~Chapter 1~

At the end of the rainbow 🌈

3rd POV


"Bzzz! Bzzz!" The curler buzzes in Sua's hands as it folds her hair into magic curls. 

'I wonder what genre will come in today?' Sua pondered thoughtfully. 

She started applying simple makeup while running over her to-do-list in her head. Her thoughts were distracted when the smell of fresh pastries streamed into her room from her open window. 

'Aunt Choi must be baking.' Sua thought in amusement. She was definitely going to drop by. 

All set to go, Sua slings her purse over her shoulder and ruffles her hair the way she likes, checking herself in the mirror one the last time. 

On the street, Sua greets the shop owners who had just started their day. She has such a close friendship with the shopkeepers, all looking out for Sua and her baby whenever she was in need. Aunt Choi catches Sua before she walks past, handing her a bag of egg tarts. 

"Enjoy this during work! Share it with everyone!" Aunt Choi smiles, her wrinkles denying the youth of joy in her eyes.

"Oh! Thank you~!" Sua replies, bowing her head. The fresh egg tarts made her hungry already.

"You're very welcome! Goodbye~" Aunt Choi waves Sua off. 

Sua walks to the bus stop with a content smile. She sees a stray cat skittering past her, jumping into a nearby bush before cutely poking its head out only. She wishes she could save it but she wouldn't have the ability to do so. Thinking of her child, she places a hand over her enlarging belly. Her child responds by kicking her feet gently against her hand. 

For a long time, Sua was surprised with her child. She had heard multiple stories from colleagues and friends that babies were always active. But in Sua's case, her baby rarely kicked at all, and never with strength. More like a kick of greeting, it felt like. 

'Maybe you understand me...' Sua bends her head down as if she were trying to see her child's face.

"Honk!" Bus 33 stops in front of her, and Sua gets on, greeting the bus driver. 

"How are you?" The same bus driver from the 3 months she's been here greets her in a lively tone.

"I'm doing well, thank you." Sua taps her card with a smile, walking further into the bus. 

'No seats available.' Sua comments mentally, after taking a quick glance round. 'It's okay, let's grab onto a bar to be stable.' Sua assured herself even though she was genuinely afraid of falling and the dizziness she would feel. 

The bus driver was going to intercept but a woman dressed in a maroon suit stood up and tapped Sua's shoulders politely. 

"Please take my seat." The woman spoke smoothly. Her sweet smile touched Sua. 

"Oh thank you!" Sua bows her head thankfully, even more touched when the woman keeps her arms around, so as to be sure that she was caught in case anything were to happen. 

"No worries." The woman proceeds to stand where Sua stood, grabbing the pole. 

Sua felt the tension in her back release a little. She breathed in a sigh of relief, watching as the buildings passed by in a blur. 

But the maroon-suit woman resurfaced in her mind suddenly. It was the first time Sua saw her on this bus, and she takes this exact bus everyday. The suit looked expensive; made of good material it seemed. She must be an important figure. Why was she taking the bus? 

'No need to meddle into other people's businesses.' Sua mentally scolded herself, pushing down the small bubble of curiosity she had for the woman. 

"Is anyone getting off at Seongsan-dong Central?" The bus driver questions 400m in advance. The 'Stop' buttons were out of order. 

"Me!" 

"I will." 

Sua and the maroon-suit woman replies in unison. 

They both glance at each other immediately with mild looks of surprise. The maroon-suit woman recovers faster, sending Sua a soft smile before turning back. 

This perks her bubble of curiosity back to surface. Where could she be working in her area?

She recalls a conversation she overheard days before at the library. 

-Flashback- 

"MinTech has been booming these days." An older uncle discussed with a man in his 40s. 

"Yes, and I heard it was only a few blocks down from here. I'll have to visit it when I have the time." The other man replied, holding the newspaper up, which had the word 'MinTech' emblazed boldly on the front page. 

-End of flashabck-

Sua nods to herself in confirmation. She must be working there. Could she be working there? 

Sua is interrupted in her thoughts when the bus comes to a stop. She gets out of her seat as quickly as possible but it isn't easy. She looks up to see that the maroon-suit woman hasn't left yet, but indirectly seems to be waiting for her. 

