Well-Loved

Well-Loved

    Jongin took a deep breath as he entered the bookstore, clutching his favorite book tightly to his chest.

 

He nervously thumbed the worn spine of the novel and looked around at the many people in the small bookstore this morning. It was an unusually busy day today. Normally, Jongin’s favorite bookstore was a quaint and sleepy place, tinged with the smell of coffee and inked paper bound in books, with few people among the shelves. Jongin loved to spend time in the cozy corners of the tall bookcases, turning pages silently without any obligation to speak to anyone or be responsible for anything. It was truly his favorite place.

 

Today however, a dozen or so people crowded around the back corner of the store, huddled in a mass around the table where the creator of Jongin’s dream sat. Jongin swallowed nervously, advancing toward the crowd of people, and smoothed his fingers over the hard cover of his book. He had first gotten word of the book signing on a drizzly sunday morning. He was sat in the windowsill of the shop when his eyes, just peeking over the top of his book, had caught a new poster on the far wall of the shop announcing that Do Kyungsoo was to make an appearance at the humble local bookstore to do a signing for his book. Jongin hadn’t believed his eyes at first, and had rushed to the poster to see if his eyes had deceived him. Jongin’s chest had swelled with excitement as he realized that his favorite author was, indeed, due to come the very next week to provide a signing of Jongin’s favorite book.

 

Jongin had many well-loved books in his growing collection at home, but none that came close to Do Kyungsoo’s one, and only, novel. It was a lilting, romantic story about a young boy who fell in love at the hands of a prince named Joonmyun. The prince swept the boy away from his quiet former life into adventures of romance and excitement, and showed him the world in his wildest dreams and creations. Jongin had read the book over and over and over again, falling in love with it more every time. He treasured the characters as if they were his own, and longed for the feeling of  the whirlwind romance of the two men, yet from a safe distance in the comfort of his own mind. Jongin felt such love for the book. Reading from the very first page again felt like returning home. The smooth caress of the turning pages felt like the touch of an old friend.

 

Jongin had stirred with nervous energy the night before the book signing, unable to find sleep among the thought of meeting the weaver of the beautiful tapestry of the story of the prince and the boy. He couldn’t help but feel as if he had a connection to Do Kyungsoo; at times it was as if the author had written the story just for Jongin. The author’s book had never rose to more fame than small-time book signings and columns, however Jongin felt strangely glad, for this meant he didn’t have to share his story with anyone else.

 

He remembered the first time he had met his favorite book, among the shelves of the very same book store. It had been on a small table of recent releases, buried by masses of other newer and bigger books. Jongin would never have noticed the book if it weren’t for it’s curious glint that caught the young reader’s eye. He had pulled it out from the bottom of a haphazard stack of books, and examined the pretty blue book. It didn’t have a jacket, which Jongin liked since he normally discarded book jackets soon after buying them, preferring the smooth feel of a hard cover. The book’s title was etched in gold below a small golden crown, and the pages were lined with the same gold so that when one held the book closed and looked at the sides, they shimmered back. Jongin had held the satin golden ribbon peeking out of the book in his fingers and smiled. He opened the book, sat in the windowsill, and began to read.

 

He twirled his fingers around the now frayed ribbon as he stood in line before the author’s table. The copy had slowly deteriorated with Jongin’s constant use and handling, with worn sides and soft pages, but he had only cherished it more. He liked to think of it not as old or worn, but as “well-loved”. There were only two people in front of him now, with Jongin being the last person in line. He his lips, more nervous than ever, and clutched his book with an almost white knuckle grip. What was he supposed to say? He had tried his hardest to figure it out on his way to the shop, but continued to draw a blank every time. He had daydreamed of moment when he would meet Do Kyungsoo for years, yet through all his daydreaming he had never exactly figured out anything to say to the author.

