The Single Room Skirmish and the Kimchi Cold War
When the members first stepped into the dorm, there were basically two things we needed to settle right away: the house rules and the room assignments. The rules were easy enough. We knocked out the obvious ones like “handle your own chores” and “don’t mess with anyone else’s private space,” then agreed to add new ones by consensus whenever problems popped up. The room assignments, though, ran into trouble from the start. Too many of us wanted the same rooms.
The debut team dorm had one large room, one medium room, and one small room. We decided on two people in the large room, two in the medium, and one in the small. The problem, of course, was that single small room.
“There’s a single room? Then I want to use it alone.”
“I would also prefer a single room if possible.”
Tasha and Seong Jiyeong were both eyeing the smallest room. I got it. Anyone in this situation would want the single. Plus we were still awkward around each other. It made sense to want at least some privacy when you came home to rest.
“That room already has all my stuff in it. I’ve been living there since I moved in.”
But the small room was already mine. I’d been using it from the moment I first stepped into this place. If someone else took it, I’d have to go through the hassle of moving all my things out.
“Is that so? That’s unfortunate.”
“If it already has an owner…”
Seong Jiyeong and Tasha seemed willing to let it go once they heard I was already using it. They wanted the single room, but not enough to make me drag all my belongings out. That was when Yu Hana and Ji Seoeun jumped in and the mood took a strange turn.
“Just because you moved in first doesn’t mean you get to monopolize the single room. Jiyeongie and Tasha want it too, don’t they?”
“Unfair.”
“Wait, so you’re saying I should actually take all my stuff out?”
“Come on, it’s not like you have that much. I bet it wouldn’t even take ten minutes to clear out. Shouldn’t we start things fairly from the beginning? Yeriyeri~ don’t you think so too?”
“Ugh.”
It was true that I had claimed the best room first, so it was unfair. But it would have been a harmless kind of unfair if the others had just accepted it. Once someone called it out directly like that, I had no choice but to join the single-room war if I wanted to keep my territory.
“Both Tasha and Seong Jiyeong already backed off. Why are you two picking a fight?”
“Aww, but I want to share a room with you, Yeriyeri~”
“With unnie.”
“Ha, seriously…”
Yu Hana and Ji Seoeun weren’t fighting for the single room itself. Their goal was to drag me out of it so they could room with me instead. Two whole members wanted to share a room with me. On one hand it made me the most popular member in the group in an instant, but when those two were the legendary squinty-eyed fox and the space battleship villain, the only thing that swelled was my sense of dread.
No matter what Ji Seoeun and Yu Hana were thinking, I wanted to avoid sharing a room with either of them at all costs. I admitted they both needed careful handling, but that didn’t mean I had to live in the same room with them. Just thinking about it made me feel exhausted.
Anyway, once Ji Seoeun and Yu Hana joined the fray, even the small room I’d been using became fair game. All that remained was deciding how to distribute the rooms. Since the assignments would likely stick until we moved out, it was actually pretty important.
“How about a lottery app? We can use an app to decide the rooms.”
While I was still wondering how to settle this fairly, Yu Hana threw out the suggestion. She wanted to use a lottery app to assign the rooms. The fact that she pulled it out without hesitation told me she had been planning to use that app from the very beginning.
The app itself was simple. You set a range of numbers, hit execute, and every time someone pressed confirm a number within that range popped up in order. We’d set 1-2 for the large room, 3-4 for the medium room, and 5 for the small room. Each member would press confirm once and get their room.
“Let’s just draw ladders.”
“Huh? Why? This would be so simple.”
“Why? You’re really asking that?”
Everyone else seemed fine with it, but I was the only one against the app. It looked fair at first glance, but since Yu Hana was the one who brought it up, I couldn’t help suspecting foul play. That girl’s superpower was basically hacking, wasn’t it? She could track locations however she wanted. Given her personality and abilities, it would be stranger if the app hadn’t been tampered with.
The others looked puzzled, but when I stubbornly refused, they eventually agreed to draw ladders instead. It was a bit more troublesome, but they seemed to decide nothing was fairer than an actual ladder draw. The sight of Yu Hana pouting was incredibly satisfying. If that satisfaction could continue all the way to me keeping the single room, it would have been perfect.
“It’s decided~ Large room goes to Jiyeongie and Tasha. Medium room to Yeriyeri and me. And the small room goes to Seoeun~”
“Wait, what the hell…”
“The large room?”
“Still, the large room has its own bathroom, so…”
“Small room. Disappointing.”
