Chapter two: The second time he came back.
1531 Words
The bell chimed again the next evening.
Sienna didn’t look up immediately.
But this time—
She knew.
“I thought you said you’d only stay until the rain stopped,” she said, turning a page she hadn’t really been reading.
A quiet pause.
“…I did.”
She looked up then.
Soohyun stood in the doorway, hood down this time, hair slightly damp like he’d walked through the cold air without caring much about it.
He looked just as tired as the night before.
Maybe more.
Sienna closed her book slowly.
“And yet, you’re back.”
Something about the way she said it made him hesitate, like he wasn’t sure if he was welcome.
“Is that a problem?”
She tilted her head, studying him.
“If it was, I wouldn’t have answered.”
A faint smile touched his lips.
Not enough to hide the exhaustion—but enough to make her chest feel strangely lighter.
He stepped inside, the door closing softly behind him, shutting out the noise of the street.
And just like that—
The quiet returned.
---
He didn’t go straight to the window this time.
Instead, he wandered.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like he was trying to look like a normal customer.
Sienna watched from behind the counter, pretending not to.
He paused at a shelf near the front, fingers brushing lightly over the spines of books without really pulling any out.
“You don’t have to pretend, you know,” she said.
His hand stilled.
“…Pretend what?”
“That you’re here for the books.”
He glanced over his shoulder.
“And what if I am?”
Sienna raised an eyebrow.
“Then you’re doing a very bad job of it.”
That earned her a quiet huff of laughter.
It was soft—but real.
And for a moment, he looked less like someone carrying the weight of something heavy.
“Maybe I just don’t know what to pick,” he said.
“Or maybe you don’t actually want to pick anything.”
He turned fully toward her now.
“And what do you think I want?”
Sienna held his gaze for a second too long.
“Somewhere quiet,” she said simply.
Something in his expression shifted again.
That same flicker from yesterday.
Like she’d said something too accurate.
“…You’re good at this,” he murmured.
“At what?”
“Figuring people out.”
Sienna shrugged lightly.
“I work in a bookstore. People leave pieces of themselves behind without realizing.”
He looked at her like he wanted to ask something else.
But instead, he just nodded once and moved toward the back—
To the same corner by the window.
Of course.
---
The rain hadn’t started yet tonight.
But the sky outside was heavy, dark clouds hanging low like they were waiting for the right moment to break.
Soohyun sat down, leaning back into the corner like he belonged there now.
Like he’d already decided this was *his* place.
Sienna tried not to notice how easily that thought came to her.
She busied herself behind the counter, reorganizing books that didn’t need organizing, straightening stacks that were already straight.
But her attention kept drifting.
Back to him.
He had a book in his hands now.
That was new.
He wasn’t reading it.
Just holding it.
His thumb rested between the pages like he’d opened it at random and then forgotten why.
A few minutes passed.
Then his phone buzzed.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Sienna watched the way his shoulders tensed.
The way his jaw tightened.
The way he didn’t move to answer it.
Again.
The screen lit up.
She couldn’t see the name this time.
But she didn’t need to.
Whatever was on that phone—
He didn’t want it.
---
“Are you going to ignore it again?”
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Soohyun looked up.
There was no irritation in his expression.
Just… tired acceptance.
“…Probably.”
Sienna leaned against the counter.
“Doesn’t it bother you?”
“It does.”
“Then why not answer?”
He let out a slow breath, gaze dropping back to the book in his hands.
“Because if I answer… I have to go back.”
Back.
The word lingered.
Sienna frowned slightly.
“Back where?”
He didn’t respond.
The silence stretched just long enough for her to realize—
He wasn’t going to.
So she didn’t push.
Instead, she walked over to the shelf beside him and gently took the book from his hands.
He blinked in surprise.
“What are you—”
“If you’re going to pretend,” she said, flipping through the pages, “at least pick something that fits.”
She scanned the titles quickly, then pulled out another book and placed it in his hands.
“This one.”
He glanced down.
“A novel?”
“You were holding poetry yesterday,” she said. “That’s already too dangerous.”
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
“And this isn’t?”
“Less likely to make you overthink your entire life.”
He let out a quiet laugh, shaking his head slightly.
“I think it’s a bit late for that.”
Sienna met his eyes.
“Then maybe you need a distraction.”
For a second, he didn’t look away.
Something about the way he watched her made her heart beat just a little faster than it should have.
“…Maybe I do,” he said softly.
---
The bell chimed again.
Both of them turned toward the door.
A man stepped inside—mid-40s, dressed too formally for a small bookstore, eyes scanning the room too quickly.
Sienna felt it immediately.
The shift.
Soohyun had gone completely still.
Not tense.
Not startled.
Just… alert.
Like he’d been expecting something like this.
The man’s gaze swept past the shelves, past the counter—
And paused.
For just a second.
On Soohyun.
Then he looked away, pretending to browse.
But it was too deliberate.
Too careful.
Sienna glanced back at Soohyun.
His expression had changed.
The softness from earlier was gone.
Replaced by something distant.
Closed off.
“Do you know him?” she asked quietly.
“…No.”
But the answer came too fast.
Too automatic.
Sienna didn’t believe him.
And for the first time—
She realized something.
This wasn’t just a tired boy hiding from a bad day.
This was someone running from something.
Or someone.
---
The man lingered for a few minutes.
Long enough to make the air feel heavier.
Then, without buying anything, he left.
The bell chimed again.
Silence returned.
But it didn’t feel the same.
Soohyun stood abruptly.
“I should go.”
Sienna frowned.
“You just got here.”
“I know.”
“Then stay.”
Her voice was softer than she intended.
He hesitated.
For a moment, it looked like he might listen.
Like he might sit back down and pretend none of that just happened.
But then his phone buzzed again.
And whatever decision he was about to make—
Changed.
“I can’t,” he said quietly.
Sienna crossed her arms slightly.
“Because of the calls?”
He didn’t answer.
“Or because of him?” she added.
That made him look at her.
Really look at her.
Like he was trying to figure out how much she’d seen.
“How much do you think you know?” he asked.
“Not much,” Sienna admitted. “But enough to tell you’re lying.”
The words hung between them.
Sharp.
Honest.
He let out a slow breath, running a hand through his hair.
“I’m not lying,” he said.
“Then you’re avoiding the truth.”
His gaze softened slightly.
“…There’s a difference.”
Sienna held his eyes.
“Not to the person being left in the dark.”
That hit.
She could see it.
In the way his expression faltered for just a second.
In the way he looked like he wanted to say something—
Anything—
But didn’t.
“I’m sorry,” he said finally.
And somehow, that felt worse than anything else.
---
He moved toward the door.
Sienna didn’t stop him.
Didn’t call out.
Didn’t ask him to stay again.
But just before he stepped outside—
“Are you coming back?”
The question slipped out, quieter than she meant it to be.
Soohyun paused.
Hand on the door.
For a second, she thought he might not answer.
Then, without turning around, he said—
“…Do you want me to?”
Sienna swallowed.
The honest answer came too easily.
“Yes.”
A small silence followed.
Then he nodded once.
“Then I will.”
And just like that—
He was gone.
The bell chimed.
The door closed.
And the quiet returned.
But this time—
It didn’t feel peaceful.
It felt like the beginning of something Sienna wasn’t sure she was ready for.
And somehow—
She had the feeling that next time he walked through that door…
Everything would be different.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD