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As far as Kim Dokja was aware, his life in town was exactly what he had always envisioned for in life - peacefully taking care of the local library while entertaining the few who wandered in looking for a book.
Sure, it had taken far too many years of being a corporate slave for him to finally decide to move out and stay away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. But he had made it in the end.
The only thing he missed was the time on the subway train where he could catch up and read his favourite webnovels that had updated that day.
That loss was minuscule, now as the sole caretaker of the library, he was very content to swap that out. Rather than the little downtime he had, his new life was surrounded by the stories he grew up loving.
He had no higher ups to fear, only his own awful habits that frankly would take a lot more than just a change of scenery to fix. But that was fine. Kim Dokja wasn't concerned about that. He was happy enough being left generally to his own devices.
The town was a small farming community, with most townsfolk only swinging by the library once in a blue moon. At that point, Kim Dokja wasn't too sure if his building could even be called a library in technicality, for most of the year it was primarily him that it served the most use to.
The only exceptions were during summer break, where the event of school holidays were made very apparent to Kim Dokja by the almost-daily appearances of some certain children.
"Let's go outside!"
"Look at the bug I caught!"
"You can't be indoors all day!"
For all intents and purposes, Kim Dokja felt like Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung had adopted him rather than the other way around. His building acted as a place indoors they were able to hang out and run around in, oftentimes using the chance to
The reader had no complaints, they were a burst of energy in the day that broke up the monotony that he had been accustomed to.
While not overly familiar with their guardians, they clearly trusted him enough to leave their children underneath his care during the day. (And for some reason idolised him for more than he really deserved.)
Kim Dokja did not think he was anywhere near qualified to be a caretaker for children, but the kids just seemed to flock to him.
✦
Kim Dokja didn't think much of it when he started hearing a new name pop up from both the kids and around town.
"Mia's older brother is moving here soon!" He would hum in acknowledgement in response to that.
Those who moved to town would likely not hold much interest in a library and therefore he would not be seeing this new face around often.
Eager for a new face to gossip about, the latest news of the new farmer spread like wildfire around the villagers, with the same conversation topic popping up around Kim Dokja.
"The new farmer's coming back to revitalise that plot of land to the east."
"Oh, wouldn't that be so good for our economy?"
Sometimes expectant faces would turn towards him, waiting for his opinion on the subject matter. The reader would always do his best to slink away, having no real strong opinion of the news.
What did it matter if there was someone new? The only downside to existing in such a small community came to being perceived by everyone once he stepped outside.
On the final day before the children were set to leave for the school period, the children had dragged along a newcomer.
Putting on his best child-pleasing smile, Kim Dokja and bent down and held out his hand introducing himself, "Hello, I'm the local librarian around here, you must be Yoo Mia?"
Unfortunately, in the very next moment, his spirit was torn apart by a twelve year old.
"…ugly squid."
He didn't quite catch the full sentence of the child's mumbling, but it was enough to get the gist.
When did kids ever get this blunt? Surely her brother had taught her the importance of having inside thoughts. If she was behaving this way, he did not want to meet this new farmer who had supposedly raised her since birth.
Yoosung and Gilyoung, trying to save his waning dignity and self-esteem, quickly dragged the new child off to another corner of the library.
With a new face in the building, Kim Dokja spent less time entertaining the children, who spent more time in catching up Yoo Mia with the areas of the library they enjoyed frequenting.
He sat at the front desk as usual, scrolling through the webnovels that had updated that day. It seemed that one of his favourites had come back from hiatus, after leaving the latest chapter on a cruel, cruel cliffhanger.
Settling down, Kim Dokja once again let the day pass while surrounding himself with the comfort of the words of his novel.
When the doors to the library creaked open once more, Kim Dokja's head snapped up in surprise. The kids had yet to leave and none of the villagers frequented his library enough.
The figure at the door surprised him.
