He mesmerized her.

She wasn’t sure if it was his handsome high cheekbones or his healthy-tanned-complexion that caught her interest. She watched him carefully as he fluidly swayed to the music and realization hit her. It was his graceful yet sharp movements that had fully captured her attention. His fierce stare through his sweated brows was making her held her breath.  

He ended his performance with a dramatic modified pirouette and bowed to the clapping audience in front of him. She released the breath she had involuntarily held and applauded alongside the others. Her eyes followed him as he slowly got down from the stage. Although dressed in only old faded brown colored shirt and a pair in ripped blue jeans, he was still very attractive. When he entered the back stage, she snapped out of her trance and shook her head fervently.

She knew she shouldn’t be attracted to him.

She leaned to her sofa and sighed. It wasn’t the first time she went to the coffee shop to watch his performance. She had visited the place last weekend and the weekend before it as well—heck, she had visited it in every weekend for the whole month. She looked around and reminded herself that she wasn’t supposed to be there. She could already picture the disgusted look her mother would throw at her if the older woman ever saw her inside such an aged and almost broken down place.

The coffee shop was old but it was artistically decorated. The place was filled with antique furniture and pastel colored adornment that she loved so much. Her mother had taught her to be artsy and classy: antiques are the definition of those adjectives for her. Her mother, in the other hand, defined art and class as expensive crystals and gold ornaments which were—unfortunately—nowhere to be found in the shop.

She found the place by chance; she was strolling at the street since she was jaded with luxurious mall she usually visited for her shopping spree. The old-styled door stood up from the modern looking shops in it surrounding that it caught her eyes. At first, she was quite afraid of the new place since she had always gone to high end stores before. However, the warm atmosphere in the coffee shop eventually made her relaxed. It also helped that the shop always had live performances. Being a huge fan of art she was, she was quickly enraptured by the performances the shop provided. That was how she started to watch his dances.

She had always been a fan of dance but he was extraordinary. She acknowledged that his steps were beautifully fluid yet powerful, but there was something else about his moves that took her attention. Perhaps, it was his passion overflowing in his dance and in his fierce piercing eyes.

Or maybe, she was simply attracted to him.

She shook her head again.

No, she chanted in her mind, it is definitely his passion in dancing that piqued me.

It was getting late so she decided to pay her bill at the cashier. The old man smiled at her gently as he handed her the change.

“Thank you for being our regular. Please come again next time.”

So, she was considered a regular, eh? She smiled bitterly and headed to the exit door. She shouldn’t be; she better stopped this habit of her soon. However, her step was halted as she saw that it was raining cat and dog outside the glass door. She brought an umbrella but she had cleverly left it inside of her sport car which was parked at her usual mall for security reason. Now she had to run through the pouring rain to reach her car. Damn.

She glanced at her elegant platinum plated wrist watch and cursed again. She had to be at home in less than half an hour for the family dinner, yet it seemed that the rain wasn’t going to end soon. Therefore, she decided to run through it since with or without umbrella she would still be drenched.

Her hand had already reached the handle when a darker hand stopped her. She looked at the owner of the hand and felt her heart skipped a beat.

It was the tanned dancer.

She gave him a questioning look since he didn’t say anything to her while still holding her hand. He seemed to wake up from some sort of trance as he quickly removed his hand and clear his throat.

“Here,” he handed her a big black umbrella with his other hand, ”please use it.”

His voice was exactly like how she imagined it: deep, warm, and soothing--reminding her of the melted chocolate that she often order from the shop.

Since she was still dumbfounded and not accepting the umbrella, he continued, ”It might not help much  in this kind of rain but it is still better than nothing.” He smiled sheepishly afterwards.

She nodded and accepted the umbrella. “Thank you,” she whispered softly and returned the smile. She opened the door and heard his deep voice again behind her.

“I’m Kim Jongin, by the way.”

She looked back and nodded; a polite smile was plastered on her face.

“I’m Seo Joohyun. Nice to meet you.”

As she had predicted, she arrived at her car soaked to her bone since the umbrella didn’t give much protection. She shivered as the freezing air from the air conditioner hit her wet body. However, a foolish grin was formed on her pretty face despite her utmost effort to hide it.

Now she had a reason to comeback next week.