final

It was raining on the day you first saw him.

The dark clouds were slowly painting the sky into a gloomy grey and the leaves and your hair were sent rustling by the cool wind. You quickened your pace towards the bus stop, remembering that you do not have an umbrella with you. It was too late though. Just when the bus stop came visibly in sight, rain started pouring.

You pulled down the hood of your hoodie and started shaking beads of rain off your bangs as soon as you were sheltered at the bus stop. Lifting your head only when you felt your hair was dry enough, you squinted (in vain) into the blurry flashes of rain for any sight of approaching buses.

The bus stop was empty. There were only you and another boy seated at the far end of the long bench. He too, wore a hoodie and had his hood up, head down, watching and swinging his feet above the wet ground. It might be because you were majoring in visual arts, but you couldn’t help but think that the atmosphere really suited the boy. His subtle actions and the white noise of the rain made it seemed like the scene was a mere peaceful, short video replaying continuously. Even his white earphones, black hoodie and jeans, along with his black hair that fell perfectly over his forehead matched the gloominess of the weather. And since the ground was concrete grey and the white flashes of pouring rain concealed any bright-coloured cars passing by, it almost felt like you were looking at a low saturation anime scene too.

You must be too engrossed in watching him because you almost jumped when he lifted his head and turned towards you. Your heart skipped a beat, not only because you thought you were caught guilty for staring, but also because of his unbelievably good looking face. Seeing his face further validated your whole anime conceptualization of him. How can someone possibly be born with such flawless features?

As you admired his uneven yet pretty eyes, you realised he wasn’t looking at you but at the bus that was approaching. Oh.. You felt relieved yet somehow disappointed that he hadn’t noticed you.

The bus slowed down and you were about to (finally) look away when he turned towards you and both of your eyes met just before the doors of the bus sprang open. His expression was stoic and his gaze was cold, but for one reason or another, you were drawn to it. You couldn’t stop looking even after he had disappeared into the bus until it started moving again.

It was also then did you realise that he had boarded the bus that you supposedly had been waiting for.

That was the day you first saw Jinyoung, as well as the day you missed your bus and had to wait for another in the freezing rain because of him.

“For the first time in a while, I thought about you today”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 🌧 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“Jinyoung-ah.”

“Yes?” He hummed softly in response.

“Why is it always raining whenever I’m with you?” You murmured vaguely, staring out the window decorated with raindrops and instinctively snuggling closer to him even though both of you were already surrounded cosily by multiple thick blankets.

Jinyoung’s arms tighten around you and with his usual quiet and slightly hoarse voice, he replied, “Maybe so that you’ll come to me for warmth.” You glanced up at him to see whether he was serious and as expected, his face was impassive and ever-so-good-looking. His attention was directed at the movie you both were watching, leaving you to wonder if he meant it.

“And what if one rainy day you’re no longer here?” You questioned playfully in hopes of him diverting his attention to you. And he did, turning to look at you. His expression was no longer impassive when he started to smile; his eyes slowly turning into crescents. “What are you talking about~” He gave your shoulder a gentle nudge with his arm that was around you and you laughed.

“That day wouldn’t come, babe,” Jinyoung added when you did not reply. You knew this was just a mindless banter but what he said made your heart feel a little fuller if you had to admit it. Reaching up swiftly, you left a quick peck on his cheek and earned a wider smile from him. And you knew what he was going to say next.

“Can I bite you? Jagiya, you’re too cute~”

Maybe because it was raining, you allowed your tears to fall along with the raindrops. You allowed this memory to find its way out of the buried pile of all the memories made with Jinyoung. You allowed your tears to fall because Jinyoung did not keep to his words.

Because it is raining, but he isn’t here.

“My heart says it’s okay to be sad or depressed today
It doesn’t matter anyway, when this night is over
I’ll forget you again and live like that for a while
And you’ll only live on in my heart”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 🌧 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

You know you shouldn’t be walking this route, especially not when it’s pouring. It was a longer route from your home to the bus stop but it used to be your favourite route. It has been weeks since you last passed by Jinyoung’s apartment. It feels like a punishment to yourself; to be standing right at the gate of his apartment building but not be able to go up. To have all the memories made here replay in your mind knowing no more new ones would be made. To be shivering in this cold because nobody else could provide you with the same warmth Jinyoung did. No, it is a punishment.

“I’d rather have this rain never stop
So that I could live every day in my memories
Because I’m a fool that hurt you
And I don’t even deserve to hold you in my arms ever again”

Time passed quickly even when you were solely just staring at the gate and thinking about him. You remember all the times you bided him goodbye at this exact spot, all the times you couldn’t bear to leave his embrace and all the times Jinyoung would tell you, “If it rains again later you have to come back to me, okay?” whenever you were leaving.

“The happiness that was given to us
We must have used it all up too soon”

You smiled for the first time today, allowing yourself to feel the emotions of the past before you finally decided to leave. Less than a few steps after you turned to leave the gate, you hear the sound of the gate automatically opening upon the press of the button from the inside; after all it was a sound you were all too familiar with. With the tiniest bit of hope you had, you turned around to check the resident who opened the gate.

The loud rain became white noise and the heavy downpour turned into white flashes of concealment again, blocking out every noise and everything except for the boy you first saw at the bus stop on a rainy day like today, who was now standing in front of you.

“So you came back.”