You took a quick step back behind the next aisle to hid yourself.

You inhaled... hard.

Why were you acting this way? You asked yourself. You knocked yourself on the head.

This was nothing. You're calm. You're cool. You're Nora.

What would the badass females that you read about do in this situation?

You strutted over to him as you made it a point to switch your hips side to side.

You stood over him and snatched the book out his hand.

You turned the book over and read the cover and smirked, "The Alchemist?"

He stared at you doe eyed. He slowly rose up; his back still against the book shelves. You leaned in and rest your hands on the bookshelf blocking the side of his head and your head moved closer to him.

"Your style in books... I like." You breathed out as you your lips.

He crossed his arms over his chest and he tightly closed eyes and puckered his lips...

What?! You shook the scenario out of your head. You're not a ert. Who does that? Maybe a gentler approach? Less Casanova-y?

You swiftly glided past him without paying attention to him as you spot your book at the most top shelf. You tipped toed in attempt to get it. However the book was still out of your reach. You breathed in as you attempted a second time to reach for the book when a hand reached over you and grabbed the book. You felt the warmth of a body behind you as you turned around. You were only met with his chest. As you looked up, your eyes were locked with his. Somehow as if there was some sort of gravitational pull that drew you two closer... your lips, now were inches apart... You saw his eyes now staring hungrily at your lips, he slowly moved in and…

You snapped out of your daydream! No! Your mom taught you better than to be a damsel in distress! You raised your hands to cover your face hoping to hide any pinks that might've seeped through your cheeks.

Well that's that, you smiled to yourself. That's the extent to any "romantic relationship" that you allowed yourself with any guy; through your imagination. You only allowed yourself to live your romantic life vicariously through books and dramas. When you had little crushes, you'd come up with little scenarios in your head and over time the idea of a relationship with them faded away as you got bored. No arguments. No animosity. No awkward break ups and the best part, no one got hurt and you go on living your life unaffected. You've been so busy with school, your internship, friends and family that you haven't even given a second thought to any guys. Jinyoung was a surprise but he wasn't going to be any different. You didn't expect anymore from him. You pushed yourself off the bookshelves to leave.

"Nora?"

Your heart almost came out your mouth.

. Be cool.

You turned. Paused. Then tried to give him a quizzical look, "...... Oh! Hey!...Jinyoung right?"

Was that cool enough?

"Yeah... I met you last night with BamBam." he replied and those lines under his eyes reappeared with his smile.

"Oh yeah! How are you? What are you doing here?" Idiot! It's a freakin bookstore! You wanted to smack yourself as soon as those words left your lips.

You’re pretty sure he noticed you regretting the question because his smile became cheekier as his eyes got smaller and those lines deepen.

“I came to buy this book," He held up “The Alchemist.”

You knew that. You wanted to tell him you knew that. You’re not dumb. You’re usually not like this. Damn it! You had no idea why you were like this.

“Good choice,” you mustered the courage to say, “it’s actually one of my all time favorites.”

You couldn’t help but bite your lips due to the sudden shyness. To tell someone your favorite book is like letting someone take a glimpse into your soul and seeing the person you truly are.

“This is actually the second time I’m buying this book.” He confessed rubbing the back of his head.

You cocked your eyebrows at the statement.

“I let someone borrowed my first copy a while ago, and I don’t think I’ll be getting it back anytime soon.” He chuckled.

You shook your head as you laughed and scrunched up your nose, “Don’t you hate it when that happens!?”

He leaned in closer to your face and mirrored you by scrunching up his nose, “It’s the worst!”

The sweet warmth of his breath made you realize how close your faces were, you instinctively pulled away.

You let out a nervous laugh and remembered about dinner yesterday. “Oh! BamBam and I still owe you dinner for yesterday!”

“Don’t worry about it, BamBam is my hoobae and you're his friend, so seriously, don’t worry about it.” He waved his hands in protest.

“No no no, please let me take you out to eat or I’ll just feel uncomfortable.” You said adamantly.

For as long as you could remember, your mom had always drill the idea of you being independent and that you should never depend on anyone. Your mom made you learn how to do everything from changing light bulbs to changing flat tires. Besides from doing things on your own, she made it a crucial point to never ever EVER depend on a man for money. So growing up you always paid for yourself, even on dates in the past, you paid instead of having your date pay. At the bars when men would buy you drinks, you would buy them one in return and asked them not to do it again. The only men who were ever allowed to pay for you is your brother and Dad. Other than that, any time anyone paid, you made sure to return the debt.

“Ok ok, you seem set on it,” He looked down at his black watch with a hint of urgency on his face, “but I have somewhere to be right now, I’ll see you around Nora.” He smiled as he turned and walked towards the front of the store.

“Ok let BamBam know when you’re free for dinner…” Your voice trailed off unsure if he heard you. You shrugged and turned to the bookshelf.

Damn, you thought to yourself, he took the last copy.

Jinyoung stood at the cash register and he glanced back at Nora. She was using her index finger to carefully caressed the book spines as she read each title.

“So you finally talked to her.” Jinyoung turned to look at the old man who spoke up from behind the register. His lips curled up as he returned the smile to the old man who had identical wrinkles under his eyes.

Genetics.

---

When you left the bookstore, the sun had set and it was dark out. As you got closer to your house, you could hear laughing and chattering from the walkway. Then you remembered that your Aunt Eugene and Uncle Taehyung were visiting. It’s their first visit after 5 ye