A Second Strike Of Lightning

Turbulence

The eerie rumbling of the skies reverberated in the empty office. It was around a quarter past ten and everyone was already safe and warm in the comfort of their own houses. Yet, there she was, still working beyond business hours to meet that darn deadline. In her mind, she was reprimanding herself for not checking the weather forecast before (in the words of her utterly lousy, party-thirsty, and gender-prejudiced manager) taking one for the team.

"One more slide, Yoon Jin Ah," she murmured to herself as if it would help to slow down the accelerating pounding in her chest. "Just one more slide."

Fifteen minutes later, she scanned the presentation for a quick proofreading, crossing her fingers and toes that the material she prepared was enough to save her ass from being chewed out in the afternoon team huddle the next day. Thankfully, in spite of cramming, the deck did not appear to be haphazardly done.

Just as she was about to click 'Save', another bout of thunder broke the silence – this time, louder and definitely more imposing – and it made Jin Ah literally jump in her seat. Nonetheless, the daunting sound from the turbulence outside was nothing compared to the sight of a silhouette manifesting out of nowhere.

"You gave me a fright, Goo Seo Jin!" she gasped after cursing under her breath, her fingers frantically clutching the collar of her shirt as if it was a lifeline.

The man she called Goo Seo Jin scowled, his thick eyebrows furrowing in disapproval.

"It's not my fault that you are a scaredy-cat, Yoon Jin Ah," he said flatly while adjusting his eyeglasses. "I've been around for a while now but you simply didn't notice."

Frustrated, Jin Ah squeezed her eyes shut for a brief moment in a nearly-futile attempt to restrain herself from chiding him.

A normal person would say 'hello' to make their presence known, mister, she thought to herself.

Then again, if the past years taught her anything, it was that nothing about Goo Seo Jin was 'normal'.

Tech genius, self-made man, mysterious debonair – it was such a pity that she had to add 'peculiarly asocial' to the list of descriptions she concocted in her head.

Thunder boomed for the third consecutive time after a blinding streak of lightning. If only she was not conscious of how Seo Jin's astute eyes were focused on her, Jin Ah would have taken refuge under her table in a split-second without shame. Instead, she buried her face in her hands and counted to ten to keep herself steady – a childhood habit that usually seemed to do the trick.

"Yoon Jin Ah," his somber voice faded into her consciousness, hauling her out of her stupor. "What are you doing?"

"Distracting myself," her answer clearly tumbled out of her quivering lips, although the certainty of it was muffled by her palm. "Thunder and lightning are two things I never grew fond of."

"Why?"

"Some nightmare from childhood."

"Care to elaborate?"

Jin Ah shook her head, then swiftly brought her hands down to her sides. She did not have to say 'no' for Seo Jin to halt his subtle interrogation out of respect.

Suddenly, the lights flickered. How a metropolitan city like theirs experienced a power fluctuation for the first time in a long time – not to mention, how Seo Jin managed to cross the distance between them in a heartbeat – she'd never know.

"You're trembling," he whispered as his hands gently rubbed the tops of her arms.

"Am I?" she asked, her voice helplessly yielding to anxiety.