Early morning. The sun was shining brightly above the light green grass outside the windows of the library. From inside, Kyungsoo organized the bookshelfs, gazing at the garden despite the cold silence covered by nothing but the sound of books being stacked and cards being bluntly stamped. He proceeded to mop the floor dilligently, still glancing at the window, but this time at a further distance beyond the flowers and bushes.

"Waiting for someone?" asked Ms. Lee inquisitively, wearing a sly smile beneath her perfectly pigmented red lipstick. "A significant person, perhaps?"

Flustered, he looked back at her with big eyes and asked, "I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me," she chuckled elegantly.

"What makes you think that?"

She flipped a page of her book and answered, "You're cleaning in a different stature and aura."

He scoffed playfully. "How could cleaning be done in a different aura? It's all the same; there's no difference. I've always mopped the same, wiped the same, and stacked the same."

"I'm afraid I'd have to stand strong with my opinion and disagree." She carefully laid her book down, lifted her pointer finger up, and looked at him straight in eye, smirking. "There are many miniscule yet significant differences in the way you clean these days. Before, you would clean with much concentration—the kind of mannerism that clearly said, if I must say with vulgarity, "I just want to get this done." But now, a smile is plastered on your face at all times, your eyes have this more iridescent gleam, and you've been more conscious of your appearance. Especially when this said significant person's presence is nearing. Like right now."

Ms. Lee nodded toward the spot of the window where Kyungsoo had been looking at. He quickly turned his head back to it and saw Jieun alongside Joongki, heading for the library. He checked his reflection in the window and ruffled his hair for style.

"Thank you, Kyungsoo, for proving my point," she said, smugly picking up her book once again.

"But Ms. Lee—"

"Good Morning! We're here!" announced Jieun.

Kyungsoo dropped his mop and ran over to them. "Hey," he greeted to Jieun then slightly acknowledged Joongki with a cold face. "'Sup."

"Hot Summer," said Joongki.

"Good morning, Jieun," said Ms. Lee. "The new books arrived yesterday. Please put all of them into their proper shelves by the end of the day."

Jieun saluted with good posture and enthusiasm. "Yes, Ma'am." She then headed over to the back, leaving the two men to talk amongst themselves and Ms. Lee to amusingly eavesdrop at them as an unexistent third person.

"We need to talk." While Joongki said it in a calm voice, the way he firmly squeezed Kyungsoo's arm made his intended amount of tension very evident.

"What's up?" Kyungsoo asked, trying his best to hide his anxiety. Whatever his fault was, he knew it must've punctured Joongki's position as Jieun's close brother painfully.

"You held her hand." His eyes burned with fury despite it looking so stable—the Joongki effect.

 "It was an accident—"

"It's not an accident. I can tell clearly that it was intentional." Kyungsoo's silence meant admittance. "I will not stand here and allow my sister to hold hands with some guy with mediocre feelings. You may work here with her, but being physically present at all times won't prove anything."

"That's not true," said Kyungsoo, holding in his massive potential anger quite well. "I admit that I intended it to happen, but my feelings for her aren't half-assed. I like her as much as you like that girl," he glanced up quizzically then remembered, "Boyoung, right?"

Kyungsoo knew where to hit Joongki. He immediately turned red, beginning to think about Boyoung the other day's happenings, and was immediately unable to speak straight. Kyungsoo watched his abrupt change in personality with much amusement. "I—Boyoung... whatever. Try as you might, you can't prove yourself."

"If I am able to give a sincere faux accidental holding hand, then I can."

Just then, one of the double doors creaked in a low tone, revealing Kris. His composure was chic as if he just came straight out of a European fashion magazine as he naturally fixed his hair, looking at no particular point at his side. His rings shined, complementing the fine wrinkles in his white graphic tee and skinny jeans that were filled with a few zippers in mixed areas. The way he made such an endearing entrance triggered a full-body heartbeat feeling to Jieun. She froze in her spot as he made his way to her, but was stopped by Kyungsoo's ninja hand that gripped his arm.

