Sunday, 8:00am. Time to get back on the work schedule.

I pull my soft blue blanket off of me and drag myself from bed, having to put one foot in front of the other with conscious effort. God knows why I'm always an opener, I hate mornings.

With a few trudging steps I make my way over to my dresser, pulling out a maroon suede skirt and a black shirt. I haven't worn the skirt in ages, and decide I'm feeling myself enough today to try it out again. I pick up all my other necessary articles of clothing and make my way to the bathroom, where I shower and wash my hair with what I hope is speed and efficiency. I take long showers— this is an indisputable fact, but on work days I try to speed my routine up at least a little bit.

Once I'm clean I pull on my clothes and make my way downstairs to have some breakfast. Today I go for a clementine and a granola bar and sit down on the couch to catch the news. By now it's 8:45, and I'll have to be setting out in half an hour if I want to make it to work on time. The news does not provide me with anything of major substance: it's all political stuff too in-depth for me to try and wrap my head around this early in the morning, so I decide to bring my childhood back a little bit and put on some morning cartoons. Currently, an episode of Telemonster is on. It's not a show I viewed with any semblance of frequency in my youth, but it's entertaining enough to hold my attention better than the news. Just shows my mental age, I guess.

By 9:15 I get up and head out of the house, donning my all-black Converse to complete my outfit and making sure I don't forget my apron. I jump in the car and book it over to work, actually eager to clock in. I haven't spoken to Dabin in awhile and I've missed him. He had to take a few days off because of his sister coming to town, and now he's back at work.

I clock in in the work room and Kyeonghwa tells me to get myself over to shelving in nonfiction. There isn't much work to be done, and I finish all the work in about twenty minutes, my knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System once again saving my ass. I then head over to Helpdesk to chat with Dabin but find that he's not there. Curious as to where my younger friend could be, I make my way towards the break room to look for him.

The break room, too, is devoid of my well-dressed comrade. I'm about to head out to continue my search when my phone buzzes in my pocket. Immediately under the impression that Dabin's playing a joke on me, I answer, only to be greeted with a voice that I certainly wasn't expecting.

"Hey, Rin! How're you?"

"Oh! Hi, Juyoung. What's going on?"

"Not much, just sorta hanging out. You didn't answer my question: how are you?"

"I'm fine— a bit busy. At work, currently."

"I see. Is that why you couldn't make lunch?"

"Oh, right." A wave of guilt hits me and I feel my grip on the phone tighten a bit. I know I need to tell him where I was, but I also know that he and Yoongi don't seem to have the best of relationships. Deciding to tell the truth, but not the whole truth, I say, "I ended up with a modeling gig, actually."

"Modeling? That's unexpected. How'd it pay?"

"Really well. I made about two million won in a day."

"Seriously? That's incredible! I'm glad you missed lunch with me, then, if you made that much money off it. Is it a job now, or was it just a one-time thing?"

"I was kind of an emergency model," I explain. "That's why I got paid so much. The shoot director did give me her card, though, so I could make it a more regular thing if I wanted to."

"Do you want to?"

"I haven't really thought about it. I've had other things on my mind recently."

"Like what?"

"Like—" I'm about to blurt out information about the demo I shared with Yoongi, but stop myself. Feigning a cough, I continue. "Sorry. I've been trying to find a good day to reschedule lunch with you, actually. Things have just been hectic lately. When's the next time you're free?"

"Wednesday, around noon. That work for you?"

"Yeah, I'm free then. I won't forget this time, I swear."

"Alright, Rin, I'm holding you to that one."

"You have every right." I take note of the time and realize we've already opened our doors to the public. I need to get back to work. "Sorry, dude, but we just opened for business and I need to earn my paycheck. Talk to you later?"

"Yeah, of course. See you Wednesday, Rin!"

"Bye, Juyoung," I conclude, and then hang up the phone. I put my phone in my pocket and make my way out into the library lobby, still keeping my head on a swivel to find Dabin. I actually spot him over in YA, shelving, and begin making my way towards him. As I do so, I hear the chirping female voice that's made itself at home in my heart these past few weeks.

"Rin-unnie! Hello!" Announces the too-loud-for-a-library voice of young Jieun.

"Hey, keep it down. You're in a library, remember?" Another familiar voice chides. This is not Jintae, but Yoongi, who I see standing with a group of four children as I turn on my heel to locate the voices.

"Yoongi? What're you doing here?" I manage.

"I told the kids I'd come and read whenever I got the chance, didn't I?" He replies, a lopsided smile on his face. "I do everything I can to keep my promises."

