Coincidence or Fate?

Somewhere in a tea stall in an alley.

"It looks like it's going to rain, bro."

"It's also very cold today."

The two boys said to their friend, who had locked an innocent girl in an abandoned store room hours ago, all because she made him feel inferior.

"Shut it! It's not like she'll be trapped there all night long. There are people living nearby. She'll be able to come out as soon as she wakes up."

"Even so."

"You didn't need to close the door as well, you know."

"So what? Are you taking that arrogant bitch's side right now?"

"Of course not. It's just-"

They couldn't even complete their sentence when a loud thunder roared. Worries became visible time, in both of their faces as they looked at him silently. Soon, rain started pouring and winds raged as a sudden storm made its appearance.

Inside the warehouse.

Thunder crashed and boomed outside as she grabbed her wet shoulder tightly. The room was filled with rainwater, pouring from the uncountable number of holes on the roof. The place she was sitting at was the only place where only her right hand and right shoulder got wet and the rest of her clothes remained dry. It had already been an hour since the rain started pouring. Her right hand had turned as cold as ice by now. In the beginning she did try to ask for help, but her voice died down by the sound of the rain and thunder. Soon, she realized no help would come her way and stopped trying.

Her eyelids became heavy as if someone was forcing her to close them as her grip loosened on her arm. But right then, her ears perked up as she heard someone's footsteps outside. It looked like they were running, what more, they were approaching towards the warehouse. Soon, the door unlocked and burst open from the outside with a forceful push. The person had a small light in his hand as she looked around the room, clearly searching for something.

"I'm here." She said, expecting it to be one of those idiotic trios. He flinched as he looked behind him, finding the person he was so desperately searching for sitting beside the door. Thunder clashed, their light revealing the boy's face as she flinched in surprise. It wasn't one of those detestable guys but rather the cute guy she had bumped into that day.

He was breathing heavily after running in the rain for a long time, searching for her. When the Welsh brothers told him about what their friend did, he felt emotions that he had never felt before coursing through him. Fear, worry, anger and urgency. He didn't know why he was feeling these things for someone he had only met once in his whole life. It was weird and unreasonable. But he also knew he had to check for himself to make sure she was okay. He still didn't know why, but he knew he just had to. He wished he'd find her safe and sound when he arrived at her home. Even before reaching his destination, the rumors and gossips around the people were enough to inform him that she hadn't returned home yet. The umbrella he was carrying fell from his hand to the ground. Rain water poured down on him as if to inform him of his reality.

The next moment when he came to his senses, he was already running towards where they said she was locked, completely soaked in the rain. The urgency in his footsteps didn't stop even when he came to his senses. Thunder crashed behind him as he ran. And when he finally arrived at his destination, his hands trembled at the thought of finding her scared and crying inside the store room. Something clenched at his heart as he opened the room. But no matter where his eyes wandered, he only saw old furniture's and stuff. When he was finally at his wits end, a voice replied to his plea as if they knew of his trouble.

The girl in question was also visibly startled when she came face to face with him. The beautiful face drenched in rain had a mixture of feelings she couldn't fully comprehend. The ones she could, however, comprehend, were surprise, relief, worry and gratitude?

'What's he grateful for? No wait-did he come all the way here to search for me? That's surprising.'

She tried to stand up but failed ultimately, her legs going numb after sitting in the same position for hours. It was embarrassing and awkward at the same time. She saw a hand in front of her, clearly intending to help her up. When she reached out to it and grabbed the hand, she could feel the hand visibly tremble.

He shuddered when she grabbed his hand. Although his own body was considerably cold after running in the rain like crazy, the hand touching his was dozens of times colder. He thought that maybe even Ice would be less cold. The feeling of anger rose in the back of his head towards the person responsible for her poor condition.

"You can let go now." When she uttered those words, he finally came back to the present as he quickly let go of her hand. This was no time to daydream. They had to get out of here first and foremost.

"Somewhere warm. I'll take you somewhere warm so follow me." He said as he looked around the room searching for something to cover their head. A broken umbrella came into his view at that moment. Soon both of them were under that umbrella, running, trying to escape the rain as quickly as they could.

