The red leaf wobbled in the autumn breeze as you stared at it intently. It was the last leaf left on its branch, so you were sure it would fall soon, and you wanted to be ready when it did. It was October, and fall was nearing its end. You feared if you didn’t catch a leaf in the next couple of days, it would be too late, the leaves would be gone, and the next year would be an unhappy one. Unbidden, the memory that spurred your annual tradition comes to mind.
You walk alongside your mother, your small hand held snugly in her larger one, the breeze blowing as crisply in your memory as it did on that day. Suddenly, your mom lets go of your hand, reaching desperately for something in the air with both hands. She bends down and opens her hand slightly to show you what she had caught. “They say that if you catch a falling leaf in autumn, the next year is sure to be a happy one.” Your mother gently smiles. You smile back, your face lighting up with possibilities, and then sprint after the next falling leaf you see.
You are startled from your reverie by a sudden voice from beside you. “Is there something up there? I don’t see anything. Are you okay?? You’ve just been staring at this place in the air for a while and I just–” You realize that this guy has probably been talking to you for longer than you’ve actually heard him, so you turn to face him, taking your attention away from the leaf. The guy seems to take your gaze as some kind of judgement, because now he’s holding his hands up slightly in a somewhat-defensive gesture, and continues to explain himself. “I mean, I didn’t mean to disturb you, it’s just that–”
As you are about to assuage this guy of his worries and send him on his way so you can get back to what you were doing, a breeze blows and out of the corner of your eye you see It. Your leaf, floating down toward the ground. You lunge toward it, trying to catch it before it’s too late, but you slightly misstep and end up falling to the left of your leaf’s path of descent, landing on the ground on your side with a thump just in time to see your leaf land gracefully on the ground a foot out of reach like something out of a Shakespearean tragedy. You can’t help but let out a defeated wail at the leaf you had been watching for close to half an hour. You collapse the rest of the way, letting your head hit the ground, and make small sobbing noises. You realize you are being quite over-dramatic, but you really wanted to catch that leaf and you were so, so close.
What you hadn’t realized until that moment, however, was that the guy before was still there and you were currently giving him a heart attack.
“Oh no are you okay I’m sorry I didn’t mean to I don’t know what I did but I’m sorry you just suddenly fell down are you okay do I need to get somebody should I take you to the campus medical office what’s wrong oh my god–” He’s on his knees beside you, wringing his hands in worry. You give a sigh and push yourself to your knees and turn to the guy, bowing your head. “I’m sorry for worrying you, I’m fine. I didn’t fall, I–” You pause for a second, thinking of how to explain what you were doing in a way that made any sense at all, then give up. “I was trying to catch the leaf. The one on the branch. I was waiting for it to fall so I could catch it.”
It’s obvious the guy doesn’t understand at all why you would be doing that, but he doesn’t seem to care. Instead, he is visibly upset, letting out a gasp and holding his hands to his face. “Ohnoooo, I’m so sorry! You were waiting for that leaf to fall and then I distracted you and–”
Coming from any other person, his upset would seem fake or even mocking, but this guy seems genuinely upset for causing you not to be able to catch your leaf even though he has no idea why you would want to in the first place. Stuck in your own thoughts, you almost don’t notice when the guy stands up and reaches a hand out to help you up. You take his hand almost automatically, and the guy pulls you to your feet with little effort, stronger than he looks. He then turns and starts walking deeper into the trees beside the campus path, looking determined. After a few feet, he stops and turns around, calling back to you. “Aren’t you coming?”
Oh no, you must have missed that part of what he was saying to you earlier. “Huh? Where?” you say automatically, to which the guy replies with an almost-blinding smile, “I’m going to help you catch another leaf!”
Another half an hour later, after both of you try and fail to catch several leaves, moving from tree to tree, you hear a triumphant yell from off to your right where the guy had been staring down a maple tree. You turn around to see the guy beaming at his cupped hands. He then turns toward you and lights up even more, his eyes disappearing into an eye-smile he is smiling so wide. “I got one!” he calls out happily, trotting over to where you are standing. “Here, give me your hands,” he says, dropping the leaf into your cupped hands.
You look down at the red maple leaf, your heart warming at the sight. You look up at him, your face breaking out into a smile. At first the guy seems surprised, but then beams back at you happily.
