Work Text:
Dust should be something to get used to, not to get even more allergic the more you had contact with it, or at least, that was what Renjun thought, sneezing his way through the dusty badly lighted library corridors. You’d think that having spent all his childhood and teenage years in libraries, he’d know it with the back of his hand, but he also took some special interest in going to the three different book places in his small city and always messed them up in his head due to his lack of geographical memory. The library he was in during that sunny morning of February was his favorite. It was a bit hidden from the public eye, so it was always very quiet (as all libraries should be) and it had some books Renjun liked to call “undiscovered jewels”, since they weren’t very famous or easy to find.
Nonetheless, he found himself frustrated, looking between the shelves, and sighing dramatically, to the point the only other person in the library heard him clearly.
“What is it, Renjun?” a young man asked, taking his eyes away from the book he was cataloguing into the computer. He looked very relaxed, with a resting smile on his lips, as if he already knew what to expect from that short ball of anger. Jaemin stood in the middle of the badly lighted library, exactly on the point where the sunlight struck it best due to a window in the ceiling. He looked like a handsome angel coming from darkness with his round glasses and blue sweater.
“There is nothing new in science fiction,” Renjun complained, moving from the shelves to lean on the man’s table. The young man finally smiled, his brown eyes sparkling. He was used to Renjun’s complaints, having worked in the library for almost a year now, but they were usually more punctual ones that were brushed away in seconds. Renjun had certainly never leaned on his table, unless to rant about what he was reading at that moment.
The boy had spent all his life getting his books from libraries. He probably had 5 books of his own tops. He didn’t like spending money on things he could just borrow, and he knew for sure he would never have the money to keep up his reading habit as it was. Even with the technological advancements of e-books, he was still stuck with the old-fashioned book with pages. He never considered a library would fail him or the day would arrive in which he read all the books possible on his favorite session, but that day had arrived, and he was lost, having only Jaemin to count on.
“Oh, well, did you look it through? They’ve been reediting some lost Philip K. Dick tales…” Jaemin suggested, getting back on the book he was cataloguing, waiting for Renjun to go away and look for his suggestion. He couldn’t be more wrong about the boy’s next moves.
Renjun huffed in annoyance and Jaemin could swear he saw his dark brown hair moving from the strong blow of air. “As if I liked him.”
“You read all of his collection…”
“Lack of better things to do,” he lied. Phillip K. Dick had long ago stolen his heart.
Jaemin finally took his eyes away from the computer, as he had finished cataloguing that book, to stare at the small young man right in front of him, looking nothing more than miserable. He was sure Renjun was being a little dramatic himself and maybe his thin body and long face helped him look like a small lost child, along with those deep brown eyes, but even knowing that, it still moved the librarian’s heart. “Well… I can always ask Mister Moon for more…”
Renjun’s eyes instantly shone and he had an almost hopeful smile on his face as he looked up to Jaemin’s eyes. “Would you do that for me?”
Jaemin nodded, while writing himself a note to talk to his boss later that day. “He has to make a request for the city council, but I’m sure he can pull it off.”
Renjun almost smiled once again, however it vanished from his lips before it could form an actual smile. He almost never did smile so Jaemin didn’t mind it. “Thanks, Jaemin, you’re the best junior librarian ever.”
The young librarian rolled his eyes at the specific compliment and decided to let it pass, quickly changing the subject. “What do you want exactly?”
Renjun kneeled on the floor so he could put his arms on Jaemin’s table and lookup dreamily. “Just something knew… I’ve read it all, I even resorted to reading those dreadful Star Wars books.”
The librarian smiled because he knew that, even though the other boy didn’t take those books as the best of sci-fi, he was sure Renjun liked them from the many times he took the Thrawn Trilogy home. “You must be really desperate then.”
“You have no idea!”
Jaemin shushed the boy quickly, looking up to Mister Moon’s office on the second floor. He wouldn’t want his boss to go down those stairs to scold him due to their library not being quiet enough. “Be quiet, Renjun…”
“There is no one here, it’s Wednesday morning.”
That’s when Jaemin noticed what the feeling of strangeness he had felt since the beginning was. There should be no one there on Wednesday mornings. He arched his eyebrows and looked at him. “Shouldn’t you be at school, mister?”
Renjun was no stranger to skipping school. He was tired of it all if he was being honest. He had failed a year when he was younger and now, he felt like this last year was just dragging already. Honestly, he was jealous of guys like Jaemin for being in college already. So, he skipped school without any trace of regret and not caring about his parents being worried about it, to the point they even resorted to talking to Mister Moon about not letting him in the library. It was all useless, he didn’t know why, but somehow Jaemin kept forgetting to warn Renjun’s parents that their son was in the library reading books instead of being at school. They never mentioned it to each other, it was sort of a quiet complicity, and for that Renjun was glad, even if he had to endure Jaemin’s casual teasing from time to time.
“None of your business,” Renjun answered, getting up on his feet. That boy knew how to be feisty when he wanted to. Jaemin knew he didn’t like to be bossed around by no one, but specially by him, who was of the same age. The librarian didn’t get angry at that, though. He took it as quite funny and held back a smile or Renjun would become even worse. Sharing a library with him for so long gave Jaemin an idea of what his temper was like.
“You’re so nice to someone doing you a favor… At least tell me what kind of science fiction you like, so we can get the library something similar.”
Renjun half-smiled and his eyes sparkled again, and he also did that adorable thing of biting his lip and starting to talk slow to then fast as he went on. “I like adventures, sort of like the Earthsea series by Ursula K Le Guin. I also like it when there is not only technological advancement, but also a focus on social issues, though I hate those cheap sci-fi that only make the social problems be the social inequality, because we already have that, and we can address it without totally changing the setting! I understand that art is used in various ways to address different problems, but the way they portray it, it’s like in the future those horrible things will happen, when we already have homeless people right here, so-“
“Renjunie, you’re very passionate about that, but can you please tone down a little or Mister Moon will go down from his office to scold me,” Jaemin interrupted him, smiling apologetically at him. The librarian could see how excited the boy was. Talking about sci-fi was one of the few things that made Renjun go out of his sarcastic routine to talk about something that mattered to him and it truly interested Jaemin in knowing his point of view on that. Nonetheless, the fear of getting the talk from his boss always got the best of him and he had to stop the dark haired boy’s trail of thought.
