astrobleme (n.)
/ˈastrəʊbliːm/ an eroded remnant of a large crater made by the impact of a meteorite or comet.
- - -
"five dollars?"
the library went silent. jun punched chan in the shoulder.
"shut up! what if minghao hears?"
"well, he kinda works here." chan mumbled, rubbing his arm with a pout. "he'd probably know that you haven't been returning any of your books."
jun groans. he's upset and embarrassed. "where is hao, anyway?"
the smaller student, who stands with a smirk, shrugs. "why would i know? go look for him, like a good boyfriend would do."
"he's not--" and with that, chan skips away to search for jisoo. what a great friend.
frowning, jun stands. he looks around the small building, when he spots...
soonyoung?
that couldn't be right.
soonyoung? at a library? reading?
okay, well, he wasn't actually reading. he was sorta making it seem like he was.
jun was gaping. his friends eyes kept rising from the book to a boy immersed in a novel, sitting on the couch with legs up on the coffee table. the boy was so small-- jun thought he was a kid at first.
soonyoung looked rather stupid. he was turning the pages of his book at the speed of light; a page per second. his position was awkward, and the book kept slipping out of his hands.
the chinese boy, at the sight, wanted to burst out laughing.
he would just have to save this experience for future blackmail.
- - -
minghao had fallen asleep.
see, he was reading. but the soft music in the background of the library lulled him into a lucid dream.
basically, he was half asleep, and half awake.
his hands ache underneath his head. but he's comfortable. minghao is at his desk, chair having slid backwards as he prepared a nice position for himself to rest. he could still hear soft turns of pages, a few faint voices, and the sound of the cart's wheels against the carpet.
it was relaxing.
minghao was dreaming of a book he read, and in this case, it was 'harry potter and the deathly hallows'. it kinda scared him. he was slipping more into the dream. minghao was imagining the scene of which the war took place, wands gliding and spells striking. he felt himself quiver. of course, he was there, but the characters were replaced with people he was familiar with. he saw his close friend wonwoo, being held at wand-point by a death eater, and minghao shakes slightly. it's just a book, right? though why can't he move?
a hand finds his shoulder and minghao jolts awake. tears stream down his face, and he feels slightly pathetic.
of course. the hand belonged to jun.
"hao..." the student breathes, visibly concerned as he watches the other calm down. "what happened? was it a nightmare?"
"i, uh..." minghao shakes his head, quickly ridding his face of the tears. "don't worry, it's nothing. d-did you need me to check something out?"
jun frowns, moving his hand up to the librarian's forehead. "what's wrong?"
the smaller of the two sighs in defeat. "it was just a nightmare. i read a book and it frightened me a bit." jun makes a sound of realization and sympathy.
"i'm sorry, love," jun says. minghao flushes at the nickname. "here, stand up."
minghao does that, standing and walking in front of the desk. jun sends him a reassuring smile and opening his arms shyly. the librarian grins back, wiping his eyes again and hugging the taller boy. jun plays with his hair in a comforting way. minghao presses his face into jun's chest, feeling guilty about the way his tears soak the student's shirt. neither of them mind about the other people in the room-- jun is only focused on making minghao feel better.
"don't worry. it's just a book." minghao nods at these words, feeling better at being told this.
"...'m sorry." the librarian mumbles. "about getting your shirt all wet." his words are muffled. jun chuckles.
"it's okay. do you want to sit down? you're still shaking a bit."
minghao nods.
jun has a light grip on minghao's hand as he guides them towards a couch. the student seems relaxed, while the other boy is a blushing and very embarrassed mess. he feels silly for being caught crying over a nightmare.
smiling, jun sits down on the couch, gesturing for minghao to do the same. the smaller boy returns back to jun's arms, the amount of crying making him feel a tad bit sleepy.
"go to sleep, dear." jun's voice is so soft and delicate, minghao feels like crying.
but he closes his eyes, allowing the soft tunes flowing throughout the library, alongside jun's soft heartbeat to pull him back to sleep.
