Archive of Our Own ^omega

Chapter Text

Jisung isn't stupid.

Well, at least he doesn't think so. In fact, he thinks he can be rather quick-witted when he wants to be. He adapts easily and is usually able to figure things out himself if given enough time. It's why he excels at anything hands-on that he can physically work out and why he's good at anything creative that he can push the boundaries of what's expected of him. It's how he's gotten by this far in life.

So, here's the problem.

College is a whole lot of cramming as much information as he can into his head at once and regurgitating it to meet a very strict standard of what is right and what is wrong.

And that's something he definitely does not excel at.

After floundering for the first couple of months, scraping by the first semester but just barely, it was only natural that one of his friends with a better head for this kind of thing stepped in and tried to help him out.

The friend in question, the angel that he is, is Bang Chan. Two years Jisung's senior and someone he's known for a long time-- his former babysitter turned friend once the two were older-- the older boy has always seemed to have a good head on his shoulders to Jisung. Very calm and collected, but definitely not boring either. Chan's funny in a dorky, almost dad-like way. He's just an all-around good guy and Jisung's lucky to have him watching out for him.

So that's how he ends up in the library with Chan on a Thursday in the late afternoon two weeks into the start of the second semester, the book he's been trying to absorb for class open on the table in front of him, Chan seated across from him paging through his own novel.

"So what now?" Jisung asks after what feels like an eternity of silence, when in reality they couldn't have been here for longer than fifteen minutes.

Chan looks up at him with what Jisung recognizes clearly as exasperation. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm sitting here reading my book and I'm taking notes-- well, kind of, I'm writing things that seem like they'd be important down-- but what do I, like… do?" Jisung presses.

"You… you study, Jisung," Chan says. "That's why you're here. To study."

"I don't know, I guess I just never learned how to study."

"You never learned how to study," Chan repeats slowly, staring the younger boy down. Jisung feels pinpricks on the back of his neck and shifts uncomfortably under his gaze.

"Yeah. I mean, I guess my brain just didn't work like that? I'd try to study but everything would shut down and I couldn't focus and I'd end up staring at the same page for an hour before I realized I was blanking out." He laughs nervously, reaching up to touch the back of his neck. "Or when I tried cramming before a test, I'd have it all down in the moment but when it came time to actually do the test everything I memorized would suddenly be gone. So I just learned how to wing it, I guess."

Chan looks him over for a long time. Silently. It's enough to make Jisung feel like he's being dissected. Finally, he says, "How in the world did you make it this far?"

Jisung gives the older boy a little grin, although it's less because he's happy and more because it's a reflex he has to smile when he's embarrassed. "Pure determination, some luck, and a lot of extra credit. Oh, and some copying of homework, but that's just between you and me. Don't tell my teachers that."

Chan snorts at that. "Yeah, hold on. Let me just ring up your old algebra teacher from our high school and tell them Han Jisung who graduated needs to take another year to make up for his blatant cheating."

Jisung makes a disgusted noise. "Ack. Don't even joke about that. College kinda sucks and is stressful as hell but I'd rather die here than go back to high school."

"Please don't die," Chan says, "Your parents would be very upset if I let you die in the library before you graduated."

Jisung squints at him. "Wouldn't you be upset too? Wait-- hold on, does that mean they wouldn't be upset if I died here after I graduate?"

Chan gives a noncommittal shrug to both questions, a small smile on his face as he looks back down to his book.

"That doesn't answer my question," Jisung complains, which just makes the smile on Chan's face grow bigger, much to Jisung's annoyance.

His focus on Chan fades, however, as movement in the corner of his eye catches his attention. He turns his head to look, gaze landing on a figure pulling a cart of books, presumably a librarian. His back is to Jisung but he appears nicely dressed, a cream jacket over a neatly tucked striped shirt. Jisung leans his chin against his hand, watching him curiously. He likes people watching.

The librarian stretches, turning as he does so, and Jisung's breath catches as he finds himself staring at maybe the most beautiful human being he's ever seen. He's got dark brown hair-- the color of a good cup of hot chocolate-- that parts in waves in the middle of his forehead. When he tilts his head to look down at the books in his cart, Jisung can see the elegant slope of his nose and the almost sculpture-like cheeks and jaw. He looks like a prince. A prince working at a college library putting away books.

Now, maybe Jisung's been known to be a bit of a hopeless romantic in his time. Maybe Chan's teased him about that since he was a middle schooler. Maybe he's been known to be struck dead in his tracks by particularly pretty people.

Maybe Han Jisung's fallen just a little bit in love with this pretty librarian at first sight.

"You're staring," Chan says in a low voice, breaking Jisung's focus on the boy across the room. He turns with wide eyes to look at the older boy, finding him still reading his own book, not even bothering to look up at Jisung. There's a smirk on his face though.

"I'm-- I don't know what you're talking about," he manages.

Chan glances up, not even at him but instead looking directly at the librarian. "Well, I kind of doubt you're too interested in the autobiography section."

Jisung bristles, voice raising instinctively. "I could be! You don't know!"

Someone from a nearby table hushes them, casting an annoyed look at him. Jisung immediately subdues, giving a little apologetic wave at them before turning back to Chan.

"I'm not saying you're stupid or anything," Chan clarifies, finally meeting Jisung's eyes again. "I'm just saying autobiographies don't seem like they're in your wheelhouse, or at least not enough for you to be staring at them with stars in your eyes."

"There aren't any stars in my eyes," he mumbles, feeling heat creep up the back of his neck.

"Whatever you say," Chan says with a sigh. "I can't believe I brought you here with me because I thought you would have an easier time doing your work. Instead, you've been here twenty minutes and you're already just ogling the librarians."

"I'm not ogling anybody!" Jisung hisses under his breath, careful to keep his voice low enough that he won't be hushed. "I just-- he's pretty, okay?"

"You would find him pretty." Chan shakes his head. Then he sighs yet again. Chan does that a lot around him. "Okay. Well, I wasn't planning to stay here long anyway, I just wanted to make sure you actually tried out coming here at least once. I have a thing with Bambam."

With that, Chan closes his book and slides it under his arm, picking his backpack up and hoisting it over his shoulder. When Jisung just blinks up at him in surprise, the older boy reaches over and ruffles Jisung's blonde hair, earning a startled squeak.

"Don't be too much of a bother, okay? And… god, just try actually working and not just staring at the librarian, okay?" Chan sounds exasperated, but there is an underlying fondness there.

"I won't, I won't," Jisung assures, pulling away from Chan's hand and reaching up to fix his hair. He likes it a certain way, a little messy and ruffled but every bit falling in its specific place. Chan snorts.

"Whatever," Chan says, and with that, he gives Jisung a small wave before heading off.

And Jisung tries to study. He really does.

He really, really does.

The problem is, his brain just doesn't want to do it. It's having trouble sorting through this wall of text, of figuring out what parts of it are important enough to write down. Part of him thinks maybe he should just write down everything, but at that point, it's not really taking notes. He's not even quite sure how he's supposed to format these things, because none of the ways his teachers taught him how to take notes in school before this ever worked for him.

So he does try, the problem is it doesn't work.

Fifteen minutes after Chan leaves and his brain is already fried, so Jisung can't really blame himself when his eyes start to wander the library again, eventually falling on the librarian he spotted earlier. He's closer now, still sorting through his cart of books.

The librarian stretches, lifting up onto the tips of his toes to reach the top shelf and put the next book away. Jisung rests his chin on his hand, watching the way his hair falls into his eyes as he does so. The librarian comes to rest on the flat of his feet again, reaching up and sweeping his hair back off his forehead and--

And god. He's hot. He's pretty and he's hot.

This just isn't fair, Jisung thinks miserably.

As the boy lowers his hand from his hair, he glances over in the direction of the tables Jisung's sitting at, his gaze catching Jisung's. He very quickly realizes that he's been caught staring and feels his cheeks suddenly heat up.

And then the librarian smiles at him and it feels like the boy just aimed an arrow at him and shot him through the heart.

Embarrassed, Jisung manages to smile back. He quickly drops his eyes down to the book in front of him, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth and worrying it. After a moment, he hears the sound of books being put on shelves once more. He chances a look up and yes, the cute librarian has returned to putting books away.

With a sigh, he looks back down at his book, suddenly feeling a lot less brave. Maybe, just maybe, he should listen to Chan and actually try to focus on trying to absorb this information instead of staring at a librarian, no matter how pretty that librarian happens to be.

He actually manages to focus for a while, or at least a lot longer than he's usually been able to when he tried to work in his room. Maybe there's merit to Chan's idea of bringing him here after all. That said, Jisung is still Jisung, and eventually, his brain gets so wired that he starts to get antsy. It starts in his feet, and he taps them against each other and then the floor. Then it moves up through his legs, and he starts to bounce one before he catches himself and crosses it over the other, twisting his foot so it curls around the back of his leg and holds both in place. But without moving his feet or legs, he can't focus. So he picks up the pencil he has out on the table for notes and starts waving it between his pointer finger and middle finger, slowly at first. But then he starts to focus again now that he's moving, and he starts shaking it faster.

And he loses his grip on the pencil, sending it flying across the library until it clatters to the floor near the cute librarian's cart, impossibly loud in the quiet building.

Jisung wants to die.

The librarian blinks at the sound, pausing in the middle of putting a book on the shelf to look around for what just made that noise. Slowly, he reaches down and picks up the pencil, staring at in confusion. Then he looks up, glancing around the room until his eyes fall on an absolutely mortified Jisung.

Oh. Jisung really wants to die.

Panicking, Jisung looks back down at his book as if that's going to help him at all, hunching over it and pushing a hand into his hair. He knows he was spotted and he knows the librarian probably realized it's his pencil that just went flying. It's utterly useless to pretend like he didn't just thoroughly embarrass himself, but that doesn't stop him from staring down at the words on the paper in front of him like they're gonna take him far, far away from here where nobody knows what he just did.

Please don't come over here. Please don't come over here. Please don't come over here.

"Is this yours?"

Fuck.

Slowly, Jisung looks up from where he was staring and, of course, the cute librarian is standing right in front of his table holding his stupid pink pencil.

And if Jisung thought he was pretty from afar, the librarian is downright beautiful up close. His eyes are dark, sparkling more than any human's eyes have a right to sparkle and framed by long, thick eyelashes. His cupid's bow is… well, Jisung doesn't want to think too much about anything going on in this man's mouth-region because, frankly, he's worried he'll explode.

A shame then, that the librarian wears a funny little smile that Jisung can't help but find charming.

Slowly straightening up in his chair, Jisung clears his throat. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, that's… that's mine."

"I thought so," the boy says, and his voice is pleasant and almost airy, rumbling with a hint of barely held back laughter. Gentle. Soft. Completely and utterly attractive, just like every other part of him.

This is hell, Jisung decides. I'm in hell.

After a moment of Jisung just staring at him, the little smile on the boy's lips widens a little as his eyes seem to twinkle even harder. "Well, do you want it back?"

"Oh! Um, yes," Jisung says quickly. The librarian snorts, holding the pencil out to him. Jisung quickly takes it, immediately putting it down flat on the table where it won't be part of any more airplane-worthy take-offs.

He expects the librarian to leave then, or he hopes he does at least so Jisung can try his best to forget about what he just did, but much to his chagrin, the boy is still just standing in front of his table smiling at him.

"Have you been in here before?" the librarian asks like nothing's wrong at all.

Oh. So he's prolonging this. Wonderful. More opportunities for him to make a fool of himself.

"No," Jisung admits. His hands find each other in his lap, clasping tightly as he fits his fingers between each other. He has to do something with his hands. He can't just have them sitting out, not when he's nervous. He won't be able to think, not like he's having much luck with that anyways with the cute librarian trying to hold a conversation with him for some reason.

The smile the other boy wears widens again, and this time the corners of his eyes crinkle a bit. "I didn't think so. I know most people who come in here during my shifts, even if it's just their faces. I thought you looked new when you came in. I recognized your friend, but he doesn't usually come in when I'm here unless it looks like he's cramming."

"You know Chan?" Jisung asks in surprise before he can stop himself, curiosity suddenly outweighing his anxiety.

"Oh, no," he says, shaking his head a little. "I don't know him, I just know his name's Chan. I know his face and that whenever he does come in during my shifts, he usually sits in here for a while working."

"Ah." That makes sense. Chan's a hard worker. That's why Jisung let him wrangle him into trying out the library in the first place. Slowly, he asks, "You said you know everybody here?"

The boy shrugs but that doesn't stop him from suddenly looking a little smug. "It's not a big deal. I work here enough that I start to notice the regulars. I don't always notice people who come in here once or twice a month or anything, not usually at least, but I do know the regulars."

"That's kind of cool," Jisung says, and that makes the boy blink in surprise-- almost like he didn't think anybody else would think his small accomplishment of recognizing faces was cool. "I barely remember the other students in my classes. I swear there's a new one there every time I go."

The boy laughs at that and it's not exactly musical but it's something light and charming that makes Jisung's breath catch a bit. "Well, I think I'm just good with people. Don't worry too much about it."

Jisung likes the way he looks when he laughs. His whole face lights up, his smile pretty and warm as his eyes crinkle into half-moons.

