Idol of the Heavenly One - vanish into fiction

When I told my parents I had to move into the dorms, my mom, who wasn’t even the one who would be living there, fussed over me and packed all sorts of things out of worry. She was even packing probiotics and red ginseng that I normally never take, so I calmed her down and only packed a few changes of clothes and basic toiletries.

Honestly, living in a dorm is not difficult for me. I spent nineteen years living in an orphanage in my previous life. Sharing a space with strangers is easy.

“Hyung! There are four rooms?!”

But having my own room is irresistible. If there are four rooms, then we could split into two people per room for two rooms, and two people could get single rooms.

“Do you want to use three rooms with two people each and make the last room a closet? Or use two rooms with two people each and give the remaining two single rooms?”

“The second one.”

“The second one sounds better.”

“T-the second one!”

“Let’s do the first one! Make it fair!”

At Joo I-rip’s question, Go Hee-min, Lee Soonbok, and I all immediately chose the second option, while Kwon Ji-hak was the only one insisting on the first option for fairness. But when it is three against one and the one is the youngest, that opinion naturally gets ignored.

“Rock, paper, scissors. The two winners get single rooms!”

“Rock, paper, scissors!”

Six hands shot forward for rock-paper-scissors.

“Oh yeah! I got a single room!”

The first winner was decided. Ironically, it was Kwon Ji-hak, who had been the one suggesting the fair option.

Everyone stared at Ji-hak in disbelief for a moment, then quickly got ready again, remembering there was still one chance left.

“Rock, paper, scissors!”

“It’s me! It’s me!”

Lee Soonbok’s eyes sparkled as he shot his clenched fist into the air like he had just won a battle. Below him were four limp hands that had all played scissors. A mistake. When in doubt, men should go with rock.

“So how are the rest of us going to pair up?”

The losers—Joo I-rip, Go Hee-min, Baek Jae-heon, and I—looked at one another.

I glanced at Joo I-rip first, wondering who I would prefer to share a room with. Joo I-rip was easygoing. Maybe because he was the leader, he sometimes felt like an older brother, and he was funny too. But he talked a lot. I had thought he stuck close to Ji-hak because he was good at taking care of the youngest, but it turned out it was just because the two of them were equally talkative. For now, I put him on hold.

I looked at Go Hee-min next. But since he was glaring at me—well, I think he was glaring, though with his small eyes it was hard to tell—I quickly turned my gaze away.

Then I wondered about Baek Jae-heon and looked at him.

“……”

But Baek Jae-heon very obviously turned his head away, avoiding my eyes. What is up with him? He had been avoiding me since yesterday. Does he not want to share a room with me? Or do I really smell? The fact that he had dodged me twice already made me feel a little bad, so I was about to suggest rooming with either Joo I-rip or Go Hee-min.

“Hey, I’ll share a room with Hee-min.”

“What? Why me, hyung?”

“We’ve known each other for six years, but it feels like we’re still not close enough.”

And with that, Joo I-rip suddenly took Go Hee-min. His reason was that they had known each other for six years but still didn’t feel close. That left only me and Baek Jae-heon, meaning we had to share a room together?

“Then maybe we should just draw lots…”

Since Baek Jae-heon seemed uncomfortable with me, I was about to suggest we just draw straws.

“Just do that.”

But before I could even finish, Baek Jae-heon, who had just been avoiding my gaze a moment ago, coolly told Joo I-rip to go ahead and share a room with Go Hee-min, then dragged his suitcase into the room.

Seriously, what is with him?

I could not figure out what was going on in Baek Jae-heon’s mind. While I was still trying to read him, Joo I-rip and Go Hee-min went into another room. In the end, I dragged my suitcase and followed Baek Jae-heon into the room he had gone into.

“……”

Baek Jae-heon did not seem to be in any rush to unpack. He had pushed his suitcase to one side, lay down on the bed, closed his eyes, and rested one arm across his forehead. Maybe because his face was small and his arms and legs were long, he looked like a scene straight out of a photo shoot.

But wow, he really is ridiculously good-looking.

His pronounced brow ridge, the beautiful curve of his eyelashes below it, the tall straight nose, firm lips, and well-defined jawline—I don’t think I’ve ever looked this closely at Baek Jae-heon’s face before. But seriously… even as a guy, this is the kind of face you can’t help but keep staring at.

“What.”

Maybe I had been staring too long. He must have felt my gaze, because suddenly Baek Jae-heon opened his eyes and our eyes met directly.

“Ah, sorry.”

I could feel my ears and neck turning red all at once. Being caught staring at another guy’s face like that gave me an indescribable feeling of embarrassment.

I quickly turned away, dragged my suitcase to the closet in the corner, and stood in front of it. I wanted to unpack right away so my clothes would not get wrinkled. But strangely, the closet had no handles or grooves that I could see.