Emilia paused at the door. She noticed the library was quieter than usual.

Only the occasional rustle of turning pages and the soft tapping of laptop keys drifted through the rows of towering bookshelves.

Sunlight poured through the tall windows, stretching warm rectangles across the polished wooden floor.

Emilia sat alone near one of the windows, her backpack resting against the leg of her chair while her phone lay beside an unopened economics textbook.

She stared at the Chapter title.

She sighed.

"I’ll definitely read you..." She paused. "...after pretending you don’t exist for another five minutes."

Her phone buzzed.

A grin immediately tugged at her lips. She needed a distraction she did not create.

Kylie name appeared on the screen.

She unlocked it.

Kylie: YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE WAY MY DAY STARTED.

Emilia smiled.

Emilia: I have a feeling I won’t.

Three dots appeared almost instantly.

Kylie: Remember that annoying man from the hotel?

Emilia frowned.

Hotel?

Then it clicked. The hallway, and the bathroom.

She laughed quietly.

Emilia: The one whose girlfriend didn’t let you use the bathroom and you had to destroy their night?

Kylie: YES.

Kylie: HIM.

Another message followed immediately.

Kylie: Maya abandoned me at the racing ground.

Emilia blinked. She vividly remembered asking Kylie not to go there again, after she narrowly escaped being arrested.

However, she decided to drop her warning first, and focus on what Kylie was about to tell her. Why would Maya leave her on the racing ground?

Emilia: She what?

Kylie: Long story.

Kylie: She had to take another route with her boyfriend.

Kylie: Guess who I had to leave with.

Emilia covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

Emilia: Please don’t say him.

Kylie: HIM.

Kylie: The universe hates me.

Emilia laughed softly enough that the student two tables away glanced up before returning to his notes. She could hear how annoyed Kylie could possibly be.

Emilia: Are you alive?

Kylie: Physically.

Kylie: Emotionally? No.

Kylie: He is so full of himself, and it’s disgusting. 😒🙄

Kylie: Every sentence somehow became about him.

Kylie: I have never wanted to jump out of a moving racing bike more in my life.

Emilia bit back another laugh.

Emilia: You’re exaggerating.

Kylie: I WISH. 😭💔

Kylie: He literally called himself "a rare experience." I wouldn’t lie, I almost invited him in for sex. I haven’t had one for two weeks now. 🫠

Emilia shook her head.

Emilia: That’s actually hilarious, and extreme.

Kylie: You’re laughing because it wasn’t you. 😔

Emilia: Can never be me. 😅😭

A dramatic sigh escaped her as she locked her phone.

Poor Kylie.

Then again, maybe not that poor. For someone she claimed to dislike so much, she certainly had plenty to say about him.

Emilia smiled to herself.

She finally reached for her notebook. "Work first."

She gathered her things and slipped her phone into the side pocket of her backpack.

The economics section occupied the second floor. Most students avoided it unless deadlines forced them there.

Apparently, today was one of those days.

Every table seemed occupied. She wandered slowly between the shelves, searching for an empty seat.

There was no free seat. She rounded another bookshelf. A familiar voice drifted through the silence.

"No, that’s definitely not how elasticity works."

She looked up.

A few feet away, Ethan stood beside one of the long study tables, surrounded by open textbooks and pages covered in scribbled calculations.

He frowned at his notebook before absentmindedly rubbing the back of his neck.

As though sensing someone watching him, he glanced over his shoulder.

Their eyes met. Recognition lit his face almost immediately.

He smiled, then lifted a hand. He gave her a small, slightly awkward wave.

"Hey."

Emilia couldn’t help smiling back. She walked over. "This is our third meeting today."

Ethan laughed. "You’re not mad, are you?"

Emilia didn’t respond to that. Instead, she looked around at the stack of books surrounding him.

"You don’t look like a library person."

He placed a hand dramatically over his chest. "That hurts."

"It wasn’t an insult." She affirmed softly. She looked aver him. He looked more like a sport person than a library body.

He gave her an awkward smile, and she laughed.

"So... what are you doing here?"

He gestured toward the disaster spread across the table. "I’ve got an assignment due Wednesday."

"The economics one?"

His eyebrows shot upward. "Yes."

She blinked.

"You too?" He asked.

She nodded. "Professor Matthew’s assignment."

He picked up the instruction sheet. "You have this class?"

"I do."

He looked genuinely relieved. "I thought I was the only one struggling with question seven."

Emilia immediately pulled her own folded worksheet from between the pages of her notebook.

They compared them. It was the same title, same deadline, and the same questions.

She laughed softly. "We’re literally on the exact same number."

"I’ve been stuck here for almost forty minutes."

She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "If you don’t mind..." She hesitated politely. "...would you like to figure it out together?"

Ethan’s smile widened.

"Sure." He pulled out the chair opposite him. "I could use another brain."

She nodded at him. "So could I."

She slipped one strap of her backpack from her shoulder.

Before she could bend down, Ethan stood.

"I’ve got it." He offered, his hand stretched out to receive her backpack.

"You don’t have to."

"It’s fine." He reached for the backpack with an easy smile. "I promise it won’t dislocate my shoulder."

Emilia thinned her lips, "Thank you."

He set it carefully beside the chair before stepping back.

Neither of them noticed the library doors opening.

Two lecturers entered together. Their conversation low enough not to disturb the students.

Adrian walked beside another faculty member, who had a folder tucked beneath one arm.

He was halfway through replying to something when his gaze lifted. His gaze found Emilia.

For the smallest fraction of a second, the rest of the library disappeared.

She looked up almost instinctively, feeling an intense gaze on her. Their eyes met. His expression remained composed, professional, and unreadable.

Then, his gaze shifted to Ethan.

Standing beside her with her backpack in his hand. He saw the smile still lingering between them.

Adrian looked back at Emilia briefly.

Then, without a word, he turned and continued walking beside his colleague. Neither his pace nor his expression changed.

He simply walked away.

Emilia watched him disappear between the shelves. Her chest tightened unexpectedly, and she couldn’t explain why.

Ethan scoffed, dragging her back to reality. "He has been here for just a month, and he’s already being an ass, and not approachable."

Emilia brows furrowed. "Wait... who?"

Ethan stared at the direction Adrian just disappeared into. "Professor Ashford."

"Umm..." Emilia took in a soft exhale, and stared back at the textbook before her. "Let’s get back to this."

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