Alex looked at the city lights in front of him.
"Who's there?"
Alex turned toward the voice.
"I'm a first-year student, sir," Alex replied, sounding a little tense.
The person stepped forward. He looked like a student too.
"You don't have to call me sir. I'm just your senior," he said.
Alex nodded.
"Why are you here?" the senior asked.
"My mom called. I came up here to answer it," Alex replied nervously.
"Was it really your mom, or was it your girlfriend?" the guy asked with a smirk.
"I... I don't have a girlfriend," Alex quickly explained.
"Come on. A handsome guy like you doesn't have one?" he chuckled.
"No. I've never been in a relationship," Alex replied with a slight stutter.
The guy laughed.
"Relax, man. I'm John Alexander. You can call me John."
Alex froze.
He looked at him in disbelief.
"Is there something wrong with my name?" John asked.
"It's just... my name is Alexander John," Alex replied helplessly.
John burst out laughing.
"Wow. This is the first time I've met someone whose name is almost the same as mine."
Alex awkwardly smiled.
"Want to come to my room?" John asked.
Alex stared at him.
"I want you to meet my friends. It'll be fun," John explained.
"Okay."
Alex agreed.
Something about this friendly senior felt suspicious.
Why do I feel like something bad is about to happen? Alex thought.
They reached John's room.
There were about six people inside.
"Come in," John said.
Alex stepped inside.
Why do I feel like they're going to beat me up for no reason?
Why does everyone here look like a minor villain?
"Introduce yourself, man," John said, lightly patting his back.
"Ah... hi. I'm Alexander John. First-year Computer Science student."
"Woooah!"
Everyone reacted at once.
"Yup. That's exactly why I brought him here," John said proudly.
"I know you," one of the guys suddenly said.
Everyone looked at him.
"He's one of the promising students everyone talks about."
The guy stood up and offered a handshake.
"I'm Rony."
Alex shook his hand.
"Look at him. I think he's scared," Rony said.
"Are you scared?" John asked.
"A lot."
Alex answered immediately.
The room burst into laughter.
"I like this attitude."
John patted his shoulder.
"Alright. You can go now."
Alex immediately turned around.
"Wait."
Alex froze.
John walked closer.
"Give me your number. In case you ever need help with something."
Alex quickly took out his phone and typed it in.
"There. That's my number."
"Good. Call me if you need anything."
Alex nodded nervously and left the room.
As soon as he stepped outside, he noticed Ken standing in the hallway.
Alex immediately walked toward him.
Ken walked toward Alex as well.
Seeing Alex's flustered face, Ken frowned.
"What happened?" Ken asked.
"It's nothing."
Ken wasn't satisfied with that answer.
"Then why do you look like this?"
His voice got louder.
"Shhh! They'll hear you!"
Alex tried to calm him down.
"I'm not afraid of—"
Before Ken could finish, Alex grabbed him and dragged him around the corner.
He pinned Ken against the wall and desperately tried to keep him quiet.
"Don't you think if they were going to do something to me, I would've defended myself?"
That somehow calmed Ken down a little.
Meanwhile, John and his friends heard the noise outside and came out to check.
"There isn't anyone here," Rony said.
"Then get back inside."
The group returned to the room.
Alex cautiously peeked around the corner to make sure they were gone.
Ken, however, wasn't paying attention to any of that.
His world had somehow slowed down.
The panicked Alex standing so close to him looked strangely cute.
He was honestly enjoying the moment.
When Alex finally confirmed the seniors were gone, he grabbed Ken and dragged him back to their room.
He walked as fast as possible.
Finally, they reached their room.
"Are you trying to be a troublemaker?" Alex groaned.
Ken returned to reality and smiled like an idiot.
"Wow. You're smiling after nearly getting me killed."
"I didn't try to get you killed. You're the one who punched me in the face."
"That wasn't intentional."
"Right. I forgot you were being controlled by aliens."
"I admit the punch wasn't intentional. But if you insult me again, you're actually dead this time."
Alex glared at him.
"Oh really? Fight me then. Let's see who wins."
Ken looked determined.
"Okay then."
Alex stepped forward.
Ken suddenly lunged at him.
Alex saw it coming and smoothly dodged onto Ken's bed.
Ken immediately felt embarrassed because he usually won these little fights.
He jumped onto the bed to catch Alex.
Alex reacted quickly and escaped to his own bed.
Ken missed completely.
Then he grabbed a pillow and launched an attack.
A full-scale pillow fight began.
Soon the room was filled with flying cotton.
Unfortunately, the warden heard the noise.
A few moments later, he opened the door and stared at the two grown men acting like children in the middle of complete destruction.
That night, both of them were dragged to the warden's office.
"Aren't you two here to study?" the warden scolded.
The lecture continued endlessly.
During a brief pause, Ken spoke.
"We were celebrating."
"Celebrating what?" the warden asked suspiciously.
"His mom's birthday," Alex replied immediately.
"Like this?" the warden raised an eyebrow.
"His mom was video-calling us before you came," Ken added with an innocent smile.
"And the noise?"
"Her phone speaker is broken, so we had to speak louder than usual," Alex added while giving the warden his best puppy eyes.
The warden sighed.
"Jeez. This is your last warning. Clean the room before I check tomorrow."
"Yes, sir."
"You can go."
Both thanked him and quickly left.
As soon as they entered their room and closed the door, they sighed in relief.
"Tsk. Why did we even start fighting?" Ken groaned.
"Don't start with me again," Alex replied.
The two began cleaning the room.
While cleaning, Alex noticed something strange.
"Ken. Come here."
Ken walked over.
Alex pointed at the bed.
One of its legs had collapsed.
Both stared at it.
Then at each other.
"What do we do?" Ken asked.
"First, let's finish cleaning. Then we'll think."
After cleaning everything and taking out the trash, they sat on Alex's bed.
"I think we can just turn the broken leg toward the wall for now," Alex suggested.
"What about tomorrow when the warden checks?" Ken asked.
"We'll tie it together with something for now."
Ken sighed.
"Where am I supposed to sleep?"
"We only have one bed left."
Alex paused.
"Maybe we can report it next month."
"That's a terrible idea."
"I know."
Ken thought for a moment.
"Until then... we can share the bed, right?"
Alex blinked as if Ken had suggested a crime.
A few seconds later, he nodded.
"It's not that small. We can fit."
After temporarily fixing the broken bed, they got ready for sleep.
In the same bed.
To Be Continued...