The first thing Aeri thinks of when she pushes past the ancient spruce doors of the school library at 3 o' clock on a Monday afternoon is –

 

Goddamn it.

 

Her back hurts.

 

No, really. Her back hurts.

 

She blames this on the fact that not a day goes by where she isn’t carrying a stack of heavy books in her arms. Her posture was dreadful, too. If she was to end up being a hunchback when she gets older, she wouldn’t even be surprised, with how poorly she’s been treating her spine. And, instead of milk, she drinks caramel latte instead so there goes another dose of calcium missing from her system.

 

"Damned… books," Aeri mumbles as she walks to her usual spot in the library, five bulky books in hand. Her usual spot in the library? The librarian's desk.

 

'Wouldn't the librarian scold you?' would be something someone (who was new to the library) might ask her when they see her sitting relaxedly behind the reference desk of the library. Well, that would be funny, because Aeri herself was the librarian. 

 

People who've been in the library a fair amount of times before would know about Aeri's standing in the library by now. Some were a bit jealous of her, because she gets to have some free time to herself, given her 'mini career' in the library.

 

Aeri wasn't exactly a 'model student' or whatever everyone called the most good-looking people in the school as. But Aeri was a stickler for rules. One, she always came into the library, properly dressed. Two, she never brings food or drinks with her to the library – that’s just common knowledge; you shouldn’t bring food with you to the library because they might damage the books if ever you accidentally spill food on them and three; she keeps quiet while studying or working in the library and if she does talk, she speaks in a voice with a library-appropriate volume, something some (a lot of) students seemed to forget.

 

Old school libraries require you to follow such rules and newish libraries are more carefree about such rules, allowing people to make as much noise as they can without disturbing other occupants of the library either. Which was a little bit daunting to Aeri at certain times.

 

Aeri loved books. Libraries have always been comforting to her, her safe space where no one could bother her. Reading books has always been something Aeri loved doing ever since her eyes landed on a storybook in a bookstore that she has come to treasure for over a decade now. If she had a career dedicated to reading hundreds of books every day, she would’ve been earning millions now.

 

No one really comes to the library unless they’re bored or if they’re studying for the most important tests of the school year. Which was a shame, because for someone who was as nerdy as Aeri, the library was a fun place that other people just could not quite understand! Maybe that was why Aeri was assigned to be a librarian, because she was one of the only few students who came to the library on a daily basis with her best friend Minjeong and had a great understanding of how libraries work.

 

“Aeri!”

 

Sitting up straight, startled, she smiles shyly at the old librarian who assigned her her role in the library. She was the reason why Aeri's practically advanced from being on library duties every Wednesday to practically living in the library as if it were her second home. (Aeri still goes home to her real home, don't get her wrong!)

 

"Miss Seo?"

 

The librarian smiles. "I'll be away for a bit because I have other things to take care of this week. You know how things work, right?"

 

Of course Aeri did. So she nods enthusiastically, earning herself a head pat from the older woman.

 

"I'll see you around, cutiepie. Take care of the library as you always did for me, alright?"

 

Nodding, Aeri watches as Miss Seo heads towards the exit, heaving a sigh when the doors close behind her. Another busy week for her, maybe. 

 

"You're here pretty early," Aeri says to the petite girl sitting beside her.

 

"You're just late."

 

Ugh. Trust Minjeong to reply to her with a blunt statement. 

 

"What does the library have in store for us now?" muttered Aeri, propping the record book open.

 

Creak.

 

The door creaks open and Aeri looks up. 

 

And she raises an eyebrow, highly affronted.

 

The newcomer was wearing a taekwondo uniform, holding an open book in her hand and it seemed that the person was reading from it. Hair shining with either sweat or water (Aeri doubts that it's the latter), the librarian's eye twitches with annoyance.

 

You see, another rule in the library was that; a student wearing training clothes or sweaty uniforms should not be allowed in the library.

 

Clearly drenched in her own sweat, Aeri didn't understand why the girl didn't bother changing into something more comfortable before coming into the library.

 

A curtain of the stranger’s hair was covering most of her face as she read the book in her hand – was she going to return a book? – and it annoyed Aeri a little too much than it should have.

 

“Have you seen her before?” Aeri asked Minjeong, who seemed to be writing a long essay beside her. Watching as Minjeong glances up, Aeri sighs when she sees the slight shake of the younger girl’s head.

 

This is outrageous!

