Lonely Hearts Book Club

i.

“Come on, Seulgi!” plead Lisa who was about to drag her roommate off her bed. The Korean national groaned in frustration. She was dead tired from her class and she’s only got an hour of sleep before that. Lisa had been bugging her this morning that they should join this book club formed by their friend, Jisoo.

“Dude,” Seulgi finally sat up, her hair dishevelled in so many ways. “Why the hell do I have to go with you again?!” I don’t like reading,” she rolled her eyes at her friend who sat on the edge of her bed. They both knew that Seulgi was lying. Seulgi loved reading but stopped eventually when she and her ex broke up. It was an unspoken rule to forget everything that happened between her and her ex—as if there was a 2 year gap in Seulgi’s life that just happened and she couldn’t remember those two damn years.

“Roseanne couldn’t come with me because she’s a spluttering mess whenever Jisoo’s around and you’re the only friend that I have aside Jisoo.” She paused to pout her lips, “Also, Jisoo told me that Jennie will be picking her up after the meeting. I need to join that club for us to get acquainted!” Lisa beamed at her, completely showing her perfect set of teeth.

“And I care about your stupid love life because…?” she raised an eyebrow at her friend as she crossed her arms. 

“Just because!” Lisa flailed her arms as she jumped while sitting towards Seulgi, “Pleaseeeee,” she drawled, “I really, really, really, really, really like this girl.” Lisa then puts both of her hands together as if she was praying. “Come help an old friend out, please?”

Seulgi closed her eyes and sighed in defeat. It’s not always like Lisa to get desperate like this. This Jennie girl must be something for her to be this—addicted. If that’s the case then, “Fine. I’ll go but you owe me big time, Manoban.”

Lisa could only grin at her friend.

ii.

It was near 7 in the evening and the sky was already dark—the moon was already up as they entered a secluded alley. In the middle of the alleyway is a small yet rusting metallic door. Seulgi raised an eyebrow at how suspicious it looked.

“Yah,” she smacked Lisa on the shoulder, “If this is some sort of a weird cult I’m going to ing kill you,” she warned her friend who at the same time knocked twice at the door. Few moments later, the door opened revealing Jisoo who was smiling wide as ever.

“Hey, Jisoos!” Seulgi waved at the smaller woman while Lisa just gave her a rock n roll hand gesture. The smaller woman enveloped them in a big bear hug before ushering them inside. “Lisa-yah and Seulgom, welcome!” she led them to a small table where there was a small log book for them to sign.

“In order to join, you guys have to pay 50 bucks for the monthly membership. We meet thrice a month meaning once per week. The 50 bucks covers the beverages and snacks per meeting,” Jisoo thoroughly explained. The bear looking woman smiled at the thought of food. “Wait,” Seulgi blinked, she looked at the tarpaulin plastered on the wall. Lonely Hearts Book Club: solace in books than people. “I like that,” she pointed at the tarp. Jisoo grinned, “Our vice-president made that. She’d be delighted to hear that you like it,”

“Uhh cool,” Seulgi awkwardly said before ribbing Lisa who glared at her. “You pay for me. You dragged me into this!”
Lisa could only roll her eyes in disdain before grumbling.

“You’re from a well-off family, Kang Seulgi. I can’t believe you sometimes,” she paid the amount needed and Jisoo gladly accepted the money, giving them a blue bookmark for Seulgi while a red coloured one for Lisa. “These are your membership emblem. There are no penalties for losing it really but please take care of it. Me and vice-prez really put an immense effort in making these,” she smiled shyly. Lisa smiled in appreciation as she checked the bookmark. “I’m happy that you were able to establish this kind of thing, Jisoo. I’ve never seen you the happiest,”

Jisoo returned the smile with kindred, “Thanks, stick,” she playfully punched Lisa on the shoulder while Seulgi bobbed her head proceeding to walk to the other room where a couple of chairs were placed to form a circle. There were already people sitting, some were reading, and some were eating at the long table where the buffet was. Seulgi could feel water at the sight of donuts and pizza.

“This Jennie girl isn’t interested in books?” the question was directed to Lisa who Seulgi thought was following her. But Jisoo was the one who answered, “That girl isn’t into reading. Since we live in the same house, she usually picks me up after book club because we have to go at the grocers for some stockpiling. Lisa met her once when we bumped into each other at a coffee shop. Ever since then she’s been following me around asking about her,” Jisoo made a face, Seulgi just laughed. She can actually imagine Lisa following Jisoo around asking for Jennie.

