Chapter Text
The campus library was eerily silent.
It was different from the usual silence. The kind where you could hear the shuffling of pages, the jotting of pens, the clicks of laptop keyboards, and on occasion, the rhythmic thumping of fidgeting limbs. The busy kind of silence that you normally see within a university’s library, full of students who are trying their best to survive those impending deadlines, departmental examinations, qualifying grades, or just life as a student in itself.
Except this time, the absence of it all was evident, and painfully so. To Jungsu, that only meant one thing.
He had his nose stuck so far into his textbooks, that he hadn’t realized it was already closing hours for the library. The area was cooler, the buzz of the air conditioner was louder, and the sky was definitely darker. Jungsu hadn’t even noticed that almost all the lights were shut apart from those on the side he was situated on for the past ten hours.
Jungsu stretched his arms, relishing in the soreness of his muscles from staying in one position for so long. He took off his prescription glasses and let his eyes rest, closing them for bit while regulating his breathing. The stillness of the place started out eerie, but as he looked back on his accomplishments while studying that day, it was quickly replaced with comfort and satisfaction.
He shut his textbooks rather harshly. It was a long day of staring at them, after all. If he spared another glance at the printed words, Jungsu thinks he might as well lose his mind. The sound of bound stacks of paper hitting one another echoed through the empty halls— or so he thought was empty. With the knowledge that it was already eight in the evening, Jungsu was rather complacent at making noise in a library, assuming he was the only one there.
A groan was heard from his left side which caused a startled noise to erupt from him. The sound Jungsu let out was a bit too loud for the night, causing the stranger who had just woken up from his nap to startle in equal surprise, too. It was akin to some silly domino effect.
They stared at each other for what felt like a solid minute. The stranger before Jungsu was just… a guy. Another student, probably from another department as he had never come across him before. He didn’t look all that intimidating to warrant such a shocked noise from Jungsu, though. He seemed to be on the shorter side, his hair unkempt from having his head on the desk for so long. Next to him were thick-rimmed eyeglasses with black frames, a snoopy pencil case, and a textbook that read ‘Anatomy and Physiology.’ College of Science?
Jungsu’s train of thought and their semi-stare down was interrupted when the librarian came up towards them. “Library’s closing. Please, tidy your things already. I gave you two 30 minutes extra because you looked too caught up in your books and you,” she looked pointedly at the guy before continuing, “wouldn’t budge even when I tried waking you up.”
Jungsu noted to himself to gift the librarian an apology in the form of pastry for the trouble he caused.
The stranger’s cheeks heated up from embarrassment. He looked… cute. But Jungsu immediately put away the thought as he prepared his things to leave.
”Sorry, Ma’am… I'’ll get going,” the guy said as he scratched the back of his neck. He quickly gathered his textbook and pencil case, shoving it into his black backpack. He wore his eyeglasses without fixing up his hair, not knowing it was a mess in the first place. He checked his smartwatch, his eyes widening immediately. “Shit! The last train!”
He looked like he was about to bolt right there and then, but the librarian’s voice cut through before he could even entertain the thought. “No running!”
Jungsu couldn’t help the little smile of amusement on his face, hiding it by focusing on his bag. For someone studying something so serious, he sure was clumsy. He soon followed the man who walked in a rush and left the library. He thanked and apologized to the librarian on his way.
As he opened the door separating the building from the outside world, Jungsu was greeted with a chill in the air. There weren’t many students around. Only those who had classes up until nine, those who were waiting out on the evening rush on the ride home, or simply those who wanted to bask in the university’t presence at night.
Jungsu was rarely the last, but in times like this, he gets to romanticize his campus life even just for a little bit.
Jungsu was a student from the College of Accountancy and Finance. An accounting major, to be specific. He’s already in the second semester of his first year where his courses are more of a higher level of accounting than the previous. He had about three chapters to study that day, two about the conceptual framework and one about accounting for cash and cash equivalents. Thankfully, he was able to read and—hopefully—master them all. He had quizzes for both of those subjects, so he didn’t want to take any risks of half-assed readings.
There was too much at stake for Jungsu to not put his heart and head into studying.
As he walked, he breathed in the rather polluted air. He often wondered how long he’d be able to romanticize everything. It’s the cost of studying at one of the most prestigious universities in Manila, especially at a state university that had always been receiving budget cuts and therefore, lacking in proper facilities. Jungsu couldn’t possibly count how many power outages he’d experienced during his first semester on both hands alone.
Despite all that, Jungsu knows he has no other choice. Free quality education isn’t something you often come across, especially with the financial struggles his family has experienced for generations. He just hoped that by taking up accounting, he’ll break the chain and find a comfortable and stable life for himself.
Considering it was already late and he could feel his stomach rumbling, he started his walk home. Though, the library was rather far from the main gate. It would take a while for him to actually free himself from the shackles of the campus.
He passed through the lagoon, where there were loads of food stalls students would buy from. But, because it’s half past eight, most of them are either closed already or currently packing up. Jungsu sighed. He was hoping he’d grab something to munch on as he walked to his dorm, but to no avail. He’ll just check if there are any street vendors outside the gate selling his favorite margarine and sugar coated hotcakes.
A particular stall caught his eye, though. This one was known for selling the renowned FEWA (Footlong Egg Wrapped Around, which was the very first thing Jungsu bought at the start of college as it was some kind of rite of passage in their university), and there was one fussy student talking the lady manning the stall into letting him be their last customer for the day.
And that customer just happened to be the same guy who woke up next to Jungsu at the library a few minutes ago.
The lady wasn’t easy to convince, it seems. Seeing how the science guy visibly deflated when the lady continued on with closing the stall, it looks like he won’t be getting dinner anytime soon. He gave a few words of understanding before walking towards the lagoon’s exit towards the main gate.
Jungsu doesn’t even know why he watched the entire ordeal, but he sure does think that the science guy’s little pout of defeat is cute.
Jungsu continued his walk, just a few meters behind the other. That wouldn’t be considered creepy, right? They’re both on the way home, so naturally they’d be going the same direction. Jungsu was definitely not following him.
Even though he had no intentions to, Jungsu noticed certain things about science guy. How he waddled a bit like a penguin, how his hair bounced slight with every step, and how his arms flailed by his side like going home is his favorite part of the day.
Jungsu doesn’t even know why this man intrigued him so much.
They eventually parted ways as they exit the campus, with science guy getting on a tricycle to travel towards the train station while Jungsu walked towards the direction of his dormitory. On the way, Jungsu was able to buy two servings of Chicken Pastil, which he thinks would suffice for dinner. He sighed upon entering his dorm, tossing his backpack on the desk as he settled down to eat.
Before succumbing to slumber, Jungsu planned his agenda for tomorrow, as well as the materials he’ll need for another study session at the library.
Jungsu went to sleep that night thinking about fluffy hair, plush lips, and black thick-rimmed eyeglasses.