She looked around, familiar houses and alleys appeared at the corner of her eyes as she ran. At some point, the rain also stopped, failing to halt their journey any longer. After fifteen minutes of running, she could finally see her home. About fifty steps away from her home, the boy beside her suddenly came to an abrupt halt. She titled her head to the side in confusion as she looked at him.

"You can go by yourself now." It was a short reply that left no room for arguments. She wasn't too keen on the idea of going home with a boy either, so she nodded her head.

"Thank you." She expressed her gratitude clearly before she turned and left. He did the same. There was no reason for them to converse any longer.

When she reached home, she gave excuses such as getting lost and being stuck due to the rain as she apologized to the worried members of her family. A few days passed since then and she left the village with her family. Till the day she left, she never met that boy again.

Months passed, new semester started in her University as her day passed just like before. Nothing changed, except the fact that the face of a certain someone came to her mind every full moon or so. Class ended and she came out with her friends as they all went to the nearby snack bar. For some unknown reason, she really wanted a lemon ice pop today. With that between her lips, she came out of the shop as her friends made a fuss behind her inside the shop. A sigh came out unconsciously as she looked back at them.

"So much fuss while choosing a simple snack." She shook her head as she strode forward.

"Noah! Look out!"

An unknown name and an unknown voice. She tried to figure out the source but soon bumped into something. She took a step back from the impact as she rubbed her forehead.

"I'm sorry." She said instinctively as she thought what just happened.

'Did I just bump into that Noah guy? What an odd name-'She tried to look up as she thought, her thoughts coming to an abrupt halt seeing the persons face. It was familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time.

"I see you haven't changed much from the last time." Noah said as a small smile appeared in his lips.

'The cute guy!' She screamed internally as she kept staring at the beautiful masterpiece in front of her.

"Can't say the same about you though." She said as a big smile close to a grin appeared in her lips.

'His smile is so pretty, could totally look at that for all day long!' She praised like a devoted fan internally as she replied to him.

"Huh? Why? I don't think I've changed much though?" He tilted his head to the side as he replied in confusion.

"Dude! I just told you to look out! What if she got hurt?" She realized it was the same voice who called out to him just before they bumped.

"Your friend?" She asked, the answer being quite obvious.

"Something like that." Noah said shrugging his shoulder.

"Huh? What? You guys know each other?" His friend asked, slightly bewildered. They were like best friends who knew each other for many years. It was weird that he still had friends he wasn't aware of.

"Something like that." She said, also shrugging her shoulders. She was still shocked by the absurdity of the whole situation. Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined them meeting like this again. Nevertheless, she was glad they met again. She wanted to get to know him better.

"I'm Lia." She reached out her hand towards him, which he grabbed and shook in response.

"Noah." It was a short introduction Her friends approached her from behind as they were shaking hands. A girl with cute ponytails and a stature similar to her approached them. She was surprised when she saw Lia and Noah together. Noah was, even by normal people's standard, a very beautiful person after all.

"Oh, they are my friends." Lia said as she introduced them to him. A short moment of self-introduction passed and they quickly got to know each other so things quickly became less awkward. They even exchanged numbers since Lia's friends and Noah's friends surprisingly got along well.

Lia also didn't waste the opportunity and exchanged contact information with Noah, promising to stay in touch. When they finally left for their own destination, she was hopping like a rabbit, clearly in a great mood as she thought about becoming friends with Noah. When she was about to turn the door knob, she heard a text notification from her phone. She pulled out her phone and almost dropped it in surprise. It was a text from Noah. She didn't expect him to text her first.

N: Did you get home safely?

L: Yes. I was just about to open the door. How about you?

N: Nick suddenly wanted to have burger and fries so he dragged me along with him.

She could imagine Noah sighing as she read through his text.

L: You guys must be very close. I'm a little jealous.

N: Why?

L: My best friend went overseas to study so I don't have anyone to drag around. L

N: Can I apply for the vacant spot then?

Once again, Lia almost dropped the phone when she read the text. The Noah from real life was quite different from the Noah online. He was speaking more words and also taking the initiative.

"How surprising. It's kinda cute." She smiled as she entered the house. It was empty like usual, both her parents busy with work.

L: You sure? Didn't you just say you were being dragged by Nick?

N: You're not Nick.

L: Then I'll gladly let you occupy that spot.