3 Paths to Love

Chapter 25

Myungsuk bounced behind Seunghyeon, intensely focused on the labels on each row of bookcases. History, Political History, Politics, Linguistics–

The University library was a palace compared to the public one close to home. Rows of books full of knowledge waiting for their contents to be absorbed into keen minds.

When they got to the third floor, Myungsuk started to read the labels again. Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics.

He halted in his tracks and beamed. Astrology.

His feet pivoted, stepping towards the marvellous collection until Seunghyeon pulled him back.

"Eh," Seunghyeon whispered. "Let's sit down first."

Myungsuk jutted out his bottom lip. "But they're right here," he said as he tugged his arm away. "I'll use the phone tracker to find you," he insisted.

"Yeah, 'cause you totally remember to use it instead of freaking out."

Myungsuk pursed his lips and hung his head. Silently, he followed Seunghyeon the rest of the way, gripping the backpack straps. It was for the best, Insoo was also going to join them after his class, and it'd be a pity if Myungsuk couldn't find him.

The next floor up, they spotted Kwangsun and Yoonah at a table next to one of the windows.

"Hello, Kwangsun. Hello, Yoonah," Myungsuk said. He kept standing, shuffling his feet.

"Hi, Myungsuk," Yoonah cooed, leaning over. "It's been a while. How are you?"

"I could be better," he said, eyeing Seunghyeon sitting down and setting his things.

Seunghyeon raised his eyebrow at him before rolling his eyes. "Okay, you know where we are now. Go get your books," he laughed.

Myungsuk bounced on his feet, beaming. "Okay," he chirped and zipped past them.

He ran down the stairs and all the way back to the bookshelf. Stumbling to a stop, Myungsuk took in a lungful of air before marching between the Astronomy shelves.

The bookcases towered over him, and without a direct light over them, it felt like a towering den made out of shelves. He reached out and touched the glossy spines of the books.

One by one, he started to pull them out until he had a satisfying stack. He rested his chin on the top book and hummed, glancing back from which he came.

Taking these books up a flight of stairs would require endurance, something his shaky arms did not have. Plus, Seunghyeon, Kwangsun, and Yoonah were directly in the sun, and they were talking, and there were lots of people there around too. Myungsuk hadn't seen another person around here, and the lighting was just right.

He knelt down at the end of the row, carefully setting the books on the floor. He took off his backpack and pulled out his big noise-cancelling headphones. Slipping them on, he leaned against his backpack and once comfortable, he grabbed the first book. He rested it against his thighs and opened it up.

After an hour, Myungsuk closed the second book with a satisfying smile. Dark matter was truly a fascinating phenomenon. While the book explained it exceptionally well, the short chapter wasn't enough to satisfy him.

He shuffled through the other books in his stack and frowned when none of them had a chapter for dark matter. He took off his headphones and pushed himself up and started to search the shelf.

As he walked along the shelf, the hair on his nape stood. He rested his hand on an empty space between the books, he looked over his shoulder. He furrowed his brows. No one was there.