It was a fine Saturday evening. There was a dinner party held in one of the most expensive restaurants in the city to celebrate the wedding anniversary of the CEO and his wife. Going to these kinds of events are not my cup of tea, to be completely honest. But I was personally invited by the CEO himself, so I of course couldn’t refuse.

And here I was, awkwardly standing by myself. Apparently I didn’t get the memo about bringing someone to the party because almost everyone brought their partners. I’m single and I don’t really have many guy friends whom I could ask to accompany me. But thankfully, I found my co-workers on one side and I decided to join in their conversation.

A few minutes passed and the dinner officially started. Just like the prom I went to in my high school, we had to sit according to the seating plan that we were shown right before we entered the restaurant. We just had to provide our names and the staff would tell us which table we would sit on. It was such a fancy event, I felt slightly regretful that I came. To my luck though, I knew the people sitting around me. And as I turned towards my right, I found my co-worker, Jung Yonghwa.

He must have felt my staring because he looked up from his plate and gave me a smile. For some reason, my heart then started pounding as if a drummer was playing some hard metal music with his quick moves. Cold sweat ran down my back. Heat formed on my neck and cheeks. Swallowing hard and realising that I just stayed quiet looking at him, I nervously returned my own smile and hoped that it wasn’t obvious that I was feeling rather anxious.

Fortunately, he went back to his business and continued devouring the dinner. I turned back to my own plate, breathing normally like the incident just now didn’t actually happen. My heart finally returned to its natural beating and I started eating.

Around an hour later (even I surprised myself that I stayed), the CEO invited us all to the dance floor to dance the night away. I only stayed on my seat and watched as couples got up to waltz. There was this slight jealousy that I felt as I witnessed the ladies getting asked by the gentlemen. But as much as I wanted someone to ask me, I didn’t think I was brave enough to dance in front of everyone.

“May I have this dance?”

That question woke me up from the reverie, causing me to look to my right where I heard the voice from. My eyes went wide as I noticed who it was. His left hand was just right there in front of me, waiting for me to take the offer.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he continued and before I could reject him, he pulled me up and walked me to where the others were. And then, we were swaying with the rhythm.

He was a wonderful dancer. It was like dancing with an expert. And it certainly felt like everyone was staring at us. It was so uncomfortable that I could only look at the collar of his formal shirt. I wasn’t brave enough to look elsewhere, no matter how tempting it was to do so.

“You look very beautiful tonight,” once again he said something first.

My heart started beating fast again at that compliment. The temperature of the huge restaurant felt like it has gone up a bit. I resisted the urge to fan my face with my hand. Instead, I thought about cold water, waterfall, ice cream!

Alas, it didn’t work because this man in front of me kept looking at me. The fact that there was a smile plastered on his face didn’t help either. I wanted to run away, to escape from this weird situation.

But all of the sudden, we stopped dancing. His hands were right now on both of my cheeks, holding my face ever so slightly as if I was fragile. I couldn’t help but look at him, really look at his eyes. I didn’t trust my mouth and brain to say or do something, so I searched for anything. Any signs that would tell me what he’s doing.

“You’re so pretty, I want to kiss you right now.”

Without my consent, he pulled me closer and closer, his eyes closing. I couldn’t even close mine as I was too shocked to do anything. I tried looking at our surroundings and to my surprise, it was dark. It was if we were just alone in this restaurant.

I turned my attention back to Yonghwa. He was much closer now and I could smell his perfume. I was getting even more nervous; my heart was on my throat. He was just a few more millimetres away.

KRIIIIINNNGGG!!!

I suddenly woke up at the sound of an alarm, startled. Heart beating abnormally, my eyes darted from left to right and back again, slowly comprehending where I was. I couldn’t be happier that I was in my bedroom, that everything was just a dream.

A really awkward dream.

Around two hours later, I found myself inside the office and I was still thinking about the darn dream. I was one of the earliest employees so it was still kind of empty. I decided to walk slowly up the stairs as I had a slight time to spare. My eyes were on my shoes, checking if I had any dirt or dust visible.

But I suddenly crushed into the wall, catching me off guard. Before I had time to realise what was happening, a pair of hands caught me by the arms. And then I remembered that I was in a flight of stairs where I would have fallen if someone didn’t catch me. So I looked up with the intention of saying my thanks. But what I saw surprised me even more.

I got nervous all of the sudden, my heart pounding hard once again. I couldn’t breathe normally with him so close to me, just like my dream last night. My eyes were wide open, not quite believing my sight.

“Are you okay?”

I blinked several times, still looking up at him. I had no desire to open my mouth because I knew I wouldn’t say anything understandable. So I just stared and nodded to answer his simple question.

“Great to hear,” he replied and gave me a soft smile. If he wasn’t holding me, I might have just fallen down the stairs. “Ah, we have to get you safe and sound.” He then reversed until we were on the same ground, all the while squeezing my arms. “Here we are.”

I still didn’t trust my mouth so I nodded my head once again, fully hoping that he knew it was my way of saying thanks.

“See you around, Seohyun-ssi,” he said and bowed his head a little. He smiled yet again and let go of my arms. He then went down the stairs to possibly go to his cubicle.

Even after his footsteps disappeared, I just stayed in my current position. I couldn’t believe what just happened. We have never really spoken to each other, except say our greetings when we pass by which was not very often. This was the closest I have ever been to him. The dream last night didn’t count because it wasn’t real.

Realising that I was in the middle of everyone’s way, I cleared my throat and continued my journey upstairs where I work at. Nobody was in yet, which wasn’t a surprise to me, so I could relax a bit without any disturbance.

