“This is boring…”

“I know, right?’

The library was absolutely deserted; the only audible evidence of life was the sound of the clock ticking its hands away with each boring second that passed. Jieun and Kyungsoo sat opposite each other, quietly eating their lunch for two—having nothing to do. There was no one to attend to, it was scorching hot, and most of all, there was no Kris to lighten up the mood. Both questioned why they were still there in the first place. 

“You have something on your lips,” Kyungsoo pointed out sleepily as he chewed on his taco.

“Really?” Suddenly shocked, but in a bored way, she rubbed her lip, smudging her pink lip color along the way. Staring at the smear of product just below her thumb, she pouted. But the anger didn’t last so long as she grabbed her bag and reapplied the same lip color looking like she was a bubbly model for a cutesy cosmetics brand for teens.

To that, Kyungsoo scrunched his face in disturbance. “Don’t you think it’s a hassle—constantly fixing your makeup like that? My mom always told me that her skin can't breathe because of it... whatever that means. Might just be a figure of speech, I suppose."

She looked impressed. "Woah, look who's talking about figures of speech." She scoffed amusingly. "Seriously, you don't seem to be the type to say things like that."

"Mind you, my grades are ing high up," he paused to come just a bit cleaner, "Well, not really high up; above average."

"I doubt it."

"Have you seen my report cards?"

She couldn't answer.

He smirked. "Exactly." Seeing that that sub-convo had come to its end, he went back to the previously cut topic. “Back to you and Kristine. He wouldn’t notice; we’re men. Natural-looking lipstick won’t turn our heads,” he said quite bluntly, which made her furious.

Noticing this, he continued, “All I’m saying is that looking all dolled up isn’t everything.” He leaned forward and locked his big eyes with hers. In a serious note, he tilted his head slightly and asked, “Tell me, Jieun, during this short period of a week that you had a crush on him, have you ever thought about approaching him yourself?”

That struck her. In fact, she didn’t and it embarrassed her. He knew what he was implying; that question was a statement in disguise—a statement saying that she had been living in an unrealistic fairytale. She was being a typical princess who hoped for her prince charming to just come and approach her when in fact, reality does not offer that to 99 percent of the population.

“I feel stupid,” she said, casually leaning toward him with her face resting on her folded arms that were messily placed on the table. Shocked by the close distance, he withdrew his body. That feeling he felt was something he didn’t want to linger into his body for too long.

“Let’s make a metaphor, shall we?” he pointed upward to the fan. “Your life is like that ceiling fan up there.”

He cocked her head up, almost dumbfounded. “What?”

“The fan moves in a rapid circular motion, but it doesn’t go anywhere—it gets stuck in that one stationary position,” he said. “Just like it, you go on with your life, but with the same old routine—a life that’s risk-free and deficient of adventures.”

“So what you’re saying is, I’m a walking deficiency?”

He nodded to her clear-cut explanation. “To put it honestly, yes.”

There was nothing to deny—she did the same things all day every day. She was never the daring type—the kind of person that never rebels and admits all of her mistakes. Her maximum capacity for adventure is note-passing during class—if that was still considered as daring. His words stabbed her with a huge brain sting. She missed out on so much of her life, and when she thought back to it, there weren’t a lot of memories that she found treasurably unforgettful.

Trying to hide her regret, she answered back to him, “Then you’re a walking catastrophe,” she then added, “and to put a metaphor on you as well, you’re like your hair.”

Picking up her method for self-regret prevention, he played along. “And why is that so?

“You’re messed up.” Her face turned gentle, reminiscing a soft rose. Her eyes batted and a small curved appeared in the corners of . “But when you look closer, there was actually some work put into it to make it look like so. I get that aura from you, but correct me if I'm wrong.”

The two sat there frozen; her soft face in front of his surprised one. She barely knew him, but how accurate she was. He couldn’t speak yet he wanted to tell her so many things at that moment—about his past, about what his wishes, all the things that others don't know about him. Something sparked in him—that long-term want of being known for something more than a mischievous trouble maker.

Suddenly, his phone rang and vibrated vigorously. He picked it up uwillingly.

“Hello? Ahh... Okay.... I see...”

This series of ahhs and okays and I sees lasted for nearly twenty minutes. And with every minute came a face that gradually resembled a melted candlestick.

