The developer stopped his car in the open parking spot and stretched his long legs as he climbed out. The fact that the spot was one of only four parking places in front of the library made him even more eager to put his construction plans into motion. Although others thought he was a little crazy for buying the three old buildings on the run-down side of town, he was determined to carry out his plan to help bring growth back to this end of the city. 

The other side of the city was filled with multi-level department stores, parking garages, a large business complex, several retail establishments, and even a mid-sized movie theater. Every street had restaurants with all sorts of different foods. And throughout the entire area were several high-rise apartment buildings that had their own parking garages in the basement and lower levels.

But this side of the city was older, and the buildings all showed this very clearly. Most of them were only one to three storeys tall, and the upper floors of the buildings were generally apartments. The city’s original two-storey drug store still sat on the corner of one of the busier streets but only used the bottom floor, while a family-owned Italian restaurant sat on one side of it and an empty building on the other. A thrift shop and a tattoo parlor took up part of the space in another one of the side streets, while a grocery store occupied one of the corner buildings.

Towards the end of all the businesses in the area was the library. The tall building was over 100 years old, and the large concrete posts holding up the covered entrance showed their age. There were visible cracks in the plastered sides of the building, and the metal rails leading up the steps at the front were rusted and bent. All of these signs blended with the age that showed in the buildings on both sides of the old library.

One of the buildings was empty, beyond repair and badly in need of demolition. And on the other side of the library was an old three-storey apartment building that had chipped paint and cracked windows. It had very few tenants and many repairs were needed inside as well. 

All in all, this was a desolate part of the city, badly in need of a pick-me-up. And the developer intended to do just that. 

The first thing he wanted to do was create more parking options. If the businesses in the area planned to grow, they would need places for their customers to park their vehicles. There were very few open parking places on the street, and people often parked illegally. If the apartment that he purchased was repaired for more tenants a parking garage would be ideal for the area.

The developer took off his suit jacket and tossed it in his car, then began rolling up his sleeves as he eyed the empty building that sat on the other side of the library. The wood boarding up all the windows and doors showed wear from the weather and graffiti, and the block walls had crumbled at various places.The building was only one storey high but was wide and sprawled back towards the next street over, filling a large area. Because of the amount of land it took up, this building was actually the most expensive of the three buildings he had purchased. But he knew that if he followed through with his development plans, this area would make him the most amount of money in the long run.

As his thoughts continued to swirl, a city bus lumbered past his car then came to a halt two spaces down in front of a small bench with a bus-stop sign attached to it. The developer turned to look at the bus at the same moment that a man with mousey brown hair and a backpack slung over one shoulder alighted onto the cracked sidewalk.

 

With a loud roar the bus started back off down the street, leaving a cloud of exhaust in its wake. Baekhyun swung his arms through the air and around his head a couple of times as he coughed. Today apparently wasn’t his day. The driver had scowled at him when he boarded the bus earlier, and his favorite seat had been taken up by a grumpy old lady with an oversized bag. And then he had almost tripped on the sidewalk as he got off the bus. This threw off his timing, and he wasn’t able to get far enough away to avoid the nasty fumes, so now he probably looked like an idiot as he flailed about and fought to breathe.

Ducking his head in embarrassment, Baekhyun shifted his backpack to sit securely on his shoulder and went over to the library steps. He made his usual stop in front of Leo to rub his nose for good luck, then hurried up the steps to the front door. If he was late Jongdae would make a big fuss over missing out on his lunch period, and the last thing any visitors needed was a noisy librarian.  

 

The developer leaned against his car as he watched the scene. 

 

The guy from the bus was cute, and looked to be maybe a college student or possibly a little older. It was hard to tell, since the way he flailed his arms around and scrunched his face made him seem somewhat younger than his outward appearance would indicate. His hair bounced as he moved, and the backpack he was carrying showed a little wear, but his clothing looked clean and in good condition. 

The developer was intrigued when the cute guy quickly approached the building but stopped directly in front of the large bronze lion sitting at the bottom of the library steps. The statue was patinaed from all the years of sitting outside, but the nose of the lion was shinier and much less affected than the rest of the figure. Before the developer could wonder about the reasons for this occurrence, he saw the man reach out and affectionately rub the lion’s nose a few times then turn and bound up the steps of the library and enter the building. 

