#fucking excuse me?? so the plan is tell kids to undergrads to follow their dreams and as they obtain them tell them that was stupid are you

[kissmehardy]

New law that anyone who works in an office cant have an opinion on my job because they fundamentally cant understand what im doing

[midshipmank]

i wanted LWJ with a motorcycle & somehow ended up with this librarian!LWJ & art student!WWX au

LWJ is a librarian at a public library 

WWX met LWJ when he returned some books 3 months late

LWJ looked at him all judgy like “these are 3 months late,” & WWX promptly became obsessed 

WWX is now a much more responsible library user, mostly because he’s there all the time

but listen he’s not great at focusing in the library, that’s why he doesn’t even use the one on campus. so now he’s his usual amount of restless + distracted by LWJ

trying to figure out how to make a move 

meanwhile LWJ is just like “do not throw crumpled pieces of paper through the air”

some of those crumpled pieces of paper are failed sketches of LWJ

one day WWX stays all the way to closing because LWJ PRETTY OKAY? also he has an art theory paper due pls don’t talk to him about it

so anyway he’s there when the library is closing & LWJ is like “leave”

so he goes :((( but he’s so late LWJ practically follows him out 

which 

is when WWX discovers that that pretty white & blue motorcycle that’s always parked out front?

that’s Lan Wangji’s 

he absolutely loses his mind

all of his friends know about his ridiculous librarian crush by now & they all make fun of him for it

but anyway, the poor boy has it bad

he’s like “A-Cheng, you don’t understand, he could step on me & i’d thank him. actually i think i need him to step on me.” 

JC is like “i did Not want to know that”

meanwhile WWX is bemoaning the fact that he ever became a responsible library user

“how am i supposed to interact with him. i can’t return books late anymore bc i’m always there! what would my excuse be? & he’s already explained how to use their database to me 3 times, i can’t keep looking this dumb” 

JYL is very gently like “maybe just ask him out?” 

“but he doesn’t like me! i committed library crimes! i have to get him to like me first!”

then WWX sees a flyer in the lobby asking for volunteers. there’s gonna be an event in the kids section! for some special reading day! who tf knows, WWX doesn’t care, the point is, he’s good with kids. that would probably be appealing to LWJ. right? right? WWX really doesn’t know. LWJ is so hard to read. on the one hand, he’s the most tight-laced & responsible person WWX has ever met. on the other, he has a very sexy motorcycle. WWX doesn’t know what to do with that

but okay he has a plan

he calls up WQ & goes “can i borrow A-Yuan”

he already babysits A-Yuan every week, so it’s not that weird right?

WQ is like “i stg WWX if you are going to use A-Yuan to attract hot guys like in that movie with the people who love dogs....”

& WWX is like “i would never use A-Yuan like a dog! WQ do you even know me!” 

he gets A-Yuan, barely

anyway, he gets to the library ready to read to a bunch of kids & gets side-eyed by a lot of parents, but he still has fun!!

LWJ is, unfortunately, not the librarian supervising the event, but he is reshelving when WWX is off reading duty & A-Yuan gets the zoomies

ie, zooms right into LWJ’s legs

LWJ is, surprisingly, good with kids. WWX may need to marry him. he somehow manages not to make a complete fool of himself after this revelation

in fact, after this interaction, WWX thinks he may actually have scored some points with LWJ. he’s elated

he’s building all these elaborate future schemes in his head when suddenly he gets a call from Auntie Yu

she wants to know why his grade in his art theory class has plummeted. 

oh right. that class. that class that’s taught by that professor who hates him & that he honestly can’t understand a word of & honestly he hates art theory, he’s good at art, why does he have to take theory too? 

Auntie Yu lets him know in no uncertain terms that if he doesn’t improve his grades by the end of the semester, she will stop supporting him—it’s bad enough that they let him go to art school after he flunked out of his business degree anyway 

so—fuck. fuck. 

WWX throws himself into the redo paper he manages to beg off LQR. he has 3 days & he’s gonna make them count 

the first day goes well, if by well you mean that he raids the art section of the library & works himself until closing & tries desperately not to look like he’s dying in front of LWJ

day 2 goes........similarly, except he falls asleep at his desk & doesn’t wake up until LWJ tells him the library is closing, which? wtf? LWJ usually wakes him up when he falls asleep in the library. WWX has been asleep for hours. 