 

She couldn’t even bother looking at the large poster that showed the Dos and Don'ts right outside the library?!

 

To be fair (unfair), no one bothers reading the rules anyway and honestly, Aeri thinks that this was unfair to her and Minjeong – she's not even sure if Minjeong shares her annoyance with the newcomer, the younger girl always seemed to be more chill and lax regarding the rules – and that students should somewhat have the courtesy of following at least one rule. Aeri wasn't at all that obsessive over following the rules but today was just a bad day for her!

 

And the fact that there were only around seven other students in the library with them – yes, seven – just made her, Miss Taekwondo, as Aeri had just chosen to dub her, stand out even more!

 

Just as she was about to get up from her seat to scold the newcomer, Aeri stops when the girl suddenly stands up from the desk she was seated at, one hand combing through tresses of silky, red wine colored hair. And then their eyes meet.

 

And Aeri notices a lot of things about the girl.

 

She’s tall.

 

Her skin is clearer than the glass windows of the library.

 

She's got a cute mole right next to her lips, the same size as the dots Aeri writes after her sentences.

 

And she's pretty.

 

After what felt like an hour of staring, the redhead sends a charming smile to Aeri before leaving.

 

"Dude, you've been sitting there with your mouth open for five minutes now."

 

Inhaling sharply, causing her to accidentally inhale dust from the old books in the library, the librarian began to cough violently, eyes watering.

 

"Aha, deserved," she hears Minjeong's taunting voice say.

 

Finally coughing out the last bits of dust out of her system, she elbows Minjeong, who yelps when her hand goes off the sheet of paper she was writing on.

 

"Shut up, Kim."

 

Later that day, Aeri realizes something when she remembers that Miss Rule-breaker already left the library.

 

Crap, did she scare her away with her shameless ogling?

 

 –

 

The next day, Aeri sees a familiar figure already seated at the same spot as yesterday. Aeri came in late today – she forgot to come in early due to personal reasons – so this time, she spots the pretty girl from yesterday sitting at the desk Aeri remembers her sitting at. She lets out a sigh of relief when she realizes that she did not scare the tall girl away.

 

Aeri chooses to watch her quietly from the information desk, stacking several books in front of her so that her staring at the girl wasn’t made too obvious. Either Aeri manages to get a glimpse of what the girl was doing or she dies trying. Well, that was a little bit dramatic of her.

 

Miss Taekwondo was still wearing her taekwondo uniform – did she even read the rules? – and just as she did before, Aeri lets it slide. She watches as the girl coughs lightly, and listens, with the help of Aeri’s unimpaired hearing, as the girl turns to the next page. Seconds lapsed by and with every turn of the pages, the librarian realizes that the girl was already halfway through finishing the book. 

 

She watches as the girl finally finishes the book, walking past the other few students to return her book to its respective shelf – no one ever does that anymore because they just put the books wherever they could – and walks back to her desk, seemingly putting her stuff back in her bag. The girl glances at Aeri before smiling warmly at her, walking to the doors of the library and as the door clicks behind the girl.

 

Stupid taekwondo loser and her stupid red hair and the stupid mole under her lips and her stupid heart-shaped lips and that stupid, goofy smile—

 

Aeri hears a snicker from beside her.

 

"What?" asked Aeri, annoyed.

 

"She caught you staring at her."

 

"And?"

 

"Aeri-unnie, don't you think that she feels creeped out by you?"

 

"No."

 

"Ah?" Aeri smirks at the subtle hint of confusion and surprise in Minjeong's voice. "How come?"

 

"...She smiled at me."

 

"And? Does that really mean anything?"

 

"Well, Kim Minjeong," whispered Aeri, pausing from writing on a sheet of book orders Miss Seo had asked her to do, "It does. You wouldn't really smile at people you think are creepy or weird, would you?"

 

"...N-Not exactly, but-"

 

"'But'?" repeated Aeri, egging Minjeong on. Shrinking in her seat, the blonde snatches the sheet of book orders from Aeri, investigating it for no particular reason. Aeri takes it as a win when she hears nothing but a myriad of curse words as a response from her co-librarian.

 

'I wonder what's the title of the book she borrowed,' thought Aeri as she quietly stood up, walking up to the shelf where she remembered Miss Taekwondo put her book in. She remembers its cover being yellowish in color and scans the shelf in hopes of finding the book that she was finding. And when she does get her hands on the book, she reads the summary and skims through the pages and as she does so, she could feel her ears getting warmer and warmer.