Despite the soft smile on her face, Sua panicked a little. She caught the kind eyes of the bus driver through the mirror so she calmed down and took her time. 

'One step at a time.' Sua mentally reminded herself. 

She felt the maroon-suit woman's presence right behind her. That only made the pressure on Sua increase a little. 

"Take your time Miss." The woman spoke smoothly again. Sua was assured this time, but had to wonder how the woman managed to keep such cool composure. In her experience, people were always easily irritated by her slow movements. 

She got off the bus safely, the woman following behind a millisecond later. 

"Do you need help with anything Miss?" The woman asked further, Sua could hear and see her sincerity. 

"No, I will be fine, thank you." Sua replies in a slightly flustered tone. She was getting overwhelmed by the attention the woman was showering her with. 

'She is very considerate.' Sua thought to herself. 

The woman did not question her reaction. "Have a good day ahead Miss." The woman bowed, before walking away. 

"You too!" Sua rushed to reply, receiving a no-look thumbs up. She smiles at the response. 

Right before she enters the library, she notices that the maroon-suit woman was still in her sight. So the booming tech company must really be a couple blocks down this street. 'Interesting.' She thought. 

"Good morning Sua-noona! Are you  feeling alright?" Geonwoo greets her from the left. 

Sua is snapped out of her mini-train of thought. 

"Oh...yeah," Sua composes herself, "Good morning!"

"Let's go in now, I wonder what Yeri-mie has for us!" He jumps onto the steps with a thump. Sua laughs heartily.

"Yes I am excited too." Sua goes up the flight of stairs slower, so Geonwoo waits patiently at the top. 

"Have you finished reading Bright Lights, Big City?...the book looks interesting." Geonwoo questions with a calmer tone. 

"Ah yes I have," Sua took a moment to control her breathing at the top. "It's in the drawer at my desk, I'll pass it to you now." 

"Thank you!" Geonwoo signs the attendance board for Sua and himself. 

"Geonwoo-oppa, Sua-eonnie, quickly get to the storage room! The new books are here!" Winter bounces on her toes impatiently. 

"Alright alright, you two go first," Sua dismissed their overflowing enthusiasm with a motherly grin. She used to be just like them. "I'll be there in a second." 

Geonwoo & Winter run off while Sua takes her time setting her things on her desk and powering her laptop on. -In the store room- 

"Woah~!" They all exclaim in harmony when the books of books are revealed. 

"No it's not 'woah~', it will just feed more unnecessary imagination into Geonwoo's brain." Hyejoo argued in an exasperated tone. Sua patted her hair in sympathy. 

For the reason that Geonwoo & Hyejoo were patrol partners, Geonwoo would yap away for three hours about his unrealistic, insane, universe which Hyejoo was getting sick of listening to for the 4th day in a row. 

"Eonnie, save me!" Hyejoo leans into Sua's body, her face expressing despair. Sua holds back a chuckle. 

"Tsk...don't act like it's not interesting Hyejoo." Geonwoo replies smugly. Hyejoo has a retort in store but Geonwoo is dragged away by Yerim before she gets the chance. 

"Maybe you should create one more creative than his so he'll shut up. You know how Geonwoo is with his nerdy pride." Sua suggests, patting the pouty girl affectionately. 

"That's a great idea but...I'm not creative at all!" Hyejoo whines in distress. 

Sua smiles fondly, "Maybe you could pick up one of these books for inspiration." She chuckles now at the disgust on Hyejoo's face. 

"No way. I haven't even finished reading my vampire ones!" 

"Maybe you could combine both worlds? Be more creative and freak him out at the same time?" Sua prompted further, watching as the disgust on Hyejoo's face turned into a devil's smirk. 

"Yes...yes...I can imagine it now. I'm so glad you're here eonnie." Hyejoo hugs Sua carefully before dashing off at vampire speed. Probably to get her books. 

Sua chuckles to herself, 'These kids are so cute.' 

"Okay guys settle down! Settle down!" The big boss makes his grand entrance into the room with cleaning apparatus. They all knew it was time. 

The shuffling feets & scrambling hands came to a halt, and everyone in the room stood up swiftly as if they were in the military.

