Yixing groaned rolling on his bed, and kicked away the blanket which was tangled in between his legs. “Who the hell visit a person this early on a weekend?” he grumbled rubbing his face. And his door bell rang through the apartment again. “Aish...” he muttered as he finally managed to get of the bed and leave his room, his eyes still half close and drooping with sleepiness.

He opened the door to meet the person he least expected, and within a blink of an eye, he was wide awake. “Ms. Shim what are you doing here?” he asked, glaring at the young actress at his doorstep.

Jaeyeong pursed her lips and looked down at her feet. “Sorry for bothering you this early...” she looked up again at him, her eyes pleading him for help. “Yixing things are getting out of hand.” She whined.

Yixing suddenly realized something, and caught her by the elbow. “Come in, what if anyone notices you here?” he grabbed the girl into his apartment and closed the door behind her.

“Now tell me.” He took a step backwards from her, and stood with his arms crossed.

Jaeyeong looked around the living room. “Aren’t you even giving me a seat?”

“No.” Yixing’s answer came cold and sharp, even before she could imagine. “Just cut to the chase.”

Biting her lower lip, she fidgeted in her high heels. “I know I shouldn’t be asking you such favours...” she gave him another pleading look. “But can’t you just tell Suho to directly reject this marriage proposal?”

Yixing sighed and shoved both his hands in his pant pockets. “Why would I do that?” he asked her in an emotionless cold tone. “Why would I?”

“Because you-” Jaeyeong stopped her words in midway. “Can’t you just see how I hate being married to someone I don’t love? And I know perfectly that he too won’t love me back. How are we supposed to live together then? Does that make any sense?” she asked frustrated.

Yixing merely shrugged. “None of my business. I don’t care about what you rich people do with your lives.” He took a step towards the door, and placed his hands on the door handle. “You better leave now Miss Shim.” He turned the handle and opened the door. “It’s my day off and can’t waste my time on work-related people.”

Jaeyeong glared at him for a moment, and walked straight towards the couch. “I haven’t finished speaking yet. So I don’t have plans on leaving any soon.” She sat on the couch and crossed her legs. A sigh escaped Yixing’s lips, as he watched the actress’s stubbornness. “Okay then. You can stay here. I’ll leave.” He opened the door and exited his apartment, slamming the door shut with rage. And he started walking along the empty passage combing his fingers through his messy bed hair, a small ‘Aish’ coming out of his lips involuntarily.

* * * * * * * *

“Not everyone’s attending uni in weekends, you must be quite a hardworking student.” Kai smiled as he came to a stop in the traffic. A light chuckle was heard from the other end of the call, and Sooa spoke up. “I can’t help it but work twenty four-seven, unless I want to give up on graduating because of acting.” She said. “There’s this list of translated novels I have to go through before starting with this assignment. The list is huge, it’s no joke.” Kai heard her sigh.

“Want me to come over for help?”

“Don’t bother, I know how busy cafes are on weekends.”

“That’s why I have a staff!”

“But you might get busy with Ara unnie’s schedules-”

“She’s off to visit a friend’s mom who is sick. Her schedule is free for today.”

Sooa’s lips curved up in a smile without her knowing. “Then I’ll happily accept your support. So will you meet me in the university library then?” she asked.

“Yeah, I was on my way home, so I’ll just head there.” Kai ended the call, and took a U-turn soon after.

“Did I take long?”

Sooa looked up to meet the smiley eyes of her rookie acting partner, who had just entered the entrance hall of the library. She shook her head and got up from her seat. “Not at all.” She smiled back at him. “Shall we go in then?” Kai asked, pointing at the reference section. But Sooa shook her head. “No Kai, lets head to the lending section. I have to take some home too, because it’ll take more than just one day.

“Oh okay.” He nodded, letting her take the lead and following her.

“Is it really okay for outsiders to enter here?” he asked in a low voice, following her around the bookshelves. Sooa nodded her head. “It’s allowed. Don’t worry.”

He stood behind her and peeked over her shoulder to look at the book list in her hand. “I’ll start looking from another corner-”

A big burly young man came just then, and walked past these two, through the narrow space between the book shelves. His broad figure automatically pushed Kai towards the book shelf, pressing Sooa into the shelf, trapped between Kai and the shelf.

Kai placed his hand on the row of books above his head and looked down. “Sorry.” He muttered, looking down at the girl who had suddenly taken so much interest in the floor and was staring at it. It’s alright.” She mumbled, careful not to raise her head for him to notice her blush.

“No she said that she saw Kim Sooa with that guy in a coffee shop the other day!”

A girl’s voice made the two of them go still on their places, listening to what she said. “That new actor in her new drama?” another girl’s voice asked, making clear that they were standing right on the other side of the shelf Sooa was facing now.

“Hmm, that’s the guy.” The first girl replied. “Maybe he’s her boyfriend. That’s why he got a chance for the main role.”

Sooa turned and looked up at Kai with widened eyes. Kai placed a finger on his lips gesturing her to stay silent, and kept listening. “So will it be a scandal then?” the second girl asked again.

The other one answered. “We’ll see. Kim Sooa is in our department you know, so if he comes over to meet her here, we’re bound to see that.”

Suddenly their high heeled steps started walking along the shelf, and just when the two girls turned around the corner and entered the space Kai and Sooa were in, he was quick enough step to the side they were approaching, still pressing her against the shelf but covering her face from the view. His elbow was pressed against the shelf above her head, his long coat hanging down covering her face and figure almost completely. He lowered his face such that his face too was covered by his upper arm, lowered to her face.

“Aish, even in the library...” they heard one girl whisper, and the other one dragged her away and the two girls were out of sight soon.

The novel in Sooa’s hand slipped and dropped to the floor. She was still facing the row of books in front of her, unable to muster up the courage to move at all. She didn’t expect her heart to race for him like that. Even though she was somewhat interested in the guy, she wasn’t ready to fall for him any soon. But just having him closer than usual, completely caught her off guard.

“They’re gone. Come on, let’s leave the library before they see us together here.” He whispered from behind. She turned to face him, and was taken aback at once, blushing again, realizing the close proximity of their faces at the moment.

“But what about the books?” she managed to ask in a low voice.

“Let’s get the rest later. For now you can work with what we have got.” He said. His minty breath reached her, again reminding her of their closeness, making her try to step back even more, fearing he would notice how she was blushing. But Kai just stepped back casually, and looked at the table at the end of the shelf where they had stacked the chosen novels. “Let’s go.” He turned and walked away, taking the books with him on his way. Sooa just stood there and stared at the guy who had walked out of sight, puzzled and confused about how casual he could be unlike her.

*