You slipped in between the shelves of the library to the little studying nook in the south corner. It was the smallest section in the entire library, lit by the huge windows that made that particular table and its vicinity either way too hot or way too cold to be used regularly. Today was definitely the latter. You pulled your hoodie over your head and sat down facing the window with your back to the rest of the library. You reached into your backpack and pulled out the thick envelope, pastel-coloured paper and that one black pen you bought to write on the card for your mum’s last birthday.

You’d originally planned to do this three days before Valentine’s day to give yourself the time to get the ingredients to make the handmade chocolate you had planned out. Like so many instances over the last 3 years, you’d chickened out at the last minute and given whatever gifts you’d bought to someone else and burned all the letters you’d written. It was now Friday, three days before Pepero Day on Monday and you’d decided that this was it - no more running away and no more hiding your feelings.

In the past you might have been able to write pages upon pages about your feelings for him but now, nothing seemed to come to mind. In the end, you’d settled on keeping things simple - just a lone piece of paper that you cut to the size of the envelope with three words scribbled in the center in lower-case writing.

“i love you”

They were so simple and easy to write yet they expressed so much.

You set your pen down and stretched, someone satisfied with your work. You carefully began sliding it into the envelope. All you had left to do was write his name on the front-

”___________?”

You jumped and slapped your hand to your mouth to cover your scream, realizing at the last moment that you were in a library.

“I swear, you’re going to kill me one day!” you whispered angrily.

Kyungsoo simply laughed and shrugged. “I figured I’d find you here, my mum said to give you this to hand back to your mum. You guys left it at our place the other night.”

“Oh, right, thanks” you replied, trying to slip the envelope under the other papers on your desk in an attempt to hide it as he set the bag he was holding on the table next to you.

“Are you going for the tutorial on Friday?”

“Uh-uhm yes, but I kinda have to go now,” you say, frantically throwing everything into your backpack. “Big dinner thing with the parents tonight and- uhm, yes.”

You grab the bag he’d brought you and ran off through the library. You heard him call your name, only to be hushed by the librarian as you ran out but you didn’t stop running until you’d made it home to the safety of your room.

*

You paced the length of you room, biting the nail of your thumb like you haven’t done in years. You had searched everywhere and emptied out your entire bag but it wasn’t there. Somehow you’d managed to leave behind the letter in the midst of the few sheets of paper still on the table at the library and you could just guess what had happened.

Being the amazing best friend he was, Kyungsoo would’ve gathered up your papers for you, making sure they were straight and wouldn’t be crumpled. As he shook and tapped them into some form of organization, the envelope would, of course, have fallen out. And being the best friend he was, he would’ve noticed the pretty envelope and paper and realized that it was three days from Pepero Day and would’ve put two and two together and taken a quick peek inside.

You sat through dinner, barely eating anything with how nervous you were and quickly ran off back to your bedroom. You’d changed and crept into bed, trying to convince yourself that maybe he’d simply kept it for you and hadn’t taken a look inside after all.

*

You jerk awake to the sound of your phone ringing and glance over at the clock. You faceplant into your pillow - it’s 3:48am. You flip your phone over to see the name on the display and immediately sit up, answering it as you get comfy in your pillows - this was going to be a long one.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me.” Your heart rate immediately accelerated hearing his sleepy voice.

“What’s up? Is something wrong?”

“I saw your letter.”

“Oh.”

“You never mentioned anything about being in love,” you could almost see his lost puppy eyes over the phone. “I thought I was your best friend.”

“It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you,” you sighed in relief that he hadn’t quite figured everything out yet. “It just wasn’t the right time. I haven’t told anyone yet.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“So who is he?” he asked.

“I can’t tell you that!” you yelled a little louder than you meant to.

“Why not?!” he protested.”I’m keeping it ‘til you tell me-“

“L-look,” you said, trying to pacify him. “When it’s the right time, I promise you’ll be the first person I tell, okay?”

