3,245 words

It's another Saturday morning. Another, long Saturday morning. Kyungsoo sweeps his uncombed, pillow-flattened bangs off his forehead, then shakes his head one more time to sweep the remaining hairs into some semblance of order. He does it all with a barely steady hand, balancing his on-the-go coffee mug with the same arm as the returned children's books under his armpit. In his other hand, his five-year-old niece bounces happily, lopsided pigtails flying up and down with a broad smile on her face which can only mean, Saturday mornings at the library!

It's his day to babysit. Actually, it's not, but Kyungsoo's sister decided to go on a weekend-long overnight vacation with her husband. Kyungsoo's only happy she decided to go ahead and take their six-month-old along with them instead of leaving Kyungsoo with two kids.

"I've started taking them to the library on the weekend," she'd explained hastily upon drop-off last night. "There's a boy who works there, or maybe he just volunteers, I don't know, but he reads books every morning around 9am. Mihee absolutely adores him."

Kyungsoo likes books. And his niece, he really does. But on most Saturdays, he usually sleeps in until noon and then mills around doing nothing extraordinary except maybe feeding himself. It's only because he doesn't know how else he's supposed to occupy a child for two whole days than by this excursion to the library.

There's already a little crowd gathered in the center of the children's section. Half a dozen little ones play-fight over the pillows and animal toys, marking their territory for the reading ahead. Their parents, men and women like Kyungsoo with sleep in their eyes and coffee in their hands, stand off to the side. Kyungsoo takes his place beside him, feigning experience beyond his years.

Several of them talk amongst themselves in low voices. Scholarly discussions of children's titles, the likes of which Kyungsoo has never heard, and the individual merits of the authors, whether the characters are good enough role models for their children or not. Someone reads off one of today's titles from the marker board with a glum expression. Another young woman titters excitedly to a fellow mom about whether the usual guy will be here to read. They laugh into each other's ears, giggling audibly so that it makes Kyungsoo want to scowl. Seems their secondary reason for being here is because the guy is cute.

"Mihee absolutely adores him." Kyungsoo's sister's voice echoes through his mind.

His niece pulls at his hand anxiously, and Kyungsoo lets go. She immediately bounds towards the other children and quietly takes her place in the mix. There are five minutes to go on the clock above the checkout counter. Kyungsoo checks his watch to see if it'll read any differently. It doesn't.

His coffee is two-thirds of the way gone. There isn't another cafe within three good walking blocks. Kyungsoo swirls the last of his caffeine pitifully while they wait, wondering if he shouldn't have just stayed home, wondering if he should have packed a whole cantine of the stuff. Anything, if it could get him through the day.

He checks his watch again. The reader is now three minutes late. In any other situation, that wouldn't annoy Kyungsoo, but the children including Mihee are beginning to get restless. One of the dads beside him is starting to frown, his leg jittering. The pretty young mom goes through her purse to quickly apply one last dab of lipstick while her friend holds up a compact mirror to her own face.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm here," comes a gruff voice, sounding about as sleepy as Kyungsoo feels.

The young man bumps Kyungsoo's shoulder on his way by. He stops briefly, turns and apologizes again, this time personally to Kyungsoo, but he bows his face so low and it's so fast that Kyungsoo doesn't have time to take in his appearance.

Not until the man reaches the huddle of children and turns around does Kyungsoo's mouth open a little in surprise.

He's beautiful.

And young. And kind of lazy looking. And obviously bored. He probably doesn't want to be here as much as Kyungsoo wanted to fling his alarm clock out his third story bedroom window. His smile upturned and grumpy, his eyebrows strained. Blond, uncombed hair matches Kyungsoo’s disheveled black mop, and his long, disgruntled sigh is heavy.

The young mothers coo under their breath, the dads sigh in relief that he's actually here. One elderly woman with her grandchildren claps her hands silently together and beams at the boy like he's a precious angel sent to earth. Kyungsoo has no idea what they see in the guy, or why anyone would be so enamored, the children included.

The man sighs, opening his first book and reads the title in the drollest voice imaginable.

"Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus."

