all the things we never said
chapter 9: a letter with no sender
pairings: sieun x suho
genre: coming-of-age, mystery, slice-of-life, drama, slow burn, high school sweet hearts
wc: 5.2k
chapter summary: in search of a little peace and quiet, sieun retreated to the library. instead, he found himself pulled into another hangout with the group—and another search for the mystery’s hidden truth.
the soft click against his backpack zipper had become strangely familiar.
every now and then, whenever he shifted his weight or climbed a flight of stairs, the tiny black cat would tap lightly against the metal pull.
click.
click.
click.
sieun had stopped noticing it.
…
or at least…
that’s what he liked to tell himself.
before leaving the apartment, he paused just long enough to straighten the little keychain after it had somehow twisted itself around.
only after making sure it faced forward did he sling the backpack over one shoulder.
“…”
he stared blankly for a moment.
“…why did i do that?”
he didn’t have an answer.
by the time he reached the local library, he’d already forgotten he’d done it at all.
unlike the arcade, the library welcomed people with silence.
sunlight poured through the tall windows, stretching across rows of worn wooden tables where only the occasional page turning disturbed the quiet.
somewhere near the back…
sieun had already claimed his usual seat.
before sieun could fully settle back into his seat, a sudden wave of hushed whispers swept through the library.
if anything…
they were barely restrained squeals.
a group of girls had apparently spotted baku and gotak standing near the librarian’s desk.
the commotion drew sieun’s attention almost instinctively. pulled from his thoughts, he blinked at the half-finished arithmetic equation in front of him before his gaze drifted toward the source of the excitement.
“do i still have to pay even though i’m only a month late?” baku asked—no, pleaded—as he looked at the librarian with all the desperation he could muster.
the librarian remained completely unfazed.
“i’ve already let you off the hook twice this school year,” she replied flatly. “you’re paying the late fee for the manga.”
beside him, gotak snorted, looking far more entertained than he had any right to be.
“baku, i told you,” he said, hiding his grin behind the back of his hand. “you’re not getting out of this one.”
“shut up,” baku muttered.
gotak barely had time to stifle another laugh before the librarian slowly turned to him.
immediately, his expression shifted into one of well-practiced innocence.
“…what?”
he sounded almost polite.
the librarian wasn’t convinced for even a second.
doing his best to avoid her death glare, gotak casually looked away.
and that’s when he spotted sieun.
instantly, the librarian’s glare became the least interesting thing in the room.
so did baku’s increasingly hopeless attempts to negotiate his way out of paying the fee.
“sieun!”
gotak called, waving an arm high above his head in an attempt to beckon him over.
baku was no better.
the moment sieun’s name left gotak’s mouth, he apparently decided that arguing with the librarian was enough for today.
he immediately joined in, enthusiastically waving both arms as if there were any chance sieun hadn’t already noticed them.
from where he sat, they looked like a couple of headless chickens.
when it became painfully obvious that sieun wasn’t about to leave his seat, they gave up on calling him altogether and headed over instead.
“good riddance,” the librarian muttered beneath her breath before calmly returning to the book she’d been reading prior to baku and gotak’s grating interruption.
sieun closed his eyes for a brief moment, trying to enjoy what little peace he had left before those two inevitably found a way to ruin it.
they did.
“sieunnn!” baku called the moment they reached his table.
“have you been here this whole time?” gotak chimed in. “you didn’t even read the group chat!”
“that’s because—”
sieun stopped.
neither of them had actually been listening.
before he could finish, baku had already pulled out his phone.
he leaned in beside sieun.
click.
his thumbs flew across the screen before he tossed the photo into the group chat.
“…what are you doing?” sieun asked flatly.
“updating the missing person case,” baku replied without looking up.
almost immediately, sieun’s phone buzzed.
he glanced down.
suho: ON MY WAY RN
a second notification appeared not long after.
juntae: i’ll stop by after i’m done studying :)
baku scrunched his nose to himself, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth as his thumbs flew across the keyboard. the quiet tapping filled the tiny circle between him, gotak, and sieun.
