❛ ↺ computer lab

@i. jaebum Tzuyu smiles into him, her eyes a glimmer of hope and care as she looks at him with questionable admiration. Getting back her phone, she holds it with much care as if it would break in her touch. "U-um yeah," she remembers to say. "Well, I'll see you." She scoots closer to the seat as she waits for Jaebum to leave before screaming into the palms of her hands.

@c. tzuyu It was more than just easy to notice that the whole interaction aroused completely different feelings in Jaebum, than in Tzuyu. Im was relatively relaxed and the only raging feeling inside of him was sudden tiredness, and perhaps a tiny need to quench his thirst and to silence soft rumblings of his seemingly bottomless stomach. Without much hesitation, he grabbed latter's phone, in the next second typing his name, then number below to save the contact under his name.
"Here", he said, giving the phone back to its owner. "You don't have to text me at decent hour. Four in the morning beep won't disturb my sleep anyway", he added, good humor definitely not living him yet, despite being more than just brainwashed after a couple of hours with accounting.

@i. jaebum Upon offering his number, Tzuyu jolts up in surprise. A smile creeps up at the apples of her cheeks, bringing out the dimples dotting the lines of her face. "S-sure," she says, red siring into her face from her ears. His warm hand grips hers in a firm manner, her touch lingering just a bit longer than necessary. The ghosts of the luminescence of the computer screens burn into her eyes, shadows of which following the series of her blinks. Fishing out her phone, Tzuyu looks up at him, expectant in its gaze as she waits for him to punch his number into hers.

@k. doyeon "hey, i'm sure you're not an idiot. i'm sure you could've easily had the same idea," the knuckles of the other collided with the skin of the male's forearm, a small simper laying fondly across his lips. yukhei had hoped that his hunch regarding the identity behind the aforementioned jiggle of the knob was sufficient, his conscience able to lower itself back down to his level and ease up. his line of sight detoured a bit, juggling between the former's slender digits orchestrating an arbitrary tune upon the material of the door to the cluster of shadows that would intermittently form at the crack underneath. the whirl of his ears adjusted to the playful tone doyeon had took, rising to the notion that we would hopefully be freed, "that's true. i'm not exactly the guy to set a bedtime for himself, i'm always up doing work," little pieces of laughter left him as he responded, "but i'm pretty much all afternoon, the evenings, and hours as late as this after classes. plus, i get to look forward to another one of these late night conversations," he raised his voice just above conversational, trying his chances to follow suit in letting their voices radiate off of the walls of the room to engage their presence a bit more. the male's gaze dropped down to where they would exchange the glimmering glint in their respective irises before watching for any remnant of movement below the crack of the door. his kneels buckled slightly, palms resting atop his knees, "i'll take your word on that then," a similar exhale left him, but one that didn't carry the indiscernible weight of disquiet as before, "anime, food, my paper... i just want to get out of here." yukhei carried a laugh to himself. he reckoned that another half hour spent confined up to their necks, and he would've lost all semblance of sanity.

the young male lifted his head along with his perpetual gaze, the knob of the door singing the tune that was familiar to the both of them. the echo of keys emitted from behind the door, and yukhei heeded to doyeon's gesturing to step away from the door. his countenance rose higher than his heart, the elation etched into his brims as the older man had opened the door. he quickly abided by a series of deep bows likewise to the female, not uniform in shape nor pace but each bow explained so much of their presence being relieved from this room, "yes, it won't ever happen again. our apologies." yukhei was attentive to the hefty rise in the man's chest, as the janitor's gaze was cognizant of the two of them being so fidgety to get out. but he soon thought nothing of this thereafter, following the female's tentative strides to grab her things. he slipped his backpack on along his torso after letting his papers slip into the pockets, "also, sir, i would definitely look into the placement of the lock on the door. maybe have it lock on the inside like all of the other doors..." minuscule breathes manifested as hearty puffs of excitement; his teeth clenched together, but small mumbles erupted past the fine gaps, "let's go, go, go, go, doyeon..." he hurried each hushed syllable as he made his way out of the door, giving the man a small pat on the shoulder, "thank you so much, and sorry again." yukhei braced for the air that accompanied the outside of the computer lab into the hallway. the multitude of cross-breezes that his lungs invited in, he used to conjure a formidable response in triumph. his arms rose above his conscience at that point, "we're out. finally out..."

@w. yukhei a small rush of adrenaline coiled in doyeon’s stomach, making her unable to sit down as she stared frustratingly at the locked door that lead to a one sided confrontation. It made her antsy to just know that someone could just walk away like that without making an effort to answer back to their plea. watching as yukhei scribbled vigorously on a slip on paper before sliding it through the cracks of the door, the young woman tapped her fist against the steel doors, hoping it would echo through the other side of the campus corridors. “making a small note is actually genius, i’m an idiot for not thinking of it earlier.” groaning softly as doyeon praised the taller individual for his quick thinking, she pressed her knuckles to knock cheekily against his arm. yukhei had been her little ray of hope in this matter. responding adequately to her questions, expressing an interest in her quirky rambling of passions she wouldn’t necessarily discuss with a stranger. “so what’s a reasonable hour to chat with you in your book? you’re up pretty late with me now, aren't you?” squatting down to keep notice of any shadows that might squabble up again, her tone became playful. It was beneficial to make noise, become livelier to catch the attention of any outsider that still might me trotting around at such late hours in this setting. “I really hope you’re right about the janitor..” another audible sigh slipped its way past her pump tiers as doyeon perked her head to look yukhei in his deep brown eyes before looking back down and drawing lazy circles on the marble flooring beneath her their feet. “as for anime,” she paused momentarily as her eyebrows furrowed at sight of a possible shadowed figure. “I’ll get you so hooked, you won’t know when to stop.”

