Chapter 1.1: What’s Your Name?

I am just like dust. People tend to wipe or blow me away whenever they encounter me. It’s as if I’m such a horrible presence to the world that I’m not even considered of value. Everyone believes dust is dangerous and dirty by default. The truth is that dust can be beneficial, but the dark side is always perceived first. Dust is simply natural. If I am like dust then why can’t I just be natural?

I often stay at the library---I mean, I practically live in the library. Libraries are such magical places; they’re like those castles and mansions in fairytales that one would always want to visit and never want to leave. I would have to say that they are pretty much where my home is. It doesn’t matter which one because all libraries contain mystical books that allow me to leave reality. I don’t know about anyone else but I would rather live my life pretending I’m a character in fiction rather than a person in real life. That’s just me, I guess.

Enough blabbering about what I perceive of myself. I have been reading a pretty interesting novel lately. I must warn you ahead of time that I’m a huge fan of romance and therefore I read romance novels more than anything else out there in the world. The love that exists in fiction is something that I believe doesn’t exist in reality. Of course, I only say that from personal experiences. Anyway, as I was saying---CRASH! Something crashed into a bookshelf in the corner by the back exit.

It was very early in the morning and there weren’t that many people at the library yet so nobody really paid any attention to the loud noise. I, being curious, went to check out what happened in the back. I walked calmly but quickly because I wanted to make sure everything was okay. Typical people in libraries probably would mind their own business, right? Well, I am a very curious person so I decided to go see what in the world was going on. As I approached the the fallen bookshelf---and books---I encountered a person---who was covered in books.

“Goodness, are you all right?” I asked the person under the books as I helped remove the obstacles. It must have been a very painful experience. “Is everything okay?”

“I’m all right. Everything’s okay,” the soft but masculine voice replied as the books were pushed off gently. I started stacking the books up and it was then that I saw his face. My throat went incredibly dry as I continued stacking. My heart started to beat rapidly and I didn’t know why. Was it fear? Was it because I was nervous? “Thank you for your concern,” the soft voice stated. My hands started shaking for it had been quite a long time since I have had a conversation with a person. His eyes drifted to mine and I instantly looked at the books that were in my hands. “I’m sorry if I frightened you. Everything occurred so fast that I didn’t realize what was happening, I guess,” he said.

“Oh, don’t worry,” I said. “I’m not frightened by anything or anyone.”

“This place sure is full of books,” he said as he chuckled.

“Huh?” I automatically replied and realized how idiotic I sounded---and looked, perhaps. “You didn’t forget that you are in the library, right? Library? Does that sound familiar to you at all?”

“Oh, library. That’s right. How could I forget?” he said as he feigned laughter.

I started to panic a little bit and wondered if I was speaking properly. “Would you like me to call 911 for you? Hospital?” I asked.

His smiling face held my gaze as he said, “That’s not necessary, my friend. I guess those books knocked my memory out of me for a moment there.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” I said stupidly. I could have whacked myself in the head there and then.

“Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Su Ho. What’s your name?” Su Ho said as he reached out to my hand for a handshake.

I felt terrified by his hand but I accepted it and shook it. “My name is Cho Hee,” I said as our gazes locked upon each other.

“Nice to meet you, Cho Hee,” Su Ho smiled and my heart felt as if it were beating at an irregular pace.

“Nice to meet you, Su Ho,” I said as I shifted my eyes back to the books. Su Ho, I thought to myself. What a beautiful name.