Sometimes, when the time and the place are right, when the people and the situation and all the other minute factors that play into a chance occurrence are perfect, a miracle happens. Some might call it a "streak of luck," or, more commonly, "true love." Kyuhyun called it, plainly, "coincidence." That, and, "superstitious," "silly," and "unmistakably stupid."

He couldn't see how love could just happen. Take his mother and father, for example; they'd been married for fourteen years and had spent every minute of it fighting, minus the month it'd taken them to go on their Hawaiian honeymoon, make Kyuhyun, and get back in time for the baby shower. After that, it had been nonstop arguing and, another nine months later, nonstop-but-hushed arguing added to a squalling baby. Love was hopeless.

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Kyuhyun yawned and stretched, glancing at the clock. 5:20pm. Another ten minutes and he could go home. Not that Kyuhyun disliked his part-time job at the bookstore. Not at all. In fact, the location was ideally close to Kyuhyun's apartment, the pay was exceptionally good for such a small job, and the owner, a kindly old woman, rather enjoyed doting over Kyuhyun and giving him delicious treats to take home because he was "skinnier than a pole-dancer's pole." Really, thought Kyuhyun wryly, that old lady sure is something.

He quickly scanned the store and saw that besides a young woman browsing the magazines, the shop was devoid of customers. Dust motes illuminated by the setting sun hung lazily in the air, and they created a soft halo of light around her brown, waist-length hair. She was dressed fashionably and had a pair of sunglasses tucked on top of her head. Her pale skin was smooth and unmarked despite her youth, and she had a pair of wide lips that seemed ready to smile at any moment.

As a freshman in college, Kyuhyun had barely had the time to attend the nine courses he'd crammed into his schedule, work his part-time job at the bookstore, and catch enough sleep to make it through the next day, much less go to parties and attend to his sad, neglected social life. He sighed, but promptly smiled when the pretty woman looked his way. "We'll be closing the store soon. Feel free to take your time; I'm going to take these to the back, okay?"

He picked up a box of second-hand books that were to be repaired and sold for a discounted price and hauled it to the back of the store, pushing the door open with his foot. "How's your math going, Halmoni*?"

The old lady was at her desk as always, calculating costs and revenue. "Very well, thank you."

Leaning over the desk, he commented, "Are you sure? That looks hard!" Kyuhyun grinned and dodged the distracted slap that had come his way.

"Insolent boy!" She frowned, but Kyuhyun had seen the twitch of a telltale smile just moments before. He set the books down next to the desk, pecked Halmoni on the cheek once, and started back toward the main room.

"Kyuhyun," she stopped him, "you can leave if there aren't any more customers out there."

"Just one more, Halmoni, and then I'll be out of your hair, don't worry."

"A girl?" she asked suspiciously.

"Hm, jealous?" Kyuhyun aimed another lazy grin her way and immediately ducked to avoid the pencil that had suddenly flown toward him.

When he returned to the front, the woman was standing at the counter. "Ah. You're done? Here, I'll ring those up for you."

Kyuhyun quickly moved to the cash register and smiled, taking the books from her. She returned the smile and shyly said, "Um, you look familiar. Do you perhaps go to Kyung Hee University?"

"Yeah. I'm a music major there. What about you?" Kyuhyun was surprised. College students rarely visited this bookstore due to its antiquated appearance and distance from the university. The only students that frequented the shop other than him were his friends Zhoumi and Sungmin, and them only to enjoy good eats from the owner and pester Kyuhyun about getting a life.

"I'm in fashion, as you might be able to tell." She humorously pointed to the three fashion magazines and two books on sewing, and Kyuhyun laughed. "I'm Jinri, by the way. Choi Jinri."

"Cho Kyuhyun. Nice to meet you." He handed her her purchases.

She grinned and said cheerfully, "Yeah, I'll see you around?"

"Only if you open your eyes." And she was out the door, laughing and waving to Kyuhyun with her bag of books in hand.

Kyuhyun watched her leave and once again cursed his nonexistent social life. Maybe he really should take up Zhoumi's blind date offers. Another glance at the clock told him it was 5:28.He surveyed the store and, confirming that it was completely empty, moved to flip the 'Open' sign to 'Closed.' But just as he reached the door, it opened violently from the outside and a man rushed in, only to collide with the young college student. They teetered dangerously for a few fractions of a second before ending up sprawled on the floor, with Kyuhyun collapsing painfully on his rear and the man falling with his face dangerously close to Kyuhyun's, one hand on the ground near Kyuhyun's waist and a knee on the other side.

He's big, was the first thought that entered Kyuhyun's shocked mind. The next was, he's handsome. And he was. The man could have been a supermodel, and he was clothed as one, too. A dress shirt that seemed tailored-to-fit snugly hugged the man's well-defined biceps, and Kyuhyun guessed that under the shirt was a set of rock-hard abs, something Kyuhyun did not possess. Add that to my To-Do list, mused Kyuhyun. Gym workout. The man had been holding a suit jacket and a suitcase, both of which were now strewn on the floor. Businessman, it said, and Kyuhyun imagined him to be a pretty successful one at that, as well.

The stranger was still unmoving. Kyuhyun looked up, realizing they had already been in this awkwardly-intimate position for quite a while now. The man was staring at him. Kyuhyun blushed and cleared his throat. "Uh, would you mind getting off me?"

He blinked. "Ah! Of course!" The large man scrambled to his feet and then proceeded to help Kyuhyun off the floor. "I'm sorry about that, I was rushing to get here before closing, and it looks like I got here right in the nick of time." He paused and smiled wryly. "I'm Choi Siwon, by the way."

Choi? "You wouldn't happen to know a Choi Jinri, would you?"

The man furrowed his brow. "No... No, I don't believe so. Why?"

"Oh, no, I was just wondering. Um, did you need something? As you noticed, we're about to close."

"Ah. Actually, I need to speak with the owner of this store. Is she here at the moment?"

Kyuhyun was perplexed. He wondered what this man had to say to the old lady, and for the message to have been urgent enough to dash here at the very last moment was definitely strange. Why couldn't it have waited until tomorrow?

Nevertheless, Kyuhyun said, "Yes, she is. Hold for a moment, please," and hurried to the back room to find the old woman still at her desk. "Halmoni, you have a visitor."

"A visitor? It's not another salesman, is it? Turn them away!"

"His name is Choi Siwon."

At the name, the owner's head popped up, and the look on her face was one Kyuhyun had never seen before; a mix of surprised happiness and pitying affection. "Well, why didn't you say so in the first place? Help me up, boy, where is he?"

Kyuhyun was startled at this sudden change in attitude. "At the front, Halmoni."

They made their way into the next room, and the man was standing, looking around the bookstore as if it were a familiar place remembered with fondness. At the sound of the door swinging shut, he looked over at them and, upon seeing Halmoni, his chiseled face softened into a big grin that lit up his face and seemed to turn him into a young boy.

*Halmoni = Grandma