The thunder crackling over Jeonghan drew his wandering attention, and he looked up. The dark sky wasn’t showing any signs of ceasing the rain, and the young man grew tired of the dreary weather. He hadn’t seen the sun for over a week, and he was sure he’d go mad if this went on. His shoes started feeling damp, but was glad Seungcheol had reminded him to take an umbrella. However, he wasn’t happy about losing the game and having to go out to buy some snacks at the convenience store for everyone sitting back at the dorm. It was the reason he was walking on the street at nightfall.

Of course no one in their right mind would’ve been out on a terrible day like that. The streets were deserted, apart from the occasional car fighting its way through the dense rain. What he would’ve given to be in the comfort of the company van seats with the heating on, but instead he was taking an unwanted stroll during a storm.

Something collided into him and he let out a yell as he fell to the ground. He turned around ready to curse at whatever it was, but his words fell short as he noticed it was a girl. She was holding her nose, her entire face grimacing from the pain. When she noticed she had hit a blurry silhouette, she got up to her feet in a state of panic.

“I’M SO SORRY!” she yelled as she helped Jeonghan with his scattered groceries. She quickly grabbed his bag and packed everything up, while Jeonghan sat there dumbfounded. He noticed her nose was bleeding and drops of blood fell onto her light green shirt and onto the pavement and she was completely soaked as if she bathed in the rain. But before he could even get up and ask if she was okay, she handed him the bag, pulled him up, dusted him off, went to retrieve his rogue umbrella and bid him farewell with a deep bow. He widened his eyes at her, watching her run further away from him. He wondered what exactly just happened, but more importantly if she was going to be okay.

He was shaken up by the situation but decided to quickly get back home as the outside world proved to be slightly hazardous. The rain continued to beat down on his umbrella, and he felt his bottom was wet from falling just then. As he continued his way, he came to a crosswalk, and his blank expression quickly turned to annoyance as he saw the same girl from before.

“Yah, what gives-” he said, and the girl quickly turned around, squinting at him while holding her hand over her head as if to protect herself from the rain. She took a step closer to him, and continued to diminish the distance between them until her nose accidentally touched his chin. She yelped and took a few steps back.

“Sorry, I can’t see,” she said and hurriedly turned back to the crosswalk which turned green. She was just about to cross the road when Jeonghan spotted a speeding car, which was headed right for her. He yelled out to her and dropped his things to grab her, pulling her into his chest as the vehicle hit a large puddle and soaked Jeonghan from head to toe.

Jeonghan was breathing heavily from fright, holding the girl in his arms tightly. She glanced up to look at him with fear in her eyes, thinking how she could’ve been dead if it weren’t for him. She then noticed she had gotten blood all over the front of his shirt and tried to push him away but he grabbed her by the arms and looked straight into her eyes.

“What the hell is going on? Are you trying to commit suicide?” he asked helplessly.

 

She shook her head and was about to push him away when thunder struck overhead, and she immediately let out a yelp and buried her face into his chest while gripping tightly at his shirt. Jeonghan felt she was shaking in his embrace, and every time there was a rumble in the sky she pressed herself against him even more.

That’s when he realized she had been running away from the storm.

He began to reassure her and tell her he would bring her somewhere safe. He immediately spotted a 24 hour bbq restaurant and gathered his things, bringing the girl close to him as they made their way safely across the road.

When they entered the restaurant, there were no customers. Only an old lady behind the cashier greeted them half-heartedly before seeing the state they were in. She let out a gasp as she saw Jeonghan’s bloodied shirt and the girl’s bloodied nose. She told them to have a seat and soon enough came back with a number of towels for them to dry off with. They sat at the back of the restaurant near a wall, both of them sitting on opposite sides.

The girl flinched as thunder struck again, her breathing getting more and more shallow. Jeonghan took notice of that and moved from his spot to stand behind her. He began to dry off her hair, “Only pay attention to me,” he whispered. “Only me.”