 

Gingerly walking back to the reference desk, she ignores Minjeong's curious stare and exhales sharply. Biting her lip worriedly, Aeri carefully flips to the page she was sure she marked. She finds a corner of the page folded, wincing when she sees a couple of notes written at the bottom of the page – was this allowed?

 

Aeri doesn't remember what the rules said anymore. All she remembers is quietly putting the book aside, pretending that she didn't see what she just saw.

 

Aeri lets her break another rule.

 

 –

 

Aeri's back in the library. Minjeong was nowhere to be found. 

 

The blonde had called in sick today, which Aeri expected because just the day before, Minjeong recklessly ran in the rain after spotting the new exchange student from China heading towards their direction with her group of friends. The girl was sweet, Aeri discovered that her name was Ning Yizhuo and she remembered the girl … a lizard? Or was it a gecko? She also remembers Yizhuo calling it 'Ddongie', which made Aeri snort so loudly she had to cough a little bit to make Yizhuo not think that she was giggling at the poor creature's name.

 

Back to present time, seconds ticked by and Aeri finds herself staring at Miss Taekwondo. Again.

 

As per usual, she discreetly hides her face behind the book that she was (not) reading, eyes peeking right above it to stare at her again. Tempted to roll a bunch of bond paper to form a poorly-made telescope just so she can spy on the girl, she shakes away the thought of doing so because of how creepy it would be and, thinking about it now, Minjeong was right; it really is weird and creepy.

 

Sighing to herself, she glances at the girl again and she was still wearing that darned taekwondo uniform! And as far as Aeri was concerned, this was the seventh book she's seen the girl read on her sixth visit – not that she was counting, of course not!

 

Aeri was busy the whole day. A few students have come in today to ask for books that they can use in studying. All she ever did today was deal with: regular book check-ups, ordering new books, answering emails, catering to other students' requests, etc. and it was draining.

 

And Miss Taekwondo? She's still reading her book! Books, more like; there was already a small stack of books next to her. Was she a fast reader? Aeri could only remember like three other people who could read two to three books in one sitting.

 

A stack of books is being handed to her suddenly, startling her when she realizes that Miss Taekwondo is wordlessly gazing at her with a soft smile. Dumbstruck, Aeri stands, unmoving, until the tall athlete leaves, not without sending Aeri another one of those charming smiles. 

 

Those silly smiles that just made her more captivating than the princes you would find in any fairytale. 

 

–

 

“You know, Aeri-unnie.”

 

Aeri looks up from the book she was reading to look at Minjeong, who was marching back and forth in front of her. Unimpressed at the interruption, she closes her book a little more harshly than she intended to and puts it on the ground before leaning back on the tree behind her. “What?”

 

“You know, Aeri-unnie,” Minjeong repeats loudly and Aeri has half a mind to chuck her book – that had around 400 pages, by the way – at the small girl.

 

“What?” asked Aeri irritatedly.

 

“You don’t strike me as someone who ignores how someone is blatantly ignoring and breaking the rules. You seem to be enjoying what you’ve been doing lately.”

 

Aeri groaned. She knew exactly where this was going and frankly, she doesn’t have an excuse this time so she knew that she’s gonna have to listen to Minjeong’s endless nagging because, then again, Aeri doesn’t hold any sufficient ‘material’ to help her win this argument with Minjeong!

 

“Well?”

 

“She doesn’t make the library stink!” blurted Aeri.

 

Bull. What a ty thing to argue about, Kim Aeri!

 

Aeri just wants to scream and repeatedly bang her head against the tree behind her but before she can intentionally damage her brain, Minjeong forces her to look at her.

 

“It’s still against the rules, Aeri-unnie.”

 

“Well, what do you want me to do?”

 

“Hm,” Minjeong says loudly that Aeri’s grip on her book tightens, prepared to hit Minjeong with it for whatever witty and embarrassing statement Minjeong had to say to her.

 

“Other than not-so secretly staring at that girl-“

 

Face and ears red, Aeri finally throws her book at Minjeong, who yelps in surprise and pain. Geez, can’t Minjeong just say it without sounding weird about it?!

 

“Can you not say it so bluntly like that?” asked Aeri.

 

“Nope.” Minjeong has the audacity to say, sitting beside her. “It’s time we hit you with what we call ‘reality’.”