A horn honked in the distance but the tall man ignored it as he stood by his car a little while longer, his mind circling in thought. There was no one else walking on the sidewalk, and the early afternoon sun shone directly on the street, heating the entire area. 

Trying to distract himself, the developer slowly walked over and regarded the narrow space between the library and the abandoned building. Aside from the crumbling mortar between the two buildings, there was barely enough room for a person to walk through, but he already knew this from the inspection report and his own reconnaissance in the last few weeks. Besides, he wasn’t fooling himself or anyone else that he might be interested in wandering far from the entrance of the library right now.  

Getting tired of waiting to see when the cute man would come back out of the building, the developer slowly went over to the steps, pausing for a moment to regard the lion statue. Then, just as deliberately, he climbed the steps leading up to the front doors. He didn’t grab the rickety metal railing, since the idea of needing a tetanus shot was not very appealing. Passing between the pitted concrete columns, he walked up to the heavy double doors and pulled the side that he had seen the cute man open. The heavy door swung open with a creak, and the developer stepped inside.

 

The air inside the building felt stale with a slight chill and there was a definite hush over the whole area. The turnstile just inside the door creaked and then clicked as the developer passed through. He looked down as the number at the corner of the turnstile flipped to show a seven. 

“Small number..” he muttered to himself, then lifted his head and looked around at the large room. 

Rows upon rows of tall shelves loaded with books filled about two-thirds of the room. A flight of stairs extended upwards to a second floor that stretched along the back half of the building where even more well-stocked bookshelves could be seen through the open style railings. On the front side of the room near the windows were several sturdy tables surrounded by chairs. Only one person was seated at one of the tables, a stack of books at their side as they took notes from the open book in front of them. 

In the middle of the room was a large circular desk with an open center. Inside the opening were two men with employee tag lanyards around their necks, one of which the developer recognized as the cute guy he had seen entering the building earlier. The other worker was leaning on the countertop, watching as the guy from the bus was placing cards one-by-one into open sleeves in the backs of several books. 

So the cute guy worked there. That explained why he hadn’t come back outside yet. 



 

Jongdae made an appreciative noise. “Hmmm.. Hottie at 11 o’clock.” he muttered, using his foot to nudge Baekhyun in the leg.

Baekhyun continued placing the cards back into the sleeves of each book and tried to ignore his co-worker. Jongdae had a habit of making bad puns and joking around to try to get a reaction from Baekhyun. Today he was likely just keeping himself amused while he waited for his lunch to be delivered. Jongdae nudged him again. 

“What.” Baekhyun half growled quietly through his teeth.

“Seriously. Check it out.” Jongdae said in the same quiet tone.

Baekhyun sighed and looked up to see the back of a tall male walking down one of the aisles. “Tall but no . Not that hot.”  

Jongdae snorted. “You’ve got enough for the both of you. Wait for the front view. He’s hot, trust me.”

“You’re taken.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a nice view.” Jongdae smirked. “Besides, he went down the Literature and Rhetoric aisle. If he brings back anything by one of the Bronté sisters, you’ve got a chance.”

Baekhyun sighed again as he picked up the stack of books and placed them on a side cart. “Your gaydar theory is weird.”

“Haven’t been wrong yet!” his coworker said with a smirk.

At that moment the library door opened and a delivery guy holding a large paper bag vaulted himself over the turnstile then came trotting over to the circular desk. 

Jongdae pulled out his wallet and held out a couple of bills as he grabbed the bag. “Keep the change!” he said loudly.

Baekhyun hushed him. 

The delivery guy just chuckled and took the money then went back out the way he’d come in.   

Baekhyun rolled his eyes as he glared at his coworker, but Jongdae stuck out his tongue then turned his attention to the food inside the bag. 

At that moment the small bell on the counter dinged lightly. 

Baekhyun jumped and whirled around in surprise. Looking up, his eyes met large almond shaped eyes with soft chocolate centers. 

