The library was a quiet, peaceful place. Rows of shelves filled with books, that took up most of the place. A couple of desks and chairs were set up, just waiting to be used. There was even a corner for kids where a TV played on low volume and a couple of bean bags and smaller chairs were prepared. The place wasn't just a library, it was also a book shop handled by one chubby cheeks guy.

  "Yoseob ah~"

  At his name being mentioned, the said guy looked up and smiled widely at his red haired friend.

  "Hey hyung."

  "Have you seen Gikwang?" Hyunseung asked, seeming slightly annoyed. "He's disappeared again."

  "I think he's-"

  They were cut off by a loud thud followed by the familiar sounds of books falling, ending with a groan. The two exchanged looks, before Yoseob made his way over to help the guy. Hyunseung was picking up some of the books when one caught his eye, and he ended up sitting on the floor, flipping to the first page. Yoseob pulled the poor guy up, and helped him brush himself off.

  "Thanks hyung," Gikwang said, sheepishly. "I don't know what happened."

  "Yeah, yeah, I'll clean it up later," Yoseob said, not really caring as much as he should.

  "Kiki, what's this?" Hyunseung suddenly asked, holding up the book he was flipping through. His finger pointed at a picture of a familiar flower, it's petal coloured in red and it's green stem covered with small sharp thorns. A beautiful flower that was banned from the kingdom years ago.

  "It's a flower," Gikwang replied, hoping he would drop it.

  "I know it's a flower," Hyunseung replied, getting a bit impatient. "I want to know what kind of flower it is."

  "Rose," Yoseob answered, shortly.

  "Don't tell me what to do!" The prince huffed.

  "No, no, the flower, it's called Rose," Yoseob explained, as he began stacking up the books. Gikwang threw him a look, begging him to stop. He'll be killed if the King found out about this.

  "It's so pretty," Hyunseung said, trailing his finger on the old picture. "Do they come in other colours?"

  "Yeah, there were pink, yellow, white and lots more," Yoseob answered, passing some of the books to Gilwang so he didn't have to see the latter's pout for ignoring him. He knew what he was doing was probably against some kind of law. But Yoseob felt that Hyunseung should know all of this sooner or later.

  "Come on, hyung, the guards must be looking for you," Gikwang quickly said, before more questions were fired. He murmured under his breath, and the books he was holding returned back to it's original place. Yoseob gave him a look, which he glared back at.

  "Can I have this?" Hyunseung asked, his hands already searching through his pockets for gold coins.

  "Sure," Yoseob said, delighted to make the first sale that day. "Though, I think you should keep it hidden so other people won't try and steal it."

  "That's a great idea," Gikwang said, his eyes checking the shop windows for any familiar sight. Luckily, the shop wasn't a place most people were interested in.

  Gikwang tried to take the book from Hyunseung but the latter was faster and held the book away from him, frowning disapprovingly.

  "Get your own book," Hyunseung said, childishly.

  Gikwang sighed, knowing there was no way he could get it. He let Hyunseung pay for it, shooting a look at Yoseob who was busy counting the money. He stopped at the front door when a couple of guys in familiar uniforms caught his sight.

  "Hyunseung hyung, I think you'll have to hide the book somewhere," Gikwang said, reminding him of what Yoseob said, earlier.

  Hyunseung was about to object when he caught sight of the guards himself. He quickly stuff the book in his small pouch, hoping the pages won't crumple. It's been a while since he's gotten anything new. Usually, whatever he gets has to go through his parents first. It was never something he chose, more of what others gave to him. The only thing he could choose for himself was food, even then the chef has to be thoroughly checked. Hyunseung didn't really know what all the fuss was about.

 

•••

The sound of tapping on the door startled Yoseob. The storm outside wasn't exactly helping either. Yoseob carefully held on to the book in his hand, and peeked through the curtain. He could just make out a figure lying outside the door.

  "Appa?"

  He quickly opened the door, fumbling a bit, and was met with his own father passed out. His heart beat fast, as he was soon breathing heavily as he tried to carry his father inside to a warmer surrounding. He shut the door, just as the sound of wind blowing reached his ears. He carried the elder man to his favourite reading chair, and quickly rushed to a small small room in the back, getting a cloth, and a blanket.

  The old man was shivering when he returned. Yoseob carefully wrapped the blanket around him, wondering what happened. His father had left a week ago, promising Yoseob to come back bearing some sort of gift. But instead, Yoseob found him passed out in front of the shop.

  "Appa, what happened?" Yoseob asked, worried. He felt bad for not having some hot chocolate and instead plain warm water for his father.

  "Y-Yoseob, I'm so sorry."

 

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Does the last part sound familiar? No? Well, you'll see.

Haha, this took me weeks to finally update. I'm so sorry, I just needed some proper inspiration and what not. I have lost of this planned out, but if any of you have some ideas or suggestions just tell me.

This will include a couple of fairytales from Cinderella to The Little Mermaid, even if they may just be mentioned very little.

Comment and tell me what you think. Sorry if the boys are a bit ooc.

poster made by Overlord_Nim from ☁ W a n d e r l u s t ☁