“…i…” tap tap.
“…knew…” tap tap tap.
“…i’d get you…”
tap.
“…to come…”
tap tap.
he hit send with a triumphant grin.
“…eventually.”
a few minutes later, the library door creaked open, a sliver of sunlight spilling across the entrance before disappearing again as it swung shut.
suho stepped inside at an almost suspiciously casual pace, hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket as he wandered past the bookshelves.
casual.
at least, that was what he was going for.
his eyes, unfortunately, had other ideas.
they swept across the room with remarkable efficiency, flicking from table to table, skimming every corner and aisle until—
gotak snorted.
baku bit the inside of his cheek so hard it almost hurt.
here suho was, doing everything in his power to appear nonchalant, as if he hadn’t replied within seconds of the selfie hitting the group chat.
“…there he is,” baku muttered under his breath.
“he thinks he’s being subtle,” gotak whispered back.
“…he’s really not.”
soon enough, suho finally spotted the three of them gathered near the back of the library.
the moment he did, he headed over, breaking into an easy jog. as soon as he reached them, he slung an arm around both baku and gotak’s shoulders, jostling them just enough to earn an annoyed grunt from the latter.
“…you’re heavy,” gotak complained.
“you’re dramatic,” suho shot back.
yet even while the two of them bickered, his gaze had already drifted elsewhere.
sieun sat quietly behind them, a notebook open in front of him, pen moving steadily across the page as though none of the noise concerned him in the slightest.
a faint smile tugged at one corner of suho’s mouth.
without thinking, he let his arms fall away from baku and gotak.
his hands slipped back into the pockets of his jacket as his steps carried him the rest of the way over, stopping at a comfortable distance from sieun’s desk.
he rubbed the side of his nose with a hooked finger before tilting his head ever so slightly.
“…studying during your free time again?”
sieun acknowledged him with a single nod, never once looking up from the page.
somehow, that only amused suho more.
he let out a quiet, mock-offended scoff. “…okay, okay. i won’t question your… studying habits.”
nothing.
not even a glance.
just another absent nod as sieun continued jotting down notes.
suho couldn’t even complain.
he knew how frighteningly focused sieun became whenever he buried himself in assignments. once he started, the world around him practically ceased to exist.
across the table, baku and gotak had already claimed the two empty chairs opposite sieun. gotak was busy shushing baku every other second, while baku loudly whispered back that he was being quiet.
shaking his head to himself, suho pulled out the chair beside sieun and dropped into it. he folded his arms on the table before resting his chin on top of them, his gaze drifting idly toward sieun’s notebook, then to the slow, steady movements of his pen.
the silence wasn’t awkward.
it rarely ever was.
meanwhile, baku and gotak had become so absorbed in whatever was on gotak’s phone that they almost forgot the other two were sitting there.
“…oh, right,” gotak said suddenly, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “we’re gonna go pick up juntae. he’s only a few blocks away. we’ll be back.”
baku pointed at them both, his finger shifting between sieun and suho.
“you two.”
another point.
“stay here.”
he narrowed his eyes dramatically.
“…don’t move.”
before either of them could respond, baku had already grabbed gotak by the sleeve and dragged him toward the exit.
the library settled back into its usual, peaceful quiet the moment the doors clicked shut behind baku and gotak.
for a while…
only the occasional scratch of sieun’s pen filled the space between them.
suho stayed quiet.
for exactly seven minutes.
any longer, and he was convinced he might actually combust.
he cracked one eye open, keeping the other squeezed shut in a vain attempt to hide the fact that he was no longer trying to be patient.
“…do you ever get tired?”
without lifting his head, sieun answered almost immediately.
“…of what?”
“…studying.”
“…no.”
that earned him a look.
suho pushed himself upright, stretching both arms above his head until his shoulders gave a quiet pop. with a satisfied sigh, he let one elbow settle onto the table and rested the side of his face against his palm.
“…really?”
“…really.”
suho studied him for a second, genuinely trying to understand.