“Oh, that’s okay,” Renjun replied, looking down and becoming instantly smaller. He was sort of used to people interrupting him when he got overly excited.
“You can continue it,” Jaemin tried encouraging him. Renjun just shrugged his shoulders, acting as if he didn’t care.
“No, no, I’m okay… anyways, thanks, Jaemin-ah, I’ll go to school now.”
Even though Jaemin was a bit disappointed his only company was leaving, he still smiled proudly. “That’s more like it.”
Renjun nodded and was already moving towards the door’s direction, when he seemed to remember something. “When will the books arrive, if I can ask?”
“Well, the city council meeting is next week, so probably in two weeks…” Jaemin informed and, upon seeing Renjun’s expression get even gloomier, was quick to add, “But if you came everyday to check, I wouldn’t be so against that.”
Renjun arched his eyebrows cheekily. “You actually enjoy my annoying company, don‘t you?”
“One could say… now go to class, star boy.”
“Fine… I’ll be back. And that was not a mere sci-fi reference.”
That time Jaemin didn’t hold back a laugh as Renjun was obviously joking with the purpose of stalling. “Just go to class, Renjun-ah.”
✎
Being the dedicated worker he was, Jaemin was trying his best to reorganize the books in the historical section without going up and down the ladder though that was proving to be a harder task than he had originally thought. It was hard that the library was cutting funds, so there was only him and Mister Moon currently working and getting paid. Therefore, as he was a junior, he had to do all the heavy lifting. He was going down again to get more books when he turned around to see a very serious straight faced Renjun handing him the books he needed. “So?”
The young librarian almost had a heart attack with Renjun standing so close to him and appearing out of nowhere, though he should be used to that already, the boy was like a cat. To be able to sneak out of home and school and going through his life unseen, being a ghost was a special talent Renjun had to harvest most of his life, to the point where he didn’t quite know when to turn it off. It was part of him already. Some people, however, could spot him even if he was lost in a crowd, and those were the best of people.
“For the eleventh day in a row, no, it hasn’t arrived.” Jaemin kindly informed, going up the ladder once again to add more books to the Asian History shelf.
“You just like having me come here to crush my heart,” Renjun declared dramatically and though Jaemin couldn’t see his face, he knew exactly what expression the boy was making and almost didn’t hold back his sigh.
“If I had your heart, I wouldn’t crush it. Why do you want these books so badly?”
“I’ve read practically all sci-fi books from the three libraries in town…”
“Don’t you read any other genre?” It was a rhetorical question. Jaemin knew everything Renjun had read ever since he started working there, because he was the one who systematized any books the library lent.
“Yeah, from time to time, but I just really like sci-fi.”
“Why?” Jaemin asked as he smiled proudly at the finished organized shelf.
“There are so many things to like about it,” Renjun answered in a murmur, while Jaemin got down the stairs. He looked at the dark brown-haired boy and arched his eyebrows.
“So?”
Renjun took a deep breath before going into one of those passionate rants Jaemin was getting even more fond of. As he talked, Jaemin walked to his usual spot at the center of the almost deserted library, to sit on his desk, and Renjun followed him close behind. “I like how creative it can be and to think how humanity would act in certain habitats is important. A lot of sci-fi works helped with imagining future technology too. I also love how it has three aspects of the whole thing, the tech itself along with worldbuilding, the characters and society and, for last, the actual plot, that can be adventure, mystery, romance, drama. I think it’s one of the most diversified genres we have nowadays, even if some lazy writers just reduce it to future. It’s a lot more than that, the variety is infinite.” Jaemin smiled when he sat down, since he could now see the boy face to face and analyze how bright his eyes got as he talked on and how, at the end of his small rant, he looked down as if he was rather ashamed of talking for so long. “I guess that’s it.”
“It’s good to see you interested about something, Renjun.” Jaemin turned to his computer to see if there were any new books to catalogue or any new emails from the city council about the books. It wouldn’t hurt to check twice for Renjun.
“Aren’t you going to ask me if all I do is read books?” The boy inquired shyly. Growing up as the different one had taken its toll on him. Renjun surely loved his tastes and his passion for it, he couldn’t quite get people who didn’t have any interests. He wondered what they did with their life and what they lived for, if it was only to follow a course traced by society. He’d much rather read a thousand books about wars in space than just studying, going to college, getting a job, just because he was told to. Nonetheless, he was still singled out and people were often time very curious about him and his social life. Most times he just brushed them off. He knew he was better off than them, he knew himself and his own motives better than anyone else, so why bother? However, sometimes, he found himself a bit fragile to other people’s opinion, specially the ones who endured his rants about aliens and space travel, as did Jaemin.
Jaemin didn’t seem to notice the sad look on his face, as he just half smiled and joked lightly.
“Not really, I know you do more than that. You watch movies too.”
“Yeah, but other than that? Like, if I have any friends and stuff. Or why am I so weird?” He pressed, knowing that Jaemin had the same habit of his of brushing it off with a joke, though he himself usually was sarcastic and Jaemin was still the kindest ever.
The librarian frowned, clearly confused. “Why would I ask that? We’re clearly friends.”
Renjun didn’t quite understand the information. Well, Jaemin did listen to all those quirky weird rants he had and seemed generally interested about them, even asking about it further. Even if they met strictly on library territory, not even going further than that, maybe friends weren’t always those movie-like experiences of texting all the time and always going to the same places together. Maybe there were some friendships that were more casual, and it was okay. Realizing that in the moment caused a small shock to Renjun, apparent on his expression. “Oh. Nice.”
Jaemin took pity on the poor boy. “Give me your number, Renjun, I’ll call you when the books have arrived, so you won’t have the trouble of coming here.”
