[M] Roomies (1/1)

A/N: Sorry this is a little late! I was in the thick of finals and then moved for my summer internship! (a paid one, yay!) This is shorter than the others but it's all I've got completley written up for now and thought it was a good break. I hope you enjoy! Please leave comments as they help with motivation and sometimes even ideas ;) <3 <3Also - SHINee COMEBACK!!! EEEEEKKK. #shawol4life #iliterallycantwiththem A loud knock sounded at the door and Gwiboon got up to answer it. She wasn’t expecting anyone and Jinki had just gone to take a shower so it wouldn’t be him. (He had taken to knocking on the door before entering, afraid that he would walk in on her unexpected. Which Gwiboon found thoughtful but also burdensome in that she didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable to enter his own bedroom.) Gwiboon opened the door and found her RA, Aliza, at the door. “Hi!” she squeaked, not knowing why she would be there. She had only seen her in passing and hadn’t directly interacted with her since Jinki had been the one to turn in their roommate agreement and room check-in sheets. “Kibum?” Aliza asked, looking at the sheet and back up to Gwiboon. “I actually go by Gwiboon,” she said, shifting from foot to foot nervously. “Yes, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Would you mind if I came in?” Gwiboon moved back allowing the shorter girl to enter. She closed the door and turned to face her; unsure of how this conversation would go. Her heart pounded in her chest and she felt her knees grow weak as she tried to remember to breathe. “Is Jinki here?” “He just went to shower, but I can text him?” Gwiboon rushed to get her phone but Aliza stopped her. “No, that’s alright. It’ll actually be better for you and I to speak privately first.” Gwiboon nodded, waiting for the inevitably difficult conversation. Would she say that she had to leave? Would she be kicked out of the university? “So, I noticed some things on your roommate agreement and just wanted to check in with you personally since there seems to be a bit more going on here than what most roommates encounter. Don’t worry, though. We will only discuss whatever you feel comfortable with and please let me know if I overstep, okay?” Gwiboon swallowed and nodded. “Right then. Gwiboon…?” Aliza stumbled through her name but Gwiboon smiled reassuringly at her questioning look. “It appears that you have some specific concerns when rooming with Jinki and our professional staff just wanted me to make sure you were aware of your options. Do you feel comfortable sharing your gender identity with me?” “Um… what is gender identity?” Gwiboon asked, unfamiliar with the terms. “Oh! Sorry, but gender identity refers to if you identify as a female, male, both, or gendernonconforming. So for example, gender identity is different than your biological sex, so if you are born with male anatomy or female anatomy. But don’t worry- you don’t have to share all of that with me if you don’t want to!” Aliza smiled and waited for the information to sink in. “Well, I guess that my gender identify is female….” Gwiboon trailed off, unsure if she had stated it correctly. Aliza nodded and made a note on her sheet. “Just remember that anything you tell me is completely confidential and will only be shared with my supervisor and no one else, okay?” Gwiboon nodded, not really concern with all of that but reassured that Aliza wouldn’t tell complete strangers everything about her. “Were you aware that we have gender neutral housing? Or housing options available based on gender identity?” She shook her head, completely unaware of what the other girl was talking about. “On your housing application there should have been a spot for you to designate your gender identity and preference your assignment based on that information. Do you remember seeing that?” “No, but I also didn’t understand everything on the form either.” “Ah, yes, that makes sense. Well, NYU does offer special housing accommodations for our students based on gender identity. That being said, all of the assignments have been done for the semester and our options at this point are very limited.” Gwiboon sat on her bed, drawing her legs in so that her head rested on her knees. She bit her lip and tried to dissect what Aliza had just said. “My question for you, Gwiboon, is whether or not you feel comfortable living here?” Just then a  knock sounded on the door before Jinki poked his head around the door. “Oh, hey Aliza.” He smiled at the RA who nodded. “Do you want me to come back?” Aliza looked to Gwiboon who shook her head and spoke to him in Korean, “Jinki-ssi, Aliza is asking me about moving but I don’t understand it. Could you help me?” He nodded and entered the room, draping his towel around his neck and setting his shower caddy on his dresser. “What’s up? Gwiboon said she was having trouble understanding everything you were saying,” Jinki asked Aliza. “Oh, sorry about that, Gwiboon.” After