I ‖ the butterfly effect

Metaphorically, if something as insignificant as a flutter of the butterfly's wings is capable to create a hurricane thousands of miles away, then it must be possible to cross path with a perfectly random someone on one fateful night who is set to change the course of your life.

Although the chaos theory postulates that a tiny change in a big system can affect everything, these encounters are hardly arbitrary. Rather, it's almost as if everything were predestined to happen as it must take the butterfly to flap its wings at the right time and in the right place to kickstart the chain of events leading to the unfortunate natural disaster. Everything's about timing and chance. In this sense, doesn't life seem to follow through a divinely preordained plan?

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SHANGHAI
December | 15 years later
Location: M1NT Nightclub

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As usual, M1NT was a heartbeat on loudspeakers. Music pounded powerfully in the sort of beats that pumped up the soul as neon strobe lights danced together with the crowd on the dancefloor, moving them in an electrifying way that bodies craved — hands all over and hips grinded together. The DJ held onto his headphones and nodded rhythmically with the music as dry ice-smoke swirled beneath him and floated through the dance floor. In this time and space, clubbers drowned themselves in the high and bonded with total strangers that wrapped them with a warmth that was denied in the cold, lonely streets beyond the doors of M1NT.

"GNT." I leaned against the bar counter and winked at the bartender, Kai.

"Hey, Iva," he returned the wink playfully. Grabbing a highball glass, he mixed in the liquor and added two wedges of lime. Casually tossing the coaster in front of me, he rested the drink on top of it and asked, "最近好吗?"
(Translate: Have you been well?)

"还好," I replied.
(Translate: Fair enough.)

Kai stretched his arms towards the counter and chatted with me for a while before a group of college kids hailed him over to the other side to take their orders. I rested one elbow on the smooth obsidian surface and leaned one side of my face on my palm while my finger danced over the rim of the glass. Raising the glass, I took a small sip and savoured the mild bitterness through the bubbly tonic that playfully caressed my tongue and down my throat, kindling comfortable warmth within.

From the peripheral of my vision, I noticed someone approaching but I remained in my chair, nonchalant about the approaching gentleman.

"Hi," a deep, smooth voice sounded in my ears as he rested his arm on the counter and leaned against it beside me.

"Hello," I replied, my tone was polite but unfamiliar. I turned my chair towards him as I rested my back against the backrest of my stool. My eyes fluttered opened but what I witnessed in front me nearly made me fall off my seat.

The guy who stood in front of me was absolutely sleek and captivating with a mystifying pair of saxe blue eyes that threatened to drown anyone who stared for a little too long. He carried with him an air of confidence through his lazy demeanour that reminded me so much of a snow leopard. I pinched myself hard on my thigh, sending a painful reminder to pull myself out of this incredulous sight.

"Care if I take you home?" he suggested. There was a lyrical quality to his voice that made me want to agree to it immediately but I bit back on my lower lip to jar myself out of my thoughts. I glanced down, averting my gaze away from his face and hooded my eyes with my eyelids as a form of protection that I desperately needed to keep me from following this dangerous stranger out of M1NT right in this instance.

"Don't bother trying a bit more?" I smiled, obviously not going to agree to him just yet. 

In return, charming guy seemed that he wasn't going to give up just yet. He took another step closer towards me, and the smell of his cologne wafted into my nose. From my keen observation of guys in the club over the years, I knew that they love to wear colognes stronger than those hard liquor on the shelves combined. But the guy in front of me smelled oddly refreshing in a perfect mix of pine and rain. He asked, "Let me buy you a drink?"

I struggled to keep thoughts on track when he stood so close to me, invading all my senses and robbing my ability to think. "Nah, I'm good," I managed to force out an intelligent reply.

"What should I do then?" He leaned close to my ears, whispering into it. His voice was deep and smooth like velvet and his breath felt warm against the sensitive spot on my neck. I backed away reflexively, placing my hand on my neck to cover the area where it tingled.

"I-I—" I stammered.

"Pretty please?"

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I wish I could punch myself right at this instant because I sat in his car wondering what was it that got me out of that club. He didn't even buy me a drink or invited me to dance with him. I simply left with him after a few lines of words? You're unbelievable, Iva Isabel Laurent.

Charming guy pressed on the ignition key and the engine hummed elegantly to life. He turned towards me and asked, "Address please."

"Aren't we going to your place?" I stunned.

"I'm taking you home," he repeated firmly, saying the exact same phrase from when we were at the bar in the club. I glanced towards him, stupefied. Not only did he not respond to my confusion, but he also waited patiently in the driver's seat for an answer. Tilting my head to the side, I wanted to make sure that I showed him exactly how much I wasn't understanding him at all.

"Sweetness, we've got all night but you wouldn't want to spend it in the car, right?" he chuckled. 

