May 9th, 2013

12:06 PM

A quiet-brimmed building was hidden by rows and towers of books as endless trails of spines lined each wall and filled the spaces in between. The sound of pages turning and feet tapping against wooden floors signaled a calm response. Movement was only seen in the shadows, slowly making its way across the floor, telling curious eyes when the sun was ready to sleep. Amidst this gentle environment a short figure bounced back and forth between rows, pushing a small cart in front of her. Loud aches came from aged wheels as she rolled the book heavy device around—actions that were only ripples in an otherwise quiet lake.

The woman, who stood short of the tall bookcases, reached high to return lost items back to their homes. She wore a skirt that measured a few inches above her knees and black tights to hide her exposed legs. Boasted below, she towered a few inches higher thanks to a pair of small heels. A chunky sweater hung from her shoulders, making a day’s work much more enjoyable, and long, curled hair was pulled high into a ponytail, leaving displaced strands to be tucked behind an ear. Her face was round and simply donned a few swipes of blush, and her eyes were big and brown, mimicking the color of the shelves around her. The girl hidden amongst books was a diamond in the rough, waiting to be discovered.

Her name was Eunhye, Nam Eunhye. To describe the times, she was like any other struggling college student; there were unknown bills stacking up with each textbook read and frightening expectations to be met. Enjoyment was hard to come by when a student’s head was always stuck in preparing for the future. Taking time to travel around rows of books was only meant to help aid study, not for entertainment. Eunhye was just caught in the times; to further education, she needed money—to make money, she needed a job. That’s where this quiet landscape came into play. She found herself signing up to replace the lost and found, and donning the title of librarian, she gained little help in reaching her future.

“Books, books, books, an endless stream of books...” Eunhye muttered under her breath as she looked down to her cart—it was still stacked high with them. Weaving herself in and out of tight columns, she slowly emptied the load. Taking a rather large book in her hand, she looked for its place on the shelf high above. A deep sigh rumbled through her chest, stirring up the quiet atmosphere for she knew her short stature was about to come to an inconvenience to her once again. Her limbs soared for the destined spot, but they fell short; the shelf was just out of reach. The sigh turned into worry as she continued to make the stride, but it wasn’t until a pair of larger hands helped her out that the book finally found its place.

Eunhye didn’t notice the warm brown eyes at first, but she soon felt their presence as they fixated themselves on her. Looking beside her, she set her gaze upon the man that would soon consume her heart. A fresh smirk plastered onto full lips and hair danced across a forehead in lazy waves; black as the ink written in books. He wore a simple outfit: jeans and a warm sweater that unsuccessfully hid a turtleneck. Eunhye locked eyes with his and felt a pound in her chest.

“Can... can I help you?” The words stumbled out of Eunhye’s mouth, struggling with a lack of breath. She turned around fully, placing her back against the book chart, trying putting space between her and the man. She could feel her hands grow sweaty as she gripped the metal for support. What was wrong with her? He was just a guy trying helping a girl put a book away. Well, maybe that wasn’t what was wrong. It was the fact that this situation had even presented itself; it was like a scene out of any cheesy romance novel. She needed to sweep away her youthful thoughts and focus on her job.

The tall man’s smirk grew a bit as he took a step back. “Looks like you’re the one who needed help. The reach looked... a little too much for you,” his deep voice sounded through the paged columns. He laughed and shook his head, letting his gaze be placed back on Eunhye’s. Those brown eyes seemed to greet her quickening heartbeat. “I was actually looking for a book. I thought you could give me a hand in finding it,” he continued, placing his hands behind his back and rocking on the soles of his feet.

“I can do that,” Eunhye mumbled with speed, feeling a blush enter her cheeks. She quickly spun around and put her hands on the cart. “What’s the name of the book?” Instead of her words flowing out of , they seemed to race.

“That’s a good question,” the man commented, walking beside the cart, hands still behind his back. It was like he was a child, but Eunhye knew by his aura that he was far from it.

“You don’t know the name?” Eunhye asked, occupying her eyes with the books on the cart and not on his brown eyes—on anything else other than his gaze. “What about the author? Genre?” At least now the task at hand was distracting her from the brown eyes above; certainly a help in curing her flustered being.     

