Chapter 3: A Chance Encounter

It was a dull day for Avyanna. She was sitting in a coffee shop across from the university with Huan-Yue and Monica, sipping coffee and chatting about random things. The rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the air, blending with the soft laughter of other customers and the rhythmic hum of the espresso machine.

While her two friends were engrossed in conversation, Avyanna suddenly paused. Her gaze drifted towards the counter, where a young man wearing a coffee shop apron caught her attention. There was something about his presence—sharp eyes, an upright posture, and a sense of ease in the way he moved.

Monica noticed Avyanna zoning out and smirked. “Hey, Avyanna, don’t be too obvious,” she whispered teasingly, snapping Avyanna back to reality. Quickly, she turned her gaze down to her coffee cup, taking a sip to play it cool.

Huan-Yue grinned. “Hmm… You’re up to something, aren’t you?” she asked before taking a sip of her drink.

Avyanna shrugged. “Uhmm, Huan-Yue… This is a Chinese coffee shop, right?”

“Of course, why?” Huan-Yue responded with a puzzled expression.

Avyanna nervously drummed her fingers on the table. “I just wanted to ask… Do you know him?” She subtly gestured toward the guy at the counter. “Just wondering, you know.”

Monica almost choked on her drink upon hearing that and immediately leaned in. “OMG. Don’t tell me—you have a crush on him?!”

Avyanna quickly averted her gaze. “I never said that!” she retorted, but the warmth creeping onto her cheeks betrayed her.

Huan-Yue and Monica exchanged mischievous looks before grinning at each other.

“Hmm… Looks like we have a new love story brewing,” Huan-Yue teased.

Avyanna let out a deep sigh. She wasn’t sure whether she should be amused or regret ever asking.

“Hey! Avyanna, you’re being so flirty! Behave yourself!” Monica joked, laughing.

Avyanna sneaked another glance at the guy. He was still at the counter, busy attending to customers. Considering how many people were coming in and out of the café, it wasn’t surprising that he looked occupied.

Suddenly, Monica grinned. “You’re in luck—I know who he is. I swear, you’re going to be shocked!”

Avyanna raised an eyebrow. “Eyst… Looks like luck is on my side, huh?” she said, her excitement evident in her voice.

Some customers glanced at their table, making Avyanna duck her head in embarrassment. She let out a sharp exhale while her two friends burst into laughter at her reaction.

“Is this your first time seeing him here?” Monica asked, trying to hold back her laughter. “Or is it just now that you’ve finally noticed him? Because, girl, he’s been working here since… February? Right, Huan-Yue?”

“Yeah! He’s been here since February!” Huan-Yue confirmed.

Avyanna’s mouth fell open. He had been working there for a while, yet she had only just noticed him now.

Before she could respond, a sudden warmth spread across her thigh.

“Shit!” she gasped, jumping up from her seat. She had been burned!

Looking up, she saw the same guy she had been staring at earlier—he was holding a tray, and it was clear that a customer had accidentally bumped into him, causing the coffee to spill.

“I’m so sorry! Come with me to the kitchen so you can clean that up,” the guy said seriously, his concern evident.

Avyanna quickly shook her head. “Uhmm… It’s fine. We were about to leave anyway.”

But the guy wasn’t convinced. “No, I insist. This was my fault, and your leg looks really red—you might have burned yourself badly.”

Only then did Avyanna fully register the stinging sensation on her skin. She couldn’t argue any further; the pain was undeniable.

With a quiet sigh, she stole a glance at the guy. Now that she was up close, she could really see how handsome he was. Internally, she wondered what kind of game the universe was playing, bringing them together like this.

Without a word, she followed him into the kitchen, completely unaware of the shocked reactions of her two friends, who were left at the table.

“Sit down,” the guy instructed cooly.

Though confused, Avyanna obeyed. His tone was different from when he was serving customers—it was more serious, almost authoritative.

“Sorry about what happened earlier,” he said sincerely. There was genuine concern on his face, but exhaustion was evident too.