a jingle of keys released the tension in her knotted throat, doyeon stood up straight as she took a hold of the material of yukhei’s shirt to guide him away from the door. “we’re in here!” the female bellowed. without getting an answer for a second time, the sound of a set of keys being fiddled and manhandled were juggled until the correct one fit into the keyhole; pushing forward with a twist of a knob revealing their savior. It was the janitor like yukhei concurred. A grumble puffed from the elder’s man chest as his eyes widen in shock. “Isn’t it too late for you two to be in the lab?” trying to muster a comprendible response from experiencing absolute relief, the doe eyed girl sprang forward to the custodian to bow her head repeatedly to express her gratitude. “It won’t happen again, we were trapped.” she tried explaining with a flustered wheeze. “I’m sorry.” unintentionally squeaking, doyeon felt embarrassed the way his eyes roamed over her frame before darting his attention to her supposedly partner in crime accusingly. The elder man didn’t have to say another peep but the judging look in his eyes suggested that they’d been here for a reason that would make her mother blush. “yukhei, let’s go.” she whispered, strutting past the other student to grab her belongings.

@c. tzuyu With justifiable certainty that none of his open tabs would be useful for the other student, Jaebum closed one by one, eventually leaving an empty desktop for Tzuyu to make an use of. Bright colors of the wallpaper were nice alternative for the black and white reality of accounting software. Already forgetting about all of the unpleasant university-related things, his mind was excited at the idea of amazing feeling only a bottle of cold beer could provide. A couple of them were waiting for him in his fridge, only if his new roommate didn't decide to treat herself a bit. Jaebum couldn't really mind.
After getting up from his chair, Im hung one strip of the backpack on his shoulder. He was ready to leave, but then Tzuyu's voice, then much more clearer than previously, kept him in his spot. And to be honest, her sentence caught him of guard at least. Blinking and obviously being out of words for a couple of short seconds, Jaebum eventually reached out for woman's hand and grabbed it, hugging it subtly.
"Well, that's a strange request but I somehow can't say no to that", he spoke, having no idea yet how his next sentence should be like. "I can give you my number and you can text me, when you're free to meet or something."

@i. jaebum A look of defeat momentarily flashes across Tzuyu's face as Jaebum readies himself to leave, but she immediately hides the expression before Jaebum could even see it. Albeit it was a short one, Tzuyu could feel the giddiness rushing through her limbs, the feeling as if she's taken two energy bottles in one drink. Jaebum is civil and nice towards her, but she doesn't expect his civility and kindness could be leaning towards anything more than that: He doesn't know her anyway. Chewing her lower lip, she watches as Jaebum shifts as to get up, her mind working as to what she might be able to say to end the conversation and their interaction to something that could be more than just a fated crossing between the two. She extends her hands, wobbly and sweating, saying, "Jaebum, I'd like to be friends with you please."

@c. tzuyu "I don't", he admitted with a soft chuckle which showed how good his humour was that day. Or maybe he was simply happy because the most difficult part of his assignment was finished and excited to finally leave the computer lab? There were so many possibilities, yet Jaebum didn't plan to weigh up whichever one was more legitimate than the other. By then his dark, little eyes were already sore, and a mild throbbing headache suggested a need for at least a break from staring deeply into luminescent surfaces.
Bending over to reach his backpack hidden under the desk, Jaebum's hand fished into one of its pockets, searching for a flash drive. His fingertips quickly nudged against some familiar, rubber object which turned out to have a shape of snow-white sleepy cat. After removing the bottom part of it, Im plugged it into USB port, saving all the results of his hard work on the small device.
"Here, it's all yours now", he said then, unplugging the flash drive and getting ready to get up. "I don't want to jinx it, but good look with the strange moods of inanimated objects", he added with a kind smile once his eyes could find Tzuyu's again.

@k. doyeon yukhei let his forearms folds along the expanse of his chest, crossing his arms but this time not donning a completely reclusive and standoffish disposition; rather, it allotted him leverage to competently return the bow of the head toward the former's direction in confidence, a casual grin dicing his countenance into one that invited the witty exchange. he laughed once more, being more honest to the atmosphere which invited such, at the gesturing finger-lock that signified the incorporeal promise made to the participating parties. yukhei relaxed the tension in his wrist, giving his hand to hers as the pads of his fingertips adhered to the smaller, yet elegantly lithesome digits of the other, "deal. i'm very... truly... sorry. it sounds a plan." he let the heat of their thumbs connect at one single point. though a bit juvenile, neither the whip of the wind nor an act of their sensibilities would allow them to dare break such a promise. the young male felt less skittish and undeniably more accomplished. his current endeavors to seek new relationships was paying his future self handsomely.

