FIRST

Taehyun was more than excited when his doorbell rang. He quickly got onto his feet and rushed to the front door. He felt a current of thrill electrifying his guts as he realised it had finally arrived; his long-awaited package.

Almost wordlessly, he signed the receipt, pulled the box out of the mailman’s arms, and slammed the door shut. He couldn’t wobble up the stairs fast enough and already, clumsily so, started to pull the box open on his way.

If there was one thing Taehyun loved, it was the smell of books. Be it old, or new books, he loved them to the core. He loved the feel on his fingers, and he loved the way they all managed to take him on adventures by nothing more than mere words. He loved books. He loved them so very much.

The first thing he did, as he did with all his newly acquired books, was skimming through them. His eyes instantly fell on the words that were of most importance to him; first edition. If it wasn’t one, he’d put them up for sale again.

The second thing he did was checking the condition. If there was too much damage, he’d either sell it to someone interested in even the most damaged ones, or he’d simply put them on a shelf he kept free for those rare times he’d come across one of those.

Out of the five books he already checked, there was one second-edition, which he sadly pushed aside. For some rea