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Libraries had always had a calming effect on him. The scent of books, the complete silence, and the lack of people save for a few who were engrossed in their books or their work; it all just created an ambience where he could relax his mind.
Everything he loved seemed to follow that trend, including his taste in people. He could often feel himself gravitating towards people with that sort of silent yet intelligent feel to them. Perhaps it was the intangible thirst of knowledge, the want to know what goes on behind their silent appearances, he had supposed.
His partner was also this type of person. A younger man similar to him in many aspects, so many but not quite the same. His nature was more like a snake at times. Coiling around him and entrapping him within his grasp, not suffocating but careful to not let him escape, from which letting go would be impossible.
Well, that was the first impression Alver had gotten.
The first time he met him, Kim Rok Soo was almost as frigid as ice yet someone who could melt even the thickest of icebergs with a simple word from his honey dipped tongue.
As an alumni, he had gone to his mother college to give a speech for the newcomer Orientation, and it was at that time that he heard a few interesting rumours about a type of betting that went around in the chess club. He had once been part of the club and decided that it wouldn't be out of the ordinary if he just popped in to visit, after all he had been curious about this bet and this sunbae.
After a little prodding from a few underclassmen he had known during the term of his studies, he had of course tried his best to impress every single person, and made sure to keep in their good books.
The rules of this bet was that if this upperclassman won, the person would pay him a billion won and if the challenger lost they would take the winner on a dinner date using all the money they had accumulated. No one knew the actual identity of this mysterious club member, even their voice was unknown. Except, there were several rumours about his gorgeous face, for some reason. Alver dismissed those rumours as they probably only served to help with the actual bet.
This only served to pique Alver’s interest in this person even more, asking the junior to set up a meeting between them both tomorrow.
The next day, he went to visit the chess club giving the excuse of nostalgia. As he entered, he could feel the carbon dioxide settle to the ground as he walked on.
That silence that he always loved washed over him, making him smile fondly at the memory of himself and his other club mates. Of course, they didn’t have a special bond with him, and most of it was just to keep up appearances, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t have fun times together. He chuckled lightly.
And like on a cue the door clicked, prompting him to turn to see the person in front of him.
A striking red wig covered the person’s black hair, so long the strands almost hid their eyes that were like barks of oak. Their clothes consisted of a jersey and a t-shirt covered with a sort of cape-ish fashion.
The shoes were definitely Nike make although the pants covered them up messily, like the clothes were two sizes bigger than the man's slimmer stature. He had a mask hanging from his face that should have covered their mouth while the long hair covered their ears. As he was inspecting this person’s face did he realise that he was actually speaking.
“—What the hell are you doing here!? Wasn’t this scheduled at 4:00p.m .?”
Only with those words did Alver finally register the situation. His eyes widened and he asked the other confused, “Is it not 4?”
The person sighed before looking at their watch, “It’s 3:00.”
Alver looked at them incredulously, “Of course not, I saw it on my clock before I left from the hall, it was definitely 3:40 then.”
The person sighed again, “You’re an alumni aren’t you. Haaaa… No wonder you don’t know. The clock from the hall stopped working a year ago.”
“Huh, that can’t be. This building is supposed to have the best maintenance.” Alver looked at his watch to prove his point only to be dumbfounded. They were telling the truth, it was indeed 3 o clock.
He grinded his jaw in frustration letting out a sigh, before taking a look at the other person, now to make sure that they were a man, “Since we are here,” he said, thoroughly dissatisfied with him coming earlier than he needed to, and at the fact that he had to give up this, “Shall we play the game we were planning to,”
The man, also rather annoyed at his current predicament, “Fine. But, I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said, now inches away from Alver, “Don’t you dare tell another soul about my identity.”
“Or what?” He teased the younger, just making the other smile rather condescending, sending chills down Alver’s spine, “You’ll regret it.” The brunette said.
Alver could feel that this man wasn’t messing around with his threats and that he might actually go through with them.
“Would you at least take the mask off? It's not like I don't know your identity.”
The anonymous looked at the blonde in all his glory, from his thinly protruding cheekbones and eye bags under his eyes that had been covered up immaculately to his softly tousled yellow locks and to his prim and proper suit. Certainly a blue blood to the bone, almost so blue that if Rok Soo was to cut his chest, there would only be ink. However, he also knew that this man only knew the comfy life of paperwork and nothing beyond a royally crafted arm chair.
“Of course not. What if someone walks in? I do not want my identity exposed.”
