“You annotated this book in pen?”  Jaebum stared at Jackson from behind the counter as he opened up the book he was returning only to find scribbles on almost every page.

“Sorry, I couldn’t find my pencil.”  Was Jackson’s only response.

“You shouldn’t be writing in a library book either way.”  Jaebum flipped through the rest of the pages disapprovingly.  “You could’ve at least gone out and bought some sticky notes or something.  Like every other normal person.”

“… I didn’t think of that!  That’s actually a solid idea!”

Jaebum wasn’t sure if he should grab him by the shoulders and try to shake some sense into him or just burst out laughing at his idiocy.   He decided to just stare at him incredulously.

“Hey, relax.  I just saved whoever borrows that book next from annotating it themselves!  You should thank me; you can advertise that book as ‘pre-annotated’ now.”  Jackson gave him a look that made it clear that he was not joking, he was completely serious.

“Jackson, nobody is going to appreciate that.”

“No way!  I buy a used textbook and I see someone already highlighted the whole thing, I’m thankful!  Saves me the time of finding the important parts myself.  Little notes on the pages are an added bonus!”

Jaebum cringed at the thought.  The thought of buying a used textbook with marks all over it was horrifying to him.  Sometimes it was even worth the extra money to get a fresh textbook, just so he didn’t have to deal with that type of thing.  “Listen, Jackson, this is considered vandalism.  You have to pay to replace the book.”

“Jaebum!  I thought we were friends! “Jackson but a hand on his chest and gave him an astonished look.

“So this book is $30, do you want to pay now or should I just put the fine on your account?”

“Thirty dollars?!”  Jackson picked up the book and shoved it into Jaebum’s face.  “For this tiny thing?  No way!  I’m not paying for anything!”

“So, I guess I’ll just put that fine on your account.  Please be aware that if you accrue more than $40 in fines your case will be filed with the police as illegal activity.”

Jackson’s face immediately morphed from anger to sadness.  “Oh my god!  Jaebum please, I’m too young to have a criminal record!!  Please, can you just pretend you didn’t see it?  Just this one time!  I’m begging you!” 

Jackson had his hands together and was using his adorable pouty face on him.  “Why didn’t you just return it through the drop box anyways?  Nobody comes to the counter to return a book anymore.”  It was getting really hard to keep his laughter in at this point.  Jackson sincerely believed he was going to get in trouble.

“Huh?  Oh, n-no reason.”  Jackson looked like he had remembered something.  Jaebum could’ve sworn he saw his cheeks redden just a bit.  “I was just wondering if your shift was over soon…”

“No, I still have three more hours.”

“Oh, well I could come back in three hours, we could hang out…”

“I have a midterm tomorrow, so I need to study.”

Jackson looked disappointed. “Forget it.  Just put the charge on my tab.  I’ll figure something out.”

Jaebum took one more look at Jackson before he finally cracked and started giggling. “Jackson, don’t look at me like that.  I’m not going to charge you for the book.” I was never going to charge you for the book.  

Jackson looked like he was about to cry.  “Really?  I’m free to go as an innocent citizen?”  Is he truly that gullible?

He scanned the book and dumped it into the return pile.  “If you really want to hang out I can probably make some time for you tomorrow night?  I’m going to need some alcohol to sooth my post-exam sadness anyways.  You buy the drinks and I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything.”

“Jaebum, I... yes!  Thank you!”  Jackson swung leaned over the counter and swung his arms around him.  “You’re the best!  I’ll buy you drinks!  I’ll buy you drinks for the rest of the semester!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!”

“Jackson, be quiet!  We’re in the library!”  Jaebum tried to pry Jackson off him but he couldn’t hold back the huge smile that now adorned his face.