June 10th, 2033

Everything on that day inexplicably looked just as the same as he could remember from the same date 20 years ago. The bright sunshine, the familiar fresh scent of summer days, and he even swore that the shape of the clouds looked the same – although he was also fully aware that it sounded impossible and delusional.

Or maybe he was just missing her too much that everything he saw reminded him of her.

Kim Joonmyun smiled softly.

Her. His sweet, lovely wife.

His attention was immediately drawn to the object he was holding on his lap – a single white rose he just picked earlier from his garden. The stalk of the rose was inserted into a small bottle of glass with a piece of white ribbon tied sweetly on its spout.

“Such a pretty flower you have there, Ahjussi.”

It was a silent bus ride so the voice that suddenly came from his left kind of startled him. He looked to his side and saw a little girl standing beside him. Her round, innocent eyes were staring at his rose in a mixture of adoration and curiosity.

“Jinri-ah, don’t leave your seat while the bus is running,” her mother reminded her. “And don’t disturb that ahjussi.”

“No, it’s totally okay, Ma’am,” Joonmyun then smiled at the little girl fondly. “Do you really think the flower is pretty?”

The girl nodded. “Is it a present for someone?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Who?”

“It’s for my wife.”

“Is today her birthday? Appa always bought flowers for Omma on her birthday.”

“No. But today is also a special day for us.”

“What could be more special than birthday?” the girl frowned and tilted her head cutely to one side.

Every single day with her was special to me. That was what he wanted to say but in the end he just patted the girl’s head and said, “Well, we have lots of special day.”

“Then you surely give her looots of present!”

Joonmyun laughed. “That’s right.”

Soon after that, the bus stopped in front of a familiar old building. He had arrived at his destination. “I’d love to chat more with you, pretty little girl, but I have to go now. Bye bye!” He gently pinched the girl’s chubby cheek before he got up from his seat and walked to the exit.

Just before he stepped out of the bus, he heard the little girl exclaimed from her seat. “Ahjussi!”

He turned around. “Yes?”

“The flower is really, really pretty! I’m sure your wife will love it!”

And Joonmyun could feel himself smiling back at her. “I know.”

***

June 10th, 2013

The old building actually consisted of only one floor, but it had a high ceiling like a cathedral so people often mistook it as a two-story building. Its unique architectural design and wooden ornaments also made it look like a church instead of library.

Kim Joonmyun fixed his bag as he walked through the front steps in a rush. It was almost 11AM when he arrived at the library, three hours after the library opened. The front desk lady immediately smiled upon seeing his familiar handsome face.

“You are late, young man,” she commented shortly.

Joonmyun grinned and handed his library card. For the past month, he had been a regular visitor of the library. And he was not just a regular visitor because he had always been the first to arrive right after the library opened every morning. “I know, Ahjumma. I had to do something before coming here.”

“I hate to tell you this but today we got a lot of visitors. How unusual,” the lady pouted and returned the library card to him. “So maybe your usual spot was already occupied by another. I hope it won’t disturb your study time.”

“Thank you, Ahjumma.” Joonmyun nodded politely before stepping into the library’s main hall.

Just as the lady had said, the library was more crowded than ever. Almost all the seats were occupied, including his usual seat. Having his usual seat taken was actually not a big deal, but finding another seat was. Every table was occupied by 4-5 persons and he needed to find an empty one or at least one with only 1-2 occupants. Not that he hated to share the table with others, but the test was only 2 weeks away and he needed to study harder to prepare himself for it.

After spending 5 minutes of walking around the main hall, Joonmyun gave up. He was about to sit on the nearer table when a familiar librarian greeted him.

“Still looking for an empty table?”

“Jungsoo hyung! Good afternoon. Yes, but all tables in this hall are occupied.”

“Have you tried the smaller hall in the back?”

“We do have another hall in the back?”

The older man laughed. “Yes, we do. Just go to the corner behind that bookshelf and you will find a door with a hallway behind it. The hallway leads to the hall I was talking about.”

Joonmyun thanked him and immediately went to find the said smaller hall. It was indeed much smaller than the main hall, and also much quieter. There were only around 10 tables there and most of them were already occupied by only 1-2 persons each. He spotted an empty table at the end of the hall and quickly approached it, putting his bag and books on it.

He had just read the first page of his textbook when he felt someone pulled out the chair in front of him.

“Excuse me.”

He looked up to a pair of clear, soft brown eyes which had an aura of innocence, and he immediately stunned. The owner of the eyes was currently smiling at him and she was probably the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

“Yes?”

“I—do you mind if I sit here? I mean, the table was actually empty a minute ago before I went to the main hall to get this book and, uhmmm, I guess you didn’t see my bag here,” she sheepishly showed him her bag that was already lying on her chair.

Joonmyun immediately rose from his seat. “Gosh, I’m sorry! I didn’t see your bag—I didn’t know that this table is already occupied.”

“No, no, no, please don’t be sorry,” the girl quickly said. “I'm not asking you to leave, really. And I don’t mind sharing this table at all. I was just hoping that you don’t too.”

“Of course I don’t mind. Please have your seat.”

“Thank you,” the girl smiled brightly, making Joonmyun’s heart involuntarily fluttered. She then sat in front of him and was still smiling when she blurted out, “You know, I never thought I’d see you here. I always saw you sitting alone at the same corner in the main hall every time I came to this library.”

Joonmyun was quite taken aback. “You … noticed me?”

“Well, yes. But please don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I was secretly watching you or something like that,” a reddish hue started to taint her adorably chubby cheeks and he could swear that the sight was too adorable. “I just … couldn’t help but to notice you. You always sat on the same spot, and you always looked so serious in reading your books.”

“Maybe that’s why I never noticed you back, most of the times I was too immersed in my studying.” And he truly felt sorry for that.

“It’s not a big deal. And besides, I always sit here which is quite far from your usual seat.”

The two of them didn’t say anything afterwards, only looking at each other with smiles on their faces. It was their very first meeting – two strangers in one corner of an old library – yet they couldn’t ignore the undeniable chemistry which was already hanging in the air between them.

And just like that, Joonmyun knew that he had to—no, he needed to see her again.

He leaned forward and held out his hand for a handshake. “I'm Kim Joonmyun.”

The girl gave him another breathtaking smile and took his hand. “Seo Joohyun.”

A/N: the prologue is here! I hope the time span doesn't confuse you. thank you so much for subscribing and reading and voting. and please, please leave some comments so that I know what you guys think about this story. thank you :)