“I have to go, some business to attend to at the library," he finally said and put down the phone, slumping backward and staring blankly at the ceiling.

"What a phone call," Jieun commented. She didn't bother asking for the details; the look on his face already screamed I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it-for-sure.

"I know..." was the only thing he could mumble. "Why does it always have to be like this?"

"Life is..." she scoffed at herself. "I have no idea, to admit. I have lived in seclusion, my grades are high because I am naturally born to enjoy studying, and on top of that my family is well-off without any conflcit whatsoever. But even if my life is so safe, how come I feel so unsatisfied now? I know that many would kill to be in my position, but a part of me craves for a more unsecluded life."

"A part of me wishes to be in your place, too," he admitted. "But after hearing your plead, I'd rather live life with liabilities—but not as much as the bull I'm dealing with right now."

"You know, we can always make our lives better. There's always gotta be a cure for something."

"To put it quite frankly, yours is easy—just go out and be braver; mine is not about the self as much as it is about the extension of the self. Things more than mere bravery are required of me."

His problem was evidently painful and hard to solve. Jieun wanted to help him so bad if only she could know, but she couldn't. The only thing she knew was a temporary cure—a temporary cure that would benefit them both.

“Hey…”

Kyungsoo nodded his head slightly and answered in a low mumble, “Hmm?”

“Wanna suffice our deficiencies?” she asked, which got him listening.

“Do tell.”

“Let’s sneak out and live life,” she said eagerly. “I’m lacking adventure—you’re lacking happiness. It's gonna be a win-win situation, don't you think so?"

They looked back at Ms. Lee who gave them a nod then back at themselves.

"G," they said.

Their plan was actually quite easy. The backdoor in the library was their exit and re-entrance point. However, getting out wasn't as easy because of all the cameras lying around so they conived with one of Kyungsoo's friends, Chanyeol, to distract Ms. Lee while they made their great escape. Chanyeol didn't come cheap though; Kyungsoo had to bribe him by promising to give him a poster of Girl's Generation's Taeyeon. 

So came Chanyeol with his phone in hand, casually greeting Ms. Lee and asking her to get a book for him. From afar, Jieun and Kyungsoo were watching him intently.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Lee," he greeted with his teeth-rich smile and big eyes.

"Good afternoon," Ms. Lee commented back. "Park Chanyeol, the prankster, the delinquent—the least possible person to ever take note of school employee names—knows mine."

To that he just nodded awkwardly and hands clasped together. "Yeah..." In fact, he just found that out from Kyungsoo a minute before he got there.

"Are you here for Kyungsoo?" she asked.

"No, Ma'am. I'm here to borrow a book, but I have no idea where it is, could you please lead me to it?" he glanced at his phone, pretending to be texting, but obviously fretting to find where he had hidden in his notes the name of the said book that Jieun had recommended he borrow for the sake of the plan. She had specifically chosen that book because that way, they could get to the backdoor easily without having to cross paths with Ms. Lee.

"Hair wax.. hair wax..." he mumbled to himself. "Hair wax... oh!" With a snap of the hand, he growled, "The Great Gatsby!"

Dumbfounded, Ms. Lee led the way anyway while Jieun and Kyungsoo made their escape. They exited the backdoor and headed straight for the garden where they had to crouch down and crawl although it didn't run so smoothly as they had expected it to be. There were times where nature decided one's fate.

"!" Kyungsoo managed to yell upon stepping on a big pile of cat . Within a split second, Jieun covered his mouth and they both crept down to not be seen. Back inside, Chanyeol and Ms. Lee heard his blurred voice. Being quick on his feet, Chanyeol distracted Ms. Lee by brushing his trusty fake cockroach along her nape. She actually believed it so much that she lost her cool compsure and shrieked in a way that he had to cover his laughter with fake concern as best as he could by "killing" his cockroach and throwing it away with his hand. He reminded himself to come back for his roach later. Ms. Lee vowed to never touch his hand ever again.

Back outside, Jieun and Kyungsoo were still at a standstill.

"My shoes got on," whined Kyungsoo. "I hate this! These are just brand new."

And mind you, they were white, too.

"Whatever! Let's focus on getting out of here first!" 

