IQ148 // namjoon ✔️

__DECEMBER__

December ; 2014

JungMi seems to be giving NamJoon the cold shoulder. And being ignored by her is colder than a Seoul winter.

There's a distance between them since JungMi spreads her legs out to take up the whole corner, deliberately forcing him to sit further away near the end of the bookshelf. And to his knowledge, she has not looked up from her book to acknowledge his presence at all.

Her attitude is irking him even more so than it usually would since he hasn't been in the best of moods either. Usually he would be level headed and approach the problem with a clear mind, but there's many things on his mind at the moment.

There's been many malicious comments about him circulating the internet recently. There's always been backlash even before BTS' debut, but the latest spike in hate has been especially burdensome. He feels as though he didn't do anything wrong, or at least nothing horrendous enough to receive such treatment. He believes a great injustice has been put upon him.

It's just a song, NamJoon tries to shake it off.

I don't have to worry about it.

This will all blow over soon.

NamJoon came to the bookstore in order to confide in the one person he's sure would be on his side and defend him.

She'd understand, he believes.

Surely, she would understand.

There was no warm welcome when NamJoon arrived half an hour ago; just JungMi's cold shoulder and the backdrop of white with snow falling outside the window. The breezes from outside carry ice cold chills down his spine. NamJoon wishes to shut the window more than anything he initially came to unload, but JungMi blocks the way with a defensive shield.

Time ticks away wastefully in their silence; it is time not spent wisely with affinity. Instead, time passes as the tension increases; NamJoon seems to be the only one who feels it.

JungMi simply cradles a worn down book in her hand and holds down the pages with the pad of her thumb.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The timeless classic.

The edges of the pages are corroding and the vintage cover appears to be faded in quality, giving the impression that she carries it with her constantly, but only pulls it out from the deepest depths of her bag when she needs entertainment. Or in this case: a distraction.

So how is their time being spent?

She flips to the next page with a sense of urgency.

NamJoon reads the titles on the book spines on the shelf across from him from the bottom to the top shelf.

Occasionally he would glance at JungMi, but the image of her has not changed in the past half hour: her nose in a book and her hair pouring over her shoulder in contrast to the stark white of the snow falling behind her.

How is their time being spent?

Although nothing changes, NamJoon can feel time passing. He can feel it in the amount of pages JungMi flips through; each flip of the page increases the agitation in the atmosphere.

He can feel time passing with every book title he rereads; he starts over once he reaches the top.

They spend their time doing these repeated acts; either NamJoon is too reluctant to say something in fear that the moment is not right... or JungMi is waiting for the right moment to say something.

She flips a page and reads in silence for a restless heartbeat.

"Did you know Jane Austen died at forty-one years old and never married?" There's hostility in her voice that NamJoon picks up on right away, "Yet, all of her books have happy endings. The irony..."