Zephyr | Lee Felix

Chapter 15

The moment Hyunjin steps into Eugene's apartment, his eyes widen in surprise. The first thing that catches his eye is the seashells lining the walls, the blues and whites creating a peaceful and coastal vibe that he wasn't quite expecting.

He takes in the blue and white artwork and furniture, the colours both calming and soothing to his senses. His gaze moves to the bookshelves, packed with a variety of books, and he can't help but feel a sense of curiosity about her taste in literature.

"You read too?" He asks, a small smile appearing on his lips as he stands in front of the bookshelf.

"Yes, I do." She replies, "I see, you're a fellow reader, huh?"

"Just... a little bit." He turns to her with a shy smile, "Sometimes I'd read poems before going to bed. But I haven't gotten to do that these days thanks to our peak assignment week."

Eugene returns his smile with a hint of sympathy in her eyes. "I can imagine. Anyway, I'll prepare some late snacks really quick. Feel free to look around or have a seat." She offers.

Hyunjin mutters a small thanks before his eyes return to the bookshelves to browse her collection. As he skims through the various titles, he notices a variety of genres ranging from fiction to non-fiction, and even some academic books.

Oh. Atomic habits. The familiar title brings a small smile to his lips. He remembers reading the same book, though, he ends up not finishing it.

Hyunjin grabs the book from the shelf, surprised to see the number of annotations and page marks that the girl has left. His fingers glide over the marks, a tiny chuckle of amusement escaping his lips as he flips over the pages to have a quick look.

Even sticky notes? Looking at self-written comments on the book only piques his interest in her even more. Even their friend, Christopher, who's an academic person and a tutor, isn't the kind to annotate books like this.

"Eugene?" He calls out to her softly. The sounds of the cutting board in the kitchen area soon stop, and the girl peeks her head out of the kitchen, "Hm?"

"Do you... do you mind if I—uh. Borrow this?" Hyunjin lifts up the decorated book with a shy smile.

"Of course. Feel free to borrow others too, I've finished most of them." She grinned before going back to cutting up the fruit platter by the counter.

"Thanks." He says, keeping the book in his hand as he browses for more.

As his hand glides over the spines of the books, he stumbles upon one that looks different from the rest. A white book decorated with golden leaves on its spine. He takes the beautifully designed book out of the bunch. Golden flowers and leaves decorate the cover, and much to his surprise, the book has no... title.

The male flips the front page regardless, only to be greeted by a picture of Eugene with her radiant smile captured beautifully under her white umbrella under the summer rain.

Hyunjin gazes down at the picture of Eugene, feeling an unfamiliar sensation stirring within him. He observes her smile and the way the rain falls around her, making the image almost, surreal.

So effortlessly beautiful.

His eyes then travel to a surprisingly, familiar handwriting underneath the picture.

Eugene Park from the eyes of... Christopher Bang? 

He feels his heart stop at that moment. Did he accidentally discover something that he isn't supposed to know? His thoughts start racing, searching for an explanation, but all he can come up with is bewilderment.