Coincidences don't arrive loudly.They slip in unnoticed, wearing the mask of randomness until patterns begin to breathe.
Ji-Ah noticed the first one in the smallest way.
The elevator that usually paused too long at every floor closed early today.Her coffee order unchanged for months was handed to her before she spoke.
She didn't stop walking.
Executives learn early not to respect superstition.
A Fraction Too Late
At the crosswalk, the signal was green.
Ji-Ah hesitated.Not fear. Not logic. Just… a pause.
A motorcycle tore past the intersection the next second, close enough for the wind to brush her coat.Temporary plates. No readable number.
If she had stepped forward
She exhaled once and crossed.
Timing, she told herself.Nothing more.
But somewhere, something had already adjusted.
The Glitch That Stayed
Her office building logged her entry twice.
Same time. Same access code.
The guard frowned."System error," he said casually.
Ji-Ah smiled, signed the register, and moved on.She trusted systems enough to know when they lied.
Inside the elevator, her reflection laggedjust a fraction of a second behind her movement.
Too subtle for anyone else.
Not for her.
What She Never Sees
Sub-level servers. Restricted corridor.
A motion sensor failed to register movement.A camera feed looped for less than a second.An access door remained unlocked when it should not have.
No alarms.
No override notices.
Only quiet continuity.
Not yet, the system decided.She can handle this.
Proof Without a Face
That evening, Ji-Ah sat alone in a café, reviewing launch timelines.
Her phone vibrated once.
No app. No sender.
"You weren't supposed to be at that intersection at 18:47."
The message disappeared before her thumb reached the screen.
This time, she didn't call it coincidence.
She leaned back, eyes calm, pulse steady.
"So," she murmured softly,"you exist."
Who or what it was didn't matter yet.
Only this did:
Something was intervening.Not to control her.But to keep the field intact.
End Beat
Ji-Ah left the café.
The streetlight above her flickered once then stabilized.
Somewhere beyond sight, a variable recalculated.
Not to save her.
Only to remind her:
Coincidence is a lie.And the game has already started.