"Rise and shine deary!", Taeyeon's voice jolted Seungwan awake from the recesses of her dream. She blinked sleepily at her surroundings, taking in the bright sunlight entering the lounge room through the glass window. And the night's events made their way back into her mind.

She and Kyungsoo had sat on the couch for some time, watching the snow outside, talking occasionally and she seemed to have fallen asleep in the midst of it.

"Where's Kyungsoo sunbae?", She asked rubbing her eyes as she sat up more alertly now. She felt a pang of remorse hit her as she realized she had fallen asleep where Kyungsoo was supposed to sleep, even his blanket was wrapped cozily around her.

"How would I know? Shouldn't you tell me? Seeing as, uhm uhm, you are in his sleeping place....", Taeyeon trailed off pointing to the couch, feigning a shy but mischievous smile.

"No!", Seungwan denied, rolling her eyes as it dawned upon her what her cousin might be insinuating. "It's not what you're thinking Tae, we were just talking last night and-and I fell asleep....", Seungwan told her, scanning around the lounge and connected dining room. Where is he?

"Okay, if you really insist I'll believe you. But you better get up and freshen up before anybody else finds you here", Taeyeon smirked and Seungwan rolled her eyes again as she got up.

As she passed the foyer in front of Sehun's room to the stairs, she almost collided into someone entering through the entrance door.

"Oh God!", Kyungsoo exclaimed, seeing an equally startled Seungwan. "Sorry!"

A wave of relief washed over her. "Where were you?" She took in his appearance, and unlike what she had expected he looked pretty decent for someone who might not have slept during the night.

"I just went to fetch some medicines for Jongin from the store nearby", Kyungsoo explained.

"Oh"

"Hello D.O.!", Taeyeon walked into the gallery as well and Kyungsoo smiled and bowed to her in acknowledgement.

"I'm so sorry, I fell asleep on the couch", Seungwan said guiltily and then added, eyeing him with concern "Where did you sleep?"

Kyungsoo looked away, flustered by her question. "Oh I-uh-just went and slept in Sehun's room", He lied.

 A stupor had fallen over him as Kyungsoo had watched Seungwan sleeping after covering her with a blanket. He couldn't wake her now, could he? But the truth was, he had been too lost in her and didn't want end the moment to end. He had woken up earlier (thankfully) to discover himself and Seungwan sleeping side by side on the couch, with her head resting lightly on his shoulder. He must have instinctively leaned in closer to her to cover himself with the blanket that he had wrapped around her. And even though the proximity they were in had made his mind go haywire for a while, he couldn't deny the feeling of felicity that had swept over him discovering her sleeping so soundly, so near to him. Not to mention the fact that it was one of the most restful sleeps he had had in a long time.

"Was there even any space left on the bed between those two?", Seungwan asked, still feeling bad about at the trouble she must have caused him. "You should have just woken me!"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll go wake Kai", Kyungsoo changed the topic quickly and went off before she could probe more.

..................................................

"I feel like somebody's shooting arrows into my head!", Jongin groaned, messaging his temples as he emerged from the bedroom into the dining room, Sehun and Kyungsoo close behind him.

"And whose fault is that?", Kyungsoo snapped, as he went into the kitchen to see if there was anything he could help Taeyeon with.

Jongin had been very disoriented when Kyungsoo had woken him, not being able to recall what had happened last night for him to end up in Sehun’s room.

"God, I'm never drinking again!", Two people exclaimed together, eliciting chuckles from others around the room. Jongin turned to look at who the other person was, and blinked feeling a little more awake when he discovered it was Soojung. She just gave him a wary look before moving on to sit at the opposite end of the table from him.

"Your drink got spiked too?", Jongin asked, feeling a little concerned seeing the ill-looking girl.

Soojung shrugged at him, feeling too tired to speak, before she closed her eyes and leant back against her seat. Jongin sighed, thinking about how much of a co-incidence it was.

"What luck! How did you two end up getting those drinks anyway?", Sehun asked, taking a piece from the loaf of bread in front of him that Taeyeon placed.

Soojung cleared , feeling the taste of alcohol return. "I think it was meant for Taeyeon, just my bad to have ended up taking it from her"

Taeyeon looked up in confusion, as she placed a bowl each of hangover soup she had made, in front of Soojung and then Jongin. "What do you mean?"

"I think they planned for you and Baekhyun hyung to get drunk together or something", Jongin put the pieces together, ratting out his older friends, as the memory of taking the cup of beer from Baekhyun last evening came back to his mind.

