The rain had stopped, leaving behind the cool night air and the earthy scent of wet ground. They stepped out of the café almost at the same time. It wasn't planned, yet somehow their footsteps aligned, carrying them side by side.
At first, they didn't say much. Silence lingered between them, but it wasn't awkward—instead, it felt comforting. As though another conversation was unfolding quietly, without the need for words.
The young man glanced at Sera, his hands tucked in his pockets as he breathed in the crisp air after the rain.
"Strange, isn't it?" he said softly.
Sera turned to him. "What is?"
"This feeling." His lips curved into a faint, uncertain smile, as if searching for the right words. "It's like… I've known you much longer than an hour. But in truth, we only just met."
Sera chuckled, her smile brightening. "Funny. I was just thinking the same thing."
They continued walking past the row of shops still glowing with lights, exchanging short words now and then, until they reached a quieter street. The city around them seemed calmer, the only sound their footsteps—steady, in rhythm, strangely familiar. Beneath the streetlights, their shadows stretched side by side, as though they had always belonged together that way.
At last, they reached a crossroad. That should have been the moment to part ways, yet neither of them wanted to say goodbye just yet.
"Which way do you go home?" Liam asked softly.
Sera pointed to the right. He nodded with a small smile.
"That's close to the way I usually take. If you don't mind, I can walk you there."
Sera hesitated for a moment. After all, she had only just met this man—though not for the very first time, since they worked in places so close to each other. Still, Liam was technically a stranger. Yet there was a quiet voice in her heart that whispered: trust him.
And so, she nodded. A simple choice, yet it felt significant.
After that night, their paths seemed to cross more often—sometimes by chance, sometimes, perhaps, arranged by the universe itself. At first, it was nothing more than a polite greeting when they happened to meet in front of their shops. But soon, those meetings grew more frequent, more deliberate. Their evening walks gradually became a habit, something unspoken yet quietly cherished.
Neither of them ever said it outright, but both found themselves waiting for those moments—whether starting from the café or encountering each other along the street. It was as if invisible threads kept pulling them together, weaving their steps closer, little by little.
Sera began to notice the small things about Liam. The way he truly listened to every word she said, even the trivial details most people would dismiss. The way his pace always slowed to match hers, as though to make sure she never fell behind. And his calm, reassuring smile—how it seemed to cast a warmth around her, making the world feel just a little safer whenever he was near.
And Liam, too, had begun to notice Sera. The way her head tilted slightly whenever curiosity flickered in her eyes. The lightness of her laughter, leaving behind a soft echo that seemed to linger even after it faded. The spark in her gaze whenever she spoke of something she loved—and how she never judged him when he confessed that he was a man who adored flowers so much that he built a florist of his own. That glow in her eyes when she listened to his stories made it nearly impossible for him to look away.
One evening, as they were walking home, they passed by a flower stall on the side of the street. Liam stopped, his eyes drawn to the vibrant shapes and colors blooming before him. His hand hovered for a moment, hesitating, before he carefully picked one.
A white lily.
He turned to her, holding it out with a faintly nervous smile that tried to mask his unease.
"This flower… somehow, it reminds me of you," he said softly.
Sera froze, staring at the lily in his hand, taken aback. A strange tightness stirred in her chest, as though something hidden had brushed against her heart. There was an echo she couldn't explain, as if the white lily carried a meaning deeper than she could recall—something once known, now lost, like a memory almost within reach but veiled in mist.
With slightly trembling fingers, she accepted the flower. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice gentler than she intended.
Their fingers brushed for the briefest moment. A fleeting touch. Yet neither of them pulled away, as though both were unwilling to let the moment slip too quickly.
That night, upon arriving home, Sera placed the white lily into a glass of water and set it on the windowsill of her room. The window was slightly open, letting in the damp night air tinged with the fading scent of rain. Under the pale light of the moon, the petals glistened faintly, fragile yet luminous. Sera curled up on the chair near the window, her knees drawn to her chest, eyes fixed on the flower as though it might whisper something back to her.
There was something about the white lily that stirred a strange ache inside her chest. It wasn't just a flower. It wasn't just a simple gift from a man she had only recently met. No—this felt different. The bloom carried with it a quiet echo, as if it bore a message too old to put into words. As though it was a fragment of something remembered rather than discovered.
Her fingers brushed the cool glass, tracing its surface as her thoughts drifted. Liam's face rose in her mind—his hesitant smile, the awkward warmth in his eyes as he had handed her the flower. That smile had felt oddly familiar, like a fleeting glimpse of someone she had once known in another time, another life.
"Why does it feel like I've known him forever…" she whispered softly, the words barely escaping her lips, meant for no one but herself.
She closed her eyes for a moment, surrendering to the rhythm of the raindrops outside, mingling with the steady beat of her heart. A longing swelled within her—a longing that made no sense, yet was undeniably real, so real it almost brought tears to her eyes.
When she opened them again, the lily remained. Silent, yet alive. Watching her. Holding within its petals something hidden, something waiting.
And Sera, though full of questions, could only smile faintly. Perhaps one day, she would understand. But for now, she let herself be wrapped in the mystery, in the quiet presence of a white lily that felt like a message from the past