"Lee Minho," the librarian says after a moment, holding out a hand. He stares at it for a moment, brain suddenly going blank, before he realizes the other boy is asking for a handshake. He quickly takes it, hoping he's not too rough or too-- oh god. Oh god, what if his hands are sweaty or damp or gross or-- "It's really nice to meet you. If you ever need any help here just let me know, okay?"

"Okay!" Jisung barks out instantly, wincing at his own voice and how eager he sounds.

The librarian-- Minho, Jisung reminds himself-- pays it no mind, however, or at least doesn't show it, not beyond a small, amused smile. "Try not to throw any more pencils around, alright? You got pretty close to hitting me. The last thing I need is to get impaled by one during work."

"I think the last thing you need is to get impaled by a pencil anywhere," Jisung says before he can stop himself, his natural need to get quips in overpowering his nervousness around this incredibly pretty man. He immediately purses his lips, like that'll take back the words that have already come out. He's really out here sounding like a dumbass first thing's first.

But Minho doesn't look annoyed or even roll his eyes at Jisung's comment. In fact, the other boy's eyes glimmer with amusement as the small smile on his face spreads and a little laugh escapes. "You might have a point there…"

When he trails off, looking at Jisung curiously, he has the sudden realization that he still hasn't told Minho his name.

"Han Jisung," he says quickly.

"Han Jisung," Minho repeats slowly, like he's weighing every syllable of the name in his mouth. "Well, Jisung, I can tell that you and I are going to get along very well if you keep coming around. As long as you don't accidentally stab me with another one of your pencils, that is."

And Han Jisung could just about die happy right there, the only thing keeping him alive the fact that Minho seems to be implying he'd say hi if he sees Jisung in the library from now on.

Maybe he is a lovestruck idiot, because that is bare basic friendliness but it makes his head spin.

"I'll try my best."

"Please do," Minho says with a laugh. "Now, I've got a cart of unsorted books waiting for me to get back to them, so I think I'll leave you be now."

"Okay!" Jisung blurts. He worries for a moment that he seemed too over-eager at the concept of him leaving, like he wanted the other boy gone, but Minho doesn't seem to mind.

"Good luck with your studying and your flying pencils," Minho tells him, grinning as he gives him a tiny wave before turning his back on Jisung and making his way back over to his cart.

Jisung stares at the flying pencil in question, weighing the pros and cons of him making a total fool of himself in front of the cute librarian but with the reward of him coming over and talking to him. Being friendly to him.

Minho, Jisung repeats in his head.

Minho.

"I haven't really been to the library here much," Felix admits as he rifles through his bag.

They're sitting in their dorm, Felix on one bed and Jisung on the other. Felix just got back from class a few minutes before Jisung returned from the library, the two of them sitting down to recount their days the way they often do.

"It's pretty nice. I could spend all day in there," Jisung says absently.

Felix raises an eyebrow at that. "You?"

He snaps to attention at that, puffing up defensively. "What do you mean by that?"

His roommate laughs. "I don't know! Don't get me wrong, Jisung. You're smart, I just didn't think you're the kind of person to hang around at a library all day. Sorry."

Jisung pouts at him. "You don't know! I could just really like books! Also, it's just really nice in there, okay? It's kind of, like, relaxing. When I'm not worrying about accidentally making too much sound at least."

Felix snorts. "Yeah, I can see how you'd be worried about that. You're pretty loud."

"Hey!" Jisung yells, only to clamp his mouth shut after Felix grins pointedly at him. Well, that's… fair.

"But really, are you just going to the library because you like the atmosphere or what?"

Jisung flops back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Specifically at the one beige stain on the ceiling that Felix says looks kind of like a pineapple. "I mean, it's nice there yeah. There's also this… guy."

"Oh my god, I knew you weren't just going to study."

"Shut up!" He feels his cheeks start to heat up as Felix just laughs at him. "Anyways, he's just… he's one of the librarians."

"And you think he's hot," Felix says.

"And I think he's hot," Jisung admits.

"Your weakness," Felix declares. "Hot people."

"I think that's everybody's weakness," he grumbles.

"Maybe," Felix admits, "but I think it's more true for some than others."

"And I'm the some that it's more true for," Jisung says with a sigh. He meant to make the words sound accusing like he didn't accept what Felix was saying, but in reality, he knows it's true.

"Now you're getting it," Felix says with a laugh. "For real though, did you talk to him or what?"

"Uh," Jisung says, replaying his experience in the library in his head. "Yeah. I mean… okay." He pushes himself up onto his elbows so he can look at his roommate. "So you know that thing I do? With pens and pencils when I'm thinking?"

"When you shake it really hard and it gets all blurry because you're moving it so fast?" Felix recalls, and Jisung nods.

"Yeah, I was doing that while I was trying to work-- because I was trying to work!" Jisung makes sure to add with a huff, and Felix innocently raises both hands up. "Anyways, I was doing that to help me think and the pencil just kind of flew out of my hand and almost hit the cute librarian."

"Oh my god," Felix says, looking at him with concern suddenly. "Almost? You didn't actually, right?"

"No, no!" Jisung hurriedly reassures. "No, thank god. It just kind of fell near him where he was putting away books, but it went flying really far. And he picked it up and saw me staring in complete horror and realized it was mine and came over to give it back."

"And he talked to you?" Felix asks.

"Yeah. Not anything special or anything I guess, but he didn't seem mad or annoyed or anything," Jisung explains. "He just kind of talked to me a bit about how he recognizes all the regulars at the library and told me I should try not to impale him with a pencil again, which…"

"Good suggestion," Felix finishes.

Jisung reaches up and rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah."

"Did you get his name?" Felix asks, putting his backpack down on the floor by his bed before he leans back against the wall, hands clasped in his lap as he listens to Jisung talk.

"Minho," Jisung says slowly like he's testing the name in his mouth. He hasn't said it out loud yet. Sure, he's said the name before, of course he has. But this Minho is different.

"Are you gonna go back?" Felix's voice has a bit of eagerness like he's more excited at the prospect of Jisung seeing the cute librarian than Jisung is.

"Well, I was going to anyways. I don't really wanna let Chan down by only trying out the library once, so I'm gonna try it out at least a few more times and see if it gets easier for me to study there."

"Oh, that's good," Felix says, like he forgot the real reason Jisung went to the library in the first place. He sounds genuine though. "I really hope it does, man."

"Me too," he admits, because this semester is going to suck if it doesn't.

There's a knock on the door then, and Jisung's just about to get up and see who it is when Felix suddenly jumps to his feet with surprising speed, bolting to the door fast enough that it just leaves Jisung blinking in confusion.

When Felix opens the door, a very sleepy Seungmin is standing on the other side looking like he just woke up. He's holding something white in his arms.

"Did you just wake up?" Felix asks, suddenly sounding concerned, echoing Jisung's own thought.

"From a nap," Seungmin says, reaching up to rub at his eyes. "I was tired after class."

"Maybe you should've just slept," Felix suggests, getting a sleepy little laugh from Seungmin.

"No, I would've woken up at like three in the morning. I haven't eaten yet anyways," he tells him. Slowly, he raises up the white fabric in his hands, which Jisung now recognizes as Felix's hoodie. "Here. I wanted to drop it off since you left it down the hall."

"Oh!" Felix lights up when he sees it, taking it from the other boy and hugging it close to his chest. "Thanks! I totally forgot!"

"I know," Seungmin says, and his voice is fond.

Kim Seungmin lives down the hallway from them in the dorm at the very end with his roommate Hyunjin. Seungmin's a photography major and Hyunjin's a dance major like Felix. The four of them met the day they moved into the dorms at the start of the year when they had the unfortunate luck of all getting trapped in the elevator together while bringing their stuff up.

Needless to say, being stuck in an elevator together really brings people together.

They're all friends now, going out to eat together sometimes and watching movies when they're free. Jisung really likes both of them.

That said, he'd have to be an idiot not to realize that Seungmin and Felix hit it off in a way the rest of them hadn't. The two sets of roommates are close, of course, but whatever Seungmin and Felix have it's nothing like Jisung and Felix's friendship.

That much had been obvious since day one when Felix got cold in the elevator while waiting for help and Seungmin had wordlessly taken off his hoodie and given it to him.

Funny how some people meet and it's like an instant connection, Jisung thinks.

"Hey Seungmin," he says, flopping back on his bed again.

"Hi Jisung," the other boy says, craning his neck to look past Felix into the room. "Did you ever go to the library today like you were talking about?"

"He almost stabbed a cute librarian!" Felix says excitedly, which makes Seungmin spin to stare at him with a look of horror while Jisung shoots upright in bed.

"Don't open with that!" Jisung yells at the same time Seungmin goes, "He what?"

Felix winces at their reactions and Jisung drops his head in his hands as he realizes that he's going to have to recount his story again, this time stressing that he definitely did not intentionally try to stab anybody.

"Hold on," Seungmin says, before Jisung can start to explain himself, "I'm going to get Hyunjin, we're all going to go get food, and we're all going to listen to Jisung explain how he almost stabbed somebody."

Jisung groans into his hands.

At least he'll get food out of this.

Jisung doesn't originally plan to go back to the library the next day. It's a Friday, after all, he kind of just wants to mess around on his laptop in bed and maybe pass out for a couple of hours and make up some sleep he lost during the week. You know. Real exciting college kid adventures.

He doesn't plan to, but somehow he finds himself slowing down in front of the building anyways on his way back from class until he finally comes to a stop, staring at the door. He was just going to come back next week, honestly. Try to do this once a week. But he just keeps thinking about-- well.

Well.

(And it's not like he's only here to see if he can catch another glimpse of Minho, to talk to him again, to maybe make a better impression than he did yesterday. He does genuinely want to study and try to work, as hard as that is for him.)

So that's how he ends up there yet again, the same book from yesterday opened on the table. He will conquer this thing if it kills him. In the meantime, if every few paragraphs he looks up and glances around the library for a certain cute librarian, who's there to judge him?

Well. A lot of people actually.

Which is kind of something he's been becoming increasingly aware of. Realistically he doubts that anybody's paying too much attention to him. After all, everybody's here to work on their own stuff and not everyone is as easily distracted as he is. Still, the longer he goes without turning the page of his book, the more self-conscious he is about it. He can feel eyes on him-- although he doubts anybody's actually watching, it's just his anxiety acting up again, and yet--

Jisung is brutally aware of how dumb he must appear taking so long to even do the most basic thing while everybody else around him is working at a normal pace.

He's genuinely in the middle of packing up his things and getting out of there as fast as possible when he spots a familiar figure emerge from between the bookshelves. Minho, carrying an armful of books.

His hair is more ruffled than it was yesterday, almost like it's newly dried and he didn't get a chance to style it or anything. He wears a blue and red patterned sweater that Jisung thinks would be tacky on anybody else, but Minho makes it look good.

The librarian in question sets the stack down on a table, turning them and gently tapping each spine as he goes over what he has. When he seems satisfied, he looks up.

Jisung, to his credit, doesn't look away when Minho's eyes fall on him. Which he's immediately glad about because Minho's face breaks into a smile when he sees him.

It feels a bit like Minho just shot him through the heart again, which Jisung is starting to get the impression will be a running theme if he keeps coming here. It's not a bad thing. In fact, the way it makes him light-headed is the exact opposite of a bad thing.

Jisung's unable to stop the silly smile from spreading across his face, and when Minho raises up a hand to wave at him he can't help but do the same. The other boy lights up when Jisung responds and he can practically feel the warmth radiating off of Minho from where he sits.

After a moment Minho gently pats his tower of books, which Jisung assumes means he can't talk right now because he's doing something. He points down at his own book and notebook and Minho nods, giving him a thumbs up.

And with that Minho picks up his books and carries them off. Jisung watches as he slides behind the desk where a girl his age is working and disappears into a back room. When Minho doesn't come back out Jisung looks back down at his notebook.

Well. At least that was a good distraction right when he needed one. Minho's here, and not only is he here but he seemed happy to see Jisung.

The thought makes his stomach do flips.

He does actually manage to work for a while, which surprises him. It's not the best work he's ever done, but he actually starts turning pages in his book more than once every ten minutes. That's a low bar and he knows it, but he's been having trouble getting over even that so he'll take the small victories where he can find them.

The problem arises-- because of course there's a problem, there's always a problem when Jisung manages to start making progress on his work because that's just how life is-- when his stomach growls. And not quietly either. Loud. Loud enough that Jisung blushes because he's sure other people in the library heard it.

With a start, he remembers that he has a bag of chips that he bought from the vending machine outside of class on his way out the door. He was just gonna eat it when he got back to the dorm but he forgot about it completely when he decided to stop into the library on a whim. Lucky him, then.

He's just pulled it out of his backpack when someone coughs pointedly. Confused, Jisung swivels his head around, making eye contact with an older woman sitting a few tables away on a laptop with a stack of books next to her. Judging by the ID pinned to her breast pocket, she's a librarian as well.

"There's no food in the library," the older woman says, wrinkled brow creasing as she stares at him. Shriveling under her gaze, he slowly puts the bag away.

He'll just have to eat after he goes back to the dorms then, but that doesn't alleviate his hunger now which is what really matters. Now he's going to have an even harder time focusing on trying to study because all he'll be thinking about is how hungry he is.