The kids all cheer, Mihee the loudest of all. Kyungsoo scrunches his face, wondering how on earth this is going to be an exciting experience because personally, if he had to listen to someone read in such a monotone, he'd be bored out of his mind. The reader has all the intonation of Kyungsoo's least favorite college professor back in the day when Kyungsoo truly did need a gallon of caffeine to survive a two hour lecture. And this, this now... well, if the guy wasn't at least nice to look at, he'd had nothing else going for him.

"Hey, can I drive the bus?" he asks the kids, like he'd much rather fall asleep in one. He does at least hold the book sideways so they can see the picture.

Instantly, the kids scream a chorus of, "Noo!"

"Please?" It's soft, but curt.

"Noooo!"

"I'll be careful," he reads. Kyungsoo snorts.

It's almost mesmerizing, the contrast between the man's sharp, sculpted features and his lazy voice. Kyungsoo finds himself completely drawn to him, if only because... science. Was he forced into this? It's obviously not his calling. And yet, from the way the kids gather around his legs, pulling on his shoes and socks and tapping his arms as if for attention, you could say he's a hit.

"I tell you what: I'll just steer." The man yawns and almost drops the book at the next page turn. Mihee giggles like it's the best joke ever. Perhaps they think he's acting that way. Kyungsoo's never seen anyone try so little.

"My cousin Herb drives a bus almost every day."

"Do you you even have a cousin!" squeaks a little boy, more to the reader than about the book itself.

The man falters and looks down, his lazy frown still in place. "No, do you?"

The little boy shakes his head. But then Mihee is shaking his other sleeve ecstatically. "I don't either! But I do have an uncle! Look! That's my uncle!"

She points at Kyungsoo proudly, and for a second Kyungsoo's heart stops in place. The man is looking across the play area directly at him, and Kyungsoo feels trapped. He can't even remove his judging expression, knowing it must be playing right across his face. He also didn't expect the man to look at him for so long! His head still bowed slightly down, only his eyes glance upwards, staring Kyungsoo down with bored observation.

Kyungsoo squirms. Cautiously, he unfolds his arms from across his chest.

He forgot he was holding onto his coffee cup. There's only maybe a sip left, but it splatters against his shoe and pant leg when it falls, the lid coming off. Several of the people closest to him jump away. Kyungsoo himself gasps audibly and dives down to retrieve the cup. One of the dads closet to him hands him a napkin to wipe his pant leg. It takes probably half a minute until he can stand up again, face flushed and sweating from embarrassment.

The kids have stopped laughing. The man is still watching him. For once, instead of his bored scowl, there's a smirk on his place.

"Excuse me... I'll..." Kyungsoo falters and doesn't bother explaining himself further. He turns on the spot and makes a bee-line to the restroom.




Five minutes is all he allows himself. Mortified, embarrassed beyond belief, Kyungsoo tiptoes back to the reading area to make sure Mihee is alright and, seeing her now leaning against the young man’s rather attractive looking shin, he hides behind a low bookshelf. He’s not one to pretend invisibility, but Kyungsoo has had some experience with this before. Anytime he doesn’t want to socialize with people, for instance, which is a lot.

What an idiot, he reminds himself. The last time he put on such a spectacle before a hot guy was in college too. And that time, he full on face-planted walking over a speed bump of all things. The results were, rather stunning. Kyungsoo went home that evening with a bruised cheek, skinned palms, a beat up knee, and also a sore . The not from the fall but from hot guy consolation a few hours later. It might have been a fluke, but Kyungsoo doesn’t exactly expect to score the hot reader guy this time, even if he did win himself a casual boyfriend for several months back then. The world wouldn’t be that nice to him, twice.

He also has Mihee with him today. Who chats up a guy with their five-year-old niece in tow anyways? To say nothing of his pride.

In answer to that question though, it appears one of the mom’s is trying to do exactly that as soon as the book reading session is over. The children are running back to their parents, giant smiles of glee on their tiny little faces. The reader is standing up, stretching his back like he’s been sitting down for an entire month, bored as ever. He puts the book down on the table beside him just as he’s accosted by one of the pretty women.

“That was wonderful, as usual!” she fawns. “You’re so good at this kind of thing. The kids just love the act you put on.” Then she giggles, and Kyungsoo has to roll his eyes.

