Forget Me Not✔️

Unknown Words

The two of you headed over to the long counter in the back of the arcade after Namjoon insists on cashing in his tickets. The clerk tells him how many he has and waves his arm to indicate which prizes he can choose from.

He taps his finger on his chin before his eyes gleam, a smile lighting up his face. He extends a hand and points, "That one." The clerk nods with a grin and climbs a ladder to get to the prize Namjoon had chosen. Somewhere behind you, you heard a shrill scream as a child demanded another round on the bumper cars.

You looked behind you automatically and when you turned back around, you bumped into a large blue koala bear. You jumped and took a step back to see a pair of long tan arms wrapped around its middle. Namjoon peeked his head under its arm and gave you a toothy grin, holding the bear out to you.

Your eyes widened as you beheld the giant stuffed animal. "I won him for you, so that every time you hug him you'll think of me. Forget me not." His eyes pleaded with you to take it, and who were you to say no?

You covered your mouth, a face splitting grin on your face. Looking down at Moonie in your hand, you asked softly, "Will you carry him for me?" He nodded, thrilled that you had accepted his adorable gift.

Finally leaving the arcade, you both started to head back to his car. However, from the corner of your eye you spotted something across the street.

It looked like an old, run down book store. You stared in interest before Namjoon noticed you had stopped walking beside him. He came back to you and noticed what you had been staring at.

"The book store?" He inquired before looking down at you. "Do you want to check it out?" He asked, giving you a soft smile.

"Kinda." You said looking back up at him. "Would you mind?" You looked hopefully up at him.

"Not at all." He shook his head, unlocking the car. "I've spent a little time in there, they have everything under the sun." You opened the back door for him so that he could stuff your koala into the car. His legs hung out of the car, giving you the perfect view of his bent backside. You whistled suggestively at him, earning you a laugh. He closed the door and grabbed your hand, heading over to the cross walk to make your way to the book store.

Stepping inside, you were greeted with an incredible sight. There was no part of the store that wasn't touched by literature. Books were stacked on shelves, in piles on the floor, on desks, on step stools, everywhere your eyes roamed they were filled with literary treasure.

You breathed in deeply, letting your senses be overpowered by the smell of inked parchment. You had had a love for books since before you could remember, some would call it an obsession. You had made a list of famous book stores around the world and had always wanted to see what an old Korean book store had to offer. You were a bit amazed, to say the least.

You began to wander around and look at the titles, your fingers skimming the delicate spines. Many of them had English translated books beside the original Korean versions. You pulled out a book that was titled I'll Be Right There and flipped it over as you read the summary out loud. Your voice came out shakier than you had wanted since it was written in Korean and hoped you hadn't butchered it too terribly.

"Oh, I've read that one." Namjoon smiled, either not noticing your shyness or too nice to acknowledge it, as he looked at the book over your shoulder. "The author is pretty popular. It's a great story." He said as you looked up at him behind you.

"Really? I think I'll get it then. It looks and sounds like a great read." You said, running a hand over the cover. According to the back of the book, it was a story about a young adult woman who receives a distressed phone call from someone from her past. It tells the tale of how she is forced to relive painful and cherished memories alike and the emotions she portrays. It was just your cup of tea. "Recommend any others?" You asked as you glanced around.

"Well the same author also wrote this one. I've read it before and enjoyed it." He said, pulling the English rendition of one of the woman's other books from the shelf and handing it to you. You stared at it for a moment in silence before putting it back and pulling the original Korean version from the shelf.

"I think I'll get this one instead. Help me with my language studies?" You requested with a soft smile which Namjoon returned.

"I'd love to."

You paid for your books and headed out of the shop.

"Why don't we go get some coffee and rest for a bit?" He suggested, and you nodded eagerly in response.

It didn't take long before you found a beautiful and quaint little coffee shop on the edge of town. The two of you headed inside. The smell of coffee grounds and paper wafted towards you the second you opened the door. All around you, people studied, read books, or talked in hushed voices to each other.

Namjoon asked what you would like and offered to go get the drinks while you picked a table. You gave him your favorite coffee order before finding a quiet spot in the corner of the coffee shop next to a window overlooking the street outside.

While you waited on Namjoon to return, you decided to pull one of the books you had bought from your bag, neither of which were conjugated. The cover was worn, and you couldn't tell what color it had originally been. You ran your fingers over the silver lettering on the front. There was a black ribbon hanging down the side, a built in book mark.

Opening the book, you brought it up to your nose, inhaling the soothing scent of your new used book. You started to read, or...at least try to read. There were more than a few words you were unsure of, so you pulled up an English to Korean dictionary you had bought just before leaving the book store. You attempted to translate the unfamiliar words as Namjoon returned with your coffees and sat yours down in front of you.

"Oh, thank you." You said, gently setting down your book, the pages of the dictionary left open.

Namjoon glanced at the page as he took the seat across from you. "Oh, are you trying to find the English word for something?" He asked.

You took a sip of your caramel macchiato and shrugged lightly. "Yeah...I'm only on the first page and I already got stumped." You admitted with a bit of ashamed laughter.

Namjoon gently pulled the book towards him and asked which word. You pointed one out and he read it over before explaining its meaning. Ah, made much more sense when he explained it. He then began to read the full sentence so he could use it in context and so that you would better understand.

You rested your elbow on the table and put your chin in the palm of your hand, listening to him carefully.

He finished reading before looking up to see you staring at him and he looked down with a shy smile.

"Oh, don't stop on my account." You said, returning his smile with a smirk.

"Really?" He questioned with a tilt of his head. You shrugged lightly and nodded, beckoning for him to keep going.

"Alright." He added with a shrug of his own before he got up from his seat and moved to sit down right beside you. His elbow brushed against your arm as he went on.

He started from the top of the page and began to read in Korean. Any time he said something that you didn't understand, you'd gently stop him and ask him to explain. But as he continued on, the less you'd have to interrupt him.

Before long, he was just reading page after page aloud to you. The sound of his voice was like music to your ears. You had heard him rap, sure, but up until now he had only spoken English to you. The Korean language sounded like the most beautiful thing in the world when it came from his lips.

You kept your eyes glued to him, listening as he read every word, watching the way his graceful fingers flipped the pages and his beautiful brown eyes scanned each passage carefully. You loved the way he spoke so perfectly, no matter which language he was using.

The story wasn't the only thing you seemed to be completely wrapped up in. You felt as though you could sit and listen to him read for hours on end. You weren't religious, but you'd soak in the words of the bible if he said them to you.

The sound of his deep voice was soothing, causing you to forget about your surroundings as you focused solely on him. You completely lost yourself in the unparalleled experience and the rest of the world fell away as he lulled your mind into a trance.