#1

The first time you'd met him, you weren't exactly in a very glamorous position. You were struggling to get your luggage into the overhead compartment. Except that it was too heavy, and your lesser than average height wasn't helping. You were already standing on your tiptoe pushing with all your might but it simply refused to budge. Just as you were about to lose your grip on the object, a strong hand prevented it from cracking your skull open. Those were strong, sturdy hands with big knuckles and a web of veins that stood out from his relatively pale skin. A smooth tenor voice reached your ears, concern lacing his words.

“Woah, be careful! Are you ok? Let me help you with that.”

You don’t know what it was, but there was a certain quality to his voice that gave you the chills. Not the invasive kind that caused fear to lodge into your heart, but it was… you couldn’t place an exact word to his voice but you found yourself catching onto the last wisps of his words as they got drowned out by the murmur of hundreds of other passengers.

But what really sealed the deal were his eyes. Turning back to thank your saviour, you expected to find warm brown eyes but instead, eyes the colour of onyx found yours. They sparkled brightly in the dim light of the aircraft cabin on a midnight flight and staring into them, you felt certain that this is what it would be like the see the galaxies up close. You don’t think anyone could ever forget eyes like that.

Passengers behind him were now growing impatient at both of you for causing a bottleneck and before you could properly thank him, he quickly moved forward and disappeared in the sea of people.

Great, now I don’t even know where he is sitting and I can’t even find him later to say thank you even if I wanted. Unless I walk down row by row and risk looking like a creep.

Shaking your head, you expelled that thought from your mind and quickly settled down into your window seat. After all, it was going to be a long haul flight and you wanted to be as comfortable as possible.

That night, the pain in your shoulder woke you up and you decided to stretch a little. Without much thought, you pushed up the plastic curtain & the view outside your window took your breath away. For miles and miles away, stars twinkle softly against the midnight blue sky, the occasional cloud zooming past your sight. The stars formed a beautiful tapestry and some part of you thought this is what heaven must look like. But what shocked you the most was who these stars reminded you of. Immediately, your mind shot back that kind stranger from hours ago and you found yourself smiling slightly at the embarrassing memory. Somewhere in your hazy mind, you decided that it would be nice to have known his name.

But later on as the plane landed in LAX airport, you tried finding him but to no avail. Perhaps if fate would allow it you might get the chance to see him again.

#2

Taking a trip round Los Angeles yourself with no destination in mind, you wound up outside a park. Walking past the freshly painted green wrought gates, you silently admired the coloured daisies that were springing up from the ground beside you as you walked along the designated pavement. Ivy plant tendrils curled gracefully along the brown bark of big trees, weaving a beautiful pattern along the plain tree barks. You were too busy admiring the sights of spring; you didn't even notice a ginger cat sneaking up to you before brushing past your ankle. Overcoming your initial surprise, you reached down to scratch the ginger behind its ear and got a personal sense of satisfaction out of it when you felt him or her lean into your touch. Just as you wanted to tickle the ginger under its belly, it perked up its ears and took off without warning to a person directly in front of you. Sensing that your time with the ginger was up, you stood to continue your journey but the new person playing with the ginger caused you to stop right in your tracks.

It’s him. It’s that guy from the plane.

You didn’t know how you were so sure, but somewhere in your heart, you knew you were absolutely right. It was like seeing a good friend that you haven’t seen in a long time, a sight for sore eyes but the unmistaken feeling of familiarity hanging in the air between the two of you. As if he could hear you calling out to him in your mind, he looked up to meet your eyes. Under the warm orange glow of the evening sun, his eyes shone golden brown. The sunlight reflecting off his golden locks made him look like a prince. Lost in your thoughts, you hadn’t noticed that he had approached until he was right in front of you.

“Hello, fancy meeting you here again!”

“Hello and yes, what a coincidence isn’t it?”

He chuckled, causing the side of his eyes to crinkle, lips pulled back to reveal neat rows of white teeth.

“It is. What brings you here? Also, is this your cat? She looks gorgeous.” He looked down to the ginger that was tucked safely in his arms.

“Oh I was just wandering around until I stumbled upon this place and no, she isn’t mine, though I wish she was.”

“Ah what a pity…”

By now, the cat was squirming in his arms and said male bent down to let the cat go and both of you watched as she bounded back amongst the bushes.

Turning back to face him, the dots finally connected in your brain and you quickly blurted out what you wanted to say to him.

“Oh right! I didn’t get to tell you this before but thank you so much for helping me that night. I’m sorry that this word of gratitude came so late; I couldn’t find you afterwards anymore. But I’m so glad that we’ve met again, I’ve wanted to say thank you to you since that night…”

You wanted to say his name, only to realise that you didn’t know his name. As if he could read your thoughts, this was his reply:

“My name is Sungjin and you’re welcome. I’m just glad that you’re safe. Now that you know my name, am I allowed to know yours?”

“Oh my name is Soojung. And once again, thank you Sungjin.”

He dipped his head towards you in a small bow and you smiled at the cute gesture. Both of you continued staring at one another for a short while until his phone rang. Giving his text a quick check, he turned towards you again.

“I would love to talk to you more but I got to go now. See you around?”

You nodded your head, before a soft “See you around” left your lips.

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