Eunhae.         

Eunhae cursed. The rain hasn’t stopped since lunchtime, and now it was nearing afternoon. The fact that she forgot to bring an umbrella in her rush to get to school this morning didn’t help, either. She rummaged her floppy school bag for something to shield herself with against the battering rain.

Unlike other students at school, Eunhae didn’t bother with cute bags or shoes. Their school had a uniform, and the only things other students had to personalize themselves with were their shoes, bags, accessories and school supplies. Her friends might have stylish things, but to Eunhae, those things didn’t matter. Her limited funds might have had a hand in that, too. From that, she had equipped herself with the floppiest purple converse backpack and plain white vans with black linings. It might get a little dirty, but Eunhae didn’t mind. She could always clean it.

            Her hair was always let down, straight black hair ending right below her shoulders with a slight inward curl accompanying side swept bangs always making her look slightly anime-ish. After spending a good while rechecking her backpack if an umbrella had magically appeared there, Eunhae plopped down a small wooden bench leaned against the outer school walls. Taking out a grape juice box from her backpack was a small pleasure. From missing breakfast to stealing a few bites of lunch, at least she had common sense to put a juice box in her bag the night before. Quite childish for a high schooler, but she couldn’t bring herself to care less at the moment.

            Fishing out her phone, she quickly opened Instagram. Her phone was a prized possession to her. Because of her small funding, it took her months from her part time job salary to afford her own phone. A safe haven from everything bothering her in life. Like any other teenage girl, the first thing she did was download social media. It was quickly after that Instagram became her favorite. Other than finding that she actually was good with a camera, she found relief in putting her day’s adventures in the captions. Instagram was full of people who posted aesthetically pleasing pictures, and people loved it. It wasn’t long before her follower count started going higher and higher, until the numbers started going to thousands. However, one follower had gained her interest in particular.

            Kyun2979.

            This user has liked every single photo she posted. Not in a creepy way either, since none of her photos were personal. They were just snapshots of her daily life, little moments. Yet this certain user actually reads her captions, at times commenting a motivational quote on the days she needs it. It was sweet and cute.  Of course, she checked out his user, but it only had a picture of a small daisy growing behind a red brick wall. That gave no clues.

            Shaking out her stupor, Eunhae quickly opened the camera button and took a picture of her shoes against the start contrast of the floored ground. Adding a filter, she tapped the next button and started typing the caption.

            ‘Ahh, what a horrid day. Other than being late to school and missing breakfast, I actually forgot my lunch money and umbrella (condolences to my friends. I stole your lunches). On top of that, it started raining during the day and now it’s pouring. No one to pick me up, too. At times like this, it would be convenient to have a boyfriend.’

            Eunhae smiled and posted it. It was, in a way, quite like a blog, but on Instagram. It didn’t take long for notifications to start vibrating her phone like an earthquake, but she checked the comments. A few “Hwaiting!”s and “I relate with the lunches” comments came, but she eventually came upon Kyun2969’s comment after scrolling down a bit.

            ‘At times like that, I’d wish I had a girlfriend, too.’

            Eunhae let out a quick smile. Content, she stood up and walked toward the edge of the small outdoor roofing of the school before putting her phone in her skirt pocket and making her bag a makeshift shield against the hammering rain. She had already stuck a straw in the box, deciding to drink it along the way home. Puffing in a quick breath of motivation, Eunhae jogged out of the school entrance before turning in the general direction of home.

            Until she bumped into something.

            Someone, to be precise.

            Both Eunhae and the person were on the wet sidewalk, sprawled from the impact of their collision. Eunhae had landed on her rump; she could literally feel the water seeping in. Letting out a squeak from both the bump and how she landed, she realized that her backpack had landed a quite ways away from her. Eunhae let a quick curse slip out before standing up to pick it off the edge of the sidewalk. The damage had been done, though. Her hair hung in parts and she was wet from head to toe. She finally let her eyes trail to the person who had bumped into her.

            If Eunhae was considered beautiful, this man was a god. He had no umbrella, just his uniform and a bag. His expression told otherwise, though. The man was also wet head to toe, and fell down quite in a similar position as Eunhae had. Until she let her eyes trail down to her uniform. A purple-ish blue stain had appeared on his blazer, and it was then that Eunhae realized that this person was Im Changkyun from Monsta X, and that the stain on his uniform was caused by her grape juice.

            “Oh. Gosh, I’m sorry. Do you need help? I’m sorry.” Eunhae started to say, seeing as his scowl told everything she needed to know. She bent down to give him a hand, but he slapped it away.

            “I can stand up myself.”

            Eunhae pursed her lips. Rude. “Alright, then.”

