Bookstore Wars (Minsung)

From The Bottom Of My Heart

"Han Jisung, from the bottom of my heart," Minho started, his hand on his chest. "Fuck you"

Jisung crossed his arms as he glared back at Minho. "Do you always have to be this dramatic?"

"I'm worried that if i don't exaggerate, you won't be able to understand what i mean," Minho spat back with just as much venom.

"Okay" Chan said slowly. "This was not how i imagined book club going"

"You're the one who brought in an illiterate fool," Minho said.

"Fool? Why do you talk like that?" Jisung scoffed.

"Because I'm actually well read," Minho tapped his fingers on the table as he glared at the man who sat across from him. It was lucky that they were in such a far corner of the bookstore that no other patrons could hear the argument.

"All because I said I liked a book," Jisung shook his head.

"No, not because you liked a book, but because you actually enjoyed The Ex Hex" Minho threw his hands up. He thought he was joining a club where he could find like-minded people who wanted to go into detail about quality pieces of literature. He had no idea he was signing up to argue with Jisung about rom-coms with no substance.

Jisung had no idea he would be dealing with book snobs. Art was subjective, but Minho seemed to think he was the final judgment over whether or not a book was good. Jisung had no intention of rolling over on this topic. He rarely ever stopped himself from getting into a debate, even if Chan heavily discouraged his argumentative tendencies right before they went.

Hyunjin took a sip of his iced coffee as he watched the two glare at each other. "I, for one, think romance is a valid genre"

"Every genre has validity," Minho allowed. "But specifically modern romance has a tendency to be empty. Do we really need another enemies to lovers with two straight white people where they never actually enemies they just had sexual tension"

"He makes a good point," Seungmin agreed.

"You're generalizing," Jisung said. "You can't write off every romance book"

"Not every romance" Minho pushed out through clenched teeth. "That specific book is, for lack of a better term, dogshit"

"This is not how normal book clubs work," Chan shook his head. "We just have to choose a book that we could possibly enjoy"

"I don't trust his opinion anymore," Minho pointed at Jisung. "He shouldn't get a vote"

"I'm with Minho," Seungmin said.

"Your support means nothing to me," Minho responded without hesitation. It seemed as though no one was going to be spared now that Minho had gotten worked up.

"Are you actively trying to make enemies?" Chan asked. He thought that bringing his separate friend groups together because of their shared interest in art would make the bond closer, but he was quickly finding out that it wouldn't work. He should have known with Minho's intense feelings about books and Jisung's intense feelings regarding just about everything that this would lead to disaster.

"I have an idea" Hyunjin raised his hand. "What if they swapped favorite books to see what the other person enjoys reading? Maybe they'll like the other genre"

Minho pursed his lips slightly but didn't argue. The idea of recommending his favorite books was just too enticing to turn down immediately. However, he didn't have the slightest interest in reading romance.

Jisung smiled, loving the idea of getting the chance to prove Minho wrong. "Let's do it"

"Fine" Minho stuck his hand out. "No lying about how much you like it, no skipping chapters, and no judgments until the end"

"Agreed" Jisung took his hand and made intense eye contact until it was over.

"So I'm taking it we're not all going to agree on what book to read today?" Chan sighed.

"Nope," Hyunjin said, not sounding disappointed at all. This scene was just entirely too entertaining to let slip away. "I want to see how this ends"

Minho and Jisung stood up and made their way to the main area of the bookstore, searching for the perfect book to exchange to the other.

Jisung knew exactly what he was going to give Minho. A book that had enough plot outside of the romance to hold his attention, but an ending that would utterly destroy him and make him believe in true love. It was also a bonus that it wasn't another straight couple. The Song of Achilles was sure to do the job.

Minho looked through the classics section, running over the plot of each book before choosing his personal favorite. Crime and Punishment. It would be hard hitting without using romance as the main plot driver.

They met back in the middle and swapped their selections.

"This is way too long" Jisung held the book up. "The text is so small!"

"What? Can you not handle it" Minho chided. "There was no limit on how long the book could be" he glanced down at the book Jisung had handed him. "You can really tell you get all of your book suggestions from TikTok"

"Shut up," Jisung snapped back. "I think it's only fair you buy me a slice of cheesecake from the cafe to make up for this monster of a book your making me read"

"That wasn't in our agreement," Minho said.

"Fuck the agreement," Jisung said. "It's only fair"

"Fine, have it your way" Minho responded with exasperation. "If it gets you to shut up"

"For future reference, buying me cheesecake will always get me to shut up"

"Duly noted" Minho mumbled back. He bought the cheesecake reluctantly and shoved the plate towards Jisung. "There, happy?"

"Very," Jisung had a wide, childlike smile on his face as he took a bite. "Half of the reason I agreed to show up today was so I could get some of this cheesecake. It's the best kind there is around here, and Chan knew just how to bribe me"

"Ah, so you don't actually like books, that explains a lot" Minho said, taking a seat across from Jisung.

"No, i do" Jisung's voice was muffled by the insane amount of cheesecake he had somehow managed to shove into his mouth. His cheeks puffed up to accommodate just how much food he was holding. He swallowed. "I just told Chan that i didn't want to join a book club because they make you read boring books"

"Hmm," Minho considered that. "I told Chan i didn't want to come because books clubs are usually just excuses for people to gossip for an hour"

To his surprise, Jisung laughed at that. "Well, maybe for Hyunjin"

Minho smiled in return, almost forgetting that this was the same guy he was arguing with not too long ago. He looked at the book Jisung had selected for him and started reading the reviews out loud. "'Wildly romantic'? What are you having me read?"

Jisung tsked. "No judgment until the end, Minho"

"Right," Minho said, still glancing at the reviews with a skeptical eye. It was only one book, he was sure he could through it even if it was awful.

Jisung finished his cake in record time. "Alright, let's get back to the others before Chan calls for a search party"

Minho nodded and followed close behind until they got back to the corner the rest of the group was sitting by.

"Where did you two run off to?" Hyunjin asked with a certain tone in his voice that Minho didn't appreciate.

"We're teaming up to plan your murder" Jisung replied before Minho got the chance to. Normally, that would annoy him, but he thought what Jisung had said was funny so he let it slide.

Hyunjin pouted in response.