"What?", Taeyeon was incredulous. She unconsciously gritted her teeth as she recalled her encounter with Baekhyun and Suzy from last night.

"Did you people know about this?", Taeyeon narrowed her eyes at the people around the table as she settled in her seat, feeling a little dejected for some reason. She couldn't even imagine (nor did she want to), how messy it would have gotten had she really gotten drunk and that too with Baekhyun.

And they all shook their heads, none of them wanting to be on the receiving end of her wrath, pretending to be pre-occupied with their breakfast. Taeyeon just sighed, making a mental note to chide the others about it next week.

_

"Yes, I'll keep in mind to find you that autobiography you're looking by the time you visit again", Taeyeon smiled at the middle-aged lady standing at the reception counter, as she catalogued the books that the lady had collected for borrowing for the week.

"Thanks a lot for all your efforts!", The lady smiled back as she gathered her collection and left, leaving Taeyeon feeling a little better after the encounter she had with the previous borrower. He had insisted that she find him a rare book on gardening, and after she had (painstakingly) managed to find it with her injured foot, he had refused to accept it as it wasn't the original one and then reverted to debasing the library's reputation before stomping out leaving a flaming Taeyeon. She hated people like him, egomaniacal pricks who couldn't be the least bit civil despite how politely the people attending to them reacted to their troublesome demands and tantrums. Men like that in particularly angered her.

Thinking of men, she had somehow not been able to shake the thought of Baekhyun and Suzy off her mind since she had been reminded of that in the morning. To think that he was behaving that rudely all evening because of some he had going on with Suzy, she clicked her tongue at the notion, How shallow!

After she had attended to a teenager asking for books on time travelling from the Science Fiction section, Taeyeon got up to move about a little to put up some books that had been returned in their respective sections. She kept a watch out for Hyuk, the guy wouldn't let her move saying she was injured and did most of her physical work that needed to be done. Taeyeon appreciated the caring gestures, but she felt too suffocated sitting at the circulation desk all day with nothing to do, feeling more burdened by the minute.

As she rounded corner of the alley in front of the Exit door, she heard familiar voices and as she moved to take a closer look, she was less than amused to find Hyuk conversing there with a certain golden-haired boy, someone she least expected to find in a library.

...................................................

What am I doing here? Baekhyun mentally scolded himself, a cold feeling taking him over as he stood hidden behind a towering book rack. He had, after much contemplation, decided to visit Taeyeon at the library she worked at, not wanting to delay apologizing till Monday as he knew they were likely to get busy with their monthly assessments starting next week. But as soon as he had entered the large hall of books and Taeyeon had come into view, sitting at the reception desk, he had started to get cold feet.

It wasn't that he didn't want to apologize, it was just the possible consequences which were scaring him. She was going to ask him a ton of questions as to why he had behaved that way last night, and Baekhyun wasn't sure he wanted to answer them, because he didn't even know the answers to them himself.

Deciding that coming there was a mistake and that he will find another way and time to make amends, he started towards the glazed doors.

"Baekhyun? Hi! What are you doing here?"

Baekhyun halted in his steps hearing the familiar voice and then turned around slowly, to find Hyuk standing there.

"Hi Hyuk!", He responded back a little too cheerily. "What-what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I work here"

“Right” Baekhyun chuckled drily. Was he losing his memory too now?

"What about you?", Hyuk questioned him again.

"I-well-I was just here to..." Baekhyun rubbed the back of his head, trying to think up a good excuse.

"Hyuk"

Baekhyun's heart lurched, hearing the female's voice.

"Taeyeon! Look who I found", Hyuk replied pointing to Baekhyun.

"Hi Taeyeon!", Baekhyun tried to appear cool as he faced her. Taeyeon just stood there with a cold expression on her face. "What are you doing here, Baekhyun?”

Think something quick! "Well I – “

He was mercifully interrupted by somebody calling Hyuk and followed by Taeyeon walking back towards the circulation desks. Baekhyun walked after her with a sigh. It wasn't like he could just go back now after being caught so might as well do what he was here to do.

"So you were saying?", Taeyeon asked as she started leafing through some paperwork.

"I was saying – “, Baekhyun cleared his throat. "How many hours a day do you work here?", He decided to take advantage of her distraction and change the topic.

"It's 36 hours weekly, so about 6 hours daily. Why?", Taeyeon replied absent-mindedly.

"Nothing. It's a nice place, I guess. Why do you work though? Is your father not supporting you anymore?", Curiosity got the better of him. Taeyeon's attention got called at the mention of her father.