“Jisoo,” a honey mellowed voice called the club president. Seulgi scoffed at Lisa who was already seated, waving her long arms at her indicating that she saved her a seat. When she looked at her left where Jisoo was, she was already gone. She could hear her talking to another woman. Seulgi shrugged it off. She wanted this night to be over with.
When everyone was seated, Kim Jisoo spoke with an obnoxious smile as she held a thick book.

“We have new members today,” she announced. Seulgi could feel herself shrink at the sudden attention. “You guys brought your books right?” Jisoo asked from where she was standing (in the middle of the circle) Seulgi and Lisa looked at each other and nodded.

“Good. How about we start with you guys then? Introduce yourselves first and tell us about the book that you brought!” she made her way to a vacant seat. Seulgi then flinched. It’s not that she’s not confident enough or anything but Lisa kept on ribbing her, pleading her with her eyes to go first. With one and final defeated sigh, she fished her book from her messenger bag and held it high enough so that everyone could see what she was holding.

“Good evening to everyone here,” she started, there was a chorus of “Good evening, to you too!” before Seulgi spoke again. “My name is Kang Seulgi and I’m an arts major minoring in contemporary dance,” she cleared before continuing, “This is a classic book made by the controversial Friedrich Nietszche entitled as Thus Spoke Zarathustra. This is about Zarathustra who is a sage and a prophet who has a great love for humanity. Because of this love, he desires to leave the solitude of his mountain home to teach others the great truth that he has discovered. His first pronouncement was God is dead and it is us who have killed Him!” she ended her speech with a stomp. She saw a man a seat away from Jisoo who was glaring at her. She couldn’t blame him though, a lot of people in Korea are still conservatives and aren’t open-minded enough to understand the whole context. Nietszche was also a controversial figure in the world of Philosophy, spearheading atheism and such.

She let out a breath, “This is one of my favorites.” She smiled awkwardly and sat down. Lisa was the one who stands up next, fiddling with her book. “My name’s Lalisa Manoban. I’m from Bangkok, Thailand and I went here to study in the nearby university,” there is a university a couple of blocks away from where they were. Lisa has a perfect guess that most of the people here are from there basing at the university hoodie, shirts, and pants that they were wearing.

“I’m an aspiring photographer. I wanted to share this photobook made by my favourite photographer,” she paused to open some of the pages which showed different photos of flowers, people, and animals.

“This is not much compared to Seulgi’s woke but for me it’s really refreshing to see photos if you’re into art appreciation,” she grinned wide. Seulgi wanted to wipe that proud smile of her friend. “Woke , really?!” she whispered at the blonde thai who pretended to not hear her. 

The rest of the night proceeded. Lisa and Seulgi got to know the other members of the book club.

“My name is Krystal Jung. I brought a graphic novel with me today.” She paused to show it to them, “Blue Is the Warmest Color is the title,” she glanced at the blue haired tomboy who was seated a couple of seats away from her who raised an eyebrow at the sudden attention, “This is a lesbian book. There’s a movie adaptation of this already with graphic Sapphic scenes and such but I recommend reading this first before watching the movie.” She paused to breathe, “I’m not gonna say anything about it but it’s basically just a girl meets girl story where the other girl discovers some part of herself that she didn’t know upon meeting the other girl.” 

The woman named Krystal is pretty popular at the university. She’s the theatre queen acing every lead role in the dramas that she’d join. The blue haired tomboy was also a popular varsity student. 

The woman who was seated next to Krystal spoke, “My name’s Park Luna,” she grinned at Lisa and Seulgi’s direction, “Welcome to our book club, Seulgi and Lisa!” the two newcomers bowed their head at their senior who raised her book, “This is a book about a dog titled as Marley and Me. There’s actually a movie out of this but I’d prefer if you guys read it first before watching it,”

“Good evening,” a man seated next to Luna stands up, “My name’s Do Kyungsoo. The book here with me is the complete opposite of what Krystal had brought, this is actually focused on two gay men,” he paused to read the title, “Call Me by Your Name is basically just the same as Krystal’s, self-discovery, coping up, and gay. Lots of gay,” he laughed out loud before sitting back. 

