Seohyun nibbled on her own bottom lip as she waited for the cashier at the pharmacy to do the math for all the things she had bought. At the last minute, she decided to add an umbrella to the rest of the items, as she heard the now familiar sound of rain falling on the roof of the pharmacy. She wasn’t impatient, but the apparently inexperienced cashier was taking too long while going through the items from her cart and Seohyun knew she had a lot to study for the next day. Too bad she had forgotten to buy her vitamins and soy milk during her free time on the weekends. Funny, she thought, her parents fervently opposed to her decision of majoring in music, considering it a ‘lazy’ career, but Seohyun was sure she had as much to study as any medicine or law student. Immersed in her thoughts, she didn’t even realize when the slow cashier, flustered and clearly having second thoughts about his new job, handed her the cash register ticket, underlining the amount Seohyun had to pay; 120 won.

            Seohyun handed the cashier her debit card with a polite smile. The guy took it and wordlessly did the purchase through it, only looking at Seohyun again to silently ask her to enter her pin number. They both smiled at each other briefly as the payment was made and Seohyun could take the small plastic bag full of vitamins, supplements and soy milk. It was slightly heavy, but since her car was parked right outside the pharmacy’s door, Seohyun knew she wouldn’t have to walk that long. She checked the time on her wristwatch, realizing that she still had a bit of time to indulge herself in one of her most beloved guilty pleasures; self-improvement books. The pharmacy had a book/magazine section which was not very well stocked, but had quite a good amount of self-improvement books for her to look at. She walked towards the back of the pharmacy and smiled as she noticed the book section had been recently stocked, dropping her purchase on the floor next to her feet.

            A first book got her attention, with its white hardcover and sharp edges. Adultery, by Paulo Coelho. It wasn’t quite in the section of self-improvement but in that of best sellers, but she still took it in her hands for a closer look. The front cover had a simple picture of three cherries, with the title of the book beneath them. As Seohyun turned the book to check out the back cover, the first sentence was just enough to submerge her into thoughts she didn’t want to surface in her mind.

“Is a life without love worth living?”

            She knew of a lot of people who had never married. A few uncles on her mother’s side, an aunt on her father’s side, a cousin who chose to pursue of life in a Buddhist monastery… She’d never even questioned whether they were unhappy with their lifestyles or undervalued themselves for not having what the traditional Korean society claimed was nearly the biggest milestone in a person’s life. But for Seohyun, marriage for love anytime soon (or ever) was definitely out of the question. She’d disappointed her parents by objecting their plans for her career-wise, she knew they’d object to anyone she’d have them meet and she was willing to let them choose a husband for her, if that meant they’d allow her to follow her dreams. But was she really okay with those conditions, just like that? Even if she knew all those people who could live a happy life without love, could she be happy without it? Were her dreams worth it if she didn’t have anyone by her side to share them with?

“How to keep your loved one sober?” Seohyun was startled as she looked away from the book and to her right, where the voice had come from. “How can this even be a self-improvement book? Shouldn’t addicts have to be able to stay sober by themselves?” Seohyun didn’t know if the stranger was talking to her; she was holding the book she was criticizing and examining it thoroughly. Instead of responding, Seohyun stared at the stranger from the corner of her eye; she was wearing black skinny jeans, a plain black t-shirt, and black boots. In contrast with such dark clothes, she sported a pale, porcelain looking skin and chestnut hair. Her nose was sharp and her features were very delicate. Seohyun couldn’t help but want to stare a bit longer, being intrigued by the person next to her. “I used to really like self-improvement books. I could read a thousand of them and everything the authors wrote made perfect sense to me… But then I realized that when you’re really going through difficult times, they become useless. They suddenly seem to lose their coherency and no matter how many you read, you just can’t find the answers.” The stranger continued, putting the book back in the shelf and facing Seohyun. The latter’s heart seemed to skip a few beats, and not only because of the girl’s intense stare, but because of her words. The exact same thing the doe-eyed girl had described, was exactly what was currently going on with Seohyun. “There are things that can only be healed with time, not with cognitive therapy methods written in self-improvement books.”

