dimensions • yang jeongin

f o u r t e e n

"It feels wrong drinking a tea in the library."

Chan giggled at her statement. "Don't worry, this library is different from the one in the middle of the city. I make the rules here."

Aeri's eyes slightly went big. "You own this library?"

"Through generations, yes."

Jeongin boredly stared outside of the window, watching people walking by. His cup was already empty so Chan poured another round but he did not take it yet.

He just wanted to disappear.

After hearing the newly found information he did not know how he should react. His life was already dull except when he's with his family. So a natural disaster would not hurt, right?

Lie, all lies.

Jeongin wanted to lock him in his room and cry.

If what Aeri said was true, what will happen to his future? His dreams? She never mentioned the exact time for the natural disaster and that scared if more. What if it's in one year? Or one month? Or even worse, one week?

Jeongin felt crumbling down but he got to remain calm in front of these two who were chatting as if they have known each other for a long time. He figured they also talked during her first time coming here, seeing how the guy casually greeted them earlier.

"I see you were reading about Olismore?" Chan started a new topic. "I deeply apologised, but I heard voices so I looked through each rows and accidentally heard your conversation."

"Oh, no it's fine," Aeri shook her head after exchanging small glances with Jeongin. "And yeah, me and my cousin heard some people talking about Olismore the other day so he went to another library while I went here." she explained, internally nervous afraid if she said something wring but judging by Jeongin's face she was still safe. Then she carefully asked Chan, "Since your family owns this library, do you know anything about Olismore?"

Chan immediately leaned forward, making Jeongin intrigued as well by the sudden change of his facial expression. It turned darker with a smile on. "There's a reason why my family moved here."

"You were not from here?" Jeongin blurted out.

"A relative used to live in Olismore," he started. "He owned a mini library where the books were from his hometown in another city. My parents used to come here from time to time until one day a disaster occured. It took the relatives' life away."

Aeri expressed sympathy while Jeongin could feel his hand shaking under the table.

"I have never met the family since I wasn't born yet, but my parents often tell me about a wizard lingering at night. But I'm not sure what happened to the wizard after the disaster." he finished.

"You've never met the wizard?" Aeri questioned. To her disappointment Chan shook his head.

"It would be great to see him even from afar." he joked with a chuckled, but both Jeongin and Aeri didn't laugh along. The guy cleared his throat and muttered an apology.

♡

They made their way to the grocery store as Jeongin's mother reminded him to buy the ingredients that day - no excuses - for them to have a big meal after a long time. The walk was silent. Jeongin was kept reminded of the disaster while Aeri pondered Chan's information. Both of them were lost in thoughts until they spotted a few policemen at the alley.

As if last night's memory involuntarily kicking in, Aeri's mind flooded by the scene and her dream. Everything happened so fast just by watching the police tape that covered the area. Her head throbbed as her vision became blurry.