Book Exchange Romance | A Kim Namjoon FanFic

Prologue - The Girl

She was sitting at her usual place, in the back of the coffee shop. She had a book between her hands. An iced americano was placed in front of her.

"Unnie, what are you reading this time?" The sixteen-year-old girl asked. Eun-ji, a vivid sixteen-year-old who dreamed of becoming a doctor, was standing in front of her. She had a heart-shaped face, a bob haircut that came up to her shoulders and bangs, her face was adorned with round dove eyes. The girl seating at the table closed her book and looked at Eun-ji. Eun-ji was looking back at her with a smile.

"I am reading Anxiety of Words by Choi Seung-ja. You should read it. You would like it." She told Eun-ji.

"Unnie, you know I don't read a lot like you." She said.

"How is your English class going?" The girl at the table asked Eun-ji.

"It's going." Eun-ji said, walking away. The girl at the table shook her head and smiled. She resumed reading. She was on the last pages of the book. She picked up her americano and got a sip from it. When she finished the book, she stood up and left the coffee shop. "Unnie, are you coming back tomorrow?" Eun-ji asked the girl.

"You know I come every day." She said and waved goodbye. The girl walked to the bookstore next door. It belonged to an old man she had grown quite fond of. She opened the door and the little bell on top of the door rang.

"And my favorite client comes. Don't tell me you already finished the book?" The old man asked the girl.

"Haraboji, you know I'm a quick reader." She said bowing. She walked to the register where the old man was sitting. "Any new recommendations?" She asked the old man.

"My child, I have ran out of recommendations for you." He said chuckling. She smiled and looked down. She adjusted her round glasses.

"Aish, you are telling me that in this massive bookstore of yours, there is not another recommendation?" She asked him.

"I'm afraid I have run out of them." He said.

"Fine. I'll research some books and come back tomorrow." She said. She gave the old man a bow and left.

She walked back to her apartment, a studio apartment in the middle of a small town in South Korea. She moved there on a scholarship to teach English to elementary school kids for two years. Later on, the school hired her permanently after her scholarship ended. She met haraboji the first week she arrived to the town. She wandered through the small town and ended up at his store. Haraboji, whose name is Beom-Seok, is the owner of the bookstore and his daughter is the owner of the coffee shop next door. She arrived to her apartment and went to her computer. She searched Korean poetry books. Being the English Literature major that she was, she had a fascination with literature, and her Korean skills granted her the access to read these books in their native language. She spent the next couple of hours compiling a list to give to haraboji next day after she got out of school.

The next day, after finishing teaching, she walked the small-town streets to the bookstore, greeting their people every now and then. When she arrived, she found haraboji in the same place she left him yesterday.

"I'm going to start believing you are glued to that chair haraboji." She said walking to him and giving him a bow. Haraboji laughed. She opened her purse and got a piece of paper. "I got a list." She said placing the piece of paper on the counter. Haraboji took it and looked at it.

"I don't have any of these, except for this one." He said pointing to one of the books on the list. It was First Person Sorrowful by Ko Un. "However, I also have another book for you." He said, looking under the counter and getting a book. It was New Dimensions, Volume 3 by American author Ursula K. Le Guin, however the book was in Korean. The book was a compendium of her short stories. She had heard about the author before but has not read anything by her. She picked the book and flipped through it. There was a note in one of the short stories. It was "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" the title was underlined and it had the word "Read me" on red. She looked at haraboji confused.

"What is this?" She asked him.

"A book." He said.

"I know is a book. But is marked." She said. She looked down at the book again and back to haraboji.

"Someone bought it for you." He said. "When you left yesterday without having any new recommendations, the person that bought it was here and heard our conversation. He decided to leave you this book." Haraboji said.

"He?" She asked him.

"Yes. He." Haraboji said. "You can take it. He payed for it." He said. She looked at haraboji with a questioning look. "He's a regular. He is trustworthy. If he recommended the book it's because he knows what he is talking about." Haraboji said.

"Ok, I will trust you then." She picked the book and placed it inside her purse. "I'll come back tomorrow for the other one." She said. She gave haraboji a small bow and went to the coffee shop next door. She went to sit at her usual table. She got the book out of her purse and flipped through the book, landing on the short story that was marked. "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas." She started to read.

"With a clamor of bells that set the swallows soaring..."