When she entered it first, Eunha did not know that 'The Villain's Den' was going to be a bookstore that she would fall in love with so quickly. Surrounded by the warmth and serenity of the store and in the company of the sweet blonde lady, the place felt like a home she'd been longing for for a long time.

After sharing brief introductions, Eunha had found out that the blonde woman's name was Nam Jiyeon and she was the owner of the bookstore. Jiyeon had taken a fondness for Eunha at first sight and had hired her right away which was a relief to Eunha because she direly needed to earn money as quickly as possible.

"I'm done, Ms. Nam," Eunha announced as she turned over the document in her hand and examined where she had signed it. It was just a formality and proof that Eunha was an employee of Ms. Nam. After reading the terms and conditions of her job, Eunha had agreed to them and signed the document.

"That's great!" Ms. Nam beamed, then her expression changed as she added. "But are you not a student? The job as my assistant requires you to be here from 9 am to 5:30 pm. Wouldn't you have school between that time?"

"I'm, uh, taking a break from college for now so that won't be an issue," Eunha responded, avoiding eye contact. She hoped Ms. Nam didn't ask more into it.

"Ah, I see, I see," Ms. Nam nodded as she placed the last book in the bundle she was holding on the shelf. It was a thick book with an emerald cover that she fit in next to a relatively thinner book, having a red cover. She tucked a stray strand of her blonde hair behind her ear before she turned back around to face Eunha.

"Well, you're hired then. You can look around the store for now, and Jimin can teach you what you need to do later." Miss Nam stated.

"Jimin?" Eunha repeated the unfamiliar name curiously.

"Yes, Jimin, he works part-time here. You'll meet him soon." Jiyeon informed.

"Ah, okay." Eunha nodded. She eventually got up from her seat and started looking around to get familiar with the bookstore. She loved the vibe and people here so far and wanted to know it like her own home.

The bookstore was nothing exceptional yet Eunha couldn't help but feel like it was going to be a place of great significance for her future self. She just hoped that only good memories would be attached to this place. Eunha thought having an awful memory attached to such a mystical place would be unfortunate.

"So, Eunha," She heard Ms. Nam's delicate voice from the other side of the bookshelf she was standing in front of. Poking her head out from the side of the tall shelf, she could see Ms. Nam standing on the other side of it, fiddling with the document she had signed. "tell me what kind of books do you like to read? Oh— are you into books at all?" Ms. Nam raised a question, her eyes scanning Eunha's signature.

"Yes, I do read. I suppose I like tragedies. I've always had a thing for books with sad endings." Eunha replied, thinking back to all the books she had read so far. She couldn't help but feel delighted at the fact that she would get to read so many new books here.

"Hmm? Why is that?" Miss Nam finally lifted her gaze from the document and glanced in Eunha's direction. Their eyes met and Eunha noticed, for the first time, how stunning Ms. Nam really was. Snow-white skin, big doe eyes with thick long eyelashes, rosy cheeks, an ideal nose, and full pink lips. Eunha thought if a perfect face existed, it would be Ms. Nam's. Suddenly, she felt conscious of herself. She hadn't even put on any makeup before going out. She wondered if she even looked presentable.

"Because they reflect reality. Reality is always tragic, isn't it? Fairytales are quite delusional." Eunha explained. Shifting her attention back to the books on the shelf, Eunha disappeared behind them again. Her fingers vaguely touched the books as she tried to read the titles on their covers.

"How curious," Ms. Nam smiled almost nostalgically. "you sound exactly like someone I know."

"And who might that be?" Eunha asked as if it was a natural question but Ms. Nam went dead silent. As neither of them spoke at that moment, an awkward silence lingered in the air, and Eunha realized that what she had asked was perhaps a very personal question to Ms. Nam. It was only her first time meeting Ms. Nam so she shouldn't have asked something like that. Eunha felt that she was getting comfortable too fast because of Ms. Nam's friendly personality. She didn't know if that was a good thing or bad.

"Oh. I'm sorry, that was a personal question. I just said it mindlessly, you don't have to answer it." Eunha immediately apologized, appearing from behind the bookshelf so she was in Ms. Nam's view and Ms. Nam was in hers. Ms. Nam only smiled awkwardly as she folded the document in her hand and walked up to the main counter.

"What do you think of the bookstore?" She asked once she had put the document in some drawer and taken her seat behind the counter. She had utterly disregarded Eunha's statement and went on to change the subject. Eunha thought that was fine.

"It's lovely." She answered genuinely as she stood lingering in the space between the two bookshelves.

"Perfect! When Jimin is here, I'll get us all some hot chocolate to celebrate you working here," Ms. Nam announced with a smile so big that Eunha could see all her pearl-like teeth.

"Hot chocolate?"

"Yes, you don't like it?" Ms. Nam tilted her head subtly.

"I do."

"Then I'll buy you some. After all, we'll see each other every day from now on so I'm sure we'll become close like a family in no time. I wanted to give you a warm welcome." Ms. Nam expressed.

Family, huh? Eunha tried to smile but couldn't. She was glad Ms. Nam was looking elsewhere and didn't notice her expression. She didn't want her to see and be disappointed that Eunha wasn't returning her angelic energy.

Eunha wondered when was the last time she had been welcomed. Being abandoned was all she was familiar with. Anyhow, she took satisfaction in this new feeling. It was nice knowing that not everyone in the world was mean. Some people were good, even better than others.