And out they crept and officially made their escape. The moment they got out of the garden, a rush ran through Jieun that sent her running away to no particular place. Kyungsoo followed suit as if it was second nature to him. It was the thrill of adventure and the will to forget all misery that sent them drifting away. They ran and ran to their heart's content and found themselves finding comfort in the breeze that cut through them. 

A few minutes later, rationality and perspiration took its course and sent the two to rest on a bench.

"I just ran around with on my shoes," Kyungsoo said in between pants. "I bet I left a trail of ty-smelling ," he panted again and fixed his hair, "But whatever, that was the best ing run I've ever ran."

"Same here," said Jieun, wiping her sweat with a hankerchief. "But in a less vulgar way."

"Hey, can I borrow that?" He grabbed her hankerchief and wiped sweat with it as well. It was more of an order than it was a question.

"Hey, you shouldn't do that!" she yelled.

"And why not?"

"Isn't that equivalent to like..." she paused and turned peachy, "like, y'know, brushing cheeks or something?"

An awkward big-eyed stare was the only thing he could return.

And she couldn't de-awkwardify the situation.

"I mean like, my face touched it; your face touched it..."

Three seconds of awkward silence.

Suddenly, Kyungsoo stood up and brushed the ground with his ted on foot a few times and said, "Let's go to a place where my foot will be rid of this ."

"And where would that be?"

"My place."

"Your—"

He raised a finger to shush her. "No more awkward statements. We are going to my place, period. I am humbly and innocently welcoming you to my home, you erted woman. I repeat again, pure innocence. New friend to new friend, got it?"

She nodded. "Got it."

Their walk on the way there consisted of Kyungsoo babbling like a baby about how his shoes were soiled. He never got sick of the topic and always found something new to add to his argument as to why it was, as he proclaimed it, "the most catastrophic disaster to ever hit the human race". It was a definite exaggeration, and Jieun could only pretend she was listening.

---

"Here's my place," he said when the door unlatched, revealing a modern apartment of the sort. "Make yourself feel at home."

Jieun gaped at the sight of it. It wasn't the most high end, but neither was it mediocre or common. He clearly lived by himself, and to her surprise, it was clean—very clean. The marble floor glistened with the minimalistic furniture. A sofa was situated by the glass sliding door-window that led to the breezy balcony that beheld a beautiful view of the streets of Seoul. To her left was the kitchen filled with utensils neatly lined up; from knives of different sizes right down to the top of the line cooking ovens and pans—he had it all. All of that she took in while he casually changed his shoes from his room. She sat on the sofa stiffly, at a loss in what to do. It was a guy's place—it's new ground to her.

"Hey," Kyungsoo's head popped out from his room, "wanna go in?"

"Err..." It was a guy's room—a guy's room. Exactly why would she enter through a guy's room? Her horrid imagination tells her not to. She thought of him takinmg advantage of her and cringes slightly, then got disgusted with herself for even coming up with such an image in her brain. Kyungsoo was quick enough to get her silence.

"I am not going to do anything at all," he said in the most casual way possible, but everyone knew that saying something like that will always be awkward. "You're a ert, you know that?" His head popped back inside only to pop out again after a few seconds. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Uhm, okay." She slowly crept closer to his room, but Kyungsoo couldn't handle her speed and pushed her into his room.

"C'mon, I don't bite. My room is ing clean."

And he was right. His room was just as neat and tidy as his living room—nothing was out of place. A soft bed sat in the corner and beside it was his study desk that had nothing but a stack of cookbooks, his laptop, and some pencils. Opposite the table was a black sofa that faced a huge flat screen TV that hung on the wall and under it was what seemed to be a very conspicuous shelf that Jieun couldn't help but inquire about. 

She crouched down and pointed at the thing with disgust. "Is there a stack of CD's in there?" she asked so forthrightly.

He gave her the same look of disgust and did a facepalm. "Do you think that every guy has a collection?"

She batted her eylashes and answered innocently, "Yes."

"No," he painstakingly groaned. "Media has bewitched you, my friend. Open the shelf, would you?"

"Alright, then." She then slid open the shelf to see a stack of normal-looking DVD's.

He proudly folded his arms. "See, I told you—"

"Oh my gosh!" she squealed with delight, grabbing a horror DVD in her perfectly pastel-colored nails. She suddenly forgot the tension she felt from being in a guy's room and jumped in her own giddy pleasures. "You watch horror? Wanna watch it together?"

