“Oh crap.”

Those were the only words that managed to escape Myungsoo’s lips before he pressed them together to form a thin line. The strobe lights had stopped their frenzied whirling, and the mass of bodies below him in the audience started to scatter frantically, wanting to escape the underground club before the police arrived. As the instruments he and his band mates were playing silenced abruptly, he could hear the rapidly-approaching wails of the police sirens. Letting out a hiss, his brain churned to think of a solution. He was planning on crashing for the night with Sungyeol, who lived right by the club, but now, he wouldn’t have enough time to recollect with the guys.

He carefully detached himself from his precious (his guitar), and sprinted off the stage. He knew his buddies could manage themselves, so he dashed up the back stairs, bursting into the night and the light shower of April rain. The swirling red and blue lights of the police were getting closer to the front, and seeing this, he grabbed his phone to send them all a heads-up text.

When that was done, he swung his guitar case onto his back, trying to keep it dry, and strolled through the park towards the bus stop that he frequented. But he was completely unprepared for what waited for him there.

He had read in some chick magazine (he only read it because he and the guys were featured as the hottest band in the city on the cover) that it only took sixty seconds to find love, and every second seemed to last forever when one was in the company of that person. He had scoffed, never one for romantic crap. Girls were only useful for giving him his pay- by buying concert tickets.

But in sixty seconds, love found Kim Myungsoo.

***

1...

He'd never seen a girl like her before, a girl whose beautiful smile lit up everything in his vision.

2...

One of her hands was outstretched to feel the droplets of the cool April drizzle, and the other was holding a sunflower-yellow umbrella that cast her entire face into an ethereal glow. She turned around to face him.

Pitter patter. The liquid, glowing from the dream-like lighting, hit the umbrella like Sungyeol’s drumsticks hit his overpriced drum kit.

3...

When she smiled at him with that ridiculously gorgeous eye smile, he was caught. Time stopped, as clichéd as it seemed. His breath hitched in his throat, his heart stopped- then resumed at double the speed.

Thump. Thump.

Thumpthumpthumpthump.

30...

He held her gaze, before she dipped her head politely. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her, and ignored the sprinkle of raindrops starting to soak his shoulders. She seemed to notice that, and silently, held out her umbrella.

He watched the tentative motion wonderingly.

35…

He cautiously stepped under the pretty umbrella, looking at the way the lights from the streetlamps spilled over the edges like washes of watercolour. He couldn't look at her, because he felt way too nervous than he should've.

Be still, my beating heart, he thought frantically. Lest you betray me and she hears. The lyrics from the song Woohyun-hyung wrote fit his situation perfectly.

55…

They stood in silence, until she opened her lips to say something. He had noticed the miniscule movement instantly, for he was concentrating every fibre in his body on her from his peripheral vision. She turned around to face him, and he started to feel light-headed.

She's just so perfect.

57…

Her soft pink lips curled into another stunning smile, and she said his name, asking if he was in he was part of the district's representative musical band.

“Umm… excuse me for asking, but… okay, this may sound weird.”

She was so flustered, it was cute.

“Are you Kim Myungsoo from Daekyung’s band Infinite?”

59...

She introduced herself as a fan, saying she wanted to learn guitar as well, with a gentle laugh.

“I’m Kana. I’m so jealous you can play like that,” she admitted, and he offered to teach her.

“That’d be great!”  She giggled as if she was going along with a joke. To others, it might seem like one, but he was perfectly serious.

60…

The way the lights cascaded over her silhouette, the way her lips curved irresistibly, the way she made sure he wasn't getting wet from the rain- Kana had officially captured his heart in sixty seconds.

Myungsoo decided what he was feeling must be a crush. He’d never felt anything relatively similar to like or love before, but his hyungs described it like what he was feeling now. This must be karma, he thought with a bittersweet taste. Karma for ignoring so many girls. But it was hardly his fault for not being able to truly like any of them. After all, he’d rather break their heart before anything started, rather than stay with them without any real infatuation and break them into tinier pieces later.

They waited for the bus in comfortable silence, occasional making small talk. Myungsoo’s mind wandered, wondering what he would do that night. His sister didn’t go to daycare that day; she was staying with their grandparents for two nights. Momentarily distracted, his heart winced. I miss her. The girl beside him just patted his back when she noticed his inner turmoil- then drew back, wondering if he felt uncomfortable. Kim Myungsoo was not known to be the nicest guy.

But he didn’t even flinch, and let out a sigh instead.

The bus finally arrived, and they both got on. They sat beside each other, several inches left in between his ripped jean-clad legs and hers, covered with grey stockings under a white skirt. He nodded off eventually, as there was quite a distance to his house. He felt his head meet her shoulder softly, and he felt cool fingers pat his hair awkwardly.

When he woke up, the seat beside him was cold, and he was one stop away from where he got off. In place of Kana, the sunflower-yellow umbrella they had shared sat beside him innocently. There was a small piece of paper under the Velcro-held strap, and he plucked it out while getting up.

You can keep the umbrella- I heard the rain would get worse later on, and I don’t live far from my stop anyways! Don’t get sick, and keep playing your guitar with Infinite!

                                                                 -Kana ^^

P.S. If you don’t yellow umbrellas, I’m sorry. :P

He smiled wistfully. He didn’t even get her contact details. Looks like his first crush was short-lived.

After that encounter, he was distracted during all his classes and performances. His friends noticed, asking what was wrong, but he didn’t want to confide to them just yet.

A week of moping later, he went to pick up his little sister from her daycare, a short distance from their underground practice room. He hurried over, wanting to make a proper dinner for her- unlike the instant noodles their parents always left. When he got there, he was just in time for the kids to go home, and his eyes darted over the crowd. He saw his sister holding the hand of one of the volunteers-

Oh.

The helper smiling gently at his sister was the girl from the bus stop.

He stayed in his position, forgetting how to move. His sister saw him, eyes lighting up.

“Oppa!” she cried, running over to hug his legs. He unfroze, bending over to pick her up. She kissed his cheek and giggled, and he couldn’t help but smile. “Look oppa, isn’t that unnie pretty?”

He looked up, and saw his sister’s finger pointing at that girl with the yellow umbrella. She made her way over, waving farewell to some of the children. “Hi,” she greeted with a vibrant eye smile. Then her eyes widened, pleasantly surprised. “Kim Myungsoo?”

He just nodded, a smile stretching over his face. Kana laughed, exclaiming how much of a coincidence this was. She explained she volunteered here, because her grandma founded the place. And with a small bow, she said goodbye and left as suddenly as she did on the bus.

But this time, he knew where to find her.

***

When Myungsoo thought back to the article one day, many, many days later, he couldn’t help but chuckle at how accurate it was. Because it only took him sixty seconds to fall for her.