Chapter 1: The Unexpected Encounter
Liara Chen tightened her grip on her notebook as she hurried across the campus courtyard. Her mind was buried in lecture notes when—bam!—she collided with someone.
"I-I'm so sorry!" she stammered, looking up.
Kai Lin, tall, dark-haired, and impossibly calm, bent slightly to meet her gaze. "No harm done," he said, a small smile tugging at his lips. His eyes… something in them made her heart skip.
Books tumbled to the ground. As they both knelt to gather them, Liara noticed the faint scar above his eyebrow, almost hidden beneath his hair. "You… okay?" she asked.
He nodded, brushing off the encounter casually, but Liara felt a strange pull, like the universe had just thrown them together for a reason. Little did she know, this chance meeting was only the beginning…