Suddenly, your heart sinks. You had forgotten that you had to be the one to catch the leaf in order to get the year of happiness. The guy’s face falls too at your sudden sadness. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing!” You automatically answer back, maybe a little too quickly. You’re not going to tell this nice guy that it didn’t work that way after he tried so hard to help you without even knowing what your purpose was. “Nothing..” you repeat, more slowly this time, forcing the smile back onto your face. “Thank you so much for helping me.”
“You’re welcome!” However, the guy’s face suddenly morphs into an expression of shock, his mouth and eyes opening almost impossibly wide. “Oh no oh no oh no–” he pulls out his phone from his pocket and looks at the time then his chanting becomes louder. “I’m really sorry, but I have to go, I’m soooo late for music theory and Mr. Lang is so strict I really gotta go I’m sorry see you later okay?”
And then the guy rushes off, running down the path toward the other side of campus, leaving you standing alone on the path with a maple leaf in your hand and the wind in your hair. It isn’t until later, back in your dorm, when you’re undressing and find the leaf in your pocket, that you realize you never got his name.
This is my first fic, so constructive criticism is appreciated :)
Chapter description: You and Jisung meet again over a cup of hot chocolate, but maybe not in the way you would think.
When you met him again in winter, you had honestly given up on ever seeing him again. To him, you thought, meeting you must have just been a fleeting fall moment, a distraction to pass the time. It had been months, and you thought that he probably wouldn’t remember you if you met him now, or that he would but that he wouldn’t remember it with the same dearness you did. To you, the chances of that being the case almost made it better not to see him again, to leave that encounter and that person as a bright spot in your memory, and nothing more.
You had kept the leaf, though, laminating it in the school’s machine so that it wouldn’t fall apart. You told yourself it wasn’t because it was the only evidence you had that that day even happened, but because there was a chance that because he gave the leaf to you, the leaf would grant you happiness the next year anyway, even if that was not how the saying went originally. And it wasn’t like you carried it around or anything like a picture of a long lost sibling. It was just in your drawer in your dorm room. You thought by putting it there you would forget about it, but even though it was now mid-January, you thought of that day often. You had friends, it wasn’t like the interaction was special because you didn’t interact with many people. It was just…there was something about him. You didn’t know what it was, but you wanted to see him again and figure it out.
You also knew that this was a bit ridiculous. It didn’t stop you from spontaneously remembering that day every so often, however, but you were sure that would fade after a few more months, and you would forget him just like he and probably forgotten you. Perhaps if you left the leaf in your drawer, at the end of the year when you were going through your belongings, you would pull it out and look at it wonderingly, not remembering how you acquired it. Perhaps you would remember that someone gave it to you, but not who, or when, or why you kept it. For some reason, the thought of that made you a little sad, and you weren’t sure why.
Late January was the snowiest part of the year where your university was located, but it wasn’t terribly cold, and you liked snow, so it was one of your favorite parts of the year, although you hadn’t seen the spring here yet, so you couldn’t say it was actually your favorite for sure.
Classes had ended for the day, so you began your trek back to your dormitory, shuffling through the snow that came up around your ankles. It had been snowing all day, and the sidewalks hadn’t been cleared since that morning, so it took a bit more effort than you would have liked to make it back to your dormitory, and although it wasn’t terribly cold to go for a short walk, the campus was fairly large and by the time you came to the square of dormitories where yours was located, the tips of your fingers, toes, nose, and ears were all either numb or stinging. Luckily, between your square of dormitories and the next, there was a coffee shop. Eager to hasten the process of warming back up, you headed there.
You swung open the door and were greeted with the soft tinkle of a bell, a rush of lovely warm air, and the smell of freshly-brewed drinks. You smiled in contentment, stepping inside, stamping off the snow from your boots on the entry carpet, removing your gloves and stuffing those in your coat pocket, which you then removed along with your scarf, hanging them up on the hooks by the door before walking over to the counter.
Even though this coffee shop was located close to your dorm, you had never actually been here before. You didn’t really drink coffee, and you kept the cold drinks you liked in your mini fridge so that you weren’t tempted to spend unnecessary money. Normally, you weren’t a big fan of hot drinks besides the tea you could make in your own dormitory, but all this snow and cold had given you an odd craving for hot chocolate, and you had never warmed up to the kind you could make out of a packet.
