RAIN

Rain. Water droplets falling from the sky. The dark, heavy clouds which loomed over and brought about the rain with them. Rain. To some, it's comforting. To some, it's burdening. It can help water the dry earth. On the other hand, it'll drench unsuspecting joggers, runners, or just anybody. Rain. The word seemed simple enough, common enough. Rain. To her, it means so much more.

Rain. Speaking of rain, it was raining that day. That day when she forgot to bring her umbrella and the rain started falling, prompting her to go under the nearest roof she could see. It was the roof of a café bookstore and her hand reached to open the door.

Ring.

 The bell rang to inform the people inside of a new patron entering the place and to remind them to properly greet the person at the door.

"Why, hello! Welcome!"

 It was a young lady, dressed in a pastel blue blouse with the sleeves rolled up. It would seem that she had been doing some cleaning and the broom in her hand confirmed it. She was smiling, her dimple sunk in as she greeted the person at the door and for the time she had spent working at the store, she had not seen the person before. She put aside the broom and walked towards the slightly drenched patron.

 "Ah! The rain, you must have come in to get away from it," she continued to speak.

She suddenly felt the need to answer because she didn't want to appear as a rude person and she did took shelter at the store after all. Not answering would made her look ungrateful and besides, the lady was giving her a confused look as she tilted her head sideways.

 "I'm sorry, yes, I forgot my umbrella and this is the nearest place."

 "There's no need to say sorry, come on in! Coffee or tea?"

 Deciding that it was not bad to have one while she waited for the rain to subside, she answered, "Coffee please, black."

 The lady raised an eyebrow when she ordered a black coffee but didn't question it and made her way to the kitchen. She was invited to come in and so she did, browsing through the bookshelves and running her hand over the many books that she probably wouldn't have the time to read. She didn't go to bookstore frequently but when she did, it always smell like old papers and dusty and unorganized but it was not like that at all here. All the books were organized by the series first, then the authors and then by the alphabets and maybe because it's a café bookstore that the old smell was not present and instead, it smelled of coffee, bagels and freshly baked goodies.

 "Miss, where are you, miss?"

At first, she didn't know who she was searching for but then realized that it was her that the lady was calling out to. She immediately followed the source of the voice to meet the lady pouting as she approached her.

"Where did you go? I thought you left."

"I was just looking around. It is still raining and I did say that I want a black coffee," she replied as she folded her arms across her chest.

 "Good, the seat are over here," the lady showed her the way and carefully placed the coffee cup onto the tabletop.

She took a seat at one of the sofa and found it to be very comfortable so she put her whole weight onto it and sunk deeper into the seat. She was relaxing but then she noticed that the lady was still standing by her side, watching her.

"Uhh, what is it? Do I need to pay first?"

"No, that's not it! The coffee, drink it!"

"O..Okay?"

She sat at the edge of the sofa and reached for the coffee cup to take a sip. Slurp. As expected, it's bitter. Her face scrunched a bit before returning to normal. Then, she faced at the lady as if to ask her if she was satisfied.

"I saw it. It's bad, isn't it?"

"Wha.. No! It's not bad, well, it's bitter. I.. I'm just not good with bitter stuff," she admitted as she put down the cup.

"Then why did you want a black coffee? It doesn't make sense!"

"Tha.. I just want to look cool and it seemed appropriate with this place."

Her head fall back, her hand touching her stomach. She would have thought that the lady was sick or something, when a loud laugh filled the awkward silence after her confession. She was laughing her heart out loud and her head fall back further, to the point that she couldn't see her head from where she was seated. She was feeling embarrassed that a stranger who she met 5 minutes ago was laughing at her for acting cool and failing at it. She got onto her feet and stomped noisily, causing the lady to stand up straight but still snickering at her.

"Look here, Wheein-ssi! Who gave you the right to laugh at someone who gave you an honest answer?!" She had saw the nametag on her blouse when her hair moved out of the way after laughing so hard.

"Ke, sor, ke, ke, ke. Sorry! I.. Ke,ke. Didn't mean. Ke,ke. To laugh. Just that. Ke,ke. I thought the same way," Wheein barely said as she continued on laughing, holding on to the wall so she wouldn't fall over.

It took her so long to decrypt Wheein's sentence and the message behind it. When she finally did, she grab ahold of her shoulder and shook her to stop laughing.

"St..Stop! I'm so dizzy."

"Serves you right!" She harrumphed as she returned to her seat, sipped the bitter beverage and sulked when the taste hit her. 

"I'm really sorry, forgive me?"

Wheein gave her a sad puppy face and she even kneeled on the ground, looking up at her expectantly. She didn't want to give in so she faced to the wall across of her, folding her arms across her chest. Giving up is not in Wheein's dictionary as she hopped to the side where she was facing, still in kneeling position, pouting cutely. 

"Pwetty pwease?"

She never thought that she could get mad at a stranger and she didn't know what to do and without realizing, she said something that she couldn't imagine herself saying to a complete stranger. 

