CHAPTER SIX

Remark

“Now that’s settled, I’ll send this personally to the HR team. I’ll make sure you get your internship here. Eunkwang will be thrilled.”

Yoongi is a persistent man. Shinyoung learned that during the little hours she had with him in his studio, office space while having a free meal of black bean noodles and Sprite. Not exactly filling but it was better than nothing, he said. She thought it will be a bit awkward after the encounter because, to be frank, she was not planning to meet him this quick especially when her mind is at a confusing state.

“You look distracted.” Someone knocked her out of her dazed self. Turning her head to the source, she finds Jungkook and she taught herself not to be surprised by his random presence anymore. True to his words, he does swing by SIA on his spare times. It is either to meet his girlfriend or attend Circle’s production team meeting. Today’s reason though does not include in the options.

“The library? Why would you want me to tag along with you there?” She immediately questioned his intention although she does not have a special reason to refuse. “Namjoon told me to borrow a book there and I need your help looking for it. He said you might know where it is without disturbing the librarian’s work.” He explained and he shows her the title of the book. Surely enough, she knows the book he is looking for.

The quietness of the performing art faculty’s library is growing on her and the warmth it gave to tackle the chilly autumn eases her mind as Jungkook keenly follows along. She lets her fingers trace on the book spines whilst entering a familiar aisle in the room. Turning back, the girl speaks, “Maybe you can find the other book you’re looking for while I look for that audio tech book.”

“Alright. That sounds like a good idea. I’ll wait by the check-out counter after I find them.” She kindly noted before walking straight ahead to where she last remembered the book was.

Shinyoung lightly hums to a melody. A smile lightens up her face as she is preoccupied. Her eyes wander from one book title to another. She occasionally passed by this particular aisle a couple of semesters back for her thesis but she stopped there once for the aforementioned book. Maybe she will return there. Who knows?

Minutes fly swiftly and without her realising the time, it is almost six in the evening. That is why she is a bit taken aback when she hears someone calling her name from behind. Once she glances over at the direction, her heart drops a little after recalling their last awkward conversation. He, however, appears nonchalant.

“What are you looking for?” Wonwoo asked when he conveniently parks the trolley piled with books in front of them. It somehow creates a physical division between them and she feels like he is doing it on purpose seeing that he has no intention of pushing them aside to make a space.

“Audio Technology and Design.” She shortly answered his simple question but not without tearing the eye-contact seconds after. He bobs his head understandingly before pointing somewhere behind her. The girl instinctively smacks her forehead for not noticing the book sooner when it is literally within her sight a moment ago.

“Are you avoiding me lately? I thought we’re cool.” The lad said, sadly and a bit of disappointment. The statement alone makes her guilty when that was not intentional. “Not really,” She paused and adds, “I’ve been a bit busy. Last-minute orientation and thesis progress meetups here and there. You should know that.”

A part of her words was true. She was a tad busy with small tasks in hand. Though to be honest, one might already know her reason to drift away a little from the boy. She does it for him and herself after all. Being close friends with him is sort of not assuring since he did like her more than friends in the past. She does not want to give him the wrong idea.

“Right, of course. How did your internship hunt go? Did you get in?” Wonwoo proceeds to do his work and unconsciously, Shinyoung trails behind him. They are heading out of the rows of shelves anyway so she might as well follow. His questions, however, puzzled her slightly. “I don’t remember telling you anything about that…”

“Then you must be forgetting that Seungcheol is my roommate. We live together. He told me about your plans and which company you tried to apply.” She never thought Seungcheol would include her in their home discussions. This makes her realise there must be more people out there talking about her without her knowing. At least this one is not a bad thing to talk about.

“I guess that makes sense. I went to SLE but it didn’t really turn out as I expected.” Shinyoung shared but her eyes widen when she figures it is not a good idea to give away that piece of information. Wonwoo does not ask much yet seeing him nodding his head, he is, in fact, listening to her words even though he is stacking books to its designated place. Since she does not speak a minute after that, he peeks at her.

“Did they kick you out or something?” He quietly chuckles and finds her frowning. “I wished I was but Yoongi came by and saw everything.”

“So you met your crush?”

“Does everyone know that? Was I that obvious back then?”

Wonwoo laughs but not without a slap on his arm and glare from Shinyoung. They are in the library after all and for goodness sake, this is supposed to be the other way round.

“It kinda was. Why else would you ditch the scenic team when you had zero interest in technical works?”

“At least I still exist in the production unlike you. Why did you quit halfway anyway?” It was a smart question to her. It sounded like a very smart thing to ask. However, looking at how Wonwoo’s face turns glum proves otherwise. Oh no, did she trigger his flashback again?

“You used to hate me after the accident. Junhui suggested that it woul