The third encounter happened on a rainy day in which Sooji was stranded undercover of the chemistry building. Sooji wasn’t usually one to leave her umbrella at home but due to chemistry labs, she had changed bags and forgot to place her umbrella in the new bag. The rain didn’t look like it was letting up anytime soon and Mihye was stuck in the same three hour lab class in another group while Sooji’s group had finished their experiment unexpectedly quickly.

Sooji considered whether she should just run through the rain to the bus stop to take it to a train station or wait for Mihye to finish her lab so they could go home together but the wait would be over an hour. She overturned the decisions she could take right now while staring desolately out at the rain falling down. She really needed to get home to cook dinner that night and the earlier she could get home, the sooner dinner would be. With that thought in mind, she pulled her jacket closer towards her body and was about to rush through the rain until she heard her name being called out.

Her head whipped towards the voice and sees Jungkook and Taehyung under an umbrella. It was Taehyung who called her and he waved to her enthusiastically. They walked briskly to her to take cover under the awning. Jungkook shook out his umbrella while Taehyung explained that they just finished their physics lab and was heading home. Jungkook was dropping Taehyung at the bus stop since it is was easier for him to get home that way while Jungkook needed to walk to the train station.

“Are you waiting for someone?” Jungkook asked Sooji while he tried to see if she had an umbrella.

“No. Mihye is stuck in lab but I need to get home,” she said, still looking out at the rain.

“Did you not bring an umbrella? You don’t look like the type to forget,” Jungkook commented while Taehyung watched the interaction and nodded in agreement. Sooji wrung her hands and explained the situation of changing bags for labs. It was then that Taehyung conceived a brilliant idea.

“Why don’t you share an umbrella with Jungkook then? I’m sure he won’t mind,”

“What about you then?” Sooji asked in concern to which Taehyung laughed and pulled out his own umbrella from his bag. When Jungkook sees the umbrella, he uses his own to flick water on Taehyung.

“I thought you forgot yours, ,”

Taehyung dodged while continued to laugh. He quickly opened his own umbrella and ventured into the rain. “Have fun, you two. I still got a bus to catch. I’ll see you soon, Sooji and I’ll see you tomorrow at 9 for the physics lecture,” he said while pointing at Jungkook and gave a wave. Sooji belatedly waved back while the two under the awning watched as the male made his way to the bus stop.

“Taehyung is so unpredictable,” Sooji broke the silence. “Just so you know, you don’t need to share your umbrella with me. I’m just gonna run to the bus stop,” she pulled her jacket closer towards herself and was readying herself but Jungkook grabbed her hood before she made it passed the awning cover.

“Not so fast. Do you not see the rain? It’s literally pouring. You’ll be soaked in 2 seconds flat. I’ll walk you to the bus stop if you don’t want to walk all the way to the train station,”

“How do you know I need to take a train? For all you know, I could take the bus to and from uni,” she asked, intrigued. She watched him carefully and was disappointed when he answered casually and didn’t even flinch.

“I see you walking from the train station in the morning sometimes,”

“Ohh. I see. Well, I’d love to stay and chat but I got to go. You really don’t need to walk me to the train station,” she said and backing away from him but realised he still had a hold on her hoodie. “Can you please let go?”

Jungkook ignored her and opened his umbrella. He pulled her towards his side by wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Feeling shocked was an understatement for Sooji. How can someone just casually do that to anyone, a stranger no less? The thoughts in her mind felt like they all froze and by the time she had some coherent thoughts, she was already under his umbrella and in the rain. She looked back to the chemistry building and found it to be a hundred metres away already. Too late to run back to the shelter without looking ridiculous.

“Yyou don’t need to … hold me,” she stuttered and found it especially hard to say ‘hold’, “I can walk by myself,”

“I’m just making sure you’re not getting wet. This umbrella is a bit small for 2 people. Would you rather have my jacket to cover you?” she looked at his jacket and saw that he was wearing a thin t-shirt which would be freezing in this weather. She decided that she would rather deal with this short embarrassment than hear him complaining about being cold and catching a cold or fever. She isn’t that cruel.

“Nevermind. At least let me hold the umbrella. It’s the least I can do,” she said while feeling rather guilty that he was being so nice.

“Let the shorter one hold the umbrella. Sure. Because the taller one can walk with a slouch,” he and she immediately wanted to take back what she thought about him being nice.

