“Ah, I’ve finished the book!” ByulHee cheered happily, having just finished her recent storybook. As usual, she was at garden at the back of her house and spent almost three hours there reading. She flipped over the pages of her book again before she caught the glimpse of JongDae, who was checking the perimeter of the garden not far from where she was.

A smile crept on her face as she hollered, “Ahjussi!”

Hearing ByulHee called him, JongDae turned and walked towards her. “What can I help you with, ByulHee? Have you finished your homework?”

ByulHee nodded her head upon the question and said, “Yes, I have. And I have finished this book too, which is the last book that I have. Now I have no more books to read and I’d like to ask you for some recommendations.”

JongDae raised his eyebrows. “My references? Have you tried checking out the other books at the library upstairs? Your parents collect and read a lot of books, you know, and there are some good materials up there.”

“Well, I’ve checked them all out but it feels as if I’ve read most of them before.” ByulHee replied with a sigh. “And most of the books there are about business, politics and history. I’ve already read the ones that are suitable for me so now I’m looking for something new. That’s why I’m asking for your opinion so that I know what I’m going to look for when I go to the bookshop.”

JongDae nodded his head in understanding before sitting on the chair directly across from ByulHee. “Hmm, well, let me see. I do have some great books in mind but I’m not sure whether you’re going to like them or not. What kind of books do you read, ByulHee?”

ByulHee tipped her head to the side, pondering about it for a moment, and then she answered, “Well, anything that is related to life, I guess. I’m fine with fictions, too. But never mind, just tell me about the books you think of briefly and we’ll see whether I’m okay with it or not later.”

JongDae smiled at her answer and shrugged, “Well, okay then. The first book I have in mind is called ‘The Five People You Meet in Heaven.’ It’s about a man named Eddie, aged 83, who sacrificed himself to save a little girl from a falling cart in an amusement park. He then encountered flashbacks in Heaven, and met five people whose purpose was to help him understand his life on Earth.”

“Who were those five people?” ByulHee asked, and JongDae could see interest twinkling in her eyes. “Were they his family members? What did they tell him?”

JongDae chuckled softly and said, “Well, I can’t tell you that now, can’t I? It would spoil the fun. It’d be better if you read it and find out for yourself. But what I can tell you is that, the people he met were both strangers and loved ones, yet each changed the path of his life.”

ByulHee nodded her head upon the explanation and scribbled the title of the book on a pad that she often carried with her. “That sounds very interesting, ahjussi, and I’m really dying to know what they told him. I bet they even talked about his previous life too, hey. All right, any other books you would like to recommend?”

JongDae knew that ByulHee would ask for more, and that she won’t settle with just one, so he quickly searched his mind and luckily, after years of being a book doctor, suggesting books to ByulHee wasn’t actually that difficult.

“Well, in fact I do.” He said. “The second book is one of my favorites, but I’m not sure whether you’ll like it. The genre is Novel-historical fiction, and its title is ‘The Book Thief’. But I have a feeling that you’ll enjoy it though, as it’s actually a very good read.”

ByulHee made a weird face at the mention of ‘historical fiction’, as it was the type of books that she tried to avoid, but since JongDae’s first idea was exciting to her, she’d decided to give the second one a try too. “Well, I guess I’ll give it a shot. Somehow, I have a hunch that you have amazing book suggestions. What’s it about?”

JongDae smiled when she said that and distracted his mind from being nostalgic to focusing on giving the summary to ByulHee. “It’s about a girl named Liesel Meminger, who lived with her foster parents in Germany during the World War II. She had an addiction towards books and would steal them secretly, just so she could read them. It’s a very interesting book, actually and if you dig in really deep into the story, you might discover some things that you wouldn’t even have guessed.”

ByulHee nodded again and wrote the title in her small notebook, so that she won’t forget them. She smiled upon seeing the list and couldn’t deny the fact that she was indeed very ecstatic to go and get them straight away.

“I can’t tell you just how happy I am.” ByulHee said gratefully at JongDae, her grin was spread widely across her face. “I want to ask you for more but I guess I’ll settle with these two first, and then I’ll get back to you for more book suggestions.”

JongDae laughed softly and impulsively patted her head, causing the girl to whine for it made her look like a small kid. “Anyway, since my parents aren’t due home yet, would you mind driving me to the book store real quickly?” she asked, looking at JongDae with her big eyes and tried to make sad faces at him. “They sound very fascinating and I think I couldn’t wait a day longer to get them.”

JongDae then folded his arms on his chest and considered her request. “Well, it’s not actually a problem to take you there, but are you sure you’re done with your homework and other assignments? I don’t want any problems with your parents later.”

ByulHee nodded her head eagerly, hoping that that would convince JongDae that she had really completed all her schoolwork. “I can promise you that I have done all of them, and there is nothing that I leave behind. So can we go to the bookshop now please? Pretty please? At least before my parents are on their way home.”

JongDae laughed at ByulHee’s adorable attempt of begging him, and he could never say no to her. “Very