side pairings: ninja!minkey, ninja!taeun
genre: hot librarian au, romance, humor
length: one shot ― 1,380~ words
warning: message me off anon if you really wanna know, but it’s nothing bad, i promise.

happy birthday jinki!!! <3

“Hey, do you know him?”

Taemin glanced up from his cellphone to follow Jonghyun’s gaze, which was resting interestedly on the bright-eyed, blonde librarian that was seated at the front desk and laughing happily with a student checking out a book. Turning back to eye his roommate, a smirk began to curl at the corner of Taemin’s lips.

"I actually don’t, but he’s pretty hot," he replies, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively as he leans forward, table digging slightly into his rib-cage. "You should go talk to him."

Jonghyun’s cheeks flush lightly, and he drags his gaze away from the librarian’s mesmerizing crescent-shaped eyes and plump, pink lips. He gives Taemin a sour look, and in an poorly-disguised attempt to change the subject, he snaps back “Yah, what would Naeun say if she heard you saying that?” If Taemin found out that the only reason he’d been following his roommate to the library these past few days was because of the attractive librarian, the taller man would never let it go.

Shrugging in response, Taemin states, “Hey, if I think someone is attractive, I’m not afraid to say it― she already knows that she’s the only one for me.” They become silent for a few minutes (Jonghyun naïvely believes that he’d succeeded in distracting his friend) while Taemin watches in amusement as his roommate pretends to study, when in reality all he’d been doing was steal glances at the librarian.

Suddenly it all clicks―the only reason Taemin was at the library was because Naeun threatened to dump him if he didn’t pass his political science exam, but Jonghyun didn’t have any kind of motivation to do the same. In fact, the older man had never bothered studying during finals week before, so there really could only be one reason he was here.

"You sad excuse for a human being!" Taemin exclaims abruptly, lurching forward in the seat as his eyes glitter knowingly, and Jonghyun is startled into looking at him again. "You’ve been keeping me company as an excuse to ogle the librarian this entire time, haven’t you?!" The older man’s cheeks flush darker, which is all the answer Taemin needs; however there is no hint of betrayal in his voice when he adds, "So why don’t you just grow a pair and go talk to him? Staring at him like some stalker isn’t going to get you anywhere. This isn’t like you at all."

Jonghyun just shakes his head, a heavy feeling settling in his stomach. “You don’t understand―I can’t. He has a boyfriend.”

Surprised, Taemin probes further. “What? And how do you know that?”

Fiddling with the pages of the book in front of him, Jonghyun mumbles, “You’ll see for yourself in a few minutes. The guy checks up on him like every thirty minutes, I swear. Talk about clingy.”

And just like he’d said, within five minutes Taemin notices a guy with black hair and catlike eyes appear behind the librarian, pecking a soft kiss on his cheek and fixing the blonde man’s hair before resting his hands on his shoulders. They talk animatedly, and although Jonghyun and Taemin can’t exactly hear their conversation, the two of them can tell that the new guy was fussing over him.

Turning back to look at Jonghyun sympathetically, Taemin just shakes his head sadly. “That’s really too bad. That guy is really hot.” He pauses for a second before suddenly whipping his head back around and staring at the couple for a while longer. “Wait a minute…” he begins, leaning even closer, and Jonghyun hides behind his book out of embarrassment because of how obviously his roommate was staring. “I know that other guy!”

Shocked, Jonghyun questions, “You do?”

"Yeah! That’s Minho’s boyfriend, Kibum!" Taemin exclaims, standing up abruptly. Jonghyun isn’t sure what is happening when the younger grabs his wrist and yanks him out of his chair. "Which means that the hot librarian isn’t taken―this is your chance! I can talk to Kibum-hyung while you chat up that librarian!"

"Wait, what?!" Jonghyun exclaims, his heart racing wildly in his chest as Taemin drags him towards the front desk. "But I’m not ready for a confrontation yet!"

