"Are you still pouting?" Mira joked after putting up with Jackson's silence for 2 hours.  The man that cheered and laughed with a beer in his hand a few nights ago was the same as the one that was passive aggressively giving her the silent treatment.

He knit his brows together, "I'm not pouting."

"Oh come on, ever since Mark responded to my text and let your call go to voicemail, you've been frowning like a little baby. It's rather cute." She said with a light laugh.

His eye twitched as he drove down the empty road to a red light, "So what's the deal with you and Mark anyways? Did you two have a thing or…"

"Why? Are you jealous?" She snorted while fiddling with the radio before turning her head to the side to catch his eyes, "You jealous of him? Did you expect to have me all to yourself? You saw me at that party and realized that I was the only one you'd ever want? Am I yours and only yours?"

"Christ." He hissed under his breath, "Can't you answer anything normally? Do you have to make a thing out of anything that I say?"

She clucked her tongue, "Possession is a weakness you know. The more you cling onto something or someone, the more dependant you are on them. Aside from that, it's totally counter-progressive for women an--"

"If you're not going to answer the question, that's fine, but stop making up on your own." He snapped, irritated.

She stared at him with a straight face before smiling and leaning back, "No, me and Mark didn't have a thing which I assume is your way of saving relationship or casual partnership. We were friends. Just friends and I don't have many of those. What about you guys? Brokeback Mountain or…"

"More like Napoleon Dynamite. Weird and quirky, I guess. You wouldn't imagine the two of us getting along but we did…better than one would think." He said reluctantly.

Mira hummed in response and just stared out the window, taking in the scenery that was blurring past her vision. She had rarely gone for a drive this late. The roads were bare and the sky was starting to lighten as they got closer to sunrise and some of the streetlights were starting to turn off. There was a thin fog rolling along the horizon and it looked painfully serene.

"Oh ." Jackson muttered in sudden realization.

"What?" She asked while leaning her palm against her cheek.

He let his head fall back against the headrest, "It's 4AM, nothing's going to be open this late. That bookstore isn't going to be open this late. Damn it."

"Why did you come so late anyways? You must've found his note earlier than 2:30 in the morning." She said while dragging the tip of her finger along the condensed water on the glass.

"Because I spent the day contemplating if I really wanted to bring you with me." His drawled dryly.

She hummed while drawing a small flower on the window, "The note was on my door when I went back to my place."

"Wait, you weren't staying at your apartment?" He asked in confusion.

"No, I was staying over at someone else's for a while." She said in response.

He rolled his jaw, "My note was on my locker but I none of my classes had exams so I wasn't near my locker for the last 2 weeks. I saw it today when I went to grab a textbook I wanted to return.  Who knows how long they've been there."

"He probably knew that we wouldn't see the note until after exams. I'm telling you, this was a really well thought out plan. Mark is weird but he isn't sloppy." Mira said with a snort.

Jackson cursed to himself under his breath, "We'll just find this place and sleep in the car until it opens."

"I guess we'll be sleeping together after all." She said with a snort.

-----

"Or not…" Jackson said as he pulled into a parking lot an hour later, "It's open."

Mira stared at the small store, tucked quietly in a plaza, "Apollodorus. 24 hour bookstore."

"What the hell does that mean?" Jackson asked as he turned off his car.

Mira typed the name into her phone and stared at the results, "According to Wikipedia, Apollodorus of Athens son of Asclepiades, was a Greek scholar, historian and grammarian. Seems like Mark has a side interest for Greek Mythology."

"Great." Jackson said bitterly, "There goes my chance at a quick nap."

Mira clucked her tongue and stepped out of the car, "I could always drive while you sleep."

"Over my dead body." He grumbled before stalking to the front door of the store. Mira laughed boisterously before walking behind him.

Jackson and Mira stepped into the bookstore, the little brass bell ringing over their heads, signalling their entrance. It was no surprise to them that the store was completely empty, but it seemed to have come to a surprise to the man behind the counter.

"Oh!"

Both Mira and Jackson looked towards the counter where a young man with round, thin wired glasses stared at them with tired, bloodshot eyes and a cup of coffee held possessively in his grasp.

Mira blinked at him before frowning, "Sorry, were you guys closed? We saw the 24 hours sign an--"

"No, no! We're open." He said while closing the book he was reading, "We just don't really see a lot of customers here after 1AM."

Mira nodded and looked around the small shop, "Great."

"Hey." Jackson called out before squinting at the man's name tag, "Jinyoung."

The young man perked up, "Yeah?"

"Have you ever seen this guy here?" Jackson said while sliding his phone open and showing it to him.

Jinyoung adjusted his glasses before leaning forward to look at the picture of Jackson and Mark, "Oh! Yi En! I know him! He comes in here all the time. He's the only one that keeps my company during the graveyard shifts."

"I'm sorry." Mira said with a small shake of her head, "Yi En? Who's that?"

Jinyoung looked at her in confusion and pointed to the  picture, "Yi En. The guy in the picture. He's a transfer student from China. He barely speaks any Korean so we don't talk much but he's a good guy."

A small smile curled up Mira's lips before she nodded, "I see. Do you know which aisle he hangs out in?"

"Not really but he chills in the back usually. That's where he was two weeks ago." Jinyoung pointed out.

"Where's your philosophy section?" Mira asked abruptly.

"B-Back there. Is there anything I can help you guys with?" Jinyoung asked with a concerned frown.

Jackson rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "It's fine, don't worry. We're just browsing"

"Um…can I ask you guys for a favour?"

"Sure." Mira said carefully while glancing at Jackson.

Jinyoung looked uncomfortable before clearing his throat, "Can you guys…you know…not hook up behind the shelves? Normally I wouldn't care, but since I'm the only one here, it's a little awkward."

Mira stared at him, making sure he was serious before she let out a snort and laughed as she walked to the back of the store. Jackson rolled his eyes and looked over at Jinyoung who seemed pressed for an answer.

"You have nothing to worry about." Jackson mumbled before following her to the back, "Trust me."

-----

"What the hell was that about?" Jackson said in a rushed whisper when they got out of earshot of Jinyoung.

Mira hummed and scanned the books, 'What do you mean?"

"Yi En? Transfer student? What the was he talking about?" Jackson's brows pulled together in a frustrated crease.

Mira tilted her head up to catch a glance at the higher shelves, "I guess you don't know him that well after all."

"If you don't know the answer just admit it." He grumbled.

Mira rolled her eyes and faced Jackson, "He probably came up with a fake identity for whenever he was out of town. Mark liked to have fun, things like identity were social constructs.