couthy (adj.)
/ˈkuːθi/ scottish: (of a person) warm and friendly.
- - -
with a small spill of his coffee, minghao realized that he never asked jun how old he was.
he was a student, right? and he was in high school. so he had to be around eighteen or nineteen. the librarian himself was only nineteen-- he didn't have enough money to attend college. that's how he ended up at this job. he hoped that one day the pay would be enough to let him back into school later on.
minghao groans.
sliding backwards on his chair, the chinese boy runs a hand through his hair. what if jun was still young? he didn't want to seem like a...
gosh, no. that was a terrible thought.
he supposed that he would just have to ask. make it as casual as possible, and place the comment just right.
but jun wasn't here. he was still at school, and minghao had work. though the constant fear of this new thought was making his head spin.
"jisoo? you there?"
the slim librarian peeks out from behind a shelf with a wave. "hm?"
"do you know how old jun is?" minghao questions, standing from his lazy position on the three-wheeled chair, and walking over to his workmate.
"uhm..." jisoo frowns. "i don't know. chan is only seventeen, so jun is probably around the same age."
minghao gapes. "s-seventeen? jisoo, you're twenty!"
jisoo laughs awkwardly. "it's okay, his birthday is literally a week away."
the taller librarian sighs and shakes his head. "i need to know how old he is. it's bothering me. a lot."
"they should be coming soon," his workmate mumbles. "why don't you go out and see if they're on their way?" minghao nods and stretches, heading towards the door.
"okay."
- - -
"i saw soonyoung at the library a few days ago."
"eh?" chan gasps, choking on his strawberry milk. "wow, daebak."
"yeah. he was checking out some small dude with pink hair." the pair rounded the corner, a soft breeze making their hair sway. dress shoes collided with the sidewalk. jun kicked a few pebbles mindlessly, thoughts quickly drifting back to minghao. he kinda missed him.
"what a loser. kwon doesn't even know how to read."
"and you do?" jun remarks, earning a kick to the leg from chan.
"shut up." the library was just another few roads away. he saw someone exit the building, shut the door, and send a little wave to the two boys.
"yah, it's minghao." chan nudges jun, who looks up and waves back. he looked anxious-- like he wanted to let something out, and jun quickly began to worry.
"here, you go inside, i'm gonna go see what's up." jun mumbles. chan nods and sprints off, leaving just jun and minghao out on the sidewalk.
"hey, hao."
"hi, jun."
the librarian approaches with a smile, and jun returns it. he believes that minghao looks straight out of an anime at the moment, shirt loose and sleeves unbuttoned, pretty pink petals falling down and resting on his head, which he swats away.
jun can't stop looking.
"i had a question..." his attention goes back to the boy in front of him.
"yeah, shoot."
minghao itches his neck awkwardly. "ah...how old are you?"
the student cracks a smile. "eighteen, why?" he's a little confused as to why the librarian looks so relaxed all of a sudden, a deep exhale escaping his parted lips and his shoulders slumping.
"oh, umm." minghao blushes. "didn't want-- uh, be weird-? make you uncomfortable--"
"it's okay, hao. none of what you do is weird at all, don't worry." jun breathes, moving closer and allowing their hands to brush. minghao's blush becomes more prominent.
"are you...sure? i was afraid i was getting a little touchy--"
jun's fingers casually intertwine with minghao's, and the librarian looks up from where he was staring at the ground to meet the student's eyes. "as long as it doesn't bother you, then it doesn't matter to me what you do."
minghao, who is a mess at this point, gives jun's hand a light squeeze. "oh, umm, okay."
