Chungha didn't particularly like books. She'd even go as far as admitting she preferred movies, although she does fall asleep in the middle half the time. So she doesn't know what possessed her to get a part time job as a library assistant in her university when she would be surrounded by all these books she's never even dreamed of reading.

She's always thought that books were just carcasses of dead trees. Put them all together in one place and it's no different from a morgue. Morbid, but Chungha thinks it's true. Libraries, after all, are quiet, lonely, and cold.

The librarian isn't always around, busy with one thing or another, so Chungha is usually left alone to fend for herself. Lucky for her, the library doesn't have many visitors, if none at all. She doesn't have to do much, just assist some students once or twice or collect late book fees. All in all, it's a pretty mundane job.

On a particularly slow shift, Chungha drowns herself in music as she tries to create a simple hand choreography to pass the time. She's making a wave with her arms when a couple of chemistry books land thickly on the counter almost hitting her phone. She hurriedly grabs the device and looks up at the grinning culprit.

"Hi unnie~!"

Her glare softens a little when she sees who it is. She removes her earphones and runs her fingers through her hair, feeling frustrated. Chungha secretly hates herself for not being able to get angry for real at this particular high school kid.

"What are you doing here Somi?"

"Borrowing a book," the younger girl replies.

"You don't read books," Chungha doubts as she scans the barcodes of the books Somi practically dropped earlier.

"Duh," Somi says. "It's for a friend."

"Must be a pretty special friend for you to be doing favours for," remarks Chungha as she receives an I.D. from Somi. Their school I.D.'s works as a library card too.

"You have no idea," mutters Somi quietly enough for Chungha not to hear.

"This her?" asks Chungha as she turns over the I.D.

The picture is of a round-faced girl with cute crescent eyes. Her information indicates that she's in the university's music department. Chungha raises an eyebrow at Somi.

"Why are you doing favours for a college student?" she asks.

"She does my homework for me sometimes," shrugs Somi.

Chungha could only sigh. For some reason, this does not surprise her. The girl can make anyone do anything for her if she wants to. It's all part of the Jeon Somi charm. Her pretty face and strong personality plays a big role in this, too. She hands Somi the two books and reminds her to return them in a couple of days because it's not from the circulation section.

"I know, I know," Somi says as she makes her merry way. "Bye Chungha-unnie~"

And Chungha is left all alone. She only has roughly thirty minutes until her shift ends and an hour before her lone afternoon class begins. She starts to gather her things and double check the way she organized the files in the backroom. The librarian arrives and sends Chungha off to lunch, muttering something about how the girl needs more fat in her body. Chungha thinks the librarian isn't any better.

The next day Chungha is on the afternoon shift. Fresh from her morning classes, she takes out her homework and tries to make progress. There are a few students but they're scattered around the library enough so you can't even see them unless you actually look. They're not much trouble, just regulars who probably know more about libraries than Chungha. So she lets herself focus on her homework, looking up some stuff on her phone once in a while like any sensible student of this milllenia.

She hears someone clear their throat when she's halfway through her psychology paper while wondering why on earth did she take this elective in the first place. Looking up, she sees a familiar face. Only she couldn't place a finger on it. Chungha brushes it off thinking she must be just another student doing library stuff.

"I'm here to return these books," the smiling girl says as she hands over two books.

Chungha nods as she scans the books. She tells the girl it's all done with a compulsory thank you before returning to her essay. She doesn't notice the girl linger a little longer nor the tiny lip of paper peeking through the pages of the returned books. When Chungha doesn't show signs of looking up any time soon, she starts to leave.

Somi comes again the next day bringing three books to the counter to check out. Chungha asks her why she's borrowing so many and about the books she borrowed last time.

"They've been returned yesterday!" exclaims Somi.

"Oh."

"Oh? Seriously, unnie. You don't remember?"

"Not really."

"Ugh, we have to do something about your poor excuse of a memory. It's seriously amazing how you can forget people so easily."

"You make me sound so harsh," quips Chungha with a slight frown.

"But you do!" Somi says. "It even took you days to match my face with my name and I have a face anyone will remember."

"Keep your voice down, we're in the library," chides Chungha. "And I can't help it, you know. I have to talk to a person a lot of times before I can remember them."

Somi rolls her eyes as she takes the books Chungha has finished checking out along with an I.D. that is definitelt not Somi's. The younger girl knows it's not Chungha's fault she finds it hard to remember people. She had moved a lot since she was a kid and hasn't really stayed in one place for more than a year or two until she was old enough to live by herself. Friendships have just become something ephemeral for her. She stopped bothering to remember and it's become a habit.

"Try to remember this face, at least," Somi tells her flashing the I.D. to her face.

"Why this face in particular?"

"Jus because."

"Fine," Chungha says rolling her eyes at the younger girl's petulance before the girl retrieves the I.D.

"Bye unnie." Somi turns around and mutters to herself, "aish, all this trouble of stealing Sejeong-unnie's I.D. better pay off."

The next day, a girl returns the same three books about astronomy to Chungha. This time, Chungha recognizes the girl's face. She takes the books from the smiling girl's hands and gives her a small smile of her own.

"Hi," the girl says.

She registers that the girl is trying to open up a conversation. The way her eyes curve is somehow familiar. Chungha racks her brain for any information and she distinctly remembers the picture from the I.D. Somi showed her yesterday. Then it clicked.

"Are you a friend of Somi's?" Chungha asks her.

"Yes!"

And the girl's eyes sparkle along with her excited answer. It amuses Chungha that she could only make a gesture at as a sign to lower her voice. The girl makes a hushed embarrassed laugh, covering with a hand. Her eyes are crescent shaped.

"You sure read really fast," Chungha tells her. "Finishing three books in one night."

