IQ148 // namjoon ✔️

__SEPTEMBER__

September ; 2016

JungMi's life had changed so drastically and so suddenly that sometimes she wonders if she's dreaming; if she's fantasizing about the whole thing. If this reality is actually just another sequence of events she's imagining in her mind.

She holds in her hands a perfect bound paperback with her name on the cover:
Lee JungMi.

In a stylish font on the front cover is the title which JungMi had pondered over several times until it felt suitable: IQ148.

When she flips through the fresh, crisp pages, her story in her own words flashes before her eyes. What was once just an idea is now physically in her hands, in the flesh.

A dream come true...

Now that she's here, she's genuinely shocked at how much she struggled to get published in the first place. JungMi edited her manuscript so thoroughly overtime that it was nearly ready to be published on the spot. With how smoothly the process went once her manuscript was accepted, it didn't take long until she was seeing promotions for her debut novel in window displays of bookstores: coming soon to our shelves: IQ148 by Lee JungMi.

As the public release date of her debut novel approaches, her publishers and her brand new literary agent thought it would be best to hold a book signing for presales of the novel as a way of promoting. It would be the first leg of her highly anticipated book tour around the country.

"We're still unsure of where the signing will be held," her new literary agent, Ms. Min, notifies JungMi as they go through a rundown of what her following weeks of promotions will be like, "We agreed on finding a venue with enough space for the expected number of people to fit, but also enough to make the signing intimate for your readers."

As Ms. Min describes their expectations for the perfect venue, a very special, but familiar, place comes to JungMi's mind...

"Do you think the Daeo bookstore in Seochon Village would be big enough?" JungMi suggests amicably as a second thought.

Ms. Min considers her suggestion for a moment before smiling.

It was time to return to the place where it all started.

=====

JungMi's agent has her sitting front and center in the courtyard of the Daeo bookstore weeks later. Sitting here under the open sky should feel unnatural--- in fact, JungMi often sneaks glances towards the entrance of the back room where she used to sit--- but with how much her life has shifted and with how much she's changed as a person, this change feels necessary. She can no longer hide behind those bookshelves.

The table and stools that were once here in the courtyard are now replaced with JungMi's display table for her debut novel: the title and cover of the book expanded on stand-up banners on each side of the table, her headshot and short biography displayed in a frame, promotional posters for the book everywhere the eye can see, and stacks of copies of the book piled high to suffice the high attendance of readers.

The line starts at the entrance of the courtyard, where they walk up to the table one at a time. So JungMi can see who's next in line, but not the people after. The line of people appears neverending from where JungMi is sitting.

Her marker has already run out of ink and had to be replaced twice.

"If you're going to write personal messages for everyone in line," Ms. Min mumbles for only JungMi to hear as she passes her a new marker for the second time, "Make them only two sentences at most. The line's very long and we don't have enough time to linger with each person."