A smile on my face forms to mirror his. "As you should," I say. "So, who are all of you? I only know Jieun and Jintae, I'm afraid."

"Jintae will be here in a second," Jieun explains. "He went to the bathroom." Jieun proceeds to provide introductions to the other three children: two boys and one girl named Seojin, Geontae, and Heebon, respectively. The six of us wait around for Jintae's return and then make our way to the reading room, as we had the week before.

Yoongi and I sit down on the bench and the children gather around us, Jieun and Jintae leading the group as expected. I'm about to get started when I realize that I don't have anything to read.

"So, what do you guys want us to read to you?" I ask, cocking my head inquisitively.

"Oh!" Jintae announces loudly. "I almost forgot! Here, we wrote some stories for school that we want you to read." Then the little boy's face drops. "I actually forgot mine..."

"We can read it next time," Yoongi assures him.

"I forgot mine, too," says Geontae. Yoongi reiterates that it's not a problem at all. The other three have printer paper books held together with plastic binding and laminated construction paper covers, and I'm immensely excited to read them. Seojin hands me his first. The story is titled The Lost Jellyfish and has a crayon drawing of a purple jellyfish adorning its cover. Yoongi and I make the decision to have me narrate and him do the dialogue, as it seems the jellyfish in question is male.

It begins as any elementary school story should, with, "Once upon a time, there was a jellyfish. He lived with his mom and his dad and the three of them were really happy."

"One day, there was a storm at night, and the jellyfish got separated from his family. He was all alone in the ocean and he was lost." Here, Yoongi has his first line of dialogue.

"I'm lost!" Yoongi cries, earning a smile from me and the children.

The jellyfish continued to travel the ocean stating very obvious things until he eventually returned to his mother and father, drawing The Lost Jellyfish to a close. The kids clap and Yoongi and I bow graciously, handing Seojin back his book. After that, Heebon presents Yoongi with her book, which promises to be one of adventure. The cover depicts three cats: one brown, one tabby, and one white, and each radiating a magical aura. This parable of fiction is titled The Kitty Trio's Awesome Adventure, and again Yoongi and I decide that I'll narrate and voice one of the cats while he does the other two.

"Once upon a time, there were three kitties. Their names were Spot, Dot, and Bumble, and they were best friends."

"One day, Bumble found a cool place he'd never seen before, so he took Spot and Dot there."

"Guys, come look at this!" Says Yoongi in the high-pitched voice that could only belong to a cat named Bumble. The voice he chooses is scratchy and grating, but comical enough to elicit laughter from the audience and myself. Yoongi laughs a bit at himself, too.

"It turns out that what Bumble found was a pit of toxic waste! Dot was stupid and accidentally pushed Spot in, and then jumped in after her. Bumble tried to pull them both out, but he was too weak and ended up falling in, too." More poor acting ensues from me and Yoongi, but the kids cannot stop laughing.

"When the three kitties woke up, they had magical powers! Dot had night vision, Spot could turn invisible, and Bumble could shoot cheese from his tail." Bumble had already been a fan favorite, but this superpower only escalates his appeal. Even I find myself chuckling at the simple notion of a cat doing such a thing.

The three animals went on an adventure that really did live up to the title. After defeating a dragon, they became the rulers of the land, and Bumble provided free cheese to everyone with his superpower. Currently, in terms of fan preference, this story is certainly higher up than The Lost Jellyfish (no offense to Seojin, of course).

Now, all that's left is Jieun's book. She hands it to me with a sheepish smile, and I note the cover curiously. Two people are drawn on it, one with gray hair and one with black, and a heart is drawn behind them. I open it without another word, wondering if it's what I think it is.

"Once upon a time, there was a Princess named Hyun. She had a curse put on her by an evil wizard when she was a baby and lived alone inside a mountain. The only way anyone could get in was to solve three riddles the wizard set up, and they were really hard. People had tried before, but no one could figure them out."

The illustration on this page is of the black-haired Princess in a blue dress, all alone inside a mountain. Three gates with question marks on them seem to signify the riddles necessary to enter Princess Hyun's domain.

"Hyun was lonely, and she wanted someone to solve the riddles and come save her. She didn't have any fun inside the mountain by herself and wanted someone to play with." Now, I have a line of dialogue as the Princess. "I wish I wasn't so lonely," I say in a high, dreamy voice. The children's attention is rapt, and they hang on every word. Little Jieun has a way with words, it seems.

