Chapter 10: 

                     Between The Lines.

The streets were quieter than usual — the kind of quiet that made every footstep feel louder, every breath deeper.

Kai held the umbrella loosely in one hand, the other tucked inside his coat pocket. The sky above was a canvas of muted gray, the rain now a whisper more than a song. As he stood in front of the bookstore, a familiar warmth stirred inside him — not from the shop, but from what waited inside.

Yuna.

She looked up when he entered. This time, she wasn’t behind the counter or among the shelves. She was sitting near the window seat — the one in aisle three. A book rested in her lap, unopened.

Kai walked over slowly.

 “You’re not working today?” he asked.

Yuna smiled, scooting over to make room. “I took the evening shift off. Felt like… sitting instead.”

 “Sitting?” he repeated with a curious grin.

 “Yeah,” she said, looking out the window. “Just sitting. Watching the rain and... waiting, maybe.”

Kai sat beside her. Their shoulders didn’t touch, but they were close enough for the warmth between them to settle in the space.

They didn’t speak for a while.

Outside, someone walked by with a red umbrella, its reflection rippling in a puddle. The jazz playing softly from the speakers seemed to sync with their silence — unhurried, unforced.

 “Do you think…” Yuna began, then paused. “Do you think people can feel something before they understand it?”

Kai glanced at her, surprised by the question. “Like… feelings you don’t have a name for yet?”

She nodded.

 “Yeah,” he said. “All the time.”

She turned to him, her eyes searching. “I think I felt something the first time you walked in.”

Kai blinked. His chest tightened a little, but not in a painful way. More like something inside had been quietly waiting to be acknowledged.

 “I was looking for a reason to come back,” he admitted. “But maybe I already had one.”

A soft chuckle escaped her lips. “And here we are. Two strangers sitting beneath a bookstore window like we were written into the same chapter.”

He looked at her, fully now. The flickering lights, the scent of paper, the soft jazz, the world outside — it all blurred. Only her voice remained.

 “Yuna,” he said quietly. “I think I want to know everything about you.”

She smiled, her fingers brushing the edge of the poetry book in her lap.

 “Then stay for the next page.”

---

Kai didn’t check the time. Didn’t care how long he sat there.

Because beneath that umbrella of silence and shared glances, something real had begun to bloom.

And for the first time in a long time, he wasn’t afraid of the rain.

---

 Author’s Note:

Sometimes, it’s not the words spoken but the ones left hanging in the air that matter most. This chapter is a turning point — and there’s no turning back from here.

  If this chapter made your heart ache in the best way, don’t forget to leave a comment or tap that heart 

See you in Chapter 11 —

— Arthur