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The door creaked and a boy slipped into the dimly lit entryway. Seungmin could see the lobby area clearly through his peripheral, so he couldn’t be bothered to lift his head from his notes, even though the newcomer was the only person in the library save for Seungmin himself.
Papers rustled from behind the front desk as the boy sat at his position, making Seungmin smile to himself. He clearly wasn’t liking the vibe between the two of them – understandable, seeing as it was approaching three in the morning and the city was silent around them.
Finally, feet came padding towards him, and the words from Felix’s mouth were exactly fitting for him (or at least Seungmin thought, considering he’d not once spoken a word to the Australian boy):
“You have too many books out.”
Seungmin did his best not to smirk knowingly– an easy task considering he’d been known since childhood to have an immobile face (pleasant, but controlled, practiced).
“Pardon?” said Seungmin lightly, thumbing his notes over to a fresh page and setting his pen down before smiling up at the boy.
“The maximum is four,” said Felix indignantly, “and you have…” He trailed off, trying and somewhat failing to properly count all the texts lying across Seungmin’s desk.
“Six,” supplied Seungmin helpfully.
“Six!” echoed Felix, in the same tone as before. “Six!”
“Yes, six,” said Seungmin patiently. “But, there’s no one here, so I’m sure it’s fine, yes?”
“Rules are rules,” huffed Felix, crossing his arms and cocking his eyebrow. Seungmin swallowed a giggle. Cute. “I enforce the rules.”
“Huh,” said Seungmin, by way of agreement. He looked down at the scattered books, nodding decisively. “Can’t argue that. I’ll go put some back.”
Felix smirked, thinking he’d won. He turned to go back to his position at the front desk, but Seungmin caught him, adding it almost as an afterthought while he made himself look like he was packing it up. “How was the party?”
“Huh?” said Felix, turning back towards Seungmin.
“It’s why you’re late, right?” said Seungmin, keeping his conversational tone free of the mirth he truly felt and full of polite pleasantry. He didn’t, however, miss the flash of panic that crossed Felix’s pretty freckled face.
“How would you know that I’m late?” he scoffed.
“Your shift started at one,” said Seungmin, making sure that while his words were accusatory, his tone was nothing short of amicable. “It’s a little past three. I’m here a lot. You’re late… a lot.”
“What, are you stalking me?” said Felix in a slightly more worried tone.
“No sir,” said Seungmin, sitting down and opening the books he’d closed. Once he had his things sorted, he looked back up at the Australian, who was in the same frozen position as before. Seungmin unleashed a smile, the kind with all his teeth that he knew made people swoon at his innocence. “I’m stalking education and knowledge.”
Felix stared at him, his fierce glare betrayed by the saccharine rose spreading across his collarbones and ears. Seungmin continued smiling until finally the silent exchange ended and the brown-headed boy visibly deflated.
“Yeah, ‘kay,” he said, not having much else to say. He turned away from the table, shaking his head to himself. “I need coffee.”
The last bit was mumbled, not really for Seungmin to hear, but who was he to lose up on such a polite and kind offer? “I like mine with two sugars. Thank you!”