“Hehe~”
But it all went to hell. I ended up sharing the medium room with Yu Hana. It was genuinely the worst possible outcome for me. How did this happen? Ladder draws shouldn’t be possible to manipulate. Was this really just coincidence?
No matter how I thought about it, there had been no room for cheating in the ladder. After everyone made their choices, we each added an extra line to eliminate any possibility of tampering. The process looked completely fair, yet the result was impossible to believe was pure chance. On top of that, the way Yu Hana kept grinning and sticking her tongue out only made my suspicions grow stronger.
But there was no proof, and the room assignments were already finished. It looked like I would have to rely on Yu Hana’s goodwill for the foreseeable future. My head hurt. That damn squinty-eyed fox never made anything easy.
Once the room assignments were settled, everyone started unpacking. Today’s filming was supposed to end with us simply organizing our belongings… but an unexpected event in the kitchen changed things.
“Whoa~ Jiyeongie brought this? I need to put some of my kimchi in here too.”
“It’s fine to take out kimchi since we’re sharing the space, but I’m against putting other kimchi inside.”
“Why? There looks like plenty of room.”
“There won’t be any room left. It’s going to be filled with the kimchi I’m bringing.”
“Even though it’s this big?”
“Even if there is space, I’m still against it. What if I get confused and eat the wrong one? I only eat the kimchi I’m used to.”
“That’s not really fair. I have the right to eat the kimchi I’m used to as well.”
It all started with the kimchi refrigerator Seong Jiyeong had brought. It was a high-end, latest-model unit with enormous capacity. The moment Yu Hana saw the massive kimchi fridge, she wanted to bring her own kimchi too, but Seong Jiyeong immediately opposed it. Her reasoning was that she only ate her own kimchi, and if other kimchi got mixed in she might accidentally eat the wrong one.
Yu Hana countered that she also had the right to eat kimchi that suited her taste. And so began the completely unnecessary kimchi debate.
Both of them had a point. Seong Jiyeong’s refusal to accept any other kimchi was a bit extreme, but as the person who had brought the fridge, she had the right to set some conditions. After all, she was already allowing others to eat her kimchi. Yu Hana’s argument made sense too. Since we were all living together, it wasn’t unreasonable to ask for a portion of the fridge even if Seong Jiyeong had brought it. With that much capacity, giving up one section would still leave more than enough space for Seong Jiyeong’s own kimchi.
When the kimchi debate broke out in the kitchen, I had zero intention of getting involved. The reason for the argument was just too trivial. Besides, if it really came down to it, Yu Hana could just bring another kimchi fridge. Someone as clever as her would realize that simple solution quickly.
“I don’t know what kind of kimchi you’ll bring, but I’m certain mine is far superior. So please just eat the kimchi I brought.”
“That sounds a bit rude. Are you looking down on our kimchi?”
“I’m not looking down on it. I’m simply stating a fact.”
“A fact? I don’t think so at all. Our kimchi is nothing to scoff at either.”
But the argument dragged on longer than expected and gradually changed direction. Now they were comparing whose kimchi was superior.
“So, we each bring our kimchi and settle this with a taste test?”
“There’s no clearer way than that.”
“I can’t back down like this either.”
“Oh my god.”
Why was this escalating so far? Personally, I thought comparing kimchi flavors was completely pointless. Kimchi varied by region, and even by household. It was arrogant to assume the kimchi your family made would taste good to your neighbors. Likewise, it was arrogant to dismiss someone else’s kimchi just because it didn’t suit your palate. Yet here they were, trying to compare them somehow.
Both Yu Hana and Seong Jiyeong had to know how ridiculous this was. The fact that they were still going through with it suggested there was another reason. The more suspicious one seemed to be Seong Jiyeong. No matter how strictly she only ate her own kimchi, completely refusing to let any other kind into her fridge was a little strange. Of course, Yu Hana was also acting out of character by enthusiastically participating in this nonsense…
Regardless of my questions, things moved quickly. Seong Jiyeong and Yu Hana had already contacted people to bring their respective kimchi, and now they were discussing how to determine the winner. The method was simpler than I expected. The three members excluding the two involved would taste both kimchis and decide which was better. If Yu Hana won, she would get half the kimchi fridge. If Seong Jiyeong won, Yu Hana couldn’t put any kimchi in it at all.
No matter how many times I looked at it, it was still an incredibly trivial contest. I wasn’t even curious about the outcome. The entire process of their bet was being faithfully recorded by the camera the PR team staff had brought. When I glanced over wondering if this was really okay, I saw the staff member filming with a huge grin that practically split her face. She clearly thought this was great content.
Was this the kind of thing that became content for idols? Even though I was one of them now, I still couldn’t understand how this industry worked.