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“Pst,” Jihoon whispered as he tapped the desk at the front of the library. It took a few taps before Wonwoo looked up and saw him. Quietly, he stood up from his swivel chair and pecked Jihoon on his cheek as he reached over the counter.
“You’re earlier than usual,” Wonwoo grinned as he watched Jihoon walk around to the back where the employees reside. “Was your class cancelled?”
Jihoon shook his head while humming as he put his backpack on the ground leaning against the inside of his desk space. He sat in his chair and rolled it closer next to Wonwoo. “We had a test, but I finished it pretty quickly, so I just came straight here.” His boyfriend nodded and went back to the book he was reading. Jihoon smiled. He always loved observing how nice and peaceful Wonwoo seemed when he reads. “How’s everything so far?”
“The plot just started,” Wonwoo replied as he looked up from his book to talk to Jihoon. “I think after a few more chapter, we’ll see some character development.”
Jihoon blinked and tried to hold in his laughter. “I meant in the library... How are you handling the fort?”
“Oh.” Wonwoo put in his bookmark as he tried to hide his blushing face. “Well,” he coughed, “one of the computers on this floor isn’t working, but I already called a Jisoo hyung to handle that. Oh, and the third floor is getting rowdy again.”
Jihoon grunted as he leaned back in his chair. “Is it the guys again?” he asked as Wonwoo nodded his head. He grunted again. “Seriously?” he sighed in quiet tone. Jihoon stood up from his desk and pecked Wonwoo’s cheek before he headed for the elevators. “I’ll be back.” Wonwoo smiled and waved at Jihoon, making a mental note to check on him make sure he doesn't cause a scene.
–
“Mingyu!” Jihoon exclaimed as his friends were in full view. Mingyu turned around as he was leaning his chair back and resting his feet on the table and waved at Jihoon happily. The other two, Minghao and Seokmin, called Jihoon’s name out loudly to greet him. Jihoon angrily slapped Mingyu's waving hand down, making him flinch in his seat as his chair stood on the ground normally and he pulled his feet off the table towards the ground as well.
“Whoa, what gives?” Mingyu asked in complete shock as Jihoon looked at him with a deadpan expression.
“How many times do I have to tell you,” Jihoon snarled in a harsh yet quiet tone, “this is the silent floor of the library.”
“We were being quiet, hyung!” Seokmin added as he stuffed his mouth full of chips. The mere sight of his bag of chips and the sound of the loud chomping made Jihoon's eye twitch.
Jihoon grabbed Seokmin’s bag of chips. “And no eating up here either. Do you not see the number of signs that say ‘ no eating in the library?’ ” Seokmin frowned but continued to chew the chips in his closed mouth slowly as he hid the bag under the table between his legs.
Jihoon then glared over at Minghao. Somewhat afraid, Minghao quickly went back to typing on his laptop. Before Jihoon could say anything else, Wonwoo walked over to the table. “Did you yell at them already?” From the looks of it, the three boys at the table have been talked to already.
“Hyung won’t let me eat my chips,” Seokmin pouted.
Wonwoo flicked Seokmin's forehead, causing him to whine. “I told you that you can’t eat up here a million times already…”
Mingyu groaned as went back to rocking back and forth in his chair. “Okay mom and dad, we’ll behave from now on, don’t you two worry.” Before Jihoon could even speak, Wonwoo tugged at his shirt by the shoulder and motioned Jihoon to follow him. The three waved as they watched Jihoon and Wonwoo walk away.
Just as he was about to ask why Wonwoo wanted Jihoon to leave, he intertwined his hand with his, making Jihoon forget anything he was about to say. “They’re not being loud anymore and that’s all that matters,” Wonwoo smiled as if he was reading Jihoon’s mind.
Jihoon sighed in defeat and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. “Alright, fine…” He pouted, causing Wonwoo to snicker at the cute and rare sight.
“Let’s take the long way so we can catch up,” Wonwoo whispered. With a nod, Jihoon went to the right with him towards the stairwell. “So how was your week so far?”
Jihoon gently swung their intertwined hands back and forth as they both walked down the corridor. “It’s been alright. Nothing too stressful. The test we took today was easy since it was open notes.”
“Oh, that’s good to hear,” Wonwoo smiled. He let go of his hand real quick to open the door to the stairwell for Jihoon. A subtle and kind gesture that Wonwoo is known for doing, causing Jihoon to blush a bit. After they were both in, he put his hand back in Jihoon’s as they headed down the stairs slowly so they could take their time to talk. “Did you have that meeting with your advisor?”
Jihoon shook his head. “He cancelled it yesterday. Apparently he had a meeting he didn’t know about so he cancelled all of his appointments.”
“Wow, that’s rough,” Wonwoo replied. “But he seems to do that a lot. Maybe he should get an assistant,” he joked.
“I'll say,” Jihoon rolled his eyes in annoyance. “But he said we'll reschedule it to next week. Anyway, how are you?” Jihoon asked back as they continued down the flights of stairs. “It’s been so long since our library duty schedules lined up.”
