Seolli's a quiet classmate Kim Taehyung always noticed but never had the courage to approach. Fate leads them to the same college and Taehyung tells himself things will be different. He'll take the steps to reach her heart. All she has to do is stay...
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March 10 Wednesday Year 1
The third floor of the library is too quiet, even for someone like me.
Every shift in my chair and breath that I let out feels like it echoes across the room. To make matters worse, I'm so self-conscious that I end up fumbling with my backpack.
Face redder than a tomato, I get up from the desk and walk back toward the elevator. Unfortunately, the doors were already closing.
I continue to walk around, hoping there's another one available since they seem to take an eternity to travel to the first floor and back.
I notice a door between two bookshelves and look around it to make sure it's not an emergency exit. Pushing it open, I brace myself for possible alarms, but nothing rings.
Relieved, I carefully make my way downstairs.
I find someone sitting in the middle of the steps concentrated on his phone with earbuds in ears.
Students lounge around all over campus so I'm not too surprised. Instead, I'm thinking about how I could bother him the least as I lean closer to the rail and slip past him.
I sense a tug on my cardigan and turn around to realize it's Taehyung.
He smiles, "Hi, Seolli."
I raise my eyebrows.
Usually Taehyung's with friends, I wonder why he chose to sit here.
"You know... it's weird...I was just thinking..." He bites his tongue before shaking it off. "Nevermind. I'm happy to see you."
I return his smile.
He looks at his phone before looking back at me. "Can I show you something?"
I nod and carefully take a seat beside him, slipping off my backpack.
He holds out an earbud for me and I carefully pick it up to place it by my ear, interested in what he'll show me.
Biting his lip, he presses the play button on his phone.
A song plays, the music box repeating the same couple of notes until a piano softly plays on top. It's pleasant and relaxing, giving me this warmth inside. Maybe it's because it sounds like a lullaby or maybe it's because I'm listening to it with someone else.
A low humming starts, following the melody. I sit up straighter and focus on it. Right at the gasp, everything stops. I blink in confusion as I wait for something.
Turning to Taehyung, I see his thumb hovered over his phone. He's also hiding his face behind his hair.
"Sorry... I'm embarrassed to show you more."
It's quiet between us and I'm not sure what to say.
"It's you..." I break the silence, my voice coming out soft.
The humming has the same tone as Taehyung's voice. Did he make this himself?
Taehyung looks at me with wide eyes.
Slowly, the red creeps on his face and he responds with a nod.
"Yeah."
I smile and fix myself on the stairs. It was good! Really good! How do I tell him that? He might think I'm just saying it or point out that it was just a small snippet, but if I stumbled across it some other way, I'd think it was the start of something beautiful. Really.
Taehyung holds my gaze before ducking his head and chuckling.
"Thank you. I'll show you the rest another time. I'm not as confident as I thought."
I nod excitedly.
Next time.
I offer his earbud back and Taehyung places it into his pocket along with the other.
His phone lights up and I see Jimin's contact photo come up.
My cue to leave.
I fix my backpack on as I stand up, preparing to say bye.
"Seolli... what do you want me to bring you tomorrow?"
"Hm?"
"Do you like chocolate covered pretzels?" He excitedly asks.
I nod but then bring up my hands to stop him from doing so.
He shakes his head at me, biting down on his smile. "I want to. As long as you really like them."
I get nervous. I don't want to make Taehyung think he has to give me something because I listened to his song. If anything, I should be the one thanking him with something. But I also don't want to be rude and decline...
"Oh- I should probably answer." Taehyung swipes to accept the call and places it in his ear, lifting a hand up to wave goodbye as he goes down the stairs.
I hold on to the rail and watch him go down.
"What should I do...?" I whisper.
I decide to stop by the store on my way home, wanting to also pick something to share with him.
As I browse through the snacks, I catch myself softly humming the melody from earlier.
