Book Exchange Romance | A Kim Namjoon FanFic

Chapter 6 - Namjoon

He saw her come inside the store. Thankfully he had his mask still on. He acted quickly and fetched his wallet and left his uncle some bills, bowed and walked out. He felt her eyes on him. He walked to his car and got inside.

"Are we leaving?" The driver asked Namjoon. He shook his head.

"I'm just hiding." Namjoon said. He looked through the window and saw her leave the bookstore and enter the coffee shop. He got out of the car and went back to the bookstore. His uncle was smiling.

"You got a present." His uncle said, sliding a book on the counter. He also opened the register and gave Namjoon his money back. Namjoon put the money in his pocket.

"What is this?" He asked his uncle, taking the book in his hands. He noticed the post-it flag sticking out. He opened the book where the flag was. He saw that it was marked, and it read "Read me". It was a short story. It was written in English.

"She left it here for you." His uncle said. Namjoon nodded.

"I think I'm going to leave early today." Namjoon said. His uncle nodded. Namjoon picked up the book and left the store and walked back to the car. He jumped inside. "Let's go back." He said to the driver. The driver nodded and started to drive. After a while, he was back in Seoul and back at the dorm. He walked to the living room and there was Yoongi and Taehyung watching TV. He sat down beside Taehyung.

"You're back." Taehyung said. Namjoon nodded. "Good. We were just debating what to order for dinner." He said. "What about pizza?" He asked.

"I'm cool with it." Namjoon said. He got the book out of his bag and went to the story the girl recommended.

"Great. I'm going to ask the rest what they want." Taehyung said and started to type on his phone.

Namjoon started to read. He couldn't understand why she picked this short story for him, but he read it anyway. When he was finished, he slammed the book close and flung it onto the coffee table. Yoongi and Taehyung looked at him confused. Namjoon leaned his back on the sofa and crossed his arms on his chest. He was pissed. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his legs with his hands entwined together in front of his face. He was angry, confused, and overall, overwhelmed.

"Hyung, are you okay?" Taehyung asked him. Namjoon got up, picked up the book from the coffee table and left the living room. Taehyung looked at Yoongi confused. Yoongi just shrugged.

Namjoon walked to his room and walked to the desk he had there. He opened the notebook he had there and started to write. In a matter of minutes, he had three pages filled with words. He ripped them out of the notebook, folded them and put them inside an envelope. He put it on his bag, he was gonna leave the note for her the next day when he went back to the town.

After that exchange, for the next month, the girl and him spent it exchanging books and notes about what their thoughts on the books they exchanged were. He would leave her a book and the next day, she would do the same along with some notes on the book he gave her. Sometimes it was full books, sometimes it was short stories, and sometimes it was poems. This time was no exception. She left him, as she nicely put it, "my most precious jewel" for him to read. It was The Da Vinci Code by American author Dan Brown. He had never heard of the book before, but he decided to give it a try.

As he started to read, he got fascinated by the mysterious elements of the book. However, he was left very confused. In some parts, he had to reread in order to get the picture the author was trying to paint. He researched words like 'the priory of Sion' and 'the holy grail' in order to understand a bit better the book she gave him. Still, after finishing the book, there were many questions left unanswered. What struck him the most was the most repeated quote in the book."The Holy Grail 'neath ancient Roslin waits. The blade and chalice guarding o'er Her gates. Adorned in masters' loving art, She lies. She rests at last beneath the starry skies." As he was finishing the last page of the book, there was a knock on his door.