He’d walk away but Mihee is still standing on the other side of the man reaching for the book he just put down. Kyungsoo watches as she flips through some of the pages, silently exclaiming all over again at the pictures in the book. The sign on the table says Reading Time resumes exactly fifteen minutes after the first session. So, this could go on for a while more… If Kyungsoo could just get Mihee’s attention and drag her off to the other side of the library before Hot Guy notices him again, that would nice. Super nice indeed.

And also not in Kyungsoo’s cards today.

The young mother is still monopolizing the man’s little-to-none conversation when he yawns and turns his head in Kyungsoo’s direction. Kyungsoo looks immediately away and calls in vain for Mihee to come along. His cheeks are flushed, again, dammit. And in his peripheral vision, he can tell the guy is not looking away. Kyungsoo blushes even more, but to get to Mihee he has to step closer to the man.

He does it anyway, clearing his throat to interrupt the woman who is partially in his way.

“Uhhh, Mihee,” he grunts. The little girl looks up right away with a smile still on her face. “Want to go check out some books while we wait?”

She considers him for a moment, then looks pitifully back at the book. Kyungsoo feels for her, he really does. Her tendency to want to get lost in a good story runs in the family, but Kyungsoo desperately needs to get some empty space far away from the gaze of the man standing now just three feet away.

“Anyways,” says the woman with an artful toss of her hair. Just then, however, her little son takes off at a full gallop across the library. “Oh! Oh no, just a moment!”

As she begins to chase after her son, Kyungsoo reaches for Mihee. He’s not expecting a hand to suddenly attach itself to his elbow. Kyungsoo startles and stands up. The man has a tight, nearly toothless smile plastered across his face and his eyes look desperate. Kyungsoo’s heart races. Mihee goes back to her book.

Then the guys speaks.

“Save me,” he whispers, lips barely moving.

Kyungsoo blinks a couple times like he can’t believe what he’s hearing. “What?”

Again come the words, “Save me, please.” His eyes flicker across the room in the direction of the woman. Shrill screams from kid echoes throughout the library, her scolding voice right behind. Kyungsoo turns his head to look. “Don’t look! Just, don’t walk away, please, or she’ll come back and I’ll never get her to leave.”

Kyungsoo nods quickly. “Oh. I see.”

A quick glance down reveals that Mihee is perfectly settled now on the floor rereading the book. Kyungsoo supposes he can let her be for the moment. Besides, how does one turn down a cry for help?

“What’s your name?” he asks the man, desperate not to embarrass himself. He can play the knight in shining armor. He can!

“Sehun. You?”

“Kyungsoo,” he replies. Then, as an afterthought. “That’s Mihee.”

The man—no—Sehun, smiles. “I know. She comes almost every week with her mother. So, that’ll be, your sister?”

Kyungsoo nods. His tongue is like glue in his mouth. Talk, socialize, have a little chat. Come on, Kyungsoo, why is this so hard?

“Yep.”

While he’s still trying to come up with a possible avenue of conversation, Sehun’s hand remains on his elbow. It’s growing heavier by the second. Kyungsoo makes the mistake of looking at it, almost brightening red again when he takes in the long tapered fingers touching his skin. How delicate, how strong. Can fingers be both things at once?

Sehun coughs when he realizes what he’s still doing. His fingers barely retreat a bare inch though before he catches sight of the young mother again. “Oh , she’s coming back this way. Quick, act like you know me.”

Quick? Sehun wants Kyungsoo to think quick?

“Are you a student, or do you have another job? Do you work at the library? How long have you been reading kids’ books?” Lame questions rattle like a train out of Kyungsoo’s mouth. Sehun’s mouth upturns into a frown and his eyes go wide.

“That’s it? That’s all you’ve got?”

Kyungsoo resists the temptation to pull his elbow out of Sehun’s reach. Is that it? Well, of course it is! Kyungsoo doesn’t know how to talk to people, let alone a stranger he’s supposed to pretend to know! All the while, obsessive flirting woman is treading ever closer to where they stand.

Sehun sighs. “No, I just graduated. Yes, I have another job besides this, and I’ve been reading kids’ books since I was two years old.”

