Once again in the Bookstore

Chapter 1

„Scyaram!!"

She held me tightly as I could only stare in silent surprise, quietly suppressing my tears.
Right. I don't deserve someone like her.

It was almost seven months ago. Just a regular friday afternoon. With a book in my hand, I sat in front of the counter in the bookstore. It was my fathers store. He would let me take over business from time to time, because he figured out soon that I myself truly admire books. It's not like he asked me, he simply told me to take over for a little while for a day, and since then it became a casual thing to do. Not that I had any business to attend to. Most of my days I spent at home. School was never an option for me, even though I wished so badly to visit one. My little luck was that I could see the building from my window. So besides mostly reading and studying for myself, I was looking outside every time the school bell was going off. All of the students seemed so happy whenever they could finally get back home. They talked to their friends about things that had happened that day or asked to study together or visit the mall. I envied them. Their lives seemed so much more interesting than my own. Why couldn't I just be like them? Instead of getting ready for school, I had to be helping father with day to day tasks and in my spare time I decided to learn a few things myself. There was an Internet forum for the school nearby I had gained access to and just as the students got grades, I calculated my own results. Surprisingly, I might not even have been one of the bad students as most of the time I had around 75 points. Biology was my favorite subject to learn about. It still didn't feel like it would actually help me out in my actual life though. As I got lost in my thoughts while reading, a girl knocked against the counter and pulled me back to reality as I blinked fast in surprise and faced her. She chuckled. It seemed she was from the school, since she was still wearing her uniform. As she tilted her head a little, her long hair moved aesthetically along.

„Are you okay? You were really caught up in that book, hm?"

With a nod I put the book gently aside and apologized. She only shook her head slightly.

„Say, I was gonna get a book for my sister and she told me this was the store she had been letting it deliver to."

„Oh. Of course. Do you happen to know the title of the book?"

Gently she reached out a little paper with all the information I needed. It didn't take me long to figure out that it wasn't yet delivered, which I, again quite apologetic, let my costumer know. She scratched her head.

„What a shame. When do you think it will be delivered?"

Her dark eyes were seeking desperately for an answer in mine. Nervously I looked away for a moment, yet then back at her again as to not be impolite.

„I'm sure it won't take long. I will try to contact them. If you can find the time then maybe come around tomorrow again or in two days?"

She seemed to be thinking for a moment as she was then taking a paper and wrote up her name and a phone number, gently sliding the little note over the counter with a soft smile.

„How about you just call me if it's here, that would make things a lot easier, don't you think?"

Odna Heugsabyeong. A Korean name. I slightly nodded as she left to the door of the store, yet she stopped for a moment and looked back at me.

„Or if you're bored."

With a wink she left off then, leaving me in confusion as I noticed myself seemingly blushing. Oh no. How embarrassing. Fast I shook off whatever had happened in that moment and quickly tried to contact the delivery company. Another day ended with me closing the shop soon before father arrived with takeout in his hands, seemingly proud of himself. He wouldn't ever cook anything for us two, which I was rather happy for. There was an incident when he tried cooking, however it ended up in the kitchen almost being a chaos and the food being discarded. As we sat at the dining table I had barely been touching the food. He looked at me.

„What's wrong, sweety? Something happen?"

„I..."

I hesitated. We could barely talk about the topic of school. I knew for a fact that I wouldn't be able to go anyways, so there was no use to actually ask him about it. It wasn't his fault. My body was to blame. It was never good at handling stress and I stopped counting for how often I had to go to hospital because of that. Silently I shook my head and took a bite from one of the fries. He kept looking at me before he let out a sigh.

„I've been thinking. When I can afford it, I'd like you to have a pet."

Fast I looked up to him.

„A pet?"

„You're gonna get lonely and sad if you stay alone here when I can't be around, and it's been getting more frequent that I gotta leave somewhere. So, I want you to have someone when you have to stay by yourself. An emotional support. How does that sound?"

Without hesitations I agreed with a nod.

„I would love to have an owl."

He blinked.

„An owl? Sweety, they're night active. They need nature around them to haunt for little animals. I don't think it would be happy around this place. I thought about a cat maybe, or a dog..."

„The bookstore is decorated with greens, and we have a garden."

„That doesn't guarantee it will stay with you, not that it would be your fault, really. I'm certain you'd take good care of it, but the environment might not be right and it might wanna fly away. You get me?"

„Can't we at least try?"

He took a fry and put it in his mouth, thinking. It sure was an interesting animal to keep as a pet. We stayed silent for a moment and then he started talking again.

„Alright. You better take care of it tho."

A big smile spread on my face and I hugged him thankfully.