now letting his interests spill out, giving the female a clearer lens to look through, yukhei took note of her seemingly excitable nature once he relinquished them forward. hearing that she was of the same year was favorable to him as becoming closer to those his age would certainly entail a great deal of similar topics to engage in while conversing. albeit, the male was quite surprised at the invitation to share contact information. still, he relished in the idea she proposed, taking the mobile device by its polished edges, and digging into his pocket for his phone to subsequently hand over to doyeon as well, "anime night? sounds like a blast. i'll for sure be there. maybe you can introduce me to some shows? im still so terribly new to anime, after all" the pads of his fingertips scurry over the phone's screen in succession, "...there. don't be a stranger, doyeon. i'll be available for a chat at any reasonable hour," he tossed a grin aside to a corner of his lips, a brief exhale of breath being manifested. his head then snapped toward the door, handle quaking at intermittent times, but it was enough to at least indicate that a human's touch lied on the other side. the gap beneath the door was just adequate enough in size to decipher any humanoid shadow. yukhei quickly raised his stature in tandem to doyeon, rushing over to hear any discernible sounds that reverberated against the door with her, ear planted itself against the frame. he knitted his brows together at the female against the door once absolute silence fell upon them, share the same jaded realization at what had just happened. the other side was merely abiding by a culmination of familiar mechanic hums from the vending machines just outside. "we've been locked in here! please, someone help!" he raised his voice against the door, but no semblance of footsteps. no voice that called back out to them. "that was bizarre... maybe they went back to get the keys? could be the janitor? let's do this then just to make sure..." yukhei sauntered to his backpack before digging out a pen and a piece of notebook paper. the pen scratched against the sheet, "'there are people locked in here, please come help us!!!' ah, my korean writing still isn't good but anything to get us out of this..." he then made his way over to delicately slide the paper beneath the gap of the door, hopeful to get the message out there to any hopeful passerby, including whoever shook the doorknob.

computer screen*

@i. jaebum "Yeah, I guess so," she answers, suddenly weary from all the hours spent on studying, dark circles heaving the skin beneath her eyes. Her mind is drifting to somewhere she doesn't have to think about of the much terrorised looming of her quiz and exams, answering mindlessly to Jaebum's question as he tries to engage in a conversation she started. From having noted that Jaebum is about to finish, Tzuyu's heart lurches forward, the little time she spent with Jaebum is coming close to an end. "Hey, you don't have to rush," she mumbles even if she's aware of the fact every tick of the clock impends her to be late and thereof being unable to take the quiz set strictly on a mantle of timeframe that is to be followed.
Unconscious of it, Tzuyu's eyes rivet back to his face, the furrow of his brows taut with concentration, and the fluorescent light of the computer skin reflexive on his pallor. She thinks she's handsome even with his profile slightly obscured from her vision due to the angle he's taken, probably aware of the scrutiny she's putting him under. Tilting her head, she merely watches the boy try to finish whatever job he's doing, adoration pleasantly woven into the lines of Tzuyu's face. Needless to say, Tzuyu doesn't know this is the bloom of her unrequited feelings of attraction to Jaebum.

@c. tzuyu "Perhaps something library related?", he questioned, at the same time remembering the times when he was a freshman, just like the girl sitting next to him. Those were definitely some seriously dark times for him and he was quite conflicted whether or not he missed some of the people who he used to know and who graduated a few year before current events.
"I remember we had to take library quiz on the first year, but what for - I'm still not sure. It was basically all about which area of the building has which subject area of the books or how to borrow a book, stuff like that. For some reason they made it mandatory", he continued, speaking in rather slow pace. Maybe Jaebum wasn't so good at multitasking after all and editing files combined with choosing the right Korean words to express his mind was a little out of his spectrum of skills.
As he was checking one element after another, he still didn't find the source of his problem. Slowly reaching the point, when he simply smashes the keyboard against the screen and hopes it's going to magically solve the issue of hunger in Africa, suddenly his eyes stopped dead in their tracks.
"I think I found it", Jaebum muttered under his breath, immediately correcting the digits, updating the whole big file and soon discovering that finally everything was aright, just like he wanted it to be. His huge sigh of relief probably could be heard by the whole computer lab. "Let me save it in a few PDFs and I'm out."

@w. yukhei hearing such a comical response to the ironic predicament the two were placed in made doyeon chortle, modestly hiding her laughter behind the sleeves of her hoodie. "you're welcome. i'm glad i could be of service to you." bowing her head to yukhei as a humorous gesture, she was content with whatever had diffused between them. taking a brief moment to recall back to her inclusive freshman year, the female attentively listened to the words of the male, acknowledging that it took time to find your yourself on campus. to develop a sense of belonging with people whom you’d see for the next four years, new faces or old. doyeon didn’t blame him at all. “if you’re really sorry, let’s not make this the last time we speak, okay?” reaching out to grasp a gentle hold of one of his large hands in comparison and locking their pinkies together to seal the deal to the tip of their thumbs. it was a childish action, really, but hoping this moment would be memorable, the tinier woman uncharastically confined her trust in him; hoping it would be the start of a new profound relationship.