"In the village by the mountain, a Prince from a faraway kingdom came to visit. His name was Han, and he had heard about the riddles and wanted to try and solve them. He thought it was wrong that Princess Hyun had to live all alone for her whole life, and he wanted to try and help her. He went to the villagers to ask for directions, and then went to the mountain to try and solve the riddles."

"The first riddle was, 'what flies without wings?' Prince Han didn't know the answer, so he went all the way back to the village and asked the villagers for help."

"Do you know the answer?" Yoongi asks, seeming nervous. "Can you help me?"

"Finally, Prince Han met the oldest, smartest man in the village, and he helped him solve the riddle. The answer was 'time.' Han went back to the mountain and gave the right answer, and the gate opened. The second riddle was, 'the more you take, the more you leave behind. what is it?' He didn't know the answer to that one, either. So Han went all the way back to the village and asked for help again."

"What do you think this means?" Yoongi asks again. "Someone help!"

"Prince Han went back to the oldest man in the village and he helped him solve the second riddle. The answer was 'footsteps.' Then Han went back to the mountain and gave the right answer, and the second gate opened. Inside the mountain, Princess Hyun was excited because she could hear the gates opening and knew someone was close to rescuing her."

"Hurry up!" I cry out as Hyun.

"Han went up to the last gate and read the riddle. It said, 'There are fifty lions and forty-eight lambs. How many didn't?' Han was confused because that wasn't really a riddle, and he wasn't very good at math. He thought about it for a long time— he didn't have time to go all the way back to the village. He said the riddle to himself, though, and it made sense to him."

"Ten!" Yoongi exclaims, portraying Han's eureka moment to the best of his ability. "Ten didn't!"

From here, I pick the narration back up. "Then, the gate started to open and Han was really excited and proud of himself. Now that he'd opened the last door, he got to see Princess Hyun."

"Hyun! Are you there? I'm here to save you!" Yoongi calls.

"I'm here, I'm here! Who are you?" I respond.

"I'm Prince Han! I solved all the riddles to come save you."

"Thank you, Han!"

"Princess Hyun owed Prince Han something for saving her, so she went with him back to his kingdom and they got married and fell in love. They lived happily ever after, the end."

The kids clap and cheer again and I close the book, handing it back to Jieun with a smile. "That was really good, Jieun-ah! Those drawings looked kinda like me and Yoongi, didn't they?"

"They were supposed to!" Jieun explains. "Why else would they fall in love?"

My voice catches in my throat and Yoongi laughs nervously. "Hah, okay, Jieun. Well, we finished reading everything. You all should get going, yeah? Rin has to get back to work."

"Okay!" Jintae says brightly. "We'll see you guys next time, all right? Geontae and I won't forget our books this time."

"Okay, Jintae," Yoongi says, standing and gently herding the kids toward the door. "Bye, guys!" He calls as the children exit the reading room. I echo with similar parting words before the door closes, leaving Han and Hyun alone.

My face is red. "Kids, am I right?" I chuckle, standing. "I'll be totally honest, I didn't expect that at all."

"Me neither," Yoongi says. "They do have a point, though."

My eyes shoot to him instantly, deathly concerned about the next words to leave his mouth.

"I mean, cats do shoot nacho cheese out of their tails. Everyone knows that." I relax, laughing lightly at the joke. It's not much of a lightening to the mood, but it's comforting, at least.

Yoongi steps closer to me, a more serious tone in his voice as he speaks again. "Hey, so I talked to my CEO, and he said we'll have to meet him before we can get approval to work on the track together. Do you want to get together and plan for that sometime? I'm free on Wednesday."

"Wednesday?" I say, another pang of guilt hitting me. "I can't do Wednesday, unfortunately. Can we just work it out over text or something? I feel bad, but I just know Wednesday won't work."

"That's fine, we'll figure it out." He checks his phone and gives me a sad but pointed look. "I've gotta go, but I'll see you around, okay? Thanks for letting me hang out today."

"Of course, anytime. I'll talk to you later, then?"

"Yeah, totally. Goodnight, Ah Rin."

I roll my eyes. "Goodnight, Min Yoongi."

With that, he leaves, the door to the reading room closing behind him. A stroke of lighthearted confusion hits me as the door closes, and I make a realization.

I still haven't said a word to Dabin.

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hey, all!

i got an update out, woo! i hope you guys are happy with this, i know it's longer than normal. i had a lot of stuff planned to go in this chapter and i actually had to cut some details, so i hope this doesn't seem too disjointed or anything. in relation to that, i guess, leave feedback if you're so inclined; i really do appreciate it, and it helps me improve my writing.

thanks, as usual,

sam

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