"This is not the kind of book store that I was expecting"

"Isn't it lovely, though?" Somi replied to Hyungwon, smiling over her cup of coffee as they stood in front of one of the shelves.

"It is a very nice place" Hyungwon nodded, delicately sipping at his drink, hesitant to be acting like he was allowed to be sharing a drink with Somi.

"A local person was raving about it online, so once I saw pictures of the place, I just knew we had to come and see it" They looked around at the store. Changkyun remained a little further away from them with his hot coffee in hand. He clasped it in both hands, momentarily ditching his elegance for a sweeter look as he took in the heat from the cup, his eyes focused on the liquid.

"Who knows, maybe we will find some books that you will like" Somi smiled at Hyungwon's way. There were slight scrunches in his facial features that once again showed his hesitance.

"Just tell me if you find anything" Somi began to stroll, keeping her cup at her lips, basking in the warmth of the beverage. Without fail, Hyungwon followed, never straying too far. Somi rolled her eyes as he once again neglected the chance to wander freely but still smiled. She picked out a book with an exciting title, read the blurb and put the book back. She checked on Changkyun a couple of times, looking back at him to ensure he was still ok. Changkyun was in a state of peace, having found a book to read on one of the couches, he didn't dare put his feet up, and he sat with a back straight as a pole, but it was a relaxed state for Changkyun to be in while he immersed himself with the world within the book.

"A cooking section", Somi pointed out in a mutter. Hyungwon looked up, now paying more attention to the books rather than the drink he was almost finished with. Somi put her coffee on one part of the shelving and reached for the book that had piqued her interest on another part of the shelving. She flicked the book open and began to look through the traditional Korean recipes in the book. She smiled upon the familiar ones that she noticed and paused a little longer on ones that snagged her interest for a moment more.

Somi didn't comment when a book stole Hyungwon's attention. He did the same as her, placing his cup down to slide the chosen book from between the others neatly. He flicked it open to read it, and Somi acted as if she took no notice of him, biting down her smile. She pondered on the page she was on for a little longer before turning the page, rocking on the balls of her feet.

Changkyun was right when he said something like this was more suited to Hyungwon's taste.

She reminded herself that she would have to thank Changkyun later, in private, where Hyungwon wouldn't be able to hear that today's excursion had stemmed from her little private chat with Changkyun. In the meantime, she moved slowly, without giving much of her attention to Hyungwon, not wanting to have him shy away if she were to point out his interest that had grown until he couldn't ignore it anymore. She knew that would have him put down the books he was looking through, and they would be heading home without being as successful as Somi was hoping today would be for them.

"Good book?" Instead, she diverted some of her attention to the unmoving figure on the couch. Changkyun looked up at Somi, nodding and briefly giving an elegant turn of his wrist for Somi to be able to see the title he was reading.

"That does sound nice" She nodded, and Changkyun's lips quirked upwards briefly. She left him to continue reading. Briefly, she looked over at Hyungwon to see how he was doing. She looked away before he could look back at her, though, still working on not intimidating him in this new area. She moved further away to let Hyungwon adventure and get comfortable on his own. Somi's feet carried her past the furniture and to the fictional stories, her eyes latching onto the titles with interest immediately. She left Changkyun and Hyungwon to their own devices, or more to the point, she forgot about them momentarily as the books of fantasy pulled her into their little world that was hidden behind hardcovers and alluring descriptions of their stories.  

The book store became quiet again, the young woman watching over the store smiled pleasantly at the company she now had. She enjoyed days like this the most and wouldn't have minded if the three of them were to return to the store and keep her company again. Book in hand, she sighed over a warm cup of coffee that she had taken time out to make for herself. There wasn't any other noise made, no sense of discomfort with the strangers, and before she knew it, they had sat in that small book store with her for hours, only looking up when the odd person came to look around. 

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"That's..." Shoes scraping over the ground as they slowed, Somi stopped in her place. She couldn't move anything but her eyes that latched onto the familiar figure for that moment.

