haseul let out a sigh as she watched the blonde girl and her friends enter the library again. this was the third time this week and they'd been causing problems. whether it was being too loud, or fighting each other with the books. haseul wasn't really sure what else to do.

the girl and her friends sat down. haseul only really noticed the blonde one because she stood out. all of her friends had darker hair, but the blonde made her stand out. also, she might've been super cute, but haseul wasn't about to admit that, not when the girl and her friends were being so damn annoying.

"lippie, stop!" a small girl screeched as the blonde girl moved to tickle her.

haseul watched as nearby people cringed away from the sound.

the group fell silent for a while after that, seeming to be focused on whatever work they'd brought with them. that was until one of the girls decided to hit one of the others with a book. that was when haseul knew she had to do something. again.

haseul got up from behind the front desk, adjusting her glasses. she grabbed her notepad and went over to the group.

"please be quiet. if you continue disrespecting my library then i'm going to have to ban you all." haseul said, frowning at the group who all stopped and stared at her. "i'm going to have to take your names, this isn't the first time."

"it wasn't even me this time though!" the blonde girl whined. "i was being good."

"please give me your names." haseul repeated with a steady voice.

the girls groaned before going round the table, stating their names for haseul to write down.

there was kim jiwoo, the small one who was screaming earlier. park chaewon, the girl who'd started the book fight. jeon heejin, who yesterday had almost taken a whole shelf down. kim hyunjin, who had pushed heejin into the shelf yesterday. and finally kim jungeun, the blonde girl.

"please be more considerate to people studying in the library." haseul said before she left the table, returning to the front desk to continue sorting out a tray of books.

the group were (almost) completely silent after that, apart from the little one, jiwoo, had a very loud voice. it seemed impossible for her to be quiet. but one by one, the group slowly left until it was just jungeun. it looked like she'd stayed behind to study some more and haseul was tempted to approach her when someone approached the desk.

"haaaaaaaaseeeeeeuuuuuuuuul uuuuuunnieeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

haseul looked up with a sigh. "what are you doing here, yeojin?"

"mom's at work and she told me to come here." yeojin said before she wandered behind the desk, slumping in the seat next to haseul's.

"can't you go to someone else's house? i'm working." haseul mumbled. "you're too noisy for a library."

"yerim's busy, so i'm here!" yeojin squeaked with a grin. "let me help out!"

haseul groaned. it was going to be a long afternoon.

she managed to get rid of yeojin temporarily by pushing the tray she'd sorted out at the younger girl, pointing her to a section and telling her to put the books back in their section, then she'd given the girl some money and told her to go buy something nice. haseul was hoping she'd return with food.

yeojin returned with a squishy toy instead.

"thanks for treating me, unnie!" yeojin grinned.

haseul sighed, burying her face in her hands. when she looked up, jungeun was looking over, laughing a little.

"yeojin, i meant buy some food. i'm hungry." haseul said.

yeojin's eyes widened. "OH. i'm sorry, haseul unnie! if you give me some more then i'll go get something for you!"

haseul rummaged around in her pocket before pulling out some change. "make sure i like it."

yeojin nodded before skipping off out of the library.

haseul took a moment to rest her head against the desk when a familiar voice disturbed her.

"is that your sister?"

haseul looked up. it was jungeun.

"yes, unfortunately." haseul sighed.

"she looks a lot like you, but your personalities are nothing alike." jungeun said. "i can get someone to take her off your hands if you'd like."

"and i would accept that offer, but i don't know you. although i despise the fact my little sister is at work with me, i don't think i could give her to some stranger who's friends make a racket in my library." haseul managed a small laugh.

"you can trust me!" jungeun frowned. "i promise i'm not a murderer and neither are my friends."

"it's alright. i don't think our mom would be too happy if she found out i'd given yeojin to a stranger anyway. but thank you for offering." haseul smiled before she watched the blonde girl return to her table.

"haseul unnie, i brought you some ramen!"

maybe having yeojin to deliver her food wouldn't be so bad.

the next week, jungeun and her friends returned to the library. this time there was another blonde girl. she looked a little older than the rest, but was definitely just as noisy as them. haseul watched the group for a moment as the smallest girl, jiwoo, tried to avoid heejin hitting her with a book. there was a lot of yelling and haseul knew she had to talk to them. again.

she got up from behind the desk and approached the group again.

