Xinyue kicked off her soaked shoes and sank into the plush comfort of her oversized sweater, the kind that swallowed her petite frame and smelled faintly of her favorite vanilla laundry soap. Her fluffy socks, slightly too long, slouched around her ankles as she flopped onto the edge of her bed, tugging the blanket around her like a protective cocoon.
She tapped her jaw lightly with one hand, blinking at the ceiling. "Okay… Xinyue. Calm down. You're fine. Totally fine. Just a little rain… and… someone catching you… nothing weird at all."
She snorted at herself, a soft laugh escaping her lips. "Yeah, sure. Totally normal. Girl, you're thirty seconds away from losing your mind over… a stranger. In the rain. Who maybe looks like he fell out of some… dark, brooding novel or… crime thriller."
Picking up her graduation folder, her fingers fumbled with the edges tugging it closer. She grinned, shaking her head. "And you, genius, wanted to impress him? With… your impeccable puddle-sliding skills? Smooth, Xinyue. Real smooth."
Then her laughter faltered, and a shiver ran down her spine as her mind replayed the moment.
The storm. The slippery street. Her stumble. And him ~ tall, sharp, cold eyes glinting under the lightning. The way he had caught her, his hand firm on her elbow and shoulder, and… the way he had brushed past her like she was nothing the instant she steadied herself.
"You…" she murmured under her breath, biting the inside of her cheek to suppress another laugh. "He was… rude. I mean, really. Who… just catches someone from falling and then leaves like they're some kind of… I don't know… invisible rain god?"
*flashback*
Her fingers went to the floor to pick up her folder, She bent down, brushing the floor with her palms, and slowly lifted her head…
But he was gone. No trace of him remained ~ no wet footprints, no shadow lingering in the streetlight, nothing.
*End of flashback*
Xinyue blinked, holding the folder against her chest, and let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. She sank back into the blanket cocoon, hugging her knees.
"He… disappeared. Like… poof. Gone," she whispered, shaking her head. Then she laughed, lightly, almost nervously. "Well, Xinyue, congratulations. You just got rejected by the largest company in the city, almost face-planted in the rain, and now a creepy… mysterious stranger just ghosted you. Perfect. Just perfect."
She leaned back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, letting the absurdity of the night sink in. Somehow, even with the shivering cold from earlier, her heart still thumped a little faster than usual.
"Alright," she said to herself, tapping her jaw again. "Tomorrow… job applications. Focus. I'd have to try other companies i guess."
But even as she said it, her mind couldn't shake the image of him ~ tall, impossibly imposing, and disappearing like he was never really there at all.
Deep down, she had a feeling… her ordinary life had just been nudged, ever so slightly, onto a path that was anything but ordinary.