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The Rkive was one of Haseul’s favorite places in all of Seoul. It was a strange place: small yet large, magical yet ordinary. When she’d stepped foot inside for the first time, she’d immediately been swept away by the feeling of importance.
Jungkook, who’d been tagging along with her to visit his friend, who was owner, had called her crazy.
But browsing through the maze of bookshelves, fingers trailing along dozens of book spines, she knew she wasn’t imagining things. While in no particular order, the topics ranged from herbal poultices to spells to detailed entries on supernatural creatures. One book even held long lists of documented lycan packs and vampire covens, thoroughly outdated but interesting nonetheless.
It wasn’t just the information that the little library held that was interesting, though. She could physically feel the magic laced in every work. Pulling some off the shelves confirmed her thoughts; spells were woven into the books and tomes like their bindings, charming them to resist wear and tear.
She visited time and time again, both to use books for her class work and to just read in her own free time. She’d always been like a sponge, eager to learn new things, so she came often just to enjoy herself, taking books on various subjects and curling up in one of the four reading window nooks upstairs.
Spending so much time around the place, she found herself unconsciously falling into her species’ habits. Being a brownie, she was inclined to cleaning and organizing, especially in places that she deemed a safe space for herself. And. Well. The Rkive had become one.
Kim Namjoon, the owner, eventually caught her before she left one day. While she had visited plenty of times, she hadn’t ran into him very often, mostly because the man tended to keep to himself in the upstairs staff room, researching and repairing any books that managed to become damaged.
That day, he stopped her and asked if she had been rearranging the books. She’d immediately been flustered at being caught and had started to apologize, assuming he was upset with her, but he’d waved her apologies off. Instead, he’d sheepishly questioned if she’d be interested in working at the shop as a librarian of sorts, because according to him, he lacked the patience to organize the hundreds of works, and had been relying on his sometimes unreliable memory to find specific ones he was looking for.
Surprised and a bit flattered, Haseul had agreed.
The next day, Namjoon put up a sign saying the library would be closed for a week, and Haseul roped him and Jungkook into helping her with stripping all the books off the shelves, cleaning up the dust and cobwebs that had managed to make homes in all the crevices, sorting the works out meticulously into sections and topics, and then rehoming them into their newly labeled places.
Namjoon complained and whined throughout the whole process, but when it was all done, his smile was wide and he treated her and Jungkook to lunch.
So Haseul found herself spending day after day in place that had become a comfort to her, cleaning and organizing to her heart’s desire, and even eventually helping Namjoon out with research when he realized she was interested and willing.
She was a big believer that life always fell into place how it should, after all. There would be some issues and bumps along the road, but what was meant to be would come around eventually. So all in all, Haseul found herself pretty pleased and content with how life was going.
And then a pretty girl walked in.
Let it be known that Jo Haseul did not believe in love at first sight. Love, she thought, was something that took time to grow, like a seed to a flower.
That being said, the encounter was the closest to what she could imagine love at first sight felt like.
She’d been behind the one of the various bookcases in the library, sliding a tome back into place, when the clear ding of the call bell up front had gone off. Humming, she’d rounded the corner, opening her mouth the greet the patron asking for assistance, only she freeze mid step.
The girl standing there was so pretty.
About her height, Pretty Girl had long, wavy pink hair, the top pulled into an endearing apple ponytail. And her outfit was equally adorable: a red and white vertically striped blouse, with the cutest white overalls skirt in over it.
Pretty Girl looked up, smiling politely, and Haseul nearly swooned.
“Hello,” she said, hurrying forward to greet her.
“Hello,” the girl replied. Her voice was soft and light, and there was a quite obvious bit of an accent even with that one word alone. She was likely foreign, she decided.
“How can I help you?” Haseul asked, trying her best to keep professional.
“I am looking for... ah...,” the girl struggled with herself for a moment as if trying to remember something. “Something on tales?”
Haseul blinked. “Tales? Like, fairy tales?”
The girl shook her head. Paused. “I... Yes but no.” She shifted from foot to foot, thinking. “Like... do not walk under... um, the steps?”
“Ladders?” Haseul offered gently. When the girl nodded, smile brightening, she couldn’t help but smile back. “You’re meaning superstitions, like old wives’ tales.”
Pretty Girl bounced in place, the heels of her shoes clicking on the hardwood floor. “Yes! Sorry, I am from Hong Kong, so my... speech? Is not well.”
Haseul smiled at her reassuringly as she waved for her to follow. “Well, I think you’re doing great. Your Korean is actually pretty good!”
The other’s smile turned shy at the praise. “Thank you~.”