“…huh.”
he gave a small shrug.
“…i was just thinking… if i did the same thing every day, i’d get sick of it eventually.”
sieun’s pen slowed, the tip hovering just above the paper.
“…what do you mean?”
“i mean…” suho traced an absentminded circle against the table with his fingertip. “doing the same thing over and over has to get exhausting eventually.”
he glanced sideways at sieun, the corner of his mouth lifting ever so slightly.
“…you should reward yourself once in a while.”
sieun actually seemed to think about it.
“…i do.”
suho blinked.
“…you do?”
“…reward myself.”
his gaze drifted toward the stack of books beside him.
“…once i finish everything i planned to do…”
he paused, with the air of someone stating the obvious.
“…then i can relax without having to worry about anything else.”
suho stared at him for a long moment, absentmindedly rolling a pen between his fingers.
“…that sounds kind of depressing.”
sieun looked up.
“…does it?”
“…a little.”
another beat passed.
“…i’ve never really thought about it like that.”
his eyes left the notebook entirely this time, settling on suho.
“…what do you think i should do instead?”
“…if not study?”
suho leaned back in his chair, tapping the end of the pen against his chin as though the answer deserved genuine consideration.
“…you need hobbies.”
“…i have hobbies.”
“studying doesn’t count.”
sieun blinked once.
“…i wasn’t going to say studying.”
“…good.”
“…i like reading.”
suho nodded immediately, fully embracing his new role as the appointed judge of valid, acceptable hobbies.
“…that counts.”
“…and chess.”
“…also counts.”
he tilted his head, still lazily spinning the pen between his fingers.
“…what else?”
sieun answered without much thought.
“…spending time with you guys.”
the pen stopped.
for the first time since sitting down, the constant spinning of suho’s pen finally came to a stop.
“…oh.”
it came out quieter than he’d intended.
“…i didn’t know you liked hanging out with us that much…”
sieun looked up from his notebook at that.
“hm?”
suho rubbed the back of his neck.
“…you usually don’t say stuff like that.”
…
sieun gave it a moment’s thought before a soft, almost surprised, “…i don’t?” slipped past his lips.
“nope. not really.”
silence settled over them once more.
…
“…i thought it was obvious.”
this time…
suho was the one left speechless.
before either of them could linger on it any longer, footsteps echoed through the library.
baku and gotak returned, juntae trailing a step behind them.
just like that, the quiet gave way to familiar voices.
whatever had been lingering between them quietly slipped back beneath the surface, left for another day—if one ever came.
neither reached for it.
maybe another time…
“hey, guys,” juntae greeted.
halfway through the words, he remembered where they were.
“…sorry.”
“ugh… who knew walking a few blocks could be this exhausting?” baku groaned, collapsing into the nearest chair before stretching his legs out beneath the table.
gotak shot him a look that was equal parts disbelief and disappointment. leaning forward, he rested both hands on the desk.
“so…” he dragged out, glancing around the group. “what’s everyone up for?”
baku sat up so quickly it was almost concerning.
“all that walking gave me an appetite.”
he let the suggestion hang in the air, slowly looking from one face to the next as though waiting for unanimous approval.
gotak turned, propping himself against the edge of the desk with a thoughtful hum.
“coach is going to have our heads if we cheat on our diet.”
baku let out an exaggerated groan as he dropped his forehead onto the desk with a dull thunk. a second later, he lifted it again, only to groan even louder, dragging a hand through the back of his hair until it stuck up in every direction.
“staying at the library is sooo boring.”
before anyone else could answer, suho tipped his chin toward sieun.
“hey,” he said with an easy shrug, though the words came out a touch too quickly. “can’t you see he’s studying? keep it down. let him focus.”
it wasn’t harsh.
on the contrary…
it sounded more like a quiet scolding than anything else.
the problem was how naturally it had come out.
only after the words left his mouth did suho realize how quickly he’d jumped to sieun’s defense.
…
the table fell silent.
baku’s mouth remained slightly open, whatever complaint he was about to make disintegrating before it ever left his lips.
gotak slowly turned toward suho, one brow lifting higher than the other.
beside him, juntae quietly adjusted his glasses, his eyes flicking between the two of them.
sieun’s pen had stopped moving.
he looked up from his notebook, his expression as unreadable as ever, but his attention rested entirely on suho now.
only then did suho realize how quickly he’d spoken.
“…what?”
“nothing,” gotak answered immediately.
“…didn’t know you were the library police all of a sudden.”
suho fumbled for a response, his gaze darting between the tabletop and the three pairs of eyes fixed on him. warmth crept steadily into his cheeks, and before the silence could stretch any further—or the questions start—he cleared his throat.
“…if you’re that hungry, just order takeout or something.”
the words came out a little too quickly.
a little too casually.
almost as if he were trying to steer the conversation anywhere but here.
baku narrowed his eyes.
very.
very.
slowly.
“…hm…”
he tilted his head.
“…you’re acting kinda sus, ahn suho.”
suho let out a disbelieving laugh before finally meeting baku’s gaze.
“who, me?”
he pointed a finger at himself, feigning innocence with far more confidence than he actually felt.
“pfft. you guys are seriously overthinking this.”
baku snorted.
louder.
almost as if the two of them had unknowingly turned it into some kind of competition.
“oh, yeah?”
he folded his arms across his chest.
“you’ve been defending sieun way too much lately.”
his voice dropped into an exaggeratedly suspicious tone.
“…what’s that about, huh?”
his eyebrows bounced up and down with absolutely zero subtlety.
without missing a beat, suho smacked him across the shoulder with his notebook.
“stop making assumptions.”
everyone looked at him.
a beat of silence passed.
because…
no one had actually made an assumption.
if anything, suho had practically made one for them.
“i just hate loud noises,” he added a little too quickly.
“…that’s all.”
baku barked out a laugh.
“that’s rich coming from a walking siren.”
before the argument could spiral any further, sieun quietly closed his notebook and slipped it into his bag.
“…i’m done.”
every head turned toward him.
“…you are?”
sieun gave a single nod.
“…for today.”
he slung his backpack over one shoulder before finally looking at the rest of them.
“we can go now.”
the tension dissolved almost instantly.
“finally!”
out of pure excitement, baku threw a hand into the air, waiting expectantly for a high-five.
sieun only looked at it.
then at baku.
“…what?”
“i thought you were hungry.”
“…let’s go.”
baku slowly lowered his hand.
“…right.”
without even realizing it…
sieun had just taken suho’s side.
by the time they stepped outside, baku had already claimed the front of the group, passionately explaining why coaches should let their players eat whatever they wanted.
“happy players play better. it’s basic knowledge.”
“that’s not how it works, dude,” gotak called from behind.
“it should be.”
a few steps back, gotak and juntae had become far more invested in a game of rock-paper-scissors than either of them cared to admit.
“fries,” gotak insisted. “they’re the only correct side.”
juntae shook his head.
“no way. chicken nuggets.”
“you’re objectively wrong.”
“that’s… not how opinions work.”
somewhere in the middle of it all, suho and sieun simply walked.
neither of them spoke, content to just walking beside each other.
every now and then, suho’s attention drifted from baku’s increasingly questionable arguments to the person walking beside him.
he’d only glance over for a second before looking ahead again, as though the thought had barely crossed his mind.
sieun, meanwhile, kept his eyes on the street ahead, quietly taking in the passing storefronts, the afternoon traffic, the people weaving around them.
until suho laughed at something baku said.
only then would sieun look.
just for a moment.
long enough to catch the curve of his smile or the way the breeze tousled the front of his hair before his gaze returned to the sidewalk.
neither of them noticed the other’s timing.
or perhaps…
neither of them let on that they did.
for as subtle as suho thought he was being…
and for as carefully as sieun timed every glance…
it was only a matter of time before they were caught by the one person neither of them had accounted for.
each other.
just one more look, suho told himself.
just don’t make it obvious.
beside him, sieun arrived at an entirely different conclusion.
only when he’s distracted.
wait until he’s looking somewhere else.
it was a solid plan.
right up until both of them decided that now was the perfect time.
their eyes met.
for a brief, suspended moment, neither of them reacted.
then suho looked away first.
he cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck as though nothing had happened.