Renjun instantly shook his head, taking a step back defensively, like Jaemin had personally offended him with that offer. “No, I like coming here.”
The librarian smiled brightly hearing that but tried keeping his pose. “Yeah, you definitely are weird.”
✎
He almost considered not going to the library that day. He’d get another negative for the third week straight and lately Jaemin had barely paid any attention to him due to his work. Renjun wasn’t mad at him or anything, but it could get quite boring at the library if he didn’t have anything new to read or someone to casually tease. However, he did not consider having much better to do at home and the library was just on his way, so it probably wouldn’t be a big deal to just check it.
When he arrived, he was not disappointed, for not only Jaemin greeted him properly for the first time in a week, but he was also smiling brightly. “Renjun! Good news!”
If Renjun wasn’t so in need of those books, he’d have teased Jaemin about being loud in the library, however he could not think straight after hearing that first sentence and understanding exactly what it meant. “No way!”
Jaemin nodded frenetically and pointed at the pile of just catalogued books near his desk. “Yes!”
“Let me look!” Renjun was amazed, smile showing practically all teeth as he looked as fast as he could through the books. There were about 20 of them and he had never felt the urge of going upstairs and kissing Mister Moon on the face, but at that moment, he was feeling exactly that. “Wow, it has Ursula K. Le Guin’s Left Hand of Darkness, I always wanted to read this one. Some classics, nice. Oh- what is this?”
A small book of about a hundred pages fell on the ground. It had a painting of space on the cover with lilac and yellow handwriting announcing the title and it looked brand new. Renjun looked through it, mesmerized.
“What?” Jaemin asked, curious about what Renjun was looking at, kneeled on the floor.
“’The Adventures of Tai and Yue’? What is this?” Renjun questioned when he got up, looking up at Jaemin instantly, who just kept looking at his computer.
“Read the synopsis for me.”
Renjun coughed before starting to read out loud the small text on the back of the book, written with bright yellow letters. “A short compilation of the adventures of Yue and Tai across the galaxy, as they fight through their trapped feelings for each other and against the mighty imperialistic Meigo Empire. With inspirations such as Valerian & Laureline and Princess Mononoke, this short book will travel with you through a space filled of monsters and dangers just so Tai and Yue can withstand their militancy and values across it.”
“Sounds very nice,” Jaemin commented, still typing on the computer. Renjun rolled his eyes, wondering how much the librarian actually had to do at his computer and how much he just did to avoid Renjun’s gaze and questions. It was not like Renjun wasn’t used to it already, with two very workaholic parents.
“It’s so short…” He murmured, while looking through the books’ pages. It was brand new and the smell of new pages gave Renjun an inexplicable pleasure. In a library, when books had a smell, it usually was the smell of dust and old that made you sneeze while painfully trying to finish the book. This one, however, was untouched. Renjun would be the first one to actually live its adventures.
“It is a short compilation…” Jaemin pointed out, with a playful smile on his lips and finally staring at Renjun for once.
He, however, couldn’t deal with those eyes directed at him, so he just focused on the book once again, caressing its cover. “Sarcasm doesn’t suit you, Jaemin… Yue and Tai are girls?”
“Pretty sure it’s gender neutral.”
Renjun took his eyes from the book to stare at Jaemin suspiciously. The librarian weirdly had all the answers. Something was off there. “How do you know that?”
Jaemin was unfazed with Renjun’s question. “As you mentioned, it’s short, so I’ve read it already.”
“Hm. Didn’t take you for liking sci-fi.”
“Gotta admit, it’s not my favorite genre…”
“What do you like?” For the first time, Renjun noticed how little he actually knew about Jaemin.
The librarian usually asked questions about him, but he never really cared to ask them back, to the point where he didn’t even know his favorite literary genre, even though their most common topic to chat about were books. The times Renjun did ask him something, he’d usually smile and joke, easily getting away from that question. Jaemin looked very social and open to conversation with his charming smile and light brown hair, but Jaemin was actually very smart in keeping most things to himself.
“Fantasy. I actually take sci-fi for least interesting and more boring fantasy,” he answered in a heartbeat, smiling teasingly at Renjun. “Instead of a complete worldbuilding, the author just has to connect it with technology somehow. Lazy story making at its best.”
Renjun sighed at his casual criticism of sci-fi but decided to ignore it and look at the book again. “Well, but you read this one.”
“Sometimes it’s good to read what you criticize.”
“You’re no fun. Who wrote this? J.M. Barrie? Who is that?”
Jaemin rolled his eyes dramatically. “Sci-fi lovers do indeed have two brain cells… That’s the writer of Peter Pan and Wendy.”
“Oh.” Renjun nodded, but then was confused once again. “Wait, he wrote science fiction?”
Jaemin shrugged. “Apparently.”
“This-“
Before the boy had any chance to speak, Jaemin shut him up with a suggestion. “If you’re so puzzled by it, why don’t you read it first. You know, I actually work here, Renjun…”
He looked at the librarian determined, as if taking up a challenge. “I’m going to. Will finish it today even. And then we are going to discuss it.”
✎
The boy did not finish the book that day. He took it home and stayed with it for three long days, trying to savor every single piece of it. When it was done, he could not believe it was over. He then reread it in two hours and stared at the ceiling hopelessly. To think the universe was infinite, but Yue and Tai’s universe ended when he closed that book was driving him insanely sad. How could such real characters not be real? How could all their efforts and losses be compressed inside paper and ink? That was not possible, there had to be more. It couldn’t possibly be over so soon.
A book that well written by such a famous writer probably had a movie adaptation to it! Movie adaptations weren’t the actual book, but it was still very fulfilling to see the magic only seen through pages being brought to a screen with music, nice special effects and acting. Renjun just couldn’t find a single article about Yue and Tai’s production. There wasn’t anything about the short compilation of tales either. Moreover, he couldn’t even find anything about a book J.M. Barrie had written that wasn’t a part of the Neverland universe. Even more puzzled than he was before, he marched directly to the place where he knew he could get his answer and the only person who would hear his complaints.
