{1} Catalyst

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Catalyst - a person or thing that precipitates (causes) an event.

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"I'm just glad one of us was paying attention." The girl's voice tore me from my thoughts and brought me back to reality. "I don't think that car was gonna stop for you." She said with a hint of fear in her voice. I looked up to see her staring off into the distance, most likely where the car had disappeared to. The driver, I assumed, took off without stopping to see if I was alright. I also took notice that the light blue butterfly from earlier had seemingly vanished.

After a few moments of silence, the girl finally realized that I wasn't going to respond, but she seemed to understand why. She didn't ask anything else, and instead helped me up off of the ground. I let her guide me over to a nearby bench on the sidewalk and sat down. She joined me and under the street light, I was finally able to get a good look at her. The red blazer she was wearing caught my attention and complimented her red earrings well. She had shoulder length dirty blonde hair with bangs that just reached her eyebrows. Her brown eyes sparkled under the soft glow of artificial light allowing me to see specks of green and gold mixed in. They were beautiful, really. Well, she was beautiful, now that I thought about it.

"I'm Jeongyeon by the way." She extended her hand towards me with a polite smile. I shook it and watched as she looked back at me with kind eyes.

"Y/N." I said instinctively and eventually let her hand go. I was still a little dazed from the whole accident, but my eyes widened when everything started to process in my brain. "T-thank you. You saved my life." The caring look on her face never faded and I shook my head, mad at myself for hardly paying attention to her. She must've thought I was so disrespectful. "I owe you my life. If you weren't there, I would've-"

"Hey, don't even finish that sentence. You're here now. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time." She shrugged her shoulders, her gaze moving in front of her at the street where she just risked her own life to save mine. "I'm sure you would've done the same for me."

She looked so sure of her words and yet she didn't even know me. I could've been a horrible person for all she knows. And who am I to say that I wasn't? The whole reason why I was in this mess in the first place was because...

"I hope wherever you were headed wasn't too important because you've been passed out for a while. Where were you going in such a hurry anyways?" Jeongyeon asked, taking the words right from my mind. Yet, the longer I searched for the answer to that question, the harder it seemed to find. As if the memory had slowly faded until I had completely forgotten.

Why was I in a hurry?

The last thing I remember was having that strange dream about the portraits and then waking up to my alarm clock. But why was my alarm clock going off? And what did I do after I got up? Wait...

How did I even get here in the first place?

All this thinking started to give me a headache and my hands instinctively reached up to massage my temple. At that point, I also forgot that Jeongyeon had asked me a question and I didn't realize that she was watching my every move. I felt her place a hand on my shoulder. The act was oddly comforting and I found my headache fading as she began talking in a soothing voice.

"Y/N, are you alright?" I looked into her soft eyes and, slowly, I began to feel better. I was starting to realize how much I truly valued her kind actions. I decided it was best not to tell her what had just went through my mind. I didn't want her to worry about me anymore than she already was. So, instead of saying anything, I settled on weakly nodding my head in response. "Maybe we should get you back home." She stood up before I could protest and pulled me up with her. Although, I grabbed her arm to stop her from walking.

"No!" I shouted, shocking even myself at my loud outburst. She looked back at me with her eyebrows raised and I let out a sigh. "No, you have already done so much for me. I can get myself home. I wouldn't want to waste anymore of your time anyways." I told her honestly and she frowned.

"Are you sure? It really wouldn't be wasting my time. I just want to make sure you're safe." Her eyes held so much sincerity and it made my heart flutter. Why did she care this much, we only just met? Plus, I didn't feel like I deserved it. After all, she was the one who saved my life, not the other way around.

"Yes I'm sure. I really do appreciate your concern, but I'll be alright. Thank you, again, for... everything. I don't know how I'll ever repay you." I told her honestly, looking at the ground, feeling somewhat ashamed that I didn't have anything to offer her. "Just know that I will forever be in your debt."

I finished, looking up to meet her eyes once more with a smile. I could tell she wanted to say something, maybe protest what I said, but she refrained and just smiled back, reminding me to stay safe. I thanked her one last time and then started my way back across the street, this time looking both ways before crossing. Although, I didn't get far before her voice stopped me.

"Hey, wait! I forgot to give you this back." I turned around after I made it across the street and watched as she walked towards me, a small red box in her outstretched hand.

Confused by the item, I took it from her and slowly opened it up. Inside, a shiny metal bracelet in the shape of a butterfly laid on top of a piece of cotton. This reminded me of the first thing I saw after my accident and I suddenly felt like this couldn't be a coincidence. The light blue butterfly appearing and now this strange bracelet that I don't remember purchasing. It seemed quite expensive and high quality... why would I have this?

"Are you sure this is mine?" I asked, closing the box carefully. "I don't think I would buy something like this." The material of the box felt cool as I ran my fingers over it. The outside gave no indication to who this gift belonged to.

"Yes, it was on the road after you nearly got hit. I guess you were holding it when you ran across the street." She explained and I frowned in confusion. If it truly was mine, I had no use for it now. I didn't remember who I was planning on giving it to and I wasn't the type to wear jewelry like this.

She started to walk away, but an idea popped into my head and I stopped her once again. "Here-" I tried to hand it to her, but she just looked down at the red box, then glanced back at me, unsure. "For saving my life."

Her eyes widened as she shook her head furiously at the gift. "No... this is important. It's not for me." She pushed my hand away.

"Please, it's the least I can do after you saved my life. I promise no one will miss it." I explained. It was true, I didn't remember who it was for anyways. There's no way someone would miss it if they had no idea I intended on giving it to them in the first place. "It's for you." This time I placed it into her hands myself.

She sighed, but eventually gave in. "I don't want to take it...but I can't resist a beautiful woman." My face immediately turned red and my heart fluttered in my chest for the second time today. Before I could think of a response, she had already turned around and walked away after giving me a slight smile and a playful wink.

I took a moment to compose myself before following her actions and making my own way home, smiling a little too wide while thinking about the kind and charming stranger.

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