Avyanna smiled reassuringly. “Nah… It’s nothing. I’m okay. You should take a break—you look really tired.”

The guy remained silent for a moment before nodding and turning around to grab something from the kitchen.

Not wanting to linger, Avyanna stood up. “I have to go. Thanks for the help; I feel much better now.” She flashed him a quick smile before heading out.

The moment she stepped out, she was met with the wide-eyed, expectant faces of Monica and Huan-Yue. She rolled her eyes before sitting back down.

“Did you get his name?” Huan-Yue asked eagerly.

“Not yet. Let’s just go—I want to head home.”

As they walked toward their condo, Avyanna received a message from Monica.

📩 From: Monica

Name: Kairus Chu

Accounts:

WeChat: 120835793097

I*******m: @kc0998

Weibo: @ks0998

Avyanna frowned as she read the message on her phone. It seemed like her connection with Kristof Chu wasn’t over yet. Deep down, she felt an odd pull—a curiosity urging her to learn more about him.

She looked up at Huan-Yue, who was busy adjusting her bag strap. “Huan-Yue, what are WeChat and Weibo? Do you have accounts on them?”

Huan-Yue glanced at her and nodded. “Yeah… I do. Why?”

Avyanna hesitated before speaking again. “Can you teach me how to make an account?”

“It’s easy,” Huan-Yue said confidently. “I’ll help you… but tomorrow. I have a blind date later. See you!” she added before walking off.

Avyanna let out a long sigh as she watched her friend leave. “Ugh, great,” she muttered before continuing toward her condo.

The moment she got inside, she flopped onto the sofa and grabbed her phone. Instead of waiting for Huan-Yue, she went ahead and downloaded WeChat and Weibo herself. It wasn’t as difficult to use as she had thought.

“Tsk, this is actually pretty easy,” she muttered while tapping on the screen.

As she explored the app, she decided to call Huan-Yue to ask for her Weibo username. But before she could tap the call button, an email popped up with a QR code attached.

She scanned the code, and within seconds, Huan-Yue’s profile appeared on her screen.

“Nice!” she exclaimed, but her excitement quickly faded when she saw the feed. The entire page was filled with Mandarin characters.

“Damn it! How am I supposed to read this?!” she grumbled, trying to decipher the posts.

She then turned to the search bar and typed in "Kairus Chu." Within seconds, countless profiles appeared.

“Ugh, so many Kairus Chu’s!” she groaned before setting her phone down. Instead of continuing the search, she decided to take a shower.

After showering, she found herself in the kitchen. She had unknowingly finished preparing a meal.

“I thought I wasn’t in the mood to cook,” she mumbled as she set the food on the table.

While eating, she thought about the tasks she had to finish.

“I should buy coffee. I need to finish my project before I get busy tomorrow.”

She arrived at the coffee shop, only to see the sign being flipped from "OPEN" to "CLOSED."

“Wait… This is a 24/7 coffee shop. Why is it closing at 7 PM?”

Disappointed, she turned to leave when a familiar voice spoke from behind her.

“Hi, good evening.”

She turned around—and there he was. Kairus.

But this time, his voice wasn’t cold like before. It was warm.

“Good evening,” she replied hesitantly.

Kairusx smiled. “Want some coffee? Come in—I’ll make you one.”

After saying that, he reopened the coffee shop door and stepped inside. Avyanna hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she followed him in and took a seat near the counter.

"Iced Americano, two cups," she said.

Kristof silently prepared the coffee, but as he was doing so, he suddenly spoke.

"I was actually about to close up since it's already pretty late," he explained. "Yeah, this coffee shop is open 24/7, but there’s no other staff coming in tonight, and I need to rest too. But when I saw you standing outside looking disappointed… I thought I’d make it up to you, especially since I owe you an apology for earlier."

Avyanna smiled, slightly surprised by what he said.

"Really? You actually noticed me?" she joked. "Haha… But it’s fine if you close early. It’s obvious that you’re tired too."

Kristof glanced at her as he placed ice into the cups, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"By the way," he said, "what’s your name?"

