(for aqsa)

Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.

She didn’t fit the atmosphere of my little corner when she first walked on in—all glitter and makeup and heels clacking on my perfectly polished hardwood floors. She didn’t seem to like to read much, as far as I could tell by the way she wrinkled her nose at the neat rows of books I’d had lined up on cabinets, arranged by author and then by collection and date of publication.

But she dismissed most of the newer books and went for the older, much-loved classics. And I decided she might not be so bad.

It was a slow moving day. People poked their heads in and out much rarer than I would have liked, but for the most part business was well. I didn’t own the space (the owner was too old and bed-ridden to handle anything anymore) but managed it by myself all these years to fondly call it mine. I reached the quota every month and had a smattering of regulars coming in one or twice a week. The girl with the loud heels and glittering blouse was the only new customer during the whole week and so far, in the past thirty minutes, had not caused me any trouble yet.

She was over at the classics still, perusing the section so diligently I almost thought I’d misjudged her for the way she dressed and moved.

I smiled to myself at this particular musing, shaking my head a little as I returned to the passage I’d left off at her arrival. Interesting characters always appear at book stores and I’ve seen quite a few in my time owning this shop. I shouldn’t be so surprised a flamboyant-looking person would have an interest in the classics. There were stranger things, of course.

Like pigs flying or falling in love with a person you’ve only read in books. Something like that.

“Hey, Book Keeper. It’s okay to check out the books from this cabinet and then bring it back, right?” An unusually soft, melodious voice caught my attention. I looked up from my own book and blinked. It was her.

She slapped a well-worn copy of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice over my counter, her manicured nail-art ridden fingernails tapping impatiently on the cover. I raised an eyebrow at her choice.

“What?” She challenged, meeting my gaze with her own, her eyes glittering almost dangerously. She had beautifully deep brown eyes. I could get lost in them if I let myself. “I haven’t tried reading this before and I’m curious. Am I not allowed to enjoy the contemporary classics?”

For the life of me, I’ve no idea what propelled me to speak out of turn. “No, you’re allowed. I’m just surprised is all.”

Her brown eyes narrow into slits, her lip tightening into a straight line. “Surprised how?”

“It’s a good surprise, don’t worry. More girls like you should read more.”

“Girls like me huh?” she replied, rolling her eyes. She looked like she was going to leave without the book before she thought better of it and turned back, fixing me with a look. “Then I guess, more guys like you should go out more. It’s too stuffy in here. The air in here’s clogging your brain cells with ideas of stupid stereotypes.”

I considered her for a moment. She sounded so serious in her suggestion but her gaze held mirth I wasn’t so sure I should feel good about. It was a look that made my chest tighten in anticipation for—what exactly? Before I let myself analyze it any longer, I turned to shrug good-naturedly in response. Avoiding her gaze only for a moment to pull out a ledger to note the title of the book she was about to check out.

(If she were serious about that as well. Sneaking another look at her made up face and smirk told me that she was.)

“Anything over at the section you were just at, you can check out of the store for five days at a time.” I told her, turning the ledger over for her to sign, “Did you want a borrower’s card or something?”

“Sure. Whatever.” She says and then leaves the second I hand her the newly issued card. Her heels clicking softer and softer as she disappears from my view.

I glance at the name she provided on the ledger.

Seohyun.

I find myself smiling.

Pretty name.

He is a gentleman, and I am a gentleman's daughter. So far we are equal.

It’s another slow day when Seohyun came back the next day.

Gone are the clicking heels I found myself hearing at odd hours of the day and instead they are replaced by ratty boots on her feet. Her face is still made up; all dark and smoky around her beautiful brown eyes. Her lips are turned down, an angry shade of red that I wasn’t comfortable seeing. The color contrasted too much from the milky shade of her skin, practically porcelain from my view at the counter—staring at her from where she stood shifting in a too-short jet-black skirt and oversized shirt ensemble by the door.

“Isn’t it a little early in the afternoon to be wearing that kind of get-up?” I asked; my tone surprisingly as smooth and easy-going as I hoped it would be at better moments. Like now. “Did you come back to return the book you borrowed?”

Seohyun shook her head, bounding towards me loud on her boots before stopping to lean over my counter. Her eyes pining me in place as her forearms braced over the wood. I could almost make out the seams of her clear contacts.

“Nope. Who the reads old English that quickly?”

I shuffled a step back, wiping my (suddenly sweaty) hands on the front of my jeans.

“I do. So do English and Literature scholars. And I’d like it a lot if you didn’t curse so loud in here. I’ve kids a few steps back at the Fairytale section and I would prefer they don’t go home asking their mothers what that f-word stands for.”

She moved to shrug, unperturbed at the thought of somehow polluting children’s minds. “They’ll live,” she said, cocking her head to the side, “I’m here because some jackass wanted an afternoon delight and I wasn’t eager to get any. He got a little handsy and rough so I ran out of there before he could recover from my kneeing him. Guys are really weak in the balls, huh?”

Shocked as I was by her crass language and the too-easy admission of the events of her day, I wasn’t sure why I found myself laughing at her words at all.

Maybe it’s because I figured she was as tough as she looked and knew instinctively that she could take care of herself perfectly well. She had to be, right? To be wearing all that make-up and glittering things in this neighborhood—she had to be braver than her looks give her credit for.

“It’s a delicate area. Bundles of veins and nerves. I’ve got book on Anatomy if you wanna leaf through it.” I told her, nodding my head as she tipped her head back and laughed. Her brown eyes now brighter than ever as the earlier annoyance of her situation flittered out of her mind. “As long as you only knee the ones who deserve it, I don’t mind you coming in here to blow off steam. Just keep the cussing to a bare minimum, yeah?”

“Sure, Book Keep—”

“It’s Kyuhyun.”

Seohyun stared at me as the knowledge of my name sunk in.

“Kyuhyun, huh?” she repeated, testing the sound before gracing me with the first of her most genuine smiles.

Angry people are not always wise.

“She’s a little high and mighty, don’t you think?”

Seohyun’s voice accompany me as I note the books in my shop, the tips of her heels clicking steadily with every step she took beside me. I don’t have to look over to know that she is referring to a character in the book she is reading, the pages parted at the middle. I don’t even have to ask who she means because she tells me so a beat later,

“Elizabeth’s a . Darcy was just being a good and honest friend.”

“You’re calling a fictional character a ? Really?” I deadpanned, raising an eyebrow. She swatted me with gentle flip of her hand, rolling her eyes as I chuckled at her expression. There was clear exasperation on her face, brought about by whatever feelings the book she was reading was bringing out of her at that moment. I couldn’t decide whether I liked the fact that she was cussing characters with such a lo