03. Rain of Blessing

眠れぬ夜は雨の音さえ 優しく歌う tonight

Nemurenu yoru wa ame no oto sae yasashiku utau tonight

Sound of falling rain whispering tenderly in this sleepless night, tonight

It's raining. 

He could hear it. At first, soft taps against the window panes and a moment later, a more visible white noise sounded through the whole library. 

Everything is still. So still that Yonghwa wonders if he was back to being a ten-year-old again - nine years ago. The familiar stillness and the white noise of the rain around him always reminded him of that day. A blurred of rush memories that he still couldn't recall completely as much as he wants to.

残された記憶は 風に吹かれて

Nokosareta kioku wa kaze ni fukarete

The remaining memory is blowing in the wind

Most of what he remembers hurts, but he learned that through time that the pain lessens, though it doesn't disappear completely. That day, he lost his parents. Both died in an accident and the worst part is that he doesn't remember how he survived. There must have been something or some reason that prevented him from joining his parents and he wishes he remembers at least that. Only he doesn't.

His mind wanders to different memories of that day, but simply fails because everything in his head was so messy that he was starting to get a headache.

"Yonghwa-ssi.." He suddenly hears a faint sound, somewhat familiar. He opens his eyes, realizing he must have drifted.

He blinks rubbing his eyes focusing on the person beside him. "Uh, we could, um, continue tomorrow if you're too tired," Juhyun said in a low voice that he barely caught the words.

Come feel the season change with every heartbeat

Instead of answering her, he found himself staring at the window nearby where the raindrops splattered against it. It was almost dark and the library is almost empty.

"It's raining... How long have I been out, Juhyun-ssi?" He asks not moving his gaze.

"Uh, not that long..." Juhyun pauses as if contemplating. "The rain started about 30 minutes ago."

He finally turns to her. "I'm sorry...It's getting dark and its raining, Juhyun-ssi. Do you have an umbrella?" 

Juhyun shook her head and as she looked up to him, Yonghwa noticed her eyes sparkle. "I-I'll be fine!" she quickly adds, her hands smoothing strands of her hair. "My house isn't that far. It's an easy walk... I mean I just have to walk really fast, so um, I don't have to get - uh, never mind. Sorry." She stopped and immediately looked down.

She was rambling, Yonghwa realized, again. Today was only the first week of getting help from her and yet there were already a few things he learned about her. One of them is that when she's nervous, she rambles like there's no tomorrow. "You'll still get wet and there's a good chance of you catching a cold. How about we wait till it stops?"

She turned to look at the clock on the wall in which he followed: 5:45

The library closes at six. 

He sighed. "Okay, maybe not," he paused for a moment to think and then he looked at her though she avoided meeting his gaze. He continues, "We only have two choices, Juhyun-ssi, either we make a run for it, or stay in front of the library which closes in about fifteen minutes and wait there until it stops. I find the latter difficult to do because it's cold and there's no guarantee that the rain will stop any sooner, so which one?"

He saw small panics in her eyes. "Don't worry Juhyun-ssi. You have me remember?" This time her eyes widened that it surprised him a little.

"N-No. I could go alone, really, Yonghwa-ssi! You don't have to help me."

He knew he made her uncomfortable but that didn't mean that he would ignore her so he disregarded what she said and just shrugged. "So I guess the first choice." He stood up on his feet grabbing his guitar and her things without permission. He muttered, "Good choice" and walked towards the door knowing she was trailing behind him; probably anxious or frustrated at him; either way, he doesn't want to know, because the last thing he wants to do right now is worry about his conscience.

気づかずに描きつづけた dream

Kizukazu ni egaki tsuzuketa dream

Without noticing, I kept drawing a dream

It's raining and her heart is hammering against her chest. She stood beside Yonghwa who seems oblivious in just about everything as he held out his palm to touch falling raindrops from the sky.

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