First encounter

Before I knew it, it was Monday morning, and I was sitting at my desk in school. I think it was literature, but I wasn’t really paying attention that day. All I could think about all weekend was how I had done nothing with the 16 years of my life.

“Jinko!”

“Ah! Yes, professor?”

“I asked you a question. I presume you don’t know the answer?”

“...No, I don’t, my apologies.”

“It’s fine, just pay attention next time. Okay, what about... you, David, do you know the answer?”

While the class continued, I kept thinking about what Onna said, and what I could do about it.

The simple answer is to try a lot of different things and find out what I enjoy. Too bad it’s never that simple. Right now, I don’t really have time to find any new hobbies. I have a lot going on at school, plus I work most of my afternoons and evenings. Maybe I could find something fun to do online?

*

“Jinko, you can go now, I’ll clean up the rest.”

“No, it’s fine. It wouldn’t sit right with me. It won’t take long anyway.”

It was a little past 8 pm, and the café I worked at was finally closing.
My coworker and I just needed to clean up the place and then we could go home.

Suddenly, my coworker’s phone buzzed.

“Hey ma, what’s up? What?! But he’s fine now, right? Yes, yes, I’ll be right there.”

He looked at me, his face showing a rare expression of worry and unease. He was usually a really chill and nice guy, so seeing him like this was surprising.

“Did something happen?” I asked, knowing well that something did.

“Yes, my father was in a car accident. Can I leave the rest to you?”

“Of course, just go. I got it here.”

“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver.”

With those words, he rushed out the door, still wearing his work uniform.
A moment later, he ran back, got his wallet from the changing room, and sprinted out again.

Well, I guess he’ll get his other things tomorrow.

*

After I was done cleaning and prepared everything for the morning staff to take over, just as I was about to head home, I heard the front door open. At that time, I was in the changing room for employees and didn’t see who it was. So, my next natural course of action was to grab the baseball bat and sneak into the main area behind the counter, since I assumed the store was being robbed.

That’s weird, why don’t I hear anything from them anymore? I should be hearing all sorts of noises, if they’re robbing us.

I slowly sneaked behind the counter and when I peeked over to see what was going on, I saw the supposed burglar.

The figure was quite short, had a black hoodie and a black beanie on, and was wearing a face mask. From first glance, they could look like a robber, but something felt weird.

Why are they hiding under the table? Why not start taking stuff and leave as fast as possible? Hmm?

I noticed they were intensely, but also carefully looking outside through the glass door. When I looked in that direction, there was a group of people in baggy clothes looking around the street.

Is the person inside the café hiding? Were they being followed?

When the people outside went by the café’s door and saw that it still had its lights on, they suddenly turned around, opened the door without any hesitation, and walked inside.

Oh man... Okay, it’s fine, I got this.

I gave myself a little motivational talk, put the bat on the floor, and stood up, fully revealing my presence.

“Oh? So someone is here?”

One of the guys, the biggest one, walked up to me with a smirk on his face and loudly put his hands on the counter.

“Me and my friends lost another friend of ours a while back, she wouldn’t happen to be here, would she?”

Oh, so she’s a girl?

“No, as you can see by the emptiness of this place, as well as the sign on the door that says ‘Closed’, there is no one in here but me, since, in fact, we are closed.”

“HUH?! Are you mocking me? You think I can’t read?”

Smile, just smile and it’ll be fine.

“No of course not. If it sounded like that, I apologize. But I still have to ask you to leave.”

“Hmph. Fine, let’s go guys. She’ll turn up eventually.”

To show his annoyance with me, he reached into his pocket and threw a dirty plastic bag on the floor, saying: “See ya, dude,” with all four of his buddies laughing.

Once they closed the door and walked far enough away, I finally exhaled.

“Uff, I thought he was going to jump on top of the counter and pounce on me. Hey, you okay? I checked and they’re already gone, so you can stop hiding now.”

I went up to the person, who I learned was a girl, and tried to help her up by offering her my hand, but she just ignored it and stood up on her own.

“So, uhm, are you okay? Can you call someone to pick you up or something?”

But she still kept silent.

When she stood up and faced me, I froze. Even with the face mask and beanie, I could somehow tell. She had slightly pale but smooth skin, silky dark brown hair, and deep, enchanting blue eyes.

So beautiful, almost like a -

When she noticed me staring at her, her gaze instantly grew colder and wary. And so, I panicked.

“Ah, Ehm, sorry, it’s just ehh, have we met before? No, probably not, right? Ehehe, sorry...”

Seeing me panic, as if I were guilty of something, her intense gaze only grew stronger.

“So... Yeah, it’s fine now, so you can just leave whenever.”

With that, she relaxed a little and her shoulders slumped down a bit. That’s when I noticed.

She’s actually really short, well, at least compared to me.

I was considered a really tall guy, standing at 2 meters and 2 centimeters. She was about 170 centimeters tall, which would make her appear short to me, even though she really wasn’t.

“Are you sure you’re fine? You don’t need me to call the police? Or should I walk with you part of the way? Ahaha, n-never mind, you’re probably fine, right? You can just go.”

While I was in the middle of that sentence, she turned to me again with those cold yet gorgeous eyes, that I couldn’t help but stutter. Then, she just turned around again and went out the front door.

“Wait! What’s... your name?”

...Kind of late to ask, considering she’s already gone.

I just stood there and stared at the door for a moment, before coming to my senses, grabbing my things, locking up, and going home.

On the way home I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I kept asking myself questions along the lines of:

Why were those guys looking for her? Was she really their friend or were they just trying to take advantage of her? If she were their friend, she wouldn't hide from them would she? Why was she wearing a face mask? Is she sick? Or maybe a germophobe... Was she really that pretty or was I just imagining things? And why did I try so hard to talk to her and offer her some assistance, even though it was clear she didn’t want my help?

That Monday night, I stayed up late again. My mind was flooded with so many imaginary scenarios and questions. But this time, none of them were about Onna. All I could think about before I finally fell asleep was ‘her’. That mysterious girl.

Why was I so drawn to her?