The sound of my alarm jingled lightly bringing me out of my comatose state. I took my time getting up and preparing for the day. I usually woke up early so I could do my morning routine. I didn't like the feeling of being rushed or late so it was something I'd just fallen into doing habitually.
Yet again, I found myself staring into my wardrobe wondering what today's vibe would be. This was a regular occurrence for me but I wasn't embarrassed about it by any means. Feeling a bit edgy I decide on some high waisted blue skinny jeans with rips up the legs, a white crop T-shirt, a baggy beige cardigan and white Fila sneakers. My hair was slightly wavey and reached just around my waist.
After slipping on some cute rings and bracelets I strolled over to my desk and double-checked my schedule. Memory serves me right, it turns out I only have one class in the afternoon which I was happy about. During high school, the rhythm of a full day of classes always irritated me. Never felt like I had enough time for myself and for the things that I wanted to do. But now, my classes were more spaced out and I was grateful.
I gathered everything I would need for the day including my laptop and set off to the campus library. As I walked up the path and towards the entrance I noticed Tae was casually leaning against a pillar. He had one hand in his pocket and the other holding his phone which he was scrolling through. He looked so stylish, even though he was only wearing a light grey hoodie paired with a denim jacket and thin black track pants that hung off his figure perfectly.
Did he always look picture of perfection?
As I got closer he glanced up from his phone and noticed me. It was really subtle but his eyes widened slightly and then he stuffed his phone into his pocket before standing up straight.
"Jia, did you sleep well?" He asked, His presence becoming stronger as he stepped closer, fondly gazing down at me.
"Yea, did you?"
"Hmm, actually I had the weirdest dream." He pouted for a moment. "But I probably shouldn't go into details" His expression rebounded cheekily.
"What, why not? Was it really that strange?" He hummed momentarily still in thought.
Okay, okay, just let me guess and just nod if I'm close." I offered, curious what it could be. He cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow.
"How about, if you guess, I'll grant you a wish." Tae seemed to be enjoying making a game of it.
"Um, yeah okay. "Anything I want?" I asked.
"Yep, anything." He looked smug but I didn't mind, I'll just list off weird things until I get it right.
"Was it weird like cats dancing in miniature suits strange or like?"
"The world was ending and you had to save it but you didn't have any hands or feet weird?"
No response, okay maybe I needed to take it in a different direction.
"Or like, you were being serviced by a sexy maid weird?" He broke out into a smile at the last one.
"No, no, and no, but if you're into that last one maybe we could work something out." The deep hum of his voice became more noticeable. It was only the two of us here and, just when did he get so close to me?!
"What?! No! Wait? What does that even mean? I waved my hands and tried to refute his weird, kinky suggestion. Feeling triumphant he laughed and backed away slightly, a delighted smirk settled on his lips. It made him just look all the more attractive.
God, what have I gotten myself into? I inwardly tutted, deciding to pretend to look around for Jimin to draw attention elsewhere. I hadn't actually expected to see the blonde when I peeked around, but, at that moment he was only a few strides away from behind Tae.
He slung an arm over Tae's shoulder, greeting us both with a captivating smile. "You two are early, did I miss anything?" he seemed to be in a cheerful mood.
"We weren't early. You're just always late" Tae playfully poked him in the side.
"Ow, Hey! That was one time! " Jimin jumped away at the sudden poke, before crossing his arms and pouting. His cheeks puffed a bit. I noticed how cute he looked wearing his light blue jeans and white pink and purple striped jumper.
"Was it? Anyways, now that we're all here," Tae linked onto Jimin's arm pulling him out of his stance and then reached out for my own arm and started to sturdily lead us up the stairs and into the library.
Only after we'd entered did he let us go. "Woah. This place is huge." He mumbled to himself as we all wandered into the main room.
"Yeah" Jimin mumbled back in response as he looked around. He was quick to point out an unoccupied booth.
"What about there?" He asked. Seeing no problem with the spot we headed over.
Jimin was the first to file in on the left side, Tae sat on the opposite seat so I decided to scoot in beside Jimin. I felt my thigh accidentally collide with something solid. It was only for a second. I quickly readjusted so I wasn't so close. I glanced at him but he seemed to not have noticed or if he had there was no reaction.
We each took out our books and notes. I opened up my laptop on the table and propped it at the open end of the booth so that the screen was facing all of us.
As we started to discuss the layout and divide sections of the report between us I began to type up the draft and create a template document. We discussed for a while until mid-convo I felt something. It was Jimin's thigh firmly pressing up against mine. He's leaned back into a more relaxed position and his legs had spread slightly. I waited a moment but neither of us pulled away. From my peripherals I could see him leaning back running his hands through his hair, nodding along as Tae was explaining something about a section of the report. I tried to refocus on writing down the points that Tae was mentioning when I felt his thigh press a little more against mine. Why was I so sensitive to his presence right now? It caused a small shudder to run through me.
Tae was completely oblivious and I like to think Jimin was too. However, I caught him glance towards me, a brief but definite sly smirk curving at the corner of his lips.
Was I imagining this? No way, I felt a bit confused, like, was this flirting? I don't even know. Or was he just toying with me? But like, it was so unnoticeable that if I was to say anything he could totally deny it...
My fingers were still typing away as my thoughts flittered through my mind until I heard my name being called. "Jia, hold on, can I change something?" The blonde's sweet voice felt closer to my ear and its suddenness caused me to pull my hands away from the keyboard and shift slightly to face him.