"It’s now or never, hyung. You have nine seconds to be ready because I’m gonna―Kibum-hyung!” Taemin exclaims when they’re within earshot. The one called Kibum looks up, alarmed, but when his eyes fall on Taemin they soften and his bowed lips curve into a grin.

"Taeminnie!" he responds, equally excited, and he walks around the desk to envelope the younger man into a hug. Jonghyun just stands awkwardly next to them, face burning hotly when he can feel the librarian’s gaze on them.

Okay, so first I’ll ask for his name, Jonghyun thinks, and then I’ll smoothly drop him a line.

"Who’s this?" Kibum asks, looking at Jonghyun curiously, and the older man flashes him an easy smile.

Did it hurt when you fell from heaven? Wait, that’s so lame. Who the hell even uses that line anymore?

"I’m Kim Jonghyun," he introduces, holding out his hand.

Do you have a Band-Aid because I just scraped my knee falling for you. Wow, that one was actually worse.

Kibum reaches for his hand and shakes it, smiling back. “Kim Kibum. Nice to meet you!”

Do you know what my shirt is made of? Boyfriend material. Oh god, why can’t I think of anything good?

True to his word, Taemin drags Kibum off, kicking Jonghyun in the as he passes by to give him a push forward. Jonghyun refrains from turning around and cursing at his friend, instead walking straight up to the attractive librarian. All his confidence pours right out of the soles of his feet the second that shining smile is directed towards him.

“Um, hi,” Jonghyun says lamely when he finally reaches the desk.

Chuckling, the librarian responds likewise. “Hi.”

Jonghyun’s mouth dries up immediately, and he tries to remember one of his pickup lines before finally blurting out, “Did it hurt because I just scraped my knee on boyfriend material?” .

The librarian’s nose is scrunches up cutely and Jonghyun suddenly wants to cry. “… Excuse me?”

Laughing nervously, Jonghyun rubs the back of his neck out of embarrassment. “I, uh, wow. Sorry about that. You’re so stunning that you made me forget my pickup line.”

This time it’s the librarian’s turn to feel self-conscious, his cheeks flushing pink. “O-Oh.Oh! So you’re… hitting on me?”

Nodding, Jonghyun responds, “That was the plan, yes. I’m Kim Jonghyun by the way.”

“Lee Jinki,” replies the other man, and the way he’s biting his lower lip coyly really shouldn’t be as attractive as it is to Jonghyun. “May I ask why you’re hitting on me?”

“Well, I’ve been to the library more times this week than I have in the past three years when I saw you sitting here a few days ago,” Jonghyun admits, leaning against the desk to be a bit closer. He does an internal dance when Jinki doesn’t lean away. “I just really like your smile.”

Jinki’s face turns a deeper shade of red and he smiles down at his knees. “It’s not that nice,” he mumbles, and Jonghyun heart does a little flip because of how irresistibly endearing the other man is.

“It’s kinda perfect,” Jonghyun adds with a cheesy grin which makes Jinki laugh. When he stops, he smiles back at Jonghyun for a few seconds, neither of them saying anything, and Jonghyun can tell that the other is studying him carefully.

“Even if it is, I don’t think you’d like getting to know me very much, Jonghyun-sshi,” Jinki hums, pushing his seat out from under the desk. “Everyone tells me that I’m pretty boring.” To Jonghyun’s surprise, he realizes that Jinki is seated on a wheelchair, and the other man rolls himself around the desk so that he can face Jonghyun properly. Jinki is still beaming up at him though, and Jonghyun’s heart doesn’t fail to melt.

Although he was a little caught off-guard, Jonghyun’s smile blooms right back. Winking, he answers, “I think I’d like to decide that for myself, Jinki-sshi.” Jinki’s responding toothy-grin makes Jonghyun’s heart stutter dangerously in his chest once again, and he wonders inadvertently if someone this adorable can be as hazardous to his health as it increasingly appears to be.

edit: i completely forgot to mention that the title comes from Train’s “Marry Me”