As the Snow Falls

I May or May Not be Going Crazy

Jin twisted his car key and watched the dashboard light up. His headlights blinked in front of him, illuminating the city's public library's almost empty parking lot. He stepped on the pedal, a wide triumphant grin creeping on the corner of his lips when he heard the engine roar back at him—loud and alive.

Something great and powerful and omniscient was fucking with him—coincidence, destiny, God.

His head pounded with sleep deprivation and caffeine. Grueling hours of reading repetitive texts and documents only for their most plausible lead to come from a rumor. Byulyi being the one to discover this.

This was the first thing today that was remotely going to go his way.

He shifted gears, keen—excited even—to come home. He stepped on the pedal.

And then the roaring turned to humming. And the humming turned to nothing. For the fifth time that night, the engine died.

If Jin ever saw them—whever the fuck it was—they're a dead man.

He hissed an expletive as he slapped the wheel with the heel of his palms. He fished his phone out of his pocket. Angry fingers tapping across his phone's screen to send a text as he mumbled more colorful unsavory words. He received an emoji with a tongue out as a reply but he knew that the fucker was going to come and pick him up anyway.

The headache was starting to come back now. Jin winced as he massaged his temples with both fingers. He consoled himself with the thought that, in less than an hour, he would be home tucked in his bed, and fast asleep.

Then he'd wake up in six hours and do it all over again.

Oh wait.

He groaned as he palmed his face.

He was going with Byulyi to investigate potential locations.

He could avoid interacting with her in the library while they were still researching and reading documents; making his juniors talk to her for him worked too—though Taehyung and Jimin usually complained before complying.

But they have a lead now—a nonsensical, subjective, conspiracy lead. But a lead nonetheless. Jin was so done with reports and trails with deadends that he was desperate for anything that could pull their study somewhere.

Even if it meant going on the field with Byulyi.

The minutes ticked by unbelievably slow as he waited for his ride. He'd sang two songs in his head, counted the bumps on his steering wheel, wiped off that stain in his dashboard he'd been meaning to wipe for the past four months. But when he checked his phone for the time, he couldn't believe that only five minutes had passed since he sent the text.

He crossed his arms, rested his head on the seat, and closed his eyes. He was going to die of boredom. Or fall asleep from exhaustion—whichever came to him first.

Knock, knock, knock.

Unfortunately for him, neither came to him quick enough.

Jin rolled his car windows down, his brows stitched together, his mouth set to a hard line.

"What?"

Neither his frown nor unpleasant voice deterred Byulyi who looked at him with mild surprise all over his face.

"Ji—Mr Kim, you're still here?"

He crossed his arms again, nose pointed high. "Obviously." They're off the clock now which meant Jin didn't have to be polite for the sake of anything.

Byulyi stiffened then, inhaling a sharp breath through her teeth. She took one step away from his car but eventually came back and ducked to look at him through his window again. Admittedly, Jin didn't know what to feel—or rather, he'd rather pretend he felt another emotion than the one he was feeling.