“Okay, J.M. Barrie did not write this book!” he declared, entering the library dramatically. Jaemin had his glasses on, which was unusual considering he usually wore lenses. He was also wearing a bowtie. He looked more adorable than usual as he leaned over his desk and starred defiantly at Renjun.
“Hello, Renjun, yes, I’m fine, how are you?”
The boy blushed slightly, having his lack of manners being pointed out so clearly and passive aggressively by the librarian. “I’m fine-“
Jaemin, however, didn’t even let him finish, before inquiring him once again. “Did you enjoy Tai and Yue’s adventures?”
“Yes-“
“What was your favorite tale?”
Being so insistently questioned even caused some confusion on Renjun’s brain, so the boy had to stop to think a proper answer. It wasn’t like Jaemin’s intense stare was any help. He did mention they’d discuss the book, so it was only fair he was asked about it, however, he didn’t expect it to be done so insistently. “I-I liked when they confessed their love for each other while battling against the Empire’s peace forces.”
“Didn’t take you for a romantic,” Jaemin shot back teasingly. Once again, Renjun blushed. He had come to the library expecting to question the librarian, but the other way around seemed to be taking place.
It wasn’t a matter if Renjun was a romantic or not. Truth be told, the boy appreciated every literary genre if they were properly developed. The book should be good on what it proposed itself on being. He even cried watching Moulin Rouge and he simply loved the Han Solo and Leia Skywalker pairing. He didn’t go around telling everyone he had memorized their dialogues on “The Empire Strikes Back” though. Although normally, he wouldn’t have trouble admitting he had a bit of a romantic vein inside his heart, Jaemin was being especially annoying that day, and to admit he loved that specific tale of Tai and Yue because that was one of the most epic love confession scenes he had ever witnessed was to just accept a poor defeat. Renjun would never do that.
“I am not! The scene was nice and the planet they were settled in was so cool! It had literal levels, like a shopping mall, but they used it to differentiate people, though very subtly, so the people thought you had to work hard to reach the upper levels, but the system was fucked up and-“ Renjun was full on nerd mode again, ready to take off and start comparing it with a planet he saw on the old Star Trek TV show, but he saw Jaemin’s smirk, and abruptly stopped talking. “You’re just stalling me, aren’t you?”
Jaemin shrugged, smiling, “Maybe I just like hearing you talk about sci-fi.”
“Nobody actually likes that, they just put up with it.” Renjun rolled his eyes, stating what he knew for a fact. Jaemin kept that annoying smirk on his lips. “I beg to differ.” The librarian answered simply.
Renjun decided to not get too deep into that and got back to their subject of conversation. Now it was his turn to question the librarian. “What was your favorite tale?”
Jaemin sighed and leaned back on his chair, thinking for a second before answering. “I think beginnings define a book, so I liked how the story started, when Yue showed Tai how flawed the system was. I love having two characters from different backgrounds meeting. Yue was always oppressed by the Empire in a very clear way, but Tai had some privileges, even if they were also oppressed, so to have Yue show it and them fighting right after, to then realize that it was all what the Empire wanted…”
The boy nodded excitedly. Maybe Jaemin was starting to see what he saw too in science fiction after all. He had doubts the librarian had enjoyed the book when they last talked and he didn’t want to ask him, or Renjun would sound like he cared for his opinion, and he didn’t want him thinking that but it was sort of reassuring to know he wasn’t the only one feeling especially touched by ‘Tai and Yue’s Adventures’. “Sick worldbuilding, right?! So complex!”
“So, you actually enjoyed it after all?”
That time, he didn’t need any time to elaborate his answer, since he had thought this through for the entirety of his reading. “Of course! The worldbuilding is on point, the technology is important for the plot but doesn’t take over all of the story, the characters are compelling and relatable and the plot itself was very fun. It’s my perfect formula for a sci-fi book. I just wish it was longer and the villain, who wasn’t actually a villain, was better explored.”
“Makes sense, I agree,” Jaemin nodded, the annoying smirk going away and being replaced by his usual kind smile. Renjun finally got his guard down, standing on the same boat as Jaemin, and breathed properly. The librarian was hard to talk to sometimes. There were some days when he was especially teasing, like that day, and Renjun didn’t quite know how to compute the information and just ended up putting all his defenses up. At the end of the day, he was still the soft and thoughtful librarian of every day, just a bit more insightful in his comments.
It also softened the boy’s heart to know for a fact Jaemin had enjoyed the same book as he did. Not only he didn’t feel totally lonely, seeing the book didn’t have any fans on the internet, but Jaemin finally admitting to like a sci-fi book after calling the genre lazy was a small victory to his heart. Maybe he’d be more open for Renjun’s book recommendations some time in the future…
Renjun was then struck by his hero’s mission, his life’s calling, the reason he came to that library after all. “That’s why I cannot just accept the author being some J.M. Barrie of a sort!” Jaemin gasped at that offense, but Renjun wisely chose to ignore him. “It doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t appear anywhere in his bibliography and I can’t find even the e-book of it.”
“That’s tough… have you tried looking for the publisher?”
“Thing is, there is no publisher.” With that reveal, he expected Jaemin to look at him in shock. The librarian, against his expectations, didn’t even blink behind his spectacles.
“Some books in this library don’t have one… They were published independently and just end up donated to the town hall. They sometimes have the files of the donors.”
Renjun sighed dramatically. This was getting more complicated than his usual internet researches. And he was really good at internet researching. “No way I have to go all the way to the town hall to look at those old ass files just to have an idea who donated it.”
The librarian sympathized with his situation. “Well, I can help you if you want. It’s not like I’m not intrigued as well. This can be our little adventure.” He giggled to himself at the end of the sentence, but that little joke made Renjun’s eyes sparkle.
Going on a hero’s mission with Jaemin wouldn’t be so bad. He knew the city and had better connections than he did. Besides, he was a very uplifting and optimistic company compared to Renjun himself and would keep the mission up and running. Maybe he was the best sidekick Renjun could fetch for himself, the Kirk for his Spock. He was also his friend. It would be good to hang out with him outside that dark, dusty library.
