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Cordelia wasn’t one for romance. For giggly sweetness and cringy moments. But looking at the god in front of her, she thought that maybe, just maybe, she could consider settling down.
Unfortunately, that fantasy shattered the moment he brushed right past her without a single glance.
Okay, maybe he was just …detached. Some people were like that. They didn’t randomly click with others, and they were cold on the outside, but fuzzy on the inside. And so, summoning up her courage, she - it wasn’t really blocking, more like trying to get his attention in the only way possible which was to get in his face… terrible idea, she knew, like five seconds after she did it - stepped in front of him, beaming at him with wide, sparkling eyes.
“Hi! It’s so nice to meet you, anyways, I’m Corde-”
Sidestepping her, he continued on his way. Merrily, without a care in the world.
After that disastrous first attempt, she decided to forget about him, because what was the use of chasing after a stranger? Worse, one who cared nothing for her. Valid though, seeing as how she was technically a stranger to him too. A weird one, or maybe even a normal one, which considering his looks, might mean that this was a daily occurrence for him. It would also explain his nonchalant attitude.
But… She crashed into him again. And again. And again. Until she just couldn’t contain herself.
“Hi! It’s you again! Funny how we keep meeting lik-”
And she was ignored again. No biggy. She would try again next time. Persistence and all that. And because meeting everyday, without stalking or aligning of schedules, meant that there was some degree of divine intervention. Maybe the gods were pointing out that he was the one for her.
Her soulmate.
In that case, she couldn’t give up now, could she?
And so when they, by coincidence, bumped into each other at the coffee shop, she sidled up to the counter next to him, shooting a dazzling smile at the barista, “I’ll pay for his drink!”
Mister Handsome didn’t care. He took the drink, and left. Looking damn hot in the process.
At this point, at least he knew her name. Or well, not her name, but her appearance at least. Tragically, he still hadn’t spoken a single word to her.
“Fancy seeing you here all chill and everything. The library’s super empty today, isn’t it? Do you ever talk, or am I just a special case? Ooh! Do you like hearing me talk? Because I can keep talking. I can talk for hours…” She blabbered on and on, filling the silence with nonsensical words that didn’t get routed through her prefrontal cortex filter before leaving her Broca’s motor plans.
Oops, but on the bright side, he didn’t kick her out. That was a bonus.
…The librarian did though. It seemed that her voice got too loud for the austere woman to tolerate.
Well, there was always next time.
Strolling aimlessly along the streets practically guaranteed a chance meeting. Which meant that she started bringing gifts with her on every outing. A box of chocolate, books on physics because he apparently - judging from his book selection - loved that subject - which made him a thousand times hotter even if for her, looking at them was like entering a nightmare -, flowers, gift cards and love letters - that she was so glad he didn’t return graded.
No kidding. It happened to her friend. She sent out a love letter to her crush, and he returned it to her, graded, with a big, fat ‘D’, pointing out her grammatical flaws and sentence structure which he revised.
Talk about ouch.
So one could imagine her relief when she never saw that letter again. Hopefully, he kept it. She wasn’t saving much thoughts on that though. The probability that he threw it out without giving it a second glance was way higher than him keeping it as a ‘souvenir.’
What should she do next?
She tried ghosting him. If her loudness and bigger than life presence couldn’t affect him, then maybe her absence would?
Yeah, no. He continued on his way as normal, still not sparing her a bit of attention even when she turned and left, without greeting him like she usually would.
Utterly and completely lost, she wondered if she should give up. But there was always this voice in her head that discouraged her from doing that.
And so, she squared up again, fresh for a new battle.
The biggest coincidence to date yet, was probably that they ended up in the same school. They were in the same university. He just so happened to transfer to her university. And they had classes.
Together.
Talk about fate and destiny, right?
So immediately, seizing her chance, she claimed the seat next to him. “Hi! Guess we’re seatmates! Aren’t you glad?”
By now, she was used to his indifference. It was all she had ever known from him. It was all she thought he was capable of. Until she saw him smile at someone else.
Soft. Gentle.
Everything she wanted and what he had never granted her.
Enraged, she stalked up to him, demanding him to talk to her.
It was fruitless. He barely spared her a glance, just offered two condescending words. “Stop overstepping.”
That was… A year of devotion. A year of cheerful happiness and simple gifts. And all he offered her was ‘stop overstepping.’
She knew he didn’t care much for her. She knew he didn’t like her. But this… She never imagined this.
She wanted to quit. But she was too deep into it. And so she continued, chasing after him relentlessly while classmates jeered and the ‘other’ woman stared at her with pity.
She didn’t want sympathy. Especially not her sympathy. When she had everything she ever wanted.
His favour.
Then it happened. They officially got together. Girlfriend and boyfriend. She knew this ending. She knew she should have given up ages ago. So why didn’t she? It wasn’t like she knew him. He was someone hot she bumped into often.
So why couldn’t she separate herself from him?
And why… did she keep meeting him? Seeing him, everywhere? If he wasn’t meant to be hers to begin with.
She went to bed early that night, calling in sick for the next day. She didn’t want to go to classes. She didn’t want to see them again, ever.
Which was why she found herself filling in transfer applications in the middle of the night.
Forms filled and application accepted, she went to sleep with a - still heavy but - lightened heart, only to wake up, a year in the past, standing beneath the sunny sky.
The same place and day, where she saw him for the first time. And there he was, stalking down the street like he owned it. Confident, effortless, gorgeous.
A transparent screen flickered in front of her:
Villainness’s goal, capture the Male Lead’s heart: failed.
Second try?
Accept.