⭒ grand library.

@✶ › x. jiaqi。 The sound of something sharp in the distance has Yanan's spine snapping straight up, startled by the sudden noise. His heart suddenly seems to pound a little too hard in his ears, searching for the source of—what was that, exactly? He's about to stand, to investigate, (or to run away, most likely), but his blood freezes in his bones when he hears the noise again.

Again, this school isn't haunted, is it?

Because if it is, then Yanan is /not/ dealing with this . He checks his phone, and /of ing course/ it's 3am. Of ing course he's here, alone, in the dead of the night, at the goddamn witching hour. Hurriedly, Yanan shoves the book haphazardly into one of the shelves, intent on making a beeline for the exit—before once again, he thinks his heart drops straight down to his , dread filling every inch of his vein as he processes the sound.

Someone's ing /humming./

" this. I'm out. Good-ing-bye," he mutters under his breath, cursing in his native tongue in an attempt to ward off the fear that seems to drip down to his bones. Would it be too late to convert to a religion right now, just so he can ward off whatever demon it is that seems to be following him? He starts speedwalking towards the library's exit, ignoring the way his heart screams in protest—why the hell do the doors have to be so far?

@✶ › y. an。 The best hours to be at the grand library, in Jiaqi's most humble opinion, are the hours that come after midnight. There is a different sort of tranquility that comes with it, and it's always the most peaceful when there are no other living beings in the library, letting her read without distractions or any disturbances. This time, however, there seems to be a visitor, and her eyes move to where she follows a shadow go to. She has just put her hand on a book, about to pull it out, when she realizes that she is no longer alone.

Curiously, she follows the shadow with light footsteps, pushing the book back with a rather loud noise. She can see the intruder through the empty spaces between the books, passing by the bookshelves rather easily, and a smile finds its way to her face once she recognizes who it is. "I finally found you," she utters under her breath, easily slipping into her mothertongue.

Her complexion is pale even under the warm lights in the grand library, and while she isn't familiar enough with the maze-like shelves, it isn't difficult to maneuver through them. She pulls a book out as she does so, not even bothering to check what kind of book it is, only to put it back with the same loud noise as earlier, letting out a soft chuckle that Yanan is sure to hear in this silence. She starts humming as she moves from bookshelf to bookshelf, circling around the lad, her footsteps barely audible as she walks.

@✶ › x. jiaqi。 3am, and Yanan has to wonder what the hell he's still doing here.

The library is dimly lit, perhaps a creeping reminder of the hour, of the silence that fills the empty halls. Most people would be in bed by now—/should/ be in bed by now, but Yanan supposes he isn't most people. His heart had been beating too loudly in his ears, and he'd needed to get away. What better place to find distractions than the library?

But perhaps he's too distracted now, hidden behind one of the bookshelves. He can't properly immerse himself in the book he'd picked up on a whim, too distracted by the noises he's hearing in the distance, the eerie sensation of being completely alone in the silent halls of an empty building. He's starting to feel /watched,/ paranoia beginning to build up in his veins as his eyes dart from side to side, searching for anyone or anything that might be keeping an eye on him.

...surely there aren't any /ghosts/ in this school, are there?

@✷ › l. juyeon。 Their situation is some what sad and filled with so much regret, she thinks to herself silently as she steals a couple of glances at the male she once used to love (and perhaps still does now.). She realises how fragile their three years worth of relationship was. What took years to build up as they learnt and grew together, being there as each other’s pillar of support, how their hope, dreams and promises for the future, could be all driven to the ground in a matter of moments with a matter of few words. How they could be in each other’s embrace only to become almost complete strangers in the same week.

she was a coward.. perhaps, when she decided to board the next flight to new york, effectively running away from everyone and everything that happened. But now, it was time to face reality. somehow, one could run from anyone and anything but not fate, Unfortunately.

jiwoo hates that she can see through his lie at any given moment, reading him like an open book. “that’s unlikely something you would do..” she mumbles beneath her breath, pushing herself up to sit up properly. The next excuse only ticks her off even more. Because why couldn’t Juyeon simply say he was worried, or he had been looking for her? Because as far as she knew, both Yoojung and Xiaoting knew of her whereabouts, given they had her twitter, so why the lie? why was it so hard for him to say that he missed her just like she did. “what are you really doing here m, juyeon?” Her words comes out a little harsher than she had expected it to be.

@✷ › k. jiwoo。 the air feels too stiff and heavy to juyeon's liking — suffocating, even, that he just wants to shatter and rid of this invisible wall between them right then and there. but he knows it won't be an easy feat, especially not when jiwoo's still mad at him (or at least, he thinks that she still is from their texts a few days prior this encounter). he tries to be positive, keep a positive hindsight, but why the heck is he so nervous? he realizes it now as he's getting hyperaware of things, of his own actions, of the way she's crushing the empty chocolate wrappers. hopefully, it goes unnoticed, but the awkward, shaky chuckle that leaves his lips just proves that he is, in fact, nervous.

"i was... trying to find a book. you know, to read during my spare time." a part of him really wants to tell her that he has been searching for her too and that her disappearance was worrying him, but should he? "and the others were starting to get worried when they haven't seen you around at all, so... they sent me out to go look for you." no, he can't tell that to her face directly, only masking his true intentions with a small lie.