"That's none of your business"

"Why? Can't I even ask?", Baekhyun knew he had struck a wrong cord, seeing the glare she was shooting him but he might as well ask since he was on the topic.

"No, you can't. Why are you here, Baekhyun?", Taeyeon snapped, folding her arms on her chest. There was no way she was going to discuss her father issues with him.

"What, can't a guy go to a library? It's a free world!"

"A guy like you, no. Libraries and you don't go together"

"Stop making assumptions. I could have changed and developed a thing for books – “

"You won't find any girls here to smooch with in a secluded corner, so I don't see why – “

"What?", Baekhyun’s heart sank. "Is this about what happened yesterday? Cause Suzy and I are really just – “ He started to explain but she held up her hand for him to stop.

"Please, I have no interest in your personal affairs, so spare me the details", The last thing she wanted was for him to brag about something like that to her. Disgusting!

Baekhyun made a face at first but then smirked deviously.  "But you were thinking about it, weren’t you?"

Taeyeon sighed in frustration. "What are you doing here, Baekhyun? Really?"

Baekhyun took a deep breath and met her gaze. "I guess I just wanted to see you"

Taeyeon's heart skipped a beat, seeing the flicker of genuineness in his eyes but she didn't let it show. "Why?"

"Because I was a royal d*uche yesterday, and I want to apologize for it. I'm sorry", He said honestly.

Taeyeon looked at him skeptically. "So you really came all the way here to...apologize?"

"Yes", Baekhyun breathed.

"I find that hard to believe", Taeyeon tore her gaze away and picked up a few books from the trolley to put them in the section nearby.

Baekhyun frowned, feeling irked about her lack of faith in him. "Why do you hate me so much anyway?"

Taeyeon turned to give him a wary look as she reached out to place a book in the higher shelf. "Well I could ask you the same question since the feeling's mutual?"

"No, it isn't. I don't hate you, Taeyeon", The words came out instinctively. That simple truth was enough to put Taeyeon off-guard as she turned to look at his serious expression.

"Well I don't – “, she wanted to say she didn't hate him either, but she couldn't bring herself to. Maybe it was because she had convinced herself for so long that she did. But before she could contemplate further, Hyuk appeared and broke them both out of their trance.

"That little kid is here again and he is insisting he only wants Taeyeon noona to help him choose the superhero novel he's going to read next", Hyuk pointed towards a primary school kid, who waved at Taeyeon upon meeting her eyes and that immediately put a smile on her face. She walked away, beating herself for getting lost in the moment like that. What is wrong with me? As if him coming there to apologize wasn't enough of a surprise, he had to top it all by confessing so diligently about not hating her. Why was she getting affected by his mere words anyway?

……………………………………………..

"Oh Baekhyun, you're still here", Hyuk spotted the guy still standing near the circulation desks, without anything in his hands. "Is there any specific book you're looking for?"

Baekhyun gave a cursory glance to Taeyeon as she went ahead, and got to apologizing to Hyuk, since he’d kind of been a victim of his sourness too.

"Oh come on dude! That is not something you need to say sorry for", Hyuk responded to Baekhyun's apology good-naturedly, making the latter feel a little more relieved.

"Thanks, man", Baekhyun patted the guy's shoulder, and then took his leave. As he turned around the corner to go towards the exit, he almost bumped into Taeyeon but they both stopped in time.

"I'm sorry, again", Baekhyun said to her, after they had both stared at each other for a few seconds.

"It's okay really", Taeyeon hated herself for feeling the warmth she did, hearing those words from him again. There really was no reason for him to apologize considering she wasn't even hurt by his actions. Or was she? They bid each other goodbye and Baekhyun had only crossed her to walk towards the exit when she called out to him.

"Baekhyun"

"Hmm?" He turned around.

For the first time in a long time, Taeyeon acted on impulse and did what had just come to her mind. "H-Happy Birthday...again" There was also that fact that she wanted him to not beat himself over what he did yesterday. Was she actually caring about him?

Baekhyun's face lit up, his eyes turning into smiling crescents. Taeyeon's heart fluttered, she hadn't seen him smile like that since....forever.

"Thanks a lot" Baekhyun walked away feeling so much more relieved. Taeyeon had no idea how much her simple wish had brightened his day.

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A/N: Hey guys! How's Christmas prep going? I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, cuz I definitely enjoyed writing it. Do comment and let me know!

Thankyou for reading!