"oh, jungeun, is that the cute girl you told me about--" the other blonde girl started to whisper as haseul came over.

"shut your mouth." jungeun hissed, before looking up at haseul with a sheepish smile. "hi."

"this is the first and final warning for today. please keep it down and be careful with the books or i'm banning you all." haseul said with a frown.

"sorry miss librarian!" jiwoo squeaked. "i won't do it again!"

"miss librarian?" the oldest blonde snorted. "don't you know her name?"

jiwoo shook her head. "no.. we've never really spoken to her apart from when she's telling us to be quiet..."

"it's haseul." haseul said. "please be quiet from now on."

as she was walking back to the desk, she heard jungeun scolding the other blonde.

jungeun and her friends were quiet for the rest of their time in the library.

the next day, haseul was sorting books out amongst the shelves. she'd left her glasses at home and stupidly forgotten to put her contacts in too, so there she was, squinting hard at the words.

"are you okay?"

haseul turned round to see a blurry blonde figure. she knew it was jungeun.

"no. i can't see, if you haven't noticed that already." haseul mumbled.

"where are your glasses?" jungeun asked, moving closer to take the book out of haseul's hand. "let me help you put these back."

"i left them at home by accident... you don't have to help me, it's fine--" haseul started, but jungeun shook her head.

"you can't see, i'll help you today. i don't have any plans anyway." jungeun said.

so the two got to work on putting the books back, haseul would tell jungeun what section and she'd put the books back.

"so, how did you end up working here?" jungeun asked as she grabbed a book to put back.

"i like the peace and quiet of the library. it distracts me from a lot of things." haseul said. "some things have happened in my life that i need to be distracted from."

"is your little sister one of them?" jungeun teased with a grin.

"sometimes." haseul said with a small smile before continuing. "i used to live on the outskirts of the city, but my parents decided to open a restaurant in the middle of seoul, so i had to go with them. i was still in school, so it was hard to just leave all my friends behind and make more. i've never been that sociable. but i only started working in the library after my grandmother passed..." haseul stopped with a soft sigh.

"oh... i'm sorry to hear that. were you close with her?" jungeun asked.

haseul nodded. "i used to go back to see her as often as i could. i still haven't forgiven myself for not being there for her when she was sick..."

"hey, that's not your fault. you said you were in school when it happened? you must've had to study hard. she would've understood." jungeun frowned. "i bet she'd be proud of you now though. you literally run a whole library."

"she wanted me to be a singer." haseul said with a soft sigh.

"a singer? do you sing a lot?" jungeun asked.

haseul shook her head. "not anymore. i don't have it in me anymore."

"oh... i see." jungeun said.

there was a small pause as they both continued putting books away.

"my break is soon. i need to go home and get my glasses." haseul said. "before you worry, my friend is taking me back to my apartment, so i won't be wandering around the streets of seoul like this."

"will you be coming back?" jungeun asked.

haseul nodded. "i don't know if you've noticed, but i work here every day all week. i have a reading session this afternoon though. that's why i'm going to get my glasses."

"a reading session?" jungeun frowned. "what's that?"

"children from the nearby school come in and we read together." haseul said.

"that's cute." jungeun said with a grin.

"not really, i'm just helping them read." haseul said before she looked down at her watch, squinting hard. "it's time for me to go. thanks for your help."

"have fun reading to the children." jungeun said with a smile, patting haseul's shoulder.

the next time haseul encountered jungeun, it was in the library's bathroom. haseul had locked herself in one of the stalls and was sobbing. she had emotional outbursts like this sometimes, but this was the first time it had happened at work.

haseul heard the door of the bathroom open and she tried to stay quiet, but she couldn't. she let out another loud sob, and she heard the person stop moving.

"hey stranger... i know you don't know me, but are you okay?"

it was jungeun.

haseul reluctantly opened the door to the stall. jungeun quickly came in, shutting the door behind herself.

"what's wrong? why are you crying? did someone hurt you?" jungeun quickly pulled haseul into a tight hug.

"it's n-nothing... nobody did anything... s-sometimes i just get like this..." haseul sniffled, burying her head against jungeun's shoulder to muffle her sobs before continuing. "but i have to work, i need to get over it..."

