|| Philophobia || Baek Kyung

Chapter - 8 Boring noona

Yeona rolled her eyes, but a reluctant smile threatened to break through her usual gruff exterior. “Ugh, come on, spill something about that guy you’ve been simping over for the past three years or whatever,” she teased, her voice dripping with playful sarcasm.

Jackson just smirked, unbothered. “Nope.”

“Did you confess?”

“Also nope.”

“Bruh,” she groaned, exasperated but secretly amused.

“Duh,” he shot back, crossing his arms like a pro.

Yeona shook her head, throwing her hands up. “Seriously, you’re a guy, aren’t you supposed to hate gossip and all that?”

Jackson raised an eyebrow, amused. “And you’re a girl, aren’t you supposed to love it?”

“Stop being so stereotypical,” she shot back, scanning the messy living room. “By the way, have you seen my slippers?”

“Uh… no?”

Her sigh filled the room, soft but heavy. No matter how much she acted like she didn’t care, Jackson was the one constant in this chaotic world — the annoying, pestering little brother who somehow made her feel safe. And she hated that she needed that.

Then, with those big, earnest eyes that always caught her off guard, Jackson asked, “Hey… do you want to go to the book fair with me?”

Yeona blinked. Her usual sharp retort got stuck somewhere in her throat. Maybe it was the way he looked—hopeful, just a little vulnerable. Or maybe she just wanted a break from the usual mess in her head. “Fine,” she said, a little too quickly.

Jackson’s face lit up like someone just won the lottery. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah, but there’s a condition.”

“Oh?”

“None of your… nasty friends get to come.”

Jackson scowled, offended and amused all at once. “Hey! My friends aren’t nasty. You’re just jealous because they’re cooler than yours.”

“At least my friends don’t wipe their noses on the curtains,” Yeona shot back, smirking.

“That was one time,” Jackson muttered, clearly not planning to apologize.

Yeona snorted, then suddenly felt a little lighter inside. Maybe she could survive this book fair after all.

---

The next morning, Jackson stood frozen in the bookstore aisle, clutching two books as if they were priceless treasures. His indecision was borderline painful.

“Is The Circe a good book?” he asked again, voice hesitant.

Yeona groaned, fingers itching to shove him forward. “Just buy it already!”

Jackson looked torn between The Circe and The Fault in Our Stars, as if their pages held some cosmic choice about his entire existence.

“You can buy both,” she reminded him, voice softening.

“But I don’t want to spend too much—I’ve already bought four books,” he murmured, almost ashamed.

“Books aren’t expenses, Jackson. They’re investments in your soul.”

Before he could respond, a sudden bump sent both books crashing to the floor. Jackson stumbled back as a tall, shadowy figure bent down to pick up one of the books.

Yeona crouched beside him to grab the other, and their eyes met.

It was like the air shifted, a jolt running through the quiet moment.

Shock flickered across both their faces, like the world suddenly tilted sideways.

“Hwang Yeona!?” he breathed, voice thick with disbelief.

“Baek Kyung!?” she echoed, heart pounding in her chest.

Neither could look away. Years of distance, of unspoken things, hung heavy between them in that frozen moment.

And for once, the noise of the world fell away.