Quiet.

So quiet.

This stillness and tranquility was the reason Sumi came all the way from her dormroom to the library. The ten-story building filled with books and artifacts dedicated to knowledge and learning lay its pressure on all who entered to better themselves. Or atleast, that's how she felt the moment she set foot inside.

However, tonight it didn't seem to be the case.

She didn't know if it was Jongdae's forewarning of the possible dangers of being late out at night, but the silence held in it an eeriness that made every small sound or movement from her windowseat worthy of spiking Sumi's nerves.

For once, she was thankful she wasn't alone. But the company she kept was rather dreadful too.

Looking up from the countless textbooks and colorful study notes laid out on the wooden table before her, she lay her gaze on Jongdae, who had been surprisingly uptight the whole hour they'd been cooped up together. Yes, he was keeping quiet, but it was the obvious annoyance that played across his features that made her want to toss a very large book at him.

In the past week, they had become familiar. He wasn't the guy who permanently ruined dating for her anymore, but a stand-up law student who really knew how to have fun. She found herself looking forward to lunch a little bit more, slightly happier that there was more topics of conversation other than the boys Jisu had found as rebound guys for Yoonmi, or the not-so-subtle questions aimed at Sumi as to whether she'd bumped into Baekhyun or not (she had, but she wasn't getting involved in campus drama). Jongdae somehow found the need to announce silly news that was happening around campus, in the Yanggu area in general, or on a global scale. And then he found a way to make an even sillier joke about it. Add Jongin to the mix on occasion, and their lunchtable had gotten much livelier.

But the Jongdae she sat opposite right then was a ball of vexation to the highest degree. 

Something stirred inside , an urge to let out an "Why don't you just go?" or "You insisted on coming along, not me," but she managed to swallow it. But the four-year old pout on his lips was starting to speak louder than words, and she eventually found that she needed to say something, so with a sigh, she lay down her pen and mumbled.

"Sorry. For making you come all this way."

His eyes, previously kept entertained with counting the number of pillars standing across the floor, moved towards her for the first time since they arrived. He didn't say anything at first, though his still-furrowed eyebrows spoke dozens. And then he responded with a strained sigh of his own.

"Its no problem."

Sumi took her own turn to frown. He was still upset. They returned to the unnerving quiet for a while, the only sound coming from her scribbles across her notepad, but after ten minutes, she tried again.

"Y'know, you could always go to the bash, and I could call you when I'm ready to leave? I am safe inside."

His gaze swiveled back to her in annoyance. "Do I look like an errand boy to you?"

Biting her bottom lip at his snarky words when she was merely looking for a way out for him, she turned her gaze down to her notes. "No... I just figured if you wanted to go that badly.."

"I don't."

"Then why are you so angry?" She snapped, hardly impressed by his temper tantrum.

"Because." He huffed in his own right. "I'm pretty sure this isn't something you just decided to do. You come up here to study regularly, don't you? Alone. I guess I'm old-school, but I don't like the thought of any girl coming out this late at night."

"Well..." Sumi was well out of words. He was upset because of her, not the party. And he was right, as much as she wanted to argue against it. Looking away, she managed to mumble, her voice barely audible. "Sorry."

Realizes he'd been scolding, Jongdae's features softened and his tone lost its ire. "I'm sorry. I just.. I get this feeling you don't like being a burden to people. You don't like asking for help. You'd probably call a cab instead of asking your own dad to pick you up if you needed a lift in the middle of the night."

Its true. But instead of owning up to it, Sumi became very interested in the cap of her pink highlighter. Jongdae however got the jist.

"Well, that is dangerously arrogant. Unless you're some superhero in secret, you weren't born to carry the world's weight on your shoulders, Sumi.  You're allowed to ask for help." He paused long enough to stand up and reach for the highlighter she was playing with, causing her to look up at him. "I don't care about the party. Just, promise me you'll let me or someone know when you go off like this."

Blinking at the intensity of his tone, she looked up with a pout of her own, and the look in his dark browns startled her. And like that, her thoughts were confirmed from earlier. Jongdae actually cared.

"Sumi." He prodded when she didn't answer.

"O- ok." 

"Promise?"

"I promise." She spoke her words slowly as she came out of her stupor of revelation, trying to take back a little control of the topic. "So could you please stop looking so pissed? It's uncomfortable."

"Oh, I'm sorry - you're uncomfortable?" He asked, his tone incredulous as he tried and failed to point at himself with his little dinosaur arms. "You're not wearing a dino outfit that you bought off Amaze-On for 2000 bucks and had to ask your ballet friend for a pair of leotards two sizes smaller just so you could fit in it."

Sumi stared at Jongdae for five seconds in absolute disbelief before snorting in poor attempt to keep in her laughter. She gave up trying and let it out in waves that pinched at her sides.

"Oh, come on, its not that..." He began, trying to keep his serious act together, but the sides of his mouth began to pull unwillingly, and he eventually joined in. "Ok, its funny."

Wiping tears of mirth from the corners of her eyes, Sumi finally came down from her high, her lips now set in a large smile. "You know what, give me half an hour to finish this chapter, and I'll call it a night."

His own smile widened in happy surprise. "You sure?"

"Yeah." She nodded, and decidedly focused on her scribbling.

Half an hour later, they exited the library and began walking back to the dorms. The tall lightposts lit the path in the darkness of the maturing night, and though it was quiet, there was a lulling chorus of music in the far distance, most probably the Fresher's Bash.

As they neared the entrance to her dorm building, Jongdae retrieved his phone - though God knows where he was keeping it in his dino gear - and read up on his messages. 

"Yoonmi says things are just getting started." He grinned up at her, brown hues cheekily hopeful. "You sure you don't want in? Last chance to change your mind."

Her refusal at the ready, Sumi had to bite down on her bottom lip in contemplation. He did go all the way with her to keep her safe; it was the least she could do.

'And the Fresher's Bash was campus tradition,' she reminded herself.

"You know what, gimme twenty minutes." She waited just long enough to see the his face glow with surprise, and as she turned to climb the stair to her dorm room, she heard an exclamation of triumph.

Once inside her dorm, she located the box Yoonmi had pinpointed out to her a few hours earlier on the bed, alone and dejected. Approaching the package, she hoped upon hope that it wasn't too revealing or demeaning, but as she lifted the lid, Sumi's eyes crinkled in mirth.

"Oh my god, Jongdae's going to lose his marbles." she murmured as she brought the red and blue outfit from its folded position, holding it against her body.

Exactly twenty minutes later, Sumi coughed forcefully to get Jongdae's attention from the entrance, her hands set on her side dramatically to imitate the DC character.

The guy looked up from his phone and his mouth fell open. "Oh, come on - that's just mean."

Twirling in her Supergirl costume, Sumi laughingly pointed into the distance. "Fresher's Bash, here we come."

"Actually, its this way."

"Oh."

A/N: The middle part of the actual chapter 3 ^^' they say fights solidify a friendship. Mhmhmhmhm... Haha, anyhow, thanks for reading~~~
(not proofread)