"Alright, I'd love that!" She managed to smile back at Ms. Nam who, to Eunha's amazement, was awaiting a response from her. She had almost forgotten how promising it felt to be acknowledged.

"I have to do some work on these lists here, why don't you sit by the window over there until Jimin arrives?" Ms. Nam recommended as she gestured towards the small table with two chairs that were present a few steps left of the main door. Eunha nodded and headed for it.

Taking her seat on the chair, Eunha stared out of the window, seeing the heavy clouds in the sky indicating the oncoming snowfall. As she took a good look at her view through the large glass window, she noticed something she hadn't before.

The world looked rather pretty under a grey sky.

~~~

Sometimes, there are things we do in desperation that we often regret later on. It's a certain type of guilt. Doing something bad for surviving. It was the type of guilt that Jeon Jungkook was drowning in as he meandered down a random roadway in Jung district, Seoul city.

Jungkook had not actually wanted to steal from Eunha's house but he knew Taehyung wasn't going to let him stay there any longer and he needed money to survive in the streets again. Moreover, he needed to pay back the amount he'd borrowed from the thugs who had beaten him to pulp the previous night. Though Jungkook had stolen before, he'd never felt this bad about his actions. Perhaps, he felt bad this time because the person he'd stolen from was helping him.

He'd betrayed a kind person; broken her trust for his own benefit. But it was alright, Jungkook told himself, the real world worked this way. We all need to step onto others to move forward.

A heavy sigh escaped his pink lips as he watched the cloudy sky above him. The weather was getting worse and Jungkook wasn't liking it. His grip tightened around the scarlet straps of the bag he was wearing, Taehyung's bag, that he'd found in his closet. Though the bag wasn't all that heavy, somehow, Jungkook felt weighed down by it. He huffed. His conscience was eating away at him more than he'd assumed it would.

He stopped by an empty bench on the sidewalk. Throwing his aching body on the cold bench, he took off the bag and started shuffling through the items inside it. After a moment, he brought out a pack of cigarettes (also Taehyung's). Since he didn't have a lighter, he used the match he'd found in the kitchen to light a cigarette for himself. Setting it between his lips, he took a puff of the cigarette as he wondered why he'd stolen these random things that weren't even to his use.

Jungkook choked on his cough almost instantly. Screwing up his face, he dropped the cigarette down, stubbing it out with his heel. It was confirmed that he wasn't a smoker. No matter how many times Jungkook tried smoking, he could never get used to the taste of ashes and death. He glared at the packet in his hand and wondered how in the world people enjoyed something as disgusting as smoking.

Thinking to himself that, perhaps, he should have just left the cigarettes back at the house, Jungkook remembered the cigarettes belonged to Taehyung and he had seemed like a heavy smoker. Feeling dread cover every inch of his skin, he sunk further into the bench. As grumpy as Taehyung had seemed, Jungkook could only imagine how infuriated he must be about his little trickery.

Jungkook knew if he ever came across Taehyung again, he was screwed. Taehyung was only murdering him in his head before, but this time, he might kill Jungkook for real.

Shaking off the fear, Jungkook planned to sell the cigarettes to a smoker. He nodded at the brown packet in his hand then stuffed it into the pocket of his leather jacket.

Every dollar matters when you're broke and by yourself.

When his stomach growled, Jungkook was reminded of how famished he really was. His eyes immediately shifted to all the stolen food he had in his bag. He also had money on him today so he could eat anything he wanted. Jungkook moaned in satisfaction at the thought of eating steak, his favorite. How long had it been since he ate anything other than instant noodles? His mouth watered as he daydreamed about eating delectable meals.

But the grey sky above him was a constant worry for Jungkook. It was becoming more and more obvious that it was going to snow soon. Jungkook, who had neither an umbrella nor proper clothes to keep him warm, didn't fancy the idea of that. As a gust of frosty wind brushed past him, making him shiver from the cold, the city seemed so big, and he felt so stranded, alone.

Jungkook knew his clothes weren't enough to prevent him from freezing to death if the sky suddenly decided to shower him with snow. Steak can wait, Jungkook thought, he needed to buy new clothes first.

As if things weren't bad enough already, just as Jungkook feared, a lone cold snowflake landed on his left cheek, and then one after another, it took the form of heavy snowfall.

"Seriously?" Jungkook questioned as he stared up at the sky as if asking the heavens if this was all some kind of sick joke. He let out an annoyed groan as he got up from the bench and secured the bag around his sturdy shoulders again.

He felt fatigued, and he needed warm clothes, and he was starving. Putting everything aside, Jungkook's priority was to get under a shade so that he won't get wet due to the snow. He stopped by the first place he came across.

A bookstore.

A natural smile made its way to Jungkook's lips. It was his favorite childhood place to go to. Books, he had always been fond of them. Reading was a very old passion of his. Good old times. Jungkook thought as his memory of visiting different bookstores with his late mother flashed in his mind.

The Villain's Den. A peculiar name. It caught Jungkook's attention even more.

Without giving much thought to what a bizarre name it was for a simple-looking bookstore, he rushed in, hoping he could finally find some peace of mind while reading some books and revisiting old feelings of when life was comfortable and merry, but little did he know, that he wouldn't get to have that kind of luxury in his life again for a long time.

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A/N: I'm having such a hard time writing nowadays. My mental health got yeeted out of the window. 😔🔫