“Fine…”
Jaemin smiled with the prospects of the new journey waiting. “The library doesn’t open on Mondays, as you know. See you at the town hall at ten.”
✎
So, this is where the adventure begins. Yes, that was all just a big introduction to character and plot. A prequel, per say. It’s okay if you didn’t like it, most people don’t like prequels. I’m just telling you the actual adventure starts now. The two improbable heroes met at the staircase of the town hall. Our main hero had a grumpy expression on his face, but he nodded to his taller sidekick, who smiled back. Renjun noticed Jaemin was dressing more casually than when working at the library, with a light pink T-Shirt and white ripped jeans. Renjun could even describe him as cool compared to himself, who was wearing a shirt with the poster of the movie The Arrival and jeans so old they had lost their original color.
Our hero couldn’t help but think that the mission was ready to start, as they entered the town hall’s darkest halls, to find a small room on the left, that almost got unnoticed, weren’t for Jaemin’s knowledge of the place.
It was all uncertain as they entered. Danger could come from anywhere inside those boxes. The room was apparently empty, but you never knew.
“Mister Nakamoto?” Jaemin asked, uncertainty clear in his voice. He was walking slowly between the boxes of files and Renjun followed him close behind. He was just very happy he had taken his antiallergic before the journey officially began or else, he would be sneezing nonstop and wouldn’t be able to monitor the enemies and dark forces hidden in the room.
That was, until a man with glasses appeared between all those boxes, with a smile that could illuminate that whole room and he had to stop playing hero. “Hello, who do we have here? Oh, the sweet Mister Na! And you are?”
Renjun turned off his high adventure mode as fast as he had turned on. “The salty Mister Huang,” Jaemin answered teasingly before Renjun got the chance. He just rolled his eyes at Jaemin, who smiled mischievously at him.
Mister Nakamoto’s eyes opened wide seeing that interaction and he devilishly smiled to Jaemin. “Oh, is he your boyfriend?”
Jaemin stopped functioning at that embarrassing question and Renjun had to step in to help him out. Maybe Mister Nakamoto was more dangerous than he had initially thought. “What?! No, no, we are friends.”
The man arched his eyebrows and didn’t look very convinced, making Renjun almost roll his eyes and he would have, if he didn’t have to ask the man a favor right after.
“Mister Nakamoto, would you mind showing us the donations file for this year?” Jaemin politely inquired after he got his functions back.
“I’ve told you to call me Yuta, silly. But sure, it’s all in the computer. Donation files aren’t so important as to keep them in a big old book or for me to need upstairs permission.”
Renjun sighed loudly in relief. He couldn’t even bare to imagine how his mood would be after dealing with city bureaucracy and he was very glad he didn’t have to face that reality. Alternative reality Renjun would have to deal with that for the moment and he just hoped alternative reality Renjun had the patience for it. “Thank god!”
Yuta smiled at his sudden excitement as he sat by a computer on a very hidden desk. Renjun finally noticed that the office was indeed empty. Yuta must feel very alone there. Maybe that was the reason why he couldn’t stop smiling at them and seemed so pleased with their presence. “So, what are you looking for?”
“A book called ‘The Adventures of Yue and Tai’.”
“’It’s ‘The Adventures of Tai and Yue’ actually,” Renjun corrected proudly and it was Jaemin’s turn to roll his eyes mockingly. “It says it was written by some J.M. Barrie but that is a lie.”
“Hm. Let’s see. Here. It was donated by the Coetzee High School,” he informed quickly, turning his chair to look at the young boys again.
Our hero, unfortunately, wasn’t very pleased with the answer. “A fucking high school?!”
The mission made no sense whatsoever. The whole purpose was to go straight to the source. To get the name of the person who got that book and that person be the writer. That’s how it should be. Real life hero’s journeys were starting to be more complicated to Renjun than our hero had originally thought… All that work for a single book, maybe it wasn’t all worth it. Better to stay at home and read about investigations than living your own.
“Renjun!” Jaemin exclaimed, shocked with his hero’s lack of manner. He then turned to Yuta, smiling kindly. “Thank you so much, Mister Nakamoto, we will visit that high school now. I’m very grateful!”
Yuta just shrugged, still smiling brightly. “That’s fine, send my regards to Mister Moon and tell him to visit us more… we miss him.”
Jaemin nodded as he went out of the dark files room, being followed by a very grumpy Renjun.
✎
Renjun huffed annoyingly the minute they stepped out of the building into the sun. It was the beginning of early spring, flowers were starting to bloom, what made their city especially pretty. Nonetheless, our hero found himself disconnected with the city’s mood. “Who the fuck names their high school Coetzee anyway? Who is that?”
“A famous south African author.” Jaemin looked at him as if expecting Renjun to realize who that writer was. Renjun just stared back at him, his mind blank. “He won a Nobel for Literature?”
Renjun frowned at that information. “Who are you? How do you know that?!”
Well, that really made Jaemin the perfect sidekick for the journey. Besides his connections and optimism, he had a vast literary knowledge, perfect for picking literary clues. Our hero, on the other hand, was the one who cared about this mystery the most. Jaemin was there just for the fun and… well, Renjun didn’t quite understand why he was there after all, but he guessed he was being a good friend accompanying him through that.
“I literally work at a library and major in Literature, Renjun. Since you’re already skipping school we could go by that school and ask how they got the book.”
The boy sighed tiredly. “Okay…”
“Unless you’re a quitter like the heir of the Meigo Empire…” The librarian teased with a smirk. Renjun could clearly see what he was doing but could not hold his tongue.
“I’m not a quitter and neither was Xing, she just didn’t want to continue that ruthless dictatorship after she met Yue,” he replied, proudly knowing his Yue and Tai facts.
“You’re right, I was just teasing you. Which character do you like the most in the book?” Jaemin inquired, going down the stairs of the town hall. Renjun walked along with him. He knew perfectly well who his favorite character was, for it was them ever since he read the first pages of the book and should be one of his favorite characters of all time.
