Semester break was always a time you spent with your loved ones, going on a road trip or a pre-planned vacation. Not this year though. You had plans made for the holiday but you gave up on all of your plans to be able to spend some time just resting. You are never alone which sometimes feels a little suffocating. You felt like you needed some alone time. It was kind of a preparation for what's to come too.

 

Not to your surprise, during most of your holiday, it was rainy, which usually is the case for the city you live in.

 

You spent most of your break painting at home. You love to paint but you hardly find time to do it because of your heavy curriculum.

Your break is over in a few days so when you wake up that day and see that the weather is quite nice outside you feel really happy. There is a new exhibition in an art gallery that you were hoping to see and looks like today is the perfect day for it.

 

You check your phone to see if there are any new messages and you see that there is one from your boyfriend, Jackson.

Jackson : "Hey, sorry I couldn't call you. I keep forgetting that I am in a different time zone so it was too late there when I realized. Love you, babe. I'll be back in a few days."

You sigh while you read the message. You were putting it off because you don't want to hurt him but you know that you'll have to break up with him when he gets back from his vacation with his family. He is your childhood friend, you spent most of your lives together, first as friends and then as lovers. But lately, you've realized even though you love him and care about him, you always saw him as your best friend more than a lover and you have to tell him that. His presence was a part of your everyday life, so when he wanted to move the relationship further, it felt like the natural course of things since he was a big part of your life and it was too late when you realized that your love for him was not the right kind. Yet you stayed with him, not really knowing why.

 

You go to the kitchen to prepare yourself a cup of coffee and some stuff to eat while you still think about what you are going to say to him.

 

After you have your breakfast, you take a quick shower and get ready to go outside. You keep your clothes and makeup simple. Grey ripped jeans and a black sweater that leaves your shoulders open and your favorite black booties that are so comfortable to walk around even though they have heels.

You put on a thin coat and leave the house to go to the city.

 

You leave your car in the parking lot near your favorite cafe, thinking you'll walk back here and hang out for a while before going home.

The art gallery is about 15 minutes away but since the weather is nice and the sun is shining it is an enjoyable walk.

You walk with your earphones on, listening to music. You look to your phone screen to pick another song and you accidentally bump into someone.

 

The man you bumped into drops his phone to the ground. You take your earphones off and you pick the phone up while saying "I'm so sorry."

Luckily his expensive-looking phone is not damaged. You look at the man in front of you while you give his phone back to him. He is wearing a cap which he lowered down almost all the way to his eyes. He says "It's okay." with an accent and the most beautiful smile you've ever seen.

You smile back to him saying you are sorry again and you continue to walk. But he stops you.

 

He says "Hey, excuse me. Do you know where this art gallery is? The navigation app shows it in the wrong place I think." He has a thick but understandable accent.

You look at the phone screen he shows you and you see the name of the art gallery that you are planning to visit that day. He is right though, navigation shows its location as where you are standing at the moment which is not accurate.

 

Y/N : "Yeah. It is actually 10 minutes away from here let me show you."

You show the actual location of it on the app. "You need to use the underground passage ahead to get there. Then follow this road"- you follow the way on the map with your finger to show it, you pause because you feel his eyes on you and you realize that the side of your hand was caressing his fingers while you were moving your finger on the screen. His gaze makes you blush and you have no idea why; you don't even know him. Although he looks familiar somehow.

You clear your throat trying to avoid the awkwardness.

 

He says," It looks complicated, I am terrible when it comes to directions. I hope I can find it."

You don't offer to help him get there even though that's where you plan on going as well, but you need to stop by somewhere else before going to the art gallery.

Y/N : "Just follow the road I showed you after you cross the underground passage and you should be fine."

He smiles and thanks you with a nod and then starts to walk towards the direction you showed.

 

You stand there, watching his tall and built silhouette recede into the distance, thinking that you should have mentioned that you were going there also because now if you run into him again he may think you followed him or something.

Just as you are about to go to your own way, you realize from afar that he is about to walk into the underground passage ahead but you forgot to say to him that he needs to use the second one he sees, since the first one is not used anymore because it is a spot inhabited by mostly junkies and other sorts of unreliable folk who tend to rob people, especially tourists to have some money for drugs.

 

You sprint after him to prevent him from going down there. He is already a few steps in. You call out to him saying "Hey!" since you don't know his name but he doesn't hear you because of the music playing in his ears. You catch up to him when he is halfway down the stairs.

You grab his arm to stop him. He turns to you with a surprised look on his face. He takes off his earphones and ask you, "Are you okay?"

