The World Through Your Eyes || SeungJin

Inquistive Discoveries

Around a year ago

The doors of the library came to a close, and the late-night volunteer stood up from his seat. Tiredly brushing his long hair out of his eyes, he squinted at the sleeping figure of his friend, sprawled over a desk. The volunteer and his friend are the last people to leave the establishment.

A few moments later, after checking the countless doors and windows were closed, they stepped out, soles of boots clicking on the pavement as the chilly evening air greeted them like a harsh wake-up call, a sheer contrast from the warm, toasty air inside the library.

"Lix, are you going to be okay if I leave you here? The bus is going to come soon," the volunteer said to his friend while peering at the bus schedule taped to the bench of the bus stop.

"Yep, I'll be fine, Hyunjin," Felix replied, nodding brightly, hopping lightly in order to stay warm. The cold air was getting to Felix, Hyunjin could tell, as, despite Felix's best efforts to wear warm clothes, his nose had turned a bright red, and his only source of heat at this point in time was to move and hopefully get some warmth.

Still, Hyunjin couldn't leave his friend waiting for a bus when he looked a few minutes from freezing into a human popsicle with blond hair and flower hair clips, so he set his bag down on the bench and raised an eyebrow when Felix looked at him questioningly.

"I don't think you're going to be alive by the time the bus comes by," Hyunjin explained. Felix closed his eyes in thoughtful silence and nodded. Hyunjin wordlessly pulled out a dark blue cashmere sweater with pearlesque buttons and handed it to Felix, whose eyes widened.

"No, you're going to wear this sweater," Hyunjin said, and Felix stood up and began walking backwards.

"But-" Felix protested, shaking his head.

"No, I said you're going to wear the sweater until the bus comes. You can return it to me later," Hyunjin insisted.

Felix sighed. "Look, I cannot promise that you're going to be getting your sweater back in one piece. My roommate has 3 cats who are exceptionally talented at claiming soft pieces of clothing as their own furniture."

Hyunjin hummed as he remembered that a few months ago, Felix had sadly explained that a beanie he got from a friend was now a hiding spot for the smallest cat out of the three. When Hyunjin had first heard this information, he had been confused as to how big this cat was - was it a baby kitten? How else could it fit into a hat and be completely hidden? Then, Felix had to explain how the cat would hide its lower body behind a pillow and its head inside the beanie to become completely invisible, and Hyunjin marveled at the intelligence of cats ever since.

But still, this was a new discomforting prospect, because Hyunjin was not looking forward to having his fluffy, incredibly soft sweater stolen by a trio of ragtag cats.

"Uh, well, what if . . . what if you took it off right in front of your door and put it in your bag? You can hide it. I'm sure the cats won't find anything in 2 days!" Hyunjin suggested eagerly, and Felix's eyes widened.

"You're so right! Okay, I'll do that," Felix agreed, and Hyunjin breathed a sigh of relief.

Bidding a quick farewell to Felix, Hyunjin began walking toward his apartment, which was a few blocks away from the library where he had spent the majority of his afternoon and evening.

Even though Hyunjin now worked at a library, he always didn't like books, which was a contrast to some of his friends, who had an affection for reading and literature since they were young and in school with legs far short to reach the floor when they sat in chairs.