 

Jongin stuck his head out just behind the girl in front of him, and caught a glimpse of the author himself, sitting at the table and smiling at a young man standing before him. He said something that Jongin couldn’t quite make out, and laughed before signing a brand new copy of the book and sliding it towards the young man. The young man bowed, smiled, and left the table as Kyungsoo turned his attention to the girl just in front of Jongin. She laughed nervously before handing him a copy of the book. Jongin stared at the author’s dainty hand as he expertly flipped open the book and scribbled his name on the inside cover.

 

“And what’s your name?” he asked, looking back up at her through his round glasses.

 

Jongin noticed, as he watched their exchange, that the writer seemed genuinely interested in the people that came forth to his table, engaging them in conversations, writing a note with their name in it next to his autograph and everything. He let his pink tongue peek out from his lips as he scribbled something into the book, then blew on the ink before returning the book to the girl. He smiled again, pulling his lips into a heart shape, and thanked her for the support as he gave a quick bow from his seat.

 

Jongin watched the girl bow in return and leave the table smiling. He cleared his throat and stepped forward as he desperately tried to shove down a sudden wave of nerves. His heart pounded erratically as he took a deep breath and smiled. Do Kyungsoo smiled back expectantly and folded his small hands together in front of him.

 

“Hello!”, Do Kyungsoo chirped, making eye contact with Jongin and pushing his glasses up by the bridge.

 

“I love you.” Jongin blurted.

 

Do Kyungsoo stared.

 

“No! I mean-I love you-I love….your book. I love your book.” Jongin fumbled to recover his words and fidgeted further with the spine of his book.

 

“I see…,” the author started, eyes flitting to the copy of his book held tightly in Jongin’s hands. “...thank you.”

 

A long silence ensued as Jongin wrapped the golden ribbon around his finger and stared back at the man sat before him, saying nothing.

 

“Would you like me to sign your book?” Do Kyungsoo tried, looking at Jongin and pointedly back at his faded blue book.

 

“Oh! Yes! Um, yes please”, Jongin practically yelled as he untangled the book from his own hands and it toward its author. Do Kyungsoo smiled gently and took the book from him, drawing his hand over the faded front and flipping it open. Rather than signing it, he paused and took a moment to scrutinize the book, running his fingers over the inside cover and flipping the soft pages into his hand until he reached the page marked by the golden ribbon. He looked up at Jongin.

 

“A bit worn, isn’t it?” he stated, twirling his finger absentmindedly on the ribbon.

 

“Oh, yeah, I mean, it’s sort of an old copy. I found it in this book shop actually. It’s my favorite, so I take it a lot of places. It’s kinda beat up…” Jongin explained as he looked down with a sheepish smile. The author pulled his lips into a heart once more and spoke.

 

“I prefer the term ‘well-loved’.”

 

Jongin drew in a breath and let a smile spread across his face, feeling the tension begin to dissipate from the air. “Well-loved,” he echoed.

 

Do Kyungsoo finally flipped back to the inside cover and scribbled his name on the faded paper, letting his tongue dip out from his mouth as he did so. He looked back up at Jongin and opened his mouth to speak.

 

“Jongin.” the other interrupted. “My name is Kim Jongin.”

 

The author turned back to the book, still looking up at Jongin with a smile. He took a moment to write a note under his autograph, and gently blew on the black ink once he was done.

 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Kim Jongin,” he said, closing the book yet still letting it rest under his forearms.

 

“It’s nice to meet you too, Do Kyungsoo. It’s an honor, in fact,” Jongin breathed, finding his words to come easier the longer he looked at the author’s smile. “I’m sure you hear this a lot, but your book is my favorite in the whole world, I’ve read it countless times. I was really excited to hear that you were visiting here,” he gushed.

 

“Well, I’ve certainly never seen anyone with a book so well-loved, Jongin. And thank you infinitely for your support.” he returned with another one of those damned smiles as he held Jongin’s book out to him. Jongin took the book, smoothing the familiar cover in his hands, and felt a euphoria rise in his chest. He crossed his arms over the book again, and gave Do Kyungsoo a deep bow.

