The Byun’s General store was the closest building to the path leading to Echo Farm, with the Inn situated just north of it. The entire town center was laid out in a simple grid with the iconic dome of the town hall situated in the middle. Julia pulled out her worn map to navigate to the library. She found herself crossing a sizeable park between the store and inn and the central domed building, the town hall. She knew she had to visit that, as well, but she had come to decide that a visit to the library had to come first. She had been rather embarrassed by Mrs. Byun’s point about her utter lack of farming knowledge. It was foolish. Reading up on the subject was the least she could do to at least feel legitimate. She was supposed to support herself on that farm once her savings ran out. She shook the thought out of her head as she passed the central hall, crossing another smaller lawn towards the building designated as ‘library/schoolhouse’ on the map. It looked like most of the larger buildings in the town square- classic, brick masonry. Unlike the Inn and the General Store, however, the library had not been as structurally well-kept. Just from a precursory glance at the bricks along the walls, she could see where an extension had been added to the building, but the original structure was incredibly worn and dull. Still, it was clean and maintained with quaint plots of flowers that were free of weeds despite the fact that the flowers themselves were succumbing to the cold weather.

The front door- white trimmed with glass windows- was just slightly cracked open when Julia stepped up to the landing. She pushed it open gently, though the hinges decided to give her away with a grating squeak. When she poked her head inside the building, her eyes saw only dimness. She had to step inside to let her eyes adjust to the low lighting. There was no front desk or attendant in sight- in fact, it seemed like the library was completely empty, which was odd considering the open door. Maybe it’s a small-town thing, she thought as she looked around. Despite being fairly certain she was alone, it was like a hard-wired instinct to be as quiet as possible in the library. Along one of the walls was an old, dusty blackboard, apparently untouched for months or more. There were small desks and little chairs stacked up along the wall, out of the way and mostly out of sight. As interesting as the abandoned schoolhouse side of the building was, Julia pulled herself away to scan the shelves of books, finding it was rather well stocked and impeccably organized by genre and author. The problem, though, was that farming manuals didn’t really have its own section. The rows and rows of old classic wooden shelves were distracting, but Julia did find a small corner of ‘Trade’ books that looked promising. She rounded to the other side of the shelf, reaching up to grab an old leather-bound book simply marked ‘Agriculture’ on the spine.

“What are you doing here?” a sharp voice came from behind her, causing her to jump in surprise, nearly pulling the shelf down in fright. Scrambling, she managed to prevent the catastrophe before spinning around to confront the voice. She found a young man- just barely shorter than herself- mere inches away with round owl-like eyes and a frown that sent a shiver down her spine.

Julia gaped for a moment, taking in her new company before she managed to regain her voice, “I’m Julia, I just moved-“

“I didn’t ask who you are,” he cut her off coolly, his face remaining still and stoic as he spoke, “I asked what are you doing here.” He tilted his chin up slightly as if to size her up. He was incredibly pale with dark auburn hair and smooth features. Despite that, though, his gaze was hard and piercing. His mouth was small, but his lips were disproportionately full, accentuating the scowl that was slowly growing across his face.

Taken aback by his blatant rudeness, Julia felt a confrontational fire surge through her veins. She brought the book she had retrieved up near her face for him to see. “I’m in a library, looking at books, what else would I be doing?” She caught a glimpse of his nostrils flaring slightly as his wide eyes narrowed at her. “As a matter of fact,” for some reason Julia was in the mood to poke the bear, so she cracked open the book to the inside cover and turned it around for him to see, a small, triumphant smirk forming on her lips, “this book actually belongs to me, see?” She pointed to the old handwriting that was still visible on the slightly yellowed page, “J. Moon,” she read confidently. It had been a bit of a gamble, but she had felt relatively safe assuming most, if not all, of the books on farms and crops would have been in her family at some point.

Before she could even blink, the book was out of her hand and in her adversary’s. He effortlessly turned the page and brought it up for her to see. There was a faded ink stamp that was slightly smudged in the middle of the page. “Property of Haedo Library,” he read, his voice deadpan and unimpressed. He snapped the book shut and tucked it under his arm possessively. “You grandfather dropped off all of his books here fifty years ago before he moved out,” he continued to speak matter-of-factly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“So you know who I am,” Julia countered, pouting slightly at the loss of her book.

The apparent librarian rolled his eyes, “Of course I know who you are, this town is very small, and everyone knows everyone’s business.” When Julia looked at him blankly, he broke his stony posture and sighed heavily, “What, you think because we don’t live in the big city like you that we’re barbarians? We have cell phones, you know.” To prove a point, he pulled a sleek black smart phone out of his back pocket, fiddled with it for just a moment, and held it up for her to see. Sure enough she was able to see the tail end of a text conversation.

Chanyeol: Dude, Tao wasnt lying!!! New chick moving 2 farm!!! U HAVE to come to the bar 2nite!!!