“It has,” he chuckled, “it's been, what, a good three weeks? At least we’re with each other now.” Wonwoo smiled. “I’m good. I have a research paper due on Monday and a book review due on Tuesday. I also have a meeting tomorrow and a fundraiser event this Saturday.”
“Oh gosh,” Jihoon blinked. “That’s such a busy schedule.”
“It’s okay, you know I like busy work,” Wonwoo grinned.
Jihoon nodded. He coughed and looked away shyly. “Well… don’t stress yourself out too much though, okay?” Jihoon suggested. Wonwoo looked over to see that Jihoon was very sincere with his words, something he struggles with but Wonwoo seriously appreciated.
Wonwoo leaned over to peck Jihoon’s cheek as they reached the bottom floor, causing Jihoon to gasp flustered. “Don’t worry too much,” he smiled with a slight chuckle. “I’ll be fine. Your Nonu is a strong boy!”
Jihoon laughed as he opened the door for the both of them. “I’m well aware that my Nonu is the strongest,” he joked as he pinched Wonwoo's cheek.
“Okay, okay,” Wonwoo laughed as Jihoon let go of his cheek. He winced in pain as he rubbed his face. “On second thought, that really hurt. I’m not that strong after all.”
The two of them continued chuckling as they passed by another friend. Jihoon stopped in his tracks as he tapped Wonwoo’s shoulder to see. He turned around and tried to contain himself as both of you spotted your friend, Seungcheol, curled up on the table sleeping. On top of that, he was using one of his textbooks as a blanket.
“This is too good,” Wonwoo muttered as he took out his phone and took a quick snapshot of the scene.
Jihoon silently strided over to Seungcheol and saw he was knocked out. Looking at the papers sprawled over the table, and his laptop that was on sleep mode, he was busy working on something. “Pst,” Jihoon whispered as he shook Seungcheol. “Hyung, wake up,”” he said as he shook him more aggressively.
“Oh, let him sleep,” Wonwoo said as he pulled Jihoon away from the table. “He was busy working on an engineering paper all night. I came in and found him working at this table.”
Jihoon sighed. “Well, if that’s the case, couldn’t he have gone to the couches on the second floor?”
Wonwoo shrugged. “Looks like he was too tired to do that.” As Jihoon was thinking with what to do with Seungcheol, Wonwoo took off his jacket and laid it on top of Seungcheol. Jihoon looked at his boyfriend in shock. “It’s better than using the textbook as a blanket,” he whispered. Wonwoo slid the textbook from underneath his sleeping friend and put it near Seungcheol’s laptop.
“But…the jacket…”
Wonwoo waved it off as the two of them continued walking to the front desk as he tugged at Jihoon's hand. “Ah, he knows it’s mine and he knows where to find me when he needs to return it.”
Jihoon smiled at Wonwoo's sincerity towards their friend. “You’re so nice,” he beamed.
“I’m an angel,” he joked as the two of them turned the corner heading back to the front desk. “Speaking of which,” he began as he waved over at the person waiting at the front for them.
Jihoon looked up and saw that Chan was patiently waiting with a book in hand, hugging it against his chest as he rocked between his heels and toes. Chan spotted the two of them and waved with a warm smile on his face. “What brings you here?” Jihoon asked.
“Ah, hyung. I was just wondering if you could help me find the place where this book is supposed to go,” Chan answered as he showed Jihoon and Wonwoo the book in his hands.
They blinked. “Chan… you don’t have to do that,” Wonwoo chuckled. “It’s our job to put the books back on the shelves in their proper place. Just put it on the cart at the front door...”
“Oh, but I know it’s a hassle for you guys,” he blinked, “so I was just going to do it myself,” Chan responded.
“Ah… so pure,” Jihoon sighed quietly as he shook his head. “Here,” he offered as he motioned Chan to follow him, “I’ll show you where it goes.” Chan nodded as he followed behind Jihoon, waving at Wonwoo who opted to stay at the front desk.
Jihoon turned to wave at Wonwoo. “I’ll be back.”
Wonwoo smiled as he returned to his position behind the desk. “Take your time,” he called out as he reciprocated the wave. “I’ll be here,” With a relaxed sigh,he leaned back in his chair and picked up his book again.
To his surprise, Wonwoo found a sticky note on top of his book. Looking at it, this was definitely Jihoon's handwriting. He poked his head up and looked around his surroundings to see if Jihoon was still nearby, but he wasn't. Wonwoo wasn’t even aware that Jihoon wrote a note in the first place, let alone stick it to his book.
“He's so sneaky,” Wonwoo chuckled. He peeled off the note carefully to read it properly. “The character development is great in this book,” Wonwoo read Jihoon's note aloud to himself. “And the ending is the best part. I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I did. Love you.” Wonwoo chuckled as he stuck the note back onto the front of his book again. He opened the book and leaned back in his seat. The resolution of the book might be the best part, but Jihoon was certainly the best part in Wonwoo's life.