Dongwoon was shy, almost painfully so sometimes. He was clumsy, too. A perfect example is when he walks down the street. Alone, he could stroll calmly down the sidewalk without a care in the world, but the minute someone happened to be on the same sidewalk, he is stumbling, nervous, and beat red- a total wreck. His shyness didn’t stop him from having friends, though, He was still a little shy around them sometimes, but he was comfortable around them.

 His real comfort zone, though, was the library. In the library, there were hundreds, thousands of books to discover, and people could just sit quietly and enjoy each other’s presence without worrying about stumbling in any way. It was a place of peace.

That was until he was scuttling into the library one fateful afternoon and bumped into someone. Shocked, he took a step back, hoping he hadn’t hurt the person. That someone’s books fell, though, as he did so, the bound paper scattering across the floor between them. Bending down to pick them up, Dongwoon’s face burned with embarrassment. Stammering apologies softly, he finished picking up the books and carefully stacking them before rising to hand them back to the person. Looking up into their eyes, he was stunned to see a pretty set of brown eyes. It was a girl.

Flushing beat red; he waited until she took the books back before shuffling off into the library. He didn’t stick around to hear her say thank you, but he probably wouldn’t have been able to hear it anyway over the sound of his heart pounding in his ears.

A week passed since that day and Dongwoon hadn’t stopped thinking about her. She was so pretty with long dark hair and glittering eyes; and at the same time, she was reading one of his favorite books of all time. He had never met anyone else who had read that book. It was as if he had found his soul mate. That’s an exaggeration, of course, but he had felt a sudden connection. He just wished he wasn’t so shy. He saw her in the library every day since then, and each time he wished he had the courage to go and talk to her.

Sitting with his books scattered across the table, he sighed, running a hand through his short black hair. He couldn’t focus on the book he was reading- she was sitting only a table away.       

Looking around, he decided to go put some of his reference books away. There was only an hour left before the library closed. Rising, he started slipping the books into their appropriate slots on the shelves, holding the bindings gingerly and reorganizing shelves that had been carelessly destroyed.

After putting all of the books away, he began to wander back to his table. On his way, he could vaguely hear someone struggling nearby in the silence. Shifting around a book shelf or two, he saw her on her tip toes reaching for a book. His ears burned red. She was so cute.

“This is my chance,” he thought. “I’ll just go over to her and help her get the book down and that’ll start a conversation, and then we can become friends, and maybe even… more than… friends…”

As his thoughts wandered, his entire being turned a rosy pink in his embarrassment. He was running out of time, though. Psyching himself up, Dongwoon took a deep breath before scuffling up beside her.

“Uhm,” he spoke up meekly. “W-what b-book are you looking f-for?” he managed to stammer out.

He had managed to catch her attention merely with his towering height, but when she turned to him and processed his words, she smiled in relief.

Dongwoon lost the ability to function at the beaming grin.

“I want to see that one,” she pointed to the book happily, bouncing on her heels in anticipation.

He nodded dumbly, blinded by her smile. Looking up to the book she had pointed to, he reached for it, picking it off the shelf with ease before turning it over in his hands.

“Th-this is the one, right?” he inquired quietly as he held it out to her.

She nodded, taking the book from him gratefully. Rereading the title on the spine as she continued to look for books, he spoke up without thinking.

“Do you like that author?”

“Huh?” she looked up at him.

“Uh, well,” he stuttered, realizing he had spoken rather abruptly. “I saw you with another of his books before, so I was wondering if you like his work.”

He rubbed his forearm nervously, trying to calm down. He was finally talking to her. He was not going to screw this up now!

Her eyes were intent on his features, which went unnoticed to Dongwoon in his nervous state. Her eyes traced the short drop of dark bangs onto his forehead, the strong, subtle slope of his eyebrows, the gentle creases between them. She even had time to notice his eyes were double-lidded and his nose was very straight before he looked her in the eyes again.

“I like this author’s books a lot,” she smiled, giggling internally as she saw his cheeks flush even darker and his hands fidget. “Do you know his works?”

Dongwoon nodded vigorously. He loved that author’s books. They were his favorites.

She giggled; it was an almost angelic reverberation against Dongwoon’s eardrums.

“What’s your favorite?” she asked, facing him completely and clutching the book to her chest.

Naming his favorite with excitement, his nervousness vanished and  was replaced with passion.

