sol•stice (n.)

when the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky at noon, marked by the longest and shortest days.

•••

She did not understand why suddenly this garbage library had managed to score itself a daily visitor. He was a strange boy who majestically appeared two weeks ago at this library and started to surf through the shelves and pledged to never skip a single day.

Now it wasn't that guys hadn't showed up here before but most of them came with more of an intention to test her patience as a good worker rather than actually burdening their arms by picking up a book to read.

But this guy, he wasn't like others. He wasn't here to make pathetic attempts at flirting with her and making her worklife miserable. He just came in quietly with a ding of the doorbell that was attached to the vintage glass door of the library, to browse through the contents of the old shelves and pick up a rather intriguing book to read each time.

He would always sit in front of her counter where she would occupy herself in registering the details of random books each day. He would sometimes ask for a coffee without much of speaking.

No, without speaking at all.

Without speaking, without speaking. This guy did not mutter a single greeting or a single word since the day he walked in. To put it in words, he was too perfect for this library, even. Putting back books exactly where he picked them up from, using hand gestures to ask for a coffee. Never asking for recommendations. Not causing a ruckus.

He was quiet and mature.

But it was scary sometimes, because he was usually the only person other than her own self in this small library. That, made it very awkward, let alone how quiet he was. He would not return her earnest smiles, or maybe he did but she couldn't see them because he wore a facemask. Perhaps he had pollen allergy?

She was more or less of a happy-go-lucky person who would greet people less as a part of her job and more as her hobby, simply to uplift the gloomy aura that this library possessed. But him simply nodding at her greetings made it difficult to keep up a conversation, or even starting one.

This library was located in the scarcely populated suburbs. It was basically countryside that magically stood right at the border of the big Seoul city. So mostly people who were interested in the farmland culture resided here and not many of them were specifically looking for a library to kill time.

Although a few people did stop by to purchase some of the baked goods you sold in the joint patisserie. She baked them herself, whatever it was, cookies, macaroons, croissants or pretzels. These were just take away goods so the library, again, was still empty.

This little library she worked at, had no visitors at all.

Then, she'd often catch him looking at her from behind the book but as soon as their eyes would meet, he would look down at the speed of friggin light. Perhaps that was just him spacing out and then feeling embarrassed about it?

Or he could be a lunatic serial killer looking for a chance to kill her. Or maybe a pervert!?

That may be exaggerating it but she was not someone to take things lightly. Better be paranoid than dead.

This particular guy baffled her.

Not only the quietitude but his appearance as well. The facemask, the reading glasses that were way too big on him, the tired and puffy eyes, the way his bangs were swept to the side (a very beautiful forehead), the clothes that were, again, too big on him.

He was distractingly attractive, honestly, and she could say that without even having to see the remaining masked half of his face.

She mentally slapped yourself. She was NOT the pervert here. He was the dangerous one here.

As she drowned into her gutter of over-analyzed scenarios, he got up from his seat to go pick his next read.

She slowly walked up to Hyeri; Kim Hyeri. The short, neatly dressed, nerdy girl she called her best friend. But her relationship with Hyeri was more of that between a old man and his hostile, snarky but secretly warm hearted son.

"Hyeri!" She whispered into her ear, "Isn't it getting kind of scary? He comes here everyday and never speaks."

"Isn't it the same with me?" She said dryly without looking up from her book, "But you still choose to bug the crap out of me."

"No, really! Do you think, he may be a - serial killer?" She blinked, slightly unnerved.

"Nah. He'd have killed you already, judging by just how annoying you are." Hyeri sighed briefly, still immersed in the book.

"So maybe he's a - pervert?" She fidgeted with the fabric of her apron.

"Or maybe he's a normal reader? He doesn't look like shady business to me." Hyeri added, finally looking away from her book.

"Yeah but why'd he come here of all places? This library sucks, to be honest. Even I wouldn't come here if I didn't work here and even you wouldn't come here, which you, by the way, don't that often despite being the granddaughter of this library's owner."

Hyeri snickered, "Yeah, that's true. How about you go and talk to him? His tone will tell if he's a serial killer or not. Oh and look, he's contemplating on what book to pick next. Go assist him or whatever. Leave me be."

"What, no, how can I just go up to him and talk-?"

"Seriously? You're the social butterfly here. Don't forget that I'm the introvert, not you!"

She frowned, it was not like it was easy to be an extrovert. She was just pushing herself to the absolute degree of socialization that she was capable of just because -

"Fine." She muttered in defeat.

She slowly walked up to him. It didn't take long because this library was so tiny like a matchbox.

She could see him shift uneasily as she approached him, and he was aware of her steps without even without looking her way, and he was deliberately avoiding looking at her. Maybe even praying she'd go away under his breath. There was a time when his hands were almost shaking, so it was her cue to stop there.

"Hey?" She smiled her signature salesman smile, "need help with something?"

He looked at her and his eyes widened. And then he blinked as though she was some sort of alien.

He shook his head furiously, "No, thanks!" And then picked up the first book reaching his hand and left.

Her smile did not waver but she was certainly frowning in confusion, intermingled with a bit of brokenness — Of her heart writhing with an unexplainably sharp pain of rejection.

She walked back to Hyeri, "A serial killer." She muttered sadly, "He hates me, it's so obvious-"

Hyeri laughed loudly this time, "Keep a box cutter with you just in case he attacks you. And if you don't wanna, use it to stab yourself get over that humiliation just now."