It’s a well-known fact that all libraries no matter where you are in the world smell the same way.  There’s a certain rustic, musty scent that seems to emanate from the antique pages of the dusty old books lying on the shelves.  It’s like the smell of ideas and imagination coming from the books mixed in the air wanting and waiting to be read.

You enter the library and take a deep breath to take in that familiar scent that reminds you why this is your favorite place.  You hear nothing but the silence that abounds that even the most miniscule noise can be heard like it resonates in the whole library, such as the turning of the paper, the cautious whispers, the chair scrapping against the floor and even the tapping of one’s finger on a table.

You walk slowly passing aisle after aisle reaching further back until you reach the Fiction Section.  You pause for a moment to let your eyes move for you, carefully running your fingers along the stack of books that stand against each other on the shelves, skimming above and below looking for something that will interest your eyes.  You focused on them more than anything else in that library that you didn’t notice the man who stood a few books away from you.  He had his back turned towards you making him just as oblivious to your presence as you are of his.  He was scanning through the pages of an old book with his large hand, briskly turning from one page to another as if searching for something that will capture his attention.  He yawns as you draw nearer to where he was standing.  Stretching his long arms while you walked by unknowingly resulting in him suddenly hitting the bridge of your nose with his hand.

Somehow, a few seconds before impact, you saw it coming, but it still caught you off guard.  You weren’t paying attention to what’s ahead and he just wasn’t looking at all.  You felt his fist come in contact to your nose seemingly making a bunch of nerves go off at the same time.  It was like there was pressure building up in the middle of your face and even though the hit was not hard enough to break the bones in your nose, you still felt a stinging pain that made your eyes water as you crumpled down to the floor gasping for air.

He drops his book sending all the dust from it flying as he watches you in shock not knowing what to do or how to react as he sees you squirm in pain on the floor.  “Oh my God!  Are you alright?” he worriedly said as he sits beside you on the floor.  He wanted to touch you in comfort, but felt unsure if it was right to do so or if you are about to hit him back.

You hold on to your nose as if it was to fall off if you let it go.  “What the hell?” you exclaimed still in a hushed tone as you regained much of your senses, enough to know what hit you and more than enough to get mad and complain.

“I’m so sorry.  I didn’t see you coming.”  He shifted himself to kneel in front of you, trying to take a peek at your face from under your hair and hands.  “Let me see.”  He gently swept the hair off your face and tucked it behind your ears and then just as carefully removed your hands covering your nose.

You looked up to find Lee Junho looking at you with a piercing stare, holding your chin up with his hand as he examined your face thoroughly.  You know him and for sure he has no idea who you are.  You stared at him for a few seconds not knowing if you are to believe your eyes.  You were not exactly a fan of his, but there was a part in you that thought it’s great to be looking at a celebrity so up close without worrying that you will ruin your eyes from watching so near.

“Act cool.  Act cool.  Try not to ruin yourself further.  And don’t babble either.” you tell yourself over and over in your head as you try not to breathe too hard.

“Your nose seems fine.  I don’t think it’s broken or bruised.” He flashes you his most charming smile curving his eyes into a downward crescent moon shape.  “Do you feel dizzy?  Maybe I should take you to the infirmary.”

“No need.”  You shook your head as your nose suddenly felt numb of the pain.  “I don’t think it was that hard anyway.”  You stood up to fix yourself, hanging back your oversized bag over your shoulder.

He stood up along with you dusting himself off.  “But it still would be better if we had that looked on.”

“You’ve looked at it enough.  I’ll look at it some more when I get home.  I’ll take care of it.” you said feeling embarrassed hanging your head low to hide the red in your cheeks that’s deepening in tint.

“I’m so sorry, deeply sorry.  I really didn’t know you were standing right ….”

“I know.  It’s partly my fault.  I should’ve paid more attention.”

“I think I should at least help you ice that.” Junho said pointing to your nose.

“I think it’ll be okay.  You hit like a girl anyway.” you said with a faint smile as you picked up his abandoned book lying on the floor.  “Bambi, A Life in the Woods?”

“I wasn’t reading it.  I just picked it up by mistake?” Junho said defensively as you look at him with suspicion and judging eyes.

“Someone just said to read it…so, I thought what the heck.”  He looked at you as if to gauge if you have indeed believed his words, but you remained quiet with a smile making him blush.  “Alright fine.  I was curious if Bambi’s a girl or a boy.”

You dusted the cover of the book and handed it back to him with a crooked smile.  “You’re the last person I’d expect to see in a library.”

Junho took the book from you as he arched his eyebrow up showing much discontent from your statement.  “Because I look like I don’t read?  Or is it because I look like I can’t read?”

Noticing the scowl on his face you waved your hand at him dismissively.  “Oh it’s not that.  Really, it isn’t that at all.  I think it just didn’t come out of my mouth right.”  He crossed his arms over his chest as he clutched the book in his hand as if waiting for you to retract your words or at least to explain what you meant.  “What I meant was…well…you’re Lee Junho.  It’s not like it’s easy to see you and here of all places.  You’re like super famous.  And I guess if you wanted a book, you have people to ask to get it for you…and maybe not at a library.  And I was thinking if you really wanted to know Bambi’s gender, you could just ask a few people to Google it for you or maybe…”

A slight upward curve on Junho’s lips begins to appear as he hears you blabbering away making you feel a little bit more shy.  You touch your forehead to hide your face in embarrassment, biting your own lip to stop you from spurting a few other nonsense as you realize how totally uncool your explanation turned out to be.  “And here I say I’d act cool.” you thought to yourself as you shake your head in dismay.  You narrowed your eyes at Junho who seems to be so amused that you’re basking in shame.  “Well you hit me on the nose!”

Junho laughed as you gave a silent chuckle, putting your finger on your lips to tell him to stay quiet, being reminded that you’re still in the library.

“Well, to be honest, I have a friend in this university.  I was going to meet him, but…oh well, let’s just say this was the nearest hiding place.”

“Hiding from your horde of fans?”

“No.  Not from fans.  Just from someone.”

“Someone?”

“Someone…just someone.” Junho said as he turned his gaze away from you to look at the books on the shelves.  You took that as your cue to leave.  Besides, every magic must wear out after a short while.

You smile in content as you thought yourself to be lucky to have had that chance.  “I’ll be going now.”

“Already?” he asked as he turned to look at you.

“Uhm.” You nod lightly with a smile.  “I’ll see you…ahhh...inside the TV.” You waved at him goodbye before you turned around to leave.  Vanishing quickly through the shelves, touching your nose with a grin as you remember the details.