But as I was taking deep breaths with my eyes closed on my seat, that little moment of peace was disturbed by the ringing of the telephone. I immediately picked it up, albeit begrudgingly, and was informed that there would be a grand meeting held in two hours. Everyone would have to participate, no exception. After the information was written down on a piece of paper I found nearby, I returned to my seat.

Time passed by quickly as I have been doing some research on this new item we were about to sell in a month. I was the last to leave the room as I was the youngest and I had to lock the door. But as a result, there was no seat left inside the meeting room. I was about to go to the other room to get a chair when someone at the back called my name loudly, attracting attention from everyone.

To say that I was embarrassed was an understatement. Everyone looked at my direction, making me blush like a red tomato. And to make matters even worse, the person who caused this smiled at me and patted an empty chair (the only one!) right next to him. He motioned for me to come and I had no choice but to comply. I walked to his direction with my head down and put on a fake smile. As soon as I reached, I pulled my chair a bit closer to the other person on my left. I didn’t want to make a more awkward scene.

The meeting finally ended with no distractions whatsoever, especially from the person on my right. It involved the CEO of the company so the matters discussed were quite serious. And for that reason, it ended later than expected and it was lunch all of the sudden. The CEO knew it would happen beforehand, so he ordered some food for all of us to enjoy.

As soon as my lunchbox was received, I immediately looked for my friends and sat with them. Thankfully, there was an empty seat between them so I didn’t have to drag one. But apparently my presence was a shock to them as they stopped chatting when the saw me.

“I thought you were eating with Jung Yonghwa,” said Hyoyeon unnie, her chopsticks in midair.

“Why would I be eating with him?”

“You guys look awfully close,” said Yoona unnie, getting nods from the others as an agreement. “He saved you a seat.”

“But that doesn’t mean that we are.”

“He basically told off anyone who tried to sit next to him. You should have seen the look on his face.”

“Did something happen to you?”

Everyone on the table stopped whatever they were doing and looked up at me, eagerly waiting for my response. My heart pounded quickly like there’s no tomorrow. The dream last night suddenly made an appearance, causing heat to crawl over my face and neck.

“N-nothing,” I managed to squeak.

All of my friends leaned forward with their eyes narrowed. I had to gulp and clear my throat to get rid of my anxiety. I would never ever tell anyone about the dream because it was embarrassing. What would they say about me if they knew? Of all people living this wide world, I had a dream about that man.

“Are you sure?” Hyoyeon unnie asked. “Your face looks like it’s about to explode.”

I stayed quiet for a while, trying to calm down. Several deep breaths were taken before I answered, “Positive.”

“Then why does he keep glancing at this direction? It’s pretty obvious that he’s interested in you.”

If I had my food inside my mouth, I would have choked. Thankfully, I already swallowed and so I could escape the embarrassment. “We’re not even close to begin with.”

“You don’t have to be close with someone to be interested in them,” Taeyeon unnie replied.

It was finally time to go home. I felt exhausted for some weird reason. I have done OTs more than once before this but it certainly felt like the day was longer than usual.

I stretched in my seat, rolling my head around and shoulders back and forth. Satisfied at the sound of popping, I packed my bag and tidied up my table. Once it was as neat as this morning, I got up and announced my leave at my remaining co-workers.

Going down the stairs, I made sure I looked down to avoid any accidents. But that made me realise what happened earlier with Jung Yonghwa. And as a result, it reminded me of what my friends told me over lunch. And the dream too.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts about anything involving him and quickly dashed towards the bus stop on the other side of the street. It was time for people to leave work so it was slightly crowded. There was no empty seat left so I went to the end of the bench and stood to wait for the bus to arrive.

I looked to my left to see a couple of students holding hands so tightly as if one of them would disappear if they weren’t. There was this slight jealousy that washed over me but it passed by like a breeze. It didn’t bother me anymore. At least, not that much.

The romantic scene happening right next to me made me think of their future. Would they still be together after they graduated from school? Would they after they reached their respective homes? None of us know for sure because we can’t see the future.

I looked further down the bench, men and women in various ages sitting together waiting for the bus. Then, it suddenly hit me: one of these men might actually be ‘the one’. What if the person I’m going to spend the rest of my life with was here? Or maybe one of my co-workers was ‘it’? Maybe it’s the security guard. Maybe even my own friend whom I haven’t met in years. Soul mates could be just anyone.

“Oh Seohyun-ssi, we meet again.”

At those words, I blinked and looked up to find someone standing in front of me. I stopped breathing all of the sudden. His presence made my eyes widened. My heart pumped blood so fast, I might have to go to the hospital because it really concerned me as it happened more than three times in one day.

But I managed to reply, “Yonghwa-ssi, y-you’re here.”

“As always,” he said and walked closer to stand beside me. He softly smiled. “Why do you look so surprised?”

“But I’ve never seen you before today.” Surely he must be kidding.

He just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

People say that soul mates wouldn’t go anywhere because we’re destined to be with them. They would return to us, no matter what.

I looked at him and he looked back. My heart was on my throat. But at the sight of his comforting smile, I soon realised that I felt relaxed and at ease around him. It’s a complicated feeling but I found it kind of nice.

What if?

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: As I have mentioned in the Foreword, the beginning was based on a true story. I had a dream that a co-worker of mine kissed me. It was very awkward when I met him on the next day because for some reason, it felt real. Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading this and please don't forget to comment. A huge thank you for subscribing :) Part II hopefully will be posted soon.