The rain pelts down mercilessly. Big, fat liquid drops keep pouring down one after another and all she could do was watch in hopelessness. She regrets sending Bona away now. At that time, because she had been studying and Bona didn't even care if she passed all her subjects this semester which is why she decided to bother Jisoo in the first place, she thought it was a great idea to trick her by muttering something about a sale near Jisoo's apartment and how today is the last day and all items are eighty five percent off. 

She had never seen Bona walk away so fast from someone, and thirty minutes later, she sends Jisoo a text saying how could she fool her like that and now she hates her. Bona could never do that, and so Jisoo just laughed it off. 

She clearly remembers a bright pink umbrella inside Bona's bag when she opened it to take out her phone, now Jisoo can't find any reason to laugh at her friend.

"I'm sorry," she stresses, her phone pressed tightly against the side of her face. She looks at the cloudy night sky, the rain doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon and the library, much to her dismay and misfortune, had to close early today. Great, so she had to wait outside until it stopped. 

"Whatever, Ji, I'm already at my dorm anyway. And it's raining." Bona spits back from the other end of the line. 

Jisoo regrets everything. "Exactly. I'm so so sorry. Bona, I'm going to get hypothermia out here. The library's closing! Please, please, please, Bona. I can't call Nayeon because she's out of town and you know that!" 

"Ugh," she hears the other girl grunt. Jisoo could persuade Nayeon in just one second, but she was out of town and Bona was not Nayeon. They were different, and different girls needed different tactics. For Bona, it was making her feel guilty and pitiful so she would agree; that strategy always works. "You tricked me so I would leave you alone. And I did. Be careful what you wish for, Ji."

Jisoo thinks she'll have a hard time convincing Bona this time. "Bona, I really am sorry, I'll make it -"

"Hold on," Bona cuts her off, her voice monotone. There's the sound of muffled voices over the background, like Bona has placed a hand over the receiver of her phone.

Jisoo stares out at the dimly lit pathway that led to the main campus below. Technically, the library was in the campus but it was also located on top of a hill. She looked around her and saw there was only one car in the parking lot, probably the librarian's who was already glancing at Jisoo with narrowed eyes from the windows. She turns her head the other way. "Bona!" she hisses at her phone.

She removes the hand from the receiver and speaks again. "Sowon says Taeyong is still in the campus," she says dully. "We'll call him to get you, okay? Great. Bye,"

"Wh - what?! Bona, wait -" there's a click and the line goes silent. Jisoo looks at her phone incredulously, not believing Bona just threw her to someone else to be their responsibility. "Oh, Bona, ugh." she leans back against the wall and slides down until her hits the ground. She buries her face in her hands and lets out a small whimper of defeat. Jisoo curses herself for the nth time in the past hour why on Earth she forgot to bring her umbrella, today of all days. 

The rain continues to come in masses, and Jisoo just sits there outside with her forehead against her knees and trying to warm herself up. The cold was already getting to her, and she didn't have Taeyong's number. How long had she been waiting?

She could call Chaeyoung, ask her if she was around in the campus or if she could come and get her.

But then bright lights make her whip her head up. Not a good idea because the light almost blinds her at once. She places a hand over her eyes as the lights slowly dim and then disappear altogether. 

"Well you look pitiful," a familiar voice says. She looks up again and sees Taeyong, looking down at her with an indecipherable expression. She squints her eyes; it's worry that dominates his features. He's worried. "Come," he mutters and holds out his hand.

When Jisoo takes it, it's warm. 

"Whoa, your hand is freezing." He lets go when she's back on her feet. He quickly shrugs off his coat. "How long have you been out here?" He pulls his arms out of his clothing and looks at the closed doors of the library and the dim lights emitting from the inside. The whole place is deserted and Jisoo had lost track of time, she didn't even hear the rain at first. 

Jisoo mutters something about an hour or so. But she's not so sure. 

He drapes his coat over her shoulders and gingerly takes her hand in his again. Jisoo's unable to look at him, much less talk. She feels cold; her lips are starting to numb and she's barely registering the heat of his hands. She can't even protest and give him his coat back. 

With Taeyong's other hand, he opens the umbrella and they walk down the steps of the library together, hand in hand. Jisoo would be ecstatic about this contact between them, if she wasn't feeling so cold and tired.

They walk towards his car, a prius, and he opens the door for her and closes it once she's settled inside. As she's placing her bag on the floor in between her feet, he walks over to the driver's seat and folds his umbrella close before throwing it behind the backseat of the car and closing the door beside him. 

Taeyong leans over to her, Jisoo is surprised for a moment but then she realizes he's just putting on the seatbelt for her. He smells like rain and oddly of vanilla. He adjusts the length and tucks her in, making sure she feels comfortable and then he leans away, buckling his own seatbelt. 

They are quiet. Jisoo watches him put the car on reverse, he steers the wheel sharply to the right and shifts the gear to drive. They're slowly descending down the road of the hill, the library disappearing behind them. Taeyong puts both of his hands on the steering wheel, only letting one hand go when they're in the vicinity of the main campus. He fidgets with the heater, and asks if she wants music. 

"Whatever you like," she just says, which wasn't much of an answer. Taeyong switches to a radio station that played a slow, sensual song fit for the rainy evening. The heater works its magic and soon, Jisoo feels warm air coming from all sides. She lets out a sigh and leans back against her seat. "Thank you, and I'm sorry if Bona bothered you." 

"She didn't." Taeyong said, glancing briefly at her. "It's okay. I was in the campus and I was on my way home already. And we live close to each other so why not. You look a little tired though, were you there the whole afternoon?"

She nods, head tilted to the side as she watches raindrops sliding down the window of the car. Like they're in a race. "Right after lunch. I had a lot of things to do."

He just nods as well, silently understanding. And then a blanket of silence falls over them, the only thing filling it are songs playing from the radio that makes Jisoo want to close her eyes and drift off to sleep. The silence is comfortable and familiar, which was strange. They were practically strangers, still hovering over the title of "friends". And yet, she feels so at