"Ah, well, it just happened like that," the girl replies with an awkward grin.

Chungha sends her off with a smile. The girl looks at the books before looking back at Chungha. She waves goodbye and leaves reluctantly.

She receives a text from Somi later asking her if she checked the books. She just replies with an emoji, not bothering to ask why.

That night, Chungha realizes she forgot to ask the girl's name.

"I'll remember if I remember," she tells herself.

The next time they meet, it's not at the library. It's two days later on a Sunday. Chungha doesn't work on the weekends so she spends her time browsing through the records store in search of rare old legendary albums, a hobby she kept only to herself. She's walking through the aisles when the girl waves at her. Chungha raises a hand in return but continues walking. The girl feels a little sad.

Chungha doesn't remember her.

There's a shelf organized according to the year the albums were published and Chungha makes a beeline for it. She listens to a couple of songs before coming back to browse again. She's halfway through the sixties when she finds another person browsing near her.

The girl looks up and meets her gaze. She smiles, a little awkwardly, but still enough to make crescents on her eyes. Chungha makes herself seem friendly, smiling back and hopes she doesn't look constipated. She finally remembers having talked to her before and it makes Chungha nervous when she realizes she has to remember who she is without offending her.

"Hi," Chungha offers.

"Hi," the girl says.

There's a few awkward seconds of silence and Chungha hopes the girl will say something to dissipate the uncomfortable atmosphere. She knows the ball is in her court but she doesn't really know what to say so she hopes with all her heart that the girl does.

"Oh, umm, I haven't told you my name yet," the girl says. Chungha feels like the weight of the world has been lifted off her shoulders and she visibly relaxes.

"I'm Sejeong," the girl tells her. "Somi's friend, Kim Sejeong."

"Nice to meet you," Chungha smiles. "Kim Sejeong."

The smile on Sejeong's face only brightens some more as she hears Chungha say her name.

"You're the dance department's Kim Chungha," Sejeongs says. Chungha looks a little surprised and Sejeong quickly follows it up with, "I'm a fan."

"A fa- A fan?" Chungha stammers in disbelief.

"You don't know you're popular?" asks an astonished Sejeong. "I mean, your pictures from dance competitions are all over the university's gossip site and all."

"I don't-- What? I mean--"

Chungha's face is now pretty much red. She's positive she hasn't told anybody about those nor has she ever joined anything that represented the university. As much as she likes being recognized for her talent, she doesn't want the unnecessary attention it brings especially from people surrounding her. It makes her feel all weird.

"Are you okay?" asks Sejeong when Chungha manages to stop stuttering. When the girl doesn't reply, Sejeong takes her hand and tells her they should sit down in a nearby cafe. Chungha follows.

They're both seated in a corner table, a little far from the rest of the customers. Chungha appreciated the privacy and gives Sejeong a grateful smile. Two grapefruit juices and a plate of sweet potato fries arrive by the time Chungha composes herself enough after processing everything that has been happening without her knowledge.

"Do they say bad things about me?" she asks in a small voice. "The people from the site, I mean."

"No, of course not! You're a very good dancer and people like you," assures Sejeong. She doesn't add that most of the pictures had her shown a little glimpse of abs or she's in a bent position exposing her figure perfectly.

"I'm not very good at... Internet stuff. Somi makes fun of me all the time because of it."

"I wasn't into it too until a little while ago either," admits Sejeong with a laugh. She doesn't say she's only used it to stalk pictures of Chungha online because Somi's secret limited edition of Chungha's photos are too expensive.

Chungha giggles along until they dissolve into an easy conversation. Chungha learns that Sejeong is majoring in vocals. They're in the same year and are of the same age. She tells Sejeong about her boring part time job and the pains of being room neighbours with Jeon Somi at the students' dorms.

"She knocks at my door at eleven at night asking for body lotion because she ran out. I mean, who does that?" divulges Chungha.

"Well, it is a very Somi thing to do," Sejeong nods.

"Oh, and also, I remember her telling me that you do your homework for her?" Chungha thinks Somi may have talked about someone else but she gambles at this question anyway in hopes of getting the right person.

"Sometimes when she's too tired. She's still a kid anyway," replies Sejeong.

"You shouldn't do that," says Chungha. "She's spoiled enough as it is."

"With you doing most of the spoiling," teases Sejeong.

"I have done no such thing."

"You give her extra spending money, let her sleep over when she gets nightmares, and lend her body lotion. Sure you're not."

Chungha pouts at the hard truth and drinks her juice. Sejeong thinks she looks very cute. Chungha mumbles something along the lines of Somi being a little evil and Sejeong only laughs in agreement. They spend the afternoon chatting randomly, giving each other a peek of themselves. Chungha finds Sejeong as a very easy-going person and Sejeong finds out how actually shy Chungha can be.

They make plans to meet again. This time, Chungha won't forget.

On one of the rooms inside the university dorms laid an open astronomy book with three girls surrounding it. A single slip of paper  neatly tucked inside reveals itself bare for all eyes to see.

"Is... Someone asking you out?" Sana asks the borrower.

"Idiot. It says "I think you look cute." Jennie's ugly. Of course it's not for her," Joy rolls her eyes.

Jennie sends a flying pillow and hits Joy square in the face. Sana steps in and forces herself between the two before a pillow war breaks out and she becomes an inevitable casualty. Every outbreak has never ended well for her.

"Anyway, you guys want to go find out who this note is for?" she asks.

"Not interested," chimes Joy as she walks towards her bed and flops face down.

"Jennie?" she asks hopefully, eyes shining with so much hope and rainbows that Jennie feels she has no choice but to agree. She knows Sana wants Joy in too, so she makes it happen.

"First one to find out gets free dinner for a week," she announces.

"I'm in," came Joy's muffled reply.