“Hi there!” The deep chocolate voice matched the eyes of the tall man, who had placed a book down on the counter. The man was handsome and Baekhyun gave himself a second longer than usual to look at the man’s face. But then his hand bumped the book on the counter. 

Baekhyun looked down. “Emma..” he trailed off as he read out loud.

Jongdae hummed loudly with a muffled “aha” sound. But he quickly went back to noisily chewing his food when Baekhyun turned his head and shot a quick menacing look. 

Baekhyun schooled his expression then looked back up at the tall man. “If you’re going to check this out, I’ll need your library card, please.” 

“Oh. Um.. I don’t have a library card.” the man said a little sheepishly.

“Well, I can help you get one if you have your ID on you…”  Baekhyun suppressed an eyeroll and tried to sound helpful as he made the offer. It should be common sense that the only way to check out a book from the library was to use a library card. But he would forever deny the little jump of interest he felt at the possibility of finding out more about the good looking guy if he did hand his ID over.

“Actually, I thought about doing some reading here, so I was going to ask your opinion on this one.”  the handsome man replied. “The atmosphere here is perfect for spending some quiet time.”

“Yeah it might seem that way, but it won’t be much longer…” Baekhyun shook his head ruefully. 

“Why? Do a bunch of kids come in during the afternoons or something?”

“Actually, nobody really comes here much. But I was talking about the library not being here much longer.”

The tall man raised an eyebrow in response and Baekhyun couldn’t help thinking how much hotter it made the man look. He decided to take a chance and indicated with his head towards the book lying between them. “That's a good choice to enjoy reading." Then he smiled. "I’m Baekhyun, by the way..” 

“Baekhyun.” The man repeated the name with his own smile then gave a small nod as if deciding something. “I’m Loey. Nice to meet you.” 

 

Chanyeol didn’t know if this cute guy had heard about the young developer that was trying to make his mark on this side of the city, but just in case, he didn’t want to give his actual name yet. For now, his college nickname would come in handy.

“So what do you mean that the library won’t be here?” he asked.

Baekhyun grimaced. “The building has been purchased. Rumor has it that the new owner has plans to create a movie theater with a parking garage. So we’d better enjoy this solitude while we can, I guess…” 

Chanyeol held back his own half-grimace. The cute librarian likely wouldn’t be very happy to find out he was talking to said new owner. Better to watch his words. 

“The solitude is pretty sweet…” he commented, leaning against the counter.

“Yeah, our weekend staff have book readings here on Saturday mornings for elementary-aged kids and we have the occasional school group visit on a field trip, but otherwise it’s pretty quiet.” Baekhyun indicated with his head towards the one person sitting at the tables. “And the university kids love it when they need an obscure place to study too. I really hate that all of that will be gone soon.“

Chanyeol looked at the student then back at the two librarians. “So neither of you do any studying here, then?” 

Both men made noises of disagreement and the guy eating his lunch spoke up. “We’ve both been out of school for a while, so no. We only study the people that come in here.”

“Jongdae!” Baekhyun admonished his coworker, who cackled through his mouthful of food.

Chanyeol grinned. This was so much more fun than the meeting he had earlier that day.

 

From then on, every Wednesday Chanyeol would endure the tedious morning meetings with his development team as they gave updates on the plans for his recently purchased buildings. Then he would drive across town, find a spot to park in front of the library, and make his way inside, never forgetting to take off his suit jacket and roll up his sleeves before entering the quiet work area. 

 

Well, relatively quiet, as long as Baekhyun’s coworker didn’t talk too much. 
 

 

“I will Dewey decimate you!” 

“Jongdae! Shhhh!!” Baekhyun huffed in frustration.

Chanyeol chuckled as he walked up to the counter. “What’s going on?”

Jongdae turned to the tall man and whined. “Loey, he’s not letting me order my food for lunch!”

“Because you want that extra spicy beef!” Baekhyun grit his teeth and lowered his voice a little more.”We both KNOW what that does to your digestive system! I will NOT be subjected to your disgusting burps and farts over the next 2 hours!”

Chanyeol couldn’t help his burst of laughter, but he immediately tried to stifle it when Baekhyun shot him a look with his