Resigning himself to his misery, Jisung sinks in his chair, knowing he's pouting like a child but not really caring when he's so hungry. He knows he should focus on his work, but it's just so hard.

His pouting is interrupted by a familiar figure appearing in front of him, an amused smile on his face. Jisung sits up immediately, which only makes Minho's smile grow more.

"You had a book you wanted to check out," Minho says, tapping at the table. Jisung just stares blankly at him. "It just came in. I can show you where I shelved it."

"I didn't--" Jisung starts, but Minho taps the table again pointedly, cutting him off.

"Do you wanna see it or not?"

"I… sure?"

"Then let me show you," Minho says again and gestures towards the shelves.

Feeling more than a little lost, Jisung slowly gets to his feet. Pleased that it seems like Jisung's listening to him, Minho flashes him another easy smile before turning and walking towards the shelves. Jisung trails behind him, noting the way Minho keeps glancing back over his shoulder to make sure he's following him.

He lets Minho lead him back through the maze of bookshelves, eventually the two of them popping out the other side to a quiet little area that seems tucked away from the main area. It's a little dimmer here; one of the lights above seems to have gone out and not been fixed and there are no windows. Nobody else is back here, which makes Jisung all the more confused.

"Why did you ask me if I wanna see a book?" Jisung asks, turning to look at Minho with a frown. "I don't think I asked you about a book. I think I'd remember that from our incredibly brief conversation from yesterday."

"Why did you follow me then?" Minho shoots back in a teasing tone, and Jisung flushes.

"Don't make fun of me, I followed you because you seemed really insistent," he says.

"I am insistent!" Minho agrees. "And I do have something to show you even if it isn't a book."

Jisung barely registers Minho moving until he's taken his hand in his (and his fingers are unbelievably warm against his skin) and pulled it closer to him. His brain short-circuits as the cute librarian cradles his hand in one of his, reaching into the pocket of his jacket and pulling something out. Wordlessly, Minho tips whatever it is into Jisung's palm, and when Jisung looks down he finds a couple of chocolate kisses sitting there.

When he looks up at Minho, the other boy winks at him. Well, he tries. His one eye closes, but the other kind of does too. He looks absolutely silly.

Jisung's kind of in love with him, which is stupid because he barely knows Minho. But then again, maybe Jisung's just kind of stupid. He's okay with that.

"Why--"

"Librarians get hungry too," Minho tells him with a smile. "And it's easier to hide than chips."

"Oh my god, you rebel," Jisung teases, managing to steady himself again after the surprise of Minho touching his hand. He closes his fingers around the chocolate kisses, feeling sort of like he's holding the most precious treasure in the world. He got chocolate from a cute boy, and not just any cute boy, but the cute librarian he's been looking at both times he's come in here.

"What can I say," Minho says airily, "there's more to me than meets the eye."

"I can tell," Jisung says with a snort.

"Hey, while we're back here I'll give you a tip," Minho says after a moment, gesturing over Jisung's shoulder. When he turns to follow where Minho's pointing, his eyes come to rest on two chairs tucked into the far corner, a little table between them. "If you don't need a lot of table space for whatever you're working on, back here might be better for you. It's kind of tucked away so if you're bothered by people looking at you in the area with the big tables you won't have to worry about that over here. Plus it's easier to snack if you're hungry. Just stay away from things that make too much noise."

Jisung blinks rapidly. "How did you know I was bothered by other people looking at me?"

Minho shrugs. "Just a feeling I got. Some people feel like other people are judging them for not working fast enough or doing enough when they sit out there. It's a common thing. You just seemed kind of nervous so I thought I'd suggest over here instead."

Did he look nervous? Well, he was nervous. But only partially because of the eyes on him. The other reason he was nervous just handed him chocolate and told him he could see right through to how anxious he was, so there's that.

It's kind of funny actually. He's standing here with Minho, hidden away in this private little corner of the library, and suddenly all the nervousness he's felt trying to work up the nerve to come and talk to him are nowhere to be found. Sure, his heart is still fluttering from being close to him, but he doesn't really feel nervous. There's just something about Minho once he actually starts talking that makes it seem like he's already known you for a long time. Something that puts Jisung at ease, because why would he be nervous when this boy already acts so familiar?

"I get slipping me a few chocolates-- uh, thanks, by the way," he adds before he forgets, and Minho gives him a little smile and a nod, "but should you be advocating for me bringing more food into the library and eating it here? Like… this is your job and that's not allowed."

Minho snorts. "Please, everybody does it. Besides, you think before I started working here I haven't snuck food in to tide me over while studying? Everybody does it and everybody knows. You just don't do it outright where people can see you. That was your mistake. Well, that and trying to open an actual bag of chips." After a moment, he adds, "I mean, don't touch the books with your fingers gross from food, but that goes without saying. I think I can trust you not to do that."

"I'm not stupid," Jisung replies defensively.

Minho's eyes glimmer with amusement. "I didn't say that you were. In fact, I said the exact opposite. I said that I think I can trust you not to do that."

"Thinking means that there's a chance I might still do it," Jisung says.

Minho chuckles, the sound warm to his ears. "If that's how you want to interpret that, then sure."

"You're teasing me," Jisung accuses.

"I am," Minho admits freely.

Jisung can't help but pout. "Stop."

That only makes Minho laugh louder. "Stop being fun to tease then!"

And he protests, but that doesn't change the fact that Minho's good-natured teasing makes him feel warm.

He doesn't stop back into the library until Tuesday. Minho sees him as soon as he comes in, which makes sense since this time he's sitting at the front desk. He waves him over with a smile and Jisung's all too willing to comply.

"You're back again," Minho says, leaning back in his chair and clasping his hands together in his lap as he spins his chair back and forth a bit. "Just can't stay away from me, huh?"

The cocky smile on his face would probably make Jisung mad if he wasn't busy spluttering.

"I'm not here for you!" Jisung protests, reaching up and hooking his thumbs under the straps of his backpack. "I do have actual work to do, you know."

"Sure," Minho says dismissively, waving his hand. Then his smile softens. "No, I know you do."

"I think I'm gonna try studying back in that corner you showed me before," he tells him, shifting back and forth on his feet a bit to keep himself moving.

Minho lights up at that. "Oh, you remembered!"

"It seems like a good idea," Jisung admits. "You were right, I might have a better chance of getting work done if I don't feel like other people are watching me."

"I hope you do," Minho says, spinning his chair a bit more. "I'm on desk duty right now but if you're still around a bit later maybe I can check in on you back there." After a moment, he adds, "If you don't mind."

"Of course I don't mind," Jisung says instantly, maybe a little too fast. Minho's smile is wide enough that he doesn't even have time to second guess himself for once.

Minho glances around for a moment before he suddenly reaches into his pocket and then holds out a closed fist to Jisung, who simply stares at it in confusion. Minho shakes his fist a bit and raises his eyebrows, prompting Jisung to reach out under his. With that, Minho relaxes his fist, dropping two chocolate kisses into Jisung's palm.

Delighted, Jisung pockets them before anybody else notices. "What are these for?"

"For when you get hungry," Minho says, leaning back in his chair again.

"I would've been fine," Jisung says with a little laugh, and Minho shrugs.

"You can give them back if you don't want them," he tells him nonchalantly.

"No!" Jisung says quickly, tightening his hand around them in his pocket like Minho's going to reach out and yank them out or something. His reaction makes Minho break out into a smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

"That's what I thought," Minho says.

And he does work better in the back where Minho suggested, much to his surprise. He struggles a bit, but that's more because he's still himself. He doesn't feel the pressure of having people around him anymore and the dimmer lighting makes it feel like there's less of a spotlight. He gets more done than he expected to, feeling proud of himself after doing work for the first time in a long time.

When Minho sneaks over to see him a while later he hands him more chocolate and cracks jokes, and Jisung finds himself strangely at ease in the other boy's presence. He's charming and pretty but there's just something about him that makes Jisung feel like everything quiets down around them, all his worries pushed away for just a moment while Minho's with him.

He feels safe.

That safety isn't a one-off thing, he finds.

In fact, over the next two weeks, Jisung can't help but look forward to the strange haven he finds in Minho's company in the library. He tries hard not to go every day, the last thing he wants is to weird Minho out, but the other boy is so charming and somehow it feels like Minho enjoys Jisung's company nearly as much as Jisung enjoys his.

So he doesn't go every day, but close to it. The disappointment when the other boy isn't working is palpable, but he still sits in the little corner of the library Minho pointed out to him anyways and works to the best of his abilities. The reward of seeing Minho if he goes into work isn't there, so he finds it a little less pleasant, but he'd be lying if he said it wasn't strangely comfortable working here anyway. At least, it is now that he's not out in the open where his anxiety preys on every little thing.

He's particularly disappointed when he shows up to the library on the Thursday of the second week and Minho's not there. He waits for him, even ventures out to mill about in the aisles to see if he can spot the librarian to no avail. Thursdays seemed to be a day he always works, so he'd been excited to get to talk to Minho.

It's in that moment, walking aimlessly through the shelves pretending to browse for books, that he realizes that he doesn't just think Minho's attractive. He likes Minho. He thinks he's funny and charming and he puts Jisung's anxiety at ease and, more than anything, he'll sit and listen to Jisung ramble with no complaints for as long as he can.

More than anything else, he wants to be Minho's friend.

"You know," Minho drawls one day, shelving books near the corner of the library that Jisung has claimed as his own over the past month. It's quiet, secluded, if he falls asleep from exhaustion nobody will notice, and best of all, he usually has a good view of whatever Minho's doing. "It feels like you've spent half the semester so far here."

Embarrassed, Jisung drops his gaze from where it just was (Minho's hands, small and elegant, putting away books) and down to the book he's supposed to be reading for class that he's way further behind on than he reasonably should be. "It's just easier to study and do homework here, I guess."

Minho hums, turning a blue book over in his hands to look at the cover before putting it up with the others. "Couldn't you do that in your dorm room?"

"My roommate's loud," Jisung says, and he winces guiltily almost as soon as it's out of his mouth. Felix is great. Felix is loud. The two of them are even louder together. That's not Felix's fault. "Not like, in a bad way--"

"You're loud," Minho points out, amusement in his voice as he looks over at him with a small smile on his face. Jisung feels his ears heat up.

"Which is why it's not good for us to work in the same room! We distract each other." And there's truth to that, really. It was part of why he kept coming back, after all. Part of it.

"Well, any reason you only come in during my shifts?"

"W-what?"

"Jisu, who works at the front desk? She does more shifts than I do. She told me you're only ever here while I'm working."

"That's not-- that's not true! Last week I was here and you weren't!"

Minho's smirk is infuriating. (Infuriatingly handsome, the voice in the back of his head whispers.) "Let me guess. Thursday night? My usual time slot? I had a fever and called in."

"I-- I--"

Minho laughs then, cutting him off before he can stutter out anything else. "It's okay, Jisung. Look, you don't have to keep coming up with excuses to come here, okay? Just swing by and say hi. No need to sit here for hours every week pretending to read a book you haven't turned the page for in twenty minutes shooting me big puppy dog eyes from across the room that you think I don't see."

"I don't give you puppy dog eyes!"

"The first time I saw you was literally you looking at me with them."

Fuck. He's right.

"I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm not bothered by it. If anything I'm flattered you keep coming in here to talk to me." Minho laughs. "It's just if you wanna be my friend you don't have to sit around here, okay? I like you just fine, Jisung. Just come talk to me."

Jisung crosses his arms on the little table over his notebook and buries his face in them. "It makes it seem like I was stalking you."

He hears Minho laugh again, louder this time. "I don't think you were stalking me, calm down."

"I really wasn't," he insists, knowing his voice must be muffled but refusing to raise his head to look at the other boy. "I just really wanted to talk to you because I like hanging out with you."

Minho snorts. Then he hears footsteps coming closer, finally stopping as he feels a hand gently rest on his shoulder. Holding his breath, he peeks up at where Minho is smiling down at him. "It's alright, Jisung. When I said you can just pop in and say hi if you want, I mean it."

"I do come here to work too," he grumbles, dropping his gaze back to the table, still not lifting his head out of his arms.

"I know," Minho reassures. Then, quite smugly, he points at himself and says with the most obnoxious voice Jisung's ever heard, "But mostly for me, right?"

"Shut up," he groans, hiding his face once more as Minho laughs much louder in a library than a librarian should.

It's gotten cooler out, the first winds of autumn blowing leaves off the trees on campus and sending them rolling across the ground of the courtyard.

Jisung likes this time of year. The trees are beautiful when they change color, splashing the college campus in reds and oranges. He loves one, in particular, a smaller tree that turns bright yellow. He watches as its leaves are shaken loose by the wind as he slowly circles the courtyard on his skateboard, taking in the autumn afternoon.

The courtyard is mostly empty right now save for a few people walking. Soon it'll be busy again and he'll have to put his skateboard away, but for now, he'll enjoy the way it feels to drift around in circles like this, the wind gently tousling his hair.

He thinks best when he's moving, always has. And mindlessly like this, it's good for clearing his head. He needs that right now.