& also he looks like a wreck, which is not cute

he flees from the library only to find that the bus is going..... going......... gone

fuck. he doesn’t have a car. 

he’s staring down the road after the bus, trying to figure out which friend with a car is available for him to call when he hears someone say “Wei Ying?” behind him

it’s Lan Zhan.

how mortifying. 

he tries to laugh off his situation, but LWJ gets this set expression on his face & says, “i will give you a ride home” 

& WWX is like kinda definitely freaking out because this was not how his first ride on LWJ’s sexy motorcycle was supposed to go. WWX had a plan. he was supposed to be flirtatious & ask LWJ about his bike & then LWJ would offer to give WWX a ride & they’d go all around the scenic parts of the city & when they stopped WWX would be all flustered & breathless & he’d wobble getting off the bike & maybe fall into LWJ & maybe—

okay so his plan was more like a daydream, but at the very least, he wasn’t supposed to look like he’d spent the last 48hrs out of the sun, drinking unhealthy amounts of shitty coffee, wearing a ratty hoodie & art-grimed jeans. like, they’re not even grimey in a cute way

but LWJ is insistent & WWX is weak, so somehow he ends up on the back of the bike wearing LWJ’s helmet with LWJ telling him to hold on tight

he’s half-convinced he’s fallen asleep on the bus stop bench & is dreaming the whole thing

but soon enough, it’s over & they’re stopped outside of WWX’s shitty student accommodations

he gets off & is trying to awkwardly thank LWJ when LWJ says, “you’ve seemed upset these past 2 days”

“ahaha, yeah, i’m just writing a paper”

“for an art theory class?”

WWX is like ????? but then he remembers that LWJ knows what books he checks out 

“yeah. it’s a redo actually. professor Lan hates me.” he forces a laugh. why did he say that. being hated by a professor is not cute, especially not to sexy librarian LWJ. 

“my uncle has high expectations,” LWJ says. 

WWX brain short circuits. 

“your uncle???” shit shit shit Lan Qiren is LWJ’s uncle! LWJ’s uncle hates him! he has no chance now! 

“mn.” 

WWX wants to die

LWJ looks considering, then says, “it is my day off tomorrow. if you would like, i can help you with the paper.”

WWX is already the least cute, most pathetic version of himself he’s ever been in his life. he says yes. 

so they meet up at the library the next day & WWX apologizes profusely for making LWJ come into work when it’s his day off. he promises LWJ endless free coffee from the coffeeshop he works at (even if he has to pay for it himself—he doesn’t tell LWJ that part). 

LWJ is way too nice to him & also manages to explain this school of art theory in a way that?? sort of?? makes sense?? though not in a way that makes WWX like it. but LWJ seems neutral about it, so at least he’s not trying to get WWX to agree with it. 

but anyway, WWX manages to pull a passable paper together & in the process LWJ reveals that he’s noticed WWX sketching in the library a lot more than WWX realized, and that he likes WWX’s art. 

WWX is lightheaded

he stares at LWJ for a while & LWJ looks at him & says, “Wei Ying. you should be typing.” 

WWX gets the paper done by 5pm somehow. somehow! he sends it off to LQR with a groan of relief. he’s so tired his bones are aching, but he looks over at LWJ, art theory & citation king, who of course always looks perfect & beautiful, & goes, “i could kiss you.” 

instead of “i don’t know how i’m ever going to thank you for this,” which is what he thought he was gonna say

LWJ’s eyes widen slightly & his ears go red. WWX wants to smack himself in the face. he wants to eat his words. he wants to crawl into a cramped dark place like a disgusting little mole & never see the sun again.

then LWJ says, “have dinner with me first.” 

WWX gapes at him. LWJ looks back, ears still red but eyes steady. 

“okay,” WWX squeaks. 

they go to dinner. WWX still feels like trash, but they end up having a rousing discussion about art & WWX learns all about when LWJ studied art history in undergrad & how he actually doesn’t like the kind of theory his uncle teaches (“but you’re too good to ever tell him that,” WWX teases. “....most of the time.” WWX laughs in delight.) 