 

“You have no idea how much this means to me,” Jongin said as he rose and watched Kyungsoo stand up and bow curtly in return. The author simply smiled and tilted his head. Jongin stood for a moment and watched Kyungsoo straighten out his sweater and sling his bookbag over his shoulder. The small man pushed up his glasses once more and took care to push in his chair before stopping in front of Jongin.

 

“Is there anything else I can do for you?” he asked, which Jongin was certain would have sounded rude coming from anyone else, but the way that Do Kyungsoo looked at him, searching his face with a gentle, curious smile, made him ask.

 

Jongin drew in a sharp breath. “Would you like to go for a coffee? I know a great place a few blocks from here,” he exhaled as the words tumbled out. Do Kyungsoo studied him for a moment, squinting his eyes ever so slightly and pursing his pink lips together. Jongin fidgeted again with his book as the author stood before him, thinking. Kyungsoo flicked his wrist up to look at his watch, thought for a moment more, and smiled.

 

“Of course.”

 

    Jongin could not stop staring at Do Kyungsoo. He his lips, an old nervous habit, as he looked down at the short man stood next to him in line at the coffee shop. He watched intently as the author scrutinized the board of items on the wall of the small, dusty shop that Jongin liked to visit after trips to the bookstore. His neck was craned to see the board, and his eyebrows were drawn together and tongue peeking out just slightly in a look of concentration that Jongin thought to be strangely...cute. He studied Kyungsoo’s profile, watching his eyelashes gently flutter, taking note of the small mole on his ear. How cute Do Kyungsoo was.

 

    Jongin was snapped out of his daydream as they approached the counter. Baekhyun, the sunny barista who had become familiar with Jongin through his many visits, smiled warmly with squinted eyes and gave a small wave, marker in hand.

 

    “Heya Jongin!” he sang, planting his hands on the counter and leaning in. “What can I get you? Oh, and your friend!” He looked at Jongin questioningly with a smile still playing on his lips. It was the first time that Jongin hadn’t come alone since he started frequenting the warm little corner shop. Jongin only laughed gently in return and requested the usual as he dug out his wallet from his jacket.

 

    “And you?” Baekhyun asked, looking at Kyungsoo.

 

    “Oh-ah, a cappuccino please,” he said as he tore his eyes away from the chalkboard art on the wall. Baekhyun grinned.

 

    “It’s pretty good, isn’t it? Our manager makes them.” Baekhyun gestured to a tall Chinese man situated in the back of the shop. The man looked up and waved at Jongin, giving him a rare smile. “Kris”.

 

    “Alright, that’ll be 10,000 won,” Baekhyun piped. Jongin beat Kyungsoo to the chase, quickly crumpling a 15,000 bill into the barista’s hand as the author frowned.  

 

    “Consider it a thank you,” he offered.

 

    They sat in Jongin’s favorite corner of the coffee shop, a small table next to a window with a blue tablecloth and  two wooden chairs. Sunlight filtered through the window and washed the table in soft light that pleasantly warmed Jongin’s face and hands. It was the perfect place to get lost in a good book.

 

    They sat for a long time as Jongin and Kyungsoo talked over their porcelain cups in the hushed coffee shop. Talking to Kyungsoo, Jongin realized, felt much like reading the book. It felt flowing, natural. As if he were talking to an old friend. Jongin quickly got to know the author, and found him to be not unlike the young boy in his book. He had come from a small town outside of Cheonan, and had gone to a quiet little high school. He spent most of his free time either reading or writing in high school when he had started writing his book. Kyungsoo went to college in Seoul to become a writer, finally getting his book published the fall after graduating from university. And thus began his peaceful adventure as a writer.

 

He learnt all about Kyungsoo that day in the sleepy coffee shop, sat at the wooden table in the corner. Kyungsoo’s favorite color was blue. His favorite season was winter. He occasionally wore contacts, but liked glasses more. He liked classical music and Claude Monet.

