“You!” Seungcheol quite literally stomps into the library, every single heads turning at his direction. According to Wonwoo, every staff and administrative inside the library has an uncanny liking for Choi Seungcheol; the attractive guy in Finance who quite smiles a lot even though he has an armful of thick Warren Buffet and Howard Schilit books. Says he does not understand why, as Choi Seungcheol is somewhat a complicated (and unnecessarily patient it’s sometimes frustrating) person. But they probably get dimples, and yeah, acceptable.

The library in Business does not come shy of the amount of students from other majors, loitering. Seungcheol has quite a following in them but that’s only because he’s expected in there during Wednesdays and Fridays (and what can Instagram ratio contribute to his feasib study? Absolutely nothing). But it’s Monday and he’s relatively stressed that Joshua does not even spare him a glance after his stunt of risking the said ‘uncanny liking’ he’s harbored from the people in the facility.

Seungcheol pulls a chair in front of Joshua and it makes a heavy scraping sound against tile. It reminds him of the shriek Mingyu made when Jihoon slammed the door on him while his foot was halfway through the frame. Second year. It earned Mingyu a sprain and a cola from the unapologetic Jihoon. “Sorry!” he squeaks, then smiles at the already disarmed librarian and he feels like Robinhood, getting away with things for a greater cause. And the greater cause right now is.. Celestial Being from Engineering. “Why did you give him my number?”

Joshua tilts his head and thinks, for quite a while. After fifteen long seconds, he places his book down – made a dramatic thud against mahogany – and says, “Who?”

“Who? Who? What are you? A ing owl?” Seungcheol hisses but also quite pleased with himself for the comeback. Sometimes his braincells work at the most random moments he does not need brain for. And that, ladies and gentleman, he stops and says to himself; stupidly elated, is quoted from The Wolf of Wall Street. Because are you really a business major if you haven’t watched The Wolf of Wall Street? He has his halfway off the chair, his heart caught in his throat. “What does Yoon Jeonghan need me for? What does he want?”

“From you?” Joshua makes a look; rakes his gaze from Seungcheol’s Vans to his black hoodie and finally grimaces. Seungcheol takes offense and glares at him. Joshua laughs instead, “He said ‘free food’?”

 

***

 

Engineering, 6^th floor. Jeonghan is squeezing himself inside an elevator that glares big red “Overload”. He was the last one to step into the metal box (that does not even do its ty up and down job properly, he mutters) but an underclassman steps out for him. He does not spare him a glance.

 

 

private message (2)

11:07 am

[hongji]: you were in business this morning?

[jjongjjongie]: And what about it?

[hongji]: nothing fishy.

[hongji]: nothing the likes of a business major with the name

[hongji]: that starts with letter s

[jjongjjongie]: I already said he’s free food, Joshua.

[hongji]: was talking about seokmin

[hongji]: but ok

[jjongjjongie]: You are so scandalous.

[hongji]: i am

[hongji]: i, too, am your bestfriend

[hongji]: who has had not one

[hongji]: not even one visit from u

[hongji]: bc u deem it unnecessary and a waste of energy

[hongji]: to walk two blocks

[jjongjjongie]: Tone down the theatrics wtf.

[hongji]: but earlier u were suddenly in my building???

[hongji]: not fishy to me!!!!

[hongji]: i will find out what is happening

[jjongjjongie]: Okay, Buzzfeed Unsolved.

 

 

***

 

Earlier that week, Sunday 3:12 am; meaning exactly 14 hours ago.

Jeonghan starts to think that the rumors contiguous to Resident Building A might be true: never-ending hallways, sudden looming darkness, and maybe ghosts. It’s Sunday, his only own reprieve from RA duties because surely, no idiot would cast trouble on a Sunday night lest they fall either onto the hands of hangover or Jeonghan himself. The blond has rather incorporated his authority to an untouchable persona, thanks to the likes of Seungkwan and Soonyoung who you could feed the tip of the snow and would make a whole ice berg with it. No one dares to cross him by now, except the IT pricks from Resident Building B because they could never be nourished with good manners, as he likes to say.