You are out of breath from running, you try to reply within each breath. "Don't....go....down...there"

 

He looks down the stairs with a confused look on his face. You realize that you are still holding his upper arm which you can feel its strong muscles despite your current condition. You let go of his arm but this time he grabs your wrist and starts leading you up the stairs and you notice two extremely shady looking men standing at the bottom of the stairs and staring at you.

 

He quickly takes you to a safe distance still holding your wrist and then stops to let you catch your breath.

As you try to pull yourself together, his grab on your wrist shifts to a little higher position on your arm to support you and you hold onto his arm too. He takes out a bottle of water from his bag for you. You let go of his arm, taking the water bottle and nodding to thank him.

You say with a chuckle before drinking the water, "Seems like I am out of shape"

His gaze shifts to your body, he says with a little smirk on his face "I think not" making you almost choke.

He seems to be amused by your reaction to his comment.

 

He looks toward the underground passage revealing his side profile to you. You can't seem to shake off the idea that you've seen him before because even with his cap on, that distinguishable jawline, his plump unique lips and the y smirk he was just doing a minute ago keeps poking your memory but you just can't figure it out so you decide to let it go.

As you give him the water bottle, you quickly explain your mistake. His smile gets more friendly and warmer as he listens to you "I am really sorry, you might've gotten into trouble because of me."

He shakes his head: "No, no... Don't think about that. You could've just not cared and gone on your way but you came after me."

Y/N : "Well...About that...I was going to mention it but I thought it'd be weird." You take the brochure of the exhibition from your coat's pocket and show him. "My way is actually the same with yours." You give him a shy smile.

 

He laughs and makes you wonder how can a man with such y looks has such a cute laugh.

He asks, "If you are going there too would you mind if I tag along?"

You pause a minute before you answer, "Sure, no problem but I need to stop by somewhere else first. Is that okay with you?"

Him : "Yeah, it is okay I have plenty of time on my hands anyway."

 

You gesture the way with your hand and you walk towards a narrow street. It is a part of the town that has old restored buildings with really impressive architecture. He stops in front of a rather small and more weathered-looking building that hasn't been renovated yet. He seems to be paying attention to the floral reliefs that cover the facade. He takes a few photos while you look around to the surrounding buildings. You turn your head to him and you see his phone's camera is directed towards you. He points out the building behind you. You go and stand next to him while saying you can take his photo with the building if he wants. He adjusts his posture and poses so naturally. You want to ask him if he is a model but you realize you don't even know his name yet. You take several photos which you wish that were taken by your phone so you could look at them later in your own time.

 

You take him to a little shop where you always get your painting supplies from. You walk through the narrow shelves looking for a specific type of brush while he is walking around. You don't notice him standing behind you, looking over your shoulder and you feel a sudden shock through your body when you hear his voice really close to your ear saying, "Are you looking for...." but his sentence gets interrupted by you suddenly turning your head over your shoulder and because that he was leaning forward to see the brushes better, you find his face only a few inches away from yours. You both freeze because of this unexpected closeness. His eyes are still hooded with his cap so you instinctively look at his lips. Those few short seconds that felt like forever comes to an end when the owner lady comes over saying, "Y/N, I was able to find the brand you are looking for in the storage. Are these the ones you want to use?" She shows a few different types of brushes on her hand.

You say, "Yeah, those will do the job. Thanks." You follow her to the register, your heart still beats a little fast because of the moment you had with your perfect stranger.

 

Shop owner Angie points out to him with her head saying, "Is he your new boyfriend? He is a lot more attractive than the other one I might say." She giggles.

You answer quickly, "No Angie, he is not my boyfriend. I am still with..." you pause because your heart doesn't let you say that you are still with Jackson.

You hand her the money and you go outside where he is waiting for you with his hands in his pockets. You can't read his face but his posture seems a little tense. You pretend to be oblivious to what happened back there, pretending that you didn't think about kissing him in that instance.

 

You hold up the small shopping bag saying, "I am done. We can go to the exhibition now."

He nods smiling and starts to walk towards the direction you came from. You touch his shoulder to stop him and say with a smile, "We don't have to walk back where we came from. I know a short cut, come on."

He says with a smirk, "Short cut? That sounds dangerous."

You laugh and say, "It would be if we were in a movie but I feel like you'll actually love it."

He is still smirking while he says, "Okay, lead the way and I'll follow."

The way he speaks... You wonder if he does it intentionally or not.

You took him through another narrow street with more restored buildings. You want him to see these buildings too since he looked very interested in the previous ones. There is a row of restored buildings on one side of the street and a park on the other side. The buildings all have a unique design : A miniature replica of the house on one side of the wall with the purpose of being a birdhouse. Each house has its own miniature replica with explicit details on them which you've always found so cute.

