Aussie Boy (librarian!Chan × fem!Reader)
↠Genre: library!au ; fluff, humour
↠A/N: A quick scenario, it's not that special, but I was in the mood for writing. Also librarian Chan would be so cute! I'm still struggling to learn to write gender neutral scenarios, so I'm sorry this is with fem!reader~
Chan was arranging the books on the shelf, gracefully brushing his fingers across the several titles. 'I should take one home, I haven't read in a while,' he thought, moving on to the next shelf.
Working in a quiet place like a library felt like a piece of heaven. He never got tired of seeing books and their variety, while music was softly playing through his earphones. He hasn't encountered any inconvenience so far, and he was delighted to do something useful in his life.
Even if it only was arranging books and guiding new customers to their requested section, or ocasionally asking people to be more quiet, pointing to the ones who were studying in the chairs specially displayed for them.
However, today Chan woke up feeling completely bored. He even struggled to get out of bed, as if he's been glued to the mattress while sleeping, even though the boy could easily rise and open the curtains before his alarm ringed. Today, the only thing he did was drag his feet wherever he went, praying for the night to come by faster so that he would go back to sleep.
"Hi, Chan, doing good?" the manager chirped. It was a normal thing for him to walk through the aisles to check if everything was fine, so the raven haired didn't even flinch when his voice echoed through the library.
"Would you mind if you talked in a lower voice?" Chan asked jokingly, pointing at the empty chairs in the study corner. They both chuckled and the manager ruffled the boy's hair, greeting the other workers on the next aisle. Chan shook his head, turning back towards the books in the science fiction aisle.
Connecting his earphones to his phone, he let the music slip into his ears as it embraced him into a warm athmosphere. That was it, the mood for working. He felt the tips of his fingers tap the covers of the books in sync with the beat, slowly moving the books to their spot in the shelves.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, making him drop the books on the nearest shelf to fish it out. The boy squinted his eyes at the bright screen, adjusting the brightness afterwards and reading the messages.
j.squirrel added you to the group chat
j.squirrel added britneyspearb to the group chat
j.squirrel: let's hang out
j.squirrel: after chan's shift is over
britneyspearb: jisung tf i almost dropped my phone
britneyspearb: stop spamming
changaroo: hey kids, no fighting
changaroo: and sure, why not
That was a big lie, the boy wanted to get home as quick as possible and melt in the warmth of his bed, and spending time with Jisung and Changbin would drain all his already non-existent energy.
j.squirrel: we're not fighting, hyung!!
britneyspearb: is the coffee shop near sopa good?
britneyspearb: oh shut up
changaroo: hyunjin should be in the dance practice room by the time we go out, stop nagging jisung
changaroo: there's no benefit for bin
Chan changed the song, then locked the phone and put it back in his pocket. He picked up another book and lazily dragged his feet along the aisle while searching for the right shelf, almost tripping in the process. He shouldn't have accepted their offer, he thought as he rubbed his eyes to get rid of the fatigue.
Soon, students started flooding the library, with the bags on their backs. It was lunch time for most of them, but it was exam season so the student corner was easily filled with kids flipping pages from their textbooks. Chan smiled, the eagerness of their study process reminding him of the times he used to study at late times in the night.
Being a student was hard, he had to admit it. But now, seeing how time flew so fast, he missed those times when he wanted to throw all his books out of his window. He would give everything he had to go back to his highschool years. Maturity was something little Chris always looked forward to, but now that he was experiencing it, he regretted ever having that idea in his mind.
He was exhausted, and he never realised how easy his school life was until adulthood embraced him with his various problems. The boy, even though a music enthusiast, had to partially give up from his hobby in order to keep his small flat going peacefully, with all the bills he had to pay and all the times he had to fix the tap.
Hearing students complain about how much work they have to do became amusing for Chan. Those times were only beautiful memories, stained in sweat from the hard work. But now the boy had to work even harder in order to win against adulthood's problems.
He was too absorbed in the loud music playing in his earphones to notice the small chit-chat at a table. Two girls were giggling, until one of them abruptly closed all the books and silenced the athmosphere. "Let's stop here," she suggested with a small smile, glancing at the clock on the wall. "We'll study later, is that alright?"
The other one nodded, throwing her books back in her bag. She then felt a light tap on the shoulder from the girl across from her, turning to see a smirk planted on her face.
"Do you think I forgot you had to do my dare, Y/N?" she asked, noticing the rosy cheeks of the student turning pale.
"Fine, Yejin, but if I get in trouble, it's your fault," she spat, but then cowered when she was about to do it. "They'll think I'm crazy." Y/N mumbled, facing the ground while her shoes lightly tapped the floor. Her friend noticed the nervous habit and patter her back.