“Probably Yue. They are very sweet and always there for people who need them, but they don’t give up their beliefs for anyone in the world. How about you?”
Renjun could swear he saw Jaemin’s cheeks getting redder, but he wasn’t sure, as it could be an effect of the sun, and decided to ignore it. “I like Tai… They are kind of grumpy and annoying, but has some funny sarcastic remarks and when you get to know them, they are very soft for things they love… Sounds like someone I know…” the librarian winked at Renjun, who instead had a very sharp response.
“Mister Moon doesn’t look annoying to me.”
Jaemin stick his tongue out, his sweet smile gone. “You’re right, you’re the one who gets on my nerves. Let’s go to that school, star boy.” And their journey went on.
✎
“Excuse me, could we talk to the school’s librarian?” Jaemin asked the school’s secretary, after they had talked with the doorman and the first secretary. Renjun would never get private school’s bureaucracy, as if no one could enter their sacred grounds surrounded with big walls, buildings and technology. Well, Renjun was there and it looked nothing more than when the heroes enter an environment of oligarchies and richness, in which the rich people dressed weirdly (school uniforms) and looked down at the new adventurers.
“And you are?” inquired the secretary in a not very kind tone.
Jaemin didn’t even stutter though. He smiled brightly. If Renjun didn’t know him any better, he’d say he was being kind, but spending so many afternoons teasing and complaining to the librarian, he knew he showed that smile when he was clearly annoyed and didn’t want to show it. “Na Jaemin. I was a student here.”
Renjun looked at Jaemin shocked. That was some new information his ally forgot to mention on their way there and any information was very necessary for the mission. He refrained himself of making any remarks, however, for he didn’t want to piss off the secretary.
“I’ll see if Mister Lee can take you now,” the woman said, after checking the files and confirming that Jaemin was indeed a student and getting the school’s telephone to call the library sector.
“Thanks.”
“So that’s how you know who this Coetzee is!” Renjun whispered excitedly. Jaemin being from a private school also made complete sense. He was too correct for his own good. Renjun almost smiled thinking of Jaemin dressed in those silly uniforms, blazer and tie. He’d fit right in. But perhaps only on looks. Jaemin didn’t look like the happiest person ever walking around his school. He didn’t point at any place of memories or offer any old stories to Renjun proudly. Renjun got to know it through an ashamed half murmur to the secretary. His partner in crime didn’t want to be part of that oligarchy any longer. Or maybe he never truly wanted to be part of it. We don’t choose where we start our course, but surely find our way in the middle of it.
“You should really read his book Disgrace, it’s an interesting take on South Africa post-apartheid.” Jaemin simply replied and that was all it took for Renjun to understand he had no good backstory in those grounds, so Renjun huffed at that snob answer to put the matter to an end. “Whatever.”
“He said you two can go in,” the secretary informed and the two got out of her office with Jaemin leading the way. It was a very big school, with various buildings and one near the city’s forest. That was exactly the one Jaemin lead them to.
For the first time, the librarian looked excited to be there, in his old school. Jaemin stopped in front of a big white door, turning his back on it to look at Renjun, a mischievous smile on his lips. “Are you ready to be starstruck, star boy?”
“What? Am I going to meet the person of my dreams?” Renjun asked back, skeptic with the sudden excitement.
“Hm, maybe not the person, but the place of your dreams.” Jaemin’s smile grew even bigger as he opened the doors behind him.
They entered the most beautiful library Renjun had ever set his eyes on. Its main color was white, so it was extremely shiny and well lit. The shelves were light grey and had books sorted by color, like a beautiful rainbow. Other than that, it had enormous windows facing the forest outside and a big tree situated on its center. Of course, no library had a better center than Jaemin’s library, for the librarian himself was at the heart of it, but that library was a close second, Renjun knew that.
Now Renjun could completely understand Jaemin’s love for libraries.
Before he could even gasp in amazement, a slim man with a bow tie and dark hair approached them. He had kind big eyes and smiled when he spotted Jaemin.
“Jaemin! How are you?” he exclaimed, getting closer to hug Jaemin, who hugged him back. Renjun was glad he had come so fast, so he wouldn’t give the sweet taste of victory to Jaemin.
“I’ve been good, Taeyong, how are you?” He asked, getting out of the hug.
“I’m okay, hope college isn’t eating you up.” He talked freely, not caring about how loud he was. The library was completely empty, the students and teachers probably at class and he was his own supervisor, so he didn’t care for sound as much as Jaemin did.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m fine. This is Renjun, we are here to learn about a book,” Jaemin kindly introduced them. Renjun nodded shortly. It was weird seeing someone who was apparently so intimate towards Jaemin. He was probably friends with him when he studied there, and they technically had the same sort of relationship he himself and Jaemin had, as librarian and book reader. However, they looked way more intimate towards each other and Renjun wondered if Jaemin didn’t like him as much as he had initially thought.
“It’s called ‘The Adventures of Tai and Yue’ and it says it’s written by J.M. Barrie, but that’s a lie because all that he published had to do with Peter Pan,” he explained, as they followed Taeyong to his grey desk. The only things allowed to have colors there were the books and people’s clothes apparently.
“Hm, let me look in the school’s database,” he said while typing in the information given. “It apparently was given to us two years ago by… Simmel.” He looked at the boys and the boys looked at him, waiting for more. “That’s all I have. The guy doesn’t even have a first name.”
Renjun was speechless. His head was starting to spin. He went all over town with Jaemin to reach a dead end? Not only a dead end, but a clueless dead end, for he knew nothing of Simmel. “Who is Simmel?”
“The German sociologist who created the concept of Zeitgeist maybe?” Jaemin suggested, uncertain.
“That’s Hegel. Simmel upgraded that theory, of course, but he wrote most about the urban cities and how they affected the individual. He is also dead…” Taeyong corrected, but Renjun wasn’t properly listening. He was starting to zone out. After all, what was the purpose of all this if it all ended in a single last name. No address. Not even a first name. How could someone just put their soul in that work of art and just vanish like this? Why leave any trail?
