revelation. He had thought he was safe because the principal had seemed to sincerely welcome him among the other students at the school and wanted to protect him, but in reality, he didn't care what was going on as long as he couldn't see anything? 

And the senior school administrator of this school who was responsible for ensuring the maintenance of order and the protection of the students had just told him that he would not act if he came to tell him that he was being mistreated by the others but that he was not a witness to it? He was truly a demon who ruled over demons in fact.

"Do you understand?" the man asked with a big smile. 

"I- I understand," Seokjin immediately nodded.

"Good. It's best you know right away that I'm no more your ally than Kang. Kang didn't protect you by presenting you as the poor student chosen for his merits," Ra said shaking his head in disapproval of his superior's decision which seemed sincere, "he just gave you to these rich kids like he would give a lamb to wolves and just put it behind an open fence to protect it. It's regrettable but that's how it is, you'll have to manage to survive and I hope you have better allies than that idiot Kim Taehyung to support you. If you ask me, it would be better to choose the big brother."

Seokjin was disturbed by what Ra had just said to him and instinctively, he looked towards Namjoon and noticed his presidential armband as well as his popularity. He obviously gave more of a feeling of security than Taehyung in this school. 

From a distance, Taehyung saw the dismay on Seokjin's face. As soon as he joined him, the heir quickly asked him:

"What did the rat tell you?"

"Eh? Um, to be wary of others and not to trust only in Mr. Kang's protection," Seokjin said, hiding the rest. Even though he was nervous, he hadn't really lied and Taehyung didn't question him further. 

No matter what the dorm leader said, he didn't want to choose Namjoon over Taehyung, he would never do that again. But he didn't want to tell Taehyung that Ra had told him that he would have been better off choosing the opposite because it might piss Taehyung off even more.

"He's right for once, don't trust anyone except Jimin and me," Taehyung told him and Seokjin nodded.

"So what's your room number Jin," Jimin asked impatiently.

Taehyung was in room 201 and Jimin was in room 218, on the same floor as him. Namjoon in room 430 on the fourth floor. Seokjin looked at his room number and felt his heart jump with excitement:

"Room 213."

He was on the same floor as Taehyung and Jimin, but not in the same room. He wouldn't share a room with Taehyung. The latter's expression darkened.

"Let's go upstairs and wait for your roommate or mine. We will immediately exchange our rooms."

"Tae, this isn't a good idea..." Seokjin began as Jimin shrugged resignedly.

"It's the only one stopping me from going and punching that dorm head in the face right now," Taehyung replied, grabbing Seokjin by the arm and dragging him up the main stairs where other high school students were already going up to reach their rooms where their suitcases had already been put up by the school staff during the back-to-school meeting.

Seokjin complied while swallowing. He didn't want to see Taehyung get angry on the first day of school because of him, like he had when they started middle school. It was better not to contradict him for the moment and wait to meet their respective roommate to talk calmly.

They arrived on the second floor with the emerald green carpeted floor and the wall of the same color punctuated with black varnished ebony wood doors and they saw that in front of room 201 and the room 213, there was no one there yet. 

On the other hand, in front of room 218, there was someone waiting to meet their roommate.

"You must be kidding me!" Jimin exclaimed in horror.

Taehyung giggled mockingly, glad he wasn't in Jimin's place and Jimin glared at him.

"Mochi Fighter!" Hoseok exclaimed in a cheerful voice, and taking Seokjin by surprise.

"Don't call me that, you freak!" Jimin replied before groaning. "I want to change rooms, please Jin, change with me."

"If Mr. Ra is willing then I'm willing," Seokjin agreed, who couldn't shake the feeling that Hoseok was a good person who had nothing to do with his sister. A perpetual joy that was the polar opposite of Taehyung's eternal anger seemed to emanate from him and Seokjin wished he had a roommate like that.

Hearing Seokjin's agreement, Hoseok's smile widened.

"What a sweet boy we have there! It's hard to understand all this nastiness towards you," he said, sending a knowing wink to Taehyung who clenched his fists, remembering the conversation with Jungkook that Hoseok had recorded and which mentioned this that he had done to Seokjin. But Seokjin thought that Hoseok was just talking about his sister's nastiness. "I hope you don't blame me for my sister's misdeeds, I'm the one who helped bring out the truth about what she did to you."