“So….” Kyungsoo falters. His lips feel like rubber. His nose is starting to burn. He hates this kid for putting him in this situation, but he’d feel even more awful if he fails. Being the object of unwanted attention is never a pleasant thing, and the lady is almost upon them again, brat squirming under her arm but she looks so positively, motivated.

So what if that spurns Kyungsoo on to do battle.

“So, what are you doing this weekend? I was thinking… you, me, dinner?”

Sehun’s eyes light up this time in surprise. Several steps away, the woman stops in her tracks. Kyungsoo keeps going. “We haven’t gone out together in a week, Sehun, please… this weekend?” He adds a tiny little pout to his lips, an expression he’s been told is effective. Sehun’s gasp is barely audible, but he recovers quickly.

“Kyungsoo… I’m sorry, did you miss me? I promise I’ll get someone to cover my shift. Saturday night okay with you?”

Sehun smiles and it hits Kyungsoo like a hammer to the gut.

“Saturday, then.” He returns the smile.

Without either of them looking, Kyungsoo hears the woman suddenly talk to her child about checking out some books over there, which apparently is now in the complete opposite direction. They wait, until Sehun peeks, and only after a few seconds more does he finally relax. He sighs a true sigh of relief. Kyungsoo starts to blush. Sehun takes his hand off Kyungsoo’s arm. Wondering how much time they’ve wasted, Kyungsoo starts questioning whether he can make a break for the bathroom again to collect himself. Maybe Mihee needs a potty break. Surely they can spend the remaining interim time doing something not in the focus on the hot guy he just pretended to ask out on a date. Too many nerve-wracking things have happened this morning, and Kyungsoo is about two seconds from approaching done. He started out with not enough sleep and not enough coffee, was vaguely intrigued by the guy reading books, and now they’ve just flirted like young lovers? It’s not even 9:30.

“Anyways,” says Sehun.

His voice is back to normal, not quite his bored monotone for reading, but close. Kyungsoo feels distinctly awkward. “Did I help then?”

“Yeah.” Sehun laughs. “A lot actually. That woman comes around just about every weekend.” He doesn’t elaborate, but then he doesn’t need to.

“How long have you been doing this?”

Sehun shrugs. “A few months? My grandmother volunteers here during the week. She signed me up, and in exchange, she bakes me cookies.”

I could bake you cookies, Kyungsoo thinks, but doesn’t say aloud. His little fantasy is quickly turning short-lived. Truth be told, he’d already halfway thought of a restaurant for Saturday night. Maybe he can round up some of his buddies and go with them instead.

“I guess I should get the next book ready.” Sehun groans. “Uggh, what book is it this time?” He checks the list and then pilfers through the stack of kids’ books on the table. “A Very Hungry Caterpillar, again. Hey, Kyungsoo, I should probably run to the bathroom before it starts. Drank too much coffee this morning, but then again it probably wasn’t enough.”

He smiles and there goes Kyungsoo’s stomach again lighting a fire he should probably put out.

“Okay.”

Two steps away, however, Sehun stops and turns around. “Hey,” he says hesitantly.

Kyungsoo’s eyebrows curl up in question. For the first time today, it’s Sehun who looks a little embarrassed. “After the second book reading, uhm… don’t run off, okay?”

“Okay?” Kyungsoo repeats.

“Y-yeah. We should uhm, talk about where you want to eat dinner Saturday.”

Kyungsoo gulps, hope spilling into his chest. “You, want to go, really?”

“Well, yeah,” Sehun chuckles. “Unless, you have absolutely no interest, in which case…”

“Oh. I’m interested!” he responds a little too loudly. But nobody is paying attention except Sehun himself, and the smile of relief on his face is just what Kyungsoo wants to see.

“Good. Good. Okay, then.”

By the time the next reading session begins, Kyungsoo can’t stop beaming. Even Mihee asked him if something was wrong, to which he couldn’t give a reply. How do you explain to a five-year-old anyway about the nuances of dating, which Kyungsoo has evidently mastered.

“In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf,” Sehun starts to read, droll as ever. Only this time, his eyes are a little more brighter.