Chapter Text
The heat made the pavement seem like it was sweating. The air hung heavy over the small town. Like even the wind had given up trying to move. You can clearly hear the cicadas screamed from the trees as if they too were protesting the weather – just like Moon Hyeonjun. Summer had always been fun for him, but why did this one feel so much harder?
Everything felt too bright, too loud, too much.
For Hyeonjun, it was war.
And no. This was not a dramatic metaphor. It was an actual war.
Him versus the heat.
The sun? It was his enemy.
The humidity? His most relentless foe.
And in this small town where only the rich had air-conditioning units humming like lullabies, Hyeonjun was not among the fortunate few.
He was doing fine, he told himself. Just fine.
Well, if by fine you meant laying on the floor in his shorts with arms outstretched like a melting popsicle and questioning every life decision that led to him being born without central cooling, then probably he was indeed thriving. His squeaky old fan did nothing to help coolen down his body. It blew warm air around like an insult.
This could not be his life.
Hyeonjun immediately woke up, grabbed his backpack, swiped the dustiest book off his desk and rushed off to his safe haven. To that one place that he knew could save him.
The double doors of the town library creaked open like they were groaning in protest.
Hyeonjun stumbled in, dramatically dragging his feet and his backpack behind him. Without even acknowledging the front desk of the library, he collapsed onto the sagging sofa directly across from it. At a glance, someone might mistake him for a very tired starfish.
“Bless the air-conditioning,” he gasped up at the ceiling. “I swear this is the only place in town that doesn’t want me dead.”
From behind the counter, Mun, the senior librarian, who barely glanced up from her computer, let out a long-suffering sigh. She was far too familiar with the human thunderstorm who had just burst into the library.
“Moon Hyeonjun.”
Hyeonjun cracked his one eye open, “Mmm?”
“You’re three weeks late returning that book.”
Hyeonjun groaned louder, rolling to his side like it physically pained him to respond. He reached into his bag and pulled out a thick hardcover, waving it limply. “You mean this?”
Mun glanced over. “Yes, that.”
“Noona, you know I only borrowed it so you’d stop accusing me of loitering, right?” Hyeonjun said, dragging himself upright like it was the greatest hardship of his life. He shuffled over to the counter. As dramatic as ever.
“Go home if you’re just going to sleep here. This is a library, not a napping station,’” he mimicked in a pitch perfect imitation of Mun’s scolding tone. “So I just grabbed the first thing that reminded me of something I like .”
Mun squinted at the title of the book in front of her with a hundred questions started to pop out inside her mind, “Quantum Mechanics: A Beginner’s Approach?”
He nodded. Dead serious. “It said ‘Quantum’ and I thought of Ant-Man. That makes sense, doesn’t it?”
Hyeonjun had always been a simple-minded kind of person. Sometimes in the most creative way. But most of the times? It could be a little bit concerning. In his brain, anything with the same word had to be related somehow. Quantum physics? Quantum realm? Same difference. Probably not the best academic reasoning, but perfect if he just need a cool place to nap without Mun breathing down his neck.
At the return cart nearby, a soft chuckle broke through the hum of the quiet library.
Hyeonjun blinked and looked up. That’s when he saw him.
A guy stood by the return cart, calmly sorting books like he has been doing it his whole life. His sleeves were rolled up neatly while his hands moved with a quiet kind of focus. Hyeonjun’s gaze lingered longer than he meant it to. Not just because the guy was unfamiliar, but because he looked… well, completely out of place in Hyeonjun’s chaotic orbit. The stranger had soft and round features, a gentle curve to his cheeks and lips that looked like they were made to smile even when he wasn’t.
Was there someone like this in town? Since when?
“If you’re going to fake borrow a book,” the stranger said without looking over, “at least pick one you’ll actually open.”
Hyeonjun narrowed his eyes. “Excuse me?”
“That copy’s spine is so stiff I thought it had never been cracked,” the boy finally turned to face him with a steady gaze and light tone.
Hyeonjun glanced down at the book that was still in his hand. Okay, fine. Fair point. He then flicked his gaze back to Mun with a slight frown, the kind that signaling the question, ‘Who is that?’