He spent all week working on a paper, one he should've had done much earlier if only his brain let him focus. He had trouble understanding the topic, trouble understanding what it was exactly that he wanted to talk about. Trouble understanding everything. He made it work though, at least as best as he could.

And he doesn't think he did terribly is the thing, but he also doesn't think he did very well. That's sort of the Han Jisung niche with school, he thinks bitterly. Not bad, but not good either.

He wishes he was like Seungmin sometimes, who never seems to struggle with school. Who always puts his best into everything he does. Who works and works and works until everything makes sense and there's no doubt he'll succeed.

Jisung's brain hurts just thinking about that. It's not how he works, no matter how hard he tries to fit himself into that mold. He wishes things like school came as easy to him as they did to Seungmin.

He feels guilty almost as soon as he thinks that. He knows Seungmin works hard, it's not as easy as Jisung makes it out to be in his head. It's not fair to discredit his friend's diligence.

Still, it's hard not to compare himself to him when all his brain wants to do is scream about how he's not good enough. All the time.

Well, almost all the time, Jisung thinks as he lets out a shaky breath.

Strangely, his brain is quietest when he's in the library. With Minho.

The feeling of safety that he noticed when he was with him earlier is one he still can't understand, but he's grateful nonetheless. He loves spending time with Minho because of it-- and that's only one of the reasons.

He feels warmth in his chest as he thinks about the way Minho's laugh seems to chase away all his anxiety, the way he'll quietly nod while listening to Jisung talk. The way he slides him chocolate every day, a glimmer in his eyes.

He spends a lot of time thinking about Minho these days, which is why it takes him a minute to realize that when he sees the librarian standing over at the nearby bench watching him, it's not just his brain pulling a prank on him. He slows until he comes to a stop, turning to raise a hand at Minho.

The other boy smiles at him. "Are you allowed to skateboard here?"

"No," Jisung admits, kicking up his board and tucking it under his arm before walking over to where the other boy is. "But security and staff never call me on it as long as I'm not getting in anybody's way or doing sick flips off the benches or anything, so we're good."

"Sick flips," Minho repeats slowly, still smiling a bit. He hums then, taking a seat on the bench he was standing next to and patting the space next to him.

Jisung doesn't bother overthinking, he just accepts his invitation to sit, placing the board between them facedown.

"So why are you here?" Jisung asks. "Shouldn't you be at work?"

Thursdays are a consistent shift for Minho, Jisung's noticed.

"Usually," Minho acknowledges. "I have some work I need to do for class and I need the extra time so I called in today."

"Oh," Jisung says, leaning back slightly. "I shouldn't keep you then."

Minho laughs. "It's okay. I could've just kept walking after I saw you over here. I wanted to talk to you and I can spare a little time before going home."

Warmth bubbles in Jisung's stomach at that. "Well, only if you're sure."

"I'm sure," Minho tells him.

Jisung just smiles.

"So, what are you doing out here?" Minho asks.

Jisung gestures at the board like it's obvious, earning him an eye roll.

"Yeah, but why?" Minho presses.

"I don't know. It's just kind of therapeutic to ride it a bit, even if it's just in circles and nothing fancy," Jisung explains. "It's good for thinking too. I get a lot less nervous."

Minho tilts his head slightly at that. "Are you nervous a lot?"

"I can be, I guess. It was way worse when I was younger and didn't know how to deal with it." And before he had medication for it, but he doesn't really feel like putting that out there right now. "I used to have a lot of problems in general, but now it's mostly just that I tend to get stuck overthinking and work myself up, especially when it comes to other people around me."

"I'm glad it's easier for you to handle now," Minho tells him, and Jisung smiles.

"Yeah, it still sucks sometimes but that's just part of my life. You learn to deal with it," he tells him. He's not sure why it's so easy to talk to Minho about this. Usually, when someone picks up on his anxiety and asks about it, he gets self-conscious and tries to weasel out of the conversation. He doesn't feel that at all with Minho. It's something about his eyes, Jisung thinks. There's no judgment, no pity. He likes that. Minho puts him at ease, which is funny because by all means, Minho should make him nervous because of how attractive Jisung thinks he is, but--

Well, the longer he knows Minho and the more time he spends with him, the more Jisung starts to get comfortable with him. Prone to flustered moments, sure, but comfortable none the less.

"So do you skate a lot?" Minho asks, tapping his fingers against his knee.

Jisung hums thoughtfully. "I guess? Like I said, it helps when I get nervous, but it's also just a good way for me to think."

"You have trouble thinking when you're not moving," Minho observes. Jisung blinks for a moment before turning to look at him.

"How did you know that?" Jisung asks.

Minho just smiles. "You're always moving. Sometimes it's your feet or legs but usually, it's something with your hands. You're always doing things with them."

"I didn't think you'd notice," Jisung admits slowly. "Usually people just think I'm hyperactive-- which, I mean, I am, but moving calms me down and helps my brain work better."

"Oh, I noticed right away," Minho says, stretching his legs out. Jisung immediately feels his face flush, having a good idea where this is going. "I noticed you shake pencils a lot when you're working. I assume that's how we met."

"Good guess," Jisung mumbles, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. Minho just laughs. "Yeah, that was me having to move my hands to think and getting a bit carried away."

"It's alright, it all worked out," Minho says with a shrug. Then he asks, "How long have you known how to skateboard?"

"Oh, since middle school I think?" He hums, thinking it over. "Yeah, middle school. I got a used one from my older friend and he taught me how to ride it."

"That's cool," Minho says, and Jisung nods.

"Can you skateboard?" Jisung asks, gesturing to the board he has laying between them on the bench.

Minho regards it cooly for a second, and really, that's the only answer needs. Still, he replies, "Sure."

Amused, Jisung gestures at it again. He won't let this go. "Wanna show off then?"

The other boy stares at him, almost sizing him up. Deciding if he's going to back down from his obvious lie for the sake of pride. Minho knows he just lied. Jisung knows Minho just lied. Minho knows that Jisung knows that Minho just lied. So if ever there was a point to back down, it would be now. Finally, he says, "Alright."

Jisung can't help the laugh that escapes his mouth. Minho shoots him a dirty look, picking the board up gingerly in a way that makes it so, so obvious that he's doing this not because he can actually skateboard, but because he's too stubborn to admit he's bad at something. "If you say so! Don't hurt yourself."

"How would I hurt myself," Minho grumbles, standing up and plopping the board on the ground. He puts a foot on the board, and Jisung grins. Minho wobbles. Oh, this will be bad.

It's not that he doesn't have balance, in fact, Jisung thinks he has more balance than most people who hop on a skateboard with no experience have. The problem is he has no idea how to control what he's doing or what to avoid.

That occurs to Jisung right as Minho kicks forward and rides the skateboard over a rough and uneven part of the sidewalk. He opens his mouth to warn him, but the wheels of his skateboard have already hit it and he watches in mild horror as Minho's unprepared body tumbles forward from off the board. He hits the ground hard, managing to get his hands out in front of him to stop him from bashing his face against the pavement. He skids another foot, palms against the cement.

"Oh my god." Jisung jumps to his feet, wasting no time running over to where the other boy fell and is now sitting on his ass. The skateboard rolls until it hits a bench leg, bouncing off of it and stopping. Minho is grimacing down at the palms of his hands, which he can now see are scraped and starting to bleed from trying to stop the fall. He kneels down next to Minho, gently grabbing him by the wrists so he can inspect them. He winces when he gets a good look at them. They aren't bad by any means, but he doesn't like blood at all and the fall definitely took off enough layers of skin to make him bleed quite a bit.

"I'm fine," Minho says, and he manages to keep his voice relatively composed despite his bleeding hands.

"You are bleeding," Jisung retorts. Minho tries to wave him off but fails, Jisung still holding his wrists. "God, why didn't you just say you couldn't skate?"

"I wanted to i--" Minho stops himself before he finishes whatever he's about to say, lips pressing tightly together. Then his face warps into a little scowl. "Well, I didn't think I would fall."

"Well, you did." Minho's scowl intensifies, this time directed at Jisung. "Come on, you should wash these out. You don't want them getting infected. I have some bandaids in my dorm room if you wanna just wash up there. We aren't very far."

For a minute the other boy almost looks like he's going to protest. Then he sighs. "Okay."

He gingerly puts one hand on Minho's wrist and the other on his arm and helps lift him to his feet. He wobbles slightly and Jisung tightens his grip on his arm, letting Minho lean against his side to steady himself.

"You didn't hit your head when you fell, right?" He looks up at Minho's face with concern. "I didn't see you hit it but I just wanna make sure so I know if I need to, like, bring you to the hospital or something."

"I didn't," Minho reassures, staring down at his palms. "My hands got it all."

"Ah, that's good," Jisung says, then immediately slams his free hand over his own mouth. "I mean, that's not good! It's bad, actually! I meant it's better than you falling on your head or something!"

Minho snorts, letting Jisung slowly guide him in the direction of the dorms-- making sure to pick up the skateboard along the way and tuck it into his bag. Jisung is torn between rushing them there and letting him recover from his fall. He didn't hit his head luckily, but Jisung knows how disorienting it can be to take a fall off a skateboard even if it wasn't moving very fast. "I know. It's okay. I don't wanna scrape up my pretty face either."

Jisung can't help the laugh of disbelief that slips out of him as he drops his hand from his mouth. "I meant more like I'm glad you don't have a concussion, but I'm glad your face is okay too."

"Oh right," Minho says, almost like an afterthought. "Yeah, I'm glad I don't have a concussion too."

They talk back and forth as they walk, Jisung trying to keep Minho occupied. Minho's acting like everything's fine, but Jisung catches the way Minho grimaces when he thinks he's not looking. His hands aren't as bad as they could've been but they definitely sting.

When they finally get to the dorms, Jisung opts to take the stairs instead, much to Minho's confusion.

"The elevator here is hit or miss," Jisung explains as they climb the stairs, reaching out to hold Minho's elbow so he doesn't have to put pressure on his scrapes by grabbing the railing. "Me, my roommate, and some guys down the hall from us got stuck in it on the first day, so I avoid using it if I'm in a hurry."

"Are we in a hurry?" Minho asks, eyebrow raised.

"I mean, I definitely don't want your hands sitting like that," Jisung tells him.

"I'll be fine," Minho says again, and Jisung just rolls his eyes.

He's so bad at being vulnerable, Jisung thinks with a hint of amusement. It's not like Jisung would judge him or anything if he wanted to complain about being in pain.

When they get to his floor, Jisung points out the door at the very end of the hall as his before telling Minho where the bathroom is so he can wash his hands out. He lets him do that as he unlocks the door, stepping inside.

He's a little surprised Felix isn't here, actually. His roommate's usually around now, but he's nowhere to be seen. Ah well. Jisung dumps his bag on his bed as he walks up to his little desk and rifles around on the top of it, turning over all the things he just throws up there in search of bandaids.

Suddenly he freezes, slowly turning around to face the rest of the dorm and actually look at it.

It's-- well, look. It's not a disaster. Seungmin would have both their heads if they let it get too bad and would probably refuse to come over, which Felix definitely does not want, so Jisung and Felix do clean up. The problem is that the two of them have a very loose definition of the word clean. Outside of keeping Seungmin moderately happy and making sure it's still passable by inspection standards, they aren't too worried about everything in the room being spick and span.

Jisung has a pile of dirty laundry he keeps at the foot of his bed. Not even in a basket or anything, just tossed there for when it piles up enough that him and Felix have to do a laundry run. Speaking of laundry, he still hasn't put away his clean clothes he did yesterday. He folded them at least, it's just that they're still sitting in the basket.

Felix leaves things laying on his bed all the time and Jisung is guilty of the same. There are stacks of comic books and textbooks everywhere that both of them keep in reach when they want them.

(Seungmin and Hyunjin had both gotten on his case for one he used to prop open the dorm door while they were moving in a new chair Felix bought after their old one had the unfortunate fate of snapping after a very tired Felix tripped over it in the middle of the night and cracked the back of it.

"You spent all this money on it," Hyunjin had said while sitting cross-legged on Jisung's bed while the four of them tried to put together the new chair, "shouldn't you be respecting it or something?"

Jisung had just scoffed. "They made me buy a whole expensive book for one chapter, Hyunjin. One chapter! And that's all I've used it for. They literally made me buy an expensive doorstop with some decorative text written on it.")

So no. Jisung usually doesn't care about how his and Felix's room isn't perfectly neat. They aren't neat people. Sure, they keep in clean, but Jisung likes a certain level of clutter. He knows how to navigate his own specific kind of it and it makes the dorm seem more personal.

But suddenly he's standing there taking in the room and realizing that his crush is about to see it and there's nothing more that he wants than to grab Felix by the shoulders, shake him, and ask why the two of them are such a mess.

He's almost about to go on a frantic cleaning frenzy when he hears a cough in the doorway, making him spin to look. Minho is standing there awkwardly looking in, hands held in front of him slightly away from his chest. He's cleaned them already.

"You said you had bandaids?" Minho asks, looking at Jisung with unsure eyes.

Well, it's too late to worry about his room being perfect. Minho is here and Jisung can hardly let him just stand in the hallway. So with a sigh, Jisung gestures for Minho to come in. "Yeah. They're on my desk somewhere. Give me a second, okay?"