"I—"

She jammed the DVD into the player and jumped into the sofa, patting the spot next to her with an innocent, child-like smile.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" she called out. "Let's watch."

It was weird of her to suddenly become so enthusiastic about a horror movie. He never expected her to be into things like that, but then again, there are many things to be unexpected for in this world. Still, the fact that she prompted him send a pang in his chest that he had never felt. He deemed it as if his heart was swallowing itself with each gulp he took. And it wasn't before a few seconds of staring at her milky white face that he took a seat at the far end of the couch. 

The movie began with the usual quiet, creepy house that just screamed I-am-a-ing-scary-place-but-there-are-es-who-still-decide-to-live-here-and-have-a-stupid-scream-fest. Jieun sat with her feet folded against her chest, her big eyes glues with suspense as she hugged a tiny pillow and covered the entire time. She was waiting for the first scream, but it wouldn't come. Once in a while, when there would be a false alarm moment, she would hit Kyungsoo's shoulder. This happened for quite sometime until his shoulder had this almost perfect red square patch on it. He didn't wanna show that he was in pain so he made an excuse to get her some food.

"Not instant stuff, got it?" she demanded. "Left overs will do, as long as you cooked them yourself."

The way she casually said it boggled him. Hypothetically speaking, if Kris was a good cook, would she be able to say that command in exactly the same tone to him? But the answer was obvious to him: she would have stuttered, and blushed, and fiddled with her fingers. Heck, she would have bitten her lower lip slightly and worry about her lipstick smearing off instead. Things like these he picked up from subsconsciously observing her. Thoughts like these came to his head as he grabbed a plate of leftover salad and handed it over to her.

"Salad?" she looked at him with disgusted suspicion. "Are you implying something? Are you saying I'm fat?"

"Not really. In fact, you're thin."

"Why, thank you."

He sighed and took his seat, this time, around three inches closer. They were by then fifteen inches apart.

"You do know that if you lose any less it won't look appealing anymore, right?" He then slapped himself in the head as punishment. "Having said that, I now regret giving you salad."

"Having heard that, I hereby extend your torment," she ate a lot of the salad in one go and said with a full mouth, "Don't worry, I will askchu fo' mol laycher on. I won't be a shtick. Ever."

The movie progressed with her finishing the salad in a measly five minutes. She was engrossed with every moment—every jumpscare and every foreshadowing of one. She seldom got exaggeratedly startled, and whever she was, she would take refuge by hugging a pillow. A part of him wished to be a man and catch her in her times of fear, but that became a faded hope when he realized that he was stockpiling all of his strength to not show a single speck of fear in his face. He couldn't admit it, but he was definitely afraid. He then regretted one more thing: buying that ing DVD. Without him noticing, he had been greadually leaning closer and closer to her. Nine inches apart.

The was nearing—the part where all the gore, jumpscares, and intensely fake blood sfx and sharpely timed thrilling background music were at their finest. Kyungsoo prepared himself, taking long breaths as if it would help him. Jieun on the other hand was ready to save him, noticing his obvious acts of enduring all the horror. She crept a bit closer to him. Six inches apart.

"Here it is," she said with anticipation.

The female lead was being chased by what seemed to be gluttonous fat man with a body so contorted that his bones stuck out of his skin; he looked like a clown with a body figure of a dementedly crumpled piece of paper. He ran with raging speed, holding a number of sharp pointed objects whereas the girl kept staggering just like how any common horror movie would deprive humans the functionality of their motor skills. The suspense made Kyungsoo clutch the sofa with one hand and his chest on the other. Two inches apart.

The girl's foot got caught by a tree branch, making her fall into the mud pile in front of her. As much as she tried to get up, she was already too late. The man-clown's dough-like hands caught her ankle and began pulling her in. Pulling out an axe, he—

"Gah!" 

Zero inches apart.

The frame froze for a split second when Kyungsoo yelled and took refuge behind Jieun, his hands clasped on top on her shoulders and his head half behind her nape, and the other half still watching the movie. One big eye peeked out, watching the girl being amputated slowly as if she was some sort of delicate delicacy. She screamed with a pitch so high in her slow death. The man peeled her eyeballs out, shaved her hair off and put it individually in jars for his collection. Jieun couldn't concentrate on the movie; his warm hands, and the traces of his fear that she felt sent her heart pounding. But what could she do? He was dead scared, and quite admittedly, she found it quite adorable.