“…”
beside him, sieun had already turned his attention back to the sidewalk.
outwardly, he remained as composed as ever.
inwardly…
he was already calculating the statistical probability of that happening again and, more importantly, how to make sure it didn’t.
unfortunately for both of them…
neither realized the other had come to the exact same conclusion.
before long, the pizza place baku had been raving about finally came into view.
“finally,” he breathed, sounding far more relieved than anyone should over pizza.
the five of them drifted inside together.
the bell above the door chimed softly as a wave of cool air washed over them, a welcome contrast to the warmth outside. the rich aroma of freshly baked pizza lingered throughout the shop—melted cheese, toasted crust, garlic, basil, and tomato sauce blending into the kind of smell that made empty stomachs feel even emptier.
they settled into a booth tucked away in the corner, the red cushioned seats creaking quietly as everyone slid into place around the polished black table.
it didn’t take long for a waitress to make her way over, notepad already in hand.
“we’ll get one large pepperoni pizza and an order of chicken nuggets, please,” gotak said.
“coming right up!”
once she was gone, gotak leaned back with an exaggerated sigh.
“i still can’t believe i lost rock-paper-scissors.”
across from him, juntae couldn’t help but laugh.
“…a deal’s a deal.”
the conversation carried on without them.
baku was in the middle of arguing that anchovies were a good topping on pizza. gotak looked ready to leave the booth over the statement alone, while juntae tried—and failed—to convince them both that it wasn’t worth fighting over.
somewhere between all of it…
suho and sieun had fallen unusually quiet.
neither seemed eager to be the first to speak.
perhaps it was because they’d caught each other.
or perhaps it was because neither knew what to do with that knowledge now that they had.
suho quietly clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.
seriously…
could i have been any more obvious?
beside him, sieun remained perfectly still, his expression betraying nothing.
only his thoughts refused to cooperate.
if someone brings it up…
deny it.
no.
that would sound suspicious.
change the subject.
…that sounds even worse.
across the table, baku, gotak, and juntae continued arguing as though nothing had happened.
fortunately for the two of them…
no one seemed to notice.
yet.
right on cue, the waitress returned, balancing a tray in her hands.
the pizza—still fresh from the oven—was placed in the middle of the table, steam curling lazily into the air. moments later came the basket of chicken nuggets, their crisp golden coating was almost enough to derail whatever baku had been talking about.
“enjoy your meal!”
with a small bow, the waitress headed off.
baku didn’t waste a second.
he grabbed the nearest slice and took a bite so big it should’ve been physically impossible.
“now this…” he mumbled through a mouthful of pizza, “this is what life’s all about.”
gotak drove an elbow into his side.
not hard.
just enough.
“would you chew with your mouth closed?”
baku looked genuinely offended.
“i do have manners.”
“then start using them, you moron.” gotak gestured across the table. “you’re making sieun and suho lose their appetite.”
…
that…
was the last thing either of them needed to hear.
three pairs of eyes landed on them at once.
suho nearly choked on absolutely nothing.
beside him, sieun remained perfectly still, though the fork in his hand paused ever so slightly above his plate.
blissfully unaware, gotak continued.
“come on,” he said, flashing a mock-innocent smile. “seeing him eat like that makes you lose your appetite too, right?”
if only he knew what was actually going through their heads.
he’d never let either of them live it down.
“…yeah,” sieun agreed quietly.
not because he’d been paying any attention to the way baku ate.
he simply wasn’t about to invite any more attention their way.
beside him, suho nodded along and even gave gotak a quick thumbs-up beneath the table, silently encouraging him to keep going.
yes.
keep talking.
anything but us.
gotak looked far too pleased with himself.