The other boy nods, slipping into the room and nudging the door closed with his hip while Jisung turns back to his desk and starts rummaging through it. Eventually, he finds what he's looking for, making a sound of triumph before pulling some out of the box and walking over to Minho.

Minho wrinkles his nose when he sees the bandaids that Jisung's holding out to him. "Really?"

"They're cute," Jisung says defensively, wiggling the hand that holds the Doraemon bandaids.

After a moment, Minho rolls his eyes and takes them from him, turning his back on the younger boy as he starts to peel the paper off them. Under his breath, he murmurs, "They're not the only thing."

Jisung blinks, not quite sure what he heard. "What's that?"

Without missing a beat, Minho points with his chin at a little squirrel plushie sitting on his bed. A gift from Felix that the other had gotten him after they moved in together to break the awkwardness of living with someone new, and for the most part it had worked. "Your squirrel's cute."

"Oh," Jisung says, and scoots past Minho to pick it up and actually look at it. "My roommate got it for me as a gift. I have a lot of squirrel-themed stuff. My family and friends have always called me that, since--"

"The cheeks and teeth," Minho finishes as he sticks the last bandaid on his scrapes, flexing his hands with a little wince. Jisung feels himself flush at having it pointed out so directly.

"Well-- yeah." He laughs a little, it coming out a bit louder and flustered than he expects. "Honestly I've always been a bit embarrassed by it. I can never tell if people are making fun of me or not when they say it."

"It's not a bad thing," Minho says. Jisung waits for him to elaborate but he doesn't, instead simply reaching over and gently patting the squirrel plushie on the head. Ah, Jisung thinks, cute.

"Well, that's good to hear," Jisung says with a little laugh before setting the plushie back on his bed.

"Your phone case has a squirrel sticker on it too," Minho recalls.

Warmth blossoms in his stomach. He's not sure why it makes him happy that Minho remembers that silly fact, but it does. He fishes his phone out of his pocket and turns to show Minho the sticker of the squirrel with the acorn on his phone case. "Yeah, I do!"

"It's kind of funny you embraced the nickname this much," Minho says with a little smile, looking around the room.

Jisung shifts from foot to foot at that, pocketing his phone once more. Minho looking at his room and seeing how messy he is was a source of anxiety earlier that he managed to put away when Minho came back, but suddenly it's rearing its head again as he watches Minho actually take in his surroundings. "Well, yeah. I guess it was either hate the nickname from being called it so much or accept it. I figured it would be easier just to accept it. Besides, squirrels are cute."

"They are cute," Minho acknowledges with a laugh, turning back to look at Jisung with twinkling eyes. "I like your room, by the way. Very lived in."

Jisung groans. Of course he'd pinpoint his anxiety over that. "That's just a nice way to say it's messy and you know it."

Minho laughs again. "Maybe. It's not bad though. I mean, it could be dirty. This is just a little cluttered."

"Again, that's just a nice way to say it's messy," Jisung points out.

Minho shakes his head with an amused look, walking over to the shelf Jisung picked his bandaids off of and gently prodding at the mess there. Jisung rolls his eyes but lets him. It's not like he has anything to hide, it's just--

Wait.

His eyes fall on his bottle of anxiety medication and his shoulders tense. He wasn't hiding them or anything, he doesn't see any reason to. He just doesn't like mentioning them to people, not when some people can either be so judgemental or give him pity he doesn't want.

Minho taps the top of the bottle with a finger and hums, only to move on to poking at the pencil case shaped like a strawberry right next to it like the pills weren't anything special enough to call out. And they aren't, not to Jisung. They're just part of his normal life.

"This is cute," Minho says, poking at the pencil case again and looking back at him with a smile.

Jisung instantly relaxes, Minho's easy demeanor shooing all of his anxiety away. Of course Minho doesn't care. Everything about Minho and the way he's reacted to Jisung's anxiety quirks has been accepting and he's never made a big deal out of any of them.

He likes Minho. He really, honestly does. And not just because of how cute he is. He just likes him.

"Ah, it is," Jisung says, coming over to stand by him and picking up the case. "I bought it at the store on a whim. I haven't really used it much this year though."

"You should," Minho tells him. "Like I said, it's cute."

"Maybe I will," Jisung says. Oh, he definitely will now. In fact, as soon as Minho leaves he will be moving all his pencils and pens into this little strawberry and tossing it into his backpack.

And it's funny because Minho seems so at ease here in Jisung's room. He asks about things sitting out, about where he got them or why he has them in the first place. He asks about pictures hanging on Jisung's side of the wall and he tells Minho about Jeongin, about the picture from the amusement park they went to before Jisung graduated. He tells Minho about his parents and the picture of the three of them in front of the college on the day he moved in.

Minho asks about a lot, and Jisung finds that it's easy to talk to him about it all.

He's not sure how long they do that, Minho asking and him answering, but eventually, Minho lets out a little hum from where he now sits on Jisung's bed next to him.

"Jisung," Minho says, and Jisung turns to look at him.

"What is it?"

"I think I should probably be going home," he tells him.

"Oh," Jisung says, and he can't keep the disappointment out of his voice.

Minho must hear it because he laughs. "Don't sound so sad! It's not because of you or anything. I just have class and work tomorrow so I need to get home and actually sleep at a decent time. I have a paper to work on before that anyways."

"That makes sense," Jisung admits. "Then I should probably let you go, huh?"

"Let me go," Minho repeats, sounding amused. He tries to push himself off the bed for a moment and struggles, not wanting to put pressure on his hands. Jisung immediately stands, holds out his hands to him. Minho lets him wrap his hands around his elbows and help him up, giving Jisung a smile after he's standing again. "You make it sound like you've been keeping me here."

Jisung shrugs. "I mean, kind of? You only came here for bandaids but I just kept you talking."

Minho snorts at that. "Please, if anything it's the other way around. I keep asking you about things because I want to know about them and that's why I'm still here-- because I like hearing you talk."

"Oh," Jisung says again, but it comes out much cheerier than the last one. Minho laughs as the two of them head to the door.

Minho turns around to face him again after he steps out through the threshold of the door, still smiling at him. "Thanks for having me, by the way."

"Don't worry about it," Jisung says, waving his hand dismissively. "It's my fault I let you ride the skateboard in the first place."

"It was," Minho says without missing a beat, completely deadpan.

Jisung's eyebrows immediately shoot up. "Oh, okay! I see how it is! For the record, it's also your fault! You got on my board anyways because you were too stubborn to just admit you didn't know how to ride one!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Minho shakes his head, but Jisung can see the way the corners of his lips are fighting not to turn upwards.

"Whatever, we both know the truth," Jisung says, leaning forward with his hands on his hips.

"The truth is that I'm just using you for your free bandaids, obviously."

"Obviously," Jisung repeats, and he's unable to stop the wide smile that spreads across his face as he looks at Minho. Almost instantly the fake serious expression Minho's wearing falls apart, replaced by a small-- and dare he say it, fond-- smile.

They stand there like that for a moment, just smiling at each other as the silence falls over them like a blanket. He likes that about being with Minho; sometimes their banter falls away and all that's left is quiet. It's not bad, in fact, it's comforting. Jisung doesn't feel like he has to keep talking to fill it, which is what his anxiety usually tells him to do when things get quiet with people. It's not like that with Minho.

"When you smile it's shaped like a heart," Minho says out of nowhere, his voice soft, glancing between Jisung's mouth and eyes. Jisung jolts at his words, blinking rapidly at the other boy as a heat starts to creep up the back of his neck. "Has anybody ever told you that?"

"I-- no," Jisung manages to stutter out, staring at Minho with his lips parted. He doesn't miss the way Minho watches his mouth as Jisung's smile turns into a surprised O. "No, you're-- you're the first person to ever tell me that."

Minho frowns at that, looking at his mouth for a moment longer before meeting his eyes again. "That's a shame. It's cute."

"Oh," Jisung squeaks, reaching up to cover his cough as he tries to play the startled squeak off like there's something in his throat. Minho just continues to give him the odd look Jisung can't quite place. "Well, thank you."

"Don't worry about it," Minho says softly.

Jisung's often been told he's quite dense by some of his friends, that's true, but he's not dumb enough not to guess that Minho has something he wants to say. The problem is Jisung can't figure out what, not when Minho just threw him for such a loop.

"Minho," he starts, and the other boy's eyes sparkle in the awful dorm hall light as Jisung says his name. He might as well just ask, Minho has to go soon and it seems like he really does want to say something, so--

"Jisung!"

He flinches at the sound of his own name coming from down the hall, whatever moment hanging between him and Minho shattering at the sound. Minho's expression sours instantly, which makes Jisung's stomach turn.

With a sigh, he turns to look over at the noise, already having a good idea what he'll see: Felix, his dear roommate and friend, walking towards him with an excited wave. Seungmin is in tow, right next to him.

"You have to be kidding," Jisung mumbles under his breath, and Minho glances between him and the two boys coming towards them.

"Hey, Jisung!" Felix calls again, a big grin on his face. As he approaches, he seems to realize that Minho is there for the first time. "Oh, hi. Who's the friend?"

Seungmin, to his credit, looks at Jisung's flustered face, over to Minho's incredibly annoyed face, then back to Jisung, before his own eyes widen in the realization that they just interrupted… something. Jisung doesn't even know what and the worst part is that now he'll never know.

The cute librarian, you dunce, Jisung wants to shout, but he knows Felix isn't at fault. He just doesn't always pick up on things right away. And besides, he can't exactly say that in front of the man himself.

Minho answers for him before Jisung can get an answer out, however. "I'm Minho. Jisung's friend."

"Oh. Hi, Minho! I'm Felix, Jisung's roommate." Felix excitedly gestures at the boy next to him, who's giving Jisung and Minho apologetic eyes. "And this is Seungmin! He's our friend who lives down the hall."

"Hello," Minho answers curtly.

"Felix," Seungmin says gently, tugging at the ginger's arm, "I think maybe we should go to my room instead. They're busy."

"No, no," Minho says with a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "I was just leaving anyway."

"Oh, you don't have to," Felix insists brightly.

"I was on my way out already," Minho explains. "I was just stopping by for a moment."

Then he takes a step back and the moment is definitely gone, the last chance at it ended by Minho himself. Jisung feels something in his gut twist.

"That's too bad," Felix says. "Any friend of Jisung's is welcome here! Ah, well, it was nice to meet you anyways."

"Likewise," Minho says politely, looking at Felix and Seungmin. Then he turns to Jisung and gives him a little nod. "I'll see you around, Jisung. Thanks for the bandaids."

And with that he turns, set to walk out after such a curt goodbye, not a trace of the warmth in his demeanor that Jisung is so used to. It hits him like a punch to the gut.

The last thing he wants is for Minho to be annoyed, much less at him.

"Hey," Jisung blurts out, reaching to grab Minho by the sleeve of his jacket before he leaves. Minho stops, luckily, and turns to face him again, brow still creased with annoyance. "Make sure you keep those scrapes clean, okay? I'll come back during your shift tomorrow and see you. Is that okay?"

Minho's expression immediately softens. "Of course that's okay."

"Okay! Good!" Jisung says, relief washing over him. So Minho isn't annoyed by him. That's what he needed to know. "I'll bring you more bandaids then, okay?"

"Okay." Minho gives him a little nod.

"I'll see you then," Jisung tells him, letting his hand fall off of Minho's sleeve. He gives him a tiny smile, one that Minho mirrors. It seems genuine.

Take that, anxiety.

Minho gives him a tiny wave at his side, sparing another nod at Seungmin and Felix before making his way down the hall towards the elevator and stairs.

Jisung immediately lets out a hiss of breath, walking over to his friends and putting a hand on each of their backs before pushing them into the dorm room.

As he's shoved into the room, Felix asks, "Bro, who was that?"

"Felix," Seungmin says slowly, "that was probably the cute librarian he's been talking about for the past month."

Felix blinks. "What? Really?"

"Really," Jisung says dryly, putting his hands on his hips after he shuts the door behind him.

"Wait, so what was he doing here?"

"He tried to skate with my board and fell and scraped up his hands. I brought him here so he could wash them and borrow bandaids."

"Did you give him the Doraemon ones?" Felix asks.

Jisung coughs.

"That's a yes," Seungmin concludes.

"Shut up," Jisung says.

"Oh! I think those are cute," Felix says. "I bet he thought they were really cute too!"

"Well, the alternative is him thinking they're stupid and childish," Jisung says with a sigh. "So I'm hoping cute is his opinion."

"Sorry that we interrupted," Seungmin tells him, glancing over at Felix pointedly.

Felix catches Seungmin's look, frowning at him. Then he realizes, a look of horror passing over his face. "Oh my god. I didn't even realize." He turns to Jisung with wide eyes. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize I interrupted you talking to your librarian. I was just so excited to talk to you--"

"It's fine," Jisung relents, waving his hand. He doesn't have it in him to be too annoyed. It's not like he can ever stay mad at Felix anyways. "You didn't know. Besides he was just leaving anyway."

"Still," Felix says, uncertain. "I wouldn't have done that if I realized that was your boy."

Jisung feels warmth creep up the back of his neck. "He's not my boy. Anyways, you said you were excited to talk to me. What for?"

