The drive back to Nova City felt different.
Neither of them spoke much, but the silence wasn't empty; it was full—of everything they'd finally said, and everything they still hadn't.
The sun melted behind the skyline as they reached the bridge.
Jae-hyun slowed the car, glancing sideways.
"Do you believe in second lives?"
Ha-rin smiled faintly. "After what we remembered today, I believe in second chances."
"Then I want mine," he said, eyes never leaving hers. "Starting now."
The city lights flickered across his face; for a moment, she could almost see the boy from the river and the man beside her merge into one.
---
They parked near Mirae Street Market, the air thick with the scent of rain and roasted chestnuts.
People laughed, vendors shouted, neon signs blinked like fireflies.
Ha-rin tugged his sleeve. "Hungry?"
He nodded. "Starved."
They ended up sharing spicy rice cakes at a stall, both pretending not to notice the sauce on each other's lips until she laughed so hard she nearly dropped her chopsticks.
"You're hopeless," she said, wiping his chin with a napkin.
He caught her wrist gently, voice soft. "Only with you."
The laughter faded into something warmer. The crowd blurred.
Her pulse quickened, not from surprise—but recognition.
---
When the drizzle began again, they ducked beneath a narrow shop awning.
The light was gold and close. Water drummed against the street.
Jae-hyun looked down at her, raindrops glinting in his hair.
"Every time it rains, it feels like the world is trying to tell us something."
Ha-rin's smile trembled. "That we keep finding each other no matter how hard it tries to drown us?"
He reached up, fingertips brushing her jaw.
"That we were never meant to stop."
She froze—not out of fear, but because her heart forgot what to do next.
When he kissed her, it wasn't cautious anymore. It was certain.
The noise of the market vanished; even the rain seemed to pause, listening.
It wasn't hunger—it was history colliding with now.
Every touch carried the weight of the years they'd lost and the promise of those still waiting.
When they finally parted, she whispered, breathless,
"Someone will see."
"Let them," he said, smiling against her hair. "I want the world to know I finally caught the girl who keeps running through my dreams."
She laughed softly, resting her forehead against his chest.
"Then don't let go this time."
He wrapped his arms around her tighter. "Not even if time asks."
---
Far above them, the glass towers reflected streaks of gold and blue.
To the rest of the city, it was just another rainy night.
But for them, it was proof that love, once remembered, doesn't return quietly—it comes back like thunder wrapped in laughter.