Watching him excitingly take photos you can't help but smile. You've only known him for 2 hours or so, you don't even know his name yet. However, everything about him intrigues you more by the minute. You even thought about kissing him back in the shop. This is really not like you at all. He is undeniably attractive that is for sure. You just never thought you were this easy. His presence gives you a thrill, something that you haven't felt in a very long time. "But he is a stranger," you say to yourself, "and you still have a boyfriend. "

You walk in silence for a while. You are lost in your thoughts and he just watches you while your eyes wander without paying attention.

 

He decides to break the silence and says, "So...Your name is Y/N."

You are surprised hearing your name from him: "What? How do you know that?"

He laughs and says, "The lady in the shop called you by your name don't you remember?"

You were just in the middle of thinking about how familiar he looks again so his question surprised you and now you are feeling embarrassed because of your sudden and a little harsh reaction.

When you don't reply to him; he says, "Does it bother you? Me knowing your name?"

You say, "No, of course not. But it is not fair that you know mine but I don't know yours."

He stops with a huge smile on his face and he says, "Okay, let’s do this properly." He reaches his hand to you. "Hello. My name is Jongin."

You reach your hand to meet his. His hands are soft and warm and you feel like your hand fits perfectly into his.

You say laughing "Hi. I am Y/N. Nice to meet you."

Jongin says "Pleasure to meet you Y/N" while he is still holding your hand. He emphasizes the word 'pleasure' and again you are not sure whether it was intentional or a result of his accent.

You pull your hand back a little unwillingly and continue walking.

 

You ask him a little hesitantly, not wanting to offend him if you are wrong. "Your name sounds Korean. Are you?"

J : "Yes, I am. Have you ever been to Korea?"

Y/N : "No, I haven't. I had a few Korean friends who were exchange students at my university. One of their names was Jongdae so I thought it sounded similar. Also, I took Korean classes during my first year."

J : "Why did you choose Korean?"

Y/N : "Well... My cousin wanted to learn Korean and she wanted me to sign up too so we could have a class together. She is really into Korean culture."

His asks with a low voice like he is afraid to hear the answer. "Is she going to be at the exhibition too?"

Y/N : "No. Everyone is out of town right now for the holiday."

Jongin seems relieved. He asks you, "Why didn't you go somewhere for the holiday?"

"I was going to, but then I changed my mind." You say, remembering how you bailed on Jackson and his family last minute because you couldn't look him in the eye without feeling guilty anymore.

He looks at you with a curious face like he wants to ask you something but he doesn't. Instead, he says, "Lucky me."

You push the thoughts that cloud your mind and smile at him. For the rest of the walk you inform him a little about the city, and the places he can visit. And he tests you on how much Korean you can speak or remember.

 

When you arrive at the art gallery he insists on buying your entrance ticket for the exhibition despite your objections. To your liking, there are not many people inside. You walk towards the first painting on the wall. Both of you look at the painting, appreciating it for a while.

He is standing a few steps back so you don't realize that he took his cap off until he moves on to the next painting. You look at his face, seeing it fully for the first time. With the way the light in the gallery falls on him, he looks like he is beyond human, his features are mesmerizing and alluring. The sudden flashback down the memory lane makes you gasp. Now you know why you felt like you've seen him before since the moment you met him. It is because you did see him before. You know who he is.

 

********* 3 Years Ago *********

 

You are lying on your cousin Jessi's bed and texting with Jackson while she watches a Korean drama. You are not interested in the whole kpop or kdrama world like Jessi is, so you don't pay attention to the screen. She starts screaming, "Oh my God! Oh my God!" You are curious to see what the hell that is all about, so you turn your head to the screen. It is a scene that shows an incredibly handsome man, shirtless and apparently about to take a shower. He has incredibly beautiful yet y facial features that go well with the rest of his perfect proportions. While watching his shower scene, you find yourself thinking that he must be one of the hottest men you've ever seen. Jessi is freaking out about the scene, taking photos of the scene with her phone and sending it to her friends. For the first time, you can relate to her reaction. Even you feel like the room is suddenly way hotter than it was before. After the scene is over you turn your head back to your phone and continue what you are doing.

Ten minutes later Jessi throws you a piece of candy wrap to get your attention. She says, "Isn't he like the most amazing thing you've ever seen?" Pointing at the screen. It is the same man again, this time with his clothes on, in a restaurant scene.

You say, "Yeah, he is really hot. Is he even real?" while watching him walking into the restaurant's kitchen with a smirk and showing a piece of paper to one of the other actors in a chef uniform. Jessi says in excitement, "I know, right? He is still a rookie in the drama world, yet he is such a good actor too. He will probably sweep all the awards this year."

You ask, "What's his name?"

Jessi, "Kim Jong In."

 

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