Another man stood from his seat, “My name’s Park Bogum,” he introduced curtly, “Today I brought a book talking about God. No, this isn’t The Bible,” he made a face as if he was talking to a couple of kids, “this is a book made by our pastor. Please take time to read and reflect,” after what he said, his eyes narrowed at Seulgi who shrugged at him.
The rest of the circle went on until the last two people.

A small woman stands up from where she was seated; to say that she’s beautiful is just an understatement. She was in fact—a living goddess among men; she has a face that could compete with the goddesses if she’d want. She has a white creamy skin that looked like porcelain, her eyes were the purest of black that one could drown in them, and she has this charming smile that could easily capture one’s heart.

Seulgi stared at her for a moment before she picked her jaw from the ground. She’s too good for her; she thought before leaning back on her seat and watched the woman talk about herself and her book.

“My name is Bae Irene. The vice-president of this small book club. And as vice-president, it’s only part of my duty to welcome our new members,” she looked at them and the two just shyly bowed at her, “I’m a graduate of the university 3 years ago,” she started, “I’m now currently working as a broadcaster for a news radio station,” Seulgi slightly nodded her head. She does have that tone of authority with her when she spoke, “Anyways, the book that I brought with me tonight is a book about loss, grieving, self-discovery, and how to cope up with it. This is one of my few favorites from Murakami, Norwegian Wood.”

At the mention of the book—a memory buried deep within Seulgi has awakened. She suddenly remembered her high school self reading that particular book, enjoying the cool breeze of summer as she enjoyed the shade from the trees. 

The song which inspired the book kept playing as she slowly read and succumbed to the story. She remembered feeling heavy, light, angry, and happy at the same time. The book that made her love reading—the book that opened a new horizon for her—the book that made her realize how bittersweet love is—that ing book. 

She came back to reality when Jisoo was done with her speech. “and since we have newcomers here,” she eyed the two, “Every week, we borrow books from each other. And a week after that we tell everyone what we read and what we learned from it,” she grinned. Lisa just thumbed her up while Seulgi bobbed her head in understanding. She needs to have that book that the beautiful girl have.

“Should we let our newcomers choose a book first? Or should we proceed to picking it up by random?” 

The majority of them raised their index fingers indicating the 1st option and Jisoo nodded, “Then,” she eyed Seulgi, “You choose the book that you want, Seulgom. Lisa-yah will follow and we’ll have it in clockwise after,”

Seulgi stands up and smiled at Irene’s direction. “Your book,” she pointed at her, “Can I borrow it?”

Irene was taken aback but if she wanted to say something—she kept it to herself and nodded. “Of course, please take care of it,” she said before standing up to give it to Seulgi who received the book in delight, feeling the nostalgia all over again. “Yeah, thank you for this.” she smiled at the smaller woman who was staring at her for a moment as if she was reading something on her face. A couple of awkward seconds later, she went back to her seat leaving a dumbfounded Seulgi.

“I want yours!” Lisa jumped from where she was seated bumping into Seulgi who scowled at her, “Yah, I haven’t even taken a seat yet!” she complained before going back to her chair. She looked at her friend who was going towards the blue haired tomboy’s direction. The blue haired tomboy’s name was Amber from what Seulgi had remembered; she brought with her a book entitled as Tuesdays with Morrie.

Seulgi have heard about it. It apparently made people cry just like how Amber cried when she was talking about the book.

The one who borrowed Lisa’s book was Krystal while the one who took Krystal’s insanely graphic novel was Amber. 

Irene borrowed Bogum’s book, Jisoo borrowed Kyungsoo’s and the rest went on with theirs. It’s gonna be an interesting meeting next week, Seulgi concluded. It’s actually her first time to see Jisoo reading an LGBT related book. She couldn’t help but wonder how she would react if she’d bring her limited edition version of Lolita next week.

The meeting ended quickly and Lisa, who is still annoying as ever, is now practically glued next to Jisoo who was near the exit, saying goodbye to the other members of the club.

Seulgi was left sitting on her seat as everyone dispersed.

She didn’t notice that Irene was now standing next to where she was seated. “You’re quite interested in that book, aren’t you?” she asked Seulgi who was now looking up at the raven haired beauty.

