A few days later, Sehun's friends, also known as the Kings, appeared in the library again, giving similar lame excuses like last time. Ara, however, wasn’t all too bothered, because she was pleased to see Kai there. During her shift at her part-time job yesterday, she had thought about how to make the apology happen. And she wasn’t all too fond of her plan at the moment, so maybe Kai could think of something as well – after all he was the one apologizing, wasn’t he?

Her plan, well, consisted of dragging Hyejin to the library – whether with force or not depended on Hyejin's reaction – and pushing her to Kai. That's it. Unfortunately, Ara hadn't been able to think of a better plan. Her brows furrowed in concentration while she was thinking about a better plan, her attention not on the computer screen in front of her anymore. Was there even more she could do? Arrange a situation in which Hyejin would be forced to talk to Kai again? Argh, the girl pressed her lips into a firm line and unconsciously stomped one foot on the ground.

Sehun, who had been sitting at the table as usually, watched Ara dwelling on her thoughts with amusement. He didn’t even perceive all the noise his friends were making (the librarian had even scolded them), so much was his attention focused on one person: Park Ara. Why was it that her slightest movements captured his mind so much? He couldn’t explain it at all. It was like–

“That's it!” With a jolt, Ara jumped from her chair, interrupting Sehun's thoughts. All gazes of the people in the library at the moment – about three people besides the Kings and Sehun – went to her, eyes widened in surprise. They frowned at Ara's weird behavior and some laughed as it turned into an awkward silence while they all stared at Ara. Baekhyun and Chanyeol didn’t even bother to hide their laughters, Suho and Kyungsoo chuckled behind their hands, and also around Kai's lips played a small amused smile.

Ara glanced around before shooting those people a glare that made them shut up. She made sure to send an extra angry glare to Baekhyun and Chanyeol. However immediately after the two, she was met with the eyes of the strict librarian – an old, grumpy woman – and within a millisecond she stopped throwing daggers with her eyes. “What do you think you're doing, student?” The librarian said with an annoyed voice while she stared down at Ara with a gaze only a woman in her sixties could possess. It was the gaze that forced you to show respect.

A cough escaped Ara's lips as she attempted to clear , and she bowed lightly. “Uh, I'm sorry,” she said with an awkward tone, gnawing on her lips as she faced the ground.

An almost hearty sounding laugh could be heard and Ara instinctively looked up. As she spotted Sehun whose eyes had the form of crescents, her eyes rounded. The way his face was shining while he laughed was … heart-warming. He looked much younger when laughing, especially when he was laughing like this.

Not only she was staring at him, but his friends – Kai especially – and the other three people, too. When Sehun realized that, he immediately stopped and cleared his throat, before straightening and averting his gaze to the book on the table. When all the eyes of his friends were still on him, even after one whole minute, he glanced up with his usual bland face and muttered almost inaudibly, “What?”

Kai smiled and reached out his hand to touch his friend's shoulder. “Nothing, it's just it's been long since you laughed like this, Hun,” he said, surprising Sehun with the usage of the nickname he hadn't used in a long time.

“Like a ,” Chanyeol suddenly added, destroying the gentle atmosphere, and Baekhyun immediately broke into laughter, earning a scolding look from Suho, who was suppressing his grin though. “, pfffhahaha.” The shorter male held his tummy. “That can only come from you, Yeol.”

“Guys, stop,” Suho said scoldingly, but failed to keep a serious face. “I've gotta admit though, it's a good one.”

Kai and Sehun immediately shot deadly glares to their friends, but stopped as Kyungsoo suddenly said with a light chuckle, “Just like the good old days.” That made all of them halt for a moment before one after another broke into a small, nostalgic smile. Yes, indeed. It reminded all of them of the days when they played together in the garden of one their mansions, when they were just joking and laughing before things became serious. Before things became worse …

Since the other three people in the library had already returned to their own things, Ara was the only one who saw this scene between friends. And somehow it was a heart-warming scene. Just as Ara was thinking that, a noise erupted and the girl turned her head to see what happened. One of the small wagons, on which books laid that still had to be put back in their places, had fallen over. Many books, really many, many were now lying on the floor. The old librarian tried to bend, but her face condoned at the lightest movement – her back wasn’t that well anymore.

Out of instinct, Ara stood up and walked over their, but a few others were faster: Suho and Kyungsoo. The former immediately picked up a few boo