Home, a place of residence and, be it ever so humble, it's so much more--a comfort, an idea; where one's heart truly lies. Something that Yixing's life, for the longest time, had direly lacked and perhaps, even now, was still in the absence of. After all, he could hardly think of the dorms at Bullworth as being anything remotely similar to such--to a home. It held no warmth, no repose, nothing that made his heart swell in contentment. It didn't fill the painful void that never ceased to ache within his chest, it brought him no light and no happiness and so, in turn, it was nothing that he had ever deemed to be worth returning to.
His current place of employment, however, was an entirely different matter altogether. It was an oddity, perhaps, to enjoy one's occupation wholly--be it a position that one had been able to fill whilst still in the attendance of grade school, or a profession that had been worked towards for years and years and had finally been obtained through perseverance and diligence; through blood, sweat, and tears. This particular position had left Yixing as nothing more than a simple cashier at a business by the name of Newsprint, a bookstore within the mall, nestled betwixt two other shops that, even after walking passed them numerous times, he still was unable to recall the names of. Even so, simple checkout boy or anything otherwise, while he was here, it nearly felt as though he were so much more--a lover of books; of novels, poetry, history, and classic literature and of science fiction, drama, fantasy, and all things dark and morbid. He offered assistance and advice, extended knowledge, located the most elusive of tomes, suggested authors, and provided an escape from a reality that wasn't welcomed by all.
In his eyes, this was as good a home as any, what with its large, traditional wooden shelves, warm and earthy tones, and an amiable atmosphere that Yixing hadn't experienced once since he had arrived to Bullworth--or even beforehand. He loved the feeling of parchment against his fingertips, the way that printed words never failed to captivate him; to pull him into their fictional world, albeit only temporarily, until the story had come to a conclusion and had left him searching for yet another. Likewise, he enjoyed the calm, the silence. It was an oasis and his feelings towards it went beyond that of want--he needed a place such as this.
When the girl had first entered the store, Yixing had taken no notice--her presence leaving him unperturbed, dark eyes remaining fixated onto the miniscule text of the book held open within his grasp. As she began browsing the sections nearest to him, however, svelte fingers removing a book from the shelf just before her and eyes absorbing the words printed onto thin pages that had managed to capture her interest; to enchant her, his wall of concentration was broken and he found himself looking at her rather than the story held within his hands. Immediately, upon finally paying her mind, Yixing had recognized her--though her name had escaped him. She worked at the bubble tea cafe on the opposite side of the mall, an establishment that he tended to frequent on his way to Newsprint. She was also a fellow student at Bullworth, though not once had Yixing actually gone out of his way to speak with her, likely out of shyness more so than anything else. Now that she was here, though, he felt the need to say something as, now that he was aware of her presence within the shop, the silence had become deafening. Slowly, Yixing removed himself from the chair he had been occupying, the novel he had been reading left forgotten on the counter, and wandered towards her, opening his mouth and hesitating once, twice, before finally speaking aloud. "Hello, do you... need any help--looking for anything, I mean?"
vaporwave
titsay
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pixelskylines
