"Looking at her for the first time, I thought time had stopped."

He could still remember the day when she had first moved into the house opposite of his own.

When the new family had first moved in, Dohyun was 19 years old and lived a mundane life. Keeping up his average grades, making time for his basketball practices, hanging out with his friends after school - there wasn't anything striking about his life at all. He didn't go out of his way to associate himself with anything that could turn his life into chaos, liking his average lifestyle with just the usual teenage problems.

"Dohyun!"

His mother had called out one morning while he was getting ready to leave the house and meet up with his friends at the basketball court. He only gave a hum as an answer, not looking up as he tied his shoes. A neatly wrapped package was what he saw in front of him a moment later.

"Drop this off for the Jung family, okay?" She wiped her hands on her apron before she absently pointed at the house in front of theirs, "It's a thank you gift."

"Ah... What's it for?"

His curious hands didn't even manage to peek inside the package before they were swatted away by his mother. Her eyes are stern as she waves her index finger in front of him, "Yah, no snooping! That's rude."

"I was just curious," he pouts but doesn't try to pry anymore about what's in the package. He takes the package and by the weight of it, it doesn't seem to be anything too heavy. He looks down to his watch and realizes he'll be late if he doesn't leave soon, "I'll get going then, we're playing basketball! I'll get home before dark~"

"All you do is play basketball," she whispers under her breath, hands on her hips as she glares at her son, "When am I going to meet my future daughter-in-law?"

"I'm leaving," he waves goodbye, a bright smile on his face despite his mother's usual playful questioning about his love life. Though she might seem a little nosy, Dohyun knew she was just looking out for her only precious son. It's not that he didn't want to date - he just hadn't found anyone that interested him. Despite all the thoughtful love confessions he's gotten, he still had yet to find anyone who made his heart beat fast.

Once he was out of the house and out of his mother's sight as the door closed behind him, Dohyun sighed. His eyes looked back and forth between the gift in his hands and their neighbour. He couldn't remember all the people who lived in the house but he was certain it was a small family. Though he had never cared much to remember their faces, perhaps now was a good time to get to know them a little better.

Clearing his throat and fixing his hair, his hand knocked on the door as soon as he was sure he looked presentable.

It took a while but soon he heard the sound of shuffling footsteps followed by the sound of the door unlocking.

"Yes?"

A middle-aged woman, looking around his mother's age answered the door and Dohyun relaxed a little. He flashed the woman a friendly smile and held out the package for her to accept.

"I'm from the house across the street. It's a gift from my mum, a thank you gift."

"Thank you gift?..." Her eyebrows furrowed in deep thinking, retracing the previous days' events before she clapped her hands in realization. "Ah! You must be Sunhee's son that she talked about," her confusion was replaced with a welcoming motherly aura, "She really shouldn't have, it was just a small favour."

She took the package but her eyes were still observing Dohyun. He was intimidated by her close staring which was slowly making the silence more awkward and dragging. 

"You look like my daughter's age!" Her tone had gotten significantly more excited, "How old are you? Do you have a girlfriend? You're handsome and tall too... You should come back in a while and meet her, I'll introduce you two~"

"A-Ah, I turned 19 this year and no, I don't have a girlfriend," his smile still didn't falter, wanting to remain polite. The woman reminded him a lot of his own mother, especially with how she immediately thought of introducing him to her daughter despite this being their first meeting.

"Ah, 19? Perfect, perfect," she smiled even brighter, "Your mother wasn't joking, you really are good looking, aren't you?"

She laughed at her own compliment as Dohyun didn't know how to react. "Well, I shouldn't hold you up any longer. Thank your mother for the gift, she's really too considerate," she pats the package, the cheeky smile still on her face. She mentions yet again about how Dohyun should visit when her daughter was around before they finally part ways.

As Dohyun walks away from the house, phone ringing as his friends were calling about where he was, he couldn't help but chuckle as he wondered if the Jung's daughter resembled her mother's bright personality. Maybe getting to know their daughter wouldn't be such a bad idea.

It wasn't until a couple weeks later did Dohyun finally was able to actually see the Jung's daughter.

It was a rainy weekend with the rain pouring since the early morning that Dohyun was forced to cancel his usual plans to play basketball outdoors with his friends. Sitting at his desk that faced the only window in his room, he decided to draw the curtains and unlock the window to let the cold air in. 

It was there did they lock eyes for the first time.

He had never noticed it before (how, he didn't know) that his window aligned perfectly with one of the windows of the Jung's house. And today, that window was opened and the curtains were pulled back.

As he pushed open the window, the girl was coincidentally near her own window. Time seemed to slow down or stop or pause or something but Dohyun swears, time felt unreal at that exact moment.

Her eyes were looking up to the cloudy sky, turning crescent as a soft smile spread across her lips. Her had was outstretched to feel the droplets of the rain hitting her hand and even as her sleeve turned wet, her hand was still feeling the rain. She seemed to be in her own little world before her mother came in and from the looks of it, Dohyun guessed this wasn't the first time the daughter had let her love for the rain come before her own health.

Mrs Jung noticed Dohyun first and before he could do anything about it, she had held her daughter firmly and turned her around as she pointed to the boy in front of them. She gave him a very enthusiastic wave but all her daughter did was stand there, her stunned expression clear for Dohyun to see.

Dohyun was about to give a wave back but the daughter had let out an unintelligible noise - probably embarrassed to be caught by him - before she hardly closed the curtains and blocked his sight from seeing whatever happened next. 

The last thing Dohyun remembered was her red cheeks, flustered face, and the sound of his fast-beating heart.