eight

On Tuesday, Min woke up early. Carefully dressing himself, Min hummed a random rhythm.

Today he was joining the classes.

Yesterday, after that Arata guy left, Rammick took him to the inquiry office building and helped him sort out the things he was required to collect.

Schedule for classes, holidays, meal card, transportation card, fee book, prospectus and a handful of bills, that held the invitation notice for several clubs.

Min decided to dress himself in a thin long-sleeved t-shirt with a peach in his left breast. For pants, he wore an unruly blue high waisted jeans along with flat grey rubber shoes.

Satisfied with the preparation, Min disconnected his phone from the charger and tossed his headphones inside his pant's pocket.

Ed was waiting outside the dorm gates for Min—so when Min arrived, Ed stood up from the stone bench he was resting on and threw a packet of roasted peanuts to Min.

Min struggled to catch the packet but in the end somehow did it. Seeing his favorite roasted peanuts, Min glimmered with a radiant smile and skipped over to Ed happily.

"Eat these till we get you some breakfast."

Ed saw Min already stuffing his mouth with the peanuts and contentedly continued. "Today I'll show you the vending machine meal counters."

Min hadn't listened carefully but when they got to the actual place, Min showed another burst of eagerness.

"Hyung, I've seen those machines in Singapore. There are lots of them there." Min commented, excitedly browsing through the menu displayed on the touch-screen.

Ed stepped beside Min and questioned. "Do you like anything?"

Min tapped his chin with his index finger and looked over all the delicious breakfast meals that were shown.

"Uh, how about some kimchi fried rice?" Min poked the display dish on the screen. [Kimchi is a staple traditional Korean side dish of salted and fermented vegetables such as napa cabbage (chinese cabbage originated near Beijing) and Korean radish, made with a variety of seasonings such as spring onion, garlic, ginger, shrimp paste, chilli paste etc. As for Kimchi fried rice, it's a popular dish, primarily made of Kimchi, rice and other ingredients such as spam, diced vegetables with a topping of egg]

Ed nodded then informed Min of the next steps. "These machines accept meal cards and personal debit cards too."

Min glanced at Ed and fished out his yellow card holder—where he had previously stored all his necessary cards.

Placing the meal card in front of the scanner, Min enjoyed the known reaction from months before, in his trip to Singapore. A beep sounded as if to notify the completion of the payment.

The wait lasted for 150 seconds, which was followed by another soft beep and immediately a packed box came to the recipient's cabinet.

Min took out the box and smiled at Ed—who in return gestured for Min to grab a pair of spoons from the drawer beside the machine.

Min agreeably snatched a plastic spoon and also a fork from the drawer and headed for the tables.

"Hyung, you won't eat?"

Ed showed his plastic coffee holder to Min and shrugged. "I ate some scuffle pancakes on the way. This will do."

Min oh-ed at Ed's response and put his full attention on gently tearing the seal. As soon as the seal broke, the fresh aroma of kimchi fried rice wafted out, making Min's hunger intensify.

In L.A. Min's mother frequently cooked him this well known dish. Some of his friends back there too liked this Asian cuisine.

Min scooped some rice with a piece of egg and wantonly put it in his mouth. The savoury taste bursted in his mouth, lathering his tongue with a known feeling.

Once the breakfast was done, Ed guided Min towards the Literature department building.

Min waved Ed bye and nervously trudged inside the building. Many students were loitering around, gossiping in groups and some boys even ran around like high schoolers.

Min followed the schedule and arrived at the designated room for his first lecture. The room looked as large as his school's activity rooms in L.A.

Peeking around pensively, Min chose an empty seat at the furthest corner of the room and set down his bag on the desk.

There were hardly three dozens of students besides him in the room. He had arrived fifteen minutes prior to the arrival of the professor, so he quietly sat down and scrolled through his SNS.

Suddenly a shadow loomed over Min. Startled, Min shot up, only to find a familiar face, smiling down at him. "Chanwoo Sunbae?"

Chanwoo's smile became more profound as he beamed at his cute little Hoobae. [A word exactly the opposite of 'sunbae', who is a grade lower than you in school or somebody who started working in the office after you]

"You're majoring in Literature?" Chanwoo asked.

Min shyly laughed and answered in a friendly tone. "Yeah, for now, no other subjects interest me much."

Chanwoo was very happy to have Min as a Hoobae in the same department. During the introduction session in the cheerleading club meeting, he wasn't able to get much close with this cute Hoobae.

"If you need anything⸻anything at all, don't hesitate to look for me."

Min reciprocated the kind words with a grin. Perhaps he should consider himself lucky with having Chanwoo Sunbae in the same department.

The resounding bell echoed in the room, probably indicating the start of the class.

Chanwoo bid Min a bye and left the room with steady jogging.

Unbeknownst to him, while Min was busy exchanging words with Chanwoo, the classroom got filled.

Min looked beside him to see a short heighted girl, playing with her spectacles, looking intently at the desk.

Min had never been a social butterfly. Always with only a couple of friends, Min was happy.

Here, the cheerleading club could be considered his new group of friends or brothers as some famous saying portrays.

But regardless, Min has to befriend others too.

"Excuse me." Min called out to the girl beside him, taking advantage of the fact that the professor hadn't come yet.

The girl abruptly jumped in her seat, her glasses getting crooked at the motion. "Y-Yes?"

"Hi, my name is Kwangmin." Min introduced himself.

The girl checked Min's facial features thoroughly, then her creased eyebrows flattened. With a close-lipped smile the girl replied.

"Hi, my name's Mun Hee."

A soft pink blush appeared on the said girl's cheek as she smiled back at Min.

Min cheered in his heart. New friend—on the process of acquiring.