🂡 LUSHB.

He was busy preparing his dinner when he heard someone at the door. On any other occasion, he probably would’ve ignored the sound of his bell ringing since he wasn’t expecting anyone to come that night, and he barely knew anyone in the country back then. But the continuous sound of the doorbell ringing got very annoying very fast, so he found himself with no option but to see who was on the other side. 

While he was ready to deal with some annoying door-to-door salesman trying to sell him rubbish, he was met with the sight of you instead. You were still in what he could guess were your work clothes, and your exhaustion was clear as day to anyone who took a single look at you, yet you were still making an effort to be courteous and smile at him.

“Good evening,” you said, and suddenly anything around Hugo became background noise. Even the sound of his kettle boiling was muffled by the sound of your voice, and the annoyance he felt earlier was gone. “I’m really sorry to disturb you. But I got a message saying a package meant for me was delivered here earlier. Do you have it by any chance?”

Hugo barely registered anything you said to him. 

Maybe because you had to be the most beautiful person his eyes have ever been graced with and he couldn’t help but be completely entranced by the mere sight of you…and by the natural melody in your voice…

Or maybe because he didn’t understand shit of what you said.

He understood two words, “Sorry.” and “evening”. That was it.

All the rest sounded like gibberish.

And poor you kept on talking while he just stared at you like a dog trying to understand what their owner was saying. All that was left for him to do at that point was tilt his head sideways in confusion to completely embody a lost puppy. “You know what, nevermind. It must’ve been a mistake—”

But just as you were about to make your walk of shame back to your apartment, Hugo spoke for the first time. “Please wait.”

He didn’t mean to sound so aggressive back then. But every single fiber in his being was telling him to not let you leave so soon. “I’m sorry, what did you say…?” 

His brain must’ve short circuited or something, because he couldn’t remember for the life of him what word he wanted to use that moment. All the hours he spent learning English felt like a huge waste of time. “ Tsk…shit, what's the word again.”

“Oh wait! Is that french?” The way his eyes lit up and how quick he nodded back was comical enough for you to forget how tired you were from work and let out a laugh. “Ah I see, It’s a shame I didn’t do that well in my french gcse…Would’ve come in handy now, wouldn’t it?”

“So you understand me?” The look in your face was enough for an answer.

“Look…how do I explain this… I came here to get a delivery. A package.” you gesticulated in hopes of making it more understandable, but if anyone had walked in back then, they’d probably think you were both weirdos trying to communicate with each other. “You know, a box…Boxe?” Is that how you say it?”

“Boxe? As in boxing...? You want to fight me?”

“I have a feeling I said something wrong…”

It took a good ten minutes for you to finally understand each other and for you to walk away with your delivery. 

In those ten minutes, he managed to learn your name, as you still recalled the bare minimum from your French lessons back in year seven, and that you lived in the apartment down the hall.

He found it kind of weird that they’d leave your package to him instead of handing it to the concierge or the person next door to you.

But If fate led that box to his apartment, who is he to question it, right?

Hugo tried to brush off that awkward encounter as a one time incident. 

However, when every single one of your packages and letters are constantly being delivered to his apartment instead of yours, he doesn’t know if he can pinpoint this to simply the postman’s incompetence.

‘Perhaps this is a sign…’ he thought. 

After all, nothing happens by chance in this life. No other person is more aware of that fact than Hugo.

He knows that there’s a meaning behind all actions taken by the universe, so there was only one plausible reason as to why it kept on pushing you two together, even at the most random occasions.

Why it kept on blessing him with your presence on his doorstep every other day, and with the rich sound of your laughter when one of you makes yet another dumb mistake in the other’s language. Or why it made sure that whenever he goes out for a run or shopping, you happen to be there too — He recalls how in one of the many random encounters you’ve had at the supermarket, you caught him struggling to speak with one of the shop workers and quickly came to his rescue. That display of your kindness has stuck to him till this day — and Hugo feels like an absolute idiot for not putting all the pieces together much sooner!

You and Hugo were meant to meet each other.

That’s why his choices in life brought him to England of all places. That’s why your packages kept on being sent to his home for weeks and why, besides the language barrier, talking to you feels so easy. So natural.

And now that Hugo has finally come to this realisation, he’s being consumed by this newfound ardor to unravel what destiny had stored for you and him — starting with the first mission. Master the English language as soon as possible.