"you can't work like this." jungeun mumbled. "i need you to tell someone you're going home because you're sick. i can't let you work when you're like this."

"but--" haseul started.

"no. give me your phone." jungeun said, pulling away from the hug.

haseul pulled her phone out and unlocked it before handing it to jungeun. she watched as the blonde went into the libary's groupchat.

"this is haseul's friend. she's not too well right now so she has to go home. can someone cover for her?" jungeun typed.

instantly there was a response.

"I can do it." kahei replied.

"see? someone's going to cover for you now. you're going home. i'll come with you." jungeun said. "my mom let me borrow her car today, so i can drive you there!"

"are you even old enough to drive?" haseul frowned as she wiped her tears away with her hands.

jungeun nodded. "i'm nineteen!"

"okay... just give me a minute, then we can go." haseul said.

ten minutes later. they were in jungeun's mom's car, driving to haseul's apartment.

"do you know how to drive?" jungeun asked.

haseul shook her head. "i don't see the need to. there's public transport in the city that goes everywhere i need to go."

"but it's fun to drive." jungeun said, frowning.

"it's not fun to get stuck in traffic though. seoul's a busy city." haseul said as she looked out of the window at the buildings they passed.

"hm... that's true, i guess." jungeun mumbled as she focused on the road.

they arrived at haseul's apartment building a few minutes later. jungeun parked up and haseul took her up to her apartment.

haseul's apartment was small and neat. everything was organised.

"it's very..." jungeun paused. "you."

"it's very me?" haseul looked over at the younger girl. "i guess you could say that."

the two sat down on the couch.

"so, i'm home now. what do you want me to do?" haseul asked. "i'm pretty much all better from earlier."

"we're gonna watch movies and order food at some point. and maybe make a fort. that's what i do with jinsoul when she's sad over something, and it always cheers her up." jungeun said.

"who's jinsoul?" haseul asked. "have i met her?"

"the other blonde girl." jungeun said. "we're both blonde because we lost a bet and had to get our hair dyed, but it backfired on our friends because we both really like it." jungeun laughed before turning on the tv.

jungeun spent all day at haseul's apartment and they got a lot closer that day, learning a lot about each other. haseul learnt jungeun wasn't just some delinquent who messed up her library. jungeun was nice, funny, and caring. she learnt jungeun had a pet owl. i know it's a really strange pet to have but i just really like owls, jungeun had explained. haseul said she'd always wanted a bird too but she couldn't have pets in the apartment, but her family had a cat called pickles. jungeun's favourite colour was red, whilst haseul's was green. jungeun liked going out and partying, whilst haseul liked to stay in. they were almost opposites, but somehow they'd come together to make a great friendship.

well, that's what haseul would've called it until she spoke with one of her friends.

kahei was a fellow worker at the library. she'd moved from hong kong not too long ago and haseul had helped her settle in. they were quite close, so haseul decided to tell her about jungeun.

"she's so wonderful, kahei. she's such a good friend. i mean, at first i kind of hated her because she was always making a mess in the library with her friends, but she's so sweet..." haseul continued to ramble on at kahei for a solid five minutes before finally finishing.

"are you sure you're just her friend, haseul?" kahei asked. "it sounds a lot like you have a crush on her."

"i.. i don't have a crush!" haseul hissed, feeling herself blushing at the mere thought of it.

however, the more haseul thought about it, the more it made sense.

but now she was really in trouble.

the next week came and haseul started her shift, sitting behind the desk. like clockwork, jungeun and her friends turned up. but whenever they started making too much of a ruckus, jungeun would shush them before glancing over at haseul with a smile. haseul was very thankful that jungeun finally had her friends under control.

eventually, haseul got up from behind the front desk to put some books back. she passed jungeun's table and heard the tiny girl, jiwoo, squeak to jungeun.

"look, it's your crush! the pretty librarian!"

"shut up!" jungeun hissed, elbowing jiwoo in the side, causing the small girl to yell out in pain.

haseul felt her face turning bright red so she quickly moved away from the table, instead choosing to put the childrens' books back in their places. it was all going well for a while, until she heard some hushed whispers from behind a nearby bookcase.

