IQ148 // namjoon ✔️

__DECEMBER__

December; 2013

NamJoon visits the bookstore on a cold, winter day.

He’s immediately shielded from the harsh winds of winter just outside the glass, sliding door. In there, the air is still and makes a person wonder if it really is winter.

This time, he came to the bookstore with a purpose; to find that book Hoseok keeps talking about. But it’s also just an excuse to come to the bookstore.

NamJoon is still familiarizing himself with the place and has found himself visiting more frequently than he actually has to; not even to purchase a book, but just to sit in the courtyard.

He needs a peace of mind now more than ever since BTS had just debuted a few months ago.

“Excuse me,” He approaches the bookstore clerk behind the counter while pulling his scarf below his chin, “Do you have this book in stock?”

The clerk nods and points NamJoon towards the back of the bookstore beyond the courtyard; a section that he has yet to explore.

NamJoon thanks the clerk and pulls his scarf back up to cover his chin and earlobes as he enters the courtyard.

The courtyard is not nearly as cold as it is outside the bookstore, despite having an open roof.

A thin layer of melted snow still remains from the snowfall last night. Everywhere the open roof gave access to is damp; the wood that holds up the building appears darker after soaking up the water.

NamJoon can hear the faint trickle of ice water running down the gutter pipe and downspout. He can see droplets building up at the tops of icicles before finally dropping to the ground in a satisfying drip.

A courtyard frozen in time; a historic bookstore that's surrounded by development, yet refuses to budge.

He avoids stepping in the piles of slush that have fallen onto the wooden boards after sliding down the slanted roof; the feeling of cold, wet socks is not his favorite and he prefers not to walk home in them.

NamJoon follows the awning to the entry at the other side of the courtyard.

He has never entered here before.

His tall physique requires him to duck his head again to avoid colliding with a bookshelf above the doorway.

On the other side, NamJoon is met with shelves overflowing with books, with even more books stacked in piles up to his waist. Some of them have even lathered a thin layer of dust, which shows how rarely people come back here.

There's another doorway and several window panes that open up the cramped space to the street outside, which let's in a cold draft that clears the room of it's musty air.

He breathes in the cold, fresh air that has preserved the smell of ink and paper and freshly printed books.

NamJoon lowers the scarf on his neck as he leans over to peer at the titles engraved in the spines of the books.

He doesn't see the particular book he's searching for at first, but he eventually comes to the realization that it's all organized alphabetically by the author's last name.

He travels through all of the shelves before circling back to the shelf above the doorway.

He spots the book in the middle of the bottom shelf; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

His feet barely leave the ground when he reaches up to grab the book. He pulls it out with ease and handles it with care; holding it as if he's receiving an offering.

NamJoon lightly flips through the pages; not actually processing any of the words, but rather to just hear the breeze that the pages make.

He takes a step forward, through the doorway to enter back into the courtyard while he's still mesmerized by the charming book cover and briefly analyzing it.

A girl with shiny, charcoal, shoulder-length hair and holding a pile of, what appears to be, school work against her chest stops abruptly in her tracks when NamJoon emerges from the doorway. The top of her head barely reaches his neck at her height.

Caught by complete surprise, he freezes on the spot, not realizing that he is blocking the entrance and leaving a meager amount of space for her to pass through.

She lowers her head, hiding her face with her hair, as she narrowly avoids brushing shoulders with him and disappears between the bookshelves where he was just in.

Something about her makes NamJoon take a second glance as she passes by.