“Ah. Makes sense.” Alver said as he pulled his chair invitingly for the ghost member.
He understood the gesture and made himself comfortable as he laid out the board and set the pieces. “Which side would you prefer?”
“Black.” Alver replied.
Kim Rok Soo thought for a moment about the nature of this man whose name means white, and he wondered why he would choose the colour of drudge. However, in his own mind he rebuked that thought since what could he say to a person he did not know until this afternoon.
“Let’s begin.” Rok Soo played his first move; the knight, and in true fashion, the man moved his pawn.
The game went on for two hours or so, each moment ticking ever so slowly as the time of decision about the next move was upon the players.
During that time however, Alver was most enamoured by the way this person played. He could never tell what the next move would be, however he could always pinpoint exactly which piece he would use. Not being able to tell what a person’s move but their piece was indeed a very shameful experience. Being at the position of mercy at a move of limitedly unlimited choice yet failing to apprehend the moves more than a few really was an interesting feeling.
For a man as ambitious as Alver, this would make him inordinately more inclined to visit this school once again for the sole purpose of playing this game of chess. His pride would simply not allow this man to get the best of him, and even when those closed and thin lips parted to enunciate each syllable the word “Checkmate,” Alver could barely hold his breath. There was shame on his face and he could feel his cheeks erupt with both embarrassment and admiration.
He had always liked people with the feel of a library, calm and intelligent, yet never letting their pride be walked over and at that moment, even though he lost, he was enthralled with the feel of this person. Placing the money on the table to clear the bet he reached out to the other man almost immediately, “Hey, I didn’t ask before but could you tell me your name?”
The man looked irritated by that question, asking Alver, “Why should I? We aren’t going to get to know each other after this. Or,” he smirked, snakily moving his hand across the table, gently tugging the cuff of his business shirt, “Would you like to lose again, Mr. Crossman?”
Alver felt some heat rush to his face. He knew that his name had been given to this man prior to the meeting, however the way he gave each letter enough time to roll off his tongue left him a little flushed. Suddenly, he wished that he had that convenient mask rather than letting the man see his face getting red from something like that.
“P-perhaps,” He said, steadying himself by mimicking the gesture, returning it by placing his hand on the other’s, “Although, I hope to win the next time. Since, I don’t really like losing.” The man’s eyes for another second changed to upturned crescents and a slow grin pictured his face.
And with that Alver was certain that his acting had paid off and that this boy’s interest was successfully piqued.
“Kim Rok Soo; that’s my name.” He said, “And,” he continued in a sultry voice by which Alver finalised that this Rok Soo fellow definitely liked getting a rise out of him, “Here's my number,” He handed Alver a note with a scribbled numbers, and a name of a place, a library known as ‘Rainy Days’.
“Call me.” He said, walking out of the quiet room, leaving Alver alone in the desolace.
As soon as the door clicked behind Rok Soo, Alver leaned back on his wooden chair, heaved a long sigh as his face grew hotter than German summer.
As he reached home after the numerous ceremonies celebrating his return and appreciating him for being the star of Rowoon University and yada yada. It was frankly annoying yet dignifying in a strange way.
Course, he didn’t wallow too much and called his secretary to catch up on what he missed.
Apparently, not that much which meant that everything was going on smoothly and that he could rest since he didn’t have any meetings apart from his uni. Normally, on a rare occasion like this he would have slept and rested his tired eyes from skimming through documents.
He took some medicines out of habit and sank into a chair, glancing at his watch.
10 p.m.
‘He won’t be busy now would he?’ thought Alver as he wrote a message to Kim Rok Soo.
A: Hi, this is Alver. The alumni who had a match with you in the afternoon. Are you free anytime soon?
RS: hi. yeah im free. can you pick me up at uni cafe
A: Sure! just to clarify; it’s at this location right? Sun Café, XXX Avenue 23
RS: 👍
Alver could only chuckle at the lack of any semblance of punctuation in his texts. Quickly changing his apparel, he was ready to go.
He grabbed a chess board and stuffed it into a laptop bag, hurrying away to the library in his car.
Upon reaching, he hurried up the stairs leading to the tiny hole in the wall’s entrance. Through the glass, he could catch glimpses of the brunette; this time in a more clear view.
His short hair wasn’t neat in the slightest (college student year 3) yet his oak eyes, which shied away from sight due to the lenses covering them, appeared more foggy under the pink sky.
