Book Exchange Romance | A Kim Namjoon FanFic

Chapter 1 - Ana

 Three Years Ago

She was new to the little town. She was awarded a scholarship to teach English as a second language in South Korea. She was going to be teaching third graders. She arrived to the town a week ago and has been unpacking ever since. She decided to pause for a bit and went exploring around. She wandered the streets, lost, but too scared to ask for directions. Her limited Korean skills were a disadvantage to her at this very moment. She was supposed to start her Korean lessons, provided by her scholarship program, on Monday. However, after a week of being closed-up at her new apartment and unpacking, she decided Saturday was a good day to rest and explore around. After all, this was going to be her home for the next two years. She walked the streets that were filled with people. As she walked, she passed a coffee shop that was empty. She decided to get herself a coffee. She walked in and the smell of coffee filled her nostrils.

"Hello." A girl from the other side of the counter said. She walked to her.

"Hello." The other girl said bowing.

"What can I get you?" The girl asked. The other girl didn't understand her. "American?" The girl behind the counter asked her in English. The other girl's eyes looked at her relieved. "I'm Eun-Ji." She said.

"Nice to meet you Eun-Ji, I'm Anastacia. But you can call me Ana." She said to Eun-Ji.

"You are the new English teacher." Eun-Ji said euphoric.

"You know who I am?" Ana asked Eun-Ji.

"The whole town does. You are like a celebrity." Eun-Ji said. Ana looked at her confused. "It has been a while since we got a new English teacher for the elementary school." Eun-Ji said excited. "Besides, it is a small town, everyone knows everyone." She said. Ana nodded. "What can I get you?" Eun-Ji asked her.

"Oh, I'll get an iced americano." Ana told Eun-Ji.

"Coming right up." Eun-Ji told Ana.

"How old are you?" Ana asked Eun-Ji, impressed with her barista skills.

"I'm thirteen, but will turn fourteen in a month." She told her. Ana nodded impressed. Eun-Ji finished Ana's coffee and handed it to her. "That would be ₩3,000." Eun-Jin told Ana. Ana fetched her wallet and handed Eun-Ji the money.

"Well, I'm going to keep exploring. Nice to meet you." Ana said to Eun-Ji. She picked her coffee and left. As she walked away from the coffee shop, she noticed the store next door. It was a bookstore. She went inside and it was empty, she found an old man sitting behind the counter. She gave him a bow and he bowed back. She started to walk around the aisles. Something about the place felt familiar, almost like home.

She kept walking, exploring, reading the sides of the books, wishing she was more advanced on her Korean skills so she could take a couple of books and go read. She walked to the end of the store and back, reading all the titles of the books on the shelves. She walked back to the front part of the store, and a tall young man was walking in. His face was covered by a beanie and a face mask. His eyes met hers as she walked out of the store. She could have sworn she had seen those eyes before. However, she couldn't wrap her finger around the where. She decided to drop it and kept on exploring the town.

++++

It has been three years since she moved to this town. After her two-year scholarship was over, the school offered her a full-time job position, and she gladly accepted. The two years that her scholarship lasted, she became fond of the town and its people. She began to give English lessons to adults under an after-hours program created by the same school. She also became friends with the bookstore owner, the same old man who was sitting behind the counter when she first arrived at the store. It turned out he was also the father and grandfather of the owners of the coffee shop next to the bookstore, whom she also befriended. During the summer breaks and the weekends, she would help Eun-Ji with her English skills and would even help her study for her exams. In turn, Eun-Ji helped her with her Korean. She created the habit of going to the coffee shop in the afternoon after she was done at school and sit down in one of the back tables and just read. Today was not different.