Chapter 2: The Secret Between the Shelves

The late afternoon sun gilded the library’s windows. The air was still, with only the soft rustle of turning pages and the distinctive smell of old paper.

Hạ An walked slowly between the towering shelves. Aisle Z was in the farthest corner, where the old documents and reference books no one touched were kept. The third shelf appeared in front of her. Hạ An ran her fingers along the lightly dusty spines and stopped at a thick classic novel.

Tucked between its pages was a handmade postcard with a sprig of pale purple heather pressed and dried on it. On the back, in the familiar handwriting:

“You came. I knew a girl as determined as you would never leave an unknown unsolved. Hạ An, you always try to carry everything by yourself, always want to be perfect in the eyes of your teachers and friends. But do you ever get tired?”

Hạ An was stunned. The words had touched exactly the quiet place she always kept hidden. Yes. The pressure of the university entrance exams, her family’s expectations, and her duties as class president sometimes left her suffocating.

“Do you like the flowers?”

A voice came from right behind her. Hạ An spun around. Minh Khang was leaning against the shelf opposite, hands in his pockets, looking at her gently.

“You again,” Hạ An frowned, holding up the postcard. “Minh Khang, what game are you playing?”

Minh Khang stepped closer. The shrinking distance let Hạ An catch the faint scent of summer sun on his shirt.

“I’m not playing any game. The first letter and this postcard… yes, I asked someone to write them for me because my handwriting is terrible, but every word came from my heart,” Minh Khang said, looking straight into her eyes, without any of his usual casualness. “I’ve been watching you for a long time, Hạ An. You always sit in that same seat, studying hard, but you never really smile like you mean it.”

“That’s my life,” Hạ An said, trying to keep her voice cold, but her heartbeat betrayed her.

“Then let me add a little color to that life,” Minh Khang smiled and held out his hand. “A deal, okay? From now until the exams, every day I’ll show you something interesting outside of your books. In return, you help me study literature. How about it?”

Hạ An looked at the open hand in front of her, then into Minh Khang’s steady eyes. Her once-orderly equation seemed to have shattered completely the moment he appeared.