Chapter 1 Prologue

• She should have been in a hurry. Leaving her apartment without checking the forecast was stupid. However, she knew for sure that the weather in London was often unpredictable. A sunny morning might only last for a while in the afternoon. Heavy rain could suddenly fall during midday and trap her somewhere because she didn’t bring an umbrella. Stupidly, at the moment, she was in such a disadvantageous situation. She was stuck on the terrace outside a mini-market and could only see the rain pouring.
• She crossed her arms, hugging her body, which was starting to feel cold, even though a light coat covered her upper body. It seemed that she needed something to warm her body more because the climate in autumn was no joke. While it certainly was not as cold as snow in winter, the rain was enough to cool the weather in London and make her want to tug herself behind her thick blankets.
• If only she had not forgotten to bring an umbrella, she would have arrived at her apartment and taken a rest after struggling with her activities. If only she didn’t forget her umbrella to take along with her, she could stop by her small restaurant to ward off the cold with something warm there. She only needed to walk a few blocks to get to her restaurant. However, she couldn’t do it because the heavy rain would make her wet if she dared to pass through it.
• Then, suddenly, a yellow umbrella appeared in front of her. She turned her head. A man was standing next to her while thrusting an umbrella at her. And she couldn’t hide the confusion in her eyes.
• “Use this,” he said, making his intention clear.
• Her brows furrowed. She looked at the man up and down, then looked back into his gray eyes as the confusion wouldn’t leave her mind. Why did he give her his only umbrella? She was pretty sure that he only had one umbrella with him. There was nothing of a similar thing around him. So why did he hand it to her?
• “No, thanks. You should use it for yourself,” she declined.
• She thought he would give up. But he held her hand, then handed his yellow umbrella into her grasp. “No. I’m okay waiting for the rain.” She again refused and intended to return the umbrella. But that was when she noticed something strange in him. There was a clear liquid shimmering in his eyes and producing streams of tears coming out through the corners of his eyes. “Are you crying?”
• He seemed surprised to hear her question. Or perhaps he was more surprised because she saw something that shouldn’t be shown in front of strangers. She had no idea. What was clear, the man hastily wiped his tears and rushed to leave. Before actually leaving her, he said, “Take it and take care.”
• Then, he ran through the heavy rain without giving her time to just say thank you.