“Renjun? Are you okay?” Jaemin asked, clearly worried. He touched Renjun’s arm, who flinched. His mind was overthinking so much, he was starting to cold sweat and shy away from any human touch. There was a war starting in his headspace.
“What do a Scottish playwright, a south African Nobel prize winner and a German sociologist have in common? Like, this makes no sense at all,” he said, trying to connect the dots but he was coming up short. That book had touched Renjun’s soul. He had nearly cried when Tai was about to die, but the planet itself gave them their life back. He had laughed with Yue and Tai’s constant teasing. He had felt deeply when Yue made Xing their new friend, despite from where she came from. All this, however, all this beautifully complex universe of adventure, politics and human relations, didn’t exist beyond those pages. The author didn’t even exist. Or maybe they did, but didn’t want to be found, so for Renjun they were as existent as Tai, Yue and that whole gibberish or saving that dumb universe.
“Yeah, but I’m sure we can figure it out if we work together, Renjunie,” Jaemin tried to be optimistic, filling his role of sidekick nicely. He couldn’t, however, meet Renjun’s eyes, for the boy kept avoiding his gaze.
“No. We cannot. I get a sense I’m being played with and I don’t like that at all…” he answered sharply, trying to control his overworking mind at the same time as trying to control his actions in the real world. Sometimes Renjun thought it hard to do both at the same time, they were both so loud and in constant need of attention, and this was becoming one of those times in which he ended up not being able to respond to either his mind or the real world.
“I’m sure it’s not that, maybe the writer is just shy-“ Jaemin tried appealing, but he was just creating more noise inside Renjun’s head and anything at that moment was able to make him lose his mind.
“Stop it, Jaemin, I’m tired! I’m not going to run after a writer who doesn’t want to be found. This just gets me stressed,” he exclaimed through the empty library. His voice could be heard through every corner of it. Jaemin even stepped back in surprise, but again, a good sidekick never gives up, and he was hopelessly trying to cheer Renjun up in continuing that even more hopeless journey.
He approached Renjun slowly, his tone of voice very low, and he tried to show him a half smile. “Hey, Renjun-ah, this is like the treasure hunt tale in the adventures of Tai and Yue. They had a disagreement in the middle, but decided to go on, till they realized Tai knew the answer all along and the major clue laid with Yue.”
Renjun finally stared at Jaemin and his expression was cold. Of all things Jaemin could be saying right now, he shouldn’t quote that damned book that was leading them nowhere. That book that meant nothing for it had no author to answer his questions about Tai and Yue’s future, the end of the Meigo empire or how would Xing continue her redemption journey. There was no after. It was done. Renjun was silly to fall in love with such a book. Books could never love him back and he always settled for it, but they were always there when he needed them and could always give him more content, and this one’s extra content was nonexistent, which just further proved it was silly. Sillier even to look for a silly thing, and that was what they were doing at that moment. Better to stop before getting even more hurt and disappointed.
“This is not like that. That isn’t realistic. Maybe that’s why I liked it so much,” Renjun murmured, so only Jaemin could hear. He was fighting back angry tears. He didn’t want to cry in front of him. He let out a final sigh. “I’m just tired. I’m going now, Jaemin.”
Renjun went to the library door, hiding his face with his hair, so no one would see him crying. He hated the fact he’d cry so easily when he felt himself powerless or just simply alone. People never knew how to react when they saw someone crying, especially a boy. He was almost getting to the door, when he was intercepted by Jaemin.
“Let me buy you something to eat first-“ He started saying but stopped when he saw Renjun’s tears. He was speechless. Renjun couldn’t wait any longer, so he walked past Jaemin to the door.
“No, I’m good. Thanks for the help,” he managed to utter.
And just like that, our hero was gone. Maybe he had another hero’s journey along his life’s way, but that one wasn’t it. It was just causing him tiredness, disappointment and heartbreak.
✎
He breathed deeply before entering those gates again. It hadn’t been that long, maybe a week, but those were centuries when considered he used to go there practically every day. He didn’t quite like reading at home, his siblings were too loud, and his parents didn’t care too much to order the house around. However, he liked reading in the park or at his grandma’s and he used to read at those places very often before, until Jaemin replaced the old librarian and it wasn’t that the park and his grandma weren’t nice, but it was good he could actually rant about a book after reading it or just annoy Jaemin when his eyes were tired of reading. They had created sort of a routine, and Renjun broke that the minute he left Coetzee’s school library. Especially with the way he left. He wasn’t sure their routine could get back on track and that scared him, but brave heroes needed to face their fears and wrongdoings and that was exactly what he was doing.
Jaemin didn’t hear him coming in, too focused on reading a book. It was ‘Left Hand of Darkness’ and Renjun half smiled, amused with that choice. He didn’t even have to recommend a sci-fi for Jaemin to be reading one already. “Hello.” Jaemin almost jumped out of his seat, startled not only by someone talking, but by who was talking.
“Renjun! I-I haven’t seen you in awhile, I thought you were going to other libraries,” said Jaemin, trying to contain his childish excitement in seeing his used company back.
“I was, but for research purposes,” Renjun declared, mysteriously, making Jaemin arch his eyebrows, curious. He was actually very happy inside that Jaemin was just as kind and adorable as always, of course he wouldn’t hold any grudge, that was not a thing his sidekick would do.
“Oh?”
“Did you know I actually read that book called Disgrace?” He inquired, his smile growing larger.
Jaemin looked pleasantly surprised with that news. “What did you think of it?”
“I was very disgusted by the main character, but that’s not the point. I also looked up about Simmel and I found another Simmel, an Austrian writer.”
“Did you also read his work?” Jaemin asked, looking interested and eager to continue the conversation, but Renjun suspected there was more to that reaction.
“No, but that wasn’t part of my research.”
“I thought you had given up finding the author.”
He had never actually given up. He couldn’t sleep without that missing piece of the puzzle. It haunted him. Even if the author was some drunken Italian loser or if they were already dead, Renjun had to know. He owned that answer not only to himself, but also to Jaemin, who bravely stood by his side when they looked for clues and when he was being the worst of humans with him. An answer was to be found, the mission had to be completed, that’s why the story is being told.