doyeon’s enthusiasm got the best of her as yukhei explained his interests, taking notice of the pause he took before dwelling into his matters, she cocked an eyebrow. but wouldn’t question further upon it.the drowsiness from the previous trivial activities were long gone. not only did they share similar interests but they were in the same year. “i guess we’re around the same age then, i’m a sophomore too,” handing the male her mobile device to exchange contacts, his contagious chuckles made it hard to remain so quiet, her shoulders shook from trying to suppress a few of her own.“i’m trying to convince my roommates to make anime night a thing on the weekends.. maybe you could stop by?” doyeon didn’t expect a definite answer so soon but it was at least worth a try. a sudden rattle of the door handle evoked a terrified gasp from her. an intrusion so loud it was enough to bring her to her feet. another set motion of the rattling door handle made her exchange glances with yukhei, unsure of what to do. “there are people in here!” she cried while making a move towards the door. and suddenly, the aggressive twisting of the handle from the outside came to a halt. it puzzled her. looking back at the seated scholar, doyeon pressed the side of her cheek to the cold surface of the computer lab door to listen for a voice of another person, anything or anyone that might’ve had the key to set them free. “i’m not hearing anything… that was bizarre.” a waver in her voice, sending a rush of chills down her spine at such a weird encounter. precautiously taking a step back from the locked door, the female crossed her arms over her chest and waited for another attempt to seek help.

@i. jaebum "I have an online quiz to catch up to," Tzuyu begins, one hand propped onto the table as she cups her head while watching Jaebum's skilled fingers fly over the keyboard in an easy stance. The computer lab is quiet except for the momentary cusps of a game's sound effects and the groaning of other students as they too stress over their deadlines amidst the tranquility of the lab. Being a person with a nervous disposition, she could feel every second ticking by too fast as the numbers of the clock change from zero to one to two; to try to make up for the lost time, she attends to Jaebum's silence with a flurry of questions that remains unanswered as the other boy focuses on what he's doing. The screen reflects on her dark eyes, the part thereof taking in the constantly changing and transposing of digits, in awe that Jaebum works so expertly in this department. But hey, what does she expect? He always can be found in a corner with his nose hounded on a flurry of numbers and letters as Tzuyu constantly sees him to be; he seems content to be so.

@c. tzuyu To create some more space for the woman, Jaebum picked his backpack from one of the chairs and hid it under the desk like he should've done in the first place. What he would rather do, if the computer lab wasn't so empty due to technical difficulties. As the latter was making herself comfortable right next to him, Im picked a few sheets with the content of the whole project printed. Comparing the data from instructions, he expected to find the solution to his problem which has been annoying him for a couple of long minutes already.
"Hm?", he muttered under his nose. "Oh that's not so little project from Management Accounting. Very boring stuff", he chimed in. In the process of doing so, he kept his eyes on the screen, his attention mainly focused on the assignment. Some could assume that this little question given by Tzuyu at some point disturbed him and weakened his concentration, however, the truth was he didn't mind that at all.
Scanning the printout with his eyes and simultaneously validating content of his file one by one, he could easily sense the concentrated stare which landed on him or maybe on what he was hugging in his hands. Jaebum turned his head a little and met big dark eyes, shimmering with something he could guess was curiosity.
"And what do you need a computer for?", he asked then, choosing to skip the inconvenient possibility of explaining something he didn't quite get himself to someone else. Jaebum has never been good at that, teaching others, clarifying the easiest matters of subject area majority believed that belong to entirely distant density. "Also some very boring stuff to do?"

@i. jaebum Tzuyu nods, a sigh slipping past her carmine lips. She takes a seat next to Jaebum, her digits fiddling with the skirt that doesn't do much against the cold of the room, and so to take her mind off the boredom and coldness creeping in at her like the dust motes prancing about, she asks, "What are you doing?"
Prying is one of the biggest bad habits Tzuyu has that she cannot stop from doing. Ever since a kid, she's been called the nosiest little girl her mom has ever given birth to, not that she has any siblings so the metaphor doesn't make any sense at all. Only that she's doing it all over again with Jaebum, and she doesn't look the least bit ashamed of butting in at all even if she is conscious at the back of her mind of how bothersome she could appear to be to the concentrating one. The clicking sounds of the mouse slither up to her ears, her eyes darting to the side profile of Jaebum's, adoring him unabashedly since she knows he's too focused on what he's doing.

@c. tzuyu Jaebum’s eyes drifted back at the computer’s screen, scanning the little effects of his long searching for mistake. He knew it most likely wasn’t anything big, just transposed digits. At least that was what he hoped for. Letting out all the air he kept in his lungs, he sighed, before his eyes once again attempt to meet Tzuyu’s.
“I’m not sure?”, he said then, his voice was full of uncertainty as he couldn’t precisely project how long the younger student would have to wait till the computer would be free to use. “I mean, I’m almost done here, but ‘almost’ is definitely the key word of today”, he added, trying to somehow settle the latter down, easily spotting how nervous she was, let it be the necessity to ask him the question or perhaps the urgency of whatever she needed to use the computer for. “I have one little problem to figure out, so if you don’t mind giving me extra couple of minutes, this computer will be all yours.”

