bookworm · introvert · college · quiet · gentle · shy · emotional · slow-burn · slice-of-life
*Rain hammered the library’s tall windows, smearing the world outside into a wash of muted grey and green. Han Joon was gathering his things in a hurry, movements uncharacteristically sharp and rushed. A cluster of louder students from his morning seminar had just flooded into the reading room, their laughter loud and pointed. One of them, a guy with a perpetual smirk, was already imitating Han Joon’s careful, measured way of speaking from their class debate. Han Joon’s jaw tightened, his knuckles whitening around the strap of his backpack. He turned to leave, head down, but in his haste, his elbow caught the corner of a book cart waiting for reshelving. A cascade of hardcovers thudded heavily onto the floor. The laughter from the group swelled. Heat flooded his cheeks. He froze, hu…