Big Boss Jonghyun nods in approval. "After stocking these books, Sua, Seulgi and Hongseok will return to desk duty, while Geonwoo, Hyejoo, Winter, and Yerim will start cleaning." Jonghyun lays the apparatus against an empty wall, ready to be used. 

"What? That's unfair!" Yerim protests, and the others nod in agreement. 

"Yah, last week we cleaned up the place! It's your turn now." Seulgi snapped at her juniors. They recoiled in fright. 

"You shouldn't lose to us oldies." Hongseok added with his signature grin. Only to receive a smack at the back of his head by Seulgi. 

"Yeah we won't-" 

"Enough talking and start working!" Jonghyun dismisses us with that line. We automatically start moving like robots, transferring the books onto carts to push it around easily. 

-At Sua's desk- 

"How's it going Sua? Feeling good?" Hongseok checks in with me as he always does every morning.

"Feeling okay, some pain here and there but definitely manageable." Sua replies honestly. 

"If you ever need us to help you around the house or anything you can call us up. We'll be at your service." Seulgi butts in firmly. 

Sua shakes her head, not wanting to be a burden to them. "It's alright guys. I'll be fine." 

"For now indeed. But seriously though, if you're ever in a lot of pain, we got your back. Literally." Hongseok clicked two finger guns at Sua, his sign of affection. Seulgi nods in agreement to his words. 

Sua blinks back her tears. She's so glad to have met these two, and everyone else she works with at the library. They're always considerate for her, and each other, which Sua appreciated. 

"Thanks guys. I will do so." Sua replies gratefully before swiveling her chair back around to continue her work. Her task was to process the new books that arrived today. 

In between clicks of her keyboard, Sua spent time double-checking her work with Seulgi who had a similar task as her. After all, they had to be accurate at handling large amounts of books at a time. 

Unexpectedly, lots of people came into the library before lunchtime, so the three 94' liners were busy assisting visitors who asked roughly the same questions, but quite a few expressed complaints for vandalism found in books. Sua felt hopeless at those complaints. It was already hard enough to acquire variety in genres. As a local library, their budget was limited. 

"We are so sorry Miss, we will get another copy for you as soon as possible." Sua overhead Seulgi stating apologetically, but the helplessness in her tone was also evident. 

She ripped a receipt off the pad, passing the extended deadline of a history book to a University-looking student, wearing a cozy outfit. 

"I hope this book helps you." Sua wishes her empathetically as the girl balances the book on top of 5 others. "Thanks!" She replies muffled, her notepad covering half of her face. 

Sua watches her walk off to a corner table. She made a mental note to give the student a couple of snacks later. It was never easy to study diligently.

After consulting with the 20th person, Sua felt a headache rising in her head. She rested her forehead against her hands to focus on her breathing, but it wasn't doing much. A comforting hand lands on her back. 

"Headache?" Seulgi questions concernedly, her other hand rummaging around the drawer for painkillers.

"Hm." Sua mumbles throatily. 

"Hang on, I'll get you some water." Seulgi's hand leaves her back. 

"Seulgi you stay put, I'll get it." Hongseok blurts out after helping his last visitor. 

Sua wants to talk and decline their help but the pain was overwhelming. Overwhelming enough for her to be whimpering by herself. The more frustrating thing was that she was practically immobile whenever she got one of these headaches. 

"Do you need a blanket?" Seulgi softly questions after finding the right painkillers. 

Sua shook her head, she felt pretty warm. 

"Water." Hongseok came back in a jiffy. Sua didn't have to look at his face to know that his brows were knitted together. 

"Here, drink this." Seulgi places the pill in Sua's open palm. She takes it with much effort. 

Sua closes her eyes trying to control her reaction to the pain as she waits for the pill to take effect. She hasn't had a headache this bad in a while...but at the same it wasn't the worst she experienced. 

"Would you like to rest at the break room?" Seulgi asks gently, Sua takes a second to consider, now overhearing Hongseok assist a visitor. 

"..No." Sua says shakily, "I'll be alright." Sua ends firmly. 

"Okay." Seulgi smoothes her hair before putting away the unused medicine and throwing away the cup. "Tell us if you need anything." She returns to her seat. 

Sua knows she’s fine when she looks at her PC screen with ease. If more pain didn't strike through her head, the pain was manageable. 

