Something about libraries has always drawn Sanghyuk to them, but actually visiting them has been a totally different question.

He doesn’t know if it’s because the books there aren’t his own possessions or because those places are way too quiet. Nevertheless, he’s standing in the doorway of one now, feeling a little lost.

The public library isn’t very big on the inside which is quite understandable considering how small the whole town is, and the librarian doesn’t even spare him a look as he passes the counter, murmuring a ‘hello’. Sanghyuk strides to the shelves, reading the signs above that say HISTORY, ROMANCE, BIOGRAPHY and SCIENCE, desperately looking for the fiction section. He soon finds it, stopping in front of the shelf, feeling helpless.

There are just too many books. And he has no idea which one to read.

In retrospect, it would’ve been clever to search for something good on the internet and arrive to the library with a specific idea of what to choose, but he didn’t do that, so he just stands in front of the labels and cracked spines of unknown books, anxiety rising in the pit of his stomach, thinking about how embarrassing it would be to just leave.

“Looking for something?”

Sanghyuk snaps out of his daze, glancing to his right where the sound came from. A few feet away from him stands a boy probably around his age, wearing a pair of stonewashed jeans that end above his ankles, the rest of his skin covered by old black boots, and a well-worn sweater that most probably used to be emerald, though it’s now mostly just an ugly toad colour. The guy pushes his round, metal framed spectacles further up on the bridge of his prominent nose, plush lips stretching into thin lines as he smiles at Sanghyuk, cocking his head to the side questioningly.

“Uh,” Sanghyuk says cleverly, “not really. I just… want to read something, you know? But I don’t have an actual idea about what to read.”

“Hm,” the boy murmurs and presses a finger on his lips, looking up at the shelves. “Do you like manga? You look like you would like manga.”

“Well, I do like that kind of stuff,” Sanghyuk replies, “but I’m more of an anime person when it comes to that.”

“I see,” the guy says, still staring at the books. “A classic?”

“Maybe,” Sanghyuk shrugs. “I haven’t really read anything in a long time, so there might be some that I haven’t read yet.”

“Okay,” the boy leans a little forward, inspecting the books. “A horror or whodunit?”

“Not really a fan of those,” Sanghyuk says.

“Something sports-related?”

“I’m not very sporty either,” Sanghyuk mumbles and feels the tips of his ears growing warm. He wishes he could just give it up and go home to play Overwatch with his friends, but the guy next to him seems very determined to find him something good, and the way he even stands on his tippy toes to look at the higher shelves is kind of admirable.

“A thriller?” The boy sinks back on his heels and glances at Sanghyuk. “More toned down than a horror book, so you might like it.” He must see something on Sanghyuk's face, because he smiles brightly before turning back to the shelves. “Guess not.”

“Look, I’m—”

“Read this,” the guy says and shoves a heavy book into Sanghyuk's hand.

The cover of the book is a bluish grey, with some sort of cross symbol printed on it, and on the bottom it reads ‘Cryptonomicon’ in the most awful mud-brown (possibly golden back in the days) font Sanghyuk has ever seen. He turns the thick paperback over, skimming through the synopsis, catching some words like ‘codebreakers’ and ‘conspiracies’ and something about World War II, and frowns when he reads the last line by the Wired magazine: A hell of a read.

“It is,” the stranger says and he reaches out, pointing at the line with fingers too bony for someone so soft-looking. “A hell of a read. Really, I’ve read it like, three times at least. You should thank me later.”

“Okay,” Sanghyuk says tentatively and then blinks up at the beaming boy. He’s about half a head shorter than Sanghyuk, but his joyful expression makes it feel like he fills up the space between them and between the shelves. “I don’t know whom I should thank though.”

“Lee Jaehwan,” the guy replies and reaches out a hand for Sanghyuk to shake. “Guide to lost souls trying to find themselves The Book. Always a pleasure to set up a rendezvous between an enthralling story and a reader starving to read something good.”

“Han Sanghyuk. Are you a matchmaker?” Sanghyuk laughs and Jaehwan grins even wider, showing almost two full rows of teeth.

“I’m so much better than a matchmaker,” Jaehwan replies and lets go of Sanghyuk's hand. “I don’t only make true love happen, but I also give people lifelong friends.”

“Right,” Sanghyuk smirks. “Would you… like to get a cup of coffee with me? Down in the coffee shop? I need some suggestions as to what to read after I’m done with this one,” he holds up Cryptonomicon.

“Oh, sorry,” Jaehwan says and actually looks sad, his shoulders drooping. “I still have some soul guiding to do and I have only a few pages left of The Sum of All Fears—which is great and I highly recommend you read it. But if you stop by next time, we can go to the coffee shop.”

His eyes are sparkling as he says that, his smile bunching up his cheeks and smoothing out the sharp edges of his face. He’s cute, like a little elf that’s trying to bring happiness into the world, though Sanghyuk can’t be sure of his intentions outside of the library. His pointy ears resemble that of an elf’s, anyway.

“Yeah, okay,” Sanghyuk nods. “Then, good luck finding the perfect matches?”

“Thanks,” Jaehwan smiles. “And you have fun with that.”

“I hope I will.”

Jaehwan starts walking backwards, towards the end of the aisle, waving his hand at Sanghyuk and skipping a little as he turns around before disappearing behind the shelves.

Sanghyuk lets out a soft laugh, a little exhalation, as he walks towards the counter, putting the book down in front of the librarian, a young girl who’s tapping away on her phone. She takes the book before Sanghyuk could say anything, and then reaches out without looking up from her screen.

“Card,” she orders.

“Oh,” Sanghyuk says, “I haven’t joined yet, but I’d like to.”

The girl sighs and takes her hand back, clicking here and there on her computer. Sanghyuk looks towards the aisles while she does so, sees Jaehwan crouch down by a little boy at the children’s section, wearing a wide smile.

“You need to fill this out.”

Sanghyuk turns back, realizing he’s grinning without a proper reason, and takes the form and a pen from the librarian, scribbling down his data. When he’s done, he hands it back to her, and the girl taps the keyboard some more.

“Has he been working here for long?” Sanghyuk asks, leaning in closer. “Lee Jaehwan.”

“He doesn’t work here,” the girl says, and then puts the book back on the counter. “Lending time inside the cover, your card’s going to get mailed to you.”

“Thank you,” Sanghyuk replies, a little confused.

He looks back up into the general direction of where Jaehwan was a moment before, but he has disappeared and the little boy is holding up a book to his mother and jumping happily, a smile spreading on his small face. From behind them, Jaehwan stares at Sanghyuk and holds his thumbs up.

Sanghyuk leaves the library in a strangely elevated mood.