The three new residents of the triple room on the first floor stood in a triangular position, facing one another. Their faces were deadly serious, eyes focusing on the three outstretched hands in front of them.

One hand was folded into a fist whilst the other two had decided to copy each other as their thumb, ring, and little fingers were folded.

Shin Jun’s expression stayed the same for the sake of his roommates and the camera, but his mind was in absolute peril as Tae muttered. “Wow, I guess I really get to cuddle up to someone…”

They had taken Young-Sun’s opinion seriously and had decided to play rock paper scissors to decide on the losers. Alas, Tae’s hand had the same mind as Shin Jun’s and they were eliminated together in the first round.

First round… Lost… Sleeping together… Cuddling… The series of revelations made him flustered as he answered with a hollow laugh. “I don’t know if I kick or snore.”

Tae chuckled and waved his hand as he turned to open his suitcase to fill his section of clothes.

Ji fell onto his solo bed with a large smile and leaned in a way that he could still look at his two new roommates. “Your hair is so long that he can use it as a sleep mask.”

Shin Jun hummed and joined Tae on the floor, sitting crisscross in front of the clothing rack in the middle as he unzipped his suitcase.

He thoughtfully continued the conversation to keep the atmosphere light, besides, he did want to make new friends. These two roommates of his didn’t seem bad. “I’ll tie my hair tonight, tomorrow I might get it cut.”

Tae glanced over as he folded his jeans to put on the second shelf of his clothing rack. “Is your hair naturally that color or did you bleach?”

“Natural.”

Ji leaned closer. “Are you mixed?”

Shin Jun nodded and folded the pajamas he’d brought. “My father was a mix, his mother was Canadian and his father was American. He barely looks like it, he just has blue eyes. But… My mother was a full-blown American, so the genes hit us children harder.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

The image of his mother sneering as she mocked his father ran through his mind and he stood up to start hanging his shirts and sweaters.

He had thought he brought too much previously but after seeing Tae’s haul he was satisfied. Tae brought even more than himself!

The roommates sat in comfortable silence for a while until Tae eventually glanced back towards Ji, who was looking thoughtfully at Shin Jun’s back, and rolled his eyes with a playful tone. “Are you going to unpack or will you be using your suitcase the entire time?”

“My underwear is on the top…”

Shin Jun glanced at his suitcase and quickly lifted the top with his foot and let it fall shut, praying that his cousin was nice enough to cut that moment from the episode. He completely forgot that the cameras might be above them in the room - what if they saw his underwear?

Tae and Ji both saw the action and burst out in laughter.

Tae teased the two of them and set his underwear on top of his other clothes on the shelf. “Are you that shy?”

With a hand covering his forehead, Shin Jun leaned back with a smile, closed his eyes, and sighed. “It’s not just us who have to see our underwear.”

On the bed, Ji pushed himself up and sat with his legs crossed as he nodded. “I don’t mind if you guys see it but…”

Tae chuckled and put his underwear under his folded-up pants so the ‘viewers’ couldn’t see them later on and motioned for Ji to come over. “I’ll stand guard and block the viewers so you can hide it.”

Shin Jun was done hanging his clothes, the only thing left was his underwear which he could skillfully hide tonight when the lights were off in the room. He had also brought his skin care products and placed them on the first shelf of the clothing rack, the notebook and pens he’d brought as well.

There were no rules against bringing in notebooks… He thought that he’d be able to use it later on when the others were busy or when he was bored.

The two switched positions, Shin Jun lying on his side on the bed he was going to share while Ji was opening his suitcase. Tae stood behind Ji and exaggeratedly stretched out his arms, unsure if he was blocking any hidden cameras.

Participants were able to see some of the cameras, such as the camera in the top left corner of the room facing towards the bed and the balconies, but they didn’t know exactly what angles it had nor did they know if it was the only one. As the production teams said - only the bathrooms were safe zones.

Shin Jun wasn’t interested in going on a hunt for all the cameras and angles. Let it be a surprise to both him and the viewers, otherwise he might get shy.

The three roommates joked around with each other for a while longer until they heard footsteps and voices emerging from the top floor signifying that the others had also finished unpacking.

Tae glanced at the two other men and tilted his head. “I wonder if anyone’s good at cooking…”