"Yes, I know, thank you very much for what you did for me," Seokjin thanked him warmly, much to the dismay of Taehyung and Jimin who had nevertheless told him to be wary of him. "And no, I wouldn't confuse you and Yoona, no risk."

This last sentence made Hoseok laugh.

"What did I tell you earlier, Jin?!" Taehyung intervened. "You stay away from Hoseok. He didn't denounce his sister for you, he had it to save his own honor, he's just selfish."

"Oh..." Seokjin said, "but he still saved my honor too, so-"

"Shut up Jin, you're not going to his room, that's out of the question! Jimin just needs to find another idiot to trade with him."

"I'm not idiot!" Seokjin said offended.

"Yes you are if you persist in believing that Hoseok is a good person."

"Oh," Hoseok said before chuckling, "so Hoseok isn't a good person for the adorable Jin but Kim-Chi is? Are you sure?"

Taehyung glared at him.

"Kim-Chi?" Seokjin repeated. "Is that what you call Tae?"

Hoseok nodded while continuing to chuckle.

"This Kim wants us to be respectful to him without needing to be worthy of it. He would probably want to be called Kim-sshi so I decided to call him Kim-Chi, because it has the sour and spicy flavor of this dish, don't you think Jin?" 

At first stunned but seeing Hoseok continue to laugh, Seokjin couldn't help it and laughed with him.

"Jin!" Taehyung growled, pissed off that Seokjin was making fun of him with Hoseok.

"Sorry," Seokjin said breathlessly, trying to stop laughing while suppressing an asthma attack before asking Hoseok: "why do you give people such ridiculous nicknames?"

"Because I like to laugh, don't you? Life is so much more beautiful!" Hoseok said, ignoring Taehyung and Jimin who were glaring at him, as his favorite victims. Seokjin nodded enthusiastically and Hoeok found him even more adorable, which prompted him to continue: "and don't get me wrong, I don't give ridiculous nicknames to everyone, only to those who are ridiculous to me, like your two friends. As for you, you're not ridiculous, just cute as hell."

"C- Cute?" Seokjin repeated, feeling his ears turn red.

"Yes, my sweetie pie," Hoseok laughed. 

Seokjin blinked at the nickname and realized that Hoseok had fooled him: he had reserved a nickname for him as ridiculous as the others. However, he didn't take offense, understanding that it was Hoseok's way of relating to others. So he laughed:

"So giving nicknames is one of your hobbies?"

"Let's put it this way, Sweetie pie," Hoseok smiled. "Hobby is my nickname by the way."

"Really?!" Seokjin wondered, finding this nickname even weirder than the ones Hoseok gave to people.

"No," Hoseok laughed, "but it's funny that you believe everything I tell you." 

This time, meeting Taehyung's mocking gaze, Seokjin was annoyed because that was what he always criticized him for : being too gullible. Taehyung seemed to make him understand that he had looked for the stick himself to get beaten.  Jimin, who had long played on this gullibility to Seokjin's detriment, couldn't bear to see Hoseok do the same to Seokjin.

"It won't be fun for long if you keep making fun of him in front of me," he growled.

Seokjin frowned, intending to show Taehyung, Jimin and Hoseok that he wouldn't let himself be walked on and that he was more than capable of defending himself:

"I don't like being taken for a fool. Sorry to tell you that Hoseok, but you're not that funny actually, I was wrong: I won't laugh with you anymore." 

Taehyung rolled his eyes at Seokjin's childish counterattack who was definitely incapable of being mean to someone and Jimin sighed with a smile and put an arm around Seokjin's neck, telling Hoseok at the same time by this gesture that even if Seokjin was incapable, he would be the one to defend him if he tried to take advantage of him and hurt him.

Hoseok easily understood that the two of them really liked Seokjin and he had no trouble understanding why. The boy didn't have an ounce of malice in him and wouldn't be able to survive in Eunma without protectors. But with Taehyung and his explosive and thoughtless temperament, he wasn't likely to survive for long. 

Should he protect this adorable human being or use him against his enemy?

He wondered if Namjoon had the same affection for him as Taehyung did. He didn't think so, seeing how distant Namjoon was with him, but he preferred to make sure before making a decision, because Namjoon was smart enough to hide his weaknesses and it was possible that Seokjin was one. 