"Hey, you forgot to acknowledge us," said Kyungsoo. "Who do you think we are? Nobodies?"

Kris found Kyungsoo's way with words quite weird, but nevertheless he replied, "Hi. Sorry 'bout that. I'm just here to read a book and chill with Jieun—"

"What happened to 'Library Girl'?" asked Joongki, half-jokingly.'

"Yeah, just go read like you used to," said Kyungsoo.

Kris laughed. "Funny. But there's nothing wrong with talking with a friend, right?" He squeezed them both and said, "Well, I'll get going now."

When Kris left, Kyungsoo said, "Talking with a friend, my ."

"For once, I agree with you." Joongki's phone then rang, keeping him preoccupied for a short while. Once the phone call finished, he disappointedly sighed, "Looks like I will have to leave her here with you two predators."

"Predators?!—"

Before he could say another word, Joongki left. "Bye, Hot Summer. 'Gotta bring my parents to the airport!"

Sitting in the counter, Ms. Lee could be heard giggling. "Predators," she joked.

"Ms. Lee!" whined Kyungsoo.

"Hey, focus on those two 'friends' rather than my joke." Ms. Lee pointed her pencil at Kris and Jieun who were in what seemed to be an amusing conversation that sent Kyungsoo's jealousy meter up high. They stood by the exact same window that he was just cleaning a while back. Kris was slumped against the window coolly while Jieun stood perfectly straight beside Chanyeol's guitar with a blooming smile on her face, hugging a book—the book that Kris borrowed back then and returned that day. Kyungsoo assumed that the look on Kris' face vividly spoke I-am-friends-with-her-now-but-I-wish-to-know-her-more-with-my-inborn-y-attitude. Well, he was almost accurate. However, Kris wasn't as y as he expected to be.

Switching to Kris and Jieun's view, they were having a smooth conversation, but not as what Kyungsoo would imagine. Kris was slowly revealing his true side to Jieun and it was the fact that he was actually mostly adorkable.

"Don't you think working here gets boring?" asked Kris.

"Yes, sometimes," nodded Jieun, "But Kyungsoo keeps me company; he helps me grow as a person, too."

Kris squinted and smiled, "You like him?"

Flustered, Jieun could barely say, "Of course, but not that way."

"Ah, I see," he secretly didn't believe her, but dismissed it anyway.

The conversation then shifted to a different light when Kris decided to ask about the guitar Chanyeol lent her. It wasn't before long that Kyungsoo could hear them singing 2NE1's "Come Back Home". This sent his meter to send an explosion as destructive as a legit volcano. He felt his body heat up and didn't care about the hot fumes of air that came out of his nose.

"Come back home? Why not just go home," thought Kyungsoo to himself. "I was the first guy to sing with her, that doesn't mean that there should be a second."

"Oh Shi—" Kris grabbed onto Jieun's shoulders in a whimpy manner upon seeing the cockroach jumping at him. "Where is it? Where is it?!"

Kyungsoo came into the picture monotonously, picked up his fake roach, and lifted it up for Kris to see. "This? Fake roach. Just wanted to mess with you."

Kris couldn't believe the intense embarrassment he felt at the time. Dorky wasn't his style—even if he was born with it. It wasn't a good image to give to Jieun let alone what he speculates as the guy whom he feels a look of friction with. With a hand pressed tightly against his chest, he said, "Dude, not cool."

"Yes, the weather isn't cool. It's a hot summer, just like that song I awesomely sang in the beach. And like the song you just sang just now," said Kyungsoo, "Shouldn't you be going back home?"

He checked his watch and couldn't help but agree. He had other parental and sibling errands to do that had to be done on the dot. Sighing, he said, "Yeah, guess so." He patted Jieun on the head and glanced at his rival to make him jealous. "Sorry about my scare, that was very... brave of me," he said with humor to Jieun, but inside he was still deeply embarrassed.

