" chapter two. we meet again "

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with one of her airpods in her ear and shoulders slumped, danbi steps foot into the library with her group of friends.

all of them came to the library to have a group study date, but they'd know they'll pick at least one book for the subject they were taking an exam on and more fictional stories that they'd eventually borrow to read at home.

"since we're all studying for different subjects, let's all meet back here in thirty minutes," says sena, the oldest of the friend group.

"sounds good" eunjeong, the second oldest nodded before turning to look at danbi. "you want any one of us to go with you?" the older girl inquired softly as she places a hand on danbi's shoulder.

danbi smiles before shaking her head and slowly places her hand on top of eunjeong's hand before sliding it off her shoulder, "i know my way around here" danbi says, "i'll be fine".

"ok then"

and with that, everyone dispersed and went to different sections looking through different subjects.

going up the stairs, danbi looks around the whole place before eventually finding a section filled with books that talk about chemistry and biology. it's hardly the most appealing sight, but she didn't have much of a choice.

slowly, danbi lets her eyes scan through the shelf of books as she walks, bringing a hand up to her mouth before yawning.

she's tired. danbi who's usually tired on the regular basis was even more drained during exam weeks.

like life's already hard enough, and then exams happen. why.

wiping a tear that dropped on her cheeks from the yawn, danbi sighed before chuckling to herself. it's the exams making her go insane, and it's only been two days.

quickly looking around the section, and seeing how it was empty, danbi took a moment to herself to yawn and stretch her arms. grimacing when she heard her bone cracking.

and before she could even comment on it, her eyes widen when she was able to spot a not-so-unfamiliar figure just two sections away from her.

jaeyun.

she brought her arms back down, before fixing her outfit and hair. let's just hope he didn't see her yawning and stretching, cause he's already witnessed one of her embarrassing moments. him witnessing another would be the end of the world for her.

she cleared her throat, thanking the heavens for him not noticing her as she turns her attention toward the books.

oh but he does notice.

with a huge smile, he held the books he wanted to read in his arms before silently making his way over to her.

"fancy seeing you here"

danbi froze, her eyes going wide for a moment before she proceeds to face him. a series of awkward chuckles left her lips due to the sudden nervousness.

"oh hi" she smiled, "nice seeing you here," the girl said grabbing a random book from the shelf just because she needed something to hold.

"did you get home safely that day?" jaeyun suddenly brought up,

his simple question, why did it make her heart flutter-

"oh, uhm, yeah" danbi smiled, "thank you so much for that day. if it weren't for you, i don't think i'd be standing here" the girl expressed while leaning over the shelf.

"don't mention it, really" jaeyun says, smiling softly back at her. "i'm glad i was able to help," he said.

"oh but, i wanted to ask," danbi says, "that day, did you lie about seoul being your stop?" she recalled, remembering how jaeyun had run back inside the train station after knowing she was safe to go home.

"cause i remember you running back inside"

"oh, you've noticed" jaeyun lets out, rubbing the back of his neck as he chuckles. "yeah that's not really my stop" he admits, "my stop was a stop before yours, but seeing how shaken up and nervous you were, i couldn't just leave you alone when i knew i could help" jaeyun smiles.

danbi's heart felt warm, she wanted to express her gratitude towards him but she didn't know how.

"seriously i don't have anything else to say other than thank you" danbi frowned.

"and that's enough," jaeyun said as he flipped over the pages of the book he'd just opened.

but then a thought popped up in his head, causing him to smirk before clearing his throat. "you know, there is something you could do though" he implied,

danbi straightens her posture, a pout on her lips and furrowed brows, before asking, "what is it?".

"give me your phone number"

he smiled cheekily, leaning back against the shelf while closing his opened book. "i'd love to get to know you more" he confessed so casually.

danbi stood there, silently staring back at him, stunned.

with a scoff, she places both hands in her coat's pocket before standing straight. "what?" she says, her mouth curved upwards, before lending her hand out to him,

jaeyun giggled, taking his phone out of his pocket, and unlocking it before giving it to her. "you seem flustered" he pointed out, "cute".

"can you not flirt in the library" danbi told, biting back her smile, as she typed in her phone number on jaeyun's phone.

"i don't see a you cannot flirt sign anywhere though," jaeyun said, looking around as if looking for that said sign with puckered lips and smirking after.

"unfortunately, you're right," danbi says, feigning sadness in her tone while returning his phone to him and placing her arms back in her pockets.

her actions, however, caused jaeyun to bursts into giggle once more.

she gave him a weird look but ended up laughing along with him.

his giggles, she didn't know if she should say this let alone think it, but it sounded so cute. the way his smile appeared, with a shrug off his shoulder, his giggles flowed out like a river.

it sounded addicting almost.

"danbi"

danbi looked up, and when she realized it wasn't jaeyun who was calling her, she turned around to find sena calling out to her. when they made eye contact, the older female smiled, and so danbi returned the smile.

"come on," sena says, "the other girls are waiting for you" she informed, before motioning for her to quickly come over.

"oh, be right there," danbi told, pursing her lips into a straight line.

sena nodded then turned, noticing jaeyun beside danbi, the older girl quickly bowed and smiled at him before turning to leave.

"i have to get going," danbi said, turning to face jake who smiled and nodded in response.

"i have to get going too," he said before pointing past his shoulder, seeing a group of six other guys aggressively waving their arms around at him while mouthing for him to turn around.

"my friends are looking for me" he laughed.

danbi's mouth curved up before she nodded. clutching the random book tightly in her arms, she turned to leave, only stopping once jaeyun calls out for her again.

"danbi"

"yeah?"

"i'll text you later," he says as he rests one of his elbows on the bookshelf and winks at her.

danbi gave him a strange look before laughing. "it'd be weird if you didn't," the girl remarked, but when she saw his panicked expression, she laughed.

"i'll be waiting for your notification then," danbi smiled, catching jaeyun's flushed cheeks for a brief moment before walking away.

danbi bit her lower lip as she walked down the stairs, trying to keep her smile from becoming too wide. this felt weird, the whole situation felt so weird.

are these butterflies that she's feeling in her stomach, or was this her being nervous about talking to another human. she really doesn't know.

"something good happened?"

startled, looking up from the ground, she felt relieved when she turned her head to see junghwa, her best friend of three years walking beside her.

remembering her question, danbi shook her head, "no... why?".

"lies" junghwa rolled her eyes with a playful smile, "you're glowing and you're smiling so wide" the girl whispered before tilting her head back slightly and looking back at danbi with curiosity.

danbi pursed her lips together. she hasn't told junghwa about the train station incident yet, which also means she hasn't told her about jaeyun.

holding up the random book she grabbed earlier, danbi forced a smile onto her face, "found a good chemistry book" she lied.

which she was quick to realize how horrible of a lie that was.

junghwa and her stopped walking, junghwa giving her a weird judgemental stare and danbi staring at the floor while rethinking about what she just said.

"see, even to me that's a horrible lie," junghwa said, scoffing.

embarrassed, a spill of giggles left danbi's lips, the girl hang her head low. "ok yeah i'm sorry," the girl says, causing the two to start laughing.

danbi wasn't even bothered when she remembered how she had grabbed a random book from the shelf without looking. it was a subject she was about to study for anyway, she didn't need to go back and get another one.

holding her phone tightly in one hand, and the book in the other. danbi looked back at the section she was in earlier before smiling and looking down at her phone.

i'll be waiting for your notification then.