"Somi? What seems to be wrong?" Quickly realising that Somi wasn't at his side, Hyungwon stopped for the one falling behind. She didn't hear him. She stared away at something Hyungwon hadn't noticed yet, so he too looked in the direction that Somi was staring.

That's Jooheon.

No doubt about it, the overly assuming, if not rude male from that night was seated on the park bench. His face showed that he had been lost in a world of his own, but what wasn't lost was the same smirk on his lips that was present when his eyes pierced through her soul with judgement. He scrutinised Somi, who stared back, lips forming a classical 'o', that Jooheon found comical and the short huff of laughter that shook his body proved it.

"Would that be someone that you recognise?" With his hands clasped behind his back, Hyungwon returned to Somi's side, his eyes on the same male that Somi was watching, having been unable to look away from him.

"Huh? Oh no, it's nothing" Somi shook her head as she returned to reality, the moment they just had left Hyungwon confused, though he stopped himself from showing it as Somi took the first step to keep walking, leaving Jooheon and the conversation behind. Casting his gaze back, Hyungwon looked to Jooheon one more time. His eyes caught the card that Jooheon was turning and twirling between his fingers, showing off. He recognised the covering on the back of the card and swallowed. Hyungwon had heard of card residents like the one he saw many times before and noted that this was his first time seeing one of them in a literal form and not in the depictions from passed down stories of warning. Quickly his eyes cast away, and he decided to act like he hadn't seen the other male sitting on the park bench. When Somi took her second step, Hyungwon took his first and once more put himself at Somi's side with his more significant steps. 

A small breath slipped through Hyungwon's lips, and his eyes blinked, the sun above hardly doing anything to warm the pair amidst the cold chill of the air. His eyes concentrated on the surroundings he and the young woman he followed with a rigid strictness. He had slipped up, and there was nothing that Somi should have been able to notice before Hyungwon. Hyungwon bit down the frustration that rose within his chest and threatened to run through his veins if he did not make an effort to refrain from doing so. His eyes cast to Somi with caution to not look at her for too long and possibly miss something else.

Did she not know who she was looking at? If she could not recognise the lone gentleman, who was someone who belonged to the same role as Hyungwon, what was it that caused her to stop dead in her tracks at the sight of him?

Was it that visible card that he twirled between his fingers? Again, Hyungwon glanced at Somi to see if he could see any cogs turning within her head. For now, any conversation she had been making was forgotten, and their path was walked in silence. Minor signs that Hyungwon would not question in public, nor very bravely in private, were telltale for the fact that Somi did understand, at least somewhat, the sort of person she had been pulled into staring at.

Before she could be too curious, Hyungon knew it was his responsibility for the one sitting on the park bench to never cross paths with Somi again. 

"I have a feeling that the weather will turn for the worst soon" Hyungwon looked up at the clouds. Somi startled, only enough to blink in surprise, and then she too looked up at the clouds.

"The sky is getting darker", She hummed; the clouds were shifting before their very eyes, Somi's lips turned downwards. The once blue sky they had first seen when they left home was now a grey that was only getting darker, promising that there was no more calm before the storm to come.

"Let's hurry home. We can not have you falling ill", Hyungwon motioned with his eyes falling forward to look at their path again. They were only two blocks from campus now, a distance they could hopefully cover and get to shelter before the clouds released their hold on the storm that was brewing.

"We are hardly dressed for poor weather" Somi nodded, agreeing with Hyungwon, who quickly matched her increased pace towards their home.

------------

The storm started somewhere between the journey in the elevator and the walk to the dorms front door. Once inside, Somi could see through the lounge window that outside it was only getting increasingly violent with rough winds that forced the rain hailing from the sky into a harsh angle that no umbrella could adequately protect you from.

"Changkyun, where are you?" Somi called into the tiny home, slipping her shoes out of her feet and hurrying to the kitchen table to put all the bags strapped along her arms down.

"In a pickle?" Answered Changkyun, but when Somi turned around with her brows higher than their resting position, she could see that Changkyun was not literally within a pickle as he had claimed.

"Oh?" She verbalised her confusion with the one sound, hands instinctually reaching out to help Hyungwon with the bags h