He couldn’t, however, just admit that to Jaemin, so he simply shrugged. “I guess I started seeing it as my own little treasure hunt and stopped being so frustrated… Nonetheless, do you know what Barrie, Coetzee and Simmel have in common?”
“They are all literature writers,” Jaemin answered dead on.
“Also correct, but their pen names as writers are J.M. Barrie, J.M. Coetzee and J.M. Simmel,” Renjun explained slowly, watching Jaemin closely.
Jaemin looked unfazed with that discovery. “Wow, what a coincidence.”
“I don’t think so, I think it was an orchestrated clue, that was very easy and very hard to spot at the same time. Because the writer is someone who is indeed shy, but can’t help sign his name on it,” Renjun said, leaning closer to the librarian’s table. He stared the librarian right in the eye, his smirk not leaving his lips. “Isn’t that right, Jaemin?”
“You tell me,” he answered simply and Renjun knew he wouldn’t back out unless he asked a direct question on the matter.
“Why did you write it?” asked the dark-haired boy, trying to act cool, when, in reality, he wanted to throw a thousand questions to the librarian.
He looked shy when questioned and couldn’t keep up his façade any longer. Jaemin couldn’t meet Renjun’s eyes and just looked around. “It was just for fun…”
He interrupted any apologetic nonsense Jaemin was about to say because he knew even before listening to them, that they weren’t true. Tai and Yue’s Adventures were not just for fun. They were also for fun and Renjun could agree to that. But that level of creation, worldbuilding, character development in such few pages demand a commitment. That was hard work at its finest. “Stop it. You put actual work into it.”
“Not that much. I just enjoy writing things for people I like.”
“Do you usually make the people you like go on a treasure hunt for it?” Renjun questioned sharply, making Jaemin turn his head to face him. Their eyes locked. It all made sense to our hero at that moment. No book of science fiction could ever describe the feeling, but he knew what it was because he was feeling it right at that moment, on the only well light side of the library, with Jaemin. He just hoped Jaemin was feeling it too.
“No, but you’re special,” the librarian said, serious. And for the first time being referred to as special didn’t make Renjun feel like an outcast or outsider. He actually felt what he wondered special people would feel. He liked being special for Jaemin. He liked it so much he couldn’t believe it was true.
“Am I?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty obvious already, Renjun-ah.”
Renjun couldn’t bear looking at Jaemin anymore. He was blushing so hard, he could feel his cheeks and ears on fire. He was supposed to play the cool detective who just figured out the case, but he was just playing his shy boy’s role again and it was all Jaemin’s fault. “It wasn’t obvious to me,” he whispered.
“Well, now it is,” Jaemin simply put, smiling again.
“Sorry for being so rude to you that day…” Renjun murmured, awfully ashamed of himself. He had guessed that when he found the author, if they were alive and near reach, he would scream at them, ask him why did they hide, why didn’t they publish that work of art so more people of the world could read it, why didn’t they give Xing a proper ending and ask a thousand unanswered questions about Tai and Yue’s universe and how they came about. Also, maybe asking them to sign the book would be nice too.
Yet, there he stood, quiet, looking down, with no words to say because he was utterly ashamed of how he had acted to his sidekick and now, newfound author.
“I guess I was really playing with you, after all. But I wanted to spend some more time with you. I didn’t know you’d get so into it and… I can’t say I was mad that you did, to be honest. Knowing something I created made you so excited also excited me somehow.” Jaemin then smiled to himself with that cherished memory and Renjun really tried not to be dramatic, but he couldn’t think of any smile truest than that one. He also noticed how little an effect Jaemin expected his own work to have on Renjun, when it expanded his imagination and made him feel like the characters in the story. He had to make him see how extraordinary that book was, not only as a book, but as a gift too.
“How couldn’t I get excited? You planned this whole universe, characters and plot, it was out of this world, one of the best works I had ever read. This was truly the most special thing someone has ever done for me.”
The librarian, however, didn’t take the compliment. He just looked at Renjun worriedly. “People should do you more justice then.”
Jaemin was too humble to get how incredibly touching that book of tales had been to Renjun. He had donated his time, mind and heart into writing a whole book of short stories, planning it in advance, printing it in hardcover and leaving small little clues just so Renjun could find his way to the heart of it all, that was there all along. That required a level of effort beyond what Renjun would expect or require from anyone he knew. Effort Jaemin expected to go unnoticed, because he didn’t think it a big deal, when it was. Renjun, however, had plenty of time to convince him he was wrong and decided to ignore that for now.
Renjun sighed. He knew what he had to do. He had to take his last step as a hero. He had to complete the mission. That was his calling all along. It was never finding the author, but noticing his answer laid right next to him. That was the importance of a hero’s journey after all. The hero’s findings and answers are never as important as the journey itself and throughout his mission, Renjun had the pleasure of being near Jaemin, getting to know him better and letting him inside his heart, was it by his soft smile and personality or by the amazing universe of Tai and Yue. The journey was almost completed.
He took a deep breath and regained his courage, looking at Jaemin and trying not to avert his eyes. “Would you go out with me?”
After all that searching, after all those clues and puzzles and after all his walking around town, Renjun had found his answer, and it laid right where it started. He just didn’t know that whole time that the question he was asking was wrong. This time, he was getting it right though. And even if he wanted to know all about Yue, Tai, Xing and the Meigo Empire, the thing he wanted to know the most at that moment, was the answer to his question. Other than that, he wanted to learn more about Jaemin. Ask him thousands of questions about his childhood, his family, what he liked to do, why did he study Literature and more. He wanted to discover the sweet librarian that was before him more than any book he had ever laid his eyes on. But, for that, Jaemin first needed the answer to that single question.
His heart was beating so fast, Renjun was sure Jaemin could hear it. The librarian smiled as the boy leaned over his table and approached him, smiling brightly. “I was waiting for you to ask.”
This adventure is now completed. The rest, I leave for your imagination.