The next time I see her is at the library. I sat on my usual place with Kai and my mother, just the three of us spending time reading our favorite books.  The library is quiet, the people in it consisting of us three, the librarian, and 4 to 5 housekeepers, flitting around doing their jobs.

It was my turn to get my books so I went to the non-fiction shelves, running my finger through the books’ bindings, looking for a title that would suit my taste today.

Through the gaps between books I notice the familiar side profile of a housekeeper I’ve seen before.  Confirming my suspicions, I sneak up behind her and find her burying her nose in a book entitled Black Beauty. 

“Hey,” I say close to her ear.

She yelps in surprise and slams her book closed, flinching when she looks to her side to meet my face.  She glances around and returns the book back to where it belongs before returning her eyes to me.  “Your Majesty!” She hisses.  “You surprised me!”

I chuckle.  She’s cute when she’s surprised.  “I did, and what did you call me again?”

“Y-you,” She sets her forehead on the shelf in frustration.  “Kyungsoo,”

“You should really get used to calling me that,” I grin, taking her book again for her.  “I notice that you’re more relaxed when you’re in the stables,”

She glares at me, snatching the book away and immediately, a look of regret registers on her face when she realizes what she just did.  Her fingers wrap around my wrist and she places the book back onto my palm.  “That’s because they don’t sneak up on me,” She sighs.  She steps up the ladder to tidy the books on the higher shelves.

I flip open the book, glancing at the contents.  “So, you like this book?”

“Hm?” She looks down and answers.  “Yeah,” I could hear the smile in her voice.  She goes on as she continues with her job.  “Yeah, it’s a really nice book.  It’s told from the horse’s point of view, the more the reason for me to read it.  It’s a he, and the book has his name.  It has a happy end to it and it kind of shows the readers all the hardships he has to go through until he gets to where he is,”

By then, I’m leaning on the shelf, looking up at her tell me the story without even looking at the book anymore.

“It’s like I can actually know how a horse thinks by reading that book,” She finishes, then looks down again, only to look away and redden at the way I’m staring at her.  “Were you even listening?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, I totally was,” I chuckle, settling with the book for my reading.

Hana climbs down the ladder and gasps when she trips over a step.

I quickly slip my arm around her waist, catching her before she hits the shelf behind her, slowly setting her safely on the ground.  “Are you sure you don’t only work as a stable keeper?”

She blushes, gently setting her hands on my chest and pushing me away.  “I’m not usually this clumsy,”

“A-ha,” I grin triumphantly.  “So I make you nervous?”

She narrows her eyes at me and steps closer, her face inches from mine.  “Then, don’t you get nervous when this happens?”

I instinctively draw back, my heart thumping much too quickly.  I regret it, because Hana grins back at me, dusting her dress.  “Hey, that’s cheating,” I say.

She raises an eyebrow at me and I lift my palm up, stepping towards her and touching her arm, making her flinch.  She slaps my hand away, a playful smile on her lips.  “I’m not a horse,” It spreads into a grin.  “Don’t try to use what I taught you back at me,”

“Eh? Why?” I step even closer.  “I think it works on you, too,”

“K-Kyungsoo!” She moves back quickly and turns at her heels, shying away fom me and escaping to another aisle.  I could hear her quiet laugh and the way she said my name made me smile like I never did before.

I catch her before she could turn away in an aisle, wrapping my arms around her from her back.  Our laughter was getting quite loud, it seems, because when she struggles to get away from me, we pause when we hear the librarian’s hiss.

“Keep it low over there,”

It’s for sure that she can’t see where we are.

I put Hana down and she brushes a strand of hair away from her face, which is bright and lively with her smile.

“How do you not get blown away by the wind with that weight when you ride?” I look at my hands, the one that lifted her much too easily.

“Come see why then,” She lifts a corner of her lips before turning away and leaving me standing there in the aisle alone, disappearing just like that.

Why is she so pretty?

I return to my seat absently and set the book on the table.  I didn’t realize I was holding on to it.

“What’s taking you so long?” My mother asks me, frowning.

“And why are you smiling?” Kai draws back a little, as if scared at me.

“What? Oh,” I focus, failing to wipe the smile from my face.  I set my chin on my hand, beginning to read the book.  “It’s nothing,”

If I had known that this was how it was like to actually like someone, why didn’t I feel it any sooner?