The handkerchief in the middle of the rain.

Her POV:

The weather matches exactly how heavy I feel right now. Malakas ang ulan sa labas. Every single drop on that bus window feels like it's mocking the slow, agonizing crawl of the traffic.

I’m completely exhausted from work. Ang gusto ko lang talaga ngayon ay pumikit, isaksak ang earphones ko, and just escape this cold, miserable night. I don't care about the noisy engine, and I definitely don't care about the strangers around me. I just want to go home.

But then, I feel a slight tremor beside me. It’s not because of the bus moving. It's coming from the person sitting right next to me, by the window.

Honestly? Pilit ko siyang binalewala. My own exhaustion is too heavy for me to carry someone else’s drama. But every time the thunder rolls, sumasabay ang isang mahinang hikbi mula sa kanya. It’s a controlled, desperate cry.

I can’t help it. I glance at her. She’s staring down, hugging her wet bag, and the tears are just relentlessly streaming down her face.

‘Mind your own business,’ I tell myself. I turn back to the window, forcing myself to watch the rain. But I can’t block her out. Every muffled sob feels like a cold blade cutting through my space. It’s a kind of sadness that’s too heavy for anyone to carry alone.

And I’m not the type to just sit here and ignore it.

I take a deep breath, reach into my jacket pocket, and pull out my clean, purple handkerchief. I place it firmly right in front of her trembling hands.

(Voice clear, firm, but gentle enough to cut through the rain)

Panyo, oh. Take it.

That’s when she slowly looks up at me. And the exact moment our eyes lock under that dim, flickering bus light... everything else just stops.

Her eyes are swollen. Her wet hair is messy, sticking to her face, and her nose is completely red. But despite the mess of her crying... something strikes hard right through my chest.

She is breathtaking. It’s the kind of beauty you don't expect to stumble upon on a random, rainy night like this. But more than how she looks, there’s this sudden, violent shift inside me. A fast, powerful heartbeat that I have never, ever felt for anyone before. Especially not for another woman.

She takes the handkerchief with trembling hands.

(Voice shaking, whispering but clear)

S-salamat...

She looks straight into my eyes, while the rain outside just keeps pouring down.

My whole life, I thought I knew exactly who I was. I thought I knew exactly who I could love. But in those few seconds of staring into this stranger's broken eyes inside a moving bus... I know something inside me has completely changed.

I didn't plan this. I didn’t expect it. But right there, I realized my heart was already falling—for a girl crying in the seat next to mine, in the middle of a storm.

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