"Are you still looking for something?"
"Who are you?" The girl tapped the invisible dust off her skirt and looked up to meet his eyes. Her stare was merciless, but a hint of swollen rose around the corner of her eyes was clear to tell she must have torn a lot.
"So... Uhm... This might sound weird, and I'm not a stalker or anything, but this is the third time I saw you looking for something on this street."
"Even if I am looking for something, it's none of your business, sir." She scoffed.
The cold night borrows body heat as if it were a cup of sugar, yet comes the fluorescent yellow light from the stout pole that seems to warm the air. Y/N raised his head to the black sky, expecting snow to fall, then remembered it's August. Even though the girl was covered in a thick cardigan, she still couldn't contain the freezing air as she rubs her arms together. The common gesture was for Y/N to wrap her in his jacket, but it's not available.
'Why is it so damn cold... It's still August... It's Ssamu time..."
He lowered his vision to find the shorter's face, a face plastered with doubts and cold as he noticed her lips shivered.
"C-could you leave n-now...?" She stuttered while containing the urge to sneeze.
Y/N looked around to find an open shop nearby. Luckily, just around the corner of the street, there was a small coffee shop - no more than two square metres large. He pointed at the shop as he looks at the pitiful girl.
"Should we go there to warm up first?"
"Sir, please just go. I'm not cold at a... A-"
"A?"
"ACHOOOOO!!!"
Taken aback by her sudden sneeze, he immediately pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her. While she dirtied the handkerchief, Y/N asked again if she would come and sit down at the warm coffee shop before continuing whatever she was doing.
"Fine..." She moaned.
Y/N gestured a hand, letting the girl walk first, then he followed beside her. He stole glances at her face.
Her complexion was of champagne rose in the early light, her cheeks rosier still. Her delicate nose, so pretty under the street lamps, spoke of her ancestors who were blessed with mesmerising visuals. Though it was dark and freezing, her hazel eyes were radiating a brown sun-warmed with inner gold. If he took the time to sit and watch her pupils, he sure would be lost with no return. All of these beauties of a woman, and he realised,
'How can one be so pretty and unbothered by the crowd...'
Once they reached the shop, the clerk welcomed them with a heartwarming "good evening" before asking for their order. Y/N motioned a hand on the stool, signalling the girl to take her seat before he does. No words were exchanged for a moment, earning suspicious eyes from the clerk who was busy brewing some coffee.
The aroma of his brew couldn't go unnoticed. The girl had her broad eyes glittering, expecting the coffee to come soon. He would giggle, but it wouldn't be a friendly one if she heard it.
They both thanked the clerk who just served two cups of coffee on the table. That was awkward, they thought.
Not only that, they both lifted their cup and took a sip at the same time, and savoured the flavour as it is their habit of drinking coffee.
Not wanting to drag the awkward scenes further, he broke the ice.
"Could you tell me what you're looking for?"
"Just a thing." She responded impatiently. "It's nothing much, I can search it myself."
"I can't let you wander around in the middle of the night all defenceless like that." He tightened his grip on his cup handle, which didn't go unnoticed by the girl. "It's too dangerous. Let me help you."
"Why would I let you help me?" She fumed and slammed her palm against the surface. "I don't even know you. I don't know your intention. You could be trying to use me for God knows."
"No- Listen."
She took a long sip of her coffee and smashed the aluminium cup on the table, startling even the clerk who was a distance away.
"I'm leaving now. Thank you for the coffee."
The moment she tried to rush out of her seat, he grabbed her by the arm and stopped her motion at once. Her glare is now directed towards his gripping hand.
"Ya! What are you doing?" She retorted while pulling her arm out of his grip.
"Listen! I'll tell you everything you need to know. I'm Hwang Y/N, just a college student."
She remained silent, the name sounded a little too familiar.
"I wouldn't be helping you for no reason at all. It's because I've seen you struggling to find something that seems very precious for the third time this week, to the point you would sacrifice your safety, I just had to come." He admitted as the girl weakened her whole body that was stiff as a board.
"S-So? That doesn't change the fact that you're still a stranger to me."
"Let me help you find what you're looking for. At least, if tonight serves you well, you wouldn't have to look for it anymore tomorrow." He assured.
Y/N let go of her arm and she placed the reddened area from his grip on her chest.
"That must've hurt... I'm sorry."
"Back off." She scoffed, and he did as told.
