It’s not fate, I tell myself when the two main characters of the drama Key forced me to watch coincidently live next to each other and eventually fall in love.

It’s not fate, I tell myself after witnessing my brother bumping into his first love at the convenience store one day. Five years later they are happily married with a son, Minseok.

It was fate, I tell myself as he and I cuddle on bed together after a long day; that brought us together.

The first time we were supposed to meet was at a fashion show. Key and I were interns at ‘Dream’, one of the most famous magazines published in Korea.

 I was actually more into sports and Key was very much into fashion. I didn’t know why Key managed to drag me to the fashion department, where everything seems like a blur to me. There are only three guys in that department, besides Key and I. Jiyong sunbae (otherwise known as GD, his pen name), Kwanghee who keeps harassing me for no damn reason and Jo Kwon; who unknowingly became Key’s rival. The rest of them are girls, who only care about their looks and anything that has to do with makeup.

Jonghyun hyung, on the other hand; was much saner than the people in the fashion department. He’s from the sports department; which I am secretly eyeing to join.

The only thing weird about him is that he likes to gossip, even more than Key I might add. Other than that he is a really cool guy.

 Anyway, back to where I was. Key and I had to attend a fashion show, which was not what I had in mind. It was on a Sunday, the day when I usually sleep in. But being a journalist meant you have to be on call 24/7, so I had to drag myself there.

I decided to doze off for the next hour since I didn’t get what was going on anyway.

He was there too, coincidently. (I guess that’s fate.) He told me later on that he actually took a photo of me dozing off cause he found it amusing. Yeah, for the record; I did look pretty funny with my mouth slightly opened with a fine trickle of drool leaking from the corner of my mouth. His cousin was the one who forced him to attend the fashion show apparently. Donghae hyung, the one who somehow resembled Jonghyun hyung. It was his first modelling gig so he needed moral support.

Another coincidence was that Eunhyuk hyung, Donghae hyung’s boyfriend; was one of Key’s dance buddies. We then had dinner together with the absence of my future boyfriend as he had some family matters to attend to.

We finally, officially met on a rainy Friday weeks after the fashion show. The both of us unknowingly frequent the same jajangmyeon restaurant a few blocks away from the apartment Key and I lived in. The both of us stood outside the restaurant; waiting for the rain to end.

“Hi.” He spoke first, which left me a little flustered.

I smiled awkwardly. “Hi.”

“Have we met before? You seem strangely familiar but I just can’t remember where I have seen you before.”

I thought about it for a while. “Nope, I don’t think so.” I don’t think I have seen such a beautiful smile before.

Before he could say anything, a black Sedan approached us. The driver rolled down the window, “Hurry up dongsaeng!”

The stranger smiled once more (His way of saying goodbye) before entering the car which sped off as soon as he got in.

I swore I almost knocked my head on the wall after I got home since I failed to get the stranger’s number.

Strange as it may seem, we met again in Minseok, my nephew’s preschool.

I got a call from my brother that day, he told me to help him pick Minseok up from preschool since he was tied up with work.

I, as the good younger brother; had to sneak out of the office (with help from Key of course) to do so.

By the time I got to Minseok’s preschool, it was fairly empty. I was worried that Minseok might be alone so I rushed inside. Luckily he was in one of the classrooms with an adult which I assumed was a teacher.

“Minseok ah, samchon is here!”

To my surprise, Minseok’s teacher was the stranger I met at the jajangmyeon restaurant a week ago.

“Onew seonsaengnim! This is my Minho samchon I was talking about!” Minseok told him. He smiled and ruffled my nephew’s hair.

“Hi again I guess.” He winked, as my heart skipped a beat.

Of course, this time I actually remembered to ask for his number.