“Your sarcasm isn’t needed. I just wanted to help,”

“A little sarcasm never hurt anyone. I know you want to help but it would be more comfortable if we do things like this,” he reassured her, “And anyway, I like this arrangement. I’ve got nothing to complain about,” he grinned widely at her. She felt her heart pick up speed. All she could think was that his smile is really disarming of her defences and spending too much time with him is seriously not good for heart. The sudden changes of heartrate is going to strain something. Like maybe her mentality.

“You’re only saying that because you’re taking full advantage of the unfortunate weather. I could imagine you doing this with other girls,” she retorted while looking away so that he could not see her blush.

“The rainy weather isn’t unfortunate if you’re in my arms like this. Why would I do this with other girls when I have you?” she feels her face heat up even more.

“Are you always so cheesy? You’ve got to turn down the aggressive flirting or better yet, stop flirting altogether. People will misunderstand,” she said.

“I’m hoping for it. Can’t have other guys chasing the girl I like. Gotta mark my territory. You know what I mean?” he said, leaning his head towards her. “And in case you missed it. I said I like you,” he whispered into her ears. Her cheeks are definitely flaming now and she was pretty sure that her ears are red too.

“I’m not land or a tree and nor are you a dog,” she tried to push him further away so she could breathe a bit better but he doesn’t budge. Her eyes fixed upon his face.

“I’ll gladly be your dog. I’ll do everything you say whether you say fetch, sit or bark. I’ll be your life companion, your guard and your best friend. Just walk with me, make me food and a home in your arms,” he said this rather seriously but it was followed by a “Woof!” which was full of teasing that she could see in his smile but his eyes showed none of the teasing. It was so full of earnestness and sincerity that she was taken aback speechless by his emotions. The rest of the walk was spent in silence while she thought over his words.

The walk to the train station was approximately 15 minutes and it was the longest 15 minutes of her life. Her heart pounded in her ears the entire time. She could slightly feel his warmth permeating through her clothes for every part they were in contact. She could feel her cheeks heating up involuntarily every single time he looked at her because he would lean even closer to her face that she could feel his soft breath on her cheeks. She could smell the slight scent of spearmint gum which reminded her of her father who often chewed on gum.

She was so glad when she could see the train station. When they reached the shelter of the train station, Sooji jumped away from his embrace and she felt a pang of guilt when a sliver of hurt passed over his face. She tried to brush it away but she felt that his expression will haunt her in her dreams that night.

He looked away and shook the water off his umbrella while she waited anxiously for him. She felt it was most definitely rude of her to leave him after he shared his umbrella with her. It was then that she remembered something and quickly tried to find her wallet. She pulled out a five dollar note and handed it to him.

“For the coffee last time. I forgot to pay you as I was rushing towards class,”

“You don’t need to pay me back. I wanted to get it,” he replied, looking at the money in her hands. “Don’t you have a train to catch?” he diverted the conversation but she was having none of that.

“I won’t take no for an answer. I won’t be able to sleep easy knowing I owe you,” she ed the money into his hands but he refused to take it.

“Maybe you losing sleep over me will give you an idea of how I felt during all those sleepless nights,” he finally looks her in the eyes and said, “I meant every word I said to you today. I’m not asking for an answer yet. I will move your heart and when that happens, let me know,”

“How can you be so confident that I’ll fall for you?” she asked in curiosity.

“Because despite your cold attitude, I can see your walls weakening. I’m going to attack every crack until you let me in,”

“Why me?”

“I’ll answer that when you’re completely mine. For now, I’ll let you mull over it,” he turned around and headed to his platform but not before saying, “Keep the money. I’ll see you soon, Sooji,” with a wave and a smile. She watched him disappear down the stairs to his platform while in her mind, she dissected every conversation and word exchanged between them. And she would continue to do so for the next couple of months. Her only conclusion was that Jungkook was an enigma, a class all on his own. A puzzle that she could not solve even with all the hints laid out in front of her.

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Sorry that this chapter was uploaded so late. The internet at home has been dodgy and I had to watch the MAMA awards using my own data. I hope you'll enjoy the third part of the Encounters story and this is the longest chapter so far for it. I'll try to make up another 2 chapters but it probably won't happen since my internship is approaching and I'll start to get very busy. I'll try to update at least once a week with an exerpt of approximately 1000 words. Please anticipate for future chapters and leave a comment of encouragement or criticism. Sorry for the long A/N. 
Short question: What's your favourite performance of the 2016 MAMA awards?