 

“She’s not doing anything wrong…”

 

“Unnie, she literally writes on the pages of the books, in case you hadn’t noticed,” deadpanned Minjeong. Aeri definitely noticed. She remembers how her life flashed before her eyes when she saw the messy scrawls Taekwondo Girl had done to the books she borrowed. "Juhyun-unnie will be livid when she finds out!"

 

"So? I bet that you've written the name of that Chinese exchange student in a book once, Ning Yizhuo."

 

Dang. Since when did Aeri start making dumb excuses for someone she doesn't even know the name of? And someone she's never even met before, mind you!

 

The look on Minjeong's face was priceless, cheeks redder than the scarlet cover of the book she was holding.

 

"I- She- No, I have never!"

 

Aeri's smirking as she pulls Minjeong's backpack towards her, rummaging around for a piece of evidence that would prove her words. First, despite Minjeong's loud whining, she flips through the pages of Minjeong's math notebook, her smirk growing wider when she sees the Hangul and Mandarin characters of Yizhuo's name written on several corners of the notebook.

 

Reaching into Minjeong's backpack for a book she was sure the underclassman had borrowed from the library, she finds one and flips through the pages, spotting the same characters with tiny little hearts scribbled on the wrinkled corners.

 

"What do you have to say now, Mindoongie?"

 

"I will sneak into your room and burn your Twilight books tonight!"

 

–

 

"I feel sick."

 

"This is why you should've left some for me." 

 

"Hush, I didn't know that I would get stuffed from eating those," hissed Aeri as she picks up the newly-returned books so that she can return them to their respective bookshelves. Pink Pringles. Bane? Or boon? A delightful snack that Minjeong had just introduced to Aeri and was the very same snack that's making her feel funny.

 

Cursing Minjeong under her breath, she begins climbing up the wooden ladder to reach the topmost bookshelf. But unfortunately for Aeri, the Pink Pringles she had earlier seemed to hold a grudge against her and with just one blow from the electric fan nearby, her foot loses balance and the next thing Aeri knows is that she's falling from the tall ladder.

 

"Kyaah?!"

 

Aeri's thinking of the hospital bills she has to pay when she breaks a limb or something and how she wouldn't be able to flip a page of her beloved books with a broken finger or hand, when she realizes that instead of hitting the polished floor of the library, she falls into what felt like – a person?

 

“Whoops- It’s alright, I got you.”

 

Aeri feels like she’s just lost the lifetime supply of air in her lungs when she opens her eyes and finds herself staring at Miss Taekwondo’s eyes and goddamn, she’s got the prettiest pair of eyes Aeri’s ever seen.

 

She smells nice, mused Aeri as she closes her eyes, inhaling a citrusy scent from the tall girl. She reminds Aeri of spring in a way. Aeri pictures cherry blossom trees and cherry blossoms scattered all over the road and the sight of bulgogi and all sorts of food on the dining table back at home as she sniffs. Comforting. Like spring.

 

It was then that Aeri realized what she's been doing, quickly pulling away from the girl. And she notices something.

 

Miss Taekwondo had finally changed out of her taekwondo gear. A peach-colored shirt and jeans took her taekwondo uniform's stead and if Miss Taekwondo was already pretty before, she seemed all the more prettier than Aeri's ever seen her.

 

Unable to think straight, Aeri sits down at the nearest table and motions for Taekwondo-Girl-Who-Smells-Like-Spring to sit next to her, in which she gladly does so.

 

"Hi."

 

Oh wow, her voice was deep.

 

And her voice surely sent tingles down Aeri's neck.

 

"Thank you," mumbled Aeri, cheeks as pink as the cherry blossoms she just imagined a while ago. She gets the courage to look at Spring Lady, who smiles at her. And maybe Aeri regrets getting hit by that sudden of courage, because her heart can't seem to just stop smacking her ribcage.

 

"Nah, you didn't need to thank me. I'm Yu Jimin, by the way."

 

Blinking, Aeri looks at her. "Jimin… You look… wise. You know? Jimin means 'wisdom', doesn't it?"

 

The girl was silent as she stared at Aeri with inquiring eyes. Gasping, Aeri clasps a hand to .

 

"S-Sorry, I'm just… bad at talking to people and… yeah..." Aeri's sure that she just ruined Jimin's first impression of her. An awkward loser who isn't the cool, knowledgeable librarian a lot of people might see her as. Kim Aeri: biggest disappointment of the century!

 

"That's okay," replied Jimin, grinning cheekily at her. "W