Dedicated to someone whose beautiful writing far surpasses my own, and is so kind too!

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PLUNK!

Buying a drink from a random campus vending machine, Dan rolled his head back-and-forth, all in attempt to soothe his aching neck, before picking up his water bottle.

It had been a long, hard week for this poor Korean doctoral student, and even before Fall Break started, he felt he needed a good rest from classes.

Anxiously eyeing the dark sinister clouds outside, he turned to retrieve the black umbrella that he had a habit of putting in the side pocket of his black backpack only to remember that he left it in the car...

Just his luck.

Every single time he forgot to bring it, it rained.

Probability he would get wet: a hundred percent.

Rushing out of there like his pants were on fire, he sprinted full-throttle towards the shuttle bus stop, and missed the sliding doors by a landslide.

Dropping his head in shame, he scrunched his eyes and prayed with folded hands to the heavens above to not open forth at least until till he found his way to the general parking garage.

That way, he could wait the downpour out comfortably, or as comfortable as he could be in a windy, damp and most-definitely unventilated garage.

Man, did he wish that he had bought the student parking passes again this year.

No doubt Josh, the GTA whom he shared his office with, would make sure to say, "I told you so", when he called in sick with a cold tomorrow morning.

Snapping out of it, he kept walking forward, and spotted airport girl once again, only this time she was heading out alone on the crosswalk.

It would have been fine, however, one of the vehicles approaching the garage seemed to not be slowing down as it neared the stop sign...

"Wait!", he called out as the airport girl almost got squashed by a car in the middle of the day.

Wrapping his right arm around her, he pulled her off the street, and she inadvertently ended up in his arms, facing him with her gorgeous spearmint eyes.

At that precise moment, the skies chose to burst open, and he immediately got drenched from head-to-toe.

Why do I jinx myself?

Gazing back at her 'savior', Olivia quickly opened her umbrella in few seconds, now sharing its shelter from the storm with Dan as well.

"Thanks," he muttered, inching as far as possible from her so as not to tread on her sandals.

"No problem," she responded back, "It's the least I could do after...you saving my life."

Clicking his tongue, he started, "Do these cockamamie drivers think that red and white means Coca-Cola? It's stop! Not soda! Like seriously why on Earth does the DMV..."

Hearing her giggling, he paused his tirade against bad drivers temporarily and faced her directly.

"What's so funny?", he asked.

Swallowing nervously, she replied, "Thanks for that. You have no idea how much I needed that...I almost thought..."

Piping down, he remarked, "No need for that. I have to thank you for the umbrella though. Think us even from now on because... Otherwise...well, I would be toast," motioning to his mostly-damp clothes.

"Are you headed back to your apartment?", she queried, trying to scrutinize what sort of person this stranger was.

"No, to the graduate student dorms," he answered. Noting her baffled expression, he quipped, "But you can drop me off at the garage nearby. I'll make my way back on my own."

"Oh, I thought you would say for me to walk you back," she clarified after they had reached the garage. It had taken less than a minute, but somehow it felt longer to Dan for some weird reason.

Placing his right arm on the back of his neck, a tick he often did when he was nervous, he explained, "I live quite a few blocks away so there's really no need for that."

"Okay then."

Beginning to turn around and head home, he realized that this was the perfect time to mention their previous coincidental meetings.

Tapping his wristwatch, he declared, "I gave you your bracelet back."

"What?"

"The macramé bracelet? We met before at JFK, then I saw you again at the music festival, then last week I gave it back to you when we bumped into each other again..."

"That was you?", she stated, completely confused that he would remember her.

"Yes."

"Oh... thanks, I guess," she murmured, looking at the ground in embarrassment over losing her mother's bracelet-the very last present she had received from her before...

Letting himself be audacious, he boldly requested that, "Next time we meet, how about I treat you to lunch?"

She pondered over it for a hot minute, and proposed, "How about now?"

"Right now?" Observing her facial features, he noted no telling signs she was messing with him.

Patting her belly, she exclaimed, "I am a little hungry presently."

"Where do you wanna go then?"

Thinking it over, she mused, "Well I wouldn't want to be a bother..."

"Would Heirloom Café work?"

"Deal," she agreed. Covering her mouth before she squealed in excitement, she continued, "Only if I pay my share of the bill."

"But..."

"No buts!", she sang. Skipping gleefully, she made it to the college of music conservatory entrance in a jiffy and gallivanted her way down the stairs.

Peering at her enjoying herself down below, he sighed and conceded to using his weekly dining-out budget on this one outing. Hopefully, his stomach wouldn't regret this choice.

The stark, bright light inside the cafe messed with his sensitive eyes a bit so he glanced around for a quiet spot with minimal lighting where they could sit uninterrupted.

Ordering a Korean Vegetable salad at the checkout, he pointed to the menu above and mouthed if she wanted anything. She told him to pick for her, so he selected the item that least likely to cause allergies.

Diving into her fusion entrée, she scarfed down her lemon polenta cake like there was no tomorrow, leaving Dan yet again at a loss for words.

Pausing from eating the fresh delicacy, she sighed deeply.

"You know I wished the prices would be a little lower, but the food is so scrumptious that it's almost worth it. Although these administrators...do they even know how broke students are?"

Tipping his head to the side, he asked, "Have you ever been here before?"

"Well..." At that, Olivia quieted down, lowering her gaze to the ground.

"Forget that I said anything in any case. How do you find the polenta?", he postulated, hoping that changing the subject would ease her apparent discomfort.

A buzzing started sounding in his ears, making him smack the outside of his ears.

"Oh my, I'm sorry! My alarm went off!", she confessed, jumping out of her seat, and grabbing her coffee satchel purse along with her.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Dan looked up, confused on what she would have to apologize for.

"I'm gonna be late for my appointment," she confessed. "Thanks for the...well, the meal was nice, but it's always good here so...yeah. Thanks."

She rushed off towards the exit doors and in her hurry to make it to the bus stop on time, almost collided with them which made Dan giggle just a bit.

Rubbing the throbbing phantom pain away, she pulled the door open and left.

Unfortunately, leaving Dan with the full bill to pay for.

Aigoo.

Would it be sanitary to eat the rest of her untouched food?

Pushing away his lunch, Dan sighed.

He no longer had an appetite. Not when he got so full watching her eat.

It was not until much later that same afternoon that he spotted her again while towards a Chinese place for dinner.

She was coming out of a counseling and mental health services clinic in apparent high spirits, leaping towards the sky in seemingly great triumph.

He understood.

Dealing with your inner demons was never easy.

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Author's note: So I have a few pics of the dude I 'cast' as Dan Geum, and plan to disperse them among the chapters because I have too many of them. Oh well, here's a gif! I didn't originally imagine Dan with glasses, but I saw this gif and I was like it fits!

Insight into the story: Originally, this chapter was the combination of two of their meetings, but then I realized it melded better together like this, and the scene at the end was kept short so that further development could be made down the line. Just an extra tibit.