“Why can’t you tell me now?”

“Kyungsoo.”

“… okay,” he said, clearly disappointed. “But I’m holding you to that.”

“No problem,” you replied.

“So…” he trailed off, clearly uncomfortable. This was the first awkward phone conversation you’d had in years. “What does love feel like?”

“… what?”

“You said you were in love. What does love feel like?”

“Kyungsoo, it’s-” you paused to check the clock again. “3.55am.”

“I know. It’s just…” you heard him sigh and shuffle in his sheets. “I need to know.”

“You’ve had two girlfriends,” you said, raising an eyebrow. “That’s twice the amount of dating experience I’ve had and you’re telling me you don’t know what love feels like?”

“Well, no.”

You sighed and rubbed your temples. This wasn’t really a situation you’d ever planned on being in, much less at 4am.

“You still there?” he asked, jerking you out of your musing.

“Y-yeah, sorry, just spaced for a minute,” you wiggled into a comfortable position and tried to bring an answer to mind. You pictured what he was doing right now, laying in bed, probably in a t-shirt and maybe some sweat pants instead of shorts, given how cold the weather had been lately. His normally perfectly styled hair would be fluffy and unruly from how he would’ve run his hand through it in consternation. His thick eyebrows would have at least a few strands out of place from all his rolling about in bed. His lips would be moist and a blushing red from his habit of biting them while he thought. 

“Being in love,” you said, your cheeks burning. “Is when you can picture the other person perfectly without even trying.”

*

Three days later, you made the march into school, a box of Pepero in hand. You’d promised to meet Kyungsoo at your locker so he could return the letter. He’d managed to get you to let him see you confess, which you’d agreed to without much fuss, to his surprise. He’d know why soon enough anyway.

He’d gotten ridiculously immature about the entire thing, suggesting you came up with a signal as to who you were confessing to and that he was supposed to follow behind you at a distance of about ten feet. You’d managed to convince him against most of the more outrageous suggestions and had stuck with keeping it simple. The person who you gave the Pepero and said “Happy Pepero Day” to would be the one you liked. Or loved, rather, he had corrected himself.

You walked determinedly through the hallways, ignoring the whispers of the few students who had noticed your purposeful stride as well as the chocolates in your hand. You got to your locker and found him already standing there, leaning against the wall.

“What took you so long?” he grumbled, handing you the letter.

“I had to make sure I looked my best,” you fidgeted, straightening your bangs and your collar.

“You always do,” he said, a funny pink blush on his cheeks. He straightened up and held onto the straps of his backpack. “So who is it?”

You bit your lip and clutched at the gifts in your hands. This was it.

”_______?” he asked, leaning closer to you.

“HappyPeperoDay,” you said, holding out the chocolate to him.

“W-what?” he blinked in surprise.

“Happy Pepero Day,” you repeated, slowly.

“What?”

“Don’t make me say it again,” you whined.

“It was me?” he said, his eyes still wide in shock.

“Y-yes,” you replied, looking at your feet. “I understand if you don’t want-“

“N-NO! No, I mean, YES!” he stuttered. “I-I mean. Oh my God.”

He threw his arms around you, squishing the gifts in the process but neither of you could really care. He took the gifts from your hands, to the applause of the crowd gathering around you.

“I-I was hoping it was me, but I didn’t think you’d ever see me that way,” he said, reaching out to brush the tips of your fingers with his. You held his hand and tried your best to stop yourself from screaming. You couldn’t quite hide the grin on your face, though.

“PLAY THE GAME! THE PEPERO GAME!” your classmate, Chanyeol yelled to the cheering support of the crowd.

“What? No way!” you protested, blushing at the though.

“Well, you’ve got to do something,” his girlfriend added in.

Kyungsoo tilted your chin up and smiled at you. You don’t think you’ve ever seen him look so content in all the years you’d know him. He kissed your forehead tenderly and hugged you close as the crowd exploded into cheers and wolf whistles around you.