“Self-improvement is my favorite genre.” The young musician felt stupid once those words left . There was so much more she could say to add to what the stranger had pointed out, but the lamest response was what came out of .

“I can tell.” The other girl said, showing a toothed smile. Seohyun couldn’t help but return it. “I don’t really know if Coelho is considered a self-improvement author, but besides all the fantasy in his books, they really have a lot of truth to them.” The stranger pointed at the book Seohyun was still holding. Seohyun looked down at it, having forgotten that she had even picked out that book in the first place. “You don’t really talk much, do you?” The doe-eyed girl chuckled, ducking her head slightly.

“And you seem to be quite verbose.” Seohyun answered, chuckling as well.

“I know.” The stranger looked away from Seohyun and turned back to the books. Seohyun looked at her wristwatch and grimaced, thinking she had taken more time that she had meant to checking out books and chatting with a stranger. She gave the girl one last glance before she took her buy and began walking towards the exit door of the pharmacy. She was relieved to find out that it had stopped raining, but she still was careful while walking because the parking lot was damp and she was quite clumsy. Her recent conversation with the stranger still lingered in the back of her head, but she tried not to think too much about it.

“Yah! Please wait!” Seohyun was about to open the door to her car when she heard that calling, accompanied with hurried steps that splashed on the puddles of water the short rain had left behind. As she turned around, she was more than surprised to see the girl from inside the pharmacy, running towards her with a bright smile.

“What happened?” Seohyun asked, furrowing her brows but smiling nonetheless. It wasn’t all the time that someone seemed so happy to see her. Most of the times, Seohyun felt like a burden for the people around her.

“You forgot the book.” The stranger said, her voice breathy, her words soft yet confident, handing Seohyun a plastic bag from the pharmacy. Seohyun opened it and took out the book she’d been checking out; Adultery. The young musician furrowed her brows.

“But I didn’t buy this.” Seohyun answered, meeting the other girl’s eyes. The latter was smiling sweetly, as if she found Seohyun’s confusion endearing.

“I know. I did.” Seohyun raised her eyebrows. “Please accept it. I know you’re going to love this book.”

“O-Okay… Thank you so much.” Seohyun wanted to ask her why she’d buy a best seller book to a complete stranger, but decided to just thank her and accept the gift. How could she not?

“You’re welcome. The first page is really interesting.” The other girl winked. Seohyun giggled and lowered her head. “Have a goodnight.” Before Seohyun had the chance to answer, the stranger had already took off, running back inside the pharmacy as it was starting to rain again. Seohyun quickly got inside her car. She the engine but didn’t pull into the driveway. Instead, her curiosity got the best of her as she opened the book on its first page. Much to her surprise, there was a post-it note stuck to it.

I know this is too forward, but would you meet me for a coffee at the Eun Hye Coffee Shop tomorrow, at this time? My name is Im Yoona. We only talked for a bit, but I’m completely captivated.

P.S.: I promise to let you do all the talking and just listen ;)

            Seohyun couldn’t help but giggle and then bite her bottom lip, thinking whether or not she should show up. But it all came down to simple reasoning; Yoona had bought her an expensive best seller in hardcover, it was only fair that she treat her to a coffee mug.

…

            Meanwhile, inside the pharmacy, Yoona headed back to the book section of the pharmacy, which was always empty. As expected, she was the only one there. Taking a last glance around, she took out her phone and dialed a familiar number. She waited for it to ring three times, the cue for the person on the other line to pick up. Yoona was about to stop the call when it was finally picked up before the fourth ring. The other line was silent, but Yoona knew she was being listened to.

A/N: This is the prologue/first chapter. I certainly hope you liked the first Yoonhyun encounter. You probably have many questions in mind but they’ll be answered as the story continues ;) Thanks for reading!