THE UNSEEN THREAD

PART 9

Areeba and Maha wandered through the grocery store, their eyes wide as they took in the unfamiliar products lining the shelves. It was their first shopping trip since moving to Korea, and every aisle felt like a small adventure.

"Why are there so many kinds of ramen?" Areeba whispered, picking up a packet and flipping it over. "And none of them say halal."

Maha leaned closer, scanning the ingredients. "Yeah, this is going to take longer than I thought." She sighed. "We should've looked up what's safe to buy here."

Areeba nudged her with a grin. "Next time. For now, trial and error."

They moved along, filling the cart with basics-eggs, milk, bread-but paused at every unfamiliar item, trying to decipher labels written mostly in Hangul.

Maha held up a bottle of sauce. "What do you think? Soy sauce or something else?"

Areeba squinted at it. "Could be. Or it could be vinegar, for all I know."

They shared a laugh, the awkwardness of their new surroundings lightened by their humor.

"I miss back home already," Maha said softly, tossing the bottle into the cart.

Areeba gave her a reassuring smile. "We'll figure it out. One grocery trip at a time."

With that, they carried on through the store, navigating their new life one product at a time.

As Areeba scanned the shelves, debating between two brands of yogurt, Maha nudged her with an elbow.

"Don't look now," Maha whispered, leaning close, "but that guy from the subway is here, maybe."

Areeba's stomach flipped. She'd noticed him before-once at the subway, then at the convenience store-but she had brushed it off as coincidence. Until now.

"You're kidding," Areeba muttered, keeping her gaze locked on the yogurt. "I met him at a convenience store but I didn't notice him at subway, now I remember that he's the same guy"

"What?. And he's coming this way," Maha added under her breath, pretending to inspect a packet of cereal.

Just as Areeba reached for the yogurt, a voice interrupted her.

"Hi. Areeba, right?"

She froze for a moment before turning slowly, forcing a polite smile. There he was-tall, with an easy grin that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Oh... hey," Areeba said, her voice cautious. She hadn't told him her name, had she?

"I'm surprised to see you again," he continued, as if running into her a third time was pure luck. "We seem to keep crossing paths."

Areeba nodded, her mind racing. There was something unsettling.

"I guess so," she said, hoping her voice didn't betray her unease. "Do you live around here?"

The guy tilted his head, as if considering how much to say. "Something like that."

Maha gave Areeba a subtle glance, a silent signal-Who is this guy?

Before Areeba could respond, he added with a soft smile, "It's nice to see a familiar face in a new place. Maybe we'll run into each other again."

Areeba didn't like the way he said that-like he was sure it would happen.

"Yeah... maybe," she replied, her smile tightening.

The guy gave her a small wave and walked off, blending into the crowd of shoppers.

Maha waited until he was out of earshot before leaning closer. "Okay, that was weird. Do you know him?"

Areeba shook her head, her heart still racing. "Not really. I just keep... running into him."