"maybe in another world, another life, we were meant for a happy ending, but not here, not this time"
in which nishimura ayame is struggling with her mental health and home life and yang jungwon tries to help her but nothing could ever go right for...
[note: italics mean they are speaking in japanese ]
"ayame" riki clung onto his sister's arm. the girl looked at him, tilting her head, "can we go to the bakery to get sugar cookies afterschool?"
"i have work after school today" she spoke, "but after my shift, i'll pick some up and bring them home"
riki nodded and smiled at her, "how is the job going?"
even though ayame had been working at her job for almost 3 years, riki would always ask her how her job was going. a little gesture that ayame always appreciated
"it's going great" ayame lied, "as always"
the amount of lies that ayame told her brother was a lot. she didn't want him to worry about her personal affairs and wanted him to focus on school solely
"that's good" riki nodded, "just tell me if anything is wrong. i don't want you keeping stuff from me"
"riki you know i wouldn't hide things from you" ayame replied and riki just hmmed, the two still walking to school.
it was still early in the morning, about 6 in the morning and the sun was still rising. ayame would go to school early to go help the librarian. riki did not like ayame walking by herself especially in their neighborhood by herself no matter what so if she left early, he would leave early as well to walk with her. due to their financial situation, the neighborhood she lived in wasn't the best and her apartment complex was very sketchy but it was the best they could afford with her dad's salary.
riki was a 2nd year while ayame was a 3rd year so their schedules were different; the two not really seeing each other during school but riki stayed with her in the morning while she helped in the library. he would try and help her with the tall shelves but since she was tall as well and usually didn't need the help from the boy so riki would just sit at a table playing board games with the librarian or doing homework he needed to finish.
the two reached the school before continuing to walk to the library. when they got to the library, it was empty inside except for the librarian who was at her desk
"good morning kids" the lady smiled and the two causing the two to smile back.
they walked over to a table, the two setting their bags down. while riki sat down, ayame walked over to the librarian, "hello mrs.anh. do you need any help today?"
"there's no books that need to be put away today but if you can, can you organize the books in the non-fiction aisle?" the lady asked and ayame nodded, "thank you ayame"
she grinned again, walking over to the aisle to organize books.
mrs.anh got up from her seat and went over to the table riki was at, sitting across from him, "hello riki"
"hello mrs.anh" the boy greeted her, talking in korean now, "how are you?"
"i'm good. thank you for asking" she chuckled before pulling out a pack of cards from her pocket, "want to play?"
riki quickly nodded and the librarian smiled. the two began playing a round of cards while ayame was organizing the books.
it took the girl about 15 minutes to finish organizing all the books. just as she was about to walk away, a book fell from the shelf. she jumped from the noise and turned around, seeing the book on the floor.
she walked over to the book and picked it up, "in another life.." she muttered as her eyes scanned over the book, "why is this in the non-fiction aisle?"
she opened the hard-covered book, reading the description on the inside of it, "she loves him and so does he but just not the same way as she does.." ayame raised an eyebrow as she read the short description, "that's a short description for a book"
she shrugged before closing the book and walking out of the aisle and going to the table where the two were still playing another round of cards, "no!" riki shouted as the librarian threw down a card, signaling that riki lost, "unfair" he muttered in japanese, throwing his cards down in disappointment.
ayame chuckled as she sat down in the seat next to riki, "mrs.anh. i found this book in the non-fiction aisle" she placed it on the table
the lady looked over at the book, reading the title and furrowing her eyebrows, "hm..i've never seen that book before here"
she grabbed the book, observing it and checking the check-outs on the book, "oh..this book isn't from this library. maybe someone put there on accident" mrs. anh handed the book back to ayame, "you can keep it. i know you like romance novels"
ayame chuckled before she nodded, putting the book away in her bag, "oh. i need to give you two this" mrs.anh stood up, walking over to her desk.
riki and ayame looked at each other confused before she came back and placed down a pink box in front of the two.
they looked at the box then at mrs.anh, "open it!" she encouraged the two
ayame placed her hand on the box, opening it up only to see multiple sweets such as cookies, brownies, cakepops, and macaroons.
"wah!" riki exclaimed, amazed by the sight
"thank you mrs.anh but what is this for?" ayame spoke, confused of the sudden gift
"my daughter is having a bake sale for her school's fundraisers and we made many extras so i decided to give some to you guys" she sweetly smiled at the two
riki looked at ayame with a light in his eyes, "can i have one?"
"of course. you don't have to ask me" ayame chuckled, patting her brother's head.
he quickly grabbed a brownie, taking a bite out of it, "wah! this tastes amazing!"
mrs.anh chuckled, "i'm glad you enjoy it. you two are like my own children as well so i like giving you guys a few things here and there"
ayame smiled as she was about to grab a brownie as well but hesitated. she stopped herself and put her hand on her lap, "thank you" riki smiled at mrs.anh and she smiled as well
she liked the moments where they were happy but she knew moments like these didn't last long in her life.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