She caught it immediately and smirked. “That’s Choi Hyeonjoon. New volunteer. You don't know him? He is a senior at your school. Top of his class. He’s helping out for graduation credits.” She gave Hyeonjun a look. “Too nice for his own good.”
Hyeonjun blinked. “Wait. Hyeonjoon?”
“Ah, right. You two share the same name. But still... only one of you actually knows what a library is for,” Mun commented with a teasing smile playing on her lips.
Hyeonjun grumbled as he slumped back onto the sofa, mumbling, “This is great. Now I’m being haunted by a smarter, prettier version of me.”
He hadn’t meant for the comment to come out so loud. His eyes snapped wide open as realization hit him. Did Hyeonjoon hear that? Hyeonjun’s face heated up instantly with his ears turning pink. Because seriously, who calls someone “pretty” on the first meeting? Definitely not him.
Mun chuckled softly from behind the counter, clearly amused by Hyeonjun’s sudden shyness.
Just then, Hyeonjoon walked over to the sofa with a book in his hand. “Try this instead,” he said softly. Offering the book like a gentle invitation as if it was something that he used to do. Quirky Quarks: A Cartoon Guide to the Fascinating Realm of Physics. The cover was bright and inviting. It looked less like a textbook and more like a promise of fun rather than frustration.
Hyeonjun took it warily and flipped through the illustrated pages. The cartoons and simple explanation made the complicated physics almost approachable. “You really have high expectations if you think I’ll understand this,” he said with half-joking.
Hyeonjoon’s small smile deepened. Full of warmth and patience. Hyeonjun felt a little weird watching that smile, though he didn’t quite know what to call it. “You’ll at least look at the comics,” he said with a small voice but sure. “And maybe get a thing or two.”
“I don’t know if that’s condescending or sweet,” Hyeonjun muttered under his breath, barely audible for anyone’s ear.
Hyeonjoon tilted his head slightly, “Why not both?”
Hyeonjun let out a dramatic sigh while slipping the book into his bag with exaggerated reluctance as if it was a ticking time bomb. “Fine. But if I start dreaming about atoms tonight, I’m blaming you.”
Hyeonjun stood up and slung his bag over his broad shoulder. The air conditioner had done its job as he felt a little less sweaty and a little less dramatic than when he first burst in. It seemed like it was not the best day to take a nap here. He was ready to leave into the noise outside where things made more sense. But then almost before he could stop himself, the question slipped out – too natural, too curious to hold back.
“So... you’re volunteering here all summer?”
“Yes,” Hyeonjoon replied simply. The answer was soft but certain. Like he didn’t even have to think about it.
Hyeonjun nodded once, mumbling under his breath, “Must be nice. Doing something because you’re good at it.” But before he could process it, Hyeonjoon had already turned back to the return cart with his sleeves rolled up. As if the conversation had never happened. There was something oddly grounding about it.
Hyeonjun’s lips curved at the corner. Just a small, reluctant smile. He didn’t fully understand why.
He finally made his way to the door. Right before he stepped out, he glanced back to the counter. “Noona, what did you say his name was again?”
She smirked. “Hyeonjoon. Choi. The polite version of you.”
Hyeonjun rolled his eyes but not bothering to hide the faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He didn’t look back as he stepped outside, but Mun caught the subtle shift.
The moment when irritation melted into reluctant curiosity.
Later that night, Hyeonjun lay on his bed with the cartoon physics book resting open on his chest. He wasn’t really reading though. Just flipping through pages with his eyes skimming past colorful illustrations without that much thought. His room was dim except for the glow of his desk lamp.
Eventually, he reached for his sketchbook and drew without thinking – just pencil to paper, lines moving on their own. A little chibi version of Hyeonjoon appeared. He added sparkles floating around his head as he held a giant atom like a trophy.
Below it, in tiny handwriting, Hyeonjun labeled it:
"Quantum Librarian: suspiciously pretty."
His ears went red the second he read it back. He closed the notebook, as if hiding it from himself might erase what he had just drawn.
“…It’s just a joke,” he muttered into the air. But his smile; embarrassingly fond and crooked, lingered longer than he would admit.