LWJ reveals that he brought an extra helmet today, in case WWX needed a ride again. WWX is embarrassed & pleased & wants to marry LWJ again. feeling foolish, he leans into LWJ flirtatiously & suggests they go for a ride—just for the view. LWJ looks at him so long his knees turn to jelly. then LWJ says, “mn.” 

they make out on some scenic ridge somewhere

the end! 

other things about this au:

WWX does digital painting mostly, his ideal job is illustration/comics; he has a instagram/patreon he uses for art commissions (some of which are pornographic—LWJ catches him sketching in the library one day, early in this tableau. it does not go well.) 

his instagram/patreon is mostly anonymous. it’s not that he minds people knowing he draws explicit stuff sometimes, it’s that he doesn’t want Auntie Yu to find out 

he draws LWJ a lot

not explicitly

(at least not until he’s got a life model and LWJ’s consent)

he’s not at the library 24/7. he has a coffeeshop job, classes, studio time for non-digital art, A-Yuan, and friends. but he’s at the library a lot.

this is undergrad for WWX, but he’s non-trad. he flunked out of a soul-sucking business degree in his first go at undergrad & was on pretty shaky ground with the Jiang family for a while. then he sold some of his art & Auntie Yu said they would support him through art school if it was the only thing he was good at. kinda stung, but at least he doesn’t have to pay tuition.

he’s desperate to prove he can make it as an artist

when anyone asks LWJ about his bike, he says he got it because it allows him to weave around traffic. yes, there’s more to it than that, but no he won’t go into it. (this entire au formed because i found out WYB rides motorcycles professionally & went, “wow that’s hot.” we have no thoughts here.) 

WWX did not have to try to make LWJ like him. LWJ liked him. & while WWX might not have gotten his ideal first bike ride, you better believe LWJ got his. he daydreams about scooping WWX onto his bike & riding off into the sunset

[kookitykook]

Koya’s Used Bookstore (Namjoon x Reader)

Listen this is one of my favorite things I’ve ever written.

~genre: fluff, humor, sfw 

~word count: 4.8k

~warnings: liberal use of the word ‘weasel,’ reference to a fuckboy named chad

~tags: bookstore owner!joon x angry at the patriarchy!you, featuring annoying employees! vmin lmao

