The Comfort of Small Things

After entering the bookstore that evening, Suhani realized it was much warmer inside than she expected. The soft yellow lights, the quiet music playing in the background, and the scent of old pages created a peaceful feeling that was completely different from the noisy world outside. For a moment, she forgot about her exhaustion.

The boy smiled slightly as he placed a few books back onto a shelf. “You can sit if you want,” he said calmly, pointing toward a small table near the window.

Suhani hesitated before sitting down carefully. She looked around the shop and noticed handwritten notes attached to some books. Small messages like ‘This story feels like rain at midnight’ or ‘For people pretending they are okay.’

Without realizing it, she smiled while reading them.

“You wrote these?” she asked.

The boy nodded. “Books feel less lonely when someone talks about them.”

His answer stayed in Suhani’s mind longer than expected.

For the next few days, she started visiting the bookstore for a few minutes before catching her bus home. Sometimes they talked about random things like customers, favorite foods, or difficult college assignments. Other times, they simply sat quietly while the rain tapped softly against the windows.

Surprisingly, Suhani began looking forward to those moments more than anything else in her day.

One evening, while helping arrange books, she accidentally dropped an entire stack onto the floor. Embarrassed, she quickly bent down to pick them up. However, instead of laughing, the boy sat beside her and helped silently.

“You’re always rushing,” he said gently.

Suhani sighed softly. “If I stop, everything feels like it will fall apart.”

For the first time, the boy’s expression changed slightly. He looked at her carefully before replying, “Maybe not everything needs to be carried alone.”

His words were simple, but they touched a part of Suhani she rarely allowed anyone to see.

Outside, the night buses continued to arrive and leave. But inside the quiet bookstore, Suhani slowly discovered something she had forgotten existed in her life.

Comfort.

That night, Suhani missed her usual bus for the first time in months.

But strangely—

She didn’t mind.

She sat near the bookstore window while light rain covered the streets outside. Cars passed slowly, their lights reflecting on the wet roads. The city still looked busy, but inside the bookstore everything felt calm.

The boy placed two cups of instant ramen on the table and sat across from her.

“You should eat something proper sometimes,” he said.

Suhani looked surprised. “How do you know I skipped dinner?”

“You always look at food advertisements when you’re hungry,” he replied casually.

She stared at him for a second before laughing quietly.

It was such a small observation.

Yet no one had noticed things about her so carefully before.

For the next few minutes, they ate quietly while soft music played in the background. The silence between them no longer felt awkward. It felt comfortable, like they had known each other much longer than they actually had.

After finishing, Suhani helped clean the table. As she reached for the empty cups, her hand accidentally touched his for a brief moment.

Both of them paused slightly.

Not because it was dramatic.

But because it felt unexpectedly real.

Suhani quickly looked away and adjusted her bag nervously. “I should go. My mother will worry.”

The boy nodded but walked with her toward the bus stop anyway.

The rain had become lighter now, almost gentle.

As her bus arrived, Suhani stepped onto it and turned back once more. He was standing under the station lights with his hands in his pockets, watching quietly.

For the first time in a long while, going home didn’t feel heavy anymore.

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