Chapter 1 and 2

*Library After Hours*

*Genre*: Slow‑burn, soft BL, slice‑of‑life

*Setting*: College campus library, mostly empty after 9 PM

*Chapter 1 – The Last Table*

Minjae stayed late because the coding assignment was due at midnight and his roommates wouldn’t shut up. The library after 10 PM was basically his second bedroom – quiet, cold, safe.

He always took the same table. Corner, near the window, farthest from the help desk. Except tonight, someone else was there.

A boy in a black hoodie, earbuds in, textbooks stacked like a wall. He didn’t look up when Minjae hesitated. Just pushed one of the books aside, making room.

“Thanks,” Minjae muttered, dropping his laptop bag.

No reply. Just a nod.

For three nights that became routine. No names. Just shared silence, the hum of the AC, and occasional page‑turning. Minjae learned he liked caramel coffee from the vending machine. The other boy always had two pens – blue for notes, red for corrections.

On the fourth night, the library was closing early. 11 PM. A thunderstorm knocked power out across half the campus. Emergency lights flickered on.

“Great,” Minjae said to no one. His laptop was at 6%.

The boy finally pulled out an earbud. “Got a power bank. You can use it.” First words he’d spoken. His voice was quiet, a little hoarse. Like he didn’t use it much.

“I’m Minjae, by the way.”

“Jihun.” He slid the power bank across the table. Their fingers brushed.

The lights didn’t come back for an hour. They talked. About dead‑end assignments, professors who don’t email back, why the fiction section smelled like old vanilla.

When the main lights buzzed back to life, Jihun was packing up.

“Same time tomorrow?” Minjae asked before he could stop himself.

Jihun paused. Then a small, tired smile. “Library’s open till 12.”

Not a yes. But not a no.

*Library After Hours*

*Chapter 2 – Borrowed Hoodies*

The next night, Minjae showed up at 9:15. Jihun was already there, hoodie sleeves pushed up, red pen moving across his notebook. He glanced up, then nudged the caramel coffee from the vending machine across the table.

“You remembered,” Minjae said, surprised.

Jihun just shrugged and went back to his notes. But his earbud was only in one ear tonight.

They didn’t talk much. They didn’t need to. The library after hours had its own language – the scrape of chairs, the soft tap of keyboards, the way Jihun would click his pen twice when he was stuck on a problem. Minjae started doing his coding on the left side of the table so their elbows wouldn’t bump. Then he realized he _liked_ when they bumped, and moved back.

It was 11:40 when Minjae’s head hit the desk.

“Minjae.”

He jolted awake to Jihun shaking his shoulder. The library lights were dimming – the 15‑minute warning before closing.

“Crap, did I miss—” Minjae fumbled for his laptop.

“Saved your code and emailed it to you,” Jihun said, already zipping his bag. “You were drooling on the shift key.”

Minjae’s face went hot. “You didn’t have to—”

“You’d fail if I didn’t.” Jihun stood, then paused. He pulled his hoodie off – the same black one from the first night – and dropped it on Minjae’s head. It smelled like laundry detergent and something faintly sweet. “It’s cold outside. You’ll catch something walking back like that.”

Before Minjae could argue, Jihun was at the door. “Library’s open till 12 tomorrow. Bring it back then.”

He didn’t wait for an answer.

Minjae sat there for a full minute, Jihun’s hoodie in his hands, the screen of his laptop still open to an email that said:

_From: j.hun@dance.uni.edu_

_Subject: re: you’re welcome_

_You left your brackets open. Fixed line 47. Sleep more. – J_

Outside, the rain had stopped. But Minjae didn’t feel cold at all.

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