~summary: When you show up to Koya's Used Bookstore for the first time with red eyes, a rant about the patriarchy in hand, and a visceral reaction to Jimin's suggestion of Ernest Hemingway, the store owner, Kim Namjoon, can't help but want to know what details lie in your story ... he’s also a little afraid of you, but that’s expected.

~~~~~~~

“Hyung!”

Namjoon jumped at the sound of Jimin’s voice. He looked up from his paperwork, glasses teetering dangerously at the tip of his nose as he saw his employee looking into the office with oddly wide eyes.

“What is it?” he asked. “Did Tae spill coffee on one of the books again? I swear if that kid—”

“No, no,” Jimin said quickly, glancing quickly behind him before leaning further through the doorframe. “There’s a customer that you really need to come talk to,” he whispered.

Namjoon cocked his head to the side, straightening his glasses as he stood up. He didn’t mind talking with customers, it was actually one of his favorite parts of running his used bookstore. Jimin’s expression was filling him with worry though.

“Why? What’s the problem?” It was odd that Jimin felt compelled to come to his boss over customer service. Jimin was better with customers than him or his other employee Taehyung.

“Uh … well … she’s a bit feisty …”

“Feisty?”

“Yeah, feisty. I don’t know, I can’t put a word to it. I tried to help her but I think I ended up just making her angry.”

Namjoon laughed. “You? You made a customer angry?”

“I don’t know!” Jimin tossed his hands up in the air with exasperation, still whispering as if in fear of the customer overhearing. “She asked for a book recommendation then practically blew her top when I said Hemingway!”

“Jimin,” Namjoon sighed, running a hand through his hair and taking a deep breath. “Why do I have an inkling there’s more to the story?”

“Namjoon I swear, I—”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll go talk to the customer. Can you point her out to me?”

Jimin hesitated, but nodded all the same and Namjoon followed him out of the office and into the bookstore proper. 

Koya’s Used Books was Namjoon’s pride and joy. He had opened it up with his best friend and business partner Seokjin when they were fresh out of college. They had spent the four years of their undergrad pinching every penny they could, working multiple jobs and barely keeping their heads afloat in their classes just so this dream could become a reality. That had been three years ago, and the bookstore had absolutely flourished.

Well, it had flourished at first. Jin had always been the unreasonably beautiful face of the store with a keen eye for marketing, while Namjoon preferred to be behind the scenes focusing on the books and the paperwork. And that business plan had worked for them — perfectly. 

But then Jin had to move back to his hometown when his father got sick. That had been just over a year ago, and while Namjoon didn’t blame his friend whatsoever, it was clear that Koya’s Used Books needed real help in Jin’s absence. Namjoon already had to let two employees go just to keep paying the rent on the place, leaving the store with him as manager, Jimin running cashier and stocking, and Taehyung as their only barista for the cafe in the back of the store. 

And yet even though the store was on hard times, Namjoon still had love for his job. Even then, walking out to talk to an apparently disgruntled customer, he couldn’t help the swell of fondness in his chest as he smelled the books and coffee, saw a few regulars browsing the fantasy section and a university student on their laptop on one of the beanbags. Koya’s was his pride and joy. 

“That’s her.”

Jimin’s whisper cut through Namjoon’s thoughts and he blinked himself back to the task at hand. Following Jimin’s pointer finger, he looked over to see what he assumed was a young woman with her back to the two of them, her shoulders hunched and hands shoved into the pocket of a gray hoodie with the hood drawn up. He could practically feel their tension from across the room. 

“That’s the girl that just yelled at Jimin.”

Namjoon yelped and whirled to look at Taehyung, who was staring at the young woman while munching on a piece of banana bread, oblivious to the fact that he’d just scared Namjoon. 

“How the hell do you always do that?” Namjoon mumbled under his breath, facing you again. 

“She didn’t yell at me,” Jimin hissed. “She was just …”

“Plotting your death?” Taehyung suggested.

“Slightly irritated with my presence.” Jimin said pointedly. “Which I don’t understand because I am very likable.”

Namjoon could tell Jimin was genuinely perturbed by this situation. He’d yet to meet a single person that wasn’t instantly enamored with his young employee, and with good reason, considering Jimin was one of the most polite, well-mannered people he’d ever met. 

Taehyung on the other hand … 

“She was kind of bitchy about it,” Taehyung mumbled through a mouth full of food. “Not sure why she’s got a stick up her ass, but I’d be careful with that one, hyung.” He took another bite, crumbs littering the corners of his mouth. “If she bites your head off I’m out of a job.”

Namjoon swiped the rest of the banana bread from Taehyung’s hand, ignoring the barista’s whine as he handed off the food to Jimin, who smiled delightedly.

“You’ll be out of a job sooner than that if you keep taking food without logging it in your daily pastry allowance. You two get back to work, I’ll go talk to her.”

