Serendipity - A Chance Encounter 58 Good Morning, Honey!

Samantha woke up at dawn when she felt the urge to pee. She groggily got up and went to the bathroom. When she returned, only did she notice that Daniel fell asleep on the armchair. The lights were dimmed so she didn't see him right away.

Samantha got a throw blanket from the tall dresser and placed it over the sleeping man. Her heart ached when she studied him closely. She noticed that Daniel has gotten thinner, 'Weren't you free when I left? Why did you not take care of yourself?'

Samantha sat on her bed as she looked at the man in front of her. "Why did you come for me?"

She had tried to forget everything and everyone for the three months that she was here. She had wished that it was probably better if she really had forgotten about Daniel. But the truth is, Samantha didn't really have another episode of the disorder.

After learning that Holden was the culprit of her brother's accident, Samantha indeed blamed herself just like Seo Joon had predicted. How could she not? If she had just let it go, Holden wouldn't be p.i.s.sed and have instigated a crime, would he?

If she hadn't taken revenge for Hannah that way when Harry lied to her and made her a mistress, he wouldn't have stalked and harmed Hannah, would he?

If only she had been stronger than Nancy 12 years ago, she would have been able to convince Mia not to go through with the dare… right? Mia would still be alive until now, right?

But no, everything happened because of her. Samantha believed that her loved ones were put in danger because of her. And when she realized how she feels about Daniel, how important Daniel was to her, the feeling that she had before… was actually fear, fear that what if she does something that would bring him harm just like what she did for Seo Joon, Hannah, and Mia. How could she handle losing Daniel? The more she is with him, the more her feelings grew. She was hurt when her friend died, she was hurt when her brother and her best friend were harmed. What if one day, it was Daniel? How could she live with herself?

Although she knows that what she did was running away, that was the only thing that she thought could protect herself from being more hurt; the only thing she believes that would not put Daniel in possible danger in the future because of her.

Back then, she thought that if she leaves, Daniel would be hurt for a while but he'd move on eventually. They've been together for only a short time so he should be able to move on. It doesn't matter if it was different for her, what's more important is to keep Daniel safe even if it means she'd have to live without him.

With these thoughts in mind, Samantha sighed and went back to bed. She grabbed a pillow and hugged it tightly until she fell asleep.

It was 5 in the morning when Daniel woke up, it was the longest sleep he had for the past three months. He fell asleep at around 9 in the evening so he had actually slept for 8 hours. The armchair was quite comfortable to stay in so he didn't have problems at all.

He noticed a soft object on him and when he lowered his head, he saw a throw covering his body. Daniel smiled tenderly as he thought about how Samantha placed it on him while he was asleep. The tyrant CEO of Cho corporations was feeling giddy inside.

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It was almost 2 in the afternoon when Seo Joon parted with Scarlette Carroll. When he got to his car, he thought of going back to the office but he suddenly remembered Hannah so he took out his phone and dialed her number.

"h.e.l.lo~?"

"Hi Hannah, where are you?"

"I'm at the main branch of Busy Bean."

"Ok. I'll see you soon."

"Huh? Why---", Seo Joon already hung up the call, leaving Hannah confused by what he meant 'See you soon.'. 'Is he coming here?'

Hannah quickly checked herself in the mirror. "Why is he coming here? Wasn't he with Scarlette having lunch?"

A few minutes later, Seo Joon arrived and Hannah met him by the door. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to… have coffee. Also, I'm hungry."

Hannah raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean you're hungry? Didn't you just have lunch?"

"I told you we were talking about business. I didn't eat very well, the food wasn't so great."

"Oh then come in, follow me.", Hannah led Seo Joon upstairs to the rooftop garden of her café. "You sit here and wait."

Hannah hurriedly went downstairs and reheated the food that she made for Seo Joon earlier. She carefully brought it upstairs and placed it on the table.

Seo Joon smiled upon seeing the food in front of him. He figured that this was what Hannah made for him because he recognized the food containers that she uses all the time.

"Go on, eat."

Seo Joon picked up the utensils and started digging. He ate with so much gusto. "This is delicious, Han."

The corners of Hannah's lips lifted upward, "Tss… it's just a simple dish."

"It's true. It's much better than what I had earlier."

"Why? Where did you eat?"

Actually, they went to an expensive restaurant where the food is great. But Seo Joon didn't have an appet.i.te to eat there so he ended up not eating a lot. When he told Hannah where they had lunch, Hannah's brows scrunched up.

"You're weird. That's a really good restaurant. How can you not eat the food there?"

Silly Hannah, have you thought that maybe Seo Joon just really wanted to eat the food you prepared instead?

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At 6 in the morning, Samantha woke up and noticed that she didn't have colds anymore. She was able to easily breathe now and she didn't feel uncomfortable anymore. Was it the chicken soup's magic? When she thought about the chicken soup, her head turned towards the armchair but to her dismay, it was empty. 'He must've left early.'. Samantha slapped herself lightly on the cheek, 'Why would you care? You don't even want him here. It's best that he's gone. Out of sight, out of mind.', she thought.

She got up from the bed and washed her face. She changed her clothes before she went out of her room and made herself a cup of French Vanilla coffee. When her cup was ready, she brought it out to the back porch and smiled to the view in front of her. 'Aahhh… coffee, sand, beach, sun, peace. This is life.'

She stretched her arm heard her bones crack. She smiled to herself before she brought the cup to her mouth and slowly sipped the hot coffee when…

"Good morning, Honey!", Daniel happily greeted her as he sat on a lazy armchair on his porch which was a few meters away from hers. He went home right after he woke up and had just finished his breakfast when Samantha came out.

Samantha was so startled by the familiar voice that she burnt her tongue and lips, and spilled some hot coffee on her finger. "Aah!!"

Daniel froze when he saw that she got startled.

Samantha turned her head to the left and glared at Daniel. "What the h.e.l.l are you doing there? You scared me!"

Daniel got up from his chair and walked out from his porch. He rushed towards Samantha's in a swift motion.

"Did you burn yourself?", Daniel said as soon as he got in front of her. He examined her fingers and lifted her chin up to check her mouth.

Samantha gently brushed him away and pursed her lips. "I'm okay."

"Sorry I startled you."

Daniel lowered his hand that was suspended in the air and put it in his pocket.

"What are you doing next door?", Samantha asked curiously.

Daniel casually leaned on the wall beside Samantha while he looked at the sea. "I live there."

Samantha had a bewildered expression. "What do you mean you live there? Since when?"

"Since I arrived 2 days ago.", he replied nonchalantly.

He arrived 2 days ago, has been living next door and Samantha didn't even know.

"You sure have a lot of time in your hands, Mr. Cho.", eyed him.

Daniel turned to his side and looked at Samantha, "Yeah, it's the first time that I went on a break after 5 years. Why don't you show me around?", he said as he flashed his gorgeous smile.

Samantha gulped. Her heart thumped loudly and her hands became sweaty. 'What the h.e.l.l Daniel Cho? Don't casually smile so handsomely at me. I might die of a heart attack!'

Samantha snapped out of it and hid her blus.h.i.+ng face, "I'm busy today. Oh, and um.. thanks for last night.", she said before she went back to her house and closed her sliding door.

Daniel peeked inside and sighed before he went back to his own villa. 'You think you can avoid me forever, Samantha? Think again.', Daniel Cho smiled as he walked confidently. He took out his phone when he was inside the house and dialed a number.

"Lucas, do me a favor..."