rate.u | pjm ✔

eighteen.

sinai put her phone down on the table with a soft smile. she hated admitting it, even to herself, but jimin was a pleasant company to her. even if he had never been in her actual company, nor did she plan on that ever happening, but to be honest he was way better than the friends that kept bailing on her.

she eyed the two anatomy books spread out in front of her. the library was quiet, barely anyone around considering it was a sunday and people usually took that day to relax a bit. not her, though, she had a test on tuesday and she was already behind on her studying due to her friday night adventures.

huffing as she didn't find the answer to one particular question in her mind, she closed both of the books and stuffed her phone in her back pocket, standing up and walking towards the dozens of shelves spread out throughout the huge library. her body was already accustomed to walking itself to the anatomy section, hadn't she done this same trip quite a few times in the past years.

she searched through the shelves, looking for a more descriptive title on neuroimaging. she touched her tongue to the side of her cheek as she found one to her liking, standing on her tiptoes to grab it.

pressing the book to her chest, her first intention was to go right back to her seat. however, something else popped in her mind.

walking further into the back of the library, she scanned the section names with her eyes before she found the one she had been looking for. law.

she chuckled to herself, realizing she had no good reason to do this. perhaps it was the curiosity of slipping into his brain some more. maybe it was the thought of being helpful towards him. she didn't know.

she reached for a book titled 'american law' and eyed the cover, finding it a bit hard to balance both her thousand page long anatomy book and this newly found, equally heavy one on both of her hands.

she heard footsteps approaching but didn't bother to turn her head, too focused on keeping her balance. she decided on setting the law book back in place and come get it later, just so she wouldn't embarrass herself.

"lucky me, i was about to reach for that one," a male voice spoke, making the hair in the back of her neck rise. she knew that voice.

she felt heat rising up the side of her neck, the blood pumping right up her carotids and into her cheeks. her eyes widened ever so slightly, grasping the book closer to her chest.

his smile faltered. he hadn't realized it was her, nor had he thought this would happen. had he dreamed of it? of course, but running into her at random sounded more like a far fetched fantasy. yet there she was, long, wavy locks of hair cascading down her back as bangs stopped just above her eyes. those same eyes turned to look at him, and jimin was mesmerized.

sinai didn't know what she was thinking. her mind was rushing with hundreds of thousands of thoughts, and she was about to panic. the person who confused her the most was standing right in front of her, making her heart race, and this time in person. she looked at him and her whole body tightened up. she couldn't give in to him.

jimin's seeming fantasy didn't hold up for long, as sinai quite literally took a few steps back and disappeared in between corridors. he had long forgotten the book he was searching for as he quickened his pace, looking for her in between book shelves.

sinai had never been good at hide and seek, and besides, she could swear he would hear her heart beating from a mile away. she peeked between books to the next corridor, deciding the coast was clear as she walked further away from him. what was she thinking? why wouldn't she allow herself to talk to him, meet him, be around him?

jimin was better off at a distance. he was better off as a fantasy that was messing with her heart and one she could choose to ignore just by turning her wifi off. but she couldn't exactly block him out in person. she couldn't simply close the app and pretend she didn't care when he was standing right in front of her. so sinai chose to hide.

searching for her was proving to be more difficult than searching for the same book he had been looking for before. the idea ran through his mind quickly, but it was enough to give him some hope. the only possible explanation for her to be the one holding on to it was that she wanted to help him, or at least get to know a bit more about what he was studying. all because she wanted to talk about it with him. even though she swore she wanted nothing to do with him.

"this is stupid," he muttered to himself, shaking his head. putting his hands on his waist, he let out a deep sigh as he threw his head back slightly. it was clear that sinai was running from him, and he didn't know what to think of that. he leaned against one of the bookshelves, debating on whether or not to give up on this girl.

right on the other side, sinai did the same. however, she wasn't exactly debating on the same matter. she was deciding whether she should kick this futile fear of hers to the back of her head. she could simply pretend to be the same person he thought she was in real life. she could be cold. she could be detached. oh, but the way those deep brown eyes had looked into her boring ones.

right on cue, one of the books next to her moved forward. she felt her breath hitching in her throat, and he swore he heard it. slowly but surely, she turned slightly and removed it, setting it on the shelf below.

the crack that was left was enough for her to stare right into his eyes. it came in flashes, quick as a storm and just as deadly. her stomach turned as they stared at each other. his filled with the cliché butterflies everyone ever talked about, for the very first time.

"hello, sinai," he spoke. don't let me down, she thought.

"hello, jimin," her voice barely passed as a whisper. don't run again, he thought.

he smiled, and sinai swore it was better than she had anticipated. clearing her throat, she squinted her eyes.

"you realize it looks like you have sex hair, right?" she pointed.

jimin quickly fixed his blonde locks.

"i swear, all i did was drive all the way here with the roof down."

"yeah i didn't think you'd be having sex anyway," she shrugged.

"why not?" he raised his eyebrow.

"it's not 'have sex with an idiot' day today," she retorted.

"oh really? sorry to know you're not getting any either."

the two stared at each other again, silence falling upon them for a few seconds. jimin's lips twisted up into a smile and sinai bit the inside of her cheek, before the both of them broke into laughter.

and none of them had heard something quite as beautiful as the other's laugh before.

author's note
double update and a somewhat cliffhanger heh ;)
im internally screaming bc they just met in person and this was like the hardest shit i have ever written
i recommend listening to the song above just bc idk it kinda explains sinai's mindset? shes so used to being let down and letting other people down that its like ... real hard for her to let jimin not be just a fantasy
anyway lmk what u think!