"Come on, princess, you won't have anything to lose!" Yejin assured, stepping back to watch the girl.
Chan jumped upon hearing something louder than his music, and with a swift movement he threw his earphones out of his ears. "What the hell-"
But then he shut up, his eyes lighting up upon hearing what woke him up from his thoughts. "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!"
'Manager Nam is going to kill me,' he thought, glancing in the direction of the girl in a school uniform. She was visibly embarassed, with all the eyes pointed at her, but instead of shutting her up, Chan opened his mouth and continued her chant.
Their eyes met, Y/N's eyes twinkling before they both burst into laughter. "Aussie girl?" he asked, his English flowing from his mouth naturally in his raspy voice.
"Yes, Aussie boy." she chirped, still panting from laughing so hard.
"Bang Chan!" echoed through the whole library, the boy freezing in his spot. He didn't even need to turn to see the fuming face of his manager, and hesitated to even blink from the shock. Chan eyed the girl and muttered a 'Pray for me', earning a nod from her, before turning on his heels to face the angry man.
Everyone was watching the event lile they were in a movie theatre. For once in his life, Chan didn't want to be in the spotlights; at least not in circumstances like these.
"Manager Nam~" he began slowly, flashing his dimply smile in hopes of calming the red face in front of him.
"What was that about?" the man asked, his voice low and scary. Chan gulped and hissed, looking left and right before choking out an answer.
"Look, manager, I-" he stuttered, lowering his eyes until they darted his feet. "I miss home. And I wasn't even thinking straight when I heard the call."
The sincerity in his voice made the manager's face soften a bit. Only his voice remained stern when he spat "You're lucky you're a good employee, Chan."
"And you?" he pointed his index at Y/N, who instantly began fiddling with her fingers. "Don't you know the rules of every library in this world?"
"It was my fault," Yejin chimed in. "I dared her to do it. I'm very sorry!" she bowed in front of both Chan and the manager.
The man only scoffed and left the youngsters, the three feeling their limbs relax after the tall figure disappeared behind the shelves. Chan exhaled in relief, wiping his forehead and immediately thought of the last time he had been scolded.
It was because he dropped an entire pile of books on the manager's foot, and he didn't feel that embarassed in his whole life. But for him, it felt like this scolding was even harsher than that time, even though no one had to be bandaged.
"I owe you," Y/N breathed out, glancing at Chan who eyed her curiously. "I almost got you fired."
"It's fine, it's fine," he assured, the corner of his lips raising and flashing his dimples. But then an idea striked his mind, like a light bulb turned on above his head. "But you two can join me and my other friends!"
"Really?" the girl in front of him beamed, then turned to Yejin.
"Oh, I'd love to, but I have stuff to do. I'll j-just," she stammered, turning afterwards towards Y/N to wink at her. "I'll just leave you two Aussies spend some time together."
She grabbed her bag, leaning into Y/N's ear to whisper "And maybe have some fun" and left before the girl could hit her arm.
"Ignore her, she's a total weirdo when I'm around guys," she mumbled, the Aussie accent in her voice warming Chan's insides.
"It's alright, you'll meet mine later. Those are the literal definition of embarassing."
The boy went back to the pile of books which needed to be arranged, pressing his lips into a thin line at the laziness he felt.
"Want me to help you?" Y/N offered, already grabbing some books and leaving Chan with no choice. He only chuckled at her friendliness and turned to grab some more.
"How did you end up here?" he asked, eyes not shifting from the top shelves. Y/N sat beside him and handed him the books one by one.
"My parents divorced," she simply stated, shrugging her shoulders.
"Oh, sorry," Chan squeezed his eyes shut, feeling guilty for asking. "I moved here because of some family business. I felt so lost in a world full of strangers."
"So did I, but at least I'm lucky now to meet another Aussie kid. Dude, I haven't talked English in forever!" Y/N gushed, both of them giggling at her excitement.
"My shift is over in about ten minutes," stated Chan, taking his phone out to text his friends.
changaroo: i'm bringing a girl
changaroo: you better not embarass her
changaroo: or else i'm never feeding you again in my life
changaroo: i'll let you starve
britneyspearb: our leader bang chan grew some balls and decided to bring a girl?
j.squirrel: IS SHE PRETTY?
changaroo: keep in mind that i won't pay for your food if you do anything wrong
changaroo: we're leaving now
britneyspearb: everyone here is so lucky and then there's me
j.squirrel: hyung stop being so emo
"Like I said." Chan chuckled, showing Y/N the screen of his phone.
"Crackheads." they muttered in unison and burst into laughter.
