s.c.s. ☆ j.jh ☆ ayakashi series | ✔

prologue [four]

☆

The teal door swung open as you confidently stepped through, eyes sweeping for the figure of Sicheng. You guessed he would be in the shop at this time; after all, you didn't know his exact work or class schedule. You didn't even know his surname, for fuck's sake, and you only knew he was a student because your mom had mentioned it to you when she first told you about their new hire a couple months ago. He was one of the rare students at your college who didn't go to your high school as well.

Your mother was at the front desk, surprise turning to joy as she came around the counter to give you a hug, "Hey, sweetheart!"

"Hey, Mom."

"What are you doing here? Don't you have class?"

"Not for another hour," you informed her.

"Cookies for breakfast?" She questioned pointedly, taking note of the remaining cookie in your hand. You'd eaten one on the short walk from Lenticular Café to Bibliophile Books.

Shrugging sheepishly, you couldn't quite explain where you got them from, and instead diverted the topic, "Is Sicheng around?"

"Yeah, he's somewhere in here helping a customer. Why?"

Shit, you didn't have an excuse.

"Uh, we have the same professor for a class, and he wanted to take a look at my notes from lecture the other day."

"You have a class together?"

"No, just the same subject and the same professor. But different times."

"Well, you're welcome to wait up here for him, as long as you don't get in the way of the customers. I have a few deliveries to make."

"I won't, promise. Where's Dad?"

"He's at a book trade downtown for the day."

"Alright, thank you."

"I'll talk to you later, Y/N."

"Bye, Mom."

You leaned against the counter, drumming your fingers as you waited. Minute hums of voices floated through the air from the very back of the store, the owners hidden by the multitude of bookshelves. The voices started nearing you, and you moved yourself back from the counter, fulfilling your promise of not getting in the way of the customers. You popped the last cookie in your mouth, looking around the shop absentmindedly.

The voices stopped getting closer, still concealed by the furniture, and you were able to clearly hear their conversation now.

"Oh, I thought it would be here. I'm sorry," Sicheng was apologizing, presumably to the customer. "Our 17th century European literature is all here."

"That's alright, I knew a first edition Don Quixote was a tall order," a man replied.

You promised not to get in the way of customers, but you had to intervene in that moment, sliding around the corner of a bookshelf to where you knew they were, "All of the first editions are on a different shelf, towards the front!"

The three men all whipped their heads around to look at you. Sicheng's cheeks were already pink from the embarrassment of disappointing a customer, and you were sure you were just making it multiply tenfold. You didn't want to straight-up humiliate him in front of a customer, but you figured that making a sale as big as this one would make up for it. At least as far as the shop's concerned.

The shorter of the other two men with Sicheng regarded you with an intrigued smirk, "Lead the way, miss."

Both of them were wearing rather nice suits, the taller of the two already with a couple books in his hand. The man who'd spoken to you fell into step beside you as you led the way through the winding bookshelves. His companion followed behind you two. With the group being quiet, you could hear your breathing clearly as you felt the man's eyes on you the whole time.