Dara felt fresh the moment she stepped out of the bathroom. After she changed to her clothes, she stared out the window. The rain hasn’t stopped pouring. But, the storm subsided. Then, she saw a black limousine parked in front of their house. She recognized it right away.

She ran downstairs.

“Oh,” she said.

“Why?” Jiyong just asked, while drying his hair with a towel.

“You’re still here,” she said.

“Where would I go?”

“Home?”

“You’re shooing me home? Wasn’t that you who told me to stay until the rain stops?”

“Oh no,” Dara shook her head. “I mean… I… wondered… limousine… outside….”

“Yes. They fetched me already. They have been there before I bathed.”

Dara was thoughtful.

“I can’t leave you alone,” Jiyong whispered, inaudibly.

“What?” Dara asked. Jiyong just shook his head.

Later… the rain kept on falling. Dara’s mom and Minzy came back home with dinner. Naughty as her mother was, she left Dara and Jiyong to eat their dinner together, much to Dara’s embarrassment. But Jiyong found this very amusing.

“So…” Jiyong started to break the awkward silence filling their dinner. “You don’t get sick with the rain?”

“Huh?” Dara was thoughtful. “Actually, it has been long since I played under the rain. I don’t usually get sick before.”

“When was this ‘before’?”

“A long time ago.”

“How long?” Jiyong insisted.

Dara found it mysterious why he’s so interested. “I don’t know. I last played under the rain when I was a kid. Maybe 8 or 9,” Dara said, cracking a small smile upon the memory of her playing under the rain.

“Were you alone?” Jiyong said.

“No… I was with Seung—“

As if suddenly slipping a secret accidentally, she covered .

“Seung--?”

Dara just shook her head frantically. She just continued to eat.

Then Jiyong sneezed.

Dara giggled. “Oh, so that’s why you were asking me if I get sick when I play under the rain.”

Jiyong glared at her. But she just kept on laughing.

“If I know, you kept on sneezing while you were taking a bath,” Jiyong said.

“Of course, I didn’t,” she lied. Then she stopped laughing, afraid to offend him. “Why? Haven’t you played under the rain before?”

Jiyong shook his head. “My mom used to scold me when I ask permission to her if I could go out and play under the rain. I usually get jealous to the kids outside.”

Dara stared at him. He was serious and he looked down. “She was just protecting you.”

Jiyong looked up to her. She smiled, and then he felt comforted. Funny how she can brighten up my mood anytime. What is she? A clown? He thought and silently chuckled.

Later, Jiyong went home. Dara told him to meet up with her tomorrow at the Central Park, the biggest park in their town. They would have their last tutorial.

Dara woke up to a start at her alarm. It was 6AM. She’s going to meet up with Jiyong after 4 hours.  But she has to clean her room first. She found it very dusty that’s why she planned a general cleaning for today.

She sneezed. “This room is very dusty,” she said, not wanting to admit to herself that she sneezed because of the rain last night.

She grabbed her cleaning paraphernalia. She tied a scarf on her hair and a mask for her face. She cleaned every corner, under the bed, behind the shelf.

“Dara!” her mom called. “Are you busy?”

“Yes mom!” Dara said. “I’m cleaning my room. Please don’t disturb!”

“That’s good, dear. Here, a box,” she said putting a box at her doorway. “Put all the things that you don’t need here. And bring them to the attic. Someday, we could donate them to charity.”

“Yes mom.”

At the attic…

Dara coughed. “What a dusty attic!” she said. She placed the box down. Then she sat on the ground, and heaved a sigh. She was tired. She finally finished cleaning. She wanted to rest already. But before she could go back to her room, something caught her eye – a box shaped as a treasure chest, in pink color. On top of it was an old pink guitar. She went to it and grabbed the guitar and tried to play it. She chuckled at the unturned guitar. Then she saw the note on top of the box and read it.

                Don’t open widout my permisyon. – Dara

And after her name was a rabbit. She laughed at the memory of writing that. The words “without” and “permission” were misspelled, and not to mention the penmanship. They look like they were scratched by chickens.

She opened the box and was amazed by what she saw – a rag doll with a missing eye and an arm. She can’t remember when she owned it. She picked it up and examined it. It was so dirty that the once pale face became a dirty gray color. Then, she saw another toy. This time it was a pink rabbit. But it was also very dirty and smelled old. She also found other things which meant something to her but she can’t remember them all. After examining and taking the toys out of the box, she found herself staring into the empty bottom of the box. She doesn’t know why, but she thought there are still more to see.

At the sides, she saw a string camouflaged to the box’s wall. She pulled it and surprised to see a compartment. She stared at the things for a while. She realized that she was staring at them for too long when her eyes started to form tears. The tears rolled down her cheeks and she wiped them off. She wondered why. She picked up the first thing she saw – a pair of broken eye glasses. She stared at it for a while. It was kid-sized. She doesn’t wear glasses when she was a kid. Then she picked up the next thing. It was a pink scarf. She picked it up and something fell in the box. It was a necklace. The necklace was shaped like a heart. And inside the heart, there are letters – S&D. S&D? She thought. Then, the last thing was an overturned picture frame. There was something written on the back.

