𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒃 𝑩𝒂 𝑸𝒂𝒅𝒓

✧✧✧✧

𝑃𝑒𝑟ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡....

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎t

𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐴𝑙𝑙𝑎ℎ 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑤𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑠!!

~~~~~~~~~

The first rays of sunlight slipped through the curtains as the city slowly came to life.

Cars filled the streets.

Coffee shops welcomed their first customers.

Students rushed to begin another ordinary day.

Somewhere in the same city...

Two people woke up believing today would be just another chapter of their lives.

~~~~~~~~~~~

A soft adhan echoed from Inaya's phone.

She opened her eyes with a small smile and whispered

"𝑨𝒍𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒅𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒉𝒊 𝒂𝒉𝒚𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒃𝒂'𝒅𝒂 𝒎𝒂 𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒘𝒂 𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒖𝒓" while looking up and then she rubbed her eyes and face...after that she made wuzu

After praying Fajr she remained on her prayer mat for a few quiet moments.

She raised her hands.

"Ya Allah... protect my parents, bless them with good health never let my heart drift away from You. If today brings happiness, let it bring me closer to You. And if today brings a test... give me the strength to face it with sabr. Ameen."

She gently wiped her face and smiled.

Whatever happened during the day...

Beginning it with Allah always brought her peace.

"Assalamualaikum my child."

Yusuf Alvi smiled as she walked into the dining room.

"Walaikumassalam Abbu."

Safiya placed breakfast on the table.

"Eat properly this time."

"I always do."

"You read while eating."

"I multitask."

Her parents laughed.

"You'll never change," her mother teased

"And I hope I never have to."

Before leaving, Inaya hugged both of them.

"Fee-amanillah"

"Fee-amanillah princess."

She adjusted her hijab, picked up her backpack and stepped into the cool autumn morning.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Across the city

An alarm rang for the eighth time.

A pillow landed on top of it.

Silence.

A moment later

"JUNGKOOK!"

Lee Yuna knocked firmly on the bedroom door.

"You promised you'd wake up early today."

"I'm awake." he said

"You've been 'awake' for twenty minutes."

The bedroom door finally opened.

Jeon Jungkook walked out in a black hoodie rubbing the back of his neck.

His room was a mess.

An empty pizza box lay on the desk.

A jacket was carelessly thrown over a chair.

Jeon Jihoon looked up from his newspaper.

"You came home late."

Jungkook shrugged.

"So?"

"You call that responsible?"

"I still made it home."

His father sighed.

"One day you'll realize life isn't a game."

Jungkook grabbed his motorcycle keys.

"I've got class."

Without waiting for another word, he walked out.

The apartment door closed.

His mother looked down at the untouched breakfast.

"He barely eats these days."

Jihoon remained silent.

For the first time that morning

Neither of them looked angry.

Only worried.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Seoul National University.

A place where thousands of strangers crossed paths every single day.

Some became friends.

Some became memories.

Others never noticed each other at all.

Inaya walked through the front gate beside Falak.

"You know...."

Falak smiled.

"I've never seen someone this happy to come to university."

"I like learning. Inaya interrupted"

"You like studying."

"There's a difference."

Falak laughed.

"There really isn't."

As they crossed the courtyard Inaya noticed an elderly groundskeeper struggling to lift a heavy box of gardening tools.

Without hesitation she handed her books to Falak.

"Just hold these for few secs"

She hurried over.

"Please....let me help."

The old man smiled gratefully.

"Jazakillahu khaira my child."

"It wasn't heavy." she said

"May Allah reward you."

She smiled before quietly returning to her friend.

Falak shook her head.

"You help everyone."

Inaya smiled.

"My mother says kindness never goes to waste."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

On the opposite side of campus...

A black motorcycle rolled into the parking lot.

Jungkook removed his helmet just as Kang Minjae approached.

"Late."

"I prefer making an entrance."

Minjae laughed.

"You also prefer giving professors heart attacks."

The two headed toward the architecture building.

Just then......

A nervous first-year student accidentally collided with Jungkook.

Books crashed onto the pavement.

The freshman immediately bowed.

"I-I'm so sorry!"

Jungkook looked at the scattered books before letting out an irritated sigh.

"Watch where you're going."

"S-Sorry..."

The student quickly knelt to gather everything.

Jungkook walked away without looking back.

"That was cold," Minjae muttered.

"He'll survive."

A few steps later...

Jungkook noticed another student carelessly step on one of the fallen notebooks.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Without saying anything, he walked back picked up the notebook, brushed the dust off placed it on the freshman's pile, and left again.

The freshman looked up in surprise.

"Thank you..."

Jungkook didn't turn around.

Minjae smirked.

"You know..."

"What?"

"You pretend not to care."

"I don't."

"Keep telling yourself that."

Jungkook rolled his eyes.

"Shut up."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the sun climbed higher over the campus...

Two strangers attended the same university.

Walked the same halls.

Lived in completely different worlds.

Yet destiny kept them apart.

Not because they weren't meant to meet

But because the right time.....

Had not yet arrived.