But alas, an idiot might there be for as Jeonghan passes by the third floor common room, he caught sight of someone hauling himself up from the balcony. He seems to be stupidly drunk, judging from the way he laughs when he falls right forward and unto the floor.

“Ah, here we go again,” Jeonghan helplessly whispers to no one and makes a mental note of double checking locks in balcony doorways as the man slides it open. Delinquent dormers who violate the curfew is not new to him and if they get their asses frostbitten in the wee hours of the middle of the semester, it will be the last of his concern. “Honestly,” he complains, more to the lonely coffee table as he waits for the idiot to step into the light and surrender himself, “we actually need a murder right now.”

Jeonghan squares himself to recite Section 4 of House Rules, stance firm and aggressive, but as the idiot slowly gets soaked with the yellowish luminescence of the common room lamp, the RA clamps his mouth suddenly shut. A mop of curly black hair, swollen pink hued lips, a ghostly pale complexion and a smirk juxtaposed alongside sharp features that has Jeonghan thinking male Snow White could be his savior, who will whisk him away from all of his responsibilities and competitive grade consciousness in a great white stallion and unto a mansion by the forest. There’s a low whistle inside his head that never makes a cut to his lips and a “Jeonghan, you indecisive ,” that awfully sounds like Joshua.

The idiot spots him standing awkwardly next to the said lamp and shrieks, “I’m sorry! Did I scare you?” Said idiot tilts his head in obvious confusion, lurching forward in a loopy balance that has him exactly ten inches away from Jeonghan’s face. (‘What the ?’) It would have looked adorable but the way he stares down the RA was nothing innocent, like it was wolfish; like he was the one being interrogated rather than the other way around. Maybe it was how his big doe eyes were ruggedly accentuated with what looks like a smudge of eyeliner or maybe it was because he’s wearing something that leaves little to the imagination.

Jeonghan tries his best to avoid looking down the sheer black material of the idiot’s blouse but boy, whoo. “You should not be out in the hallways during these hours,” Jeonghan blurts rather haphazardly, instead of the usual ‘You’re violating insert pretentious section of the House Rules’ spiel, obvious tingling in the tip of his fingertips running towards his spine from the whole cringe. What the did he just say? Did he just sound like ing Professor McGonagall?

Easily attractive, conventionally handsome idiot smiles stupidly at him and steps forward. Jeonghan steps back. He is so ready to smack him square in the jaw if he tries anything malicious. There will be no holdbacks whatsoever. But instead, he gets a slurry, “I’m so drunk right now but if I wasn’t I would have asked for your number so I can invite you to Lunch tomorrow.”

The RA splutters, indignant and so flustered, he could hide himself under the carpet. He burns hot pink, from the neck up to his face, he can actually taste it in his mouth.

Excuse me?

“Choi Seungcheol, you dumb !” Someone hollers from the end of the hallway and Jeonghan gets glimpse of a smattering of students in various dress ups (Goth, pink pastel, nemo mascot, a ing clown costume, you name it. He thinks he sees Mingyu from Marketing dressed up as Edward Scissorhands and two of his juniors in Engineering as Jack and Rose. What in the actual is happening?) pushing each other into the fire exit, he assumes, before they all disappear down the corner.

 

***

 

Engineering. Lobby. Ground floor.

 

unknown number

11:19 am

[+990284..] I’m outside your lecture room. Lunch?

Read 11:24 am

 

 

Jeonghan side steps into the foyer, when he actually does not need to. At this exact moment, he looks up and finds male Snow White standing by the ostentatious fountain in front of their building. He is devoid of all the smug party persona he had seen from him last night. Today, he is Robinhood, clad in a yellow pullover topped with a denim overall. Robinhood from Finance is already staring at him in a way that Jeonghan isn’t already unfamiliar with but he bites down the urge to grin, like he was expecting him. His vendetta against ‘helplessly blushing for a certain business major student’ is a lost cause.

The RA pockets his phone but not before blocking the unknown number.