Bookstore - Chen

This was a request for when Chen admires you in a bookstore. And the idea of him in his glasses was just too much to resist keke.

Also uggghhhh I don’t have internet. I’m bumming off my cousin right now and probably won’t have internet until next week. And I still need to unpack a ton of stuff. TT I miss tumblr and the internet so much. So I guess I’m on semi-hiatus but hopefully I can get some stuff written while I don’t have internet.

Anyways, here you go.

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“Hi um…I’m wondering if you have this book,” you asked in your limited Korean and showed the secondhand bookstore owner the title your professor had given you.

“Yes. It’s there,” he said and pointed down one of the rows of towering bookshelves. He said something more but you didn’t quite understand and nodded your head and thanked him anyways.

You made your way down the aisle he had pointed to and relished the comforting smell of the books surrounding you. You knew if you weren’t careful, you’d be in there for hours.

You focused on the task at hand and started looking at the titles, trying to find some kind of pattern. You weren’t sure if they were arranged by subject and didn’t know a lot of the words adorning the spines. But then they did seem to be arranged in some kind of alphabetical order, as you noticed books grouped together beginning with the same letter. The trouble was, you weren’t even sure what order the Korean alphabet went in. You only knew the letters and how to read them.

—

Chen stood down the end of a shadowy aisle at one end of the store, peeking out to see if the coast was clear. The girls outside seemed to be dissipating but he wanted to be sure before venturing out again.

When he spotted you coming in, he recoiled, fearing you were a fan that had found him.

But when he saw you go to the counter to ask the storekeeper a question, he relaxed and quietly observed.

He thought you were cute right away. Then he noticed your broken Korean and grinned. You reminded him of himself, struggling to get by in Chinese.

When the shopkeeper pointed to the stacks, Chen pretended to be looking at a book title and then looked back at you as you thanked the man.

When you made your way to the next aisle over, Chen peered at you through the gaps in the books, intrigued.

As you mumbled titles to yourself, he watched your lips move subtly with fascination. You said a couple words to yourself in English and captivated him even more. He carefully followed you down the aisle, taking care not to be seen. You tucked your hair behind your ear and sent an unexpected thrill through Chen’s stomach. He was mesmerized by you and didn’t really understand it. He’d never been so interested in someone he’d just seen.

When you checked what was written on your paper again, he took notice of your pretty eyelashes as you lifted your eyes to look at more titles.

His heart nearly stopped when your eyes suddenly met his and widened in surprise.

—

You nearly jumped when you saw a person looking back at you behind the books. You stared at him for a moment, and after you got over the initial shock, you realized he was quite cute, in his large hipster-like frames and dark tousled hair.

“Sorry,” he said. “I just…did you need some help?”

“Oh um…maybe. I’m looking for this,” you said, and awkwardly handed him your piece of paper through the gap above some books.

“I think it’s on this side of the shelf,” he said, reading through his lensless glasses.

“Oh it is?” you said and went to join him on the other side.

He looked up and scanned some titles before finding what he was looking for.

“It’s here.”

You took the chance to quickly scan him from his dark hair to his converse clad feet as he stood on his tiptoes and retrieved the book for you.

“Here you go,” he said and held it out to you.

“Thanks,” you said and took it. “I was afraid you guys didn’t carry it.”

“What? Oh no. I don’t work here.”

“Oh you don’t?” you asked in embarrassment. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he said with a charming smile.

“Thanks anyways. I just moved here to study and my Korean isn’t very good. I probably would have been looking for it forever.”

“Your Korean sounds really good.”

“Thanks but I still have a long way to go,” you said, flattered at his completment.

“You’re off to a good start,” he said and flashed another handsome smile at you.

You looked down at your book and thanked him again, feeling awkward for saying so many thank yous.

When you looked up at him again, you found him glancing around to look at the front of the store, like he was looking for something.

“Are you waiting for someone? I should probably go…”

“Oh no. Just seeing if they’re gone.”

“If who is gone?”

“The fans.”

“Fans?”

“You don’t recognize me?” he asked.

“No. Sorry, should I?”

“No don’t be sorry. It’s kind of refreshing.”

“Are you an actor or…”

“I’m a singer. Have you heard of EXO?”

“Oh yeah! I’m sorry. I can’t keep up with all these groups.”

“No it’s fine.”

He then looked down at the book at your hands.

“I can sign something for you if you want.”

“Oh sure. I guess it would be stupid of me to meet you and not get one. I don’t really have anything though…”

“How about your book?

“Sure,” you said and held it out to him.

He took a pen from his backpack and opened the cover.

You watched as he scribbled something you couldn’t read that ended in a star.

“The star is a nice touch,” you said with a smile.

“Thanks,” he said and wrote “Chen” in English beneath it.

You looked up at him. “Chen?” you asked.

“It’s my stage name,” he said and handed you back the book.

“What’s your real name?”

“Jongdae. Kim Jongdae.”

“Oh well it’s nice to meet you,” you said and shook his hand, introducing yourself as well.

You waited for Chen to say goodbye but he glanced at his shoes and scratched the back of his head briefly before looking back up at you with his friendly features.

“This is strange and I never do it but if I don’t ask I’ll regret it.”

“Ask what?”

“Could I maybe…have your number?”

You were taken aback. This had never happened to you before. What about you could possibly be interesting or appealing enough that he’d want to talk to you again? You were completely awkward and lost, spoke terrible Korean and he was a celebrity. He probably met other girls much more beautiful and talented than you every day.

“But you’re an idol.”

“Oh,” he said, looking crestfallen. “Well, I understand if you don’t want to get caught up in a scandal or something.”

“No it’s not that. It’s just…I don’t know. Won’t you get in trouble?”

“Trouble? What’s the trouble in getting to know each other?”

“Nothing I guess.”

Chen grinned happily as he pulled out his phone and then entered your number as you dictated it to him.

After he put it away, he glanced back at the front window nervously.

“I guess I have to leave eventually.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’m glad I met you. I’ll text you sometime.”

“Okay. Thanks for helping me with the book. And the autograph.”

“No problem.”

When he turned to go, you spotted some suspicious looking girls across the street and called to him.

“Hm?”

“Hold on a sec,” you said and quickly purchased your book. “I’ll leave first.”

Chen watched curiously as you went outside and called to the girls across the street.

“Hey! Chen just went in there!” you yelled and pointed to a store at the very end of the block.

The girls, who had obviously been searching for him, jumped at the possibility of seeing their idol and hurried away down the street. Then, with a quick wave and a smile back to Chen, you went on your way.

Once you’d turned the corner, your phone buzzed with a text.

“Thanks.”

“No problem,” Chen read and headed home with an excited grin on his face.

6 days ago

diaryoftheedreamer

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Omg your Ilhoon scenario "Haircut" just killed me. It was the best. I can't wait for your next Ilhoon scenario and I hope you start accepting requests. Be back~!! Fighting! <3

I’m so glad you liked it! :D

And yeah I’ve just been all over the place lately and I’m moving and starting a new job so it may be a bit before I get back to normal posting and requests. :(

But thanks for reading and following. :D

6 days ago

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