"No problem," said Jieun.

"Yes problem," thought Kyungsoo. His plan sent Kris home, yes. But he technically got them physically and mentally closer hence, the reason why she didn't reprimand him for pranking Kris.

"See ya," remarked Kris to Kyungsoo before he headed straight for the door coolly, intersecting with Chanyeol who entered as he left.

"Who was that?" asked Chanyeol when Kris was already far enough to not hear him. "Is that...?"

Kyungsoo nodded.

Chanyeol pressed a hand against his forehead, gasping silently with his eyes wide open upon realizing that was Kyungsoo's competition. "Damn."

Kyungsoo nodded once more, with a pitiful sigh this time.

Jieun didn't even bother to decipher or pay any attention to their conversation. What only mattered to her was that she could return his guitar to him—the guitar that led her to explain for a good three minutes to her brother that it was platonically lent to her by a friend of Kyungsoo's that she had absolutely no feelings for and with him it's also applicable in vice versa.

"Hey," she handed him the guitar. "Thank you so much lending this to me."

"Make any good memories?" he asked, anticipatingly.

Kyungsoo and Jieun awkwardly glanced at each other, remembering that sunset when they sang together.

"Yeah," she replied then thought of a way to escape the awkwardness. "Anyway, I have some book stacking to attend to. Make yourself at home while you're here. Oh! And please return 'The Great Gatsby' and claim your fake cockroach while you're at it."

Jieun had already began to walk away when Chanyeol said, "Right, I forgot to go back for that, even when I tried my hardest to remember."

"Thanks to this," Kyungsoo got the fake roach from his pocket and handed it over to Chanyeol. "Those two got closer."

"What?" He couldn't fathom that something as disgusting as that could bring two people closer. "What did you do?"

"I threw it at him," Kyungsoo said. "He screamed like a whimpy kid then grabbed her shoulders. She liked it. They also sang together with YOUR guitar." He placed a hand on his shoulder and gripped it firmly. "I was the first to grip her shoulder in fear. I was also the first guy to sing with her. Everything I did first, he did second. And the results were equal if not his were better in her eyes."

Chanyeol supprotively hit Kyungsoo's back. "Hang in there, man. Even if he's a college student and probably high up in the charisma and social ladder—"

"Wow, thanks," said Kyungsoo sarcastically.

"Let me finish," said Chanyeol, "You're you. You have something that he doesn't, whatever that is. Trust me, you have a big chance. The way she looks at you, it isn't something that everyone else does." He smiled. "And I know she's a decent person, she has this look in her eyes, that hopeful shimmer—"

"Hey," Kyungsoo said threateningly. "Do you like her too? Why are you describing her like that?"

Chanyeol stuck his hands out in defense. "No, don't misunderstand. You've known me for a long time; I'm naturally very observant. If I was interested in her, then I would have openly flirted with her in an instant. I'm not a playboy-douchebag, Kyungsoo. I take love as seriously as you do."

"I'm sorry," said Kyungsoo. "It's just that having a rival is frustrating. Not only that, I still have to win over her brother."

"You can do it. Just remember what I said: You're you; be you."

"I get it, no need for a funny slogan." He laughed, "Thanks, man."

Chanyeol grinned. "No problem."

---

The rest of the day consisted of nothing but work. An hour after he came, Chanyeol returned his book to Ms. Lee and left to hang out with his other friends. On the other hand, the two were very much preoccupied. Jieun had many books to stack in which she totally delayed herself due to Kris' appearance while Kyungsoo found the storage room that was dusty beyond belief. His perfectionism got the worst of him and he spent hours undusting and reorganizing the place. They barely had time to speak, and by lunch they were to tired to talk and just ate. By the end of the day, they were relieved that thier exhaustion had finally come to an end.

"I'll take you home?" asked Kyungsoo.

"Sure."