@i. jaebum "I don't mean to be rude, but do you plan on vacating the computer soon enough?" Tzuyu starts, well aware that her conversation starter is not one within the confinement of a cheerful consensus. She just hopes he wouldn't find it rather daring of her so she looks him in the eyes, worry and sincerity are emotions she hopes to diffuse in the light of which. The aircondition whirrs at the end of her sentence, waiting for his response. Finding herself in the computer lab is rather a shock to her since she is a student majoring in theatre. However, an online quiz, the bane of her existence, awaits her in doom; she hopes she wouldn't be failing the very first quiz she will have ever since moving to this university. It comes to her in a ponder whether the said online quiz is a blessing guised in an impending doom, seeing as to how she's currently facing one of her happy crushes now, but she hopes she isn't blushing as hard as she could feel the first wisps of warmth rushing into her ears. Only that redness has tinged her cheeks, a chassis of her body she is unable to hide from Jaebum's prodding eyes.

@c. tzuyu Spending the past three years at the university didn’t help Jaebum to be over the fact that each accounting project had to involve leaving the comfort zone of his bedroom and holing up in the computer lab where all the required accounting software was accessible for all the interested students. But having no other choice (if peaceful final of the semester was his dream), Im left his apartment in the late morning, hoping to find a station for himself before the gamers siege would begin. And he was lucky enough to do so.
Focused on carrying the assignment to the end relatively quickly with a few to zero mistakes, Jaebum was able to complete most of the crucial elements of the project, except for the most important of them all, the immemorial nightmare of all accounting students – assets didn’t equal liabilities. As he was trying to locate the reason of his problem, he heard a greeting spoken in a very gentle feminine voice. Pleasant variation for the quite noises of shooting, explosions and god knew what else.
“Hello there”, he answered, just after he raised his head to look at the face of newcomer. Definitely very familiar figure, at least by sight. Corners of his lips curved in a tiny smile. “Got any problem with finding a working computer? I’ve heard a few people cursing at this mess no one seems to want to fix.”

@i. jaebum Tzuyu enters the cool space of the computer lab, the intrusion from warmth to cold making the bare frame of her skin speckle with goosebumps. Her feet trudge through to the threshold of computers dotting the venue, confused as to why people are occupying the seats so spaciously apart. She veers to the nearest computer in her direction, body leaning over to move the mouse before taking a seat, but the computer doesn't respond; instead it says in bold letters, "UPDATING 2/100". Letting out a sigh through her clenched teeth, she moves onto the next computer, but the same is to be said. The only functioning ones seem to be used by the other students playing games or doing their assignments too. Her facial features taut in response, frown etching the lines on her face.
She searches for a familiar face, and the person her eyes zoom in on is Jaebum's concentrated one. She has seen him once or twice in class, and so she walks to his direction with the plan to ask for help even if she feels shy doing so.
"Hi," she greets him, her words hanging in the space between them. Red creeps up to her cheeks, flushed and eyes darting from the computer to his seat, anywhere but his face.

@k. doyeon yukhei leaned his silhouette forward a bit, relaxing any stiffened joints that became the remnants of the solemnly strung initial moments they shared. his hands came together in front of him, elbows digging into the expanse just above his knee, letting the weight of his body shift to accompany his newly found interaction with the conversation. the words doyeon relayed to him were sensible, only digging into the possibility that one of us could’ve been trapped lonesome and devoid of the outlet of another person. he nodded, complying with the notion to create a more positive spin on this situation, “that is true. i want to thank you for doing your assignment at the same time as i was. i don’t think i could’ve kept true to my sanity alone,” another lofty, prolonged chuckle emitted from the wind under his breath, his words tapered off to match the inflection of someone trying to keep the atmosphere relatively light, less heavy. his hands rubbed together slightly to occupy himself.

“ah, i see. this gaming club seems like the real deal, so i’ll take you up on whatever it offers,” yukhei’s gaze followed the intrigue of doyeon’s, toward the monitor she used as a medium to let the words spill out from her. that action in tandem to the sincerity laced in her syllables hinted possibly at some sort of affinity for gaming. of course, she was in the gaming club, but he could tell of her attachment to it. yukhei, though, never liked to assume more about a person than what was told to him, so he carried on. the other’s teasing comment garnered another conceding grin from him, followed thereafter by a momentary fit of laughter which radiated from his previously pursed tiers, “ah, you got me, doyeon. but i… was never the type to socialize much my freshman year. i think i had too much of a habit of sticking to my work, and work only,” one minuscule itch migrated to the bridge of his nose - his pointer finger attending to it before letting his hands fall into his lap, “but yes, i’m an absolutely terrible person for not giving you the time of day.” his tone of feigned disappointment in himself matched hers in a way. the light banter was good for the ambiance, it gave it a reason to continue as such. shortly after, he took her pat of the shoulder as an intangible hold that returned his shake, nodding to himself before letting his hand fall back down. but then his breath hitched slightly at her question; his body was telling that his conscience received a lapse in judgment and function, but he tried to remain a bit more composed, “a little bit more about myself huh…” of course when asked this, he’s inclined to divulge the meat of his past and upbringing. but he wanted to mentally circle around such endeavors, only enticed to tell of surface level attributes for the time being, “well… uh about myself…” his throat clears, lips tapping against each other once more, “...im a sophomore. my major is accounting. let’s see… i like working out, aquariums, watching anime, recycling and recyclable products… r&b music. seems like that was most of it,” another laugh leaves him, but seemingly more stifled back.