"Oh," Felix says, looking suddenly nervous. He looks at Seungmin, who just raises an eyebrow at him. "Well, um--"

And it's only then that Jisung's brain seems to wake up from its Minho-induced fever, fully processing what's in front of him. Felix and Seungmin, of course. That's nothing new. Felix is his roommate. Seungmin lives down the hall. They're all friends. Felix and Seungmin in particular hit it off.

What's new, though, is that Felix and Seungmin are holding hands. And, as far as he can remember, the two of them have been holding hands since they rounded the corner of the dorm hallway and interrupted him and Minho.

"Oh my god," Jisung says, gaping at them.

"What?" Felix blinks at him, bewildered by Jisung's sudden shift in tone.

Jisung points at them, half-accusatory and half in awe. "You two! You're holding hands!"

Felix promptly turns beet red while Seungmin just rolls his eyes.

"Took you long enough," Seungmin murmurs.

"Oh my god, wait!" Jisung points harder at them. "Are you two-- oh my god!"

Felix finally lets go of Seungmin's hand for the first time since they ran into each other, reaching up to cover up his burning red face with both of his hands before flopping down on his bed. From behind his fingers, the blush makes his freckles pop out against his skin.

"Yes, we are," Seungmin says after a moment of Jisung pointing at him, exasperated.

"How long?"

"Three days," Felix mumbles from the bed.

"Three days," Jisung repeats in disbelief. "Why didn't I know?"

"I mean, you've kind of been preoccupied with a certain cute librarian. Who definitely is cute, by the way. You weren't exaggerating on that."

"But three days, you guys!"

Felix sits up then, face still red as he looks up at Jisung with big apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry! We were going to tell you but we wanted to make sure this thing was going to last longer than a couple of days and that we really do like each other and we weren't just being dumb!"

Jisung slowly lowers his hand from where it's been pointing at Seungmin this whole time. Then he asks, "So is it real?"

"I think so," Felix says, looking over to Seungmin for some kind of confirmation.

Seungmin just gives him a fond smile. "Of course it is, we were just holding hands, Felix."

"I just wanted to be sure."

"Oh, gross," Jisung says with a little pout. "You guys are cute."

"Why is that gross?"

"Because you both have a boyfriend and I don't so I'm wallowing." Then he adds, "I'm just being dramatic, I'm really happy for you both."

"Thanks," Seungmin says dryly, but Jisung's gotten to know him enough that he can pick out how happy he actually is for the approval.

Felix adjusts himself so he's sitting up against the wall, dragging a pillow into his arms and squeezing it to his chest. "Hey, it's not like you're totally hopeless! Your cute library boy was just here! That must mean something!"

"Yeah," Jisung says with a scoff. "It means he fell off my skateboard and hurt his hands so I felt responsible and begged him to come here so I could help him clean it up. I think if he came here because he likes me I would know."

"I don't know," Seungmin says with a dismissive hand wave. "You can be kind of dense sometimes."

"Hey!"

Seungmin just laughs.

Jisung shakes his head. "God, whatever. Minho was just here to clean his hands. Forget about it. Are you guys gonna tell me how this happened or what?"

"I swear he looks familiar too. I feel like I've seen him around, but I don't…" Felix trails off thoughtfully then shakes his head. "Whatever. Anyways, you were busy practically living in the library trying to get the attention of your librarian, so I started hanging out with Seungmin more since we were free and bored. Things just kind of… happened naturally, I guess?"

"Oh," Jisung says feeling a little disappointed. "Just that?"

Seungmin shrugs. "We've always kind of liked each other, it's just we only realized recently that we both felt that way and wanted to try something together. It seems a little underwhelming but not all confessions are big and boisterous and that's fine."

Jisung hums at that, nodding in acceptance. "Fine, I see that. I do have a question, though. Humor me?"

"Just don't be dumb," Seungmin says, which is a very Seungmin way of saying shoot.

"Who asked who out?" Jisung asks. As soon as Seungmin opens his mouth to answer, Jisung shakes his head. "Wait, don't. Actually I already know. It was definitely Seungmin."

"It was definitely me," Seungmin agrees.

"How?" Jisung presses.

"I don't know, I asked him?"

"You asked him," Jisung repeats.

Seungmin snorts. "Yes, Jisung. I asked him if he liked me too. That's how people find out of they both like each other. That's how people start dating."

"And you just… came out and asked him?" Jisung asks in disbelief.

"Yes," Seungmin says with an eye roll.

"God," Jisung says, whistling. "The power you hold, Kim Seungmin."

"It's not power, I just got over myself and--"

"He's a dance major!" Felix yells suddenly, making the other two boys jump.

"What?" Jisung asks, startled.

"Your library boy! Minho, right? There are a lot of Minhos on campus so I didn't really realize it until seeing him, but the reason he looks so familiar to me is because he's a dance major!" Felix explains excitedly. "I haven't hung out with him or anything, but I've heard of him and seen him around a bit. Our schedules don't really line up or anything but I've seen him dance a few times. He's like… god, Ji. If you think he looks good putting away books, I think you'd die watching him dance."

"Oh," Jisung says because he doesn't know what else to say to that.

Mostly because he's suddenly thinking about how pretty Minho is, how elegant he looks in the library, and now he's thinking about him dancing and Jisung's brain is just--

"Oh my god," Seungmin says, waving a hand in front of Jisung's face. "Felix, you can't just say things like that to him. I think you broke him."

And he recovers-- he really does-- but that doesn't mean he stops thinking about Minho dancing and being a dancer for more than a few minutes at a time for the rest of the night.

He comes to the library the next day with a couple of bandaids in his pocket, just like he promised Minho. He shows up a lot later than he usually does, his class running a bit longer as it's a workshop day. It must be close to the end of Minho's shift.

The librarian in question lights up when he sees him, Jisung having hunted him down in the section full of books on agriculture where he's putting away books gingerly, not wanting to aggravate his hands.

"You brought them," Minho says as he takes the bandaids from Jisung, smiling wide.

"I said I would." Jisung puts his hands back into his hoodie pockets. "Han Jisung always keeps his promises-- well, as long as he remembers them. Han Jisung can be kind of forgetful sometimes."

"Han Jisung is very sweet and Lee Minho is grateful that he remembered for once," Minho says teasingly.

"How could I forget something for you?" Jisung shoots back, feeling playful.

Minho just laughs. "You're right, I'm pretty wonderful. It would be a shame if you forgot something involving me."

Jisung rolls his eyes. "Wow."

"Yeah." Minho puts the last book on his cart away, then turns to Jisung. "Wanna go back to your corner while I change my bandaids?"

"Here?" Jisung says, nose wrinkling.

Minho elbows him. "Hey! There's a trashcan back there. Besides, it's not like my hands are that gross. You and your bandaids got to me in time."

"Whatever, just don't make me look at your hands while you change them," Jisung says, knocking his elbow against Minho's in retaliation. The other boy smiles, his eyes crinkling. It's not like Jisung would ever say no to spending time with Minho.

Not that Minho needs to know that.

So they end up sitting in Jisung's usual spot, Minho changing his bandaids quickly while Jisung pulls out his laptop and notebook and starts going over the PowerPoint he downloaded from his professor.

"Hey," he says after a moment, glancing up from his screen. Minho's already switched out his bandaids for the new ones, flexing his hands experimentally as he looks at them. He blinks, looking up at Jisung when he speaks. "I'm sorry about my friends yesterday."

"What?" Minho says, staring at him. Then he seems to realize what Jisung's talking about, shaking his head, "Oh, don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?" Jisung gently taps the table with his fingers. "It's just… you seemed a little annoyed yesterday when they interrupted. I wanted to say sorry."

"I wasn't annoyed," Minho says defensively, pursing his lips.

"You definitely were," Jisung argues, frowning. "We haven't known each other that long but I can tell when you're annoyed." He points at his own forehead. "You get a little crease right here and your lips get really thin. Kind of like now."

Minho immediately makes his lips relax. "I'm not annoyed now either."

"I was annoyed with them," Jisung says easily, and Minho raises an eyebrow.

"Why's that?" Minho asks.

"I don't know. We were saying goodbye to each other but that still doesn't mean it's not annoying to be interrupted." That's not a lie. That is true. What he's not going to tell Minho is that he was also annoyed because his friends interrupted him talking to his crush and that it felt like they broke whatever moment they were having, even if Jisung isn't so deluded to think it was any kind of romantic moment. Still, there was definitely… a moment. And Jisung will never get to figure out what it was now.

So yeah, Jisung knows why he was annoyed. What he can't figure out is why Minho was annoyed.

Minho hums absently. Then he says, "Alright, I was kind of annoyed for the same reason."

Oh. Well, that makes sense then. Nobody likes to be interrupted.

"Was that so hard to admit?" Jisung teases.

Minho scoffs. "I didn't want you to think I hated your friends or anything, I just don't like being interrupted even if I was in the middle of leaving, just like you said."

"Well, if it makes you feel better they realized they were kind of rude after you left, so I think they'll try not to do that again if you're over," Jisung tells him.

"You make it sound like I'll be coming over again," Minho says, voice rumbling with barely suppressed laughter.

Jisung flushes. "Oh. Sorry, I just-- I figured since you were over once and you liked hanging out, maybe--"

The laughter in Minho's voice releases then, breezy and warm. "It's okay, I'm kidding. I'd love to hang out with you more."

Jisung scowls over the top of his laptop. "Why do you always tease me?"

"Because it's fun and you're easy to poke and prod," Minho says with a grin.

Jisung just rolls his eyes, watching as Minho picks up one of the books Jisung has laying on the table between them. He watches as Minho reads the back, then as he opens it and starts skimming the first page.

He looks really nice from this angle, Jisung thinks absently. The slope of his nose and the angles of his jaw are particularly pretty.

"Hey," Minho says suddenly, breaking the silence. Jisung manages to pull his eyes away from the boy and look down at his laptop just before Minho turns to look at him. "Jisung."

He raises his eyes to look at Minho again, hoping he doesn't seem panicked or too obvious that he's been staring at him for the past couple of minutes. "What's up?"

"Speaking of hanging out more, do you wanna come get something to drink with me after my shift?"

Jisung feels his mouth go dry. "Like… drinks? Alcohol?"

Minho snorts. "No, dumbass. I know it's Friday night but I'm not exactly keen on having a hangover tomorrow or dragging your lightweight ass around."

He bristles on instinct, puffing out his chest and closing the book he was pretending to read. "Hey! You don't know that!"

Minho's mouth quirks up into a smirk at that, and god he has no right to wear the look so well. It's infuriating. Then Minho pointedly lets his eyes drift over Jisung's frame from head to toe from where he's sitting before him. The fight leaves his body almost instantly, dropping his eyes to the table and wriggling in his seat as Minho looks him up and down. He reaches up and fidgets with his hair on instinct, pushing the wave of blonde out of his face before shaking his head and letting it fall back into place again. When he glances up, Minho's eyes have settled on his face again, his dark eyes glittering with amusement and his smirk softened slightly around the edges.

"Oh, you're definitely a lightweight. It's okay though, you're still cute." His chest tightens suddenly, warmth spreading out from the center like something just spilled over. "No, not that kind of drinking. There's this little cafe not far from campus that I go to sometimes."

At that, Jisung tilts his head slightly. "Isn't there a coffee place on campus?"

"It sucks," Minho says dismissively, waving his hand. "It's okay in a pinch I guess if you're like, really desperate and don't have time to get something else. That's about it though. This place is much better."

Jisung's only been to the coffee place on campus a few times and now that he thinks about it, the hot chocolates he's gotten from there have always been a bit watered down. He hadn't thought too much about it though. When a guy wants some hot cocoa, a guy's gonna get his hot cocoa even if it's a bit watery.

That said, he hasn't had a good hot chocolate in a while because of it.

Besides, it's Minho asking him to go. Of his own free will. To hang out with him. At a cafe!

Jisung's not stupid enough to recognize that this is exactly the kind of thing he's been waiting for, and he doesn't even have to be the one to try to fumble around with asking Minho to hang out.

"Tonight?" He repeats, mostly for clarity.

"Mhm," Minho confirms. "I get off my shift at six in like half an hour."

"Isn't that a little late for coffee?" Jisung says it with a smile, making sure he doesn't sound like he's trying to find an out. He most certainly isn't trying to.

Minho doesn't seem to take it that way at all luckily. "Time is fake at college, Jisung. Haven't you figured that out by now?"

Jisung can't help but laugh. "Well, I guess if you put it that way, I have no reason to refuse."

"How could you ever turn me down anyway?" Minho teases, waggling his eyebrows in a way that only makes Jisung laugh harder.

"I don't know, how could I?" Jisung says through his laughter, and Minho has no idea how honestly he means that.

With that, Minho stands, taking a few steps back from Jisung's table. "So it's settled then. Be waiting for me at six, okay?"

"I'll be here," Jisung says, gesturing at the little corner of the library he's set aside for himself.

And when Minho grins at him, Jisung can't help but grin back.

The next half hour is possibly the slowest thirty minutes Jisung's ever experienced in his life. He tries his best to focus on his work, he really does, but he's so giddy suddenly that it's hard.