“Does he always have to put three exclamation marks after every sentence?” Julia found herself asking as she looked away from the phone. She was surprised to see the guy’s face completely crack into a small lop-sided smile, just briefly showcasing his top teeth before he brought it back under control.

Despite the vanishing smile, his glare was notably less harsh, “Yes, actually, he does,” he replied as he tucked the phone back into his dark jeans pocket. “So, were you really going to waltz in here and steal these books?” he countered, his cold tone returning in an instant.

“Well, this is a library, right?” she reached out, taking advantage of his momentary distraction with his phone, snatching the book back one last time from beneath the librarian’s arm, hugging it to her chest tightly, “I won’t steal it, I’ll just check it out like a normal person.”

He grunted, not bothering to take the book back yet again, instead using his newly freed arms to cross them over his chest defensively. “Who says you’ll even still be here in two weeks when you need to bring it back?” he challenged, as if it were an obvious question.

The doubt lit a spark of anger in Julia’s chest, “And what’s THAT supposed to mean?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he snapped back, his large eyes partially lidded as he looked up at her with a small scowl on his lips, voice dripping in agitated sarcasm, “Maybe it’s your first day here in a new town and everything is shiny and new, but look at you- you’re a rich city girl who just moved onto a farm that’s been barren for fifty years and a house that’s practically a time capsule. You don’t have running water, electricity, or heat of any kind outside of a fireplace and a gas line for your stove, but that’s it.” His voice had a venomous edge, but his face remained stoic, “And you don’t even have Wi-Fi in there. So don’t be all surprised when I’m a little bit doubtful about your longevity here.” He spat out the last words before reaching out his hand expectantly, ready to receive the book back.

Julia’s stomach dropped at the accusations, but she had no witty retort- no comeback to put this guy in his place. He wasn’t wrong. She eyed his pale outstretched hand, but pulled the leather-bound book tighter against her chest. “I’d like to check out this book, please,” she repeated, her voice embarrassingly small.

The librarian rolled his eyes dramatically, turning away from her for a moment to retrieve something out of a nearby desk drawer. It was a long strip of paper just a few inches wide. “Alright, give it to me for a moment,” he spoke, resignation in his voice as he once again reached out for it. When Julia simple recoiled from him, he sighed heavily, “I’ll give it back this time, I promise. I just need to put the check-out slip in there.” When she silently relinquished it, he took the inside cover and tucked the paper inside a little paper pocket that had been glued inside for that very purpose. “Due back in two weeks,” he spoke plainly as he snapped it shut and returned it back to Julia.

“It’s probably going to take me more than two weeks to learn everything in here,” Julia lamented quietly as her eyes scanned the book in question as she turned it over in her hands.

“Then come back and check it out again,” he retorted, an edge of irritation back on his voice. He turned to walk away, his business done. He was glad to be rid of the new girl in town.

But Julia would have none of that, “Hey!” she called after him, “I don’t even know your name!”

The librarian glanced over his shoulder to eye her warily for a quiet moment. He looked like he was considering not giving it at all, but it was too late to pretend that he didn’t hear her. “Do Kyungsoo,” he finally replied decisively before going about his business. “I presume I will see you at the inn tonight,” he added without looking away from the shelf he was inspecting.

It was clearly a dismissal, but Julia was still confounded by Kyungsoo’s chilly attitude. He had practically invalidated her new life plan, while also being oddly accommodating. His farewell was borderline friendly. She simply watched him blatantly ignore her for a few minutes before tucking her prize under her arm and turning to walk out of the library.  “Well that was odd,” Julia mumbled to herself as she let the door swing mostly shut behind her, the hinge apparently not quite functional. It had been that way when she showed up, so she gave a shrug and walked away from the aging brick building towards the much grander one situated in the middle of a green park, though most of the trees had already lost all of their brown autumn leaves. As she approached the central town hall, she shifted the book under her arm, holding it tight against her body, her map now tucked inside. In a quiet grumble, she mused quietly to herself, “Two weeks, huh?”

“I give it two weeks.”

“What?” Jongdae huffed as he continued to push the cart of supplies down the excruciatingly unpaved dirt path that lead to Echo Farm. He knew better than to complain about Baekhyun’s blissful ignorance to his own suffering- asking Baek to help would only increase the agony through incessant whining and endless excuses.

Baekhyun frowned at his struggling friend, “That Julia chick, I mean. I bet she’s on the next passenger train out of here in two weeks.” His voice was confident as he lifted his prominent chin defiantly. Jongdae and the cart moved too slowly for his liking, but just as Jongdae was afraid to ask for help, Baekhyun was afraid to complain about it- lest he get guilted into helping.

One airy laugh was all Jongdae could muster as he gave the cart a shove to get it out of a particularly stubborn dip in the dirt. With a little sigh, he took a moment to catch his breath before pushing evenly again, “Well,” he began between grunts, “For her sake I hope not.” He decided if Baekhyun was going to strike up conversation mid-trip, he could afford to take a break, wiping his brow with the sleeve of his long-sleeved shirt. “Your mother practically strong-armed her into buying a lot of stuff,” he remarked, gesturing vaguely at the large assortment of clothing, toiletries, seeds, and basic office supplies.