@w. yukhei As well as doyeon hated to admit it. yukhei was probably right. the procrastinating scholar didn’t see herself staying up wee hours into the early morning finishing her assignments after such a troublesome situation. a chuckle escaped her plush lips, nodding wholeheartedly to his statement. maybe investing in a printer wouldn’t be such a bad idea. “look on the bright side,” she mused. “The two of us together is better than one of us being trapped.” it was hard to imagine the anxiety one would have from being confined alone, especially at such late hours. The words doyeon were using were probably exaggerated. But how often would any room be locked from the outside without notice on campus? Things weren’t particularly adding up, but she would never comment on it out loud. yukhei, much to her surprise, provided a comfortable atmosphere in a state of crisis and she was thankful for it.

“the board wasn’t too happy once they got notice that we’d be starting a gaming club.” caressing the monitor gently, doyeon continued to explain her woes outside of academics. A friendly conversation. In fact, it almost seemed geeky, but it was one of the hobbies she was passionate about that didn’t involve her studies or getting a degree in special education. so, without proper funding we make much of what we have.”tucking back stray hairs behind the folds of her ears, the young woman casted yukhei a genuine smile. It was delightful to hear his hearty laugh, putting herself at ease as he continued to shower her with nothing but kindness. “you’ve seen me around campus but this your first attempt at talking to me? i’m hurt."fibbing a small frown, the smaller individual sighed, only to snicker moments later at her attempt at feigning disappointment. It’s not like she’d make herself known to be on good terms with the male population on campus. It had been the polar opposite, actually. other than her roommates, doyeon had no interest in developing personal relationships with them. her studies came first, she reminded herself… they always came first. staring at yukhei’s extended hand with a compelling interest to make a new acquaintance, the female leaned forward to pat his shoulder lightly. “trust me, you seem very friendly to me.” hoping that her warm gesture expressed her interest of being less formal, she leaned back. “I geeked out about my club, so to make me feel less embarrassed about herself… tell me more about yourself."making note of time fleeting so casually on her phone, doyeon laid the device on her lap and provided the gentleman in front of her with undivided attention.

@k. doyeon yukhei relaxed the wind of his arms across his chest, not wanting to come off as formidably opposing or aggressive to the young woman in front of him. the manner in which each word spilled from the other's contoured tiers, dropping into the whirls of his ears, the sum of each of these parts allowed his first impression of her to become a bit more sincere and positive. given the circumstance, yukhei couldn't see any irrationality in how she had reacted. late hours accompanying the stress of school - the printer being broken definitely wouldn't have boded well at the end of something like this. his lungs abided by another sharp exhale, but this time through his nose, not carrying as much weight to be excised through his parted lips, "yeah, me neither. but things just seem to happen i guess. that's the last time i try my luck printing last minute." his arms no longer were found coddled closely to his chest; his forearms laid across his lap, overlapping in the slightest, slacking his posture a bit in the seat.

his gazed drew a line between the subtle actions of the other, adjusting her position and fiddling with the hooded garment. he knew very well to not discomfort her with any extraneous looks or stares for a long period of time, as to sully what has becoming an increasingly comfortable situation barring how it initially started. yukhei tossed his papers aside, shaking his head as the young woman relayed her thoughts, "no worries. i'm sure i would've reacted the same way given how everything panned out. let's just put it past us." he stringed together the words to attempt to ease any latent tension. her subsequent talking-up of the gaming club called for a small remnant of a simpering beam to splay across his tired lips, "i'll keep that in mind then. i'm nothing but trying new things. these didn't really seem like the type of desktops to handle those sorts of games, but more than meets the eye, i guess." a humored exhale left him, a grin still distilled upon his expression before easing back down. yukhei had taken a more relaxed cadence with her as the time spent locked up reached more minutes. he no longer minded the chatter occupying the silence. "doyeon... got it," he repeated the name under a lowly, haggard breath. he now had a name to accompany the face he'd only seldom see around campus. yukhei rotated his chair with the heels to his feet, veering toward doyeon as she modestly closed the distance between their individual bubbles, allowing himself to give the due amount of attention to her proposal to start over, "of course. i wouldn't want this to end with a bad first impression," his subsequent chuckles were subtle, "doyeon... i think i've seen you around campus a few times actually. i'm not really the type to say much, so i probably didn't look like the friendly type to you. but it's nice to meet you," yukhei extended his hand outward for doyeon. he wasn't the kind to be favorable toward handshakes, but anything was better to put what had transpired behind the both of them.

@w. yukhei doyeon placed one of her palms on her bare cheek, humming in acknowledgement at the foreign name that rolled of the latter’s tongue. “yukhei,” she repeated to herself quietly. curiosity perked the arch of an eyebrow, taking the option to not rudely stare at the male but ponder to herself. It wasn’t like her to be so suddenly interested, but the young woman didn’t feel the need to observe his features closely; at least, that's what she wanted him to think. “don’t take this the wrong way, but I certainly didn’t want to meet you under this type of circumstances.” making light of the indefinite situation with a simple simper, doyeon scooted back her chair to drum her digits on the counter; hesitant to actually make physical contact.

