Coincidental Love

11. Falling

Grace's POV

Nic and I wave bye to Janice before heading for the train. Soon the train arrives, and Nic gestures for me to enter the train first. I bowed my head, hiding the tinge of blush that formed on my face. Being the peak period, the cabin is filled with many people. Leaving me no grab bars to hold on to, I widened my legs, in an attempt to increase my balance, silently praying that I won't fall.

"So is there anything you want to eat?" Nic asked me, while scrolling through his phone.

"Hmm, I don't know. Where are we going to?"

"There's this place in town that serves really good pasta. Maybe we can go there?"

"Yeah, sure. I like --" before I can end my sentence, I felt the train turn. Without anything to grab onto, I find my torso following the momentum of the train, while my feet lose their grip. My eyes widen while my hands stretch out to brace myself for the impact of the impending fall. As the distance from the ground decreases, I find one hand wrapped around my shoulder while another was gripping my upper arm from the back, saving me from the disaster. It must be Nicholas who saved me! Aww! Turning my head up, I am shocked to see Nic standing in front of me, wide-eyed, with his hands by his sides. So it wasn't Nic who saved me, the typical Korean drama scene in my mind shattered. Then, who is the one holding me now? Turning around, I find myself staring back at an elderly man. Sighs, even a senior can hold his balance better than you, Grace, what a disGRACE you are. Seeing that I am stable, the elderly man released me. 

"Thank you," I said to him, smiling in embarrassment. It is then that I realised, almost everyone's eyes are on me, even those who were absorbed in their mini-social media world.

"Grace! Are you alright?" Nicholas exclaimed, his eyes frantically scanning down my body, searching for injuries. 

"I'm fine," I muttered back, feeling my cheeks rise in temperature. This is gonna haunt me for the rest of my life.

"You sure?" he asked, worry evident in his eyes. If I haven't been so caught up in my embarrassment, I would have swooned at this scene.

"Yeah, I'm fine, really," I replied, averting my eyes away from his, focusing on the passing sights through the train window. Sensing that I am not up for any conversation, and confirming that I am fine, Nicholas nodded his head and kept silent. Despite my self-consciousness being all-time high, his gentleman gesture didn't go unnoticed. Nic moved us to a corner of the cabin, that was previously occupied by someone, who must have just alighted. Once I am settled in my safe corner, I reach down to place my bag on the floor, in between my legs, then lean my back against the plastic-laminated wall. Looking up, I gasp, surprised to find Nic's chest a short ruler's (15 cm) length away from my face. Extending my neck, I see his head tilted to the left, looking out of the window, while his right hand is holding on to the vertical grab pole. Suddenly, realisation hit me. I am actually caged between the white wall of the cabin and Nic's body! Okay, this sounds too much of a romantic scene, when it's actually just a protective gesture, but me being the hopeless romantic, find my cheeks burning again, for a good reason now. Seeing that his eyes are fixed on the outside world, absorbed in whatever is going on his mind, I study his face. His naturally, nicely-shaped, dark eyebrows set above a deep set of eyes that mesmerise me from the first time I saw him, glimmers under the warm rays of the setting sun, shining in from the glass. He blinks, drawing my attention to his black eyelashes, that are so long that every other girl would be jealous of, curling slightly at the tips. Situating between those beautiful eyes, lays his high nose bridge, that has a little bump, making me wonder how he would look like with spectacles. Leaving his sharp-pointed nose, my eyes fall on his rose-pink lips, that suddenly move. Breaking out from my trans, I realise that Nic is calling me. I shook myself back to reality and turn my gaze away from his lips, to meet his eyes.

"We are alighting soon," he said, laughing slightly. Registering the thought that he caught me staring at his lips, I blushed, rolling my lips inwards, I nodded to him, while looking down to the floor. Oh gosh, how many times have I blushed today? I lost count of that, but I know I fell twice today. Once because of the train, second because of Nicholas. I am falling in love with him.

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Decided to add some humour into this chapter, so it isn't all so serious haha.