“Guard your balls, hyung,” Tae mumbled, which was promptly followed by Jimin smacking him in the back of the head and leading him back to the coffee bar.

Namjoon took a deep breath, drawing up his best smile and channeling his inner Seokjin as he approached you. 

“Um, excuse me? Hi, my name is Namjoon, I’m the owner of …”

Namjoon trailed off as you turned to face him. You were … striking. Utterly striking, that was the only way he could describe you. Sharp features, bright eyes, and thick long hair framing your face beneath the hood of your sweatshirt. 

And you also looked mad as hell. Your eyes were rimmed with red as though you’d been crying, but your tears were clearly dried up and replaced with an expression that said you were thoroughly pissed off.

Namjoon cleared his throat. “I’m the owner of the store.” He cursed himself for the crack in his voice. “Jimin said you were looking for some recommendations?”

Your cleared your throat and straightened your shoulders, meeting his gaze head on. Namjoon couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly intimidated. 

“Yes,” you said simply. “I know I could just go on Google and search for book recommendations, but quite frankly I think that’s too easy of a route.”

The corner of Namjoon’s mouth quirked up. He felt the same way, books were supposed to be about discussion, and while the internet was useful for sure, there was something beautiful about the community of book sharing and recommending. It was one of his favorite parts of running Koya’s in particular. 

“Well you’re in the right place,” Namjoon said with a more genuine smile — one that was definitely not returned. “What are you looking for? A certain author? Genre? Emotion?”

“That one,” you said quickly, pointing right in Namjoon’s face. “That last one. Emotion.”

Namjoon chuckled, but his heart wasn’t really in it. “Okay. Any … particular emotion, ma’am?”

“Anger.” The answer was so blunt that Namjoon could only blink behind his thick framed glasses. “Rage. Think Hulk level pissed off.”

Namjoon swallowed, willing away the urge to pull at the collar of his shirt. “O-Okay … sure thing. Uh, if you don’t mind, who is this book for? W-What I mean to ask is, who’s angry?”

“I am.”

“Oh. Right.” Namjoon did pull at his collar then, but you were unfazed. “Got it. Um … angry at who, if I may ask?”

“The patriarchy.”

“Ah.” Namjoon’s voice had gone up an octave at that and he could practically feel himself withering under your steely gaze. Was he sweating? He felt like he was sweating. “T-The patriarchy?”

“Yepp.” You made a popping noise with your lips on the ‘p’ sound. Your eye contact was intense and Namjoon was genuinely afraid to look away. “Dudes. Men. The male gender. I am seriously pissed at you all as a whole at the moment, but quite frankly I am tiny, and even if I wasn’t tiny, the violence I want to enact would actually be detrimental to my cause. So as you can see, I don’t really have any options for catharsis presently, so I’m hoping to release my frustrations upon this stupid, inane aspect of society by reading a book that hopefully agrees with all of my current anti-men sentiments. Do you have any recommendations for that sort of thing …” You squinted at his name tag. “Namjoon?”

Namjoon couldn’t decide whether he should correct you on the pronunciation of his name or run away with his tail between his legs. You were staring him right in the eyes and he had no shame in admitting he was scared shitless. 

“I take it this is the reason you weren’t too happy with Jimin recommending Hemingway?”

He didn’t think it was possible, but somehow your eyes burned with even more rage at the mere mention of the author in question. 

“Ernest fucking Hemingway was incapable of portraying women as anything other than nagging, inadequate, and selfish, and that is a sick narrative that I am tired of dumb dudes getting published and I will not stand here and let yet another penis-driven specimen tell me Hemingway was a master of words — not even if he is cute and polite!”

In the back of the store, Namjoon clearly heard Taehyung say, “hey did you hear that? She thinks you’re cute!” followed by a distinct slapping sound. 

You took a deep breath, your shoulders rising and falling with the movement as your eyes fluttered shut. Namjoon on the other hand couldn’t quite find his breath. He also couldn’t stop noticing how pretty your were — despite the fact that the rising blush on your cheeks was definitely from rage at his entire gender and ogling your was only going to add to the list of reasons your were mad at at the moment. 

“Sorry,” you said through gritted teeth, surprising him. “I’m … a little on edge right now.”

“No shit.”

“Shut up, Tae!”

“Ouch! Stop hitting me!”

Namjoon chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck. “Sorry about them,” he mumbled, swallowing thickly. “And sorry about … men?” You just blinked at him. “Uh … I wish I had a female employee I could direct you to for this … n-not that I’m against having a female employee,” he said hurriedly. “I actually did have a female employee up until a few weeks ago, but I had to let her go. But not because she was a female! She was a lazy worker to be honest and — not that I think women are lazy! Women are — they’re hard working and capable and — and she was given the same pay as my male employees. Not that that makes me noble or anything, that should just be standard, you know? I mean I am a proud feminist and — wait, fuck, that’s not something I should be saying right now because then it seems like I’m—”