“I’m sorry for snapping on you like that,” doyeon announced, throwing away her pride to comfort the fidgety man. “I’m just so tired.” she continued. If it wasn’t evident in her voice already, the young woman drew up the hood of her sweatshirt and groaned softly, trying to cover the dark circles that threatened to make an appearance. A ball of regret seeming to engulf her whole for being so unnerved so easily. what happened to not letting herself succumb to her emotions? yukhei probably thought she was a horrible person by now. by making conversation, hopefully time would pass by faster and she’d have to chance to print her paper elsewhere. “well, if you’re interested, the computers here are programmed with all of the games the gaming clubs have invested hours in.” it wasn’t like doyeon was promoting her club, but thought the male would be far more entertained giving his attention away to something else that hadn’t treated him so disrespectfully. “It’s never too late to start gaming again…” being taken back at the request of her name in return, she trailed off. A hue of colors flushed back into the apples of her cheeks, not able to hide being so embarrassed at her abrasive thoughts towards herself. Maybe yukhei didn’t mind talking to her after all. “It’s doyeon.” she answered bashfully. striding her chair towards his area of work, she locked eyes with his undoubtedly brown orbs and inhaled sharply. “can we start over?”

@k. doyeon yukhei's teeth nibbling lightly at the flesh of his lips, an exhausted breath leaving him as the female asked for a label to the accused. which was undoubtedly, me, "yukhei. my name is wong yukhei. and i really hope that the printer is just out of ink." the sudden inquiry of his name didn't strike him as oddly misplaced for the scenario; he simply had many threads of thoughts that accompanied his mind at the moment, gnawing at his conscience. the male itched at his temple, possibly at newly found frustration or some latent habitual sign of distress. either answer only pointed toward the current situation being within dire needs.

his head still pressed against the door, eyes locked to the tiled flooring which he grew a saturated distaste for within the past few hours. when yukhei was gestured away from the door, he'd hope that somehow, the door would be more favorably toward the young woman. but the force resulted in the same outcome - two souls confined in a space that had already spent enough time in. the male curled his digits into a fist, moderately banging it against the door hoping someone would hear his projected voice call for help. seconds passed before such action yield no formidable response. he his teeth in, taking his tired strides over toward the seat where his papers and backpack remained idle. the wheels attached to the legs of the chair made them all the more mobile, rolling his chair out and cradling his torso in. the momentum of his figure made the flexible nature of the seat bounce slightly. yukhei pulled out his phone for any semblance of contact with an outside aid, but he only found himself in a loop of empty notifications with no responses. he took his papers between his fingers once again, lulling over the misfortune that took place for her but not for him. he tossed them aside, a slight epitomizing feeling of guilt stemming from the timing in which this all took place. the silence between the two seldom was broken, only the intermittent sounds of the wheels of the chair rolling across the floor and small fidgety movements occupied the lapses in quiet. the absence of sound elongated, pushing the already established dichotomy between them even farther. then she spoke up, a line of inquiry. her voice boded well for the quiet this time, soft in texture yet still firm around its audible edges. though it might've seemed out of place for a question like this to come into light, his voice still rose above reason, answering to the young woman, "video games..." his arms cross above his chest, line of sight fixated to an arbitrary spot in the room, a sign of mental exhaustion, "...i'd say... yes. i was into them more when i was younger, took a break from them for a bit and now i'm trying to get back into them," he tossed her a nod, his first acknowledgement of her benevolent action to break the silence. he seemed to have no other choice other than to wait an unknown amount of time with her, "and may i ask the name of the person asking?"

@w. yukhei “maybe it just ran out of ink, right?” doyeon deadpanned, glowering at the frantic speed the male proceeded to move from and to the printer. such a sarcastic reply to such a wholehearted, genuine defense made her frown. he moved with haste, seemingly trying to find the source of the problem. not allowing herself to be swayed by guilt, her stoic facade was back at an instant; resting her back along the small of the chair. if she couldn’t hand in her paper in the morning, it would be his fault. if she couldn’t get the internship, she had longed for since the beginning of the term, it would be his fault. if she couldn’t get a good night’s rest because of tiny accident, it would still be his fault. “how about telling me your name so I know who i’m getting angry with.” the doe eyed female glanced at the displayed time at the right-hand corner of the desktop screen. a quarter past midnight. just her luck. gathering her belongings together at the mention of the help desk, she simply nodded and followed him towards the exit. The pent-up frustration slowly dissolving and putting her at ease at his thought out suggestion. maybe he wasn’t all bad as she initially had thought. taking a peek over his shoulder as he tried twisting the handle open to no avail, the simper threatening to bloom across doyeon’s lips came to a halt, “is this some type of sick joke?”the printer jam, she understood could be a simple inconvenience. the door being locked? she must have had the worst luck in the world.

watching the nameless student press his head against the door in defeat confirmed their temporary doom and placed an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. doyeon inhaled deeply, stepping forward to urge the latter away from the door gently and juggling with the handle herself in denial. again, no avail. It was locked. “we could just wait for the custodian to come by, right?” the agitated tone in her voice shrinking into a tone of unsteadiness, “they can’t leave us in here all night…”inching back to one of the vacant chairs with her bookbag, she placed it down on the adjacent seat and plopped down, exhausted. felt full of cotton as her mind ran wild with scenarios due to her rotten luck. what if no one would be able to set them free until morning? doyeon took one final glance at the man whom she was trapped with and sighed, “get comfortable, we’re going to be here for a while,” the thought of texting her TA crossed her mind but due to night hours it seemed useless. as much as she’d like to hold a grudge and stay angry at him, who knows how long they’d be stuck for and she absolutely resented the awkward silence.“...do you like video games?”