“I can’t put a finger on the author... but it’s a book full of poetry,” the man said, looking down at Eunhye needlessly organizing the books on the cart. “It has a red cover and spine. That’s all I remember. My father used to read it to me. Something about love and eyes...” he trailed off, letting his thoughts wander somewhere else. ‘Poetry?’ Eunhye thought. That was an odd thing for a guy to read about. Poetry was meant for eyes that were stricken with tears, heavy hearts, or scholarly minds, not for a smirking man like him—could he really belong to some romance book?

“Poetry… hmm. That’s this way,” Eunhye commented in a rushed manner, moving the cart in the direction of the man’s wants. They walked slowly through the maze of books even though Eunhye wanted to run with all of the adrenaline pumping through her veins. She led the warm eyes and could feel them on her the whole way. This type of staring would have scared any person, making their hearts race in worry, but it made Eunhye’s scamper with a different kind of nerve: she was excited to have a man’s attention like this. Well, even if he was just asking for help in finding a book, she couldn’t help but notice his actions in doing so. This had to be out of a fairytale.

“Alright, here are the poetry books,” Eunhye announced, stopping at a tower of shelves. Her eyes scanned the racks, seeing many red spines sticking out. This was going to be a tedious job. “Um, you said a red spine?” Her eyes trailed to the man standing beside her in question, and he nodded in response. Turning away before the brown eyes met hers, she focused on the daunting task in front of her.

“Yeah, a red one. I guess that isn’t much to go on,” the man laughed, running his hands through his wavy hair. Eunhye nodded in answer, mentally letting out a sigh, and reached out for the first red book she saw. The description of the book hardly did anything to tackle his request; a book doesn’t speak by its cover, but rather by its words—a cover can change just like the sky above.

The search amounted to many red books scattering the floor below them. Eunhye would open a book, read a few lines, and then look back to the man to see if it rang any bells. Each time she did, he shook his head and reached for a new book. The clock ticked away with speed and shadows soon were felt. Poetry filled the air around them, setting the stage for deep red cheeks and wandering gazes. Eunhye quietly read words of love, embarrassed at the blunt descriptions of beating hearts, and she felt like her own was about to spring from her chest, crying out at each romance heard. The man judging the words started to notice the color filling her cheeks, but only responded with a gentle smile. He looked away from her, trying to hide his own blush that slowly appeared with each line read. The quiet library was interrupted with the sound of hearts racing out of control.

The number of red spines dwelled down, leading to only a few left on the shelves. Eunhye picked another from the packed rows, letting the book fall open to a random page. Her eyes scanned the ink quickly before picking out a line to read:

“What if it was me,

The eyes that are looking at you inside.

If my heart that longs for you becomes a small star

At least from far away, at least in my heart-”

“I will warmly shine on you.” The words came from above the text. Eunhye looked up in wonder, hearing the line flow from the eyes beside her. Brown eyes filled hers, taking away any breath that managed to enter a full heart. In that moment, she knew that gaze would fall on her all too often.

Those eyes became a repeating image in Eunhye’s life. The man often came back to check out the red book, greeting her with a small smirk that eventually turned into a smile. His name was Kim Jongin, and his position in life was much like hers: a hesitant student following taught words to an uncertain future. They exchanged small conversation each time he entered the library, but most of the talking was done with shy looks. Soon enough, though, her heart became accustomed to the man and it didn’t want to jump in every time he stood in front of her. She looked forward to his presence and found herself waiting for him to come back with the red book in hand. It was the only one he checked out and returned. Week after week, it was still the same book.

One day, Eunhye put on a nervous smile and asked Jongin about it: “Why don’t you just buy that book? You can’t seem to put it down,” she commented, bringing a hesitant gaze to his brown eyes.

“That’s a good point, but…” Jongin stopped mid sentence, bringing his gaze to the book, then back to Eunhye’s. Leaning in closer, he put on a familiar smirk, “If I bought it, I wouldn’t have a reason to come and see you.”  

Visits to return the red book led to late night meetings outside of the library. Jongin soon replaced the book with Eunhye’s hand, walking with her each day instead of spending the daylight buried within written lines of love. That hold turned into deeper gazes, connecting a pair warm brown eyes together. His heart was spilled to hers, and she shyly placed her lips on that smirking mouth. Their lives entangled together, and they began to write their own story.