“see? i told you.”
baku rolled his eyes with the same dramatic reluctance as a kid being told he couldn’t have dessert until he’d finished every last vegetable on his plate.
“alright, alright. i get it.”
he reached for another slice.
halfway there, he paused.
his eyes dropped to the pizza.
“…tomatoes.”
a beat passed.
his head slowly lifted.
“…tomatoes.”
then his eyes snapped toward suho.
“TOMATOES!”
something clicked.
and just like that, the conversation abandoned table manners entirely and tackled straight toward the one topic suho had been praying would never resurface.
the letter.
“i kinda wanna read it again,” baku admitted, a small frown forming on his face as if he’s grown attached to an inanimate object—a letter of all things.
suho stared at him.
“…why?”
the question came out with complete, genuine confusion.
baku looked just as confused that he even had to ask.
“because it was funny.”
he shrugged.
“why else?”
“…fine.”
suho sighed in quiet defeat.
arguing with baku was rarely worth the effort.
one way or another… baku always managed to win.
with another sigh, he dug into the pocket of his hoodie, his fingers searching far deeper than they normally ever had to. after a moment, he fished out the folded letter and dropped it onto the table with a soft tap.
“there.”
just as quickly, he forgot about it altogether and reached for the slice of pizza waiting on his plate instead.
across the table, juntae leaned forward, curiosity written plainly across his face.
gotak leaned in too.
not because he was particularly interested.
mostly because everyone else was.
involuntarily, sieun found himself leaning in too, but while everyone else was focused on the letter itself, his attention had already drifted elsewhere. he was studying the paper—the worn edges, the creases, the handwriting, every little detail.
“…wait a minute…”
everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to him.
“…yeah?” juntae asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.
“…paper like this doesn’t stay this flat unless…”
he paused, skimming over the letter one more time, making sure he hadn’t overlooked anything.
“…unless?” gotak pressed, anticipation quietly building between them, as though it was up to sieun whether to build it higher or tear it down completely.
“…unless it’s been pressed for a really, really long time…”
a beat of silence settled over the five of them before—
“…wait,” suho spoke up, leaning forward slightly.
“so does that mean…”
sieun met his gaze for the briefest moment before giving a single nod.
“…yeah.”
“…so it was kept between a book or something?” baku asked, his usual playfulness fading, if only for a moment.
“exactly that.”
another silence settled over the table.
this one was different.
more pensive.
heavier.
“people use paper as bookmarks all the time,” juntae murmured, almost to himself.
“paper curls,” sieun noted.
he tapped lightly against the edge of the letter.
“this didn’t.”
everyone looked down at it again, studying it a little more closely.
now that he’d pointed it out…
it really was unusually flat.
“…so…” suho spoke slowly, piecing the thought together as he went.
“…whoever wrote this…”
“…put it inside a book…”
“…and never took it back out.”
“…or forgot it was there,” sieun added quietly.
everyone fell silent until—
“…wait.”
gotak’s eyes swept over the letter once more before lifting to the others.
“if there’s one…”
baku didn’t answer.
he simply stared at the letter, so still that everyone briefly wondered if he’d mentally left the room.
then—
“…there could be more.”
juntae frowned thoughtfully, his gaze falling back to the page.
“…but where would we even start?”
the five of them exchanged glances.
the answer came almost at the same time.
“the library.”
the next thing the five boys knew, they were back at the last place they wanted to visit.
everyone except sieun, that is.
he’d known from the beginning.
the library.
the moment they stepped through the entrance, baku insisted on holding a “strategy meeting,” which, according to him, absolutely required everyone to huddle into a circle. sieun had to be convinced that this was, somehow, an essential part of the investigation.
“okay,” suho began, glancing around the circle. “everyone split up.”
a chorus of nods followed.
“i’ll take the manga aisle,” baku declared immediately.
“juntae and i’ll check astronomy and history,” gotak said.
suho’s gaze naturally found sieun.
“what about you?”
“i’ll check the book records,” sieun answered quietly.
baku snapped his fingers.
“smart.”