It was that today she almost gave up finding the precious ornament. Her hope was for a miracle to happen, and if Y/N is the one she needed, should she gamble on it?
"Can I trust you?"
"1000%" He guaranteed with a smile. "And I'll leave you once we find it if that makes you happy, deal?"
"Does that mean I have to be stuck with you until I find it?" She trembled.
"I believe that while you still haven't found what you're looking for, I'll still be seeing you walking around the empty streets at night. So you might as well."
"I can't believe you just said that so easily to someone you just met!" She sighed.
Her foxy eyes frowned, her lips tightened - she was more dominant than ever. "But just so you know, once I see that you have some ulterior moves, you're done for." She warned.
"Sure thing." He smirked.
Minju took her seat back and rested her head on the table while hissing a soft tone. Her whole body was stiff due to all of the walking and searching she had to do. At the very least, a minute of resting her body was enough to calm the heated muscles.
It was, again, her beauty that captured his eyes.
'Would Chaewon kill me had I looked at another woman?"
Then he remembered that he hadn't asked for her information.
"By the way, I told you my name. What's your name?"
"Huh? Me? Kim Minju. A college student too."
He muttered a long "I see..." before realising something.
"Wait! What's your age? What year are you in?" He asked anxiously.
"Second year, you?"
"Ya! I'm older than you! Show some respect!" He tapped his finger on the table.
"So what..." She groaned. "It's not like we're from the same college..." That moment, she realised he was wearing a familiar uniform that looked like a fit for hers.
"Exactly... You're my junior." He remarked.
But meeting someone who attends the same college as she was nothing but another nightmare. If the miracle was Y/N's appearance, she wished he wasn't from her college. She rolled her eyes and rested her head on her arm again.
"Why do you look like that?"
"Can we skip the formalities?" She begged.
"What?"
"Once I find what I need we are back to strangers anyway."
'Girl, I'm just trying to help here...'
With his elbow resting on the table, he pressed his forehead and cleared his mind for a second.
'I shouldn't have offered help, shouldn't I...?'
The cold night was tucked under a woven dove-grey sky, and the cold weather seeps through their thin cloth to drain the soul. While their coffee slowly loses its temperature, their body shivers each time a wind blows on their skin. Minju groaned an "ugh..." as she fought the air that pricked her skin.
Y/N didn't mind the cold much, even though he had to admit the temperature was irregular. If only he had his jacket, it would've been over Minju's shoulder by now.
Before he took a sip of his coffee, he asked,
"So... What are you looking for?"
"Huh? It's just a necklace." She admitted.
"I've seen you searching for it around this street a couple of times. Are you sure you dropped it here?" He asked while rubbing the necklace around his neck, earning a glare from Minju.
"I'm not that stupid." She chided. "I know I dropped it here. That's why I look for it here."
"I see..."
Y/N looked at his watch and squinted his eyes to see if he saw the time right.
'It's almost twelve...?'
"Hey, Minju." He called.
Minju raised her head from the table and looked at him with an annoyed face.
"What?"
"I think you should go home for today. It's almost midnight." He suggested.
Luckily, the girl agreed. She took the last sip of her coffee before standing up.
"Oh, should I take you home?" Y/N offered.
"Are you kidding me?"
"What?"
"We just met, and you're already offering a drive home?" She retorted. "I won't let some stranger take me home just because he has a good car and a good face."
As if a hammer was smacked against his head, realising how unreasonable his offer was even if it was out of a kind gesture. He raised his hands to chest level, gesturing Minju to calm down.
"I'll go home by myself. Thank you." She said.
"A-Alright... Stay safe."
Two steps, three steps, then Minju halted before the fourth. She looked back through the blossoming vapour of her warm breath that blurred his face for a mere second. The man stood in a white shirt under the yellow light, wrapped by the dark and cold sky but unflinching regardless of the cause. Thoughts banter so does her trust. If what Kim Chaewon said serves her right, this is the man she's looking for.
Minju breathed a sigh, and her cheeks were rosy to notice. Not a smile, nor an interest in her eyes. But she still stared at him for over five seconds just to have a look at his eyes.
"If you're really interested in helping me, meet me here. Same place, same time." She waved goodbye before walking away.
"Alright..." He muttered.
One last time, he gazed at the coffee shop to find its name. But there wasn't any, and the clerk disappeared.
"Same place, same time."
So he took his car and drove home. Showered. And ended the day with sleep.