CHAPTER 1: AS WITH ALL THINGS, IT BEGINS

Lee Mi-rae has never been in love. Never loved— and, dare she say, never been loved. She has only caught a glimpse of what I think it means to love from her warm and comforting relationships with her best friends, from TV shows, and dramas. But she has never experienced it herself. But that heart-fluttering, all-consuming love? It has never found her. Well... Yet.

Do not get her wrong; Mi-rae has been in relationships either due to the pressure of her angsty teen hormones, or peer pressure, or perhaps she found someone she was remotely interested in and considered for a moment what it would be like to slowly and deeply fall in love with them. So, Mi-rae decided to date them in search of that feeling.

Currently, a third-year college student, with her last relationship being her high school one which ended after graduation. They had only dated for eight months and were going to different colleges. She never liked the idea of long distance, so she decided to break things off as a way of letting go. In truth, the convenience of parting ways didn't bother her in the slightest. She felt neither excitement at the prospect of keeping the relationship alive, nor heartbreak at its ending.

Now a third-year college student, Mi-rae has accepted the fact that she does not fall in love easily. Or maybe she just has not met the right person yet. Her best friend Ji-Na believes there's someone out there destined to be her soulmate, while she remains skeptical.

Ji-Na, on the other hand, falls in and out of love every other week. She's had a string of dramatic relationships over the years interspersed with passionate but short-lived infatuations with celebrities. Her greatest love is currently Ha-Joon, a marketing major she's been dating for over a year now. The way she looks at him with adoring eyes makes Mi-Rae both happy for her and wistful that she has never experienced anything similar.

Walking into this strange but warmly lit coffee shop at a hidden bookstore in Seoul, Mi-Rae's' eyes adjust to the dimness of the room compared to the unforgiving sun outside. This was her first time at this coffee shop as her regular one was closed down due to some renovations.

"One Iced Americano, please," Mi-rae says to the barista at the counter as she inspects the room. The store is almost empty except for a couple continuously giggling seated just a couple of tables away from the counter and the figure of a man seated by the window. The bright sun prevents her from seeing his face; instead, all she can see is the stiletto shape of a figure dressed in a black hoodie and baggy jeans with a black face mask hiding his face further. "Here you go!" the cheerful reply of the barista snaps her back. "Thanks!" Mi-rae says as she heads towards a vacant table in the middle, hoping to finish her essay in time to send it in before the deadline.

The next forty-five minutes passed in a blur of typing interrupted only by occasional sips of coffee. The caffeine rushed through her system, fueling her focus.

Mi-rae head snaps away from my laptop after a couple of minutes due to the sound of the doorbells chiming from someone leaving the coffee shop. She looks towards the window; the unknown man in the hoodie is gone, but something silver is shining on the table where he sat. "Oh," Mi-rae mutters to herself as she quickly runs and grabs the phone left on the table by its unaware owner. She steps out of the coffee shop and glances around before spotting the black hoodie and baggy pants man at a short distance. Thankfully, he hasn't gone far.

"Hello!" Mi-rae yells while running towards him. On getting close with no response, Mi-Rae taps on his back, only to be met with shocked and cautious eyes staring down at her from his masked face.

"You forgot your phone…" Mi-rae quickly says to clear off any misunderstanding or tension lingering as she stretches out her hands to offer his phone back.

"Oh? Oh! Thank you! Thank you!!" He replies as he grabs the phone from her hands with eyes shaped like he is smiling behind the mask. He accepted the phone with a slight bow. "You are welcome," Mi-rae tries to reply back, but the masked stranger already sprints off in what seems like a hurry. Well, that was her good deed for the day, Mi-rae thought to herself wryly. 

"Yup, okay, where was I on that essay?" Mi-rae asks herself as she makes her way back to the coffee shop to finish the dreadful pain that is college finals.