"go talk to her, jungeun! ask her!"

"what if she says no?"

"she won't! i believe in you!"

there was a small silence, then haseul heard someone coming over. she turned to see who it was. it was jungeun.

"hi haseul!" jungeun said with a smile. "what books are you sorting today?"

"hi jungeun." haseul said before glancing down at the book in her hand. "currently i am putting the gruffalo away. but i've been doing children's books so far. what brings you to the library today?"

"i'm studying for a test with my friends." jungeun said with a sigh. "it's boring. i hate studying."

"but studying is important, you have to get good grades in your tests." haseul said as she started putting some more books back.

"did you study a lot when you were still in school?" jungeun asked.

haseul nodded. "i did. i came top of my whole school."

jungeun gasped. "haseul, that's amazing! how come you didn't go to college?"

"i didn't want to. i'd already found the library by then. but there's still time if i ever change my mind. i'm not that old yet." haseul said with a smile before turning back to the younger girl. "so, did you need something or did you just come to distract me from my work?"

"well, actually... i wanted to ask if you wanna go get food after your shift's over? and then maybe we could go for a walk or something, since you said you like going to the park." jungeun looked up at haseul, her cheeks a little red as she waited for a response.

"sure, we can do that." haseul said, smiling. "go continue studying or else i might change my mind."

"suddenly i am gonna study the hardest i've ever studied in my life!" jungeun gasped as she ran off back to her table.

haseul laughed as she watched jungeun before she continued putting books away.

haseul's shift went by fast and jungeun was waiting outside the library for her.

"hi! i don't have the car today so we're gonna have to get the bus." jungeun said. "it's not far, don't worry."

"where are you planning on taking me anyway?" haseul asked as they began to walk to the nearest bus stop.

"it's this pizza place! they do really good food there. heejin told me about it." jungeun said. "she went there on a date with hyunjin, so it must be good."

"a date?" haseul tilted her head slightly. "are they dating?"

jungeun nodded. "they've been together for the longest time. it's cute."

"what about you? have you ever dated someone before?" haseul asked.

jungeun paused for a moment before nodding slowly. "i dated jinsoul, but it didn't work out. but i'm glad, because now she's one of my closest friends! i don't get to see her often though, she's at this college and she also works. what about you? have you ever dated someone?"

haseul shook her head. "nope. nobody wants to date a librarian. everyone thinks we're boring."

"who said that? i'll fight them." jungeun growled. "you're not boring at all."

"but i'm nothing like your friends, right? i'm quiet and i don't really do much else apart from sit around with books all day." haseul said.

"you're unique." jungeun said before she reached for haseul's hand to give it a gentle squeeze. "and that's what i like about you."

haseul felt herself becoming more and more shy, but luckily the bus came so they both got on and didn't speak much throughout the journey, mainly because jungeun was focusing on when they had to get off. they ended up getting off a little earlier than they should have, but haseul didn't mind. it meant she could hold jungeun's hand as they walked along, and jungeun kept doing this really cute thing where she'd keep looking up at haseul, then smiling and looking away as she started blushing.

they arrived at the pizza place and got a table quickly. they both ordered something before jungeun quickly pulled out her credit card.

"i'll pay." she insisted. "i want to treat you."

"but you're a student, you need your money--" haseul started.

"and you're my cute date that doesn't need to worry about me or my money." jungeun said as she quickly paid.

being called jungeun's cute date left haseul a flustered mess, so she quickly hid her cheeks with her hands so jungeun wouldn't see her blushing.

"i saw your sister at the weekend." jungeun said.

"really? what was she doing?" haseul asked.

"she was at the park feeding the ducks with this other girl. your sister is really clumsy, by the way. she almost fell in the pond." jungeun said, laughing at the memory.

"she's a mess." haseul sighed. "she somehow broke her ankle this one time, and when she went down she grabbed me and broke my wrist."

"i'm now glad i didn't approach your sister. i'm scared." jungeun said before laughing.

"there was this one time we had an argument and she went to go to her room and she walked into the door." haseul said. "i'm just glad i don't live with her anymore. i mean, i love her, but she's just a lot to handle. that being said, my parents are going on vacation soon so she has to stay at my apartment... i can't wait for her to break everything i own, and then she'll probably break me too."

