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They really aren’t supposed to be in here.
The campus closes at ten, and it’s approximately a quarter after ten right now. Everyone has gone home for the night, leaving the hallowed halls of their university’s library dark, abandoned, and void of life. Or at least that should be the case, would be the case if not for Jisung and Seungmin seemingly getting locked in.
“Oh my god, we’re seriously stuck,” Seungmin groans, slamming on a door they’ve already checked twice one more time for good measure. Jisung winces at the sound it makes, creaky old wood mixed with modern push handles and lock fixtures.
“It’s ok, maybe there’s another-”
“There’s not another door. We’ve checked every exit, this is the last one. We’re stuck,” Seungmin reiterates, dropping his bag and leaning back against the doorframe. “We’re stuck and it’s my fault.”
“It’s not your fault, we just had bad timing. Don’t blame yours-”
“It is my fault,” Seungmin whines, cutting Jisung off again. In the months they’ve been friends, Jisung has never seen him like this. Seungmin, age nineteen, who is typically the collected and logical type, who has a plan for almost everything, is throwing an absolute temper tantrum. It would be cute if it wasn’t so annoying.
“I should have known we didn’t have time to get the book and stopped us, so it’s on me too,” Jisung says. He knew it would be tight running from the dining hall to the library with minutes to spare before close, but Seungmin had sworn he knew exactly where the book he needed was. Apparently it was urgent, he had something due tomorrow and absolutely needed it. Jisung looks around at the darkened hall surrounding them, lit only by the glow of neon signs pointing out the nearest restrooms.
Doesn’t seem like he’ll be getting it done any time soon.
“Yeah but I ignored the announcements.”
“If anything, it’s the elevator’s fault for taking so damn long. Listen I’m sure we can get someone to come,” Jisung assures his friend. Seungmin looks miserable. It’s a shame, because they’d been having a really nice evening before all this happened. He likes eating with Seungmin, he never judges when Jisung comes back to the table with extra ice cream and he always finds humor in his jokes, even if the response is more of an eye roll than an actual laugh sometimes.
“Who the hell is going to come?”
“Campus secur-”
“Surely this isn’t the kind of thing they’re meant for. We’re not in actual danger, just two dumbasses stuck in a library. They have more import-”
“Seungmin,” Jisung interrupts, trying to cut his friend off.
It fails.
“-ant things to do than rescue people who can’t listen to announcements. They announced it like four times while we were here. Why did we-”
“Seungmin!” Jisung tries again louder. He tilts his head down as if to listen to Jisung’s complaints, but his eyes are glazed over and he just keeps talking. He’s taken to pouting his words out, lips pursed in annoyance. He really can be cute. But holy shit does Jisung need him to stop talking.
“- think we were special? We thought we were exempt? Or too good for the rules? How stupid can we mhmhhhh-”
Jisung tries to keep his mouth shut by pressing up on Seungmin’s chin, which works for approximately ten seconds before Seungmin swipes at his arm and gains freedom again. He’s seriously panicking and Jisung has no idea what to do, but he needs to call security. Which means he needs Seungmin to shut up.
“Seungmin, I really need you to be quiet now.”
“I can’t be quiet, I’m sorry. I don’t know how, I’m freaking out. I have so much shit to do and we’re stuck in this old ass building and I’m pretty sure it’s haunted-”
Jisung lets him ramble on with his absolute nonsense for a couple more seconds before realizing that maybe, just maybe, if he’s panicking about something else he can’t keep going on about the stupid library. At the very least, this will shut him up for a couple seconds.
“- and I don’t believe in ghosts, not really but-”
Jisung takes a deep breath and leans in to his friend, lips puckered up in an exaggerated pout as he plants them on Seungmin’s rambling mouth. For a second he doesn’t seem to register what’s going on, just keeps pushing out a few more syllables of nonsense until his lips still and Jisung pulls away.
“Please be quiet now,” Jisung says, pulling out his phone and searching online for the campus security number. Seungmin does as he’s told, simply blinking at him with a void look on his face. Jisung makes the call successfully, and though he has to fight back a blush when explaining the situation to the woman on the line, he gets confirmation that someone will be by to get them shortly. When he hangs up the phone Seungmin is still staring at him. “What? I’m sorry, I needed you to be quiet.”
“Yeah,” Seungmin says, apparently now at a loss for words.
