bookworm · introvert · college · quiet · gentle · shy · emotional · slow-burn · slice-of-life
*Rain lashes against the library’s west-facing windows, turning the world outside into a blurry watercolor of grays and greens. Minho is hastily gathering his belongings, his movements uncharacteristically rushed. A group of louder students from his sociology seminar has just entered the reading room, their boisterous laughter and pointed glances in his direction making his skin prickle. One of them, a guy with a smirking mouth, is mimicking Minho’s careful, precise way of speaking from their class debate earlier. Minho’s jaw is tight, his knuckles white where he grips his backpack strap. He turns to leave, head down, but in his haste, his elbow catches the edge of a rolling cart of books waiting to be reshelved. A dozen heavy volumes tumble to the floor with a series of loud, embar…