You heaved a sigh before burying your face in your textbook on the table. “Physics. Why do you exist,” you groaned.

When you heard a chuckle, your head shot up in surprise so quickly that it hit the desk lamp above it. You winced, your hand immediately coming up to rub the sore spot. You frowned when you heard the soft chuckle turn into full-on laughing and you swiveled around on your chair to glare at Howon.

“Not funny,” you grumbled. Howon, still laughing, stepped forwards to hug you. You were a lot shorter than him as you were still sitting and he was standing, and your face was buried in his stomach as one of his hands made its way to your nape and the other hand gently removed your hand from the sore spot to continue the rubbing you were doing. You could feel the vibration in his stomach as he chuckled.

“Sorry, sorry,” he apologized. He pulled back, one hand still on your head. “Do I need to give it a kiss to make you feel better?” He teased, a playful smirk on his face.

You rolled your eyes, batting his hand away. He bent down and planted a kiss on the sore spot anyway and if the gesture made you feel warm all over, well, nobody needed to know.

“What are you doing here, anyway? And when did you get here? Shouldn’t you be preparing for your national exams?” You asked. You were studying, or at least, trying to study, before Howon barged into your room. You weren’t preparing for your national exams like Howon, but you still had exams coming up.

“You know I was never one for studying.” Howon frowned sadly, both hands cradling your cheeks, making you look up at him, your chin resting on his stomach. “But sadly, it isn’t a choice, isn’t it?” He sighed, looking troubled. You frowned.

“Hey, I know you hate studying, but your national exams are very important.” You stood up so abruptly that Howon released you, stepping back. “You know what? Come on, I’m going to help you study. You’re going to pass your national exams even if it kills me.” You nodded with determination.

Howon shook his head as you dragged him out of your bedroom.

--

You made Howon get his books from his house, before heading to the public library not so far away from his house. As you entered the library and found some empty seats near the corner of the library, Howon shook his head, almost fondly. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”

“Well, yeah.” You nodded, before giving him a serious look. “Look, I may know nothing about what you’re supposed to learn since I’m your junior, but I’m going to make a… comfortable atmosphere for you to study.”

Howon raised an eyebrow. “A comfortable atmosphere?”

“A comfortable atmosphere,” you repeated. “Now, sit down. I’ll be right back.” You stood up from your seat as soon as Howon sat down, and he whirled around, staring at you.

“Wait, where are you going?!” He called, but by then you were out of the library and instead of getting a response from you, he got reprimanded by the stern-looking librarian. He gulped, bowing his head, whispering an apology, before turning back to the table to open his textbook.

--

A few moments later, you came back to the library, books tucked under your arm, two cups of coffee, one in each hand. As you placed your books and coffee down on the table, Howon shook his head, smiling.

“This is your idea of a ‘comfortable atmosphere’? Library and coffee?” He raised an eyebrow. You grinned. He shook his head, smiling. “Which one’s mine?”

“This one.” You slid one of the cups of coffee towards him. “Cappuccino?” He asked. You nodded. He took a sip of his coffee and made a noise of approval.

You opened your books as you took a sip of your Americano. Howon turned to his book and both of you focused on your own books. Neither of you spoke for a few hours, each of you focusing on your work. The only sounds that could be heard were the sound of the flipping of pages, scribbling, and the occasional slurp as either of you took a sip of your own beverages.

Eventually, Howon took his last sip of the warm cappuccino and he sighed in content. He turned to look at you, wondering why it suddenly got so quiet; he noticed the silence as for the last few hours the sound of you studying had become a comforting background noise to him. He chuckled when the sight of you sleeping greeted him.

Your left cheek was smushed against your right arm on the table, acting as your pillow. Eyes closed, crooked glasses still on, mouth ajar, you looked anything but graceful.

To him, you still looked beautiful as always, though.

There was a fond twist to Howon’s lips as he gently removed your glasses and set it beside you. He gently pushed back a few strands of hair that were in your face, curling them behind your ear. He then mimicked your sleeping position, facing you. His eyes traced your features from your eyebrows, your eyelids, your nose... all the way to your lips.

Your lips.

Suddenly, Howon couldn’t look away from your lips. His eyes were glued on your pink, slightly chapped, parted lips. It was as if he was trapped under a mysterious spell that drew him to your lips. Unconsciously, he inched closer and closer. His lips were hovering dangerously close to yours.

But when he felt your soft, warm and steady breath hitting his lips, it was like a wake up call. He immediately snapped out of his daze, pulling back rapidly, a horrified expression on his face.

What was he about to do?

He shook his head, his eyes dancing between you and his own lap. He closed his eyes, running a hand down his face, covering his already closed eyes. He had a girlfriend. You were his best friend. What was he going to do?

Was he about to kiss you?

His fingers went up to his own lips involuntarily and he pushed his chair back, standing up. “I need to take a breather.” He muttered under his breath, turning around to step out of the library. He paused, however, at the sight of your back facing him. He gazed at your back for a few moments. For some reason, you looked so alone; your hunched back looking still and cold. He sighed heftily, removing his dark blue cardigan before stepping forwards, draping said cardigan over your shoulders.

Then he turned around and walked towards the entrance of the library.

--

When you woke up, you yawned, rubbing your eyes as you sat up. The sunlight that streamed through the window before you was more orange than you remembered, which meant that the sun was setting. You straightened your back, stretching your limbs and you blinked when you felt something warm leave your back. You turned around and saw a cardigan. A dark blue cardigan which you recognized as Howon’s.

You looked to your side, and you saw Howon concentrating on his books, eyebrows furrowed.

“Aw, thank you, Howon.” You smiled, draping his cardigan over his shoulder. Howon startled, turning to look at you, and judging by his reaction he probably just realized that you woke up.

“Oh. You woke up,” he blurted.

“Yes, I did,” you responded, amused. You were the one who just woke up from a nap, yet he seemed to be less eloquent than you are.

Howon blinked before turning away, wearing his cardigan again. You frowned. He was deliberately avoiding your eyes. “Howon.” You reached out, touching his arm. “Are you okay? You’re not feeling well?”

He blinked rapidly, eyes still not looking at you. “I’m fine,” he mumbled. Rapid blinking, avoiding your gaze, something was definitely wrong.

“I’m your best friend, Howon. I know when you’re hiding something from me. What is it?” You demanded, staring him down, not that it was working, since he was still steadfastly avoiding your eyes. “Howon.” You shook his arm.

“I’m fine,” he said, shaking your hand off and you frowned. Something was definitely up, but if Howon didn’t want to tell you… Well, you weren’t going to press the issue. You sighed, shaking your head, turning back to your book.

You were just reading the first sentence of the paragraph in your book when you heard Howon sigh, and he gripped your shoulder. “Hey.” You turned to look at him. “I’m… I’m fine, okay?” Howon still looked mildly uncomfortable but you decided to let it go. You held his gaze for a few moments before nodding.

“Okay,” you spoke, your voice barely above a whisper. Howon nodded, gulping. “Yeah, uh, thanks.”

“It’s okay, Howon.” You reached up to your shoulder where his hand was and you gave his hand a little squeeze.

 Howon gave you a small smile, and it was so small it resembled a smirk, just a tiny tug on one of the ends of his lips, and you could see that he was genuinely grateful.

Both Howon and you returned to your own books, going back to studying, like nothing had happened. And even though to your knowledge nothing weird did happen, beside you, Howon was taking secret glances at you, having conflicting thoughts and confusing feelings about what happened earlier that day.