@✷ › l. juyeon。 Jiwoo for the first time in her life, prays and prays really hard that Juyeon would never find her.. or recognise her behind this thick book. But it never really works out when you want them to, do they? Clutching on her book tightly, She hears the all too familiar footsteps approaching her, stopping right in front of where she was seated. ‘haha, crap.’ She thinks to herself as she hears her ex-lover’s voice. “Oh, haha, hey.” She peeks from behind her book, their eyes meeting for a fleeting moment before she looks away.

“Oh. This. U-uh. Well.” It’s painfully awkward between them, if she admits. They were never like this, at least not five years ago until the break up that cause a rift between them. “uh.. ea..ting them?” Jiwoo cautiously picks on the empty wrappers, crushing them one by one as she stuffs them into the pockets of her hoodie. He didn’t need to know the reason behind her binge eating and she didn’t want to tell him. “What brings you here anyway? It’s not the usual place for hanging out.. kinda?” ‘You’re not here for me right?’ She wants to add, it couldn’t be anyway.

@✷ › k. jiwoo。 the day moved slowly.

juyeon had thought that the day would end up with nothing eventful, but things changed when he was surveying countless of bookshelves in hopes to find a good read, void-like eyes catching sight of an all too familiar figure of the woman he... misses. maybe, a bit too dearly. so perhaps, it's a coincidence. or perhaps it's not, because juyeon has actually been searching for her, wondering where jiwoo had went the moment he realized she was nowhere to be found at their shared house.

at first, he doesn't know what to do, but the corks in his brain finally starts to move at the prospect of interacting with her as soon as they met gazes. and so he approaches jiwoo carefully, taking a peek over the book that's covering her face, brain racing hard to find the right greeting lines. "hey, uh... what're you doing with all these chocolate?" great. mission failed, successfully.

@✷ › l. juyeon。 { dated: 4th September, 6pm }

two days, if Jiwoo counted correctly, had she been hiding in the grounds of the grand library, instead Going back to the villa to her warm cosy bed and best friends. One might call her a coward for doing so but perhaps they were right. Especially when it came to a certain house mate by the name of Juyeon. She knew it had a been a bad idea right from the start of the gala that night, but it wasn’t like she had a choice to begin with. ‘How stupid.’ She groaned inwardly, staring at her phone, why did she even think of exchange numbers with him? opening a can of warms she knew she couldn’t handle.

“Jokes on me” jiwoo muttered, going through her sixth bar of chocolate that evening as she flipped through the book on music history infront of her, barely reading the contents at all. Typical Jiwoo would have minded her own business but it was as if heaven was mocking her at that right moment as she looked up, a familiar figure walking in her direction. Had juyeon find out about her whereabouts or was it simply coincidental? Quickly, she has the book lifted up as she slid down the chair to hide her face.

[post deleted by owner]

@✷ › k. dongyoung。 the library was one of the places she truly felt comfortable at school, the cafeteria being the second. it was away from the chaos that came with the other students, the pompous and normal alike who seemed too far fetched for her liking. or perhaps, it was Jennie's own standards that made her veer away into her own bubble, focused selfishly on herself. she didn't mind; in fact, she welcomed the fact that she was called unapproachable, revelled in the way they whispered whatever about her being untouchable or whatever that meant. there was no burden when it came to holding them to heart.

books had always been comforting; it was the perfect excuse and friend to hide away from the world. fall was right at the world's doorsteps which had begun to be covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon. Jennie loved the fall for it always seemed like the one season of the year that a higher entity seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it. She was no believer but she knew when things were out of ordinary mundane hands and autumn had quite an ethereal mood to it. It seemed to awaken his soul and that life would start again the moment the air got crisp, nipping at the tip of her nose naughtily as she huffed a bout of air even in the warm comfort of the library and stretched herself on her tiptoes to reach for the book she wanted despite the height much provided by her heels.

it was at her fingertips but her hand dropped the moment she felt it; she'd always been able to feel shifts in energies or behaviours. but this was different. he, was different. and not in a way she liked. steeling herself, she turned away enough so she was able to look up into a very familiar face, the mask of a complete angel on her face. "thank you but you've never had a penchant for clothes. you always did struggle taking them off too. now now, I'm sure you like the surprise. nice seeing you again, satan."

@✷ › k. jennie。 The reintegration of his rigid school schedule and the hours of his internship was nothing new. It was years of dedication and work, but the repetition of doing so was something that had been ingrained in his routine for so long, it was all too familiar. So, sitting in the comforting silence of the library with the scent of fresh pages of books, the fresh brewed cup of coffee--black, no room for cream or sugar--resting upon a napkin next to his items. The only sound was the scratching of pen against paper, until steps begin to reverberate against his eardrums. Normally they wouldn't have bothered him. Or rather, he supposes he wouldn't have heard them through his earbuds.

But what caught his attention wasn't the long, slim legs of her figure. It wasn't her clothes, as chic and beautiful as they were. It wasn't the fact that such a beauty attended the academy. It was the fact that her face was one he recognized all too well.

Abandoning his belongings felt all too natural, like they suddenly didn't matter. All he wanted to do in that moment was capture her, to hold her hostage. He gets his chance when she stalks through the aisles until finding a book that she seems to want. A swift arm quickly loops around her thin waist in tandem with his other hand reaching for the book just an inch too high up for her grasp. Doyoung's face twists into one almost sinister, a smirk curling upwards at the corners of his lips as he squeezes her body close to his. "You're looking awfully cute today. A bit sad I didn't get a sneak peek of your outfit beforehand, though. How come you didn't text me that you were coming back?"