The bell rang as Alver walked through, and as he did so; he was met with those foggy eyes he noticed ever so briefly from outside. He smiled at the brunette, and beamed, after noticing the victor from the match puzzling over mere homework.
“Hello! What are you studying?”
As Alver looked at him, he shuddered at his words and mustered out, “Could you please stop that Mr. Crossman?”
Alver snickered under his breath as he took his seat in front of him, dropping almost all of his smile but still maintaining a jolly tune, “What are you studying though?”
Kim Rok Soo glanced at his laptop, “None of your possible expertise.” he mumbled.
Alver rolled his eyes while extending his hand towards Kim Rok Soo, “Oh please, I have dipped my toes in every possible kind of pond.”
Rok Soo shrugged, “Sure, and while you’re at it, perhaps you could solve a couple of the questions.”
Alver took the laptop and stared at the subject—Computer Programming
He winced visibly and twitchingly looked back at him, “Really? You went to a famous business school to learn…this?”
The same uncaringness rolled over Rok Soo’s shoulders and he just said, “Sooo, do you know how to solve this?”
Alver scoffed, “of course I do, what do you expect from someone like me?”
Kim Rok Soo leaned back and relaxed, taking a break. If someone was willing to do his work for him, why should he not take up the offer?
In the beginning he types fast with the clacking keys sounding quicker than Kim Rok Soo could ever visualise. Time dragging as the clock ticks to 11:45 p.m. The typing has become near non-existent.
After which it fades to complete silence.
By now 15 minutes of total silence have passed,
And then half an hour which is making Rok Soo antsy.
Not a single letter had been typed on the keypad and Kim Rok Soo knew this for a fact, since his keypad was obnoxiously loud.
The waitress showed up with his order and placed his food next to him however he did not budge.
Finally after a seeming eternity, he looked over at the businessman sharing the table to see him utterly and truly asleep.
Kim Rok Soo was, for the lack of a more fitting word, perplexed. Why take on the responsibility that you’re gonna fall asleep doing?
He sighed deeply, mumbling,“I mean he is a busy guy and it is getting late. To his credit, he drove here at 10 p.m. Not to mention, he’s here to pick me up.”
Welp, he thought, he might as well get this over with and wake him up.
“I’ll take this,” Kim Rok said to the sleeping man, as he took the shortcake that Alver ordered, “as payment for sleeping while on work.” He smiled to himself
Alver shuddered awake with his eyes blinking absently as they tried to focus on his surroundings.
“Oh you’re awake.” said Kim Rok Soo in his signature baritone voice, the clacking of the keyboard making him slightly irritated.
“Rok Soo-ssi, is that you?” Alver asked still waking himself up.
“Yeah, how was your rest?”
Alver yawned as he spread his arms around the table, “Pretty—” Alver realised that the laptop was not there below them, and Rok Soo could tell immediately what was running through the older man’s mind.
He looked up, face now panicked, “H-hey i’m sorry for falling asleep even though I said I would do it.” His voice grew quieter as all he could see was the brunette’s face stretching into a smile.
A smile that he could only describe as so pretty, he was sure it was fake. He felt like mere prey that could only succumb to the gaze, maybe it was because he just woke up; it felt as if he couldn’t fight.
He chuckled nervously, “Please stop…”
“I’ll stop when I want to.” Kim Rok Soo smiled, proceeding to eat his soul with his smile for a couple of seconds knowing damn well that it would send shivers down his spine. He held this smile as he paid for the bill and shut Alver down when he tried to object.
“I’ll settle for ice cream, there’s a good convenience store nearby.” Rok Soo said as he packed his rucksack.
“What about the plans?”
“It’s 1 am. Do you think any sane person wants to go to a library at this godforsaken hour?” Rok Soo chuckles, before adding, “If you want you can buy instant ramen for yourself, I suppose you haven’t eaten much the whole day?”
Alver sheepishly smiles, “well, turns out that 3 o’ clock was lunch for me.”
Rok Soo didn’t really think that it was fair for him to lecture a senior he barely even knew, especially since he was also guilty of the same.
He still believed that someone as dishevelled as this guy should not be skipping meals, and looking at the way only nutrition and protein bar wrappers fell out of his laptop bag; he was fairly certain that Alver definitely did not eat well in any way.
“Then let’s get some food, shall we?” he said, stringing the other along with the hoax of a whim.
“Surely” Alver replied and so they faded into the moonlight trailing after one nother to get the meal.