"i can come over and keep her busy?" jungeun suggested. "i'll bring my friends. i bet she'd like them a lot."

"the friends from the library?" haseul cringed slightly at the thought of all those noisy teenagers in her apartment. "i mean... if it keeps yeojin from breaking my stuff, then i guess we can try."

the pizzas came shortly after and the two ate in silence before talking about what jungeun was doing during the week students were on a break from school. haseul had booked the week off to take care of yeojin whilst her parents were away. jungeun said she didn't have any plans apart from probably seeing her friends.

they left the pizza place after that and had to go their separate ways. but jungeun made sure to give haseul the tightest hug ever.

haseul knew she definitely had a crush then.

"haseul unnie!" yeojin screeched.

the dreaded week had come. haseul's parents had dropped yeojin off last night and told her to be good before leaving for the week. now yeojin was lying on the couch, watching tv.

"what?!" haseul screeched back.

"there's someone at the door!" yeojin screamed even louder.

"okay!" haseul yelled.

haseul got up from her desk in her room and went to the front door. when she opened it, jungeun was there.

"was that you screaming?" jungeun asked. "i've never heard such a loud sound come from you before."

"yeojin started it." haseul said with a sigh. "she's in the living room. i told her you'd be coming at some point."

haseul lead jungeun into the living room where yeojin was spread out across the couch. instantly, the tiny girl sat up.

"haseul, is this your girlfriend?!" yeojin squawked.

"no! shut up!" haseul groaned, covering her face with her hands for a moment before she managed to compose herself. "her name is jungeun and she's here to do something fun with you."

"fun?" yeojin frowned, tilting her head. "like what?"

"do you like building forts?" jungeun asked.

yeojin gasped before nodding. "i LOVE building forts!"

"you know where all the blankets are." haseul said to jungeun before patting her shoulder. "have fun."

and with that, haseul returned to her room to continue working on something, leaving jungeun to amuse yeojin.

haseul didn't see yeojin or jungeun all day after that. in fact, jungeun's plan to amuse yeojin had worked so well that they'd been in the fort watching movies and eating snacks all day. it was only when jungeun had to go and made sure to go to haseul's room to say goodbye before leaving that yeojin finally emerged from the fort, bursting into haseul's room and flopping herself on the bed.

"jungeun's great." yeojin said with a bright smile.

"i know she is." haseul mumbled as she focused on what she was typing on her laptop.

"i'm sorry for saying she was your girlfriend." yeojin said.

haseul frowned, looking up from her laptop. "why are you apologising? you never apologise for anything."

"i talked to jungeun about it." yeojin said before breaking out into a wide grin. "she told me she has a HUGE crush on you! so can you be her girlfriend as soon as possible? i want to play with her every day!"

"she has a crush on me?" haseul's eyes widened. "you're not lying to me right now, are you?"

yeojin shook her head. "i'd never lie about that!"

"swear on the cat's life."

"i swear on pickles' life that i am not lying!"

"what else did she say about me?" haseul asked.

"a ton of this soft romantic stuff. i can't remember, because i hit her with a pillow and told her to stop gushing about you in front of me." yeojin said before laughing at haseul's expression.

"you should have been listening so you could tell me!" haseul whined.

"do you have a crush on her too?" yeojin asked.

haseul hesitated for a moment before nodding. "i do."

the scream that came from yeojin was probably the loudest, ear-splitting, awful sound that had ever come from yeojin's tiny body.

"YOU HAVE TO DATE! YOU HAVE TO BE GIRLFRIENDS! I'M GONNA GET YOU TWO TOGETHER! TEXT JUNGEUN RIGHT NOW! WE'RE GOING TO THE PARK TOMORROW FOR A PICNIC, HASEUL PLEASE!" yeojin started bouncing on the bed and screaming.

"fine, fine! just shut up! you're making me go deaf!" haseul yelled over yeojin's screeching.

"you're the best, haseul unnie!" yeojin squealed before she left the bedroom.

"yeojin wants to go on a picnic tomorrow. are you free?" haseul texted jungeun.

"yep, i'll be at yours at 11." jungeun replied.

haseul hardly slept that night because she was so excited to see jungeun again... and also yeojin kept coming in to pester her about food.

the next morning came and haseul made sure she looked her best, even swapping her glasses for her contact lenses. she was still in her room getting ready when she heard the doorbell ring, followed by an extremely loud screech from yeojin.