smiling apologetically at Gwiboon, Aliza turned to Jinki and repeated everything, often glancing at Gwiboon to make sure that she was okay with her sharing this information. “Ah, I see.” Jinki said after she had finished explaining the situation fully. “So what are our options?” “Well, ideally Gwiboon would be able to move into a room where she feels most comfortable being herself, but we really don’t have any openings at the moment. We might be able to move her next semester but right now there’s nothing open for her.” Jinki turned to Gwiboon and asked if she understood. Gwiboon shook her head, unable to translate everything while her nerves were on edge and she was trying to not hyperventilate. Even though Aliza seemed very nice and was taking the time to ask Gwiboon about her situation, she was afraid to say anything and be misunderstood. Aliza and Jinki continued talking and began looking at the roommate contract before he finally walked over to Gwiboon and sat next to her on her bed. She let his warmth wash over her and subtly leaned into him as he relayed the information to her. Now that she could breathe more normally, the situation finally sank in. Sitting up straight, she looked worriedly from Jinki to Aliza, “But I don’t want to move! I want to stay here. I want to go here!” At the panic in her voice, Jinki moved an arm around her back and brought her closer to him, rubbing her arm in a soothing pattern. “Gwiboon-ah, you don’t have to move if you don’t want to. You can move if you would feel more comfortable staying with a girl or another transgender student, but you might have to wait until next semester.” She nodded her head, reassured that she wasn’t going to be forced to leave her room. She honestly liked living with Jinki and felt safe around him for whatever reason. “I would like to stay here if I could,” she said now to Aliza. “Of course! I just wanted to make sure that we had discussed your options and you were comfortable with your housing assignment,” she smiled kindly at Gwiboon who managed to return the smile. “Alright, well just make sure to keep me posted if you do decide you want to change rooms.” Gwiboon glanced to Jinki confused and he relayed the information again in Korean. She nodded and thanked Aliza for her help and was glad to see the RA finally leave the room. Falling back onto her bed, Gwiboon sighed and breathed deeply before moving to her side and staring at Jinki. He noticed her gaze and turned to face her, “What is it?” “Are you sure you’re okay with me staying here? I don’t want to inconvenience you.” “Trust me, I would never trade in such a great roommate. Plus, Minho would kill me!” He laughed to himself at the last part, but Gwiboon was confused. What did he mean by that? Why would Minho care if Jinki got a new roommate? In the week she had been there, they had become friends but he and Jinki had been friends all of last year and he should feel more loyalty to him, shouldn’t he? Jinki, focused on hanging up his wet towel, missed the confused look on her face. But before she could ask him what he had meant, her computer binged and she jumped up, rushing over to her laptop. She clicked on the little green phone and waited for her video feed to load. “Jonghyun-ah!” she cried when she finally saw her brother’s face pop up on her screen. She felt herself smile widely as he waved stupidly and made kissy faces at the screen. “Noona! Come back, I miss you!” She laughed at his classic opening to their conversations and rolled her eyes. “I’ve only been gone a week, Jongie! Aish!” He just pouted and Gwiboon cooed, unable to resist that look and finally gushed about how much she missed him too. Jinki laughed at her from his bed and she turned her head, sticking her tongue out before returning her attention to her brother. “Oh, who’s that? The elusive Jinki-hyung? Let me see!” Jonghyun said excitedly. This was the third time they had skyped and he had always missed meeting Gwiboon’s roommate. She was partially afraid that he would say something embarrassing or even try to pull the “You better not hurt my sister” speech, but she was also happy to have the opportunity to introduce the two. “Jinki-ssi,” she said over her shoulder, “would you like to meet my brother, Jonghyun? He’s been dying to meet you!” She snuck in the last part knowing that it would irritate her brother. “Oh, sure!” Jinki got up from his bed and Gwiboon turned to silently communicate with her brother that he better not say anything out of line. He winked at her before Jinki moved behind Gwiboon and could be seen on the screen. “Hi, there, Jonghyun-ssi! I’m Jinki, Gwiboonie’s roommate here in New York,” Jinki said, smiling widely at Jonghyun as he bowed slightly and waved. Gwiboon noticed the way her brother reacted to Jinki, his eyes widened at that megawatt smile and the cute way she knew his eyes were scrunched up. She saw him swallow and she smirked, finally having her suspicions confirmed that Jinki was just