She paused for a moment, but she couldn’t deny the little thrill his question gave her.

"I'm just curious…" Kairus added. "Because you seem really kind."

Avyanna. That was her name.

After she answered the question, Kairus' brow furrowed slightly as he stared at her, as if processing the response he had just heard.

"No last name?" he asked, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Avyanna Smith," she replied, unsure if she should reveal her full name.

"Are you American?" Avyanna noticed the slight raise of his eyebrow, as if he was scrutinizing her answer.

She bit her finger, feeling like she was being interrogated in an investigation room. What was happening to her? Why did she feel nervous?

"French, Spanish, and American," she finally said.

Kairus nodded slightly, as if storing the information in his mind. "Oh… by the way, I’m Kairus Chu."

As he spoke, he carefully placed two cups of iced Americano on the table.

The coffee for take-out was ready, so Avyanna immediately stood up. She knew she was already taking up his time. He should have been home and resting by now, but here he was, accommodating her as the last customer of the night.

"Thanks for the accommodation. You should be resting," she said with a slight smile before she started walking out of the coffee shop.

As she walked away, she heard him let out a soft sigh before muttering under his breath, "Finally, I caught up with you… I’ve been waiting for so long."

She paused for a moment. She knew he had said something, but she pretended not to hear it. Slowly, she turned back, but instead of asking, she simply gave him a wave and a smile.

As she stepped out of the coffee shop, she couldn’t help but think about his words. What did he mean? And why did it feel like there was something different in the way he said it?

The whole night, she felt a mix of happiness and confusion. Kristof’s words kept playing in her mind over and over again.

It wasn’t as if her thoughts about Kairus were bothering her too much, so she continued working on her project.

By ten in the evening, she was done, so she decided to check her social media accounts. To be honest, she had never been interested in social media before. It was only today that she opened I*******m, Weibo, and WeChat accounts—just those, nothing more.

As soon as she turned on her WiFi, notifications flooded the screen of her iPad. She grabbed her phone, took a selfie, and posted it on I*******m. At the same time, she updated the information on her account.

While she was busy fixing her profile, she suddenly received a message on WeChat. She ignored it for the moment, wanting to finish uploading her profile picture and setting her nickname on Weibo first.

Reading Chinese characters wasn’t a problem for her anymore since she had learned them when she was young. She had taken Chinese language classes when she was just nine years old.

Her eyes were almost dropping from exhaustion when suddenly, a call came through. Too tired to check who it was, she answered without looking.

"Hey… You’re still awake?"

She forced her eyes open and was shocked to see who was calling—Kairus Chu.

"Yeah... still awake! I thought you were already asleep," she answered, trying to mask the sleepiness in her voice.

"It’s late! Kairus, why are you still up?!" a woman’s voice yelled in the background.

Kairus just laughed before saying something Avyanna didn’t fully understand. From the way he spoke, it seemed like he assumed she didn’t understand Mandarin.

"I think you should sleep now. I’m going to bed too, by the way," she said before quickly ending the video call.

She didn’t even bother turning off her WiFi and just lay down. However, because of the nonstop notifications, she couldn’t fall asleep right away.

Moments later, another call came in. She didn’t need to check to know who it was—she already knew.

"You’re still awake! That’s good, Avyanna!" the person on the other line greeted excitedly.

"I was about to sleep, but you called, you annoying Japanese!" she snapped at Rin.

"Oh, come on… Not too long ago, you were dying to call me! What happened to the old Avyanna?" Rin teased with a grin.

"I woke up, okay? So, what are you up to? And mind your own business! I don’t need your pity, but look at my eyebags—they’re huge!" Avyanna complained, rubbing the area under her eyes.

"Oh, so you finally opened I*******m. Wow, you have a lot of followers! Are you a celebrity or something?" Rin teased while checking her profile.

"I’m the daughter of a mafia boss. If you want to stay alive, turn off that video chat, or I’ll have you killed!" Avyanna joked before shoving her iPad under her bed.