They packed their things, bid their casual goodbyes to Ms. Lee, and headed out. The two walked around engaging in casual conversation that consisted of their very tiresome day.

"I'm glad we're being paid," Jieun said.

"Correction. You're getting paid."

Just then, her phone rang. It was Joongki. She set it on speaker then answered, "Hello?"

"Jieun." He paused for a moment to clear his throat. "Our parents accidentally locked us out. They took the house key with them to the business trip."

"What?!" exclaimed the two.

"I'm on speaker?" half-exclaimed Joongki. "Who are you with?"

"Kyungsoo here," said Kyungsoo.

Ignoring Kyungsoo, Joongki continued, "We have no where to stay, Jieun."

"Actually, you do," Kyungsoo chimed in. "Mine, to be exact."

"But—"

He butted in. "No buts. I am a kind person offering you to stay in my perfectly humble crib. And just because it's a crib, that doesn't mean you should be a baby about it."

"Just—"

"Yes, just go there when you're all set. See you." Kyungsoo hung up for Jieun then nudged her. "Shall we?"

She willingly nodded. "Sure."

---

Jieun already made herself feel at home the moment they entered Kyungsoo's apartment. She took off her flats and headed straight for the fridge to grab a leftover snack that she knew he wouldn't mind giving away. Kyungsoo was a bit surprised on her quick adaptation to his place, and was very much happy that she was. They snacked on the dining table and watched some TV before the doorbell rang.

Kyungsoo opened the door for his second guest. Joongki was quiet with only a restrained, forced smile on his face for the sake of being polite.

"Let me guess," Kyungsoo folded his arms proudly. "Not what you expected, huh?"

in his pride, Joongki replied, "Not bad." He then shifted his view to Jieun who was eating some leftover lasagna. "Is that poison?"

"Excuse me?" Kyungsoo almost yelled, quite offended. "I made that."

"Yeah, it's good," Jieun complimented. "Try some?"

"No, thank you," said Joongki.

Intentionally doing a sarcastic smile, Kyungsoo said, "Alright, make yourself at home." He then went to his room and got some clothes for the two. For Jieun he got a cream knitted sweater and some pajama pants and for Joongki he got his own set of navy blue pajamas.

"Here," Kyungsoo said as he laid the two sets of clothing onto the table. "I hope they fit. If you guys need a shower, it's the one door inside my bedroom."

"Are you just giving an excuse to have my sister shower here?" asked Joongki defensively. "That's very low of you."

"Yes," Kyungsoo agreed, pressing both hands against the table. "But for a highly reasonable reason. You see, I think you should know that your sister had been handling books all day—some of which were quite dusty. Plus, she is exhausted and must therefore smell very bad."

"Hey!" Jieun yelled.

"As a host, I am simply catering to her girly needs. Even I need a shower, but I want to prepare a beautifully mouth-watering dinner for you guys." He put on his black apron almost like how a professional chef would. "So it's your choice if you wanna keep your sister clean and odor-free. Objections?"

Joongki forced another smile, but it was leaning over to the straight line side. "None."

Kyungsoo grinned heartily upon beating the brother. "Good."

While Jieun was taking her very long shower, Joongki changed into the pajamas then sat on the couch to read a book for a few hours. He was very fixated in it and barely moved or changed position. Once in a while, he would put the book down and look out the window, reflecting on a line in the text that piqued his interest. Kyungsoo observed him once in a while and saw the less douchebag-ey side of him. He thought of Joongki with more substance and respect; he was just suffering from the same unable-to-let-go-of-sister disease that every older brother had to live with. To that, he decided to have a more decent chat with him.

After chopping some carrots for the garnish, Kyungsoo grabbed his phone and played the recording of Joongki poetically expressing his love for Boyoung. Joongki jolted his head back, cringing from his own embarrassment.

"Delete that," he said.

Ignoring Joongki's comment, Kyungsoo leaned forward with a sincere smile. "You must like her a whole lot."

