chapter two; a gift

A book is a gift you get to open again and again

-Garrison Keillor

»  Luhan was walking down the street with Sarang. Her birthday was coming up in a week, and he wanted to see what she took an interest in so he could go ahead and get it for her. Shopping for a girl was easy, but Sarang was different from the other girls. Usually Luhan could just buy her a book, but...where's the fun in that?

Luhan held Sarang's hand as they looked through the tiny stores, getting dukkbokki to share. "Ahh," Luhan instructed as he held one out to Sarang. She smiled a little and opened for him. Luhan smiled in satisfaction, feeding himself one since he knew Sarang wouldn't feed him. It was just the way she was.

Suddenly, Sarang stopped. Luhan turned to see her looking at an old bookstore with sparkling eyes. Some of the things in the store were so old they were still written in Chinese characters. Well, Sarang could read them, but that was beside the point. Luhan chuckled to himself. "Of course," he said with a grin. "It's always you and books."

"You have something against books?" she shot back with an arched eyebrow. Luhan shook his head. "Of course not. You just love them a little more than me, Sarang. Come on, let's go in."

The two ventured into the tiny, cramped store. It smelled of dry, old books and something warm like cinnamon or pumpkin spice. Luhan and Sarang smiled widely, loving the atmosphere. "It's so...pretty," they said at the same time. Then they looked at each other with small smiles.

"Ah, I sense kindrid spirits in the both of you," an old, somewhat raspy voice commented. The two turned to see an old ahjumma hobbling out of a beaded doorway with a small smile. "The both of you are true book lovers, I can tell. And lovers as well?" She raised an eyebrow.

Both of them blushed as they shook their heads. "We're friends," Sarang explained in a quiet voice, pulling her hand from Luhan's. Luhan frowned a little bit, and the ahjumma caught it. She chuckled. "Young love," she commented. "So naive. come, both of you. I think I know what you're searching for."

Sarang tilted her head, but Luhan was interested. He took Sarang's hand again, leading her after the ahjumma. They entered another area of the bookstore, both Luhan and Sarang looking around curiously.

"You, young man," said the ahjumma, "will find what you're looking for over there." She pointed to a corner. Luhan blinked, then slowly walked where she pointed, his hand slipping from Sarang's.

"And you, young lady," said the ahjumma with a smile. "I have something special for you. Something meant for you." Sarang tilted her head, curious to see if this was some sort of sales pitch. She produced an old, leatherbound book. There was no title on the front cover, nor on the spine of the book. It kind of looked like a journal.

"What is this?" Sarang asked curiously as the ahjumma handed her the book. The ahjumma smiled. "Don't open it here. Only open it when you're alone. Don't worry, he'll explain everything." She smiled knowingly.

"Who--" Before she could finish her question, Luhan came back. The ahjumma smiled. "Find it?" Luhan smiled brightly and nodded. "I'll come back for it tomorrow."

"Of course. Goodbye~" she called as they left. Sarang opened , asking how much the journal was. The ahjumma smiled and shook her head. "Free of charge. It will bring you love," the ahjumma murmured to Sarang so Luhan wouldn't hear. "Treat him well, dear. Goodbye!"

On the way home, Luhan held onto Sarang's hand. He looked at the old book in her hands. "What did she give you?"

Sarang blinked. "Oh, nothing. Just an old book." She gave him a reassuring smile. "What did you find anyway?"

"Nothing." He gave her an eyesmile. "Now come on, I'm hungry. Let's go eat before rush hour." He tugged on her hand, dragging her to a restaurant, smiling mentally. She was going to love the present he found for her.