He's hanging out. With Minho.

And Minho was the one who asked him.

Minho wants to hang out with him.

When Minho finally reappears, Jisung's face hurts from smiling the whole time he waited.

"You ready?" Minho asks, a black athletic jacket pulled on over his tan button-up.

Jisung slips his laptop into his backpack with the rest of his things, getting to his feet. "You know I am."

"Let's go," Minho says, gesturing towards the front of the library with an easy smile.

Jisung barely stops himself from skipping as they walk out together.

Just barely.

"So how far of a walk is it?" Jisung asks, shoving his hands into his pockets as they fall into step with each other, the lights of campus glowing above them, casting Minho's dark hair in an almost golden halo. Jisung shyly drops his gaze to the sidewalk in front of him, warmth on his cheeks. God, but Minho's pretty.

"Walking?" Minho repeats incredulously. "Who says we're walking?"

Confused, Jisung immediately raises his eyes to Minho again. "What do you mean? We're going to the cafe, we're walking there right?"

"Walking," Minho says again, the same amount of disgust in his voice. "Please, I'm not walking and I'm not going to make you walk. The furthest we're walking is the parking lot like a block from here where my car is parked."

"Wait," Jisung says slowly, unable to keep the disbelief out of his voice. "You can drive?"

Minho stops in his tracks, Jisung taking a few more steps before he realizes and stops as well, turning to face the other boy. Minho looks baffled. "Why do you sound surprised?"

"Uh, I don't know? I guess you just don't seem like the driving type?" In fact, Minho being legally considered road certified is so bizarre to him that he doesn't even really know how to connect that with the image he's built of Minho in his head. It's not even like it's the most outrageous fact ever, it's just not something he expected. Jisung himself can't even drive yet.

"What does that mean?" Minho says, voice raising. He doesn't seem mad, just baffled and maybe a little offended. "I'm a capable adult! I drive!"

"I'm sorry!" Jisung says, unable to stop a little laugh from escaping. "I just genuinely wasn't expecting it!"

Minho huffs loudly, shaking his head. "Honestly. I don't even know if I should go out with you now."

"Sorry! Sorry!" Jisung says, laughing louder and taking a step closer. In a moment of bravery, he hooks his arm with Minho's, linking them together. "I'm so sorry! Please come get drinks with me Mister Capable Adult!"

After a moment, Minho rolls his eyes. "Only because you asked nicely and apologized."

And with that, they start walking again. It's not until they're in front of Minho's car (nothing fancy, just a little black thing with a few dents-- which is still a car though which is better than his, well, skateboard) that Jisung realizes he never unlinked their arms and Minho never shrugged him off.

Warmth creeping up the back of his neck, Jisung slides his arm out from Minho's and lets the other boy fish around in his bag for his keys, watching as he pulls them out and unlocks the car.

He turns and gestures between Jisung and the car. "Your carriage awaits!"

Jisung snorts. "What am I? Cinderella?"

Minho makes a noise of disgust, going over to open his car door and start climbing in. "Please. My car isn't a pumpkin. It's not orange enough, thank god."

"Having an orange car would build character," Jisung says with a smile as he walks to the passenger side and gets in too. It's small in here, but he doesn't feel as boxed in as he expected being in here with Minho. He was worried he'd be scared out of his mind at being so close to him like this, but he feels strangely at ease. Safe, almost. That's something he's been noticing a lot the more time he spends with him: once he gets past his initial nerves with Minho, he feels comfortable with him. Like they've known each other for years.

Minho scoffs as he starts up the car. "I have plenty of character without an ugly orange car, thanks."

"Your loss," Jisung replies as he clicks his seatbelt in.

Minho wasn't lying about it being right off of campus. They only drive for about ten minutes before they're pulling off to the side of a street along a little block of buildings. The cafe, it turns out, is on the corner. It's tiny, much smaller than the one on campus. It seems like a family-run small business. It's warm inside, a cozy cream and coffee brown color palette to the decor. There are only two other people inside besides them and the girl working the counter, who looks just a bit older than Jisung. The two seem like a couple, Jisung notes, or at least he'd guess that based on the way they keep smiling at each other and coming up with excuses to touch each other's hands.

"What do you want?" Minho asks him as they approach the counter, giving a little nod up to the big board on the wall where the menu has been scrawled out in colorful chalk. It has cute little doodles all around it as well. Jisung really likes this place already.

Jisung leans against the older's shoulder, peering up at the board. A lot of it sounds good to him. If he comes back he'll have to try some, but a glance at the clock and the anxiety over Minho buying him something new and him not liking him drives him back to old faithful. "I think I'll just have a hot cocoa, if that's okay."

"Hot cocoa?" Minho repeats, looking back at him with an amused smile. "What are you, five?"

"And a half," he declares proudly. "Besides, it's after six. I get anxiety jitters if I have coffee this late." He already has enough of those just hanging out with Minho, he doesn't need any more.

"Cute," Minho says, and Jisung feels his face flush for what feels like the hundredth time tonight. When the server comes up to the counter Minho pulls out his wallet and tells her, "Two large hot chocolates." A glance over his shoulder at the younger boy. "One with extra whipped cream."

"That'll be a little extra," she says, and Jisung opens his mouth to tell Minho it's okay, but Minho waves him off before he can.

"That's alright. I'll take two of the cinnamon coffee cake slices too."

"Oh." Jisung turns to Minho. "You don't have to--"

"I want the coffee cake, Jisung. Don't worry. And I think you'd like it too." Minho reaches up and puts a hand on Jisung's elbow reassuringly. Were he any more transparent, he'd melt on the spot at the touch. As it is, he simply clears his throat. A little smirk plays across Minho's lips then, before he adds, "Not everything's about you."

He gives Minho a pout, suddenly not flustered at all by the touch anymore. Minho's really good at throwing him out of his blushing thoughts about being around him and into exasperated friend mode. "I wasn't making it about me!"

"Sure," Minho says teasingly in a tone that can only jokingly mean I don't believe you.

Jisung turns and whacks him lightly on the arm, making Minho laugh.

They end up seated at a booth in the far corner, Jisung on one side and Minho on the other. They chat for a while about their day, and Jisung's surprised. Small talk is easy with him. It doesn't feel like an awkward transition between topics like it does with some people. With Minho he likes hearing him talk about anything and everything, and it almost seems like Minho feels the same way about him. His crush on the other boy aside, it's really nice to have a friend like this where everything just comes so natural and easy.

They don't have to wait very long though, because soon the waitress is bringing over their order. A lot faster than the shitty coffee shop on campus, Jisung notes. No wonder Minho doesn't like that place. Maybe he'll convert Jisung into disliking it completely after all.

Jisung stares down at the mountain of whipped cream on top of his mug of hot chocolate in awe as the waitress puts it down in front of him, admiring the drizzle of chocolate and marshmallows topping it. "You really didn't have to get extra whipped for me, Minho."

Minho snorts. When Jisung looks up at him from across the table, the other boy is smiling slightly, staring down at his own mug of hot chocolate with a much more moderate amount of whipped cream.

"What's so funny?" Jisung asks, not catching the joke.

Minho shakes his head with a giggle. A giggle. It's a little delirious sounding, not something he'd expect to come from the handsome soft-spoken librarian, but he'd be lying through his teeth if he said he didn't think it was adorable. "I definitely didn't need to get extra whipped for you. It's okay though. It worked out."

"I mean, it definitely did. Look how good this looks!" Jisung gestures at his mug with a grin.

Minho looks at him for a moment. Then he starts giggling again. "You're adorable."

Minho's giggles are positively infectious, and at the seemingly out of the blue praise, Jisung can't help but grin a bit timidly, little nervous chuckles escaping. "What did I do?"

Minho shakes his head. "I don't think your brain processes half the things you say before you get it out. Don't worry about it."

"Whatever you say," Jisung says before turning his attention back to his drink. He blows on it a little before daring to take a sip, nose wrinkling when it burns his tongue. Yep. Too soon to drink.

That doesn't stop him from taking more sips though.

Minho, however, is smart enough to just leave his alone to sit and cool down a bit, simply talking to Jisung while they wait.

"So," Jisung says suddenly, resting his chin on his hand as he recalls something he's been meaning to ask about, "you're a dance major?"

Minho raises his eyebrows at him. "Where'd you learn that?"

"My roommate, Felix? Ginger? Loud? He's a dance major too and he recognized you. Our friend Hyunjin is one too and he said he knew your name too."

He hums in response. "I am."

"Wow," Jisung says softly. "You must be really good for people to recognize you."

"Would it be egotistical to say I am?" Minho asks thoughtfully.

"Maybe to some people? But if it's the truth then it's just stating the facts," Jisung says. "No shame in being proud of what you're good at."

"That's a really sweet answer," Minho says honestly. "I was just going to say that it's a good thing I have a big ego and know I'm good and don't care about playing coy about it."

Jisung snorts. "I like that about you."

"It's part of my charm." And with that Minho picks up his drink and takes a tentative sip. After a moment he smiles, seemingly liking what he finds and taking a bigger sip.

Taking that as a good sign that his has cooled down, Jisung tries his again too and luckily it has. Now that it's cooled down, he can fully appreciate it. It's really good, not watered down at all. He can also faintly taste… cinnamon? He hasn't tried the coffee cake in front of him yet, so it must be in the cocoa as well.

"This is really good," Jisung murmurs, forcing himself not to chug it.

"It is," Minho agrees. "I haven't had hot chocolate in a while. I usually just got some kind of coffee."

"You should get it more," Jisung suggests, taking another sip and wiping the bit of whipped cream off his lip with his thumb and licking it off before continuing. "I know I said I don't get coffee much because it gives me jitters when it's later but even if I didn't I'd still get cocoa a lot. It makes me feel really warm and happy and I think it's partially because it makes me think about when I was a kid and I'd come home on cold days and there'd be a cup of it waiting for me. It just reminds me of happy things like that so I always feel happy when I drink it, even now, even if I'm in a bad mood when I drink it."

A moment passes before he realizes Minho hasn't responded. Feeling warmth on his cheeks, he glances up at the other boy, who's simply looking at him with an expression Jisung can't quite place, lips parted slightly and eyes glowing warmly in the light of the cafe.

"Sorry," Jisung says, clearing his throat. "That's way too much information you wouldn't care about. I just like cocoa, I guess."

"No," Minho says slowly, his thumb tracing the outside of the mug where he holds it. "It's okay. I like hearing you talk like that. I think it's really sweet that you put so much thought into stuff, even if it's just little things that wouldn't matter to a lot of other people. I'm glad it makes you happy too. I think it's good to take happiness wherever we can find it."

"Ah, thank you," Jisung says quietly because he doesn't know what else to say. He's not used to people taking his sentimental ramblings seriously or not making fun of him for it, even if it's not serious. It's… a nice change of pace.

"And of course I care about what you have to say," Minho says, his voice pointed. "You're my friend."

Jisung can't help but smile at that, and it hurts his cheeks with how wide it goes. Minho's his friend. Minho's his friend and he cares about all his silly thoughts.

They go back to their drinks after that, although Jisung can't seem to wipe the smile off his face. He really does like Minho. And not just because he's pretty or hot or because Jisung has some strange jumble of feelings for him, but because Minho is really funny and sweet and actually cares about listening to him. And not only does he listen, but he seems to understand him.

He's really glad he met him.

Suddenly Minho slams both his hands on the table, palms flat. Not hard, but enough to get Jisung's attention back from his sappy thoughts and cause him to jump, cradling his mug tightly so as not to spill any of what's inside. A little smile spreads across Minho's face.

"I have an idea," he says.

Jisung blinks rapidly, startled. "What?"

"We don't really know much about each other. Let's play a game. I give you two things and you tell me which one you like better. Then you ask me something back." Minho leans back in his seat, spreading his arms out. "Perfect solution!"

Jisung taps his fingers against the table, not having touched his coffee cake yet out of fear of eating it too fast and embarrassing himself. Felix jokes that he's a vacuum. He doesn't mind that from Felix, but the idea of doing that in front of Minho… makes him nervous, to say the least. "Speed run getting to know each other?"

"We already know each other," Minho points out. "We hang out a lot, we just haven't really gotten the little facts about each other that friends should know. So let's do that all right now!"

Jisung laughs then. "Alright!"

They go back and forth for a while. They have a lot of matching preferences, Jisung realizes, but a lot of differences too. Not anything major, but enough to keep things interesting. He loves hearing Minho's answers, loves the way his face scrunches up as he thinks about his answer sometimes.

(He stops caring about not scarfing down his coffee cake, completely at ease with Minho as they laugh at each other's answers. Minho doesn't seem bothered at all by how fast Jisung eats it, just gives him an amused smile and keeps asking questions while waiting for Jisung to answer around mouthfuls.)

At some point the game devolves. Or maybe it evolves. Jisung's not too sure, but soon they're just talking about anything and everything, volunteering facts about themselves and either matching theirs against each other or comparing their differences.

Minho is a dance major. He's tried a lot of different things as a way to express himself but dancing was the thing that really stuck. Jisung asks if he has any videos of him dancing and Minho positively glows, telling him that he doesn't have any on him but next time they hang out he'll bring his laptop and show him the ones on there. Jisung tells him he can't wait, and he genuinely can't.