“That old house doesn’t even have plumbing,” Baekhyun lamented, taking a few steps past Jongdae to peer through the clearing in the trees towards the farm in question. “Plus, her family is, like, super rich now, right?” he mused as he squinted down the path towards the abandoned land.

Shaking his head, Jongdae resumed his task of moving the goods, leaning all of his weight into the handle to get the wheels rolling again. “Well you know Wendy is telling her dad right now about the house. He and Kris have been practically drooling over the prospect of overhauling that house. Still,” he groaned, “If she’s rich, why is she here?” He knew he was encouraging Baekhyun’s complaints by humoring him with questions, but Jongdae felt like he at least needed to make a half-hearted attempt to check his friend’s misguided irritation. Not to mention, he was a bit curious himself.

Baekhyun swiveled on his heels to look back at Jongdae, taking careful steps backwards to keep moving, “Don’t know, don’t care, man.” He rolled his eyes before turning around again, “Come on, Jongdae, she’s not right here, you don’t need to be Mr. Gentleman anymore.” He knew better than to encourage Jongdae to be rude, but it was always worth the effort.

At last, Jongdae laughed properly, “True,” he admitted, the very corners of his mouth curling up almost in a way that was borderline cartoonish. “Still,” he managed to continue speaking as he gave a new surge of strength to the cart, the path nearly complete- the farm in view, “I still hope she sticks around longer than two weeks. Really shakes things up around here, huh?”

A long, exasperated sigh returned from Baekhyun, who didn’t even bother to look over his shoulder as he spoke, “Exactly!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms up hopelessly. “You know I love me some drama, but this is a bit too much, don’t you think?” he asked as he came to a stop under the old wooden sign, craning his neck to look up at the offending name, “J. Moon. Pff.”

Jongdae considered just running his friend over with the heavy cart, but decided to instead to just give him a little nudge. “You know,” Jongdae spoke pensively, a familiar note of teasing beginning to weave into his otherwise kind voice, “For someone who always says he wants to get out of this town, Mr. Heir to the Byun Dynasty, you sure do get worked up when something changes around here.”

A glare answered him as Baekhyun jumped out of the cart’s way. “Oh, shut up,” he grumbled, crossing his arms as he reluctantly helped Jongdae push the cart the last few yards to the front of the small house. The subject was dropped temporarily as the two boys hauled the boxes and bags off of the large cart and onto the farmhouse’s wooden deck. In unison, they slapped the dust from their hands and Baekhyun was quick to speak up again, “I still give it two weeks.”

Relieved of his burden, Jongdae was free to laugh heartily at his friend’s fixation, “Fine, fine. I’ll take that bet. If she leaves on the next train, I’ll buy you a drink.” The cart was light and easy to drag, so their walk back was brisk. “You owe me one if she sticks around.”

“Deal,” Baekhyun agreed, sidling up to his friend as they strode along the path, giving him a gentle nudge to his side with an elbow, his deep brown eyes beginning to sparkle mischievously. “Well, mom said she’d mind the store the rest of the day, and this little errand only took us a couple of hours,” his voice trailed off as he caught Jongdae’s incredulous glance, “So,” he drew the word out, grinning, “Let’s stop by your brother’s place and get something to eat.”

The responsible one rolled his eyes. He didn’t want to take advantage of Mrs. Byun’s graciousness, but on the other hand- she had explicitly said the offer was good for the rest of the day. Making up his mind, he nodded down towards the cart, “Let’s drop this thing off and see if we can swing by and pick up Chanyeol. I’m sure he’s back home by now.”

Baekhyun was quite tempted to remind Jongdae that their best friend may very well have still been making out with the love of his life, but he decided that he would spare him just this once. Not to mention that Jongdae was right- Wendy would go back to helping her father, and Chanyeol would head back to the inn to do what he could there. “Alright, well let’s hurry before I get hungry enough to eat that ugly sweater right off your skinny chest,” he retorted with a little smirk, taking off away from the farm in a brisk walk.

“Hey!” Jongdae protested, looking down at his rather plain- and a bit worn… and maybe a little big- sweater, tugging at the hem in an attempt to fling off some of the dust. “I am not that skinny!” he shouted after his friend, moving to follow him before the now empty cart caught his peripheral vision. “And we still have to bring the cart back to your place!” he yelled louder as Baekhyun made no indication of slowing down or turning around. With a heavy sigh and a roll of his eyes, Jongdae grabbed the handle of the cart, dragging it behind him awkwardly as he jogged down the path. At least it was a lot lighter without all of the boxes. By some miracle, he managed to catch up to his friend, who simply slung an arm around Jongdae’s shoulders lazily, though still poignantly not helping with the large cart.