Over Books and Coffee (Seongjoong)

Part 3

After classes ended that day, Hongjoong made his way to the library to return the book as he didn't exactly need it anymore.

            "Hello young man! Back already?" The nice librarian at the front desk greeted him with a smile.

            "Yes ma'am. I'm here to return this book." Hongjoong said to her, and held up the book he was referring to. She nodded and gestured to the self-service book return machine that kind of resembled an ATM.

            He returned his book, and as Hongjoong passed the desk again to leave, she stopped him.

            "Why don't you look around for a bit? We do have many books here after all." The librarian offered.

            Hongjoong thought about it for a bit. It might be nice to get some studying done in a different environment than his cramped dorm room.

            "That's actually a nice idea. Thanks!" He waved to her and started walking.

            "The tables are upstairs!" The lady called. He waved again, signaling that he heard, and made his way up the stairs.

            While walking to the tables in the back, Hongjoong walked between the large shelves of books, scanning for anything that may catch his interest.

            When he entered the mystery section, something did, but it wasn't a book.

            Instead it was the employee walking through with a cart, putting the books in their respective places on the shelves.

            Park Seonghwa.

            He seemed to notice someone standing there, as he turned his head to look at Hongjoong. Seonghwa smiled at him, looking surprised, and Hongjoong suddenly didn't know what to do with his hands.

            "Hello again! We just keep running into each other don't we?" Seonghwa said, turning back to keep placing books on the shelves. Slowly he pushed the cart forward and closer to Hongjoong as he worked.

            "Oh um, yeah. Funny huh?" Hongjoong laughed awkwardly.

            Seonghwa was wearing the same black turtleneck from that morning, but unlike before, he wasn't wearing an apron but rather just a name tag that hung from a lanyard around his neck.

            Hongjoong certainly didn't mind his librarian look. Not at all.

            "So you work here, and at the coffee shop?" Hongjoong said, hoping to start a conversation. Maybe learn more about this stranger.

            "That's right. The shop in the mornings, and this place in the evenings." Seonghwa replied, continuing to place books.

    "Every day? Why work so much?" Hongjoong asked the blonde man, who softly smiled at him again.

    If he kept doing that, Hongjoong would probably have a heart attack.

    "I have to get my rent money somehow. Besides, my classes are in between my shifts and aren't too long." Seonghwa told him, finishing placing all the books. There was only the cart between them now.

    "That's really impressive." Hongjoong said thoughtfully.

    "You think?" Seonghwa asked. Hongjoong moved aside so that he could continue pushing his cart.

    "Yeah. Also, when you say rent, does that mean you don't live in the dorms?" Hongjoong replied, falling into step beside him. Seonghwa nodded.

    "That's cool." Hongjoong grinned, and Seonghwa smiled back, making his heart beat faster again.

    "Don't you need to study or something? I'm guessing you didn't come here to talk to me." Seonghwa pointed out. Hongjoong had totally forgotten about his original plan.

    "Oh yeah, I guess so. You probably don't want me talking to you while working huh?" Hongjoong felt a bit disappointed that they had to stop talking, but he also really did need to study.

    "Believe me. This job is about as boring as it gets and I'd love to talk to you more, Hongjoong." Seonghwa sighed. That made Hongjoong feel a bit better.

    "Hey you remembered my name!" He said excitedly.

    "Yeah, I did." Seonghwa said, looking equally as surprised as Hongjoong felt.

    "Well, I'll be going then." Hongjoong said, walking backwards toward the tables which were his original objective.

    "Bye." Seonghwa said, with yet another one of his gentle smiles.

    "Bye, Seonghwa." Hongjoong said. Seonghwa's eyes widened when he heard his name, and Hongjoong gestured to his name tag before turning around and walking away.

Not that he was going to get much studying done anymore.