"THERE'S SOMEONE AT THE DOOR, UNNIE!"

haseul sighed, knowing it would be jungeun.

"ANSWER IT, YEOJIN!" haseul screamed back.

there was a brief moment of silence as yeojin answered the door and let jungeun in. haseul heard their conversation, mainly because yeojin only knew how to talk extremely loudly, and jungeun felt the need to match her volume.

"are you gonna ask haseul unnie to be your girlfriend today?"

"i don't know.. why?"

"she knows you like her, and she said she likes you too."

"really?"

"yes! really! so you gotta ask her, jungeun! before a library oppa snatches her up! i'll go play on the swings whilst you ask her! you have to make it really romantic, okay?"

"i'll try my best."

haseul came out of her room and went into the kitchen to get the food she'd prepared and put it in a bag, then she went out into the living room.

"hi jungeun. let's go." haseul said with a smile.

yeojin had to hold in a scream of excitement.

they arrived at the park and found a nice spot to sit. haseul watched as yeojin made jungeun play tag with her, but then they ran off into the distance. haseul presumed it was yeojin giving the blonde a pep talk about what to do, which haseul found hilarious considering the fact yeojin had never experienced any sort of romance in her life. eventually, the two returned and the group ate some food before yeojin said she was going to play on the swings nearby, then she did the most obvious wink at jungeun before skipping off.

there was a moment of silence before haseul spoke.

"she's such a loud child." haseul said. "my ears are ringing."

"she's cute." jungeun said. "she's you if you were really loud."

"i'd never be a yeojin." haseul frowned as she looked over to see the tiny girl playing on the swings.

"no, you're a haseul. and you're adorable." jungeun said.

haseul looked up at jungeun, who was now looking quite nervous.

"can i say something?" jungeun asked.

haseul nodded, already knowing what was coming. "go ahead."

"i really like you, haseul. more than friends. i've liked you ever since you told me off the first time in the library. but even before that, i used to come in by myself and watch you-- wait, that sounds creepy." jungeun paused for a moment before continuing. "and i've been trying to get close to you for a while now, and it's okay if you want to wait, because i'll wait for you no matter what, but i'd like you to be mine."

hearing those words from jungeun made haseul freeze, a huge smile forming on her face.

"i'd like to be yours." haseul said.

"y-you would? really?" jungeun asked, smiling too.

haseul nodded. "there's nothing i want more."

jungeun squealed before pulling haseul into a tight hug. she went to pull back, but ended up staying close, staring at haseul for a moment before leaning in to kiss her.

it was all going so well, until they heard a pained scream from behind them.

the two pulled away to see yeojin had fallen off the swing.

"oh god." haseul groaned as she got up, running over to the tiny girl who was screeching in pain. "yeojin, what did you do?!"

jungeun had followed and was staring hard at yeojin.

"haseul, i think her arm is broken."

"you have got to be kidding me."

haseul and jungeun spent their first official day as a couple at the hospital with yeojin, who's arm did turn out to be broken.

after a week of staying in her apartment with yeojin and jungeun, all three of them squished onto the couch together watching movies as yeojin rested her arm, it was time for yeojin to go home, jungeun to return to her studies, and for haseul to go back to work.

haseul was sat behind the desk with kahei, sorting through some things on the ancient library computer, when she saw a familiar group enter.

it was jungeun and her friends.

"hey." kahei whispered, nudging haseul. "how are things going with her?"

haseul met jungeun's gaze and they both smiled at each other.

"she's my girlfriend." haseul whispered to kahei.

kahei fell out of her seat.

jungeun visited haseul every day at the library, bringing her food and sometimes helping her with the books. sometimes the two would do things with yeojin at the weekend, and sometimes they'd have date nights.

haseul had never felt happier or more complete. it was like the light had returned to her life. before jungeun, haseul's world was dull. but now she had a reason to wake up every day, a reason to smile. she was even considering returning to singing and maybe even going to college. jungeun really had that much of an effect on her.

haseul loved jungeun, and jungeun loved haseul too.

holy heck this is the longest oneshot i've ever written