“I read that one! That one is really, really good. It is definitely in my top five,” she agreed animatedly. “What’s your name, by the way? Mine’s Heeyoung.” She introduced herself, the ice completely broken now.

“I’m Dongwoon. It’s really nice to meet you,” he replied, bowing slightly.

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” she signed contentedly as they shared a quiet moment of eye contact. At the tone of her cell phone, she looked away. “Oh. I have to go now. See you again sometime?” she smiled.

He nodded again, watching as she shuffled away quietly. Sighing happily, he leaned back against the bookshelf.

“Heeyoung. Her name is Heeyoung.”

Another couple of weeks passed by and Dongwoon and Heeyoung had started to become friends, forming a bond over books. They soon realized they shared other interests as well. They even started sitting together in the library. Heeyoung was the one who sat at his table first, and they didn’t really talk too much while in the library together, but it was nice. Peaceful.

It was another night together at the library, and Dongwoon had noticed Heeyoung was taking a while to find the book she needed. Rising, he went to her just to find her on her tip toes again, hopelessly reaching for a book. Plucking it off the shelf and smiling down at her as he did so, he failed to remember his clumsiness. Noting panic on her face, he clung to the book shelf, hovering over her as several books fell, colliding with his back. Exhaling once the whole ordeal had ended, he stepped back.

“Are you okay?” he asked, relief washing over him.

“I am, but what about you? You just got pelted with books,” she stated, worried, glaring up into his eyes.

“I’m okay, I just hope the books are, too,” he said, looking down at the books that had fallen. “Ah,” he held up the book he had gotten down for her. “This is the right book, right?”

Glancing down at the book he was holding out to her, she laughed.

“It’s the right one,” she chuckled quietly, taking the book.

“That’s good,” he smiled shyly, his cheeks dusting pink.

Leaning down, they picked up the books, Heeyoung holding them while Dongwoon put them back on the shelf. Finishing up, Heeyoung’s cell phone rang, signaling it was time for her to go home. Walking back to the table together, Ming packed up before checking the book out and waving goodbye.

Sighing, Dongwoon sat down, gazing out the door she had just waddled out of. As they had gotten to know each other better, his crush became more and more intense. He was starting to think it was more than just a crush.

Noticing something out of the corner of his vision, he focused on it. A textbook. Flipping to the inside cover, he saw that it belonged to Heeyoung. Picking it up, he glared at it.

“What do I do? The library is going to close soon. If I leave now, it’s for the weekend. But, what if Heeyoung needs this to do homework?” Fretting, Dongwoon put the book down, ruffling his hair. “I… I need to do the right thing,” he finally decides.

Packing his bag swiftly, he checks to make sure nothing else was forgotten, checking the books out quickly before dashing down the stairs to catch up with Heeyoung.

Once outside, he saw her waiting by the bus stop. Running over to her, he stopped to catch his breath, hands on his knees. Once he had caught his breath, he stood up straight. He held the book out to her.

“You forgot this,” he stated, his faint flush hidden in the dim lighting.

She gasped. “Thank you,” she said, taking the book and putting it away. “Thank you so much. I have a lot of homework to do this weekend in that book. You’re a life saver.”

Switching her gaze up to his, her eyes sparkled with the stars’ reflection. She seemed especially beautiful today. Her hair was pinned up with a bow clip, her shirt was light colored and pretty and her jeans were a slim fit. Returning the eye contact, he spoke up.

“U-uhm,” he stuttered. “I’m not doing anything this weekend, so, if you want any help with your homework…”

Fidgeting and shuffling his feet, he waited for her reply, hoping she would accept the proposal. It wasn’t a date, but it was a start.

She nodded.

A joyous smile broke out on Dongwoon’s face. Excitedly, he asks her what time would be good, and she asked him for his phone number. Giving his phone to her, she put his number into her phone, calling it immediately. His phone ringing in his hand, he smiled serenely, saving it under Heeyoung.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then?” he confirmed excitedly.

She nodded again, humming happily.

Bowing, he wished her a safe ride home before starting on his walk home. The bus passed him on his way; he paused to watch as Heeyoung climbed on. Once the bus was out of sight, Dongwoon did his victory dance, his backpack sliding across his back and his body twisting.

“Woooh!” he cheered into the warm night air. “She gave me her phone number! And we’re gonna hang out! I’m so excited!!”

Continuing on his walk home with a skip in his step, he paused at a cross walk.

“Wait. What am I going to wear?”

~Fin~

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