Her heart had finally steadied, and she let herself drift away with his gentle touch. She did wonder for a moment as to why he was helping her, but then again she had never been so terrified before. Being an intern, she was sent out to grab some coffee. It was only raining lightly at the time, but when she was halfway to the coffee shop it began to storm over her. She had neither umbrella, nor a mind that could think straight. Thunderstorms were her worst nightmare, and she instinctively turned back around to retreat to the office.

Jeonghan ended drying her hair and draped the towel over her shoulders. She looked like a fuzzy Pomeranian with her hair, and when he sat back down he had to stifle a laugh. She kept squinting at him, and suddenly her face lit up. She reached to the back of her pocket and took out a pair of round glasses and put them on.

When she saw Jeonghan’s face in high definition, her breath fell short. He was beautiful.

The boy raised an eyebrow at her, “Why didn’t you have your glasses before crashing into me like a delinquent?”

“They fog up easily,” she answered immediately.

He slapped himself on the forehead and immediately regretted it as he felt a red mark form on his skin. Boy had he run in to a very peculiar human being, who coincidentally was also still bleeding from her nose. He handed her a bunch of tissues and she quickly held them to her nose and tilted her head forward.

“In my defense,” she started with a slightly nasal voice, “Your back is pretty damn hard.”

He was about to refute her statement when the old lady brought both of them some warm soup, saying it was on the house. The pair stared awkwardly at each other, never thinking they would be eating with a stranger. Then again it was free food, so they could both just it up.

Jeonghan ate in silence, while the girl couldn’t help but stare at him in amazement. How could someone so handsome exist, and how did she have the luck to run into him, quite literally. She slowly ate her soup, her eyes never leaving him. He was even beautiful while he ate.

“Are you going to keep ogling me like that?”

She almost spilled over her soup, her cheeks reddening immediately. She bowed in apology to him, and he ushered her to eat before it got cold.

“Thank you, for saving me,” she suddenly said. Jeonghan stopped eating, putting his spoon down to the side.

“What in the hell were you doing running around like that? You could’ve gotten yourself killed.”

She nodded and begged for his forgiveness. She wasn’t trying to die, she was just trying to find shelter and the only two places she thought of was home and her office. She didn’t see the car because her glasses were put away, but she was thankful he was her guardian angel at the moment.

She explained to him her situation, and when thunder sounded again she shut her eyes and held herself. The boy felt sympathy for her, thinking at first she was just a crazed fan. But she didn’t recognize him, at least he didn’t think she did because she didn’t bring up the fact that he was an idol.

“I can get that dry cleaned if you’d like, it looks pretty expensive,” she said, eyeing the large blood stain on his shirt. He looked down, then shook his head at her.

“Just, try not to bump into too many people, alright?” he said. He finished up his soup and was about to leave when thunder rumbled so loudly it felt like the place shook. The girl covered her ears and curled herself up, praying for it to all go away.

Jeonghan held the handle of the door and contemplated whether or not he should leave. She was a stranger, and in no way was he obligated to stay with her. Then again, she reminded him of his own little sister and of himself.

Jeonghan let out a groan and walked back to her, dropping his things on the floor. He cranked up the heat on the hot plate to serve as a heater for them and sat down on the ground next to her. She glanced at him, still wondering why he was still with her and being kind despite tackling him to the ground.

“I also used to be scared of storms as a kid,” he suddenly said, pulling his legs toward him. “I didn’t have anyone to turn to and just withstood everything on my own.” He turned to look at her, their faces inches apart. “I don’t think anyone should go through that alone.”

The storm picked up and the thunder sounded like a number of Korean barrel drums being played simultaneously. She buried her face in her hands, and when Jeonghan noticed that he gently pulled her towards him for her to rest her head onto his shoulder. Her arms immediately wrapped around his torso and clung onto him for dear life, her breathing turning ragged again. He awkwardly patted her back and whispered comforting words, until suddenly his eyes began to feel heavy.

***

When Jeonghan awoke with a start, he couldn’t recognize his surroundings at first. But then he remembered the events of the night before, and immediately began to panic. He then looked to the side and noticed the girl was asleep on the floor, all curled up with a towel over her hips. He checked his phone and saw a thousand messages he dreaded to open, and suddenly his eyes widened.

When he turned his face towards the window, he could see the bright sun creeping up the horizon.