They get on with their work individually with Hongseok & Seulgi checking up on Sua multiple times. She assures them every time, feeling a lot better after taking a painkiller. She hopes that the headaches will occur less frequently during work especially... 

"Sua-eonni brought egg tarts!" Yeri announced to everyone in the break room. Sua chuckles at her enthusiasm, letting her take the box of treats. 

"It smells heavenly~" Geonwoo exclaims as Yeri opens the box. 

"Is this for us to share?" Hyejoo sounded disappointed to even ask. Winter is seen wearing a similar expression.

"Of course." Seulgi held back from flicking their foreheads. 

Sua rests in her velvet throne, designed by Yeri & Hyejoo with glittering, golden party streamers and stickers of things that Sua loved/reminded them of their beloved eonnie, such as elephant stickers and kdrama posters. 

An egg tart is handed to her as she joins in on a conversation with Seulgi & Hongseok. They were talking about the issue of book vandalism. There really was no other solution than buying extra copies.

"The percentage of books found with vandalism has only been increasing week by week. We can't keep buying copies." Hongseok expresses worry. 

"We need to start giving fines to those that vandalised books." Seulgi suggests. They haven't done so before, scared that locals would be offended. 

"But that's 30-40 people to find each week...and it's pretty time-consuming as well." Hongseok retorts frustratedly. His argument was definitely reasonable. 

"I wonder what caused a surge of vandalism though?" Sua says thoughtfully. 

"Also true. We barely had any findings of vandalism on books at the start of this year." 

"What if it's been done by the same person? They'd have to come often to the library or borrow many books at a time though." 

"Now that you mention that, I remember seeing a teenager lurking around the shelves as if he was trying not to be seen. He comes by often." Hongseok sounds sure of himself with every word. "I have forgotten how many books he borrowed but he always had markers in his hand." Hongseok recalls his memory. 

Sua bites her inner cheek in uncertainty. "We have too little information to make assumptions. Let's study the vandalism and see if there's a pattern. If there is one, I think it's safe to assume that all of it was done by one person." 

"Great idea. Sounds like a plan. I'll get the younger ones to collect all of it while we report it to Jonghyuk-oppa." Seulgi gets ready on her feet but Sua holds her down with a hand. 

"Let's do it tomorrow, this morning was pretty chaotic for all of us." Sua reasons. Seulgi's lips form a thin line but she backs down, finishing the rest of her egg tart in a bite. 

"Thanks for bringing the tarts. They're delicious." Sua gives them a thumbs up. She will be sure to transfer all the compliments to Aunt Choi. 

While thinking of the book vandalism situation, the student she met at the desk appeared as a reminder. She had wanted to give her snacks. 

Sua grabs a pepero box, a corn snack and a milkis. "I'll be back in a second, guys." Seulgi & Hongseok see the snacks in her hands, nodding her off. They knew Sua loved to support all the students that came to the library to study. 

-At the study area- 

"Hello," Sua grabs the student's attention, who looks up with a weary smile. "I brought you snacks and a drink to continue working hard. 화이팅!" Sua gives her a fist bump. 

"Wahh~ Thank you," The student replies, the weariness in her expression disappearing in a second. "You're too kind." 

Sua brushes off her comment with a slight shake of her head. "Continue to work hard and you will always get snacks from me," they both chuckle in unison. "What is your name?" 

"Yubin. Lee Yubin. I'm from Chung Ang University." She introduces herself, proudly showing off her school logo on her jumper. 

Sua gives her an impressed reaction. "That's nearby, no wonder you decided to come here." Yubin nods. "Which course are you taking?" 

"Music." Sua was a tiny bit confused. Especially since she extended the deadline for a history book.

Yubin must have read her mind because she takes the same book for Sua to get a better look. It was indeed a history book, over music!

"Wow...I never knew we had this kind of book!" Sua takes a peek into the book content. Yubin chuckles next to her. 

"That's why this library is amazing." The two share a smile. 

"Well, I have to get back to work, good luck with school!" Sua cuts their conversation short when she sees the time. 

Yubin nods her head as goodbye. 

:

"Sua, can we drive you home?" Hongseok offers as Sua comes back to her desk to pack her stuff.