            She slung her backpack over her right shoulder, the action causing her backpack to slosh slightly with water. The soppy sponge slings made her hand feel disgusting and uncomfortable and her shoulders cold, but she couldn’t care less. She turned to walk away, but Changkyun’s loud protest made her turn around, a similar scowl adorning her face.

            “What do you want now?”

            “Wash my uniform.” He told her in a stable tone, indicating that his decision is final. Eunhae gaped at him, unknowingly opening and closing like a fish. How dare he order her around like that?

            He may be an idol and one of the most popular guys at school, but she was not his slave. “Excuse me?”

Changkyun gestured toward the stain on his blazer. “Are you deaf? I told you to wash my uniform.”

            “Why?”

            “You bumped into me. You caused this stain. Now you have to wash it. Are you an idiot?” Changkyun’s scowl deepened. You didn’t think it was possible for someone’s distaste to be so deep for a stranger. Then again, she also didn’t think it was possible to dislike him even more either. He took off his blazer and threw it to her roughly. Eunhae barely caught it in time, the attempt almost causing her to lose her balance once again. She gaped at him, shock and anger evident in her eyes. “What? Do you have something to say, idiot?”

            Yes. You are an . “No.”

            “Give me your phone.”

            Eunhae looked at Changkyun’s outstretched hand. Half of her wanted to give her phone out of curiosity, but the other half of her wanted to say no just to give her the satisfaction. She reached down her skirt pocket and thanked the lords it was still quite dry. “Why do you need it?”

            “Just give it to me.” Hesitantly, she put her phone in his hand. He took out his own and punched in numbers, careful to cup his remaining hand over it to block off the incoming rain. “Deliver it to my address once you’re done cleaning it. I’ll text it to you  I don’t want to be seen with the likes of you in school.”

            Douche. Eunhae gritted her teeth together. “Ah, okay. I’ll take my leave now, then.”

            Shoving her phone into her pocket, she stormed away from him. It wasn’t until Eunhae was halfway toward home did she realize her uniform also had a grape juice stain, even bigger than the one in Changkyun’s blazer. Resisting the urge to run back and slap him, she rounded the block and saw the familiar sign of the café she part-timed in.

            Slipping down the alley beside it, she entered the back door. The scent of coffee filled the air, making the café’s aura toasty and welcoming against the cold rain.

            “Eunhae! You’re late!” Min stood up abruptly from her relaxed position upon seeing the soaking teenager. The plastic cup on the table she was supporting her legs on fell down with a small clack (thank the lords it was empty) on the flooring and the nail buffer she was using was hastily thrown away to the corner of the staff room. “Hurry up and change, girl! You’re wet all over. Do you need help with that?”

            “What?” Eunhae looked at Min gesturing to her hair hesitantly, indicating that her hair looked like Davy Jones’ tentacles. “Oh. No, I can do it myself.”

            Quickly throwing her soggy bag next to the small couch where Suhee was sleeping on, she grabbed her uniform and made a beeline to the toilet. Relief flooded her at the empty stalls. Eunhae changed into her white shirt and pants. Her brown apron was folded neatly on the toilet seat. She’ll just put it on later, or it’ll soak. Taking a few paper towels from the dispenser, she rubbed at her sopping hair. It might cause frizz later on, but it was better than the condition it was in now. When her hair no longer hung in tendrils, Eunhae ran her fingers through it. At least now it was damp.

            She threw her apron over her neck as she exited the toilet. Her body ached at the prospect of working late. It was a just consequence, though. Come late, work late. Eunhae’s fingers were already halfway through the back knot when she heard the sounds of the coffee machine and Jaehyuk cursing. Min had informed that Yeongjun had covered for her, but they were going to need extra help since the café has more crowd than usual. Lazy asses. If Yeongjun and Jaehyuk needed the extra help, they could’ve helped out a bit.

            Jaehyuk’s long fingers fumbed awkwardly with each button on the coffee machine and Yeongjun looked like he could die just looking at the sheer amount of customers waiting for him. She almost wanted to giggle at the sight.

            “Where the hell is Eunhae?” Jaehyuk exclaimed at Yeongjun. His forté was not with making coffee, although the fact that he was stumbling more often was probably because he pulled an all-nighter before his university classes started. The bags in his eyes confirmed her suspicion.

            “I’m here! Yeongjun, take up the coffee machine and help Jaehyuk out. I can handle the cashier.” Eunhae announced. Although both were a few years older than her, they were obviously tired and needed someone to help sort out the mess they were in. Jaehyuk visibly sagged in relief, muttering a barely audible ‘thank god’ before Yeongjun told him to go back to work. Eunhae put on a charming smile turned to the next customer. “What would you like to order?”