Realistic or Modern What If We Chill In The Backrooms?

[Dreamtique]

"I am proud of you, I want you to know that."

"Hey, we will miss you, Lemon."

"......"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine!"

The parents shared a brief moment with their son before they ultimately had to part ways, the parents were still a bit hesitant while the young man confidently marched forward the hostel without turning back, the pigeons gathering at the front door made way as the young man stepped forth, he was clearly ready for this day, the only thing holding him back was his heavy luggage.
"Be presentable, whew, you have to make a good first impression alright?" Before realizing it he had successfully navigated the building and was already fast approaching his dormitory, "886... 887..." He adjusted his yellow jacket briefly with the little window of time he had before running into someone.
"Triple eight, alright!"

"Oh, hey!" The young man attempted to initiate a conversation as soon as his eyes scanned someone around the vicinity, meeting someone new was something that he made sure to prepare himself for.
"I am...Lemon Jones, you can call me Lemon-" Lemon's smile stiffened as soon as he sensed a hint of distaste given off by the fellow student's gaze, he could feel the pressure within his chest growing with every passing second.

"Oh, Lemon as in...Lemon, the fruit?" The fellow student with a chiseled face spoke as the hallway grew quite all of a sudden.

"Y-yeah! That's my real name, my mom-"

"Okay, I get it......"

"Well, you will be living next to me right? Did you happen to spot the student that will be sharing the room with me?"

"Your roommate? He never showed up."

"That's weird...I thought I am already late-"

"Hm...sorry, I am in a bad mood now. Honestly, not in the mood for socializing, maybe clean that bird poop off your pretty brown hair before you talk to people okay?" The student cut Lemon off before he could finish, attracting eyeballs from the surrounding students when doing so.
"Oh, and just so you know apparently triple eight is haunted or something..." The soon-to-be room neighbor reminded Lemon before he went into his room.

Lemon forced a smile and nodded lightly before heading straight into the room, closing the door behind him immediately to momentarily went into hiding from the judgemental eyes.
Lemon grabbed his phone from his pocket and used the slightly reflective phone case to check his hair, the bird poop was indeed on his sleek brown hair.
"Trying so hard to make myself presentable...ruined by something like this huh? I am not even sure if that's the real cause." Lemon mumbled under his breath as he grabbed a tissue and wiped off the contaminant that ruined his first impression, too defeated to be bothered by the need to rinse it.
"What's with that attitude, I don't get it......" He stared at the empty room that reeked of the smell of moist fungus, with two beds occupying most of the space and nothing else pleasing to the eyes.
"Is it just me, or it is getting harder and harder to be...likable?"
A burst of muted laughter could be heard coming from outside the closed door, breaking his train of thought.
"It's just me, then..." He couldn't help but let a breath escaped from his chest, he knew the answer to the rhetorical question better than anyone.
"So tired..."
He felt weak and limp, his let himself fell onto the dusty bed as a gust of dust flew into the air. He wanted to forget about putting up a facade already, mingling with people used to be something that comes naturally to him, it was something that used to energize him, now it was just a hellish chore.
"I don't know if I even care anymore..."
"So tired..." With his trusty phone in his hand, the young man slipped into a deep, deep slumber.



When the young man opened his eyes, a strange buzzing noise faded away from his ears, he saw the pale white ceiling that remained the same before he closed his eyes. His body felt heavier from the sleep inertia, the dorm room was still empty, nothing had changed. Lemon stood up and noticed the dead silence surrounding him, the first thing that crossed his mind was the schedule that he had given up following, knowing clearly that he would not be able to attend the welcoming ceremony, still, he needed to know the time. He checked his phone, the time displayed indicated that he had slept for a few minutes, the young man felt that something was off but what was more concerning was the low battery life. He instinctively tried to reach for his luggage only to realized it was nowhere to be found, that was when the panic set in.

"What- "
"Seriously? I put everything in there!"
The young man began to fidget his fingers as the repeated searches were to no avail.

1)Continue to inspect the room and beds.
2)Go outside.
(Reply with the choice you made.)