ROMEO AND JULIET ❤︎ sim jaeyun
001 ── A PAIR OF STAR-CROSS'D LOVERS
you were buried in your notebook, completely absorbed in the story of romeo & juliet. you had highlighters of every colour, each one for a different topic, tabs sticking out from the pages. annotations of specific lines, metaphors, etc.
you were so focused that when a pile of physics books were dangerously close on the edge of the table next to yours, you barely even noticed until a soft voice spoke.
"careful.." it said, totally calm.
you looked up, and you instantly saw him. tall, dark-haired, glasses slipping down his nose just a tiny bit, surrounded by stacks of notebooks and papers covered in random equations and stupid numbers, a language you would never understand.
"i've got it, don't worry," you said, slightly tightening your grip on your notebook.
he smiled. small, almost shy but there was something in it that made your chest feel a little tighter. "you look quite busy there," he said, his eyes flickering to your notebook. "i can tell why you always come here.."
"yeah," you muttered, adjusting your highlighter. "i guess.."
"i'm jake," he said, leaning back slightly, his notebook softly placed on the table. "as you can probably tell, i'm a physics major. this is usually my spot, but i guess this works too."
you tilted your head slightly, a small smile tugging at your lips. "i'm y/n. english lit. nice to meet you, jake."
"so what you learning about there?"
"romeo and juliet," you replied, tapping your pen against the page. "act II to be exact. i'm supposed to analyse how shakespeare makes them do all these impulsive things, basically. like how romeo falls in love too quick, and how juliet rushes into everything.. quite confusing."
jake leaned over slightly, scanning at the notes you've neatly written. "wait.. so they fall in love.. really fast? like, at first sight?"
"yep.. then their eyes are glued to each other."
he frowned thoughtfully, "one look? seriously? but thats seems.. unrealistic. don't they atleast talk first?"
you laughed softly, "nope.. that's just shakespeare and his crazy stories."
jake nods slowly, as if he's processing this. "so.. basically, all drama, zero planning?"
"exactly," you said, smiling a little. "i mean, that's what makes it interesting, right?"
he grinned, "i think i get it now. like a really fancy physics experiment gone wrong."
you blinked, totally caught off guard. "fancy physics experiment?"
"yeah," he said, shrugging, completely serious. "you set everything up, no mistakes, follow the steps, and there everything goes somehow wrong."
you snorted, covering your mouth with your hand. "okay.. i'll allow it."
there was a pause, the kind that isn't awkward, just.. quiet. he leaned back, still glancing at your notebook from time to time. you pretended to notice on your notes, but you couldn't stop noticing him; the way he frowned slightly at his page, like he was thinking way too hard, the way his pen tapped a little rhythm on the table, the faint curve of a smile at the corner of his lips.
"so.. star-crossed lovers, you say?" he said finally, voice extremely quiet, like he was thinking out loud. "they're not supposed to work out, right?"
"yeah.." you said softly, looking down at your notes. "they're doomed by their families, timing and most importantly, their fate."
he nodded, just frowning slightly. "hmm.. kind of like gravity?"
you blinked, then laughed quietly. "yeah jake.. totally like gravity."
he grinned, clearly pleased with himself. "see.. i get english. sort of."
you shook your head, smiling, shaking off the little flutter in your chest. "sort of right.."
he leaned back in his seat. "so.. if they're doomed.." he said slowly. "why do people care? like, why read about these stupid people who are doomed?"
you glanced up, smiling faintly. "i.. think it's because the story is bigger than them. the love, the choices, the mistakes. it's all dramatic enough to make you feel something, you know?"
for the next few minutes, you both worked in complete silence. the library around you hummed softly. the scratch of pens in the back, someone closing a heavy notebook, a few chatters here and there. you focused on your notes, still highlighting and annotating important shit, but you could still feel his gaze on you. like gravity pulling just a little bit closer.
"wait.. this line." he said, pointing to one of your scribbled notes near one of the paragraphs. "juliet fears her love will be discovered before it's too late.. she's scared?"
"bingo, physics boy.. her family would never allow it. they're capulets, and as i said before, romeo is a montague. and the capulets and montagues are enemies."
"everything between them has to be secret. she's terrified everything will fall apart. even their marriage was a secret."
jake gave a worried look. "damn, that must be stressful."
"tell me about it.." you laugh. "having to sneak all over the place without anyone knowing you're married to the enemy family."
jake shook his head, frowning like he was trying to wrap his brain around it. "i couldn't do that.. that's too much for me."
"exactly. that's why it's dramatic. that's why we remember it."
he continued scribbling random equations and numbers into his notebook before setting his pen down. "so, juliet's scared.. romeo's a bit.. stupid, and the rest is chaos?"
jake nodded slowly, "got it.. chaos with style."
you laughed softly, shaking your head. "you really do make everything sound like a physics experiment."
"hey!" he said, getting slightly defensive. "physics explains everything, even doomed love stories set in verona!"
"sure jake.." you smirked, "just make sure you don't try to calculate juliet's heartbreak with those equations."
he laughed slightly, and the sound made the library feel a bit warmer. "i'll try.. but you know, some things are impossible to calculate."
you nodded, pretending to focus on your notes once again, but your eyes kept flicking up at him. the way he leaned slightly over his notebook, the way his glasses slid down the bridge of his nose just enough that he had to push them back, the way his pen tapped a little rhythm against the table.
after a moment, he pointed to another note. "this part. juliet talks about fate, right? she really believes all this stuff is written?"
"mhm.." you nodded. "she thinks it's all written in the stars. that no matter what they do, everything is against them."
he looked up at you again, and your chest did that little flutter. "you really love this stuff, huh?"
"i... do." you admitted, highlighting the last quote on the page. "it's messy, tragic, but all so beautiful."
"i can see that.. kinda."
eventually, you packed up your highlighters, sliding them into your pencil case. "i should probably get going.." you glanced at the window as the sun started dipping lower into the horizon.
"yeah." jake murmured, his notebooks gathered and backpack slung over one shoulder. "see you around, i guess?"
"yeah.. see you around, physics boy."
as you walked away, you couldn't help but think. maybe star-crossed lovers weren't always doomed. maybe sometimes.. the stars were aligned wrong.
────운명 chapter oneee!!! 🥹
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