„What are you doing there?“ His words caught up with me as soon as my relaxing nutshell finally broke in two. The only thing I had left of it was the warm water surrounding me and I surely wasn't planning on stepping out of it as long as someone else was around. Geez. „You're going to catch a cold or something if you keep bubbling around like this“, he than added and I rolled my eyes which was propably not observable to someone in the distance. I was already 20 years old and the point of not living with your parents anymore was not living with your parents anymore. Someone trying hard to talk reason into me was the last thing I needed right now. So instead of following his lead, I sighed.

I lifted my arms to catch the rain in my hands as if swimming in such a weather was the best thing that could have happened to me. And it was, but that clearly wasn't obvious to him. „Maybe you should try it too“, I said jokingly, „it's warm. It'll surely relax your alarmed mommy-senses a little.“ Then again, it was his turn to sigh at me like parents sigh at their children whenever they do something stupid that could have been avoided. I was already expecting him to leave so I could enjoy the rest of my quality-time before I was able to handle company again – verbally snapping at people who wanted to help me normally wasn't my habit. I hated this day for still making me do so.

The next thing I saw was an umbrella put to the ground and someone stepping out of his jeans right after he had removed his shirt as well. If it hadn't been for the rain, this day would have been as warm as the others, almost sweltering, so there wasn't much to wear for anyone. When he was stripped down to his underwear I couldn't help but admire the line of his body, tall and still toned in all of its elegant slenderness, as he stepped knee-deep into the lake I was still hiding myself in. I let my arms sink and waved them in his direction as a sign. „What are y o u doing?“, I shouted at him who was still far enough to be hardly audible from here, „get out! I don't share my colds with random strangers!“ But the moment I said this, I realized that I had begun to smile vaguely at the weird situation. Who would be selfless and crazy enough to hop into a lake just to … - to do what exactly?

He didn't even give me time to think about that. I stared at him without restraint, hoping that would scare him off, but he didn't even seem to pay attention. If he found the water cold, he didn't show it, and it didn't take him long to fully cover himself in the floating water that was my lake. I wanted to back off when I cautiously watched him approach me, his swimming defined and powerful but seemed effortless at the same time. People like him normally liked to shut themselves away whenever it rained so their beautiful self wouldn't be damaged in any way. So what was someone like him doing out there at this time?

When he arrived at my spot of the water, we finally looked alike. His hair was now sticking to his face, creating an even stronger frame of it, and his body was covered in water leaving fine trails down the muscles visible to my eye. „Hi“, he then greeted me casually, smiling at me as if it was his everyday thing to swim with strangers. I blinked at him confused and I must have looked pretty deranged because he suddenly laughed, making me snap out of my confusion. Now was when I noticed that his lips were curled into a smile almost all the time as if he had been born like that, but it wasn't one of these fake, superficial smiles that you get to see all day long. „So“, he said after a moment, „it really is warm. You were right. You'll propably won't catch a cold until you have to walk home in these clothes.“ He pointed his head at my clothes, still lying on the shore. A soaked bundle that surely wasn't wearable anymore now. I lifted my hands and brushed some wet hair out of my face.

„I don't live far from here“, I tried to justify my indifference, but the only thing I managed to by that was making him swim a little closer even. He scanned my face, looking for something that I didn't know, and I slightly frowned but didn't back off. Strangely enough his eyes felt good on me, they weren't checking me out importunately like other men's used to, but instead they were worriedly looking for an answer. Propably one that would guarantee that my mental health was undamaged. „What's the matter with you?“, he then asked sincerely and in a tone so serious and warm that I felt myself shiver from it. I tried to look away to avoid his disarming gaze, now facing the water. „What's the matter with you, walking around in the rain?“, I asked my counter question, hoping it would take his attention off of me. But it didn't.

He lifted one of his hands and put it on my cheek, wanting to make me look at him him, and I tried to slap him in indigntaion but he caught a hold of my wrist before I could. „Don't even-“, I hissed, but my voice sounded suffocating and he didn't seem to care. „You have no idea how much you frightened me when I saw you floating on the lake. You looked like someone either drunk or out of his senses, and honestly, you don't give me much of a reason to change my mind on that now. Going swimming on a rainy day isn't exactly what I would do if I didn't know how to handle myself.“ After that, no matter how hard I tried to hold them back, I felt tears build up in my eyes, their honesty stinging my heart. He was right in everything he said, but knowing that I seemed out of my mind hurt me. I always wanted to keep my upset restlessness a secret from the people who actually knew me because I didn't like me when I was like that, and now someone discovered it and confronted me about it.

That was too much.

I forcefully joggled my wrist in his grip, wanting him to let me free so I could flee from his unsparing honesty and the fact that he obviously was able to see through