Writing about Room 123 reminded me of another story.
It had nothing to do with love.
Everything to do with friendship.
And one unbelievably bad excuse.
Our first Golden Week at university arrived before any of us really knew one another.
Most students went home for the holidays.
The rest of us stayed behind, convinced we'd finally catch up on assignments.
None of us did.
Around noon, a message appeared in the first-year dorm group chat.
First-years staying in the dorm.
Common Room, Second Floor. 1:00 PM.
Don't be late.
Ryota stared at his phone.
"...We're about to be psychologically evaluated."
Riku glanced over.
"If they wanted to torture us, they would've written 'mandatory.'"
"I don't know if that makes me feel better."
"It shouldn't."
By one o'clock, nine of us were standing awkwardly in the common room.
The senpai, on the other hand, looked perfectly relaxed.
Some were drinking canned coffee from the vending machine downstairs.
Others were eating conbini snacks while talking about classes.
One of them smiled.
"Relax."
"We're just getting to know the first-years."
He wasn't lying.
The next half hour passed with introductions, conversations, and harmless teasing.
Ryota somehow had everyone laughing within minutes.
Riku ended up discussing movies with one of the senpai.
Shun answered every question with as few words as possible.
Even the senpai eventually accepted that complete sentences were optional when talking to him.
Then one of them looked around.
"...Aren't there supposed to be ten of you?"
We counted.
Nine.
"Who's missing?"
"Takumi."
"Where is he?"
Nobody knew.
Someone tried calling him.
Nothing.
The senpai shrugged.
"Hm."
"Tell him he owes us one."
That was all.
The afternoon continued.
By evening...
None of us thought about it anymore.
A week later...
Another message arrived.
First-years.
Common Room.
After dinner.
Ryota looked at the screen.
"...See?"
"They did remember."
The second gathering felt completely different.
People sat wherever they wanted.
The conversations drifted naturally.
Someone was talking about clubs.
Someone else was recommending professors to avoid.
It almost felt like we belonged there.
Then one of the senpai noticed Takumi.
"...Aihara-kun."
Takumi looked up.
"Yes?"
"You skipped Golden Week."
"...Yes."
"What happened?"
Without hesitation
"I went to pay my tuition."
"The bank?"
"Yes."
"You couldn't go another day?"
"I forgot."
"When was the deadline?"
Takumi paused.
"...I don't remember."
Somewhere behind us, the vending machine hummed on, filling the silence nobody else wanted to fill.
A few eyebrows rose.
One senpai smiled.
"You don't remember the deadline..."
"...but you remember that you had to go that exact day?"
Takumi nodded confidently.
"Yes."
The room became suspiciously quiet.
Another senpai leaned forward.
"Which bank?"
"The one near the station."
"The north exit branch?"
"...I think so."
"I use that branch."
Takumi blinked.
"...Really?"
The senpai nodded.
"It was closed that afternoon."
Silence.
Someone's conbini snack wrapper crinkled, then went still, as if even that felt too loud.
Ryota quietly lowered his head onto the table.
Riku bit his lip.
Shun simply looked at Takumi.
Takumi sighed.
"...Yeah."
"I made it up."
For a second, nobody spoke.
Then Ryota lost it.
The laughter spread through the room almost on cue.
One senpai laughed so hard he had to put his coffee down.
"Aihara-kun..."
"You skipped us..."
"...and that was the best excuse you had?"
Takumi scratched the back of his head.
"I panicked."
"You could've said you overslept."
"I know."
"But you chose paperwork?"
Takumi looked genuinely puzzled.
"...Nobody questions paperwork."
Even the senpai laughed.
Shun, who hadn't said a word the entire conversation, finally spoke.
"You didn't even bring a receipt."
Takumi looked at him.
"...I didn't think that far."
For the first time since I'd met him...
I saw Shun laugh before anyone else.
It lasted barely a second.
It was enough.
One of the senpai smiled.
"Our bank kōhai."
Another took a sip of his coffee.
"Ginkō."
Nobody laughed.
Nobody questioned it.
The conversation simply drifted somewhere else.
When the gathering ended, we headed back toward Room 123.
Halfway down the corridor, Riku called out behind us.
"Oi..."
Takumi turned around.
"...Ginkō."
"My name is Takumi."
"I know."
Riku shrugged.
"I just wanted to see if it'd work."
Takumi shook his head.
"It's not going to."
The next morning...
Ryota knocked on our door.
"Ginkō."
No response.
He knocked again.
"Ginkō, hurry up. We'll miss the first train."
The door opened immediately.
"What?"
Nobody spoke.
Takumi looked from one face to another.
"...What?"
Ryota slowly smiled.
"You answered."
Takumi froze.
"..."
Riku walked past him toward the stairs.
"Morning, Ginkō."
This time...
Takumi didn't correct him.
Within a week, everyone on our floor called him Ginkō.
Within a month, even a few senpai had forgotten to call him Takumi.
Years later, I couldn't remember what the senpai had talked about that evening.
I couldn't remember who brought the canned coffee.
I couldn't even remember why we'd all gathered in the common room.
But I remembered Ginkō.
Some people spend years earning a nickname.
Takumi earned his...
...with one terrible lie.