“Fucking hell Namjoon, stop talking!” 

Namjoon flinched almost violently as Tae shouted across the shop. It was only then that he realized the other few customers were all listening and watching in amusement, as were Jimin and Taehyung, the former of which was staring with his mouth open and the latter looking at him like he was the world’s biggest idiot. An accurate assessment, honestly.

With a sigh and what he knew was probably the reddest cheeks on the planet, Namjoon finally looked back at you. He was fully expecting a hand reared back ready to slap him or cut off his dick or something along those lines. 

What he didn’t expect though, was an open-mouthed dopey smile and adorably crinkled eyes. 

“Oh my gosh,” you murmured. “You’re adorable. It’s like all my rage at men just flew out the window.”

“Really?”

“I mean no, I definitely still hate men and they exhaust me, but you might be an exception!”

“Baby youuuuu areeeee the only exception.”

“Tae nobody listens to Paramore anymore.”

“Fuck you!”

Namjoon laughed in exasperation, taking off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. When he looked back up at you, you were still smiling at him.

“You have a really pretty smile,” he found himself saying. His eyes widened a fraction of a second later. “N-Not that I think you should smile! You don’t have to smile for anyone you know, you can smile for who you want a-and when you want, you know?”

“This is painful. I’m in physical pain.”

“Hyung for crying out loud just recommend her the books and walk away!” 

With a huff and a whirl, you spun on your heel to stare down Jimin and Tae on the opposite side of the shop behind the cafe counter. 

“Would you two weasels shut the fuck up!”

Jimin froze, his hand shaking with the coffee halfway to his lips. Taehyung’s eyes went wide as he sunk behind the counter and out of sight without another word. 

Namjoon stared with an appreciative smile on his face as you turned back to him as if nothing of importance had happened. 

“Woah,” was all he could say. Eloquent, Namjoon, you truly have a way with words, he thought to himself. “Uh … thanks for that?”

“Anytime,” you remarked offhandedly, pushing her hair over her shoulder. While turning to tell off the boys, your hood had fallen back and now Namjoon could really appreciate your face. 

Shit, stop appreciating her face and talk to her, you moron! he thought to himself.

“Um, so about those books,” Namjoon said after clearing his throat and toeing the floor with his shoe to look away from your stunning eyes, “I actually have a section on female empowerment and feminism — w-well I don’t have a section, the store does, but I own the store so—”

“Really?” you cut him off — and thank goodness for that. “That’s perfect. Can you show me? This is my first time here.”

“Y-Yeah of course, follow me. Or just come with me, not follow me, I guess? I mean — ah, fuck it.”

You laughed out loud at that, and it was absolutely adorable and Namjoon was absolutely screwed. 

Nonetheless, you did follow his stride to the other side of the store to the ‘on female empowerment and feminism’ section — which just so happened to be right beside the coffee bar where Jimin and Taehyung still were. 

“Boys,” Namjoon nodded at them, Jimin wide-eyed and gulping as he promptly looked back into his cup of coffee, and Taehyung literally still crouched behind the counter.

When Tae’s crouched form was in view, you looked over at him and cocked an eyebrow. “Where’s all that bark from earlier?” You asked. “Oh no, did you forget to guard your balls?”

Taehyung chuckled nervously, but his cheeks flamed red as you repeated the words he had said to Namjoon just before he had approached you. 

“I just uh, I’ve got to go check on the … the pastries,” he murmured, standing up from his crouch and all but running to the back room. 

When it was only Jimin at the counter, he looked over at you and Namjoon and blinked rapidly. 

“I should go help him!” And with that, the two boys had scattered. 

You chuckled. “Didn’t mean to scare them so bad.” Namjoon looked down at you with a cocked eyebrow. “Okay, maybe I did. Sorry about that, they seem like nice kids. Still stupid boys of course, but nice. Like I said … rough day.”

Namjoon swallowed, gathering his courage to lean his shoulder against the shelf and face tyou head on. “If you don’t mind me asking … what exactly spurred on this extra hatred for the patriarchy today? No judgment, just …”

“For the book recommendation?” you asked, her lips turned upwards slightly in a way that he knew you were teasing. He found himself smiling back. 

“Yes. For the recommendation.”

You took a deep breath, focusing on the worn out book spines in front of you, trailing a finger over Virginia Woolf’s name. 

“I quit my job today,” you said suddenly. It was as if a weight fell off of your shoulders just at the admission. “I’ve been gearing for a promotion for the past year and a half, I’m insanely qualified for it and honestly a shoo-in for the position. And I’m not just saying that, it’s one-hundred percent true. So when my boss called me in for a special meeting this morning, I’m ready to go, right? All my hard work is finally going to be paid off, I’m going to get the position I’ve been heading towards since I started there. But then …”

