Aaaaaahh! Aaahh aahh ahh owwwowoww! Hitomi's knee stung where it'd banged against the book cart. How the heck had that even happened? It was right there, jutting out of the aisle! The kind of obvious obstacle that made it seem like she needed glasses for bumping into it, but she had been very distracted by the scenery.

"Are you alright?" Speaking of glasses, the man from this morning had stepped out from the shelves looking concerned. Now that she got a good look he wasn't just a blueish sweater, he also had some very fitting glasses and straight cut hair. Not the fully pick them out of a crowd kind of face but recognizable.

Hitomi felt assured that if she hadn't been so panicked before, she felt she would have at least been able to recognize him again. Slight facial awareness still checks out.

"I-I'm fineeeeeh!" Her attempt to seem tougher than tissue paper was compromised only by the involuntary groan that escaped her as she straightened her leg out. It didn't hurt too much but Hitomi wasn't used to pain at all.

"Oh dear, you're not fine at all." The man had a concerned expression as she came closer. "I am very sorry about that, let me have a look." The man in the glasses who was not quite introduced yet but a very safe bet to be the Mr.Baek she was looking for was already kneeling down to examine Hitomi's knee. She was meanwhile stiffening up, not quite sure how to refuse.

He hmmm'd as he was taking a closer look, making Hitomi momentarily feel like she was in a doctor’s office instead of a library. "Well, it doesn't look like there's a cut or a scrape." He adjusted his glasses and stood back up. "I think it will be good. Once again I'm sorry." He looked back at the cart and the spacing, then back at her. "Were you looking for something?"

"Oh, no, no I'm sorry I wasn't paying attenti-" Hitomi was caught off guard by the question not because it was hard, but because answering it seemed awkward to her. Was she supposed to say she was actually looking for him? Or admit to being distracted by the decor? Either way felt a bit off to her. Her brow crinkled as she wrestled with this before deciding. "Uhm, actually, are you Mr.B-Baek?" It would be best to get what she had to do over with quickly, rather than seem like a starry eyed kid, obviously.

He looked surprised for a second before answering. "Hmm, well, yes. Was there something I can help you with?" He had a very pleasant smile, asking that.

"U-uhh, y-yes, well, maybe, I don't know if you'd call it h-help exactly but…" Hitomi wavered. She actually didn't want to do this after all!

"Hmmm? Is something the matter?" Without dropping the casually pleasant expression his eyes looked concerned. "Whatever it is, I'm happy to hear you out, even if it turns out I can't help you out with it."

His engagement was somewhat dousing to the stress Hitomi was picking up. "W-well, it's about, uhm, w-what happened t-this morning…"

"This morning?" Mr.Baek repeated, thinking. "This morning, this morning…" He scratched behind his ear as he tried to recall. "Ah! I thought you looked familiar! You were part of that ultrication in the lobby." He flashed with recollection and his smile faded to a grimace. "Oh dear, I thought there was something unusual going on. Did you have something more to say about it? I can make sure the proper people are dealing with it."

"N-no! Nononono no! Y-you've got it wrong!" Straight to the point and nothing else, that was the best way to go now. "I-it wasn't anything like that! I-I just… lost it, is all, it wasn't his fault, really."

Mr.Baek looked skeptical. "Hmmm? Are you sure? What exactly made you lose it then?"

"Uh, he just, uhm, he just said a few things I didn't agree with?" Hitomi realized that that wasn't the reassuring “it was nothing” message she was meant to deliver. "H-he's having some problems with his sister and we're friends so I was m-mediating! And he was really stubborn about it and, and it was early and I've been stressed out and I forgot where we were, and I-I apologize about that, it wasn't the place to have that kind of talk i-it's just we have class together and a project to work on and it just happened."

It wasn't a very fast explanation, but it was strung together uninterrupted as Mr.Baek calmly listened. When she'd finished and looked up for a response the skeptical look was gone and replaced by more of a worried but considerate one. "I see. Well I guess that would be a rather precarious situation to be in. Still, I understand those circumstances, but why did you run away so quickly?"

Hitomi's face went red. She should probably just answer this one truthfully, she thought. "I… I was just… really embarrassed and… and didn't think about it. I-I don't make scenes o-often."

"I see." Mr.Baek nodded, accepting her genuine reaction as truth. "Well, I can't praise you for that, it certainly did make me think poorly of your friend at the time. But, thank you for coming to clear this up. I was going to have a talk with some of the guidance staff regarding this but that appears not to be necessary."

"N-no, sir."

Mr.Baek seemed to examine her. "Well, if there happens to be anything else to say about it, you can let me know. And, I'll save the lecture for you, I know life can be very stressful when you have to balance everything at your age, just try to be more aware of your surroundings."

"Y-yes, I-I'll do that…"

Mr. Baek nodded, seeming to accept her take on the situation. Hitomi sighed in relief and began to explain that was it, that was her whole reason for coming here, looking for him, when a tone sounded from her pocket.

Mr.Baek frowned. "Please, remember to put your phone on silent, miss."

Ffffffffffffffffffffff- Okay that was just a bit embarrassing, nothing too bad! "R-right, s-sorry, I'm just, uhh, I have c-class to get too. S-sorry!" Hitomi skittered off, feeling like her life was turning into a comedy.

As she pulled out her phone, swearing it had been on vibrate, she saw the alert had come from the Lavender Dungeon app. Of course. Strange things only happen in relation to that thing.

She opened the notification.

What?

Target Identified: Derek Kim Baek