Even when the movie ended, he held her tight like a fragile little kid. But even Jieun had her limits. 

"Kyungsoo..." Was all she needed to say for him to gently let go of her and apologize.

"I'm sorry," he said, withdrawing in embarrassment. "I've never watched it, you see."

"Then why didn't you say so?" she asked in a shy husky tone, still unable to recover from that long period of contact. "We could've watched something else."

"Do you think my manly pride will let that happen?" he asked rhetorically. His face then smoothened into a slight soft smile. "And I didn't want to be a kill-joy, you know? You seemed so excited."

"We could have done something that excited us both."

He could only scoff. "Nothing excites me much anymore."

She tilted her head and wondered. "Anymore?"

"Friends, yeah. Cooking is a passion, but the only thing that used to excite me were my parents."

"Your parents?—"

Her phone rang; it was her brother. She picked it up and put it on speaker; she already knew she had to show some evidence. It was past their library shift, and Ms. Lee had probably reported it to him already so she has to make an extra effort to prove that Kyungsoo wasn't some or any of the sort.

"Where are you?" Without leting her greet him, he asked in a cool and smooth voice, but showed his extreme worry nevertheless. "Is that nacho guy with you? The one you've been ranting about?"

Kyungsoo chuckled silently. Jieun hit his shoulder.

"Kyungsoo's with me. I'm at his apartment—"

"What?" His calm-worried voice went a notch higher. "Give me his address, I'll pick you up."

Jieun then passed the phone to Kyungsoo so that he could dictate his address to her brother. "Hey—"

"I just want your address please." His tone was always so calm, yet it conveyed a clean cut emotion aside from it, even if that second emotion was a contrast to the coolness of his voice. That was a unique trait that Kyungsoo found interesting, yet frightening about her brother. 

"Alright," he then said his address slowly enough for her brother to swiftly write it down on a piece of paper. In the other end of the line, her heard him scribbling away and finished with a blunt dot after the last word.

"Thanks," he said simply. "I'll meet you in precisely ten minutes. Be in the entrance."

And then he hung up.

Kyungsoo was quick to pinpoint what he thought was the highlight of the conversation. "So, you talk about me, eh?"

"Rant," Jieun corrected. "Rant."

"That's still talking about me," he clarified.

"Hey, aren't you worried about how my brother thinks about you? Aren't you still feeling any after effects from the movie?"

He glanced up to think but shrugged. "No, not really. His role as a brother is to be suspicious of every man you run across. And for the second time, no, because casual conversation lets me get my mind off things."

She grinned. "I'm glad to have made you feel better."

"Who said it was you?" he asked defensively. "You can't just assume things like that."

"There's nothing to assume; I'm technically the only person in this place who you could talk to."

A short pause. He gave up.

"Let's go. Your brother's waiting. Get your things and let's go downstairs."

She kept a proud scoff to herself and did as she was told. They went down stairs and true to his word, her brother arrived at exactly ten minutes after he made his call. He stood there looking calm, but like his voice, the aura in his body showed that he was ready to interrogate Kyungsoo. He approached them and spared no time for a polite greeting.

"So he's the nacho guy, hmm?" He looked at Kyungsoo from head to toe. "He looks like a douchebag."

Jieun turned to Kyungsoo to shoot him the please-don't-retaliate look. But she need not worry, he kept quiet and didn't show a single inch of irritance. Although she knew he was holding it in very well.

"Bro, you've meet Kyungsoo, now we can go." She pushed her brother, but he wouldn't let her.

"Give me your hand phone, please." The please in the end seemed like an attempt to sugarcoat his authoritative command. Regardless, Kyungsoo obliged and handed him his phone. Her brother gave it back after typing his number in lightning speed amidst his relaxed face. Kyungsoo looked at the contact's name: Joongki.

"Here's my number; give me yours later. I will contact you if needed. Seeing that my sister never goes beyond the norm, I will let this misadventure of you two slide. I trust that you did nothing as she also hasn't said a word." He then pulled Jieun closer to him and sigh-smiled. "Jieun, let's go home."

