The library was quiet. In the evenings, it was always like this, so tranquil one could imagine that the passage of time had stopped—or even suddenly flowed backward. The architecture was similar to that of the Victorian era, with sconces shedding ambient light over the round tables and the long shelves filled with dusty tomes. The faint sounds of crackling fireplaces, scratching quills, and rustling paper played over the speakers. Accompanying the sounds was that of books sliding onto shelves.

Rin shelved another biology textbook, hardly paying attention to the action. His mind was filled with math problems, science lectures, his impending simultest, Wen Xulong’s reassurance, Nao. . .

Rin’s expression went strange. His grip on the book tightened for a moment before he forced his fingers to unclench.

Since Rin had set things straight with Nao, Wen Xulong had been consistently inviting Nao to sit with them at lunch. It wasn’t a bad arrangement; Nao helped them understand problems they couldn’t grasp, and Rin was able to remind Nao to eat. He was also able to observe Nao slowly growing happier and happier, smiling more sincerely each day.

He had also witnessed firsthand Nao’s cosmetic transformation. After getting paid, Nao had cut and dyed his hair, bought wire-frame glasses, and bought blue contacts. Though his face hadn’t actually changed, he no longer looked anything like Hanaka.

However, he really. . .

Rin scrubbed his hands over his face with a quiet groan.

His tablet beeped inside of his bag. He regathered his wits, then pulled it out and unlocked it. There were two new messages onscreen.

[Nao Suruna: I got your number from Xulong-ge]

[Nao Suruna: I hope you don’t mind]

The heat in Rin’s face had barely subsided when it came rushing right back. Rin stared at the brand-new chat for a moment before replying.

[You: It’s fine. Did you need something?]

[Nao Suruna is typing. . .]

[Nao Suruna: Not really. I just noticed you seemed to be having a little trouble with math today. If there’s anything you don’t understand, please let me know and I’ll see if I can help]

Rin read over this text three times. His heartrate picked up a little.

[You: Okay, I will. Thank you.]

Nao sent back a smiley face.

Rin’s mind blanked for about ten seconds. When his thoughts regained some semblance of coherency, he tapped the pencil next to Nao’s name on the screen. He stared at the interface until his eyes went out of focus, but he still couldn’t think of a nickname. While he was stuck, a new message popped up.

[Long-xiong: Gave Nao-chan ur number. Forgot to mention it earlier. Btw, Nao-chan & I are headed to the library to study. U coming with?]

Rin’s eye twitched a little at his friend’s message.

[You: Learn proper English.]

[You: Which library?]

[Long-xiong: Too lazy to type all that. We’re gonna hit that old victorian one with the dusty books]

[You: Already here. Just got done volunteering.]

[Long-xiong: K! Cya there!]

He closed off with a kissy-face emoji. Rin rolled his eyes at it, then returned to his and Nao’s chat. After staring at it for another minute, he typed in an egg roll emoji as the nickname and closed the interface, then slipped the tablet back into his bag.

He wheeled the cart to the end of one of the shelves and left it there for returns, then headed to a random table. There were only a couple of people here besides himself and the librarian, and they were all on the ground floor. Rin would’ve headed down to wait for Wen Xulong and Nao to arrive if there had been no one there.

Rin pulled his homework out of his bag and tried to force himself to pay attention to the problems on the paper. The exams were very close now, and he didn’t want to fail. He couldn’t afford to be distracted.

For a short while, he actually managed to make some progress. Then the chair across from his slid out, and his focus was broken. When he looked up, all hope of progressing further was shattered.

Wen Xulong was taking a seat, his bag hanging from the back of the chair. Nao had taken a step closer around the circular table, holding a small plastic bag. With a small smile, he held it toward Rin with both hands.

“Xulong-ge and I stopped at a convenience store for snacks earlier. I bought you these.”

Rin floundered to find something to say in response that didn’t sound totally idiotic, heartless, or sappy. In the end, he ended up only saying “Thanks.”

He took the bag; his fingers brushed the metal plating of Nao’s knuckles. His face flushed from the contact.

Using it as an excuse to look down, Rin opened the bag and took a look inside. There was a box of Pocky and a keychain of a red panda.

“Xulong-ge said your favorite animal is a red panda, so that’s what I picked out. I wasn’t sure what sort of snacks you like, so I just got you one of my personal favorites,” Nao explained quietly. “I hope you like them.”

Rin thought of a few replies, but they all sounded dumb, so to show that he liked the things Nao had gotten for him, he clipped the keychain to the strap of his bag and opened the box of Pocky, biting into one. He said thanks again, then tried to work on his homework again.

Nao took a seat between Rin and Wen Xulong. While he pulled out his own schoolwork, Wen Xulong said, “Rest assured, Nao-chan, Shini-sama loves the gifts. He’s just too shy to say it.”

Rin looked up slightly to glare at Wen Xulong. Wen Xulong grinned back. “C’mon, Shini-sama, admit it! You love Nao-chan’s thoughtful gifts so much that your icy heart is melting into a little puddle.”

Rin flipped him off and looked down again, resting his forehead in his palm. His face felt hot enough to cook an egg on. He attempted to solve some of the problems on his sheet, but he was too flustered to concentrate at all. In the end he only sat there and stared for several minutes.

After a while of this, there was a soft scraping sound; it drew Rin’s gaze. Nao scooted his chair up next to Rin’s, then sat down and leaned forward, examining Rin’s problem sheet. “Which one are you having trouble with?”

“. . .”

Nao was very close. Close enough that Rin could smell him—linen and soap. It was a pleasant smell that made Rin’s heart pound.

“Um. . .it’s this one,” Rin finally forced out, tapping a random problem.

Nao began to patiently explain how to solve it. His voice was easy on the ears, soft and slightly lilting, lighter than air.

Rin dimly realized that the way Nao made him feel probably wasn’t normal between friends.