He chuckled at the thought and tucked it away in the dark recesses of his mind. Then he said to Seokjin:

"Oh, don't get angry, Sweetie Pie, I'm only playing with you and no one died, so it wasn't a bad lie, was it?" 

Seokjin seemed to think about it and finally, his eyebrows relaxed and he stopped being upset. He replied: 

"No, it wasn't."

"So I'm forgiven?" Hoseok smiled at him. 

"No," Taehyung replied for Seokjin.

"Yes," Seokjin said at the same time. 

Taehyung glared at him and Seokjin gave him an apologetic look under Hoseok's amused and Jimin's used gaze. Since Hoseok didn't look bad, Seokjin decided to forgive him but had an idea and suddenly smiled, thinking it would be fair game: 

"I forgive you at one condition." 

"Which? I'm curious to hear it," Hoseok told him, amused.

"Since you lied about your nickname Hobby, I'll keep your ridiculous nickname, you have to let me call you 'Hobi' from now on." 

"Hobi?" Hoseok asked, pensive.  

"Yes," Seokjin nodded, "but not because giving nicknames is your hobby. Just because Hobi reminds me of hope and I truly hope that you will really be a good person and not a bad one too. I want to believe that not everyone in Eunma is bad even though I was told otherwise," Seokjin concluded, casting an uncertain glance towards Taehyung who seemed to be boiling.

"Oh wow, you really are someone!" Hoseok exclaimed with an admiring whistle. "Keep your hope alive sweetie pie, maybe you will manage to spread it into the dark hearts of the demons around you."

"You should stop calling yourself demons," Seokjin said, remembering the dorm leader's words. 

 "Yet, that's what he is," Taehyung interjected, annoyed to see that Seokjin continued to want to get closer from Hoseok despite all the danger signs he had sent him. "Why don't you ever listen?! Give up this damn hope that Hoseok has anything good in him, I've told you, he's just a hypocrite like Namjoon and he will end up hurting y-" Taehyung exploded before being cut off by Hoseok.

"And why don't you let go of him for a bit and focus on yourself now, huh?" Hoseok said maliciously. "Here, take a look at who your lucky roommate is, you'll be delighted!"

He burst out laughing when he saw Taehyung, Jimin and Seokjin quickly turn towards the beginning of the corridor where the door to room 201 was located. A student was staring at them with his dark gaze.

"JeonJeon, isn't that wonderful?!" exclaimed Hoseok, who seemed overjoyed. "The two cousins ​​who hate each other will be able to live together and kill each other out of sight whenever they want. Looks like our vicious Dorm Rat chose this duo on purpose!"

Stunned, Taehyung and Jungkook looked at each other, wondering if this wasn't a nightmare or just a bad joke. Seokjin felt bad for Taehyung and found himself hoping that his own roommate would agree to trade places with Taehyung to keep him away from his cousin.

Other students began coming up the building's three stairwells into the second-floor hallway to get to their rooms but stopped to stare at the small group with interest, wondering if a fight was going to break out on the first day and almost seeming to want it to happen.

So, Jungkook winced and hurried to enter the code for his door and disappear with a frustrated click of wood.

Jimin placed a fake apologetic hand on Taehyung's shoulder.

"Bad luck, huh?"

Taehyung jerked his shoulder away and glared at Jimin while Hoseok burst out laughing again. This time, Seokjin doesn't laugh with him, looking at Taehyung apprehensively.

"I don't make any deals with Jungkook and I don't sleep in the same room as him, that's out of the question. It's your roommate from room 213 who's going to change rooms with me, Jin," Taehyung told him.

"I don't think so," a sharp voice muttered from behind them.

Then Hoseok's laugh rang out louder than ever, hilarious, and Seokjin wondered if he wasn't going to haunt the second floor corridor soon.

"It's so funny!" Hosoek exclaimed, wiping away tears of laughter. "Kim-Chi thought he could switch places with Jin's roommate but he ran into the worst person for that: the stone, Min Yoongi!"

This boy's face was vaguely familiar to Seokjin, but he didn't remember ever meeting him and his name didn't mean anything to him. The boy, the polar opposite of Hoseok, seemed indifferent to everything he saw, he just looked tired.

"I'm in room 213 and from what I see," Yoongi said, looking at the sheet Seokjin held in his hand, "you're my roommate."

_________

A/N : What do you think of the distribution of rooms?