Ryeowook

“You know…. Anyone who says sunshine is the only thing that brings happiness has probably never danced in the rain before!”

She glances up at me with red eyes. I laugh and grab her wrists, pulling her out of the little shelter and onto the empty road. She squeals when she the rain hits her and looks down at her blue dress, all soaked now thanks to the heavy rain. Her bangs cover her eyes but I can see that she’s glaring at me and she doesn’t look too happy. I smile and take her hands and start moving around, spinning and twirling around. She reluctantly lets me pulls her through, not seem to be bothering me. I hold her both her hands and start running in circles and soon, we’re both running too fast and we’re both dizzy and giggling finding everything funny. We lose our balance and both of us fall backwards thanks to the slippery roads. I laugh out loud and the girl giggles next to me, covering her lips with her hands.

I stand and this time, I do my famous octopus dance that I learnt from my dearest Yesung hyung. She claps her hands and watches me while I dance weirdly with my bancs all sticking to my forehead thanks to the heavy rain. My clothes are soaked but I don’t think of all of that when I’m actually having fun. I haven’t had fun in a long time now since I came here to Japan. I stop dancing to catch my breath and hold my hands out and the girl accepts it, gripping my hands fully and I pull her up. I continue dancing my octopus dance and she tries to follow me and honestly, she’s as terrible as I am! But she’s smiling and even laughing and it makes me feel better. I’m also laughing and smiling and… When have I done that ever since I came here?

When a lightning suddenly strikes above us, both of us squeal out loud and I take her hands and both of us run to the shelter we were sitting under earlier on. We both fall back against the wooden benches and start to giggle and soon, giggles turn into laughter and for a moment, we just sit there, laughing away.

“Thank you.” She whispers when we’re finally done laughing. “I haven’t laughed that long since forever.”

“You’re welcome.” I nod. “And me too, I guess.”

She turns to face me and smiles, reaching out her hands to shake with mine. “I’m Eun Ji!”

Could it be that she doesn’t recognize me? I mean… Not that everyone recognizes that I’m a superstar but she’s in her teenage years so she must…. Know me…. Right? Plus, the fact that she’s actually Korean! How can she not know me?

“I’m Ryeowook.” I introduce myself.

She nods and doesn’t at all seem to look suspicious of me. She releases the handshake and hugs her legs to her chest, staring out. I do the same too and it feels nice, actually. I’m sitting under a wooden shelter in the middle of an empty park in Japan with another Korean and although all of this screams weird, I just… It’s actually comfortable.

“So… Umm… Are you… Are you okay?” I ask, shifting a little so that I can look at her face. “I mean… I saw you… crying earlier on.”

She nods. “I’m fine now I guess.”

“What were you crying about?” I ask and then quickly add. “I mean… If you don’t mind sharing with me that is.”

“My boyfriend just broke up with me a few minutes before you came along through text.”

“Ah. I’m sorry.”

“It’s…. It’s okay.” She sighs and then tilts her head to look at me. “What about you, oppa?”

“Why are you all alone in an empty park at a time like this?”

I take a deep breath. “I guess…. I’ve been kind of lonely these past few days and wanted to think.”

She nods understandingly. As we take a seat and watch the rain pouring and the lightning lighting up the dark sky once in a while in silence, I realized that for once ever since I stepped into Japan,

I don’t feel lonely anymore.

I’m waiting for Kyuhyun. It says that his flight is about to land any minute now and I am excited. Thankfully, it’s too early in the morning for there to be many people at the airport and Eunhyuk, Donghae and I offer to pick Kyuhyun up. I’m excited to see my boyfriend. Really really excited. It’d probably look too weird if I were to kiss Kyuhyun in public but hugging? It’s not wrong to hug in public isn’t it? Right at this point, I really don’t care. I just want to feel Kyuhyun’s warmth against mine, I just want to be reunited with Kyuhyun.

Both my hyungs are ordering drinks while I’m sitting all alone. I grab my phone from my bag and take it out, staring at it. I… I don’t know why I’ve been thinking a lot of Eun Ji these past few days. She’s been calling me a lot but I’ve been either too busy or too tired to answer her calls. Or.. too guilty.

I unlock my phone and scroll down to her name. Taking a deep breath, I press the call button and wait for her to answer the phone.

“I’m busy right now so please leave a message! Aingg!”

I smile at Eun Ji’s aegyo. If you think Sungmin was king of aegyo then I can tell you that Eun Ji is queen of aegyo. She’s always so full of it sometimes she doesn’t even realize it when she acts cute. I chuckle and shake my head.

“Eun Ji ah, it’s me, Ryeowook oppa.” I say softly. “How have you been? I hope you’re happy and fine.”

“I…. I’m in Japan right now.”

“Let’s meet up sometime alright?” I clear my throat. “I… I’m sorry for leaving, Eun Ji ah. I’m…. I’m really sorry for… everything.”

When I spot my hyungs making their way back towards me, I quickly put on an expressionless mask and pretend that I’m talking to someone else. I clear my throat again, feeling myself getting choked.”

“Call… Call me back alright?” I gulp.

“Sa…