Joongki gulped. "Well..."

Kyungsoo raised a brow. "'C'mon, just admit it."

"Yes, a lot," he finally admitted. "More than you could imagine." He then cross his legs and wrapped his arm around his knees, smiling as he expressed his raw feelings. "I know that people look at us as if we're some fluffy drama, but my love isn't light-hearted. I mean it. I turn into a different person because I care. I care about how she thinks of me, I want her to view me as an able person, and I don't want her to be scared of me. Admittedly though, I end up looking like a cowardice cluts. I hate it, but this is me." He leaned back to relax. "That girl—I know she's going through a lot. Perhaps I was just in that certain place at that certain time, but she once cried in front of me, telling me all her insecurities: how she disliked her face, how her weight increases often, how she hates dieting and instead wants to eat delicious things. All these I heard as she sobbed and covered her troubled face..." He closed his eyes and frowned. "And I did nothing. Said nothing. I stood there, staring at her. I was only able to say the generic, 'everything's gonna be okay'." He sighed. "To this day, she still experiences the same thing. And I hate being so shy, being a useless coward. I want to tell her that she is purely beautiful, and that she should eat whatever she wants whenever she wants to— to be comfortable in her own skin... for I will only look at her. Forever."

Kyungsoo got the chicken out of the oven; it smelled delectable. "You have everything you need," he said. "Just don't be a coward because your feelings aren't just mediocre. They're filled with substance."

Joongki chuckled. "You really can't let that go, can't you?"

Kyungsoo put the garnish around the chicken as he said, "To be honest, yes. I may not flash flashy words of emotion like you do, but someone told me that I am myself—that there is something that I have that others don't. My confidence lies in my cooking, and you know what they say, 'cooking is where the heart is'." He confidently slid the big plate of mouth-watering, golden brown chicken across the table and yelled, "Dinner's ready!"

Jieun ran out looking like a savage that hasn't eaten a meal for weeks. She quickly pulled a chair and eyes the chicken intently, impatiently waiting for the cue for her to devour it completely.

"Bon apetit," said Kyungsoo.

At first, Joongki was very hesitant, but seeing that Jieun was munching the night away, he decided to take a bite and damn, it was his best. A huge savoury bomb exploded in him, with rich juices and bursts of flavor everywhere.

"This," Joongki said, "is not at all mediocre."

"Thank you," Kyungsoo said from the bottom of his heart. "Thank you very much."

Eating a meal with people was something that he hadn't done in a very long time. It came to the point where he had almost forgotten how the company of two other people could make him feel so alive. In front of him, two people loved his food, leaving no kind of ridicule, just plain bliss on their faces. For the first time in a very long time, he felt as if he had a family.

---

Midnight. Kyungsoo was sitting on his couch, reading a cookbook after having finished washing the dishes. Amidst basking in the comfort of his own silence, he heard his bedroom door screech open. Out came Jieun, rubbing her eyes and walking to him.

He gently closed his book and asked, "Can't sleep?"

She nodded. "I don't know how bro does it. He always sleeps at 11 no matter what."

"Well, I'm here." He patted the spot beside him. She sat.

She folded her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. "Thank you for letting us stay here, really. I really like your place; it's modern and rich-ey. Plus, the owner cooks like a pro." She hugged the sweater she was wearing. "And thank you for lending us your clothes—I really like this sweater; it's so cozy."

"You're welcome." He then let out a weary smile. "And that sweater, it's not mine—it's my mother's."

"Oh..." her voice trailed off, feeling awkward. "I'm sorry..."

"It's alright," he replied, his eyes watering.

She then remembered their little chat in the library the other day—how his family was the only thing that used to make him smile. The look on his face expressed everything—every bottled up feelings that she knew nothing about, but felt absolutely. His eyes were teary, his face very sunken. Never had he been close to looking like that in school and never would she expect he could.

