IQ148 // namjoon ✔️

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February ; 2017

NamJoon finds himself repeating the past; he seems to always push back his New Year's resolutions until February. At least until there's another opening in his schedule for him to visit the bookstore.

He barges in through the door and makes a grand entrance as the bell signaling his arrival resonates throughout the bookstore. He looks around, half expecting that JungMi would be standing somewhere already waiting for him.

When he sees that the room is empty of her presence, he takes a step towards the courtyard but is stopped by the bookstore clerk who turns around at the sound of the bell.

The bookstore clerk is holding a shabby, unkempt copy of JungMi's book in his hands open to a page in the middle. The condition of the book brings horror to NamJoon; it's a miracle that the book is even still hanging onto the spine. NamJoon would be too scared to even flip to the next page, afraid that the other pages might fall out.

What did he put that book through?

"Welcome to the Daeo Boo—" The bookstore clerk freezes in place behind the counter. NamJoon is almost sure that he would have dropped the book to the ground considering how inattentive he is to maintaining its quality.

When the bookstore clerk falters in his greeting, NamJoon spares him a glance. The clerk appears shell-shocked at NamJoon's presence. He proceeds to only gawk at NamJoon in a state of disbelief from behind the counter with JungMi's novel barely balancing on the ends of his fingertips.

NamJoon isn't in the mood to be bombarded as a member of the global sensation, BTS. His initial reason for visiting the bookstore was specifically to get away from that life momentarily. He doesn't want to be bothered in the Daeo Bookstore of all places.

NamJoon tries to casually pull down his beanie to cast shadows over his eyes and lifts his scarf to cover half his face. He lowers his head to keep his face from the clerk's view and tries to pass the counter and enter the courtyard without interacting.

"A-Aren't you NamJoon?" The clerk stutters out still in a trance.

NamJoon halts right in front of the doorway, but keeps his head down. He's surprised that the clerk used his real name rather than his stage name.

But then again, that can easily be searched up on the internet...

"The boy with an IQ of 148? The NamJoon that JungMi wrote about? That NamJoon?"

At the sound of the syllables that make up her name, NamJoon tenses up and turns on his heels. He pulls his scarf back down to rest on his neck and pushes his beanie away from his eyes to get a better look at the man behind the counter.

NamJoon faintly recalls the clerk's face. He's the same one who showed him where to find 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and the one that JungMi made stories about from the corner all those years ago. He's also the one who was working the register the last time NamJoon met up with JungMi here at the bookstore.

Has it already been so long since NamJoon had last visited the bookstore?

Still taken aback by the bookstore clerk's trivia, NamJoon turns to the man behind the counter.

"How do you know about that?" NamJoon asks airily.

The bookstore clerk's eyes go wide like a deer caught in the headlights. It's a simple question, but he acts as if he was caught committing a crime.

"Huh?" The bookstore worker is rendered immobile and at a loss for words. When he finally blinks away his trance, the worker vigorously shuts JungMi's book with one hand.