You let out a deep breath, laughing humorlessly as you looked down at you shoes. “But then he told me that I was in fact not getting the promotion, but my coworker Chad was. Fucking Chad. The frat boy from hell itself that had been working there for barely even three months and still couldn’t even fill out expense reports for crying out loud! He got the promotion I rightfully deserved because apparently the position requires ‘being able to exude a certain level of authority that the fairer sex simply can’t produce in the necessary fashion.’”

Namjoon sucked in a sharp breath. You looked up at him with wide eyes. “Right?” You shouted in exasperation. “Can you believe that? He literally called me the fairer sex! Like buddy, that’s not a fucking compliment. I don’t how you get off to talking down to me when if it wasn’t for me, your firm would’ve already gone down the drain. Gah, the nerve! I tried to keep my cool, but it was like all of this repressed anger just came surging up and I flipped my lid. I mean I really flew off the handle, I completely lost it. They almost had to call security, all of my coworkers saw it go down, it was … mortifying, but I was so pissed off I didn’t care. I finally yelled out that I quit and stormed out. I started to go to the gym to punch something, but that was definitely only going to make me more angry, and my mom used to say that reading a book always helped with whatever you were feeling so … I saw your place while driving and now I’m here. A crazy, angry lady scaring off you and your employees.”

You trailed off, staring holes into the bookshelf before you. Namjoon didn’t know what to say — he didn’t know what he should say. He wasn’t good with comforting, he didn’t know how to say the right words in the right way to make you feel better. 

But he did know books.

“Fed Up.”

You looked up at him. “Pardon?”

“Fed Up,” he repeated, reaching over and pulling the book in question off the shelf. “Fed Up by Gemma Hartley. It’s her first book, and it just came out last November. Really good though.”

He handed the book to you, who accepted it with surprise. “Oh. Th-Thanks.”

“Rage Becomes Her, by Soraya Chemaly — not sure I’m pronouncing that name right, to be honest, and I haven’t read it, but the reviews have been good. The Power, by Naomi Alderman, it’s fiction, and if you like The Handmaid’s Tale you’ll love that one. Oh! Sister Outsider, by Audre Lorde. The essays cover a whole bunch of topics, so it’s super well-rounded.”

With each recommendation, Namjoon handed you the book in question, and soon you had a stack of four in your hands, looking up at him in shock and surprise. The pleasant kind of surprise, he noticed. He hoped. 

“And of course,” he continued, reaching over your head (your really were tiny, like you had said earlier in your rant), “you can’t leave here without A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. I won’t allow it.”

You grinned, absolutely delighted with this turn of events. “Oh you won’t allow it?” you smarted back. “Will you use your big scary man powers and keep me here?”

“No, but I might send Jimin over here to tell you how much he loves Hemingway.”

“Namjoon!” Jimin shrieked from the back room, clearly listening to the conversation. 

You burst into laughter, throwing your head back as the sound filled the shop. Namjoon’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much. 

“I know you know this, but I feel like I have to say this,” Namjoon said as you tamped down on her laughter. “Your old boss was a cowardly dickwad. And fucking Chad is going to suck at that job, and probably get fired or quit, and then go running back to his old money family and never have any real dreams or passion because at heart he’s a fucking loser. You exude a shit ton of authority and they were idiots not to promote you.”

You sucked in a sharp breath, letting it out slowly with a small, shy smile as you looked down at the books in your hands. Your duality was going to send Namjoon to the grave. 

“Namjoon,” you said, finally looking back up at him. 

“I … yes, that’s my name,” he said in confusion. 

You laughed, shaking your head. “I mispronounced it earlier when I read your name tag. Your weasly employees have said your name a couple times now and I realized I said it wrong. Sorry about that.”

Namjoon only laughed. “It’s fine. You’d be surprised how often that happens.”

“Seriously though, Namjoon … thanks. I was a real bitch before and that was all really nice of you to say. I appreciate it.”

Namjoon’s chest tightened at your words. “You’re welcome. And I meant every word of it. Fuck Chad.”

“Fuck Chad,” you affirmed with a nod. 

“Yeah fuck Chad!” Taehyung’s voice echoed from the back room. “Actually don’t fuck Chad, he seems like a real douchebag. Or do fuck him if you want. Your body is your body and you can fuck whoever you want and — ouch! Stop hitting me! I’m being nice now, what the hell?!”

You laughed yet again at that while Namjoon sighed in exasperation. 

“I’m so sorry,” he said suddenly. “I haven’t even asked your name.”

“Don’t worry about it,” you chuckled, shifting the books in you arms. “I’m Y/N.”

“Y/N,” Namjoon repeated, smiling to himself. “I’m sorry such a bad day brought you here, but … quite frankly this has been the most entertaining thing to happen at Koya’s for a while.”

