Tuesday, 8:00am. I've got to get ready for work.

I pull myself with groggy reluctance from the cocoon of warmth that is my bed, heaving a sigh. I'm nowhere near a morning person, but I suppose it could be a lot worse. I could've had to get up even earlier.

I hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night. In fact, I'd only managed to get about two and a half hours of shut-eye. Sure, staying up till five-thirty in the morning wasn't a very good idea, but I'm most productive in the early hours of the morning. I'm a bit nocturnal, I suppose.

Nocturnal or not, I drag myself to the bathroom and take a cold shower to wake me up. I wash my hair and shave, as the weather's hot enough for shorts and I'm not in the mood to feel self-conscious. After stepping from the shower, I get dressed in a pleated dark gray skirt and a white blouse, rolling the sleeves up just above my elbows. I also decide to just go with my gray Converse for shoes, given that they match the rest of the outfit. I put my hair up in a bun after brushing it and apply some eyeliner and mascara. I've never been too big on makeup, but eye makeup has always appealed to me. It's simple, but can really tie a look together, and I appreciate that.

Finally, I head downstairs, grab a granola bar from the pantry, and retrieve my apron from the hook by my door as I head to my car. I'm actually pretty pumped to go back to work, I won't lie. After the incident on Saturday, I'd managed to calm myself down with a bit of overtime, but the rest of the weekend was different. I didn't want to spend time with anyone even though Juyoung offered, so I stayed at home and let my thoughts eat away at me for the entirety of Sunday and Monday. I just couldn't shake the sound of Yoongi calling my name from my head. It was almost desperate, the way he called me. Part of me felt bad for leaving, but that was mostly drowned out by shame. Like a kid, I ran away instead of confronting him, and I hated myself for it. If I wanted so badly to give him a piece of my mind, why didn't I just do it?

Now, those thoughts get pushed away as I focus on driving. I'm happy to get back to work, if for no other reason than it taking my mind off the weekend.

I clock in about ten minutes early for my shift, which officially starts at 9:30. I've got the book I'd checked out on Saturday, and I decide to read it to pass the time. I hadn't touched it over the weekend. I get through about half a chapter when Kyeonghwa greets me.

"Hey, Rin. You're early today."

"Yeah, guess so."

She studies me, scrutinizing my face as if seeing me for the first time. "You look... bedraggled. Have you been sleeping okay?"

I chuckle. "Me? Sleeping? That's funny."

"You haven't slept?"

"I hardly ever get enough sleep. It'll probably contribute to my death."

"You're joking about it, but it's really not healthy."

"Gotta make light of it somehow. Look, as touched as I am that you're concerned, I know that's not why you came over here. What do you need me to do?"

"Helpdesk. Dabin will be here in at around eleven or so to cover it, so only till then. When he shows up, come on back and shelve whatever's been scanned in. See me when you're done with that, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," I state dutifully, smirking at my manager. With purpose, I rise from the chair I'd been seated in and head over to the helpdesk. The library doesn't even open till ten, so I put my feet up on the desk and continue reading about the life of Jack until opening time.

Honestly, I kind of hate working the helpdesk. The people that come over are more often than not bratty kids asking for access to the computers, and if not them, snooty adults complaining about overdue fines even though they should be asking the checkout desk about those kinds of problems. I really prefer any other task to working the helpdesk. Kyeonghwa knows that, though, and that's why she doesn't usually put me on it. My favorite job is probably shelving, but I don't mind working the checkout desk, either. Helpdesk really is the only position here I dislike.

This early in the morning, though, no one shows up at the library. Students wander in sometimes to study or read, but none approach me for anything. Adults are likely working, and the elderly are probably still asleep. God knows I'd like to be.

At 11:06am, a set of two familiar faces appear together and approach me. They're both all smiles, and I'm happy to see them. On the left is Dabin, his short, brown-dyed hair groomed neatly; not a hair out of place. Today he's well dressed, as always, working a white button-down and black jeans like a model. His smiling face and charming eyes are my knight in shining armor, coming to rescue me from the tower known as Helpdesk I'm trapped in. Next to him, sporting a blue t-shirt and shorts is Juyoung.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Rin-ah," Dabin muses, his voice smooth like butter as he apologizes. Dabin is a very charming boy. He's attractive and sweet, plus he likes books. He's charming to the point where even though I'm older than him he can still get away with speaking to me informally. He started working here two years ago, being hired just a month or so after me. He's twenty now, and going to college in Seoul to pursue writing as a career. We're pretty close during work hours, but don't talk much outside of the library. Sometimes, if things are going particularly well for either of us, we'll go grab coffee, but that's about it. Right now, though, I've never been happier to see him.

"Those were the worst six minutes of my life," I whine. "You owe me."

"Look, be thankful I'm taking Helpdesk at all, okay? I don't hate it half as much as you do, but I have no problem letting you handle it if you piss me off."

I hold my hands up in surrender, standing and coming around the desk. "Yes, sir," I joke. "Whatever you want, just please don't shoot me."

"You're safe this time," he smiles warmly and takes my spot behind the desk.

I turn to greet Juyoung, surprised that he's here, but Dabin calls to me again.

"This yours?" He holds up the book I'd been reading, slight inquisition in his tone.