“So, Hong Kong?” Haseul continued, grasping for something to talk about while they walked through the rows. The girl nodded. “Are you just visiting, like foreign exchange? Or did you move here?”
“Move. It was exchange, but I wanted to stay, so I am going to school here,” she replied. She looked a little embarrassed. “I need to improve Korean, though.”
Looking over her shoulder, the brunette gave her another reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, people are here are usually pretty patient with foreigners and don’t mind helping you with pronunciation and things of that sort. Do you speak any English?”
Pretty Girl nodded. “Yes.”
“That’s really good. Most of us have to learn some in school, so if you need help and can’t remember how to say something, you can probably switch to that.”
They stopped in front of one of the carefully sorted sections. “Do you need just something general, or is there a specific type of superstition you need?”
Pretty Girl blinked. She fiddled with straps of her overalls, then made a large circular gesture. “Wide?”
“So general,” Haseul hummed. She tapped at her chin before reaching out and selecting two different books. She one in each of her hands, turning to face the other. “These both cover just about the same things, but this one,” she lifted one book, “is a little more detailed. If you’d like to, you can take both, but that’s up to you.”
The pink haired girl nodded. She slowly reached out for the larger book that Haseul had gestured to. “This one,” she decided.
Nodding, Haseul put the other book away and gestured for the girl to follow her back to the front. Once there she walked around the counter and gently took the book from her patron. “Now we’ll make you a library card, and then you can check it out.”
She clicked open a tab on the computer and turned the monitor and keyboard to face the other. “Just fill in your information.” While the other did that, Haseul did a quick survey of the book, checking for any damages and making sure the charm on it was intact.
“Okay,” she said mostly to herself when Pretty Girl was done. Picking up a spare card from a box under the counter, she used a scanner to copy the saved information onto the card. “All this is done through magic,” she explained offhandedly, pronouncing her words carefully and slowly in case the girl needed help understanding her words (because let’s be honest, native speakers always spoke faster than they realized they were). She tapped another tab on the keyboard and scanned the corner of the cover of the book, then the card again. She passed the card over to the girl. “You can’t see anything on the card, but there’s essentially invisible writing on it. It keeps track of your information, how many books you’ve checked out and checked in, how many late turn-ins you’ve had - things of that sort. When I scan your book first, and then your card, it immediately notes what book you have checked out, and what date it was taken.”
She tapped the book. Pretty Girl put down her wallet where she’d stored the card, gently holding the other end of the book while she listened. “On every book there’s also two charms. The first is to reduce any physically damage. The second is like an invisible barcode. When it’s scanned, it registers the date it’s being checked out, and when it’s late, the secret barcode right here,” she tapped the corner, “will glow orange. You can’t miss it. If you need to keep the book for longer, just stop by and I’ll reset the date for you.” With that, she slid the book over.
Pretty Girl smiled, taking the book and holding it to her chest. “Thank you.”
Haseul waved politely. “Have a good day!”
She watched her turn and exit library through the big door, feeling a bit disappointed that she was leaving but happy that she helped. Sighing, she leaned back against the wall.
And then zeroed in on the pastel pink wallet left on the counter.
Snatching it up, she darted out the door.
“Miss! Miss!”
Pretty Girl, not yet too far down the sidewalk, glanced behind her before she turned around, eyes blinking. “Yes?”
Haseul came to a stop in front of her. “You forgot your wallet,” she explained, holding the pouch out. “You really shouldn’t lose that, especially when you’re new around here.”
The pinkette’s eyes widened. “Oh!” She reached out and took it, smiling gratefully and bowing twice. “Thank you~.”
Haseul nodded with a smile of her own. She shuffled her feet a little, flushing under the curious look she received. “It’s just, um. You said you’re staying, right? Here in Korea?”
Cute Girl tilted her head but nodded nonetheless. “Yes?”
Haseul released a breath. “Nice. Good.” Paused. Flushed further. “I just, I mean. If you ever need help, getting around or something, you know. I’m here.”
Cute Girl was starting to smile, her eyes shining with mirth. “Do you want my phone?”
“Your... your phone..?” Haseul blinked. “O-Oh, your phone number! I, uh, I...,” she sighed, laughing a little at herself. “yes, please.”
Cute Girl smiled and pulled her phone from her pocket. Haseul did the same. They switched, typing in numbers and names before handing them back.
“Bye,” the pinkette said kindly, backing away with a small bow and a wave as she walked away.
“Bye,” Haseul replied, late, to the air. Looking down, she looked at the new contact.
“Kahei” was in text at the top, with two tiny emojis, one a prancing deer and the other a cherry blossom.
Cute.