Jisung is getting a degree in music production. He's been fascinated with making music since he was a kid. Minho asks him if he writes lyrics too and when Jisung proudly says that he does, Minho tells him that it's cool that he can take part of himself and put it into music like that. Jisung laughs when Minho tells him he'd love to hear some of his music sometime, flustered by the boy's interest.

They both like cats. Jisung's never had any, he just thinks they're cute. Minho has two but they live with his parents back home because the apartment he shares with his roommate doesn't allow pets.

Minho's best friend is his roommate Changbin. They've been roommates since they were put in the same dorm room last year and moved into an apartment together this year after they hit it off.

Jisung's best friend is a year younger and his name is Jeongin. They don't talk as much as they used to because Jeongin's busy getting ready to graduate and Jisung's adjusting to college, but they talk when they can and Jisung can't wait for him to visit when he gets the chance. Jeongin's step-brother-- Chan-- goes here anyway, so he's bound to visit eventually. He admits he kind of thinks of Felix as his best friend too, which is funny since they've only known each other a few months but they just connected so much.

("Some people come into your life suddenly and it's like you've known them forever," Minho says thoughtfully. "Like you can't even imagine a time when they weren't there in some way."

"That's exactly how it's like," Jisung agrees. Then he asks, "Are you speaking from experience?"

Minho gives him a funny little smile. "Maybe so, Han Jisung."

Jisung can't help but smile back, because Felix isn't the only one he feels that way about.)

Minho's favorite color is mint.

Jisung's favorite color is red, although he adds that he really likes magenta too.

Minho wanted to be an artist as a kid before he realized he was better suited for dancing.

Jisung wanted to be an astronaut before he grew up and realized just how much math was needed to reach the stars and decided he'd be fine on the ground looking up at them.

Minho drinks a lot of coffee to keep him awake between his classes and job.

Jisung likes coffee but can't have too much because of his aforementioned caffeine jitters.

Minho likes dark chocolate.

Jisung likes literally any kind of chocolate and will eat anything that you give him. Minho snorts when he hears this.

"What?" Jisung says, squinting at the other boy, his mug and little plate empty in front of him. Both of them have been done for a while and instead have just been sitting here talking.

"Nothing," Minho says with a shake of his head. "It's just you seem like somebody who'd really like chocolate, that's all."

He blinks. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know. It's just this energy you have, I guess." Minho taps the table in front of him thoughtfully. Suddenly he smirks, eyes glittering with mischief. It makes Jisung uneasy. That always means he's going to say something that's going to throw him for a loop. "I can tell you like chocolate because you're just as sweet as it."

Ah. There it is.

The knowledge that something was coming doesn't make Jisung any more prepared, however, feeling heat creep up his cheeks. "You're so obnoxious."

"I'm only telling the truth!" Minho says with a laugh.

Jisung rolls his eyes and doesn't respond, simply leaning back in his seat and folding his hands in his lap. The two of them settle into silence. It's not one filled with tension and discomfort where the need to say something and fill the silence is overwhelming, instead of a comfortable one. Jisung feels safe at this table with Minho's quiet company, both of them just enjoying each other's presence and the atmosphere of the cafe. There's no pressure, just the easiness of knowing that they fit together well enough that they didn't have to talk to enjoy being together.

It makes Jisung feel warm inside.

Although maybe that's just the hot chocolate, now that he thinks about it.

Ah. Either way.

When Minho pulls his phone out of his pocket to check something, a thought occurs to Jisung.

"Hey," he says suddenly, and Minho looks up at him with a couple of little blinks. "I just realized we've been talking this whole time but I never actually got a phone number."

"Really?" Minho seems surprised. "I honestly didn't even think about it. I guess you're right."

"Do you… mind?" Jisung asks, pulling his own phone out of his pocket.

"Let me send a text to myself from your phone and then we'll both have each other's numbers," Minho suggests, already reaching a hand out across the table palm up.

Jisung agrees, unlocking his phone and bringing up his messages before handing it to Minho. The other boy quickly taps out a short text and hits send, and the little ding from Minho's phone from where it sits on the table tells them it worked.

With a smile, Minho hands Jisung's phone back. "There. Nice and simple."

He looks down at the text Minho sent himself and snorts.

[Jisung]
its squirrel boy

"Why squirrel boy?" Jisung shakes his head, saving the contact under Minho's name before sliding it into his pocket.

With a small smile, Minho leans his cheek against his hand. "You know why. Because you like squirrels and you are a squirrel!"

Jisung huffs. "You better not save my number under 'squirrel boy' though."

"No promises," Minho says in a sing-song voice.

"How would you feel if I just saved you under 'librarian', huh?"

"Hurt. Let down." Minho places his other hand over his heart in feigned agony. "At least save me as 'hot librarian'."

Thinking about the times he and his friends have called Minho just that, Jisung coughs. "No. I think Minho's just fine."

"Suit yourself!" And with that Minho stretches, a soft whine coming from his throat before a yawn squeezes out. He reminds Jisung of a cat, he realizes with a little smile. He checks his phone again, humming thoughtfully before putting it away. "It's getting kind of late. I should probably drive you back."

"Oh," Jisung says, unable to keep the hint of disappointment out of his voice. "I didn't realize how long it's been. Yeah, I guess you probably should."

Minho tilts his head to the side as he smiles at him. "Don't sound so sad. I'm definitely going to take you out again."

Jisung perks up at that. "Really?"

"Sure, I like hanging out with you," Minho says, stretching again. "Besides, I get hungry after my shift so it works out anyway." After a moment, Minho's smile turns mischievous. "The bonus here is I get to see you with your cheeks all puffed up."

Jisung coughs, sputtering as he reaches up to cover his mouth (and the blush that's surely creeping up his face) as Minho just laughs at him.

"You're so cute!" Minho coos, which only serves to make Jisung cover his face more.

"I thought you weren't going to say anything!" Jisung complains, fingers touching his cheeks and finding that they're definitely warming up.

"I've never seen anyone eat like that," Minho says. "You really are a squirrel! I thought it was just because of how your cheeks normally are but it's because of how you eat too, right?"

"It's so embarrassing," he says with a huff, dropping his hands back down to his lap and scowling at Minho, who simply smiles back. "People always make fun of me for it."

Minho hums then, tapping that table. "Do you want me to stop?"

Jisung's scowl drops at that. "Stop what?"

"Stop mentioning it?"

"The way I eat?" Jisung asks, blinking.

Minho rests his arms on the back of the booth as he looks at Jisung. "Yeah. Do you want me to stop talking about the way you eat?"

He actually can't remember anybody ever asking that. "I mean… are you making fun of me when you talk about it?"

"No," Minho says evenly. "I think it's cute. I'm teasing you a little, I guess, but not in a bad way. If you don't like it I'll stop."

Huh.

"You don't have to," Jisung says slowly. "As long as you're not making fun of me, I don't mind."

"I'll keep that in mind," Minho says, and with that he slides out of the booth and stands, fishing his wallet out of his pocket. "Let's go pay and I'll drive you home."

"Oh," Jisung says, scrambling out of the booth to join Minho. "Okay!"

Jisung hovers behind Minho as he waits at the counter for the worker to come back and take his card. He leans forward over the glass shelf and stares at all the treats, namely a slice of strawberry cheesecake that looks particularly delicious. He'll have to try that next time.

And he can't help but smile at that thought, because Minho himself said he wants to hang out together again.

"What are you looking at?" Minho asks, leaning over so their shoulders brush.

Jisung points at the cheesecake. "That looks really good. I think I'll get that next time we come here."

"You don't have to wait," Minho says with amusement, and Jisung turns to look at him in confusion. Before he can ask, the waitress comes back to the counter and Minho's handing her his card. Before she can swipe it, he reaches over and taps at the glass shelf. "I'll take a slice of that to go, please."

"Minho!" Jisung says, grabbing onto the older's arm. "You don't have to!"

"I don't," Minho agrees as he watches the waitress pull out a slice and put it in a little box. "I want to."

"Minho," he whines, tightening his grip on Minho's arm as the waitress swipes Minho's card and hands it back to him, Minho sliding it back into his wallet and pocketing it before taking the little box from her.

"Look how nice I am," Minho says teasingly, pushing the box against where one of Jisung's hands is wrapped around his arm until Jisung finally relents and takes it from him with a pout. "Aren't I nice?"

"You didn't have to," he says again, fully untangling himself from Minho arm now as they walk together out of the cafe and down to where the car is parked.

"But I wanted to make you happy," Minho says with a laugh as he climbs into the driver's seat, and despite himself, Jisung can't stop the smile that spreads across his face.

He is happy, but not just because of the cheesecake.

Minho drops him off at the parking lot closest to his dorm and says his goodbyes, waving at Jisung every time he turns around to see if he's still there. When he finally gets back to his dorm, he slides the box into his and Felix's little mini-fridge-- mostly full of energy drinks right now-- before collapsing onto his bed.

His roommate isn't around right now and he has the sneaking suspicion that he's probably with Seungmin.

Good for him, he thinks sleepily, reaching up to rub at his eyes. Hopefully, both of them have had a good day.

His pocket buzzes then and he pulls it out expecting a text from Felix. Instead, Minho's name flashes on the screen.

[Minho]
did you get home okay?

Jisung smiles.

[Jisung]
yeah! i'm in bed right now

[Minho]
oh wow it's only eight i knew you were younger than me but i didn't think your bedtime was this early

[Jisung]
oh my god shut up
i'm not sleeping yet i just wanna be cozy

[Minho]
okay that's fair

[Jisung]
what about you?
did you get home alright

[Minho]
mhm
just pulled into the parking lot now

[Jisung]
oh are you still in your car?

[Minho]
yeah

[Jisung]
shouldn't you go in before talking to me lmao?

[Minho]
maybe i just couldn't wait to talk to you :)

[Jisung]
oh i hate that i can see your smug smile after you said that

[Minho]
it is my trademark!
hey speaking of seeing my smug smile
send me a selfie and i'll send you mine

[Jisung]
wait why

[Minho]
for your picture, dumbass

[Jisung]
oh
OH!
but i'm gross right now :(

[Minho]
i literally just saw you and you're nowhere near gross stop being a baby

[Jisung]
but i am a baby :(

[Minho]
you looked CUTE give me your damn selfie already

[Jisung]
FINE give me a second
send me yours first

Almost as soon as he sends that, Minho sends a picture back. He clearly just took it while sitting in the car, his seatbelt still across his chest. His hair is slightly more ruffled than it was when he was with Jisung earlier, like he was running his fingers through it, and he's making a dumb kissy face at the camera.

Jisung rolls his eyes, smiling to himself. How very Minho.

The worst part is that Minho looks effortlessly pretty even in the bad lighting.

He changes Minho's picture to it, then saves it to his own camera roll. Minho sent it to him after all, it's not too weird to save it, right?

[Jisung]
i don't know why i didn't expect you to make that face in selfies but i really should've

[Minho]
you should've!
anyways chop chop where's yours it better be here before i get up to my apartment

He sits up in bed, opening his camera and frowning when his own face appears. He doesn't really like taking selfies. He's no good at them and half the time he doesn't like how they turn out. He would just send Minho an old one-- he has one from first semester back when his hair was dark-- but he kind of gets the impression that Minho wants a new one and he definitely doesn't have one of those on hand.

So he tilts his head, trying his best to smile in a way that looks natural. He brushes his hair out of his eyes and sweeps it to the side, then moves it back, unsure what to do with it. Finally, he settles on just taking a bunch in quick succession, deleting the ones he definitely doesn't like until he narrows it down to one picture of him pouting and flashing a peace sign.

He doesn't… dislike it. He also doesn't really like it. He doesn't look anywhere near as effortlessly pretty as Minho does.

It'll have to do, Jisung thinks as he sends it.

The next few minutes of waiting for Minho's response are the most nerve-wracking of Jisung's life-- which is saying something, because he's an inherently nervous, jumpy person. He knows Minho is heading up to his apartment and giving him time to send it, but that doesn't make him any less anxious about the other's response.

After what feels like an eternity, his phone lights up again

[Minho]
see? i told you that you look cute!

Jisung picks up his pillow and shoves his face in it, momentarily considering just… screaming into it.

He doubts the other people in the dorm would appreciate that though, so he doesn't. Instead, he takes deep breaths before setting his pillow down and picking his phone up again.

[Jisung]
i guess i'll have to take your word for it

[Minho]
i ONLY speak the truth

[Jisung]
^o^

[Minho]
do you always use emoticons?

[Jisung]
is it dumb?

[Minho]
no it's cute

[Jisung]
you know you've called me cute twice back to back now

[Minho]
stop being cute then :/
anyways i just wanted to check in on you
i had fun today and i really do mean it when i said we should hang out some more
i don't know when you're free but we can just kind of wing it
does that sound okay?

[Jisung]
that sounds more than okay!!!!
^o^

[Minho]
i'll see you whenever you swing by next then :)
also i'll absolutely bother you all the time now that i have your number
i hope you realize that

[Jisung]
is it bothering me if i like it? :/

[Minho]
oh! cheeky! i like it!

And I like you, Jisung thinks, smiling down at his phone.