Breathless, I looked up.

She was standing a few steps away, her chest rising and falling, strands of hair clinging to her face from the run. When our eyes met, I froze.

"Is she the girl from my dream ?"

I asked myself. She looked so familiar yet so blurred.

For a moment, the world grew quiet. The morning air, the footsteps of people passing, even the dog’s restless breathing—all of it faded into the background. It was like for a moment only the two of us existed.

“Thank you so much!” she said, rushing forward to take the leash from my hand. Her voice—gentle, bright—was exactly like the echo that had haunted me all night. Her soft hand gently brushed against mine for a moment sending an unknown sensation through out my body.

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. My throat tightened. I could only stare.

"Why... why can't I say anything? Why do I feel so strange yet so..."

She tilted her head slightly, her beautiful black hair falling down with her like a stream, brows knitting together. “Um… are you okay?”

I blinked, pulling myself back to reality. “Y-yeah. Sorry. I just… I just thought you looked kind of familiar.”

My voice came out softer than I expected and I didn't realize but I was feeling a bit nervous despite my self. It was although my first time talking to a girl.

A small laugh escaped her lips. “Really? Maybe we’ve seen each other around. I go to the college nearby.”

My heart skipped. The same college. Yet I had never once noticed her. Was I really so lost in my own world that someone like her could exist right in front of me—hidden in plain sight?

Before I could think of what to say next, the bell from the school clock tower rang in the distance. She smiled politely.

“I should get going. Thank you again… you really saved me.” 

She said with a bright smile. Her smile was so gentle, so bright- it almost made me blush a bit.

She turned away, walking with the dog tugging at her side. But even as she left, her voice lingered in my mind like a melody.

I stood there, rooted to the spot, with a strange warmth blooming in my chest.

That familiar, aching thought whispered again:

"Why does it feel like I’ve known her forever… yet I only just met her now?"

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