“Yeah, he’s not my favourite author but this is my favourite work of his. It’s been so long since I’ve read a novel,” she confessed which made the woman smile. “I like your taste. Thus Spoke Zarathustra was quite a hard book to comprehend and you brought that here in your first meeting.”

The statement made Seulgi blush. No one understood her Philosophy stuff before— “Really? You’ve read the book then?”

Irene nodded. “I’ve followed Nietsczhe’s books since I found out about him. He’s actually a good author if it weren’t for his complex personality,” she said, pocketing her hands on her coat, “Yeah, I get what you mean. Just like Edgar Allan Poe,” she was grinning now. it felt weird to finally have someone understand your references. At the mention of the author’s name, Irene’s cold demeanour was gone replaced with an exciting one, as if she received a gift on her birthday. “Yes! But I actually prefer Poe than Nietsczhe. What’s your favourite work from him?”

Seulgi relaxed on her seat before standing up, “The Tell-tale Heart would be the best for me, how about you?” she asked her as she followed the older woman towards the exit. “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether would be my favourite,” when they neared the exit, Irene stopped, “Believe nothing you hear and only one-half that you see,” she winked at her before disappearing into the other direction of the alley, opposite to where Lisa and Jisoo were waiting.

This night had been something, Seulgi is quite sure.
Irene Bae.

I think I like it being in the Lonely Hearts Book Club. Seulgi thought before following her friends to where a black Camry was parked.

iii.

Seulgi smiled as she walked out of her classroom and strolled the university’s forest-like campus. There were benches for students who wanted to sit in front of the dainty old buildings; some were sitting on a blanket as they enjoyed the cold breeze brought to them by the trees and wind. One particular figure sitting on one of the benches caught her attention. It was the club president, Jisoo, who was reading a book. 

Seulgi gently approached her and poked her shoulder to get her attention. Jisoo smiled at her as she unplugged her earphones. “You’re missing a head,” she said to her. Seulgi laughed and sat next to the younger woman. “Is that the book you borrowed from Kyungsoo… was it?” she pointed at the object which was now on Jisoo’s lap. “Yeah, books like these are very interesting to read,” she gave her a pointed grin as she tapped the book.

“Wow, I didn’t peg you to be a hujyosi,” she remarked which made the other girl blush in embarrassment; Jisoo smacked her shoulder for that. “Yah, I’m nothing of the sort! I just like the idea of love being like this,”

The statement made Seulgi blink. “Idea of love being like this?” she repeated. Jisoo was now staring at her blankly. “Lonely Hearts Book Club was created to understand different concepts of life through books and discussion. This time, I’m traversing in the different forms and ideas of love.” She thoroughly explained making a face after speaking. Seulgi bobbed her head in understanding, “Is the book good? I’ve only read reviews of it and a lot of people were uncomfortable reading it. I watched the movie though and it was okay.. well, some parts are. The movie made me avoid eating peaches for a while though,” Seulgi remembered that scene very well. She grimaced.

Jisoo breathed, “I—have not yet read that part.” She slowly said before facing Seulgi, “Have you read yours?”

Seulgi nodded, “Yup. I’m halfway done actually.” It has been 3 days since their last meeting and Seulgi made sure to read it before she goes to sleep. “Hey, Jisoos,” she called her friend who was busy typing on her phone, “What is it?”

“How did you meet Irene?”

The question made Jisoo stop whatever that she was doing with her phone and smiled mischievously at her friend. “Are you… interested in her?” she raised both of her eyebrows at her friend who shook her head almost immediately in her defense, “No, it’s not that,” Seulgi blurted, “I’m just curious about her.” she confessed to her friend who was still smiling at her. “When I was still planning to create the club, Jennie introduced me to her and we just clicked because we love books very much,” she started, “She’s a very great and dependable person despite her stoic and cold demeanour.” 

There were some truths to what Jisoo was telling her. Still, Seulgi is still curious. It’s only once in a lifetime where you could meet someone with the same taste when it comes to books. Jisoo may have read a lot of books but their genre and style didn’t match. It was Irene whom Seulgi thought was the perfect fit in her puzzle piece in regards to books.

She wanted to get to know the older woman more because of that.

“I see,” Seulgi silently sighed. Jisoo noticed the faint glimmer in