her brother’s type. “H-hi, Jinki-ssi,” he managed, smiling back at Jinki. Gwiboon couldn’t hold back a laugh at the way her brother visibly swooned over her roommate. Jonghyun glared at her quickly before plastering a smile back on his face. “It’s nice to meet you finally, Jinki-ssi!” “You too! Please call me hyung, I’ve been trying to get Gwiboon to call me oppa, but she hasn’t had the courage,” Jinki winked and nudged her. She spluttered at his audacity and elbowed him. Jonghyun knew her better than anyone and he would now be able to sense that she still didn’t feel 100% comfortable with Jinki. She glanced at the screen and saw her brother’s eyes narrow imperceptibly before laughing it off and responding, “Of course, Jinki-hyung. It’s so nice that Gwiboonie was able to have a Korean roommate! We were so worried about our little Bon Bon-“ “Oh my gosh! Shut up!” she interjected, hoping that Jinki had missed her loathed knick name. “Bon Bon, huh?” he asked, smiling down at her and laughing at the look of utter horror on her face. “Aish, really, Jonghyun?! You are the worst brother ever.” At her outburst and clear embarrassment, both Jinki and Jonghyun laughed. Gwiboon sulked for a minute or two before finally shoving Jinki away and claiming her brother’s attention once again. “So, how’s everything back home? How’s mom and dad? How’s school? Did you start classes? Have you decided what program you’re going to do?” Jonghyun sobered up at her slew of questions and attempted to answer. Gwiboon could hear Jinki getting his backpack together in the background, no doubt on his way to meet up with some of his pre-med friends. After turning her full attention back to her brother, she learned that her parents were doing well but had had a hard time those first few nights after Gwiboon had left for school. Surprisingly, her father had been the most affected and had been silent for days while having a very short temper. Jonghyun admitted to crying a little bit but other than that tried to reassure her that he had been doing fine. “I started classes and decided to go into the music program! Jongin-ah is in some of my classes too, which is nice. He’s going to do dance but I’m going to do vocal theory I think. But all of our generals are the same which is nice to have someone I know in class with me!” At the mention of Jongin, Gwiboon felt her smile fade just a tad but knew that Jonghyun had caught it. He tilted his head to the side and she stared forward refusing to answer his unasked question. She would not ask about him. She wouldn’t. Couldn’t. After a few minutes of silence and their nonverbal back-and-forth where Jonghyun willed her to ask what they both knew she wanted to know but she stubbornly refused, her brother finally sighed, breaking the tension. “Jongin mentioned that Taemin is still pretty messed up, Gwiboonie.” She held her breath at his statement, afraid to move or do anything in case her emotions would overwhelm her. “I-I don’t know what you want me say, Jonghyun-ah.” “Gwiboon,” he said, looking her right in the eyes. “You need to call him. Talk to him. Do something! You can’t just leave it like that.” Her heart ached at the truth in his words but she was too afraid to admit that she had left things in such a horrible state with Taemin. He was the first boy she had ever loved, the first person she had ever let get that close to her that wasn’t her family. He was her first everything and she had ruined it. “Jonghyun-ah,” she gasped, barely able to hold back her tears. “I c-can’t. There’s nothing I can say to fix it. He w-wouldn’t even look at me,” She breaks off, unable to finish as tears steal her voice. “I know, Gwiboon-ah. But you really do need to talk him. Send him a letter, something. He still loves you and you obviously still love him. Don’t continue to torture yourself. Or him. It isn’t fair to either of you.” The truth behind his words hit her and she knew he was right but she couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit of resistance. All she knew was Taemin and she had decided to go to New York to experience something new. She needed to remain focused on herself and knew that any communication with Taemin, no matter how small, would crack her. She would never be able to say no if he asked her to come back for him. “I don’t think I’m strong enough yet, Jongie,” she admitted quietly, now noticing that Jinki had stopped making noises. She glanced back over her shoulder and caught him staring blankly at his phone, obviously listening but trying to look like he wasn’t. Just then his phone rang and he answered it, making to pick up his bag and exit the room, rushing out without looking at Gwiboon. Her heart sunk at how much of her personal life was now on display for her roommate, whom she had only known for a few days now. “Noona, I have to go now, but you should really think about it, okay?” She nodded, whispering a goodbye and I love you before closing her screen. What was she going to do?