Well, that’s a fat cat, I thought as I puffed my way up the concrete hillside that I hope leads to the tower.

Having stopped for a breather (and realizing how amazingly unfit I was), I watched three adorable cats playing around the base of one of the trees that lined the path. I looked around to see where the owner was, but no one came. Were they strays? I’ve never seen such well-fed strays before. Do people here feed stray cats lasagnas or something?

As I straightened up my jacket, finally ready to continue on, I saw the same mushroom-haired guy rounding the sloping corner. He looked up from his phone and happened to meet my eyes. Startled, I instantly shifted my gaze elsewhere.

Great, now I look like I’m greatly fascinated by a tree branch, I thought irritatedly, touching the lone leaf still attached to a low-hanging branch beside me. Why can’t I be cool?

I heard his footsteps growing closer, and somehow, panic started to bubble at the pit of my stomach. Hurriedly, I turned to my left and walked on, not knowing what’s on the other side. All I wanted was somewhere to hide, really, just to get away from him.

Don’t get me wrong - he wasn’t creepy at all. In fact, he’s actually... Well, he really catches the eyes - my eyes, for that matter, and because of that, we’ve been locking gazes ever since I stepped foot in this city. He sat across from me in the subway, came in the same bakery as I was exiting, happened to be the one in front of me in a line at that popular waffle place…

Honestly, if I accidentally meet his eyes one more time, I’ll-

“Hi!”

I’ll-

“It’s really you again.”

I’ll-

“I’m sorry, I don’t usually approach people like this, but I… I’m a little lost.”

I feel a little lost myself.

“And you’re the only one I know here. I mean, I don’t know you personally, of course. I don’t even know your name. Not that you’re in any way obliged to tell me your name. I mean, I may be some sort of stalker for all you know. NOT that I’m one, no, I’m not, really, I’m not, I swear-”

Is he… rambling? He’s rambling. What is going on? Is he actually nervous? Come on, I’M the one who should be freaking out here. Some stranger I’ve been randomly bumping into all day is talking to me. In a foreign land. It’s the beginning of a B-rated horror movie.

“-I’m not some creep. Really. I love dogs. I have a pet dog. I don’t think creepy guys have pets. Do they? Well, they could.”

I should be getting more alarmed now, but this is actually beginning to be cute.

“But I’m not one of those. Gosh. What am I saying? I’m sorry. I just - it’s just that Busan is supposedly the second biggest city in this country but I’ve been seeing you like, everywhere today from the moment I got here, and now I bump into you again, seriously it’s weirdly coincidental right? So, you know, a familiar place in an unfamiliar city and all…”

Is his rambling ending? Aw shucks. That was entertaining.

“...I was wondering if you knew which way to go to get to the tower?”

I comprehend that it’s time for me to answer, or run away actually, but then again, I’m looking into his eyes for the umpteenth time today, and I find that I want to keep doing this until I leave.

I managed to lift my hand to point at an upward-winding road behind me. “All the tour buses go through there... that should be the way to the tower.”

“Ah, I see,” he said, glancing over my shoulder to where I was pointing and nodding. Then, he looked back at me, and I felt a little something jump in my stomach.

There was a moment of hesitation, as if he made a sudden U-turn from what he was about to say and said instead, “Right. Thank you for the directions. I'll... see you around?”

That actually made me chuckle.

“Most likely,” I replied.

After another awkward pause, we took our first steps towards our separate ways. Somehow, my legs felt heavy. It's mostly due to the fact that I came here to go up the tower but am now heading to goodness knows where.

I should be relieved. I got away from a potential death-by-awkwardness. Even though he's cute, and he swears he isn't, he could be some weirdo psycho killer for all I know.

And yet...

And yet, I couldn't help myself from wishing that we actually do meet again.

I felt my head turn to look back and stopped it just in time. No, he might be looking. I don't want to give him any welcoming signals or anything. Come on, just walk straight. Forward. Yes. That's right. Careful, it's downhill-

“Wait!”

I instantly halted and turned around.

“Do you... maybe... want to go see the tower together?” he asked unsurely. “If you haven't yet, I mean. It's totally fine if you don't want to. I'll just... go by myself.”

It took a bit of effort to control my face into something that resembled nonchalance before answering, “Well... that's okay I guess.”

His expression visibly lit up at my agreement. I did my best to keep the bubbling enthusiasm inside me from showing. I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't believe I'm actually traveling with a random stranger.

“Goodness, this is a climb!” I huffed out as I traced the winding uphill road towards him. He stretched out a hand and I instinctively grabbed it.

“You okay?” he asked as I heaved a deep sigh when I reached his side.

“Honestly, this freaking tower should be well worth all this climb,” I complained. “I feel like I've been climbing forever-

“Watch out!”

BEEEEP!

I flew forward as he yanked me towards him, away from the big purple tour bus that I didn't even hear approaching. I stayed against him in shock – shock at my obliviousness to my surroundings, and shocked that how I'm so close to this stranger.

Shocked at how this felt nice.

When the sound of the bus faded away, he straightened me back on my feet.

“Are you alright?” he asked, concern in his eyes.

I'm yet again looking into his eyes. Darnit.

“I'm fine. Thanks, by the way,” I replied in short bursts.

He smiled a bit shyly, motioning that we continue on. I nodded, and we resumed our climb, the tower we're trying to get to looming over our heads. A breeze passed by, making the more fragile branches of the trees lining the road shudder. The cherry tree that we happened to pass under showered down petals, and right then, the world slowed down.

It was as if I could see every blossom that fell, like watching snow fall in slow motion. I lifted my hand, palms up, and caught a few as I looked up in amazement. I never knew flowers could be this magical.

I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the thought. I wish there was a camera somewhere that recorded all that. I needed proof that things like that can also happen outside of movies.

I turned around and found him looking up at the tree as well, his mouth slightly opened in awe while he smiled. And once again, we locked gazes, both somehow caught up in a movie moment but not wanting to get carried away.

But I'm on a holiday, I thought, and felt a bit of myself let loose. Gingerly, I raised my hand and picked a blossom off of his hair and blew it away. He just stared at me for two more heartbeats before he seemed to remember where he was and shook the flowers off his head.

“Well now I know how my dog feels after I bathe her,” he said, brushing off his jacket. “Wait, you have some on you, too.”

I felt his fingers on my hair, his touch light. The tips of his fingers brushed my ear ever so briefly, and I felt my cheeks heat up right away.

“Thanks,” I said as I stepped a couple of inches away, caught off guard by panic and confusion brought about by the sudden surge of unnamable emotions inside. What is happening?

Quickly, I tried to change the subject as normally as I could. “What's the name of your pet, by the way?”

With a fond smile, he replied, “Choco, the most diva Pomeranian there is.”

__________

First one! :) As usual, my writing comes out whenever writing fanfics should be the least of my priorities. Lol. Anyway, here's the first of hopefully more than 1 story. :))

These are supposedly one-shots, but I'm opening to making them two-shots lol. Or if anybody wants to continue them (in this same story as another chapter), I'd be wiling to add you as co-author. :)

Okay, that's all for now. I really need to go to sleep. Enjoy! And comments are much appreciated as always! :)