A tall man clad in a black coat had entered. In pure black, it was almost as if a protagonist from some second-rate webnovel had stepped out into the world.
Wearing a stern expression on his face, if Kim Dokja had seen this man on the subway back in the city, he would have snuck a second look because objectively? He looked handsome. Most definitely a male lead readers would fan over.
Unfortunately, a mix of anger, exasperation and something else unreadable was on his face. Being the only other person in the close proximity, Kim Dokja was forced to bear the full force of the newcomer's annoyance.
What the fuck, what the fuck? He resisted the urge to duck behind the desk. Why does he look like he wants to kill me?
It look three large strides for the man to reach the desk.
"Yoo Mia?"
Kim Dokja immediately understood where the child had gotten her attitude and general demeanour from.
What happened to a 'hello?'
He pointed in the general direction where he had last saw the children run off into. "With Gilyoung and Yoosung over there."
The man turned and headed off in that very direction without any further acknowledgement.
Without an ounce of self-preservation, Kim Dokja yelled out after him, "Hey bastard, you don't want to introduce yourself?!"
There was no answer as he disappeared behind a bookshelf. Huffing, the reader turned his attention back to his screen, jumping back into the world of the novel he was so rudely interrupted from. It wasn't as if he would be interacting much with the new farmer in the future.
✦
Kim Dokja had gained a stalker.
The new farmer, who he now knew went by the name Yoo Joonghyuk, was most definitely after his life.
There was no other explanation that he could offer up. That guy's behaviour since their meeting screamed sketchy. Kim Dokja shot a glance towards the door.
It was the first thing in the morning, why was that guy waiting outside the building? There was still a couple hours before the library was supposed to be opened! Thankfully for his life, the much taller man was not subtle in the slightest, the dark shadow outside the building giving Dokja the creeps before he had set out.
Even if he barely left to go outside on any normal day, he did not feel encouraged to run any chores that involved stepping a single foot outside considering the death trap waiting for him.
Actually, now that he had the chance to think about it, it had been a while since he'd had a day off.
Being your own boss (and the only librarian in town) really had its perks.
Mentally comparing the benefits of taking a sick day against the impending doom, Kim Dokja decided to pick the former option.
It turned out that no, his life wasn't truly in any danger. But who could blame him? If a very tall and muscular man continuously stood outside your workplace (and home), especially after a rocky first meeting, anyone would assume that he would be after your life.
After multiple days of the stalker and stalkee routine, Kim Dokja started reconsidering all his life choices when he left his room to be immediately greeted with Yoo Joonghyuk already inside the library.
Befitting of an overpowered protagonist, Yoo Joonghyuk's head snapped up at the sound of the door. There was no time for Kim Dokja to escape as the man slotted the book he was holding back onto the shelf and in a few strides, walked up to him.
"Hey, how's it been- huh?" Kim Dokja spluttered, mind reeling and processing the speed that Yoo Joonghyuk had closed the gap. He decided to put away the thought that breaking and entering was a criminal offence and focus on the fact that his impending doom was certainly near.
Instead of a weapon being brought down upon him, Yoo Joonghyuk wordlessly took something out of his pockets and pushed it into Dokja's chest. Without another word, the taller man turned around and exited the building.
After getting over the shock of still being alive, Kim Dokja looked at the item that Yoo Joonghyuk had unceremoniously forced into his hands and his mood immediately plummeted.
Why had that bastard given him a tomato?
It would've been one thing if it was even processed in any way or form, but Yoo Joonghyuk had handed him one singular raw tomato. He could've turned a blind eye to the choice in produce, but there was no way that this gift could have been given in good will.
No, all Kim Dokja could do was stare slack jawed at the raw tomato he now unfortunately was in possession of.
What the hell is wrong with that guy?
At least he probably wouldn't be seeing him often any time soon.
(Little did he know, it seemed that Yoo Joonghyuk turned insistent in repeating this scene often.)