 

He was beautiful. It was on this day, sat across from the young writer as he listened to his lilting voice, that Jongin knew he had to have Do Kyungsoo.

 

He saw Kyungsoo out of the coffee shop and down into the metro station underground. They were going the same direction, so Jongin ripped two tickets off from the sheet in his pocket before Kyungsoo could protest and walked with him down to the platform. Jongin clutched his book tightly with one hand, the other gripping a bar in the crowded subway next to Kyungsoo. He stole glances at writer’s lips while Kyungsoo leaned his head against the glass window, watching the tiled walls blur as they sped by. They slowed and stopped at a station with blue square tiles when Kyungsoo claimed that this was his stop, and promptly exited the subway with a faint smile and a “thank you” thrown over his shoulder.

 

“Wait, Kyungsoo!” Jongin almost shouted into the busy station. “I didn’t-”

 

He was cut off as the subway doors slid closed and the subway began moving, picking up speed once more. Jongin caught a glimpse of Kyungsoo in his blue sweater, still looking back over his shoulder with a strange smile on his face, before he disappeared all at once and was gone.

 

“I didn’t get your number,” Jongin finished under his breath. He merely ran his fingers along the golden lettering of his book and sighed as the metro took him away from Kyungsoo.

 

Jongin slid into bed that night after having finished a cup of tea and yawned as he stretched his arms in front of him. He slid his favorite book off its special place on the nightstand and opened it to the inside cover. He couldn’t help but smile as he ran his fingers over the black ink, remembering the way Kyungsoo had looked at him before he marked Jongin’s book with his name. His heart fluttered as he turned his attention to the swirled writing just under Do Kyungsoo’s name. Jongin squinted, trying to make sense of the writing before he laughed in spite of himself.

 

“Kim Jongin: here’s to being well-loved.”

 

Jongin sighed, longing to hear Do Kyungsoo’s gentle voice again as he repeated the words once more to himself.

 

“Well-loved.”

 

Jongin pulled up gently on the golden ribbon, opening the book to the page it was last left on. Page 21. The page in which the young boy meets the prince.

 

“It’s rather late to be wandering around in the forest, isn’t it?,” the prince asked.

 

Jongin’s eyes were immediately drawn to something unusual in the book. His eyes slid down to rest on something that hadn’t been there before. A hurriedly scribbled line of numbers right next to the very paragraph in which the prince introduces himself.


“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Prince Joonmyun,”the boy said.       xxx-xxxx, Kyungsoo

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Comments

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kxdlola120
#1
Chapter 1: I keep coming back to read it again! :)
tere_bts
#2
Chapter 1: This is so cuteee!! OMG T-T ♡♡♡
dyorena
#3
Chapter 1: Most adorable fluffy piece ive ever read! So you let the reader's imagination wandering around fo the continuation? Uw you're so mean :)))))
darkreminisce #4
SO CUTE SOO LEFT HIS NUMBER PLS DO CONTINUE
exoxoxoace #5
Chapter 1: PLEASE CONTINUE PLEASE LET ME DIE OF CAVITIES
evil-onho #6
Chapter 1: So cute!! I hope you come back to continue their story.
leoshi_bishoujo
#7
Chapter 1: I HAVE CAVITIES AND I'M CRYING NOT BECAUSE OF ITTTTTTT HY SO CUTE DAMN WHY THEY ARE SO CUTE HOWWWWW TELL ME HOW
CrossingTheBoundary #8
Chapter 1: THIS IS BY FAR THE CUTEST THING IVE READ IN A WHILE I FEEL LIKE IM GOING TO COMBUST
misterbanana
#9
Chapter 1: So so so so so so so adorable!!!!!!!!!
YeolSeob
#10
this was SOOOOO CUTE i feel like im drowning in fluff balls awwwww JONGIN IS ADORABLE