@k. doyeon "Oh, my bad. I didn't mean to startle you." yukhei simply tossed a grin that seemed half-managed and unkempt, possibly from what little intervals he had to blink while working on the assignment. the brief interaction and eye contact they shared waved over them in mere seconds, their bodies pulled to opposite sides of the room by intangible strings thereafter. his line of sight continued to scrutinize the multitude of paper, fingers tucked between every page. his joints released slightly after being unbounded by the idling nature of sitting for hours on end, weight shifting to be reliant on either his right or left side as his back faced the young woman. he was just glad to be loosened from his seat; the gravity now on his shoulders instead of his head. silence subsequently dictated the ambiance for quite some time afterward; small taps and solemn clicks only sliced the quiet into pieces briefly before it could become whole again. yukhei stepped off to the side to make his way toward the stapler sitting just atop a disheveled cabinet, which could formidably take on the thickness of the paper which lay somewhat hurriedly straightened in his palms. bounding the sheets together with a push left another mark of noise that sullied the silence, before the air became still again. he had heard the click of the printer go off but no proceeding buzz or whirl. not even a semblance of an ongoing technical hum which signified that the printer was on. however, the young man was simply too invested in his concluded work to regard the lack of noise, before his eyebrows could knit together, processing the string of syllables that illuminated the previously well quiet. he turned to face her. yukhei kept his papers in his palms.

"me? what about me?" he had looked around, as if he'd missed any other individual that lay just behind him. but he could tell. the eyes of the female tunneled him into her irises which took a serious glint. her countenance gnawed at his conscience, heart rate getting ahead of each beat as he realized that she'd just point her figurative fingers at him. yukhei made his way over to the printer, the sizable machine being the only partition between him and her accusing stare, "did it just happen to unplug by any chance...?" he leaned over; it was clearly plugged in. his forgone sensibilities accompanied by the late hours had put his tongue into his cheek; a hefty exhale from him got lost to the air, "i swear, i did not break the printer. if i did, i didn't mean to." yukhei hopped over to the desktop to try printing from his computer again, but this time, it yielded no discernible noise. another culminating exhale left him, before he made his way toward the door of the computer lab, gripping the handle. "hopefully the help desk is still open. we can just tell them-" the knob barely flinched, locking in place after just a small rotation, "we can just-" another series of pulls and pushes only exuded more haggard breaths from the male, before he leaned his head onto the door, "it's locked. and it locks... from the outside..."

@w. yukhei fatigue burned doyeon's eyes, spreading far enough as to make her long limbs ache with each stretch to cast away the cursed nuisance. fifteen hours spent to finish a lengthy essay which would determine an internship or not. fifteen hours-- due to her shameless habit of procrastination that weighed heavily on her shoulders. promising herself that there wouldn't be a reiterated situation of such laziness, a yawn slipped past the drowsy brunette's tiers. her body indicating it was just about ready to give up on her. skimming the finished product of her final draft, she mouthed softly to herself for any errors or typos she might have missed. doyeon's nimble fingers glided over swiftly to the mouse and guided it to click the print button. extending herself out of her seat with a satisfied sigh that would make the gods happy, it was only momentarily until she noticed the figure of a large individual that accompanied her in the open space that give herself quite the fright. “I- didn't see you there.” she explained lamely. it wasn't as if the young girl wasn't aware of her surroundings, but being practically absorbed to the screen made her lack alertness. calming down her erratic heart with a palm laid flatly over her chest, doyeon waited silently for the use of the printer. optics advancing to take note of the male's face, not putting much thought into it as he stepped away. it wasn't as if she was looking forward to progressing a conversation anyway.

inching closer to the machine, doyeon pursed her lips silently in confusion. she didn't hear a meep nor buzz as heard earlier when the mysterious student used it. was it a mistake she had made? checking back at her desktop and monitoring the small screen of the printer made her heart sank. it was jammed. out of use. not in service. gnawing on her bottom lip, the fatigued student turned around with narrowed eyes at the culprit. “you,” she wasn't sure if it was pure rage awakened or the lack of sleep weighing down on her bones that made her lash out at the stranger for a common inconvenience. “are you going to fix this or what?” doyeon scowled.

@k. doyeon yukhei lets his wrist roll, the lulling imprint of the edge of the mouse pad aching into his skin. every now and then, his irises would veer toward the bottom right to check the time. his allotted time here already surpassed four hours. his head became reliant on his propped forearm, index finger digging into his temple as the screen radiated only the purest white, a ray of light radiant from the display becoming more apparent the darker it became outside. tens of pages were rife in font, bodies spilled in and out of the computer lab while his figure became idle, lax in his chair while the time passed and serene quiet at least made it adequate enough to focus in the last hour or so. the desktop computer abided by a subtle hum, only ringing every few minutes. his backpack was strapped, bound to the back of his chair. both hands came up to rest atop his head as an exhale left his previously shut tiers. the assignment was finished and he took this moment to survey the area and his peripheral vision. yukhei could only make out the silhouette of another person whose computer was perpendicular to his; the rest of the chairs were empty, either poorly pushed in or clustered into groups. his lips pursed into a thin line, pressing print before the printer behind him hums awake. his stature straightens upward to its fullest form, strides taking him over one at a time to grab each individual page which funnels out warm to the dock. he then moves back over toward his desktop, flipping through each page to check its validity.