Chapter 12:

                                                                 When Rain Falls Twice

The rain had returned.

Not the gentle drizzle or soft mist of passing weather — but a steady downpour, like the kind that remembered. It pattered against the glass of the bookstore, the same way it had on the day they first met. The world outside was grey, blurred, and full of old echoes.

Kai stood at the threshold again.

He hadn’t planned to come back today. Not after the way they had left things — the awkward silence, the unspoken pause, the almost confession. But something had drawn him in.

Something that wasn’t just the rain.

Inside, the bell above the door jingled. The warmth of the bookstore reached him like an old friend. Books lined the shelves with quiet patience, and the smell of paper and faint lavender filled the space.

She was there.

Yuna.

Behind the counter again, her back turned, her hair damp from her own journey through the rain. She was arranging a display of newly arrived poetry volumes — the same shelf he had once browsed without reason.

He stepped forward, slow.

“Yuna,” he said softly.

She turned.

And for the first time in a while — she smiled, but it wasn’t the usual soft smile. It was one stitched with relief, surprise… and something that had waited.

 “You came.”

 “So did the rain.”

She laughed — a small sound, but it felt like sun between storm clouds.

 “I was hoping you’d come today.”

 “Why?”

 “Because I left something for you.”

She reached beneath the counter and brought out a book — not from the store’s inventory. A small, leather-bound notebook.

Kai blinked. “What’s this?”

 “Poetry,” she said. “But not the kind you find on shelves.”

He opened it. The handwriting was hers — careful, slanted, beautiful. Each page was a piece of her. Thoughts she never spoke, feelings too heavy for everyday conversation.

 “You wrote all this?”

 “Over time,” she said, cheeks faintly pink. “Mostly when I didn’t know how else to speak.”

He flipped through it, then stopped.

There, on one page, was a line:

 “He came in with the rain, but stayed in the silence.”

Kai looked up.

 “You wrote about me.”

Yuna nodded. “And you kept coming back.”

The moment stretched between them — no longer hesitant, no longer quiet. Just honest.

He stepped closer.

 “You still write in here?”

 “Only when I need to say something I can’t.”

Kai smiled, then slowly reached into his jacket pocket — pulling out a folded piece of paper. Carefully, he placed it between the pages of her book.

 “Then let me say something too.”

Her eyes found the paper. She didn’t read it — not yet. But she held it like something fragile. Precious.

The rain outside kept falling, soft and rhythmic.

Inside the bookstore, time felt slower — like the world had finally decided to wait for them.

 “So,” she whispered. “What now?”

 “We start again,” he said. “Even if it’s still raining.”

They stood together — not just under the same roof, but under everything they hadn’t said and everything they were finally ready to.

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Kai didn’t leave right away this time.

And when the rain stopped, he was still there.

With her.

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 Author’s Note: This is where their story circles back — not to where it began, but to where it truly started. Sometimes, the second time it rains is the one that matters.

 Thank you for reading all the way through. If When Rain Falls Twice left even a small print on your heart — I’m grateful. Until next time. — Arthur

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