there’s something about being in the library. there’s that stillness in the air that envelopes you, and the silence that amplifies every single sound around you, such that sounds which usually go undetected suddenly become so much more prominent. sounds like the shuffling of feet as people shamble around, the rustling of paper as students flip the pages on their bulky textbooks, and the occasional whispers that earn nothing but glares from the uptight crammers that desperately need the silence to facilitate their last minute studies. it’s almost like asmr of sorts, and while danbi is sure some people thrive off this sort of environment, or else the library wouldn’t be filled to the brim when exam season is around the corner, it just doesn’t do her any good. so really, the only reason she’s here is because juwon asked.
in fact, the languorous atmosphere in the library either makes her too restless or too sleepy. the last thing she remembers is the sound of her feet rapidly tapping a staccato rhythm against the floor (which does earn her the stink eye from a few of the people around her), before she drifted off into a slumber and a short, hazy dream ensues. in her dream, she’s not in the library at an unearthly hour. she’s at sowon district, going on a pub crawl with her friends and living it up, as opposed to reality, in which she’s currently dozing off in the library.
but a sudden voice sounds in her ears, snapping her out of her dream. ebony eyelashes flutter open at the interference, and danbi slowly sits up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. her shoulders strain back and she stretches her arms upwards, relieving some of that stiffness from sleeping hunched over the table. danbi blinks at juwon and she takes time to register his words, her mind gradually coming to its senses. “3am? i could swear it was barely 12am when i closed my eyes.” she slumps over again and rests her cheek against the table, face turned towards juwon as brown eyes peer up at him and rosy lips form a tiny pout. “when will you be done?” the words are articulated in a soft, sleepy whine. she’s not complaining though, she was the one who agreed to come along on this study session after all, she’s just half-asleep still.
“i’m done so let’s go sleepy head.” he watches her finally pull herself up, catching gaze with her doe brown eyes while his lips purse together at the sight of her stretching, which he does mirror eventually. he flicks her forehead playfully while he cranes his neck from side to side, gathering his belongings and placing all of his notes back in place to the binder. “yeah, it’s already 3am. we were supposed to catch a late dinner too, damn.” though there isn’t probably anywhere else open but a few convenience stores and he’s lucky there’s one near his apartment along the way. and despite him rather getting an actual meal during exam week, it really isn’t gonna get better than prepped microwavable meals. better than nothing, right?
never the morning person yet he forces himself to wake up some more, beginning to tuck away more material to his backpack while simultaneously passing along the pens and highlighters he borrowed from her. the good thing about a female study buddy? they’ve got the entire coloring stack in their pencil case and he’s 99.9% sure they color their notes more than actually study it. its come handy for him at least and he smiles at the thought.
retracting a little to face her, he asks, “do you still want to grab food?” he doesn’t know if she’d be down for a late (or rather morning) run for snacks but it’s worth a shot. “there’s a 24/7 store that serves decent meals by my place, you can come by and eat with me and then i can take you home.” tapping his fingers against the table top while fishing his car keys out from his pockets he adds, “or if you’d rather get more sleep i can also take you back to your place now. just make sure to get something to eat or something when you’re more awake.”