"아니야, I'll be fine taking the bus." Sua smiled reassuringly but caught the concern hiding in Hongseok's & Seulgi's bright browns. "I'll really be alright." 

"You're coming with us. I'll carry you if I have to." Seulgi stubbornly insists. Sua refrains from protesting. Instead, she sighs in defeat. 

Upon hearing that sigh, the three head out into the chilly evening, where 60% of the streets were covered with cars rushing to get home. 

Hongseok clears his throat. Sua & Seulgi look at each other knowingly. 

"Hello this is your captain HK speaking, please fasten your seatbelts securely before we enter the gushing stream of vehicles on our left." Hongseok acted as a pilot whenever he had guests in his car. 

Sua giggles quietly to herself while Seulgi rolls her eyes, a look of disbelief coating her bear-like face. At least they're on the road. 

"Our first destination for tonight's ride is a cosy & sweet apartment surrounded by a popular market. But be careful, the current resident has quite the temper." Hongseok indirectly hinting at Sua, who catches it the moment the words 'be careful' was said. 

"Excuse me?!" Sua stretches her arm out to pinch Hongseok's ear mercilessly.

"Ow! Ow! Oww!" He yelps in pain. 

This time Seulgi laughs at the situation, only calming Sua down when she was satisfied with Hongseok's pleas for help. 

"I swear to the heavens that you two only like to bully me." Hongseok cries out. 

Sua huffs in her seat, still fuming in annoyance. 

Seulgi sends him a dead-serious stare. 

"Okay okay I'm sorry Sua, you know I love you and your temper." The tease in his tone was definitely evident. 

"야! Is that supposed to be an apology or an insult??" Sua was about to grab his ear again but he evaded it well this time, his head way over the steering wheel. 

"Our second destination on tonight's ride is another cosy apartment, which unfortunately isn't the sweetest because it's resident doesn't know how to be clea- AAAAHHH!" Hongseok moves on with his pilot speech but screeches like a girl when Seugi interrupts him with a painful arm pinch. 

"Shut up." Seulgi warns him with daggers as eyes. 

"I formally apologise." Hongseok bows in apology, but was inwardly proud of himself. 

Sua thanks them for the ride, bidding them goodbye. She heads back to her apartment with a content sigh. Her phone beeps in her pocket so she takes it out to check. Jonghyun had sent her a couple photos of the kids goofing around.

"Haha!" Sua laughed to herself as she examined the pictures. She loved these kinds of moments. 

Sua decides to whip up a quick & nutritious fried rice for dinner, then goes ahead to do her night routine. She sleeps peacefully, awaiting a new day tomorrow.

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minjiubiased_29
Hi everyone, moving countries put me in a difficult place to work on the book, but I'm back on track and will be uploading regularly again. Thank you for supporting my work!

Warm greetings,
Author

Comments

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xbadwolfx #1
Chapter 22: Just sat here and read this in all one sitting 😳 I love it!! I can't wait for more 😭🤧
eyek2912
#2
Chapter 18: More than kiss? Ekekekke interesting
eyek2912
#3
Chapter 17: Woaaa@ahhh finaly they confess
Houihi its so sweet 😍😍
eyek2912
#4
Chapter 16: Aaaaa 2 chapter... Finally sua &siyeon progress,. Hahaha but they don't put label? Hahah,. what will their relationship be like? hehehe, really curious about their story 😆😆😆
eyek2912
#5
Chapter 10: I finish read 10 chapter in one days,. Oh good, i miss suayeon fanfict so much, thank you... 😆😆😆😆
Waiting for next update
eyek2912
#6
Chapter 10: I finish read 10 chapter in one days,. Oh good, i miss suayeon fanfict so much, thank you... 😆😆😆😆
Waiting for next update
Insomnialife
#7
Chapter 13: This chapter just made me feel all giddy inside ugh so good!
Dashaft #8
Chapter 12: Look forward to continued 🙂. Amazing 😍
Siyeon_bias
#9
Chapter 7: Looking forward to see how Bora will eventually realize she's fallen for Siyeon, and to see Jiyoo's relationship develop. Keep up the good work!
Siyeon_bias
#10
Chapter 3: Haven't been on here for a while but this was one of the first to pop up and I'm glad I decided to read. It's definitely cute and I'm excited to see where this goes. Keep up the good work!