Her love for BTS was one of the biggest reason why she decided to take a leap of faith and apply for an University in Korea.
The new country takes her life on a Roller Coaster ride. But strangely, a masked man is always there for her when she needs...
You left without him. Calling and texting him every other minute, only to get no response.
*****
You were standing in the Rapunzel's hair length queue of young girls with some fanboys here and there. Their enthusiasm was somehow helping you stay distracted as you started conversing with some of them. Time passed by, the queue started getting shorter as more people were getting entry inside the hall.
You tried your best to stay positive. There must be something. There is a valid reason for him running so late. He will be here. He will be. You kept reassuring yourself as you were understanding that you might just bust into tears any moment.
Yong-joon had all the details and you trusted him so much that you didn't even bothered to ask him about the process or entry or anything. You were as helpless as a fork when only soup is served. All your positive thoughts were drying out at the queue kept getting shorter and shorter and soon enough it wasn't there. With tear filled eyes you saw the door getting shut.
You crossed the road, walked a bit and sat at the bus stop near by. Your mind was just not ready to completely discard the idea of Yong-joon not showing up at all. You wanted to wait. You sat there. Seconds turned into minutes and then into hours. There was no hope left. You pulled out the album from your sling. The little yellow note neatly placed on top of it with a question you were suppose to find the answer by then. You kept staring at for no one knows how long. This wasn't the way you thought things will happen today. All good you expected was crushed under the dearth of gruesome reality which you still didn't want to believe was real.
When you looked up, you saw that the sky was pouring out droplets. Probably it started raining quite sometime ago but your clogged up mind didn't have the stealth to complement or even consider its presence. The streetlight right across the road was blinking out of ill functionality yet made you witness something more painful. People started to leave the fan meet. Smiling, giggling , some pressing their signed albums over their chest. If it would have been some other situation, a better one, then your heart would have been so full to see those happy faces with glittering eyes. Today, you were unmoved. The road which was filled with people, you saw it getting emptier. The rain, the blinking streetlight , a pathetic situation which you never imagined could ever happen even in your wildest nightmare, all of them seemed to be like a match made in hell.
You were lost in the void of shattering thoughts when you noticed that something around you just changed. You turned your face to witness a man sitting at the next seat. Dressed up in a white t-shirt, covered up with a long black jacket. His face was covered by a mask and his head by a black bucket hat, only making his eyes visible which were looking at you. He was holding up an umbrella over your head , keeping you both safe from the splashes of rain.
Until that moment you didn't even notice that you were drenching wet, from head to toe. You looked at yourself for a second and then looked at him. His eyes, his eyes were familiar.
" Store... Tangerines " he utters those two words in his soft yet very deep voice in an attempt to remind you who he was.
Oh yes. You remember. It wasn't even a distant memory. It was just yesterday when you met him and his brother at the store. You squinted your eyes, trying hard to swipe off your thought and reply something but he turned around his face towards the road to help you avoid making a conversation. He just sat there without any words until you could finally drag out yourself from the pathetic situation and get hold of normalcy. It was like an absolute stranger knew what exactly you felt.
You weren't observant but you were sure he sat by your side for quite long. May be several minutes , may be half an hour or probably more. Somehow, his presence comforted you.
When you finally tuned to him to say that you were okay, his eyes somehow told you that he already knows what you were about to say. His eyes squint a little and you could figure out, even with his veil of a mask that he smiled. Without any words spoken, he got up and closed his umbrella.
It had stopped raining by then. He simply crossed the street and walked towards a black Hyundai which has been there, waiting from him all throughout this time. He waved a good bye before getting in. You waved back.
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As the car left and you booked a cab to return back to your dorm you weren't sure which feeling you were taking back with you,
The generousness of a stranger or disappointment from a friend.
