On the first day of December, when the cold temperature was present in everyday life, all of the people from the village started dressing up warmly. In front of the library of Mister Han, the owner was arguing with a small child. On the first look, Yeong-hwan and Yu Na didn’t know why they started a conflict, but soon enough they figured it out.
‘How do you dare try to steal from me? I’m working so hard to provide the best books in this area and you try to steal from my work? Do you even know how to read that you decided to steal a book from me?’ visibly angry, yelled the owner of the library
‘My brother will teach me as soon as he returns from the army! After he teaches me I’ll bring back the book and you can sell it afterwards!’ shouted back the little boy
The boy that had a hair of the color of charcoal was younger than 10 years old. His nose and arms were red because of the cold, but he was holding the book tightly with his arms. Yu Na noticed the name labeled on the book and quickly realized that it was one of the works of Yeong-hwan. As she tried to grab Yeong-hwan’s attention to make him look at the book the boy was holding, she soon realized that the boy put the books on a table and grabbed Mister Han’s hand in an attempt to make him let go of the boy’s collar.
‘Mister Han, let the boy go, I’ll pay for it so you don’t have to be so harsh on the little boy.’ he said as he grabbed some coins from his pocket and put it into Mister Han’s hand
Mister Han smirked after he saw the money and quickly hid them in one of his pockets. He then smiled at the boy and brushed his hand into his hair as the little boy got confused at his sudden change of attitude after the scolding he did to him earlier.
‘Ah, Yeong-hwan, you really know how to do things right. You don’t have to be so kind-hearted with a little boy. Come inside, as I see you brought the books I’ve asked you to.’ said Mister Han as he took the books from Yu Na and the ones that Yeong-hwan put on a table outside and brought them inside
‘Thank you so much for helping me, Mister.’ said the little boy as he bowed in front of Yeong-hwan, Yu Na smiled looking at the two of them
‘Try to not do that again, Mister Han is a man that does not forget, but I understand your desire to read and learn. If your brother doesn’t have time to teach you how to read, you can ask for my help. I live in a house with a tall cherry tree.’ Yeong-hwan softly said to the little boy
The boy’s eyes sparkled with joy as he heard what Yeong-hwan offered to do for him and he was beyond grateful. As he bowed one more time to him, Yu Na approached Yeong-hwan’s side and smiled as she slowly took him by the hand.
‘I’ll be sure to remember your words, mister! Please tell me your name and I’ll be sure to remember it!’
‘Yeong-hwan, my name is Yeong-hwan.’ he said, but, right before he could even ask the little boy his name, the boy suddenly rushed back to his home.
Yeong-hwan giggled as he saw how happy the boys were and how tightly he was holding that book. He squeezed Yu Na’s hand as he looked down at her, seeing how she looked at him with admiration.
‘That was something very nice that you did for the boy. I’m sure he’ll remember it and this incident will motivate him to learn to read.’ proudly murmured the girl
‘If what I did has a great impact on the boy’s life, then I’ll be happy that for the price of one of my books, someone has the opportunity to learn.’
‘There’s so much hope for the young childrens that will soon be our nation’s future. I’m so happy that we can see how our actions impact their future.’ acknowledged Yu Na after hearing his response
After the little chat that they had, Yeong-hwan made a sign for the girl to be the first to enter in the library and he followed after her. Mister Han was at his desk, looking at the books that Yeong-hwan brought and was writing the names and quantities in his notebook. He smiled as he saw them entering.
‘You’ve given the boy a great lesson, I assume! He’ll need to learn to never steal again. Imagine it, Yeong-hwan. He wanted to steal. From me!’ concluded as he was clearly angry at the event from earlier
‘Oh, come on, Mister Han, it's not like he stole all your life savings. We got closure on this and there’s nothing to worry about now. How’s the book I’ve brought? Everything’s fine?’ tried Yeong-hwan to distract the owner of the library and change the subject.
‘Oh, yeah, yeah. Everything is alright.’ he said as he took some coins to pay him for the work. ‘If I sell them out too, I’ll give you more next time. If you have time, help me put them on shelfs.’
As Yeong-hwan nodded his head, he took some of the books to put them on shelfs. Yu Na closely followed him with some books to try and help. As they got to the shelf where Yeong-hwan had to put his books, Yu Na noticed a map that was put on the wall. She got a feeling that she had seen this map before.
‘Yeong-hwan, where is this place?’ asked Yu Na as she signaled the map with a move of her head
Yeong-hwan glared back at the map, then he put one of the books on the shelf.
‘That? Oh, it’s the map of the village. Why do you ask?’
Yu Na looked surprised to find that out. As she took a closer look, she saw how the village was surrounded on the left side of it by a large forest and on the right of the map by a large river that felt very familiar. Soon enough, she realized that this place was very similar to the village she grew up in. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but looking at the details on the map, it was soon more clear that it was, indeed, the very same village.
‘Are you alright? You look pale.’ asked Yeong-hwan, the girl.
‘Yeah, sorry, the map looked very similar to one that I’ve known of the place that I grew up in. I just remembered seeing it somewhere else.’ she said, biting her lip.
When Yeong-hwan wanted to ask the girl if she remembered any other memory, Mister Han came up with a poster in his left hand.
‘Yeong-hwan, I almost forgot. There will be a contest at the Palace. Do you want to give it a look?’ asked Mister Han, handing out the paper to Yeong-hwan.
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