TAEGI SMUTS [ᵃᵒ3]

Nothing's Gonna Hurt You, Baby

Ao3 by : sun_tae

Summary :

In which,

Taehyung realizes that he'd lost a piece of himself somewhere deep into the antique bookshop he owns and flicking through pages of torn out books won't help him find it.

So, he finds Yoongi asleep on the couch of his store instead.

-
-
-
-
-
-
-

“Good morning!”

Taehyung jerks awake from his nap at the sudden voice of someone’s greeting and the book he was previously reading falls on the floor with a soft thud. The pages flipped closed and he scrunches his nose at the thought of losing the last page he read in the mess of words.

A chuckle echoes and he looks up from the floor.

“Hello, welcome!” He greets back, flushing in embarrassment behind the counter.

“Didn’t sleep last night?”

There’s no real bite behind those words - the old lady even gives him a knowing smile and it’s so big and bright that it reaches her eyes.

Taehyung mirrors her expression as he admits, “Yeah, you could say that. Stayed up late reading. Is there anything I could help you with?”

The woman takes off her fedora hat, stepping further in the shop and Taehyung finds a soothing delight in the way she perfectly fits in with the scenery of his antique bookshop.

She’s one of his regulars and although he had a strict policy about playing favorites - all customers should be treated equally - he had to admit, unlike his nature, she was one of his favorites.

Her fashion choices were immaculate and she carried herself with finesse and grace, looking like a cover of a magazine in the 50s.

“Yes, actually. My daughter’s baby girl is about to turn four next week, so I wanted to gift her a book - with pictures, of course, she can’t read after all. Do you have any children’s books here?”

“Yes.” Taehyung beams, walking out of the counter he was sitting behind.

The children books section is the one he took great pride in and the hardest to put together, but he loved every second he’d spent on it dearly.

Kids were the least ones to mind how rough the edges of the book they’re holding are, but that's only if they were interested in it.

“Follow me.”

The shop, much to anyone’s surprise, is bigger than it looks from the outside - the dusty windows did it no good, but to the ones brave enough to open the pastel blue wooden door and walk in - it was a hidden treasure.

And it was hard to walk out once you go in, because, Taehyung made sure, there’s a bit for everyone - from students, looking for a textbook that’s either too expensive to buy new, or hard to find; through rebellious teens that hardly even read and to elders that had too much time to kill on their hands. There are countless stacks of books that reach the ceiling and it looks messy, but each book is placed carefully in alphabetical order by genres. And if customers have trouble finding what they’re looking for, they always have Taehyung there, who knows each book he has in the shop.

After taking a few turns, they stop in front of the exact piles he’s looking for.

“Here. Is there a particular book you’re looking for?”

“She’s quite fond of mermaids, I believe. So, a book for mermaids, if there is?”

Taehyung squats down, eyes hovering around the titles and picking up anything that fit the lady’s description. When he stands up, offering her the books he’s chosen, she looks back at him with curious eyes.