"Yea sure" My voice trembled slightly which seemed to appease him. Smiling lightly he leaned forward to edit something on the laptop with one hand. In the process part of his chest pushes up against my back, his other arm leaning lazily over my shoulder, his breath nibbling at my ear. I felt warm but I didn't dare move, instead I glanced at Tae to see what he was doing. His head hung down as he read over some papers but then he looked back up and had caught my eye before I could look away. His expression was completely unreadable. I felt Jimin pull back away from me causing me to relax instantly. Now only his thigh was left propped up against mine which seemed trivial after that ordeal.
"There, that's a bit better, what do you think?" Tae and I leaned in to read the changes, both nodding in agreement.
It wasn't until around mid-day that the boys had to leave because they had class. I waved them both goodbye as they left. I'd decided to stay a little longer seeing as I still had 2 hours until my afternoon class.
I quickly wandered across the road to a café and had a salad for lunch before returning to the library. I decided to explore a bit more and see what they had to offer. As I skimmed through endless shelves of books something caught my eye that made them light up in excitement. The next few sections were actually filled with CDs. It was a rare sight in this day and age seeing as so many things are digital including music.
I started to explore the musical playground in which I had delightfully discovered, pulling out a CD occasionally to take a closer look. I noticed a 'Notorious BIG' album poking out from on top of the shelf. I felt my heart leap at the sight. Biggie Smalls was... A guilty pleasure of mine without a doubt. He had flows for days and I was all for it.
I reached up and stretched out my arm as far as I could but apparently, I was short enough for it to be inconvenient right now. I jumped a couple of times in hopes that it might help. However, to no avail, suddenly I felt a presence behind me and an arm reached above me to pull out the CD with ease. The unexpected motion completely caught me off guard as I let out a small squeal and turned around only to collide with something solid. This hurt a lot, but then I felt myself lose balance...
You ever have that moment when you know you are about to fall but there's nothing you can do about it? Well yeah, that's what was happening right now. I scrunched my eyes closed anticipating to feel the floor hit me but, instead, I felt myself being caught in sturdy arms.
"Holy shit" I breathed out in a mixture of relief and shock. I quickly opened my eyes back up only to be met with a tense but handsome face. His hair was dark blonde and pushed back, and from what had just happened I knew he was damn tall.
"Are you okay? I'm so sorry" He relaxed following his apology. The next moment he propped me back up onto my feet with ease. His hands now sat on my shoulders as he peered into my face.
"I think so." I mumbled, trying to regain myself. "I uh, saw you struggling to reach that CD and thought I should help out, didn't even cross my mind that it might have scared you, I'm really sorry" He continued to apologise, a small awkward smile breaking out as he lets his grip on my shoulders go to scratch at the back of his head.
"Oh no... I should probably apologise to you! I'm usually not that jumpy, you really did come right out of nowhere though!" I laughed, trying to dismiss the absolute shit show that had just gone down between us.
"Ahhh." He exhaled in relief. I looked down to see that he still had the CD I wanted in his hand. "Biggie, huh?" His voice questioned smoothly, pulling my attention back up to him.
"Notorious for a good reason," I joked, wait that was kind of lame, no? Either way, I was surprised that he even knew who that was. He let out a small chuckle before handing the case to me.
"I'm Namjoon by the way,"
"Jia, it's nice to meet you." As I took it from him I noticed a reasonable difference in the size of our hands. I paused a moment.
"So, you're into Hip Hop?" I questioned, becoming more curious about him by the second.
"Yeah, for sure. I rap, write lyrics, compose songs.." He began to list off things that were music to my ears. "Oh. A jack of all trades, huh?" I teased.
"I write lyrics too. Music is just one of those things.." I trail off, feeling like I was now looking at someone with whom I may have a lot in common.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm a K-Culture major, second year in" His expression brightened, as though becoming more intrigued.
"It's my first year in Communications, I guess that means you're my senior" A small silence lingered as we both realised we weren't the same age but then his voice cut through it.
"You know what, you should come by the campus studios some time and check out some of the songs we produce. It's kinda rare bumping into someone with similar interests. And I don't mean metaphorically" He sounded genuine so I didn't give my answer much thought.
"Yeah, I'd love to, did you want to maybe add me on Kakao?" I pulled out my phone hesitantly.
"Oh, yeah, sure, here let me add my ID" Namjoon was quick to grab my phone and take care of it. After he'd finished he handed it back. I fumbled my phone around in my hands before looking back up at him. The thought of being in his arms not that long ago propping itself up into the surface of my mind.
"Thanks for umm... Catching me back there too" I mumbled shyly. for some reason, I started getting light tingles. Wait, of all things why did I say that? Jesus Jia, get a grip - I internally cringed at myself.
"Don't thank me, if I hadn't scared you then you wouldn't have fallen" He waved his hand, brushing off my unnecessary apology. I glanced back down at my phone and realised that my class was going to start soon.
"I have a class to get to now, but, ah, yea, just message me and let me know when to drop by" I beamed before bowing lightly and then starting to back away. "Ah yes, will do. Cya around" Namjoon waved at me looking a bit confused. I hurried off out of the Library, jogging most of the way to class so I wasn't late. I regretted how quickly and suddenly I'd left Namjoon and hoped I hadn't given him an awkward impression... Or like creeped him out. I actually did want him to message me. The thought of him also having common interests made me really excited.