She reeled herself closer to him and said, "I know I may not be the best person for this situation," she gulped, "but I think you should let it out."

"Are you sure?" he asked. "It's gonna take long."

She looked him straight in the eye. "Try me."

"Then I shall," he smiled and lifted a leg for a more comfortable position and started to tell his story. "When I was a kid, my parents would do everything together. They'd shop together, clean together, laugh and chat together, and most of all, cook together. They were both culinary students when they met and fell in love in college so you can see how the genes passed onto me." He said half-jokingly. "I grew up waking up to the best-smelling pancakes and homeade jams and breads that could only exist in a movie—and was taught to make them, too. Cooking with my parents was the only thing I looked forward to after school. While others would grab their robots to play in the park, I'd stay at home reading cookbooks and being taught to deviate from what's stated. As mom said, 'if you copied it entirely, then you can't say it's Kyungsoo's dish or Mama's dish—it's somebody else's dish.'" He then paused to chuckle, reminiscing the moments, but shortly after began to frown. "But you see, among the many things my parents have in common, envy and competitiveness were in the list. My parents eventually set up their own restaurants, promising to each other that they won't get into a fight." He chuckled sarcastically. "What a ing lie—it was the most pathetic thing I've ever heard in my life." He shook his head and continued, "Mom's restaurant was doing way better than dad's which of course made him really angry. Conversation at home became less and less and we got more miserable by the day. It was suffocating—knowing that your family used to be the most coveted happy one then suddenly it's all silence and anger." He covered his face that was already turning red. "Not long after, dad was so engrossed in letting his business flourish that he rented an apartment by himself, stating that we were too distracting. Soon enough, his restaurant was at par with my mother's which, in turn, made my mother feel very threatened. She soon became so focused in beating dad that she began to live in the luxury hotel where her restaurant was in, leaving me to live in this place. They just split my schooling and my basic needs and whatever. I know that everyone my age would envy me—to be living away rom my parents, free to do whatever I want." Kyungsoo by then, had begun to sob, talking in a choppy, weary voice. "But one of the most painful cliches in this world is to only realize the worth of things when they are already far from our grasp. To this day, I still cannot fathom how envying your spouse could lead one to be so ignorant. They left me, I'm so supposed to hate them, right?" He pressed his hands against his head and whimpered, "But I don't. I still love them, with all my heart. Every day, I miss them. Every day, I cook to remember them. Cooking brought them together. Cooking broke them apart. This is the true manifestation of the negatives and positives of the word called 'Passion.'"

When Kyungsoo finished, Jieun had perfectly absorbed everything he said. She did not judge him for crying. Instead, she patted his back supportedly. It was all she needed to do.

"If you believe, you can," she simply said. "A petty fight over who's better isn't supposed to ruin a relationship like that. Just have faith and courage. Some day, you will be able muster up the strength to get them back together." She then pouted. "It's sad though, they totally missed out. They raised a pretty good son: funny, independent, and well-bred."

Inside, he was very much comforted by her compliments, but focused on one. He rubbed the tears off his eyes and asked, "Well-bred? What am I, a dog?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Or rather, you're like a dog," she clarified with a giggle. "Scruffy on the outside, loving and genuine on the inside."

He blushed over the compliment. She blushed upon belatedly realizing the magnitude of her words.

After some few seconds of butterflies-filled silence, Jieun stood up and said, "Well, I'm gonna go sleep now."

"Sure." He then held her wrist and locked eyes with hers, "Jieun, thank you. Thank you so much."

She smiled, "No problem. I hope you'll feel better, yeah?"

"Good night, Jieun," he said.

"Good night, Kyungsoo."

And a good night, it was. Filled with substance, and the cancellation of Kyungsoo's falsely accused meiocrity.

---

So here we can see that I was playing with my words quite a lot here where a sentence/phrase/word/whatever used earlier would be used later in the chapter. If you guys noticed that/realized it just now, then that is very awesome~! :)

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