“That’s the truth.”

“Shut up!” Namjoon yelled over his shoulder before turning back to you with a sheepish smile. 

“Business been a little slow lately?” At the question, Namjoon’s cheeks flushed bright red. “I didn’t mean that as an insult! I just … I remember hearing a lot about this place a couple years ago when it opened, in the papers and stuff. And with what your employee just said and earlier you mentioned you had to let some other workers go and—”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Namjoon reassured you, chuckling and scratching the back of his head — you were beginning to notice that he did that when he was nervous. “Yeah, things have been slow. My business partner had to leave about a year ago and Koya’s has been … on a bit of a decline since then.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

Namjoon waved you off. “It’s fine, this stuff happens in business. We’ll get through it. Hey are you satisfied with those book choices? Did you want to look around some more or…?”

“No these are great!” You assured him, smiling widely. How on earth had you been so rude to this guy earlier? 

“Okay great, I can check you out over at the cash register.”

“Yeah you can, Joonie — hey, ouch!”

Tell-tale sounds of a scuffle broke out in the back room. 

“Uh, should you check that out?” You asked as a loud metal clanging and a few more choice curse words rang out. 

Namjoon pondered on it for about two seconds. “No, they’re fine. Come with me.”

Walking to the cash register, you took a closer look at the bookshop. When you first came in you were still simmering with rage over stupid fucking Chad so you hadn’t looked at the place proper. 

It was cute, albeit small, in an old building that you were sure had seen better days. It looked like there was an upstairs, but it was closed off. The decorations were pretty sparse (okay there weren’t really any decorations, at least not very good ones), and quite frankly the piano instrumental playlist over the speakers was boring as hell — even for a bookstore.  

“She’s not much,” Namjoon commented, watching your gaze. “But this place is my pride and joy.”

“It’s great,” you admitted. And it was, even if your overly critical eye was looking at areas that could use improvement. “Really. And you didn’t even kick out the psycho woman who came in shouting about the patriarchy. You actually managed to calm me down and honestly that’s a feat in and of itself.”

Namjoon laughed at that, looking up at your from underneath his long eyelashes with a dopey grin. Damn he was adorable. 

“My business partner Seokjin, the one who left a year ago, he would have handled it better than me. He was always better with customers.”

“I don’t know,” you shrugged, leaning over the counter and grinning up at him, “I think you did pretty good, Namjoon.”

It gave you quite the ego boost to see the shy smile and the heat in Namjoon’s cheeks at your words. Doesn’t exude authority my ass, you thought to yourself. 

“Seokjin he was uh, he—” Namjoon cleared his throat, working to focus on his task at hand as you flirted. You decided to show him mercy and stand back up to your full height, leaning away from the counter. “He was great at customer service and the marketing side of everything. Don’t get me wrong, I like working with customers, but honestly I … I’m here for the books more than the people sometimes. I think that’s one of the reasons business has declined since he left.”

You were quiet at that, and Namjoon looked up to see you staring at a spot on the counter in what appeared to be deep thought. He cleared his throat and finished bagging your books, reading off the total. Honestly he didn’t want to charge you for the books because of the crap day you’d had, but he also needed to pay Jimin and Taehyung that month. 

“Oh, right,” you said, pulling your phone out of your pocket and opening up Apple pay. As the transaction processed, you suddenly took a deep breath and looked up at Namjoon. “Did I happen to mention what kind of a company I was working for before I, you know, became a public nuisance and flipped a table in rage before quitting my job?”

“You flipped a table?” Namjoon asked incredulously.

“Not important,” you said with a wave of your hand. “But really, did I mention where I worked?”

“No, no you didn’t.”

You smiled, wide and unrestrained and Namjoon felt like you had punched him in the gut. 

“I worked for Atlas Marketing.” At the name of one of the biggest companies in the city, Namjoon’s eyes almost bugged out. “As of yesterday I was the youngest and most promising marketer in our branch. But as of today,” you dragged out the word and smiled even bigger, “I am currently unemployed, with plenty of money in my savings account to work for a few months on a meager salary, and ready to start a new project … if you get what I’m saying.”

Namjoon stared at you slack-jawed. Your old boss actually had the nerve to say that you didn’t exude authority? He’d known your for maybe fifteen minutes and you’d exuded more confidence and authority than anyone he’d ever met. 

And he wasn’t ashamed to say he liked it. 

He really liked it.

He also was fully aware that you were exactly what Koya’s Used Books needed. 

“Y/N,” he said, “how would you like a job?” 

“Sweet, we’ve got a pretty girl working with us now.”

“Tae, you can’t just say things like that!”

“What! I’m showing equaility! Isn’t that what — ouch!”