“Someone is going to be by in ten minutes,” Jisung says. Seungmin seems shell-shocked, and he’s not sure if the awkward silence is really much better than the rambling from before.
“Okay.”
Jisung puts his bag down, preparing to take a seat on the floor and get comfortable while they wait until Seungmin grabs his elbow and keeps him upright. Jisung looks at him questioningly.
“Why would you do that of all things?” Seungmin asks, the grip on his arm remaining.
“Listen, I’m sorry, but you were spiralling about being trapped and I got that. But then you were talking about ghosts or something. You don’t even believe in ghosts. I was trying to snap you out of it.”
“I ramble when I’m scared,” Seungmin says.
“I know that now.”
“Are you going to do that every time I’m scared?” Seungmin asks. Jisung tries very hard not to overanalyze his tone, but it’s hard not to notice that underneath the teasing lilt it almost sounds a little bit… hopeful?
“Um,” Jisung starts, trying to find words. His gaze slips down to Seungmin’s lips again for a split second before he trains them back up. “Probably… not? Unless that’s the only thing that works?” His voice comes out squeakier than intended.
“Ok, got it. So that was,” Seungmin pauses to clear his throat before finishing his sentence. “That was the only reason, then?”
“Seungmin?”
“Because I’m still kind of scared, this place is really creepy. And like you know, I have a tendency to ramble when I’m scared. So I’m just saying, now that I’m thinking about it, it wasn’t that bad of an option. Old buildings creep me out, you know?”
“Seungmin?” Jisung tries again. He continues rambling on. If Jisung didn’t know any better, he’d think he was doing this on purpose.
“It just worked really well, you know-” Seungmin continues. Jisung cautiously brings a hand to his friend's cheek, waiting for some kind of reaction. Seungmin meets his eyes, and already they’re totally different from before. Clear and confident. Certainly not scared.
Oh, he’s definitely doing this on purpose.
Jisung smiles at him, a smile that says I know what you’re doing. Seungmin continues on his rampage and smirks back. It’s hard not to think about how nice it might be to wipe that smug look away.
So he does. Jisung leans in again, cutting Seungmin off with his own lips, only this time the response is different. Seungmin stops talking immediately, instead meeting Jisung in a real, reciprocal kiss. His lips are soft and sweet, which Jisung hadn’t fully noticed before. It might be the leftover taste of dining hall ice cream, but Jisung is pretty sure it’s just because it’s Seungmin. Before things can go much further, Jisung sees an industrial grade flashlight outside the door, blinding even through closed eyes. He pulls away reluctantly, pleased when he sees Seungmin looks just as upset that it’s ending.
So cute.
Jisung wants to say something; ask what this means, if Seungmin likes him, figure out if he likes Seungmin. He’s leaning towards a yes on the last one, probably has been for a while even if he’s been repressing it. Seungmin is really, really cute. But then he hears the metal sound of keys in a lock and is snapped back to reality as his friend jolts away from the door to let it open.
“You two okay?” a female officer asks, glancing at the two of them and waving the flashlight up and down to inspect their bodies.
“We’re okay,” Seungmin says politely, picking up his and Jisung’s backpack before handing the latter over. “Thank you for coming to help us.”
Jisung can’t help but be amused by the change in demeanor, though he doesn’t think it’s appropriate to laugh. Instead he follows the other two out wordlessly, smiling in thanks when the officer tells them to get home safe. As they start the walk back to their dorms Seungmin speaks up again.
“You know what else scares the shit out of me?”
Jisung looks over at him, faced straight ahead with his hands clutching his backpack straps tightly. “What?”
“Romantic dinners,” Seungmin says, smiling but not turning around.
“Oh yeah?” Jisung asks, barely holding back a laugh. “Interesting.”
“And first dates. God, I can never stop rambling on first dates. Nothing can shut me up.”
“Oh, really now?,” Jisung says, stopping in place. Seungmin stops with him, finally turning to look at his friend. “I’d like to see that firsthand.”
“Yeah, it’s true. Your method would probably come in handy.”
“Maybe we should try it out sometime?” Jisung asks. Seungmin certainly isn’t making this easy, but this little shift in their dynamic is interesting to say the least. Jisung can’t help but want to see where it goes.
“As long as you won’t get sick of my voice.”
“If I do, I have a solution.”