It was 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
Eugene suddenly raised his head while checking the condition of the tile floor.
I had the glass windows wide open to try to get rid of the new building smell, but there was a sweet, noble scent coming from outside.

The plum tree standing quietly outside the window shook its light green leaves slightly as if greeting me.
On the branches of the shaded side, plum buds were ripe and ready to burst, and on the sunny side, tiny plum blossoms were already raising their white heads, moist with moisture, like babies waking up from a nap.

Eugene approached the glass window and opened the screen.
The mosquito net, free of dust, opened smoothly.
As if it had been waiting, the wind from the mountainside blew in like waves.
At the same time, the scent of plum blossoms filled the room gently.
Eugene looked at the snowflake-like petals, realizing that this was the first time in his life he had seen a plum blossom so closely.
The pure white petals resembled the color of the floor tiles of Soyang-ri Books Kitchen, which was nearing its final finishing touches.
Beyond the plum blossoms, white bed sheets, washed in advance for the North Stay, fluttered in the wind.
I don't know if the sweet yet noble scent I had smelled earlier was the scent of plum blossoms or fabric softener, but whatever it was, Eugene's mood was as hazy as a plum blossom bud.

Eugene turned from the window and looked around the interior of the book cafe, which was densely packed with bookshelves.
The tall bookshelves that reached all the way to the ceiling were mostly empty, as no books had been placed there yet.
It looked like a sample bookshelf in a model house.
In the place where the books were to be placed, line lights were shining softly, like illuminating an empty stage.

‘This space will soon be transformed into a space filled with the scent of books.’ At that moment, an A3-sized piece of paper taped to the wall caught my eye.
It was a design drawing that was completed after endless thought and revision.
There were marks made here and there with pencils and ballpoint pens, and minor changes were also written down.
The blueprints were moderately crumpled and worn, so they stood out against the dust-free surroundings of the newly built building.
Eugene gently touched the area where the pencil mark remained with his finger.
It was hard to believe that the building I had only seen in design drawings and 3D simulations was now complete in the real world.

Soyang-ri Books Kitchen is a complex space consisting of a book cafe that sells books and hosts various events, and a book stay where you can read or relax. It consists of four buildings.
First of all, the North Stay space was made up of three buildings, each of which was a two-story, independent pension.
The first floor of the remaining building, which is not used for book stays, is used as a book cafe, and the second floor is used as a space for staff to reside.
And these four buildings were connected by a glass-enclosed botanical garden in the central garden.
In other words, there are four buildings in the shape of a cross centered around the garden.

The front of the North Cafe was made of glass windows, and the view of Soyang-ri through the windows was a painting in itself.
Beyond the plum trees, a winding mountain ridge was visible.
Eugene wondered if he was dreaming, looking at the huge, soft curves that seemed to flutter the hem of her skirt.
As a native Seoulite, Eugene found the city—with its sharp, tall buildings, 24-hour convenience stores, franchise coffee shops, densely packed subway lines, and large apartment complexes—much more real than Soyang-ri.
--- From "Prologue Soyang-ri Books Kitchen"

Eugene thought of Dain as he gently stroked the book cover.
The book cover featured an illustration of a peaceful landscape.
A green checkered tablecloth was neatly laid out, and a strong Americano clinked in an English teacup.
Next to the coffee was a salad, and outside the large window was a view of the ocean.

Eugene wished to travel to the place where Dain carried the sound of waves.
I wished I could take a break in a village where the cat was lost in thought, gazing out the window, and where the small houses with toy-colored brick roofs were huddled together, sharing the smell of the sea.
When Dain opened the book, the characters would greet her warmly.
Perhaps this book had been on a journey towards Dain for a long time.
Eugene was flipping through the pages when his gaze stopped on one sentence.
It was as if the sentence was calling out to him.

This is a good place to think.
When I go to the beach, I feel smaller.
I feel like I'm becoming less important.
Then everything will fall back into its proper proportions.
Eugene wrapped the book in a deep red wrapping paper with a gold polka dot pattern, leaving a bookmark on the page.
Then, I tore off a piece of plain notebook paper, cut it into pieces the size of my palm, and wrote a short letter by pressing down on it with a ballpoint pen.
'I hope you find your own barn, where you can hear the sound of the waves, and encounter warm moments like your grandmother's touch... '
--- 「1.
From "Grandma and the Night Sky"

The reading was continuing in the North Cafe seminar room.
A gentle piano piece was playing as background music.
There were six or seven people sitting at a long wooden table, and one person was sitting in front of a projector reading.

“The southern winter approaches gently and settles in quietly.
The warm sunlight wrapped around Kaya's shoulders like a blanket, luring her deeper and deeper into the wetlands.
Sometimes she would hear unknown sounds in the night and be startled by lightning striking right before her nose, but whenever Kaya stumbled, the swampy ground would always catch her.
When the time came that I couldn't put my finger on it, the pain in my heart seeped into me like seawater seeping into sand.
It's not completely gone, but it's gone deeper.
Kaya gently placed her hand on the moist, breathing soil.
Then the wetland became Kaya's mother."

The sentences in the book spread out into space as sound.
The words printed on paper walked into the real world like a newborn baby animal through someone's voice.
Before we knew it, the small seminar room had become Kaya's swamp.
Outside, the sound of cicadas echoed like the distant sound of grass rustling in the wind, and outside the window, a few fireflies floated like lost shooting stars.

Eugene, who leads the book club, opened his mouth.
“Everyone will find something similar to themselves in Kaya from Where the Crayfish Sing.”
When Kaya was five, her mother left home and never returned.
The brothers and sisters, who had no strength to stand up to their father's violence, left home one by one, and eventually even their alcoholic father left.
And the child was abandoned in a nature full of only wetlands and swamps.”
Marie felt her heart pounding.
It felt like the secrets that had been kept so tightly wrapped up were melting away under the midday sunlight.
The mask that had been stuck to his face like skin was slowly disappearing.
Marie found herself imagining Kaya's aquamarine eyes.

Eugene continued.
“While the world creates all kinds of rumors about Kaya, she befriends loneliness and grows with the comforting power of the wetlands and swamps.
Kaya's life takes a turn for the worse when Chase, who is captivated by her mysterious beauty, and Tate, Kaya's only friend from childhood, enter her life.
“I think this is a work in which the author asks what loneliness is in life and what the meaning of love is through Kaya’s lonely struggle and Tate’s pure love.”

--- 「4.
From "A Midsummer Night's Dream"