Serendipity ( Kim Taehyung)

Chapter 4

She takes her own sweet time since there is literally nobody else at the corner of the floor where the two vending machines are placed. Through the edge of her peripheral vision, she sees a figure—a tall man dressed in all black with a hoodie-- approaching the other vending machine beside hers. Pulling her focus back on the drinks, she quickly gets back on track on deciding which coffee she wants.

"Shit", the man beside her cursed when he clumsily dropped his phone, and it slides towards her. "Oh shi-shitt shittt!"

Haru quickly picks his phone and turns to the man and when she is about to speak, the guy accidentally dropped his cards and it scattered all over the floor.

"Oh shit", he cursed again. "What on earth"

Haru watches as he quickly gathers his cards while she contemplates if she should give him a hand. But observing the situation, it is better if she stays put and let him collect all his cards himself. There are only a few cards anyway and he managed to get them back in his hand in no time.

"Mister, here is your phone", Haru politely hands him the phone when he finally looks up, revealing the face that has been hidden under the hoodie.

"Thank you ver—eh?", his mouth flung open when their eyes met.

It feels like her breath just left her chest, leaving her with no words to say. Her eyes widened at the sight of the man looking at her, surprised puppy eyes boring into her tired ones. Everything suddenly spins and all she wishes is to drop the phone back onto the marble floor and flee. But, that will be impossible. Well, possible. But, rude.

"Seo Haru?", he says, eyes still big and confused.

"M-Mister Kim", her voice stuck in her throat. "G-Good evening, Mister Kim", she bows politely, remembering her manners.

For a fleeting second, Taehyung actually forgot Seo Haru is more than just his last hook up and she is actually a student he is currently supervising. He mentally slapped himself for spiraling out of focus at times like this.

"Good Evening, Haru", he managed a smile. "You—I mean, what are you doing here?"

Haru's mind went blank for a moment when Taehyung adjusts the hoodie on his head, fixing his hair before he puts it back. She ends up staring at him blankly, earning another confused look from him.

"Seo Haru-ssi?"

"Y-yes? I am sorry, what did you say, Mister Kim?"

Taehyung couldn't help laughing at her cute reaction, shaking his head slightly as he looks down. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh—I—I am looking after a family here"

"I see"

"Oh-here is your phone", she quickly gives it to him.

"Thank you very much", he rubs the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed at his clumsiness.

"Be careful next time, Mister Kim"

Taehyung's eyes flick up at her words, a part of him recalling things he shouldn't. But when he studies her face, a feeling of concern suddenly builds within when he sees the way her face looks puffy, eyes swollen and a little bit red.

Was she crying?

"Mister Kim, why are you here?"

Taehyung quickly looked away, cursing in his head for gawking at her shamelessly. "My brother works here. He is a doctor"

"Oh, I see", she nods softly, playing with the card that was supposed to be used for her coffee.

"You were getting coffee for yourself, right?", he points at the vending machine. "Let me pay for that"

Taehyung swiftly tapped his card on the blinking screen that has been pending for payment and a loud clinking sound follows. The coffee she has chosen earlier has been paid for and ready to be collected at the below compartment of the machine.

"W-Wait—no—why did you—"

"For helping me with my phone"

Without a warning, he crouches down and takes the coffee for her. He turns around only to find her completely in shock, hands mid air at the failed attempt to stop him and her tired eyes, big and round.

"Here", he offers the coffee to her with a warm smile.

Haru loses all sense of thoughts as she looks at the coffee in his hand and then at his face. "Wait, Mister Kim, you didn't need to pay for my coffee. I can—"

"It is okay", he offers the coffee again.

As much as she is reluctant to accept the coffee, a part of her rationally thinks it will be rude to his kind gesture. After all, this man is his new supervisor. Not just her last hook up from the weekend before. It feels weird to be meeting him again and also, talking to him like this when they basically, slept together.

"Come on, it's a genuine gesture", he arched an eyebrow, giving her the warmest smile. "Or you want another coffee, not this one?", his face suddenly twitches.

"N-No", she quickly takes the coffee and sighed. "You really shouldn't, you know"

"Why not", he turns to his vending machine, choosing his chocolate drink before tapping his card on the screen.

Taking this chance to look at him, it suddenly feels exceptionally weird and very much awkward to be in this situation. She has yet to fully grasped the fact that the man standing in front of her right now, the man she hooked up last weekend is now her lecturer's research assistant. If she knew about it, she wouldn't even played along with the flirting that night.

But whatever the universe is trying to teach her, it better be something worthy. It takes every bit of her self-pride to appear calm and composed whenever their eyes met, hoping it will never lead to the remembrance of that night.

"Here", Taehyung suddenly offers his dark blue handkerchief, surprising her for the second time that night.

"Why are you giving me this?", her voice came out slow and timid.

"Your eyes are very puffy"

"Puffy? Oh—OHH, my god?" realizing that she was crying her heart out just 10 minutes ago, she completely forgot how swollen her face would get after a very good cry. And, how red her eyes would turn.

"Wipe that tears. I won't ask more. Don't worry"

~~~~~

NOTE

Hello everyone! Here is another short and quick update! (well, shorted compared to the previous 3 chapters). I heard the cases are rising again this time and the second wave is approaching, I hope everyone is staying safe and wear your mask!

But anyhow, thank you for reading! I hope this chapter is good and enjoyable! Lots of love!