"Bye, Kyungsoo—" Without permitting a proper goodbye, her brother had reeled her away. Still, she managed to turn her back and give a short wave. He waved back, smiling genuinely.

---

Hours had passed after Jieun had left but Kyungsoo couldn't get the many tidbits that transpired throughout the day out of his mind. In his dark, unlit room where the only thing he could see were the wrinkles in his white bedsheets, he thought of her dearly, and even at times, her brother. Thoughts about how to get along with Joongki ran through his head, then thoughts about how to make her happier succeeded after. He couldn't sleep; his imaginations were better than dreams at that point.

Suddenly, his phone rang—a square light amidst the darkness. It was an unknown number, but he still had the urge to pick it up and answer.

"Hello?"

"Hello." Jieun said, in a husky about-to-sleep voice. "Kyungsoo?"

At that moment, his heart raced. "How'd you get my number?"

"I snuck into my brother's room and got your number. Can you believe it? He refuses to give it to me!"

"I told you, it's a brother thing. Trust me, he'll flip when he hears you talking to me so late at night. So don't speak to loud."

"Is my voice loud?!" she yelled as a joke, but that sent her brother coming in from the next room. "Shh," she said as prerequisite to Kyungsoo.

"Jieun, what's wrong? I heard you screaming something," asked Joongki. 

She pretended to be hurt and rubbed her head. "No, I just hit my head. That's all."

He chuckled. "Oh, my clumsy sister. Just get some rest, alright?"

She nodded a nod that just wanted him out of there. "Alright."

When her bedroom door closed, the continued the conversation.

"Why'd you call me anyway?" he asked.

"I can't sleep."

"Can't sleep? Why?"

"The movie..."

"You're scared? I thought you're all 'I'm Jieun and I am excited over people being treated like pigs for slaughter wahahahah!!!'"

"No, not really. I didn't tell you since you were scared directly after the movie. I get scared much later, usually before I sleep. I fear thinking that there might be a creeper on the edge of my bed, or even something that will emerge from my ceiling. Moreover, it's dark; I can't keep my eyes fixed into one spot. And—"

"I get it," he said. "You want me to help you forget through normal conversation."

"Looks like we found one thing in common."

After she said that, they both gulped awkwardly. 

To break it, he asked, "So, what does your brother think of me?"

"Hey, I thought you didn't care?" He could sense her amusement. "Look who's conscious now."

"Whatever, just tell me."

"He thinks you're the douchebag nacho guy."

"I just look like a douchebag, but I'm not," he said matter of factly. "I'm nacho average, laid-back guy."

"I know," she said. "You're more than that."

Instead of asking her to expound, he held his chest tightly. She was the only girl to ever look at him like that. He was always pertained to as a trouble-making douchebag who had nothing else to do.

"Thank you for saying that. Every girl thinks I'm a monster."

"No, not really. I just thought you were annoying and cocky, but that's just, as you said, your looks." She sensed the conversation coming to an end so she asked him to play her a song.

"What genre?" he asked. "Ballad? Rock? Hip hop?"

"The song that's stuck in your head right now," she replied. Little did she know that it was the song that reminded him of the way he felt about her—a secret confession that she knew nothing about.

"Sure." Infinite H's "Special Girl" then came. Neither one of them spoke and just basked in the music. Kyungsoo felt every word, except for the y in the "so sweet, so y, hey" part. Jieun wasn't the y type, but she sure was sweet in his eyes. And when Dongwoo rapped, "I gotta K.O. him," he really thought of trying to overthrow Kristine.

The song ended and it didn't take him long to realize that she had fallen asleep. He smiled in the dark and greeted her a good night.

"Sleep well," he said huskily. "Sweet dreams, Jieun."

He then hung up with feel-good feelings and slept soundly—the kind of sleep that he hasn't felt in a while. He slept knowing that his day was well-spent. It was filled with good thoughts—thoughts with nothing but her. A crush is what he had, and that night when he shut his eyes, he admitted that he truly began to think of Jieun as someone special.

---

After a while, I am back with an update! :)  This chapter's A LOT longer compared to the rest. This one has around 5.2k words. I thank you for reaching this point wahhah!

Thank you for reading and I hope you guys enjoyed it~! :D