pairing: nerd han jisung x afab!reader
synopsis: when you head to the library for a quiet study session, the last person you expect to interrupt your peace there is han jisung....
warnings/genre: sorta enemies to lovers, han is rude, uni non!idol au, some angst and fluff
note: okay so like this is my first time posting a ff since my 2021 wattpad faze... show the story some love!~
You were buried in your books, surrounded by the silence of the library. The scent of old pages filled the air, a kind of comforting mustiness that made you feel at home. Your fingers flicked through your notes, eyes scanning for anything useful to add to your research.
It was your favorite place to be. No distractions, just you and your thoughts. Or so you thought.
"Are you really that serious about studying in here?" a voice interrupted, cutting through the peaceful atmosphere.
You looked up, brows furrowed. There he was—Han Jisung. He stood in front of you, arms crossed, a look of pure annoyance on his face. His glasses sat crookedly on his nose, and his messy hair added to the whole "I don't care" vibe he gave off.
"What?" You sighed, not in the mood for one of his usual antics. "I'm trying to study. I don't have time for whatever you're about to do."
"Study? You look like you're just pretending," he sneered, clearly amused at his own words. "I don’t know why you bother coming here if you’re just going to stare at the pages like they're interesting."
You rolled your eyes and went back to your notes, ignoring him. Jisung had been your classmate for a while now, and to be honest, you found his whole vibe exhausting. He had this strange mix of confidence and arrogance, despite being the type to sit in the back of the class, eyes glued to his laptop, or buried in a random video game or coding tutorial. If you didn't know better, you'd think he was the definition of "nerd," but for some reason, he liked to act as if he was above everyone else. And you? You were absolutely not going to feed into it.
"Don’t just ignore me," Jisung muttered, still standing in front of your desk. You could tell he was trying to get a rise out of you.
You narrowed your eyes. "You know, I’m really not in the mood for your teasing today, Jisung."
"Teasing?" He raised an eyebrow, suddenly looking intrigued. "I’m not teasing. I’m just... pointing out the obvious. You’re not even looking at the right chapter, are you?"
Your heart skipped a beat, and you glanced down at your open notebook, scanning it quickly. Of course, he was right. The notes you’d written were for an entirely different subject, and you had completely skipped over the material for today’s class.
“Are you trying to embarrass me?” you muttered, feeling your face flush.
His lips twitched, but he didn’t smile. Instead, he shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned against the table, his posture now more relaxed. “I’m just trying to help,” he said, his voice quieter. “You look like you could use it.”
The sarcasm in his tone was still there, but this time, it wasn’t as biting. You didn’t expect that side of him—the one that actually offered help.
“Fine,” you huffed, adjusting your glasses and straightening up. “What do you suggest?”
He glanced down at your book and shrugged. “You’re supposed to be looking at the chapters on quantum mechanics, but you're on basic physics. You're going to be behind if you don’t fix that."
You blinked, surprised by how... knowledgeable he was. Jisung’s whole "nerdy rude" persona had always given you the impression that he was the type who just tried to annoy people to get attention. But here he was, correcting your mistake like it was second nature.
“Thanks for the advice,” you muttered, half sarcastic but also kind of grateful. You couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. The last thing you wanted was to be caught off-guard by him.
“Don’t mention it,” he replied flatly, but you could tell he was trying to suppress a smile. "I only do this because I don’t want you failing the exam and ruining my class curve."
You rolled your eyes but felt your heart race a little. Despite his rude attitude, there was something oddly... endearing about him.
After a moment of silence, you looked back at your notes, trying to focus. But then you noticed Jisung hadn’t left yet. He was still standing there, watching you from the corner of his eye.
“Are you planning to just stand there all day?” you asked, exasperated.
He paused, and for a second, you swore you saw a flicker of hesitation. “I can sit... if you want,” he said, as if it were a huge compromise. He pulled a chair from one of the nearby tables and sat down, still keeping his usual distance. But there was an odd sense of calm that came with him staying.
You studied him for a moment, wondering what made him act so... strange. He wasn’t the type to just sit quietly, was he? The usual Han Jisung you knew would have either made a sarcastic comment or stormed off by now. But he didn’t. Instead, he just stayed there.
For a few minutes, the two of you worked in relative silence, the hum of the library and the soft turning of pages your only company. It felt oddly... comfortable. Like you were sharing this small space, each lost in your own thoughts, but somehow together.
Finally, Jisung cleared his throat, breaking the quiet. “I don’t understand why you like studying so much,” he said, his voice soft but still full of that dry humor. “It’s so... boring.”
You chuckled, your lips curling into a small smile. “Maybe it's boring for you because you don’t know how to study. You probably spend all your time playing video games or watching dumb movies.”
“Hey!” He shot you a glare, but it was playful. “I’m not just some guy who plays games. I do research and stuff too, you know.”
You smirked. “Yeah, research on how to break the internet with memes?”
That earned you an actual laugh from him, a sound you hadn’t heard from him in a long time. It was warm, genuine, and it made your heart do something weird. You didn’t expect it to sound so... nice.
"Alright, alright, maybe I have my own ways of studying," Jisung conceded, leaning back in his chair. "But seriously, do you really think you’ll get all this done before the exam?"
You glanced at the clock, and to your surprise, you had been studying for hours. Your notes were now in much better shape than they had been when you started, and the sections you had been confused on were starting to make more sense.
"Actually, yeah. I think I might," you said, smiling at him.
His expression softened slightly. "Well, don't overdo it. You don’t need to be perfect. Just pass the damn thing."
You couldn't help but laugh at his bluntness. "Thanks for the tip, genius."
He rolled his eyes but didn’t seem as bothered. "Whatever. Just don't blame me when you fail and I have to carry the class."
You both sat there for a while longer, the two of you in a strange, unspoken truce. It was funny, really. Han Jisung, the “nerdy rude” classmate, was the one who ended up being the most helpful person in your study session.
As the library started to empty and the evening light faded outside, you found yourself feeling... a little bit lighter.
And maybe, just maybe, you'd start seeing Han Jisung in a new light too, maybe he wasn't so bad.