You scanned the shop’s menu, finding, to your pleasant surprise, a mini-menu composed of just different types of hot chocolate. There was caramel hot chocolate, dark chocolate hot chocolate, milk chocolate hot chocolate, marshmallow swirl hot chocolate, hazelnut hot chocolate…the list went on for longer than you would have expected it to. But then again, you figured enough people came here for hot chocolate for it to be popular enough to deserve a menu of its own.
“Are you ready to order?”
You were snapped out of your hot chocolate-inspired revelry by the voice of the barista working the counter. “Sorry for startling you, first time here? The drink options can be kind of overwhelming if you haven’t been here before. Can I help you choose?”
“Ah, yeah,” your words stumble out. “Which hot chocolate flavor would you recommend? There’s so many…”
The barista chuckles. “Don’t worry, you’re actually the fifth person to ask me that this shift. And which is the best actually depends on who’s making the coffee. Right now, that would be Jisung. I’d say the one he makes the best is the marshmallow swirl hot chocolate, so I’d recommend that one.”
You smile at the barista’s method of recommending drinks. “And which one do you make best then..” You look down at the barista’s name tag. “Sungwoon?”
Sungwoon laughs loudly at your question, obviously surprised. “No one’s ever asked me that before. There’s a reason I work the counter unless there’s no one else to make the drinks, I’m not that great at it.” You look at him expectantly, still wanting an answer to your question. Sungwoon stares back, but breaks first in your little staring contest. “Fine. If you must know, I make a mean hazelnut hot chocolate. If you’re really that curious, you should come back on a Sunday morning. It’s the only regularly scheduled time they let me anywhere near the drinks,” the barista says jokingly. “So what’ll it be then? Sorry, but you’ll have to settle for Jisung’s hot chocolate instead of mine, since he’s making the drinks right now.”
You look back up at the menu, and are overwhelmed once again by the unusually long list, and although you already forgot which type Sungwoon said the guy in the kitchen made best, you just smiled at him over the counter, replying with a “Then I’ll take what you recommended.”
“Good choice!” Sungwoon exclaims with a wink, ringing your order up in the cash register, then looking back at you. You pay, and Sungwoon asks you if you would like it for here or to go. While you were originally planning on getting the drink and returning to your room, this place is nice and warm, has relaxing music, a charming atmosphere, and a perfect view of the gently falling snow. “For here, please,” you reply with a smile.
“Alrighty!” Sungwoon exclaims. “We’ll bring it out to you when it’s ready. For now, just find a place to sit, okay?”
“Okay,” you reply, going to sit down by the window.
As you look outside at the falling snow, you are hit suddenly with memories of that day again, the leaves falling around you like snow, swirling in the breeze. A voice calling out to you, you turning around, and then seeing Him. You didn’t believe in love at first sight (after all, love is built on communication, how two personalities interact, and the way people interact with each other, not seeing someone), but you had to admit that moment was like something from a cheesy movie.
And him. It’s not like he was particularly stunning, at least not in a conventional way, but the way his eyes wrinkled when he smiled at you, and the way he helped you after realizing he had caused you to miss your leaf, did tug at your heartstrings a bit, you had to admit that. And it’s not like you would ever see him again (after all, there were thousands of people on this campus), but if you did, or had you met under different circumstances, you would have to admit that he was at least kind of your type, and that you would have given him a chance had he asked you out on a date.
You rest your chin on your palm, staring out at the snow with a sigh. You were becoming hopelessly romantic again. The sort of stuff you were hoping for didn’t happen in real life. People didn’t hear bells when they saw the person they would spend their life with for the first time. Soulmates didn’t exist. If you were hoping for a fairy-tale romance, you weren’t going to get it. While you had heard stories of people who said that their love was like one out of a story, those were the absolute few-and-far-between, exceptions to the rule in a reality where love didn’t always work out, and people ended up being different than you expected them to be. Who knows, you thought to yourself, that guy could be a real douche-bag for all I know. He could be a thief, or anything really. You were with him for literally like half an hour. Let it go. Why won’t you?
