Whisper Of The Wind [ONF FF]

Chapter 5

"Excuse me..." He softly spoke as stepped foot inside, his voice being accompanied by the chiming of a bell which announced his presence to the whole place. He glanced to the right, glanced to the left, it looked like no one was around.

Out of confusion Yuto walked back towards the entrance of the shop, carefully analyzing the door to make sure he hadn't walked into a closed shop. That would not be good as a first day in town experience. Upon checking that he hadn't done something possibly illegal by his own family rules, he finally took in the interior of the place.

The shop was filled with tall wooden irregular bookshelves, made with different sized logs and stocked with books of all colors and sizes, along with strings of red and gold hanging from their sides. There was also a plethora of plants on the inside, exotic colors and shapes adorning what would've otherwise been blank spaces.

Yuto observed with fondness the different trinkets hidden in plain sight, from small wood-carved animals to jewelry, pocket watches, old journal pages, etc. The shop's illumination came from the outside light, along with a bunch of graceful chandeliers hanging down from the ceiling. There were many details like these that made the shop truly seem like something out of a fairytale.

For a few fleeting moments Yuto had been wondering if he had actually mistakenly walked into a dream. A dream was exactly how it felt, be it from the lack of people or from the ethereal sights the shop offered.

He neared a specific bookshelf, allowing his fingers to gently graze the book spines. Some books he could recognize, romances that he had once read by sneaking into the palace's library. Fiction was a practice he liked to indulge in, to imagine himself in the shoes of whatever protagonist the book depicted.

Yuto moved from shelf to shelf, talking to himself about whatever thoughts ran through his head. One particular hat hung on a nearby bookshelf called his attention, his fingers grazing it gently as he picked it up to look at it. He was so lost in his own bubble, his own dream, that he had failed to notice someone had been watching him the whole time.

It was only when he let the book he had been holding fall that he noticed someone else was in the room. A hand reached for the fallen book, offering it back to Yuto's own.

"My apologies but may I know what did the poor book ever do to you?"

Yuto stepped back, startled by the sudden presence of someone else in the room. His cheeks burned a soft hue of red as he placed the book back where it belonged, doing the same with the hat he had previously grabbed. The stranger was exquisite in appearance, not quite like anyone Yuto had ever seen. Yuto could only categorize him as a unique beauty.

"How long have you been watching me?"

The stranger smiled, leaning against a bookshelf as he gestured to the entirety of the shop. Yuto felt weak at the knees.

"Taking it as I work here, ever since you came in through those doors."

Yuto really wished for it to be a dream at that point. He hadn't been as embarrassed in his whole life as he had been that day. It felt new and refreshing but it also felt somewhat frustrating.

"I am most sorry, I should have let you know of my presence sooner but I found your thoughts to be very interesting to listen to."

Yuto ignored the other's words, turning back towards the books he had previously been interested in. "Are you the owner?"

The shopkeeper nodded, smiling widely. "What do you find of it? I myself am mesmerised by it every day."

"Beautiful." Yuto professed, not sure what exactly he was referring to anymore. He moved to another pair of bookshelves, being followed by the shopkeeper who kept asking him questions to which he gave no answer.