illit oneshots

Bookstore ( P! Minju )

Minju's pov-

I never thought I'd come back here.

Standing outside the old brick bookstore, it was as if time had frozen. The wooden sign still hung from its rusted chains, swaying gently in the breeze.

The same scent of old paper and dust lingered in the air, just like it had on the day we first met.

I hesitated, my fingers curling around the strap of my bag as I stared through the window at the familiar figure behind the counter.

Y/n was there, flipping through a book, lost in their own world like always.

Seven years. Seven long years had passed since I left without a word. Just because of a silly dream of mine.

And now, here I was, standing on the grounds of everything I'd been running from, unsure of whether I had the courage to walk through the door.

I wasn't the same person I had been when I left.

Back then, I was a girl with a heart full of ambition and a suitcase packed with dreams, determined to escape the small town that felt like a cage.

Y/n was my anchor, the one constant in my life, the person who made me feel safe. But that safety had scared me.

It felt too final, too small for the future I imagined for myself. So, I ran. And I didn't look back.

I thought time would help me forget them, that the ache would fade and I'd be able to move on.

But the more I tried to bury my feelings, the stronger they grew, gnawing at the edges of my heart until I couldn't ignore them any longer.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door.

The bell above the entrance chimed, a soft, familiar sound that made my stomach flip. Y/n didn't look up at first, too engrossed in whatever they were reading.

I watched them for a moment, taking in the changes that seven years had brought.

Their dark hair was a bit shorter now, and there was a new hardness in their features that hadn't been there before.

They looked older, more worn, as if life had weighed them down in ways I couldn't have imagined.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a step forward. "Hi, Y/n."

Their head snapped up at the sound of my voice, eyes widening in surprise.

For a moment, they just stared at me, as if they couldn't quite believe I was standing there.

Then their expression hardened, the walls going up as quickly as they had fallen.

"Minju..." they said, with their voice rougher than I remembered. "What are you doing here?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but the words stuck in my throat. What was I doing here? I hadn't planned on coming back.

It wasn't some grand decision to return to my past and make amends.

I had simply found myself standing outside the bookstore one evening, my heart pulling me toward them in a way I couldn't resist.

"I wanted to see you," I finally said, my voice softer than I intended.

Y/n leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. "After seven years, you just decided to show up out of the blue? What do you want, Minju?"

The bitterness in their voice cut through me like a knife. I deserved it, I knew that, but it didn't make it any easier to hear.

"I don't want anything," I said quickly, trying to steady myself. "I just... I never stopped thinking about you. About us."