"Every sunset hides a love that never faded."
March 1, 2014.
The midday sun was warming the city, painting everything in soft shade of yellow. The mild March breeze came with a gentle touch, caressing hair with a tenderness human would ever show. The young girl shifted slightly, restless after sitting on the bench for so long. Her head was bowed; her brown hair framed her face delicately on both sides, and each time the wind blew, fine strands swayed softly. Her pen moved unwaveringly over her slightly crumpled pages, and her eyes carefully examined the lines she was writing.
A faint rustle beside her pulled her out of her deep thoughts, making her turn her head in that direction. Her gaze lingered on a young man sitting at the other end of the bench, his chestnut hair tousled by the playful wind. He had turned his head toward her; through strands fluttering across his forehead, his golden irises looked at her with an expression that was both serious and distant. His naturally brown hair turned to a pale yellow under the sunlight, shining as brightly as the golden flecks in his eyes. This brightness gave him an ethereal appearance, and his facial features were more dazzling than the sun itself. His breath was short; his damp hair stuck to his forehead, and beads of sweat ran down from his temples to his neck - proof that he had been running for a while. He wore a white tank top that looked as if it had been hastily thrown on early in the morning. The fabric was thin; it clung to his body, outlining his muscles. The red tracksuit jacket he had put on over it had slid off his shoulders, hanging halfway down his arms. The white stripes on the vivid red fabric caught the light with every movement.
The gray sweatpants around his waist hung loosely; the drawstrings were tied without much care. Everything about him radiated a careless ease, yet also a natural charm.
His honey-colored eyes lingered for a moment on the brown ones that shamelessly reflected their light. The girl averted her gaze from the stranger and quietly turned her head down again. Pretending to be unaffected, she resumed writing in her notebook. For a few minutes, the park fell silent. The leaves rustled softly; in the distance, children's laughter, birdsong, and the whisper of the gentle wind intertwined. Only the sound of the pen striking paper could be heard - rhythmic and unbroken, as if it measured the flow of time itself.
"You got any water?"
The boy's voice tore through the stillness around them. He was looking at her with an inviting, charming smile that contrasted completely with his earlier seriousness.
"What?"
Startled, the girl quickly lifted her head, her eyes once again locking involuntarily onto the boy's burning golden irises.
Without bothering to wait for an answer, the boy smirked, reached out, grabbed the water bottle beside her, and drank it all in one go. When the girl finally realized what had happened, her brows furrowed sharply, and she snatched the nearly empty bottle from his hand with irritation.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"
Her voice rose sharply, and her defiant gaze fixed squarely on the boy's face.
Still wearing that mischievous grin so typical of him, the boy ran a hand through his wet hair and spoke with an entirely innocent expression.
"Come on, it's just a bottle of water. I was really thirsty."
The girl restrained herself with great effort from rolling her eyes at his reckless attitude. To calm her anger, she took a deep, long breath and exhaled slowly.
The boy stood up at an unhurried pace and stretched lazily. He glanced at her one last time with a cheeky smile as his golden bangs fell across his face, as if mocking his own boldness. Then, with his hands in his pockets, he slowly walked away from the bench.
The girl stared after him in a mix of surprise and disbelief.