Jaebum had been opposed to the idea of working the early morning shift in the library at first, but then he realized it wasn’t as bad as he initially thought.  He had to wake up at six in the morning, which was hell for the first couple months, but nowadays he was so used to it he didn’t even need his alarm to ring for him to hop out of bed before dawn.

He wasn’t sure why the library needed to be open by 6:30 AM considering nobody was ever there, at this time of year at least.  During exam season, there were a few brave souls who dragged themselves out of bed to sit down in the library and try to cram all day for an exam they were ill-prepared for, but at this time of the year it was deserted.

Jaebum loved working this early because he didn’t have to deal with anybody.  He was left at peace with just himself and the cart of returned library books that needed to be reshelved.

He wasn’t one for the eerie quiet of a lonely library early in the morning so he always plugged in his iPod, cranked it up to the highest volume he could handle without permanent damage to his ears, and worked away.

Eventually, he started getting lost in the music.  He continued to put books on the shelves but he tapped his foot to the beat as he worked.  Every step he took turned into a glide down the aisles.  He took books off the cart and spun in circles a few times as he walked them over to the shelf.  Soon he was full out dancing as he worked; exaggerating the moves because he knew nobody would find him.

He almost wanted to start throwing down some b-boy moves, but he decided the carpeted floor wasn’t the best surface to try sliding his body across.  Instead, he just melted into the beat of the music, using fluid movements in an attempt to mimic the feel of the melody.  He didn’t know any actual dances for this particular song, what he was doing probably looked ridiculous, but he just decided to close his eyes and let his body move in any way it desired.

He then felt a particular song come on in which he knew all the lyrics to, and he couldn’t help himself from starting to sing aloud, quietly at first but then he got louder.  Nobody was going to hear him. 

Jaebum had never had an interest in singing until he discovered this particular artist.  The way he sang made him realize if he trained his voice enough he could learn to sing and dance and possibly make a career out of his talents – it was a stretch of course- but he didn’t want to completely cross out the possibility.

Books discarded, the seemingly empty library was now a stage for Jaebum.  Belting notes and making up random dance moves.  It was six in the morning but he never felt so alive.  Just as he was about to go in for the killer high note at the end he was grabbed by the shoulders and turned around abruptly.

“IM JAEBUM.”  He didn’t hear anything but he read the words on Mark’s lips and decided to pull his ear buds out. 

“M-Mark?  What are you doing here?”  He was probably the last person he expected to see in the library, let alone in the library this early.  He was sure he was still asleep when he left the room.

“Oh, uh.  I kind of followed you here; I didn’t even realize the library opened this early.”  Mark let go of Jaebum’s shoulders and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.  Jaebum only realized now Mark was still in his pyjamas.

“Yeah, I always work the morning shift; nobody really ever comes to the library this early this time of year, it’s… peaceful.”

“So, is that why you decided to have a mini concert in here?”  Jaebum had hoped Mark was too awkward to bring it up, but he had been wrong.  He hadn’t known Mark well prior to sharing a room with him for two days but now he realized that even though he was older he was no means any more serious than he was.  Mark was extremely playful and liked to tease everyone, and Jaebum was regretful to the fact that Mark was older than him.  If Mark was just one day younger Jaebum wouldn’t hesitate to shut him down immediately.  Instead, he found himself averting his eyes and trying not to embarrass himself more than he already has.

“I really thought I was alone, sorry.” 

Mark just giggled, looking up at him like he was a kid or something.  Jaebum felt slightly offended.  “No need to apologize, it was actually pretty good.  I almost didn’t want to stop you.  Your vocals are nice. I knew you were a dancer but I didn’t expect you to have such a quality voice.  You should seriously consider a job in music.”

Jaebum wasn’t sure if he should take the compliment in stride or continue to wallow in how embarrassed he was.  He decided on the former.  “Thanks, that um, means a lot.”  That just left both of them standing awkwardly in the middle of the library unsure what to say.  “Uh, Mark, why did you follow me to the library in the first place?”

“Oh!”  Mark’s eyes lit up as he grabbed Jaebum by the shoulders again.  “Well, I saw you leaving and I thought to myself, does the library open this early?  Then I remembered my hold for the final season of Lost was supposed to come in today!  Have you put the holds on the shelf yet?  Is it here?”

Jaebum simply pointed to the cart he had left in the aisle and told him it should be there if it has arrived.  No longer than two seconds later Mark sprinted over the cart and found his DVD almost immediately.  “Yes, Jaebum!  Thank you!  I can start watching this immediately!”  Mark ran back over to him and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug before running back to his room, DVD in hand.

“Wait, Mark!  You need to check that out—“Mark was already gone.  Had he run past the alarm so fast it didn’t go off? Jaebum just decided to ignore it and be grateful he didn’t have to deal with turning the alarm off.

He put his ear buds in and cranked the volume back up. 

Hopefully, nobody else needed to use the library this early.