"Jindo dog, hand."

She was surprised at herself but she was even more speechless when the lady in front of her complied with her instruction and in reflex, she pat her head.

"Oh, sorry, my bad." 

"Nope, it's nothing. You're not angry anymore?"

"It was silly anyway. I haven't introduced myself, have I? I'm Hyejin."

Wheein took her hand and shook it enthusiastically, "Hello, hello! Hyejin-ie, nice to meet you!"

After their not-so-usual introduction, they ended up sitting down together and began to talk about their interests, their dreams and their lives. They found out that they were same-aged friends, although Hyejin had a later birthday than Wheein.

Wheein, whom Hyejin thought the bookstore worker, was surprisingly the owner of the bookstore and that she inherited it from her grandfather who had enjoyed reading classics and telling her bedtime stories when he had lived. Her parents were living at the countryside, Jeonju, and had decided to pass on the store to their daughter because she was, in many ways, similar to her grandfather and she had received it with a full heart. It turned out that she was the only one working in the store and Hyejin had questioned how she managed to do everything by herself.

"I hire part-timers! They worked weekdays from 10 till 4pm. Most of them quit though, there's so much to do here."

"Must be tough."

"But I love it here! I feel like grandpa's still here, watching over me."

Hyejin smiled. She could understand why she love the place. It's her first time here, but it's already her favorite place.

"Truth is, I'm also from Jeonju."

"Really? Wow! Amazing!"

"Can we talk about the coffee?"

"Oh, that. Actually, I tried black coffee when I first moved to Seoul. I thought I'll look mature and all but realized that it's a stupid move."

This time, it was Hyejin's turn to laugh. She can't believe that they had done the same thing for the same reason.

"We must be Jeonju idiot duo!"

 "We're fools!"

The rain had let up an hour ago but they were too absorbed in their conversation that they didn't notice the time and when the grandfather clock chimed eleven times. They were both shocked and jumped from their seats, peering outside only to see streetlights providing what little light in the darkness.

"It's already this late. I need to go," Hyejin said as she stood up from her seat, finishing the coffee.

 "I wonder where did the time go. It didn't feel that long for me. Do you need a ride?"

 "Don't bother, my place is just 5 blocks away and this is a safe neighborhood."

 "Alright but I'm packing you some bagels. Extras from today and I couldn't possibly finish all," Wheein offered as she headed for the kitchen.

"Oh, but I'm sure you can! I do remember your story about winning an eating competition!"

"I thought you weren't listening!" She shouted back.

"True, I was distracted by your dimple and the life in your eyes," Hyejin said softly, so she wouldn't be heard.

"What did you say?"

"NOTHING!"

Wheein returned to the lounging area where Hyejin was and handed a bagful of bagels and cinnamon rolls to her. Hyejin tried paying her for them but Wheein pushed her out of the door without receiving even a dollar, not even the payment for the coffee.

"See you around!"

Hyejin could only smile and waved good bye as she walked to her place, a spring in her steps. For the first time since she stepped out of the train from Jeonju, she was finally going back to her apartment with a smile on her face. Adjusting to life in Seoul was difficult than what she thought and with no close friends and relatives living here, she had been coming back to the apartment with more worries and concerns; whether or not she will ever fit in and if coming to Seoul was a decision that she wouldn't regret making.

That day, she wrote in her diary. The same diary that she had abandoned because she had thought that there will not be a day deemed worthy enough to be recorded, at least not so soon. But now that has changed. She had met someone new, someone from her hometown, someone who she could relate with. Someone worth writing about. Jung Wheein, that's her name. 

It was raining again. That day when she received the news. That day she was en route to the café bookstore. She had been going there everyday after that fateful rainy day. She had been feeling weird since she woke up and she thought that going to see her favorite pup would make her day but she was wrong. That day, it was raining. And once again she forgot about her umbrella. Not on purpose this time. She had left them on purpose some other day so her pup would gush over her and scolded her for forgetting her umbrella. That day, it was not on purpose. And she didn't know if that was a good thing because maybe the rain will hide her tears.

SOLD

It was a signboard in front of the café bookstore. Just that, SOLD. Nothing more, nothing less. There was no more bookstore. It was gone. Gone. Along with her pup, Jung Wheein. 

It was raining again today. Hyejin flipped through her diary, reading each entry where she recorded their times together. HER. Her. She would go through it everyday without fail. It's the only way for her not to break down any further. She did it to remind herself of her Jindo pup. Her pup. Jung Wheein.

Rain. To her, it means something more. Rain, their first meeting. Rain, their times together. Rain, an unexpected separation. Rain, her pain. Rain, her longing.

Every time it rained, she found herself walking to the place, half-expecting that it was all just a dream and that her pup would swing open the door and smile widely at her. But it didn't happen. The store was sold but it remained empty, lifeless. Much like herself.

Rain. It means so much for her.