pay your dues;
mnsunggyu:
@mnhwanhee
“There must be a mistake on the computer,” she insists. The young woman twists the fresh, hot-off-the-printer receipt with a ridiculous fine stamped on the front. There’s no way that over two dozen books could vanish from the library – and need to be replaced at full price by the person who checked them out last. “I took out twenty-five books last week,” she says. “The number is correct, but I returned them all! If I’m missing one or two, it’s probably my brother’s fault.”
Sunggyu rolls his eyes. He’s only ever chewed up a library book once. It was last week during a nasty bout of teething, so he dumped it in the drop-off slot outside and never came back. That’s the way to do it, right? Stuff the soggy, shredded novel into a backpack like its a body bag? Make sure it’s zipped tight, then dump it in the river – er, the book slot?
His forehead twitches as his sister and the librarian continue passionate exchanges, each of them insisting the other is incorrect. When are they going to quit their yapping? Maybe it’s the fact he already has a migraine from processing too many sounds. From the argument before him, to the fluttering of pages, to the creaky wheels on a book cart up on the third floor…he can’t take it anymore.
Sunggyu slams his palms against the counter so hard, cracks spiral across the surface. He tilts his head and speaks through clenched teeth, as if he didn’t trust himself not to snap at the librarian’s neck. “If my baby sister says she returned the books,” he says. “Then she returned the books. Understand?”
He lowers his voice. It rumbles in a warning growl.
“Fix the computer, NOW.”
Hwanhee had been working here long enough to know to stand his ground when times like these come. It was part of the job and as much as the guests are always right; they’re not. So here he was, on a boring weekday arguing with a female over books that she may - or may not - have returned. Clearly on his computer screen, the other had definitely not returned the beyond overdue books. However, she keeps insisting that she did and if it wasn’t for the sake of his job and living expenses, Hwanhee was sure he’d pick a physical fight with her.
All she had to do was pay the fine and get it over with. Who told her to check out so many books in the first place? Definitely not him, nor anyone else, therefore, she should be held responsible. Her name was the last on the list. In the midst of his heated exchange with the female, a sudden booming voice caught his attention - the brother she had mentioned previously.
“As much as I’d love to write this off, and trust me, i would if it meant all of us could go our own ways and end this,” Hwanhee gritted through his teeth, a strained smile placed neatly on his face. “I can not. Especially when the fines are already in the double digits.” His emphasis on the negative word had the corners of his lips twitch slightly, his smile slightly faltering.
“Now if you can just finish paying the fees, I would be more than glad to wipe her slate clean and we can carry out with our lives.” Hwanhee smiled politely at the two, eyes darting briefly to the forming cracks that will probably get him an earful from the librarian later. “That way your lovely sister can continue checking out books at our library, and we can continue to let her do so without any issues.” The assistant had half a mind to include the property damage fees into the overdue fine if the two continued to cause a scene but he stopped himself. It would only cause more of an uproar - something he didn’t want to deal with.