                Ssantoki,

      I’m giving you this picture for you to keep. Please treasure this properly. I have one for myself. Remember the first time we played under the rain? This time, we played under the snow.

      I’m sorry but I have to leave. I know it’s too sudden. But I want you to understand. Every time you miss me, remember to look up at the sky. Remember that we’re always under the same sky, even though it’s nighttime there and daytime here.

                                Remember that I would never forget you. I love you.

                                                                                                                                                                Seung Hyun

She turned the frame and saw herself staring back at her, a smile glued on her face. She saw the pink scarf around her neck and an arm around her shoulder. It was from a tall boy who stands beside her, a small smile on his face. He was wearing an eye glass which appeared to be crooked, as if broken.

She hasn’t noticed it at first. She only noticed that she was crying when a tear fell on the picture. Then she sobbed.  She cried to herself silently. She hasn’t forgotten him for 8 years.

8 years! Was it that long?

“Dara!” her mom called. “What’s taking you so long?”

“Yes mom!” Dara said, trying to not make it obvious that she was crying. She even realized that her answer didn’t make sense to her mom’s question. “I mean, I’m coming down now.”

She hurriedly put the necklace around her neck and grabbed the scarf and the picture. Then she kept all the things she took out from the box.

“Dara!” her mom called again. “I can smell you from here. You smell like rotten eggs.”

Dara smiled despite her tears. She silently thanked her mom for putting a smile on her face.

She took a bath and changed to the clothes she especially chose for today’s tutorial. She doesn’t know why she has to look good in front of him. It’s just a tutorial, not a date. But, nevertheless, she chose her “best” outfit – a plain white shirt with blue suspenders and a denim short with a pair of socks with pink and white stripes to go with it. Okay, so it’s not the best outfit she has but she feels comfortable with it. She doesn’t care anymore if she looks pretty in front of him, or not.

She fixed her hair on a tight and high bun which she usually does, her highlights clearly showing, adding flavor to her hairstyle. She then put the necklace around her neck.

“Seung hyun,” she whispered.

The clock said that it’s just 8:30 AM, yet she’s ready.

She lied down on her bed staring at the ceiling.

“Seung hyun,” she whispered again. She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, she was staring at a cloudy sky. She felt grass behind her, on her arms and legs. She was lying on the ground. She sat up and scanned the place. It looks like she was on a forest – a forest with many trees and overlooking a lake. She found the lake very familiar, as if she has visited it before. But she hasn’t noticed the sounds. Instead of the birds chirping and wind whistling, what she heard was a child crying. He sounded very sad, he was crying hard. His shoulders were shaking. She slowly walked towards him.

“Excuse me?” she said. She was shocked to hear her voice. It sounded as if it belonged to a little girl. She thought it was from another girl’s. But when she scanned the place, she was alone with the boy. “Excuse me?” she repeated. She can’t be wrong now. It belonged to her. She ran her hands along herself. She was wearing a dress. She felt her face, it was small –well, her face is really small, but this time, it’s smaller. Then, her hair – it’s tied in a braid. Then she saw her hands, they were small. But then, she was interrupted with the boy’s crying.

“Omo,” she gasped. “Why are you crying, little boy?” she said. She reached out her little hands to make him turn. But then…

POOF!

She was now standing outside of their house. It looks way too big for her. But then she realized why. She was still a little girl.

“Beep! Beep!” the car said.

She looked at the car. They were carrying some luggage. It looks like their neighbor was moving. Then from that house, a woman and a boy stepped out. The boy stared at her intently. His eyes were boring into her. It took time for Dara to realize who’s staring at her.

“Seung hyun…” she whispered. Then the boy turned and got on the car. “Seung hyun!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. She ran as the truck started to leave until she fell and scratched her knees.

Then another POOF!

Now she’s at the airport… she immediately scanned the place. She knew she’s here because of Seung hyun. She knew that she’s looking for him. The airport was crowded. But she saw him – eyes still boring into her while clutching his fist at something on his chest. She realized it was the necklace. She looked for her own around her neck and found it freely hanging there. She started to cry. She knew he’ll be leaving her. It was unexpected. And she somehow hated him for leaving him without a heads-up. Why does he have to leave her? For a while, she just stood there, looking at him. Their gazes haven’t broken off from the time their eyes met.

“Final call for boarding to the departing passengers of Air France flight F3845 bound to Paris, France,” the announcer said and repeated it thrice.

Seung hyun turned. Dara gasped and ran towards them…

Poof…

The lake…

The car…

The airport…

The cycle kept on repeating itself.

The lake… the crying sounds…

The car… the luggage…

The airport… the announcer’s voice…

She doesn’t know how to stop it. She grew tired. She wanted to be awake now. It’s definitely a nightmare she wants to escape from. It’ the type where you try so hard to make your eyes fly open but you can’t. It’s as if the lids are glued to each other.

She opened her eyes. For once, she was glad to see the ceiling – not the lake, the car, nor the airport. She doesn’t want to see them anymore. She put her hands on her forehead. There was sweat. Her chest is also going up and down from panting. It was as if she was running at the same spot and not even gaining progress. She was happy she’s awake. One thing she had in her mind:

“The memories are all coming back to me now… I miss you, Choi Seung hyun…”