silent reader | hwiyoung

s

It was weekend. Finally, echoed in his mind while he was dressing up. The boy put on his casual clothes - plain white shirt, black jeans and random sneakers that he found in his closet. Since it was already late spring, the boy only put on a thin jacket and grabbed his cap.

Like every singe weekend, Hwiyoung was heading to the town library. It was his hobby, his life and his everything. After the tragedy, he found himself drowning in reading, especially fantasy books. Hwiyoung had to take off his mind off that horrible event, he wanted to do everything, but think about the death of his best friend.

Reading helped him to escape the reality. The boy started living in the world of his favourite characters. All he did was studying, reading, sometimes eating and sleeping. Going outside without much of a reason rarely ever happened. This was now going on for almost two years.

His friends? They left him, because they couldn't stand the guilt after doing all the wrong things to Chani. Chani, who was Hwiyoung's best friend and is no longer here. They took Chani away from Hwiyoung and now left him all alone in this cold and cruel world.

{◇}

Weekend, so boring, thought she. Aeyeon was the definition of hyper and fun. If you have seen her being sad and crying, you are probably one of the most special ones out there, because she usually doesn't show that side of her personality.

Aeyeon was new to this town and has lived here only for a couple of weeks, but she already found new friends. Moving from a big city, to this little town where everybody knows each other was quite interesting for her. She quickly became known to everyone, since new faces weren't very frequent here.

So why were weekends so boring to her? No school meant no friends, because they were always busy at the weekends. She had no choice but to sit home, since her parents didn't allow her to travel alone. Even though she was soon turning seventeen years old, her parents seemed to think that she was still a little girl who needed her parents for every step she made.

"Yeona, why don't we go to the town library today?" her mother asked while they were eating their breakfast. Aeyeon's father was at work, he often worked at the weekends too.

"Sure," the girl answered and smiled. Even though she didn't read much anymore, because she simply didn't have time for it, she liked the atmosphere in libraries. The calm silence and smell of books. Enchanting.

{◇}

"Good morning, Hwiyoung, you are always the first visitor," the librarian smiled to him while she opened the front door of the library. He greeted Ms. Kim and found his seat. It was at the back of the library, where the section of fantasy books was placed. There was a tiny table for one, but there were two chairs. He was sometimes wondering if the librarian put the table there on purpose, because she knew about his situation.

Of course the librarian knew, after all, everyone in the town knew about him. He was considered as the inadequate of the town, everyone looked at him with the 'oh, poor kid' look on their faces, but they never did a thing to help him. They even avoided talking to him. The librarian was the only person in this town who was actually treating him just like anyone else. He felt thankful for that, but never said it outloud.

"Good morning, ladies," Hwiyoung heard the librarian greeting someone else while he was looking for the book he read last time. He was surprised, a visitor in the library this early was a rare thing. The usual number was around 10 visitors per day, but everyone would come after lunch or in the evening. This was something new.

{◇}

"Good morning," Aeyeon and her mother greeted the librarian back. Her mother continued talking with the librarian, while Aeyeon's eyes were scanning the library. It was just like she imagined, even better, it was empty. Quiet and empty, so peaceful and at the same time, intimidating, thought she.