In the driver's seat, a middle-aged man with a kind but weathered face glanced at him through the mirror. His name was Mr. Han, the loyal driver who had been with Tae Hyun's family for as long as he could remember.
"You've been away too long, young master," Mr. Han said with a gentle chuckle. "The city's been waiting for you."
Tae Hyun leaned back, a faint smile touching his lips. "Maybe I've been waiting for it too."
There was so much crowd at the square that traffic had come to a halt. Cars weren't moving, even though the signal ahead glowed green. Mr. Han frowned, drumming his fingers on the wheel before glancing back at Tae Hyun.
"Young master, please stay inside," he said firmly. "I'll step out and see what's going on."
Without waiting for a reply, the middle-aged man opened the door and disappeared into the stream of murmuring pedestrians, leaving Tae Hyun in the quiet hum of the car.
Curiosity stirred in him. What could possibly bring the city to such a standstill?
After a while, Mr. Han returned, brushing raindrops from his shoulders just as the sky split open. Heavy rain began to pour, drumming against the car roof in a steady rhythm.
Tae Hyun leaned forward. "What took you so long?"
Mr. Han slid back into the driver's seat, catching his breath. "The delay wasn't traffic, young master. It was a girl. She was standing at the square, in a beautiful white dress, long hair flowing, raising funds for orphan children."
"Orphans?" Tae Hyun frowned.
"Yes," Mr. Han nodded. "And what's strange is… those children live under your father's organisation. I don't understand why they'd need money when your father provides for them. Still, that girl…" His voice softened. "Such a kind soul. While everyone else ignored the children, she stood there in the rain, helping them with all her heart. These days, that kind of purity is rare. Whoever marries her one day will be truly fortunate."
Tae Hyun's grip on the seat tightened. A flicker of recognition sparked in his mind—the girl at the airport, the one whose anklet he still carried. She had long hair too. Could it be her?
Without another word, Tae Hyun pushed the car door open and stepped into the downpour. Rain soaked him instantly, clinging to his shirt, running in rivulets down his face. But he didn't care.
He hurried across the crowded square, his shoes splashing in puddles as he scanned every direction. "Excuse me," he called to a merchant hurriedly covering his stall with tarps. "Did you see a girl here? White dress, long hair?"
The man shook his head, too busy shielding his wares from the storm.
Tae Hyun pressed on, weaving through the throng. He asked a couple huddled under an umbrella, then a carriage driver urging his horses forward. Each time, the answer was the same: no.
Frustration knotted in his chest. The blossoms that had seemed so gentle before now clung wetly to his shoulders, dissolving under the relentless rain.
At last, his eyes fell upon the children huddled near the fountain, their wooden box shielded beneath a scrap of cloth. He crouched before them, his breath heavy. "The girl who was helping you—where did she go?"
One of the children, a little boy with bright eyes despite the storm, stepped forward. His name, they told him, was Angel.
"She was just here," Angel said, clutching the box tight. "She helped us raise enough. She smiled and told us to be brave… then she left. Just now."
The words struck him harder than the rain. He was only moments too late.
Tae Hyun's gaze swept the emptying square one last time, but there was nothing—only strangers rushing to shelter, umbrellas blossoming like dark flowers against the storm.
Defeated, he turned back toward the car, each step heavier than the last. Rainwater streamed down his face, blurring with the restless pounding of his heart.
When he sank into the backseat again, Mr. Han looked startled. "Young master! Why did you go out in this storm? You're drenched—look at you. Let me turn the AC off—"
"Just drive," Tae Hyun cut him off, his tone sharp but distant.
As the car rolled forward, Tae Hyun leaned back, his hair plastered against his forehead, droplets sliding down his jawline. In his palm lay the anklet, cold and glistening with rain. His gaze lingered on it for a long moment, something unreadable flickering in his eyes.
"I hate keeping things that don't belong to me," he muttered under his breath. With a sudden motion, he tossed the anklet to the far corner of the seat.
Mr. Han shot him a concerned glance through the mirror but said nothing. The crowd had cleared, the signal now green, yet inside the car the silence was heavier than the rain outside.
Tae Hyun turned his face to the window, watching the blurred city lights shimmer through the curtain of rain. Even drenched, his sharp features and stormy gaze made him look impossibly handsome, as though the rain itself had chosen him for its canvas.
Tae Hyun turned his face to the window, watching the blurred city lights shimmer through the curtain of rain.
Even drenched, his sharp features and stormy gaze made him look impossibly handsome, as though the rain itself had chosen him for its canvas. Yet inside, the weight of what he had missed pressed harder than the storm outside.
Somewhere not far away, beneath the shelter of a narrow shop awning, Sita wrung the rainwater from her hair. She laughed softly with Lili, clutching a paper bag of sweets, unaware of the chaos her kindness had stirred in another's heart. The anklet that should have been at her ankle was gone, but she did not yet notice.
Two souls, so close yet still separated by chance, walked away in different directions under the same rain.
And as Veralia drowned in petals and rain, fate quietly marked its page, turning them closer toward the inevitable.
TO BE CONTINUED...