"Yeah," I reply. I move to go get it, but he tosses it in my direction. I manage to roll my eyes and catch the book simultaneously, which is quite the feat in my opinion.

"Nice," Juyoung comments.

"Thanks." It's a response both to Juyoung's compliment and Dabin's throw.

"No problem, Rin-ah. Go shelve; Kyeonghwa needs you."

I salute jokingly and turn back towards the other end of the library, Juyoung in tow.

"So, what brings you here this early in the morning?" I question.

"It's 11:00am."

"Yeah, exactly. Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to check up on you. You weren't looking too good on Saturday, so I just wanted to make sure you're feeling better."

"Well, I am, thanks for asking." I don't mean to be so dismissive; it just sort of comes out that way.

"Then if you're all good, how about you tell me about what had you all worked up?"

"I'd rather not."

"Look, I don't want to be that guy, but I really feel like it'd be good for you if you talked about it."

We've reached the back room by now, and I wheel a YA cart out while Juyoung holds the door. As I pass him, I say, "I saw someone I've got some bad blood with."

"Yeah? Who?"

"You know Bangtan, right? The idol group?"

"Yeah."

"Suga from them. Yoongi, I guess."

"He was there? Really?"

"I couldn't believe it either."

"So, what's the bad blood about?"

"I'd rather not say. Let's just leave it at 'we were close friends, but we're not anymore.'"

"C'mon, you can elaborate a little."

"I don't want to dwell on it. He moved on from his past, and I've moved on from mine."

"Obviously not."

"What?"

"You got so shook up just seeing him that you left the whole festival, Rin. I think you might still be hung up on this guy."

"It just brought up bad memories seeing him again."

"Did you two date?"

"Juyoung," I say pointedly. "You know how you said you didn't want to be that guy? Well, you're being that guy."

"Crossed the line, huh?"

"Yeah. But, no, we didn't date. We never liked each other like that."

He seems like he wants to say more, so I finish the conversation for him.

"That's where I'm leaving it."

"Fair enough."

In YA now, Juyoung hands me the books as I shelve them. Working in tandem gets the job done a lot faster, and once YA is done we get more books from adult fiction. He hangs around helping me shelve for about an hour after that before he's got to go. It's nice having him around, but he's so aggressively persistent sometimes. As much as I like being around him, sometimes he completely forgets that people have boundaries and focuses only on getting what he wants. It's his fatal flaw, I suppose.

With Juyoung gone, I finish up the shelving alone. After another half hour of work in nonfiction, where I kick the Dewey Decimal System's ass, I head back to the checkout desk to see what Kyeonghwa needs from me.

As I head in that direction, pushing a now empty cart, I see a couple of familiar faces looking around uncertainly.

"Jieun! Jintae!" I exclaim, using my patented, library-appropriate whisper-shout to get their attention.

"Rin-noona!" Jintae jumps as he sees me and tugs his companion in my direction. I stop pushing the cart and crouch down to chat with the kids.

"How're you two doing?" I ask them.

"We're good," Jieun says. "We finished the book."

"That's great!" I respond. "Do you have it with you?"

"I do," states Jintae. He reaches into his little backpack and presents me with the paperback.

"Thank you, Jintae," I say to him sweetly. "I'll go get this checked in, okay?"

He and Jieun nod their affirmations. As I start to push the cart again, I feel a tug on my skirt and find Jieun there.

"If we find another book, will you check it out for us?"

"Of course! I'll probably be around here." An idea comes to me and I put it out for the kids' interpretations.

"Do you wanna check the book back in? I'll let you use the equipment."

"Really?" Jintae questions.

"Yeah, but you have to promise to be really careful, okay?"

"Okay," they both exclaim.

"Great, follow me!" I declare cheerfully. The kids don't have to be told twice.

I drop off the empty cart in the "To Be Shelved" room and then lead the kids over to the checkout desk.

"Okay, which one of you wants to scan the book, and who wants to use the computer?" Jieun decides the computer's for her, so the responsibility of scanning the paperback falls to Jintae.

"Right, just hold it up and..."

Beep! Jintae jumps at the sound the scanner makes, startled.

"It's okay, that's what it does. You alright?"

"Yep," Jintae responds.

I walk Jieun through the computer steps and then let her put the paperback in one of the big bins for checked-in books.

The kids seem really interested in doing the work, but I usher them away from behind the desk.

"Go find something new to read, okay? I'll be here to check it out for you."

"Okay! Thanks, Rin-noona!" Jintae says. He leads Jieun away, back towards the children's fiction section.

"If you can't reach something, my friend Dabin is at the helpdesk."

"Okay!" Jieun whisper-shouts. Then the two leave me at the checkout desk.

I watch the kids head deeper into the library and smile, but that smile fades as they get further and further away.

Thoughts of me and Yoongi flood my mind as I watch them turn the corner.

☽☼☾

y'all weren't expecting this one, were you?

i wasn't either tbh it's 6:30 in the morning and i still haven't slept, so i thought, "hey, why not be produtive?"

anyway, vote and comment if you think this chapter is worthy of it, and, as always, feel free to point out any typos if you see them. i'm 100% down for constructive criticism.

thanks, and stan vromance,

sam

p.s. yoongi's mixtape!!!!!!!!

☽☼☾