J O U R N E Y | hong jisoo [hiatus]

04 ; try hard

'walk straight towards the bus stop. then, turn left and follow that pavement which leads to the mall. the Drift Away Bookstore is located on the 2nd storey of the mall, nearest to the lift'

minkyung looked up from her diary and repeated the lines in her head over and over, trying to memorise them.

she was going back to the bookstore today. mostly, because she wanted to see him again, and because she wanted to get that novel he recommended.

minkyung wasn't really a fan of romance novels. she only went to the Drift Away bookstore because someone said that good aerospace books were sold there. she couldn't remember who but she was glad she did visit the store.

she started making her way towards the mall, feeling the cool breeze blow through her hair.

once she reached the bookstore, she peeked in. she tried looking for a familiar face but it seemed like there were no staff around, just a few customers reading some books.

she pursed her lips into a thin line as she entered the bookstore. where is he?

she decided to leave that thought at the back of her mind and search for that romance novel.

she didn't exactly remember where the romance section was but she knew it was somewhere near the aerospace section. what an odd decision to put romance and aerospace next to each other.

while she searched for the book, she tried her best to make up an image of him in her mind. how hard could it be to remember someone she just met the day before?

thankfully, she caught sight of the novel. it was a good thing she remembered how the cover looked like. though, it seemed that the book was placed higher than it's original postion. the inner corners of her eyebrows creased inwards.

she tiptoed and stretched her arms upwards as far as she could, but she only managed to get the tips of her fingers to touch the book.

she looked around her to find that nobody was near that certain section of books, "ah... there's no one here... how am i supposed to get the book".

she wasn't going to give up easily though, so she tried to tiptoe again. i can't be that short.

"i got it", another arm suddenly reached for the book and placed it in her hands. she stumbled back and realised the owner of the said person.

she pursed her lips, trying to visualise in her head whether his face and the name she remembered matched ,"...jisoo... right?".

he chuckled and nodded his head, "yeah". thank goodness. "you forgot about me so quickly?", he joked.

"no... it's not that-".

"it's fine", jisoo laughed, smiling warmly but minkyung wasn't convinced. he noticed her tensed expression and quickly gave a gentle pat on her shoulder ,"really".

minkyung didn't know why, but she could feel her cheeks starting to heat up. she looked down sheepishly upon the simple action.

jisoo then took a glance at the book she was holding. "you're really going to get the book?", jisoo asked, surprised.

minkyung smiled ,"why not?".

"you don't look like someone who reads romance books," jisoo chuckled, rubbing the back of his nape.

"i don't look like someone who even reads, but here i am", minkyung shrugged, and the two of them went into a fit of laughter.

as the laughter started to die down, minkyung couldn't help but notice jisoo's gentle stare at her. she was feeling even more flustered than before.

"sorry to ruin your moment", jeonghan had walked up to the shelve of books with several more books in his hands, intending to stock up the void slots. "i just need to put these books... there", he gestured to the spot the two were specifically blocking.

jisoo and minkyung hastily moved aside, sharing timid smiles.

"you can go back to what ever you were doing. just pretend that i'm not here", jeonghan smiled, whispering the last sentence cheekily.

jisoo chuckled, stepping closer to minkyung and gently pulling her to another side. "that was jeonghan. looks like an angel, doesn't he?".

minkyung nodded. "he's more of a devil, sometimes", jisoo confessed and the two giggled among themselves.

they started talking about the most random things which came into their minds. most of their conversation was basically pointless, but both felt a pang of happiness being around each other.

finally, after what felt like almost an hour, jisoo was gently putting the book in a paper bag and passing it to its rightful owner.

he knew it was totally unnecessary but he walked her to the bookstore entrance anyway.

they soon bid their goodbyes but just as minkyung was about to leave, something popped into his mind.

"minkyung...!", jisoo called for her back. minkyung turned around to face the latter, a puzzled look on her face.

"hm?".

"would you want to... eat lunch with me sometime?", jisoo asked casually. but in all honesty, his heart was pounding and he could feel himself internally getting flustered.

minkyung's heart was melting ,"sure!". when she finally realised, she instantly regretted how the tone of her response came out. what if there was too much excitement?

"great", jisoo grinned, stopping her train of thoughts and him earning an equally elated smile from her.

and on her way home, she couldn't get that stupid sheepish smile off of her face.