“You’re the one that ordered the hot chocolate, right?”
You’re brought to the present by the question. By the blurry reflection in the window, you can tell the person is wearing the coffee shop’s uniform, and is here to bring you your order. You turn around to say that yes, you were indeed the one who ordered the hot chocolate, but the words were taken out of your mouth by the sight before you.
It was him.
You looked at him in wonder, thinking for a brief second that you were in some odd continuation of your daydream before dismissing that as ridiculous. But this was definitely him, the guy from the forest that day. While he had been smiling at you before you turned around, after a second his expression began to match yours. You could see the recognition light up his eyes, his mouth slightly agape like yours. Neither of you said anything for a few seconds, then the guy opened his mouth to say something.
Before he could voice whatever he was going to say, and before you could even identify what seeing him again even made you feel, he must have taken his attention away from the drink on the tray balanced in his hand, because it began to tip. Admittedly, you had forgotten about it too, but you weren’t the one holding a hot drink. You watched, almost in slow motion, and the center of balance on the tray tilted too far toward you, and as the hot chocolate tipped over the edge of the tray. The guy saw it too, because he reached out to try to catch it, horror crossing his features, but it was too late. Instead, the hot chocolate spilled all over you, the cup landing in your lap.
You shot up immediately, the mug smashing against the floor, as you tried to get the hot liquid off of you. Letting out a string of oh nos, the guy ran toward the back, presumably to get help or towels or something, leaving you trying to pull your jeans and shirt as far away from your skin as possible, the hot chocolate burning your skin. The boy quickly returned with both Sungwoon and towels and a bucket of water. He frantically dipped the towels in what you could now see was ice water, handing them to you first before pressing some against your legs. The towels felt great on your skin, counteracting the burning hot drink that had been spilled on you. After a few minutes of this, you started feeling normal again, albeit very wet, both from hot chocolate and water.
Sungwoon and the guy who spilled said hot chocolate on you were still fussing over trying to keep you from getting burned, however. “I think I’m okay now,” you muttered, causing the two guys to look up at you from their places on the floor. “Are you sure?” Sungwoon asked worriedly, while the other frantically apologized at the same time. “Yeah, I’m okay,” you replied, “It doesn’t feel hot anymore. I’m just wet,” you say with a soft laugh. It doesn’t seem to help assuage leaf boy’s fears however, as he keeps apologizing. “No, really, it’s okay, mistakes happen,” you try to assure him, but he is not buying it. “You could have been seriously burned! I’m such an idiot! Sungwoon always said to hold the tray with both hands…”
Sungwoon’s gaze immediately turned to the other with piercing intensity. “You weren’t holding the tray with both hands?” When he doesn’t get a reply, he becomes even angrier. “Jisung! Really? This is a coffee shop, not an Italian restaurant!”
So that was his name. Jisung.
“…Right? Hey, are you sure you’re okay?”
You realize you had just missed something Sungwoon said. “What?”
“I said you can’t walk back to your dorm like this! It’s crazy cold outside! You’ll freeze to death if you go outside soaking wet!” He glares at Jisung. “How are we supposed to dry her off, huh?”
You don’t really want to get involved in this fight. “No…really…it’s okay, my dorm is just over there, it’s fine if I walk…”
“No it’s not,” Jisung breaks in. “I might not be able to lend you any pants, but you can at least borrow my hoodie I wore to work. I promise it doesn’t smell bad or anything, and it’s better than walking back in a wet shirt.”
He has a point.
“Is it really okay…?” You ask cautiously. “Won’t you be cold instead?”
Jisung waves his hands in a dismissive gesture. “No, no, no, I have a coat too, it’ll be fine. Please, just take it? I can’t let you walk back like this.” He looks really upset, and is making a pouty face that makes you almost feel like you were the one who spilled coffee on him. Honestly, you’d do almost anything to get him to stop making that face.
“Okay, I guess that’s fine…” You trail off, and Jisung stands up. “Okay then, I’ll take you back to the employee area where you can change.”
You follow Jisung to the back, where he unlocks one of the lockers, pulling out a pink sweatshirt and handing it over to you. “I’m gonna go clean up that mess, you can change into this, just come out when you’re done.” He turns to leave, but then stops and turns back to you. “And, um, you can leave your shirt there,” he says, pointing to a chair. “I’ll wash it and give it back to you.” He doesn’t give you time to protest, leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.
Now that you’re alone, the events of the past fifteen minutes start to sink in, and you can’t help but let out a “What even just happened…” Deciding you don’t have time to process it all right now, you take your wet, coffee-stained shirt off and put Jisung’s pink sweatshirt on. It’s surprisingly soft, and smells like lavender fabric softener. Well, it’s clean, you think to yourself, stepping out of the employee area and back into the main area where you are met with both Jisung and Sungwoon looking at you. Pink dusts Jisung’s cheeks, but you aren’t sure whether it comes from the embarrassment of recent events, the exertion of running across the restaurant, or something else. Maybe it’s because you’re wearing his sweatshirt, an unknown part of your mind whispers to you. You immediately squash the thought, not even sure why you would think that.
You start edging toward the door when Jisung walks up to you. “It’s the end of my shift. Can I walk you back to your room?” You hesitate, not sure what to make of that proposition. “I mean, I just feel really bad, and what if something else happened to you and you got hurt or something? I just want to make sure you get back safe.”
You don’t see any harm in that, so you reluctantly agree. After you have both put on your winter gear, Jisung having retrieved his backpack from the employee room, you both step out into the cold. Jisung, true to his word, follows you back to your dorm. “I live on the fourth floor,” you say once you get to the dorm, and Jisung simply nods.
You walk down the hallway until you reach your room, turning to Jisung. “Well, this is it… Have a good night,” you say, unlocking your door and beginning to step inside, not even thinking of asking the boy you’d been thinking about for months for contact info or even his last name. Luckily, Jisung thinks to, if only for practical reasons. “Wait,” he calls out. “Can I have your phone number?”
You being you, for some reason think this is some kind of flirtation, and blush. “So I can return your shirt to you,” Jisung clarifies, seeing you turn slightly red. “Oh,” you say stupidly. You give him your phone number, then bid him goodnight again. “Thanks for lending me your sweatshirt.”
Jisung blushes again. “No, it’s my fault, I;m the one who spilled hot chocolate all over you, remember?”
“Please don’t keep worrying about that. I’m fine, mistakes happen, and you’ve done more than enough.”
Jisung lets out a sigh. “Okay. I was afraid you’d be angry. Well, I guess I should go…”
“Okay,” you reply awkwardly. “Be careful getting back to your room.”
“Yeah,” Jisung replies, similarly awkwardly. “I will. Have a good night.”
“You too.” You close the door to your room, just standing there for a minute to collect your thoughts. You hadn’t expected to meet him again, and especially not this way. Honestly, you weren’t sure what to make of it. You got ready for bed, putting Jisung’s sweater on top of the dirty clothes to be washed, brushing your teeth and changing into pajamas.
Later that night, as you were about to drift off to sleep, it hit you that in order for Jisung to return your shirt to you, and for you to return his sweater, you would certainly have to meet again.
When you fall asleep, it is with a smile on the edges of your lips.
Author notes: Wow, this chapter was a lot longer than the first. I hope you liked this chapter, and if you did please leave me an ask or a reply to this post, it really helps keep me writing. :)
Gasmilla Ft Teephlow Catch U Mp3 Download, The fisherman waves crooner Gasmilla join forces with Teephlow once again on this banging tune titled Catch You, offing his recent EP called Underworld.
[irp]
Download & Enjoy
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Gasmilla – Catch U Ft. Teephlow A brand new from Gasmilla Off his 4 tracklist Ep titled “Catch U” featuring fante rapper Teephlow. Download and enjoy!. Gasmilla - Catch U ft Teephlow
Listen to Perry’s Afrobeatss in the music video ‘Catch U’. The way he crafted the video and the lyrics together it keeps the listeners entertained throughout.
Perry ft. E.L – Catch U. OnePlate Music is thrilled to announce the release of the latest single CATCH-U featuring EL from PERRY. ‘Catch-U’ is a afro-beat song about a beautiful woman who’s hard to catch. After finally catching her, he proceeds to tell his friend what he experienced with the woman. Perry Tibiri, Born and raised in Accra, Ghana. He currently resides in the United States of…