“alright,” suho said without much thought. “i’ll go with sieun.”
no one seemed to question it.
with their assignments settled, the five of them instinctively brought their hands into the middle of the circle.
“fighting!”
while everyone else searched through their assigned aisles, suho and sieun had somehow ended up together.
again.
by now, it had practically become routine. if one of them was somewhere, the other wasn’t usually far behind.
sieun’s gaze drifted across the seemingly endless rows of shelves.
nothing stood out.
every spine looked ordinary, every book exactly where it belonged, and somehow, that only made the search more frustrating. every now and then, he’d pull out a book that seemed even slightly out of place, flipping through its pages before quietly sliding it back.
“find anything yet?” suho asked from behind him, keeping his voice low enough not to disturb the silence around them.
“…no,” sieun replied just as quietly.
while suho searched the upper shelves, sieun worked his way across the lower ones. one checked high, the other low, meeting somewhere in the middle without ever having to say so.
absentmindedly, suho slid another book free.
old.
dusty.
nothing unusual.
he sighed.
“ugh… are the letters even in the library? what if they got thrown out—”
before he could finish, the book slipped from his grasp.
almost instinctively, sieun reached up to catch it.
at the very same moment, suho reached down to stop it from falling.
for a heartbeat…
their hands met.
suho’s fingertips skimmed across the back of sieun’s hand before the book settled safely between them.
he pulled back almost immediately, letting out a quiet, almost self-conscious laugh.
“…my bad.”
sieun blinked once.
without looking at him, he slid the book neatly back into the empty space on the shelf.
“…it’s fine.”
the search continued nonetheless, and just as they were beginning to lose hope, sieun found something that changed everything.
it was volume seven of slam dunk.
the edges were slightly worn, the colors on the cover just beginning to fade with age.
…
what was it doing in the book records aisle?
sieun slid it free.
at first, he didn’t think much of it.
then—
a folded sheet of paper slipped neatly from between the pages.
it drifted to the floor, landing right in front of his shoes.
for a moment, neither of them moved.
sieun bent down to pick it up before glancing toward suho, the unspoken question clear enough.
should i open it?
“wait.”
suho spoke before sieun could unfold it.
“…let me get the others first.”
sieun nodded once.
while suho went off to gather everyone, sieun remained where he was, the letter resting quietly in his hands.
just as he’d promised, he didn’t open it.
he’d wait until everyone was there.
alone, though…
he couldn’t stop his thoughts from wandering.
questions surfaced one after another.
what was this doing here?
why this book, out of all the books in the library?
why hide it in the first place?
…
most importantly…
who wrote it?
and why did they leave it behind?
it didn’t take long for suho to return, this time with baku, gotak, and juntae close behind.
they had all come back for the same reason.
one question lingered between them.
who wrote this letter?
would they finally find out today?
would they finally catch the mystery author?
or was this just another clue leading them somewhere else?
“oh, hey…” baku breathed out, planting both hands on his knees as he caught his breath.
gotak and juntae weren’t far behind, the two of them noticeably less out of breath after jogging across the library.
“what’s up?” gotak asked, straightening.
“did you find something?” juntae asked, curiosity already getting the better of him.
“…yeah.”
sieun gave a small nod.
“i did.”
“seriously? where?” gotak asked, already making his way over.
“…here.”
almost immediately, the four of them gathered around sieun. some waited patiently.
others…
not so much.
taking a slow breath, sieun carefully unfolded the letter, handling it with the same care one might give something that had survived years untouched.
his eyes skimmed over the page once before he began reading aloud.
“…people keep telling me i’m brave.”
…
“…they’re absolutely right about that.”
the four exchanged brief glances, but no one interrupted.
“…i don’t mind getting hurt.”
“…i don’t mind standing up for people.”
“…matter of fact, it gives me a sense of pride knowing i’m able to protect others.”
sieun’s voice slowed.
“…but…”
another quiet pause settled between them.
“…for some odd reason…”
he looked down at the next line.
“…telling this one person how i truly feel…”
…
“…scares me more than anything else.”