Heat warmed my cheeks from the way he called me and I hadn't felt this flustered in such a long while. It did make me wonder if it was the alcohol in my system that's playing the trick or was it just that this guy sitting right beside me was merely too irresistible. 

I peered around and I had to admit that he has great taste, even for cars. A black Audi A5 with its interior well-customised with premium leather seats and amazing surround-sound studio system. "Your car's pretty great," I shrugged, trying my best to avoid any possible chance of inviting a creep into my apartment. 

"Compliment accepted," he smiled. Then, he continued, almost as though he had been reading my mind, "By the way, I'm not a creep." 

I stunned for a moment and shot my head in his direction before suggesting, "Why don't we go to your place?"

"You trust strangers that much to be at their homes?" he questioned. Realising that I couldn't argue back any longer, I grumbled softly and gave out my address. 

A satisfied, wide grin appeared on his face that caused my heart to skip a beat because dimples had appeared on both sides of his cheeks. He didn't strike me as a person with dimples. He seemed mature and composed but those dimples instantly made him looked boyish but a lot more attractive.

He manoeuvred the car off the club's parking lot and drove us to my apartment. I unlocked the door for us and guided him into the house. Tossing my bunch of keys, it landed in the bowl placed on top of the entryway cabinet and I kicked my shoes off before slipping my feet into my comfortably soft pair of indoor slippers. 

"Remove your shoes, please," I said while reaching for the shoe cabinet and took out a new pair of indoor slippers. Unwrapping the plastic, I tossed it on the floor in front of him and pointed towards them to make sure he followed the rules of my apartment. 

"You're particular," he commented. I looked up and about to be annoyed by another argument about wearing shoes in the house but realised that he was just saying it in a matter-of-factly manner without minding that he actually had to do it. I shrugged my shoulders and pulled him by his arm while walking towards the couch.

I made him sit in it as I stood in between his knees and asked, "So, what now?" 

He tugged on my arm and levelled my gaze with his. I was staring right into the pair of piercing greyish-blue eyes that held so much magic to drown me in. He inched forward, closing up the distance between us as I began to slowly anticipate the taste of his perfectly-shaped lips. 

But anticipation always comes with disappointment because it felt like we were only a millimetre away from locking our lips together before I heard a breathed out chuckle. My eyes flew opened and stared at him while he spoke softly into the thin space between us, "I want to know you better, sweetness." 

I had to confess that while we're both human being, this person right in front of me was almost impossible to understand. Backing away, I created some space between us while wondering what his real intention was.

"Do as you please," I said.

"Alright." His hands gripped firmly on my waist as he pushed himself off the couch, hauling me up together in his hold. My hands instinctively folded around his neck and my legs wrapped around his hips for support. He walked towards the window seat at the far end of my apartment and placed me down gently. I swallowed nervously and bunched on the collar of my top, I fumbled a little with my words, "H-Hey, I-I'm not that into—"

"Can I get you something to drink?"

When he said that, I almost facepalmed myself. This guy was all sorts of weird from the moment he decided to pick me up from the club and insisted that we come to my house. Then, we did nothing except to sit by the window and grab some drinks together? I was almost starting to wonder if I had actually let creep into my house.

"As I said, I'm not a creep," he laughed, reading my mind once again.

I decided to move along his flow. At most, if he attempts anything funny, I'll just dislocate his shoulder, bust his knee and throw him out of here. I mean, Elysium training always comes in handy in times of need.

"Get me a bottle of tea, it's on the left side of the fridge," I replied. "There are other drinks in the fridge, you can help yourself to it."

I could say that I am quite glad about the open-concept interior of my apartment. From where I was sitting, I watched as he walked towards the fridge and grabbed a bottle of tea. Then, he paused for a moment and pondered what to get for himself. His finger tapped on the cap of the bottle of mineral water, then moved to hold onto a bottle of juice but finally settled on a can of soda. Not bad. I smiled to myself. I had beers in the fridge that I'd never touched and I also didn't like guys who enjoyed beers. Personal preference, no offence.

He closed the fridge and reached back to me in a few strides with his incredibly long legs. Placing his drink down, he unscrewed the cap of the bottle of tea before passing it to me. 

"Hmm, boyfriend material," I teased.

"Interesting conclusion," his brows raised in amusement and placed the cap in my hand. He picked up his soda and hooked his finger into the ring-pull and flicked his soda open. As he lifted the can and drank a few mouthfuls, I observed how his throat travelled up and down along the length of his neck and I was unsure why this scene was infuriatingly attractive.

"So—" I dragged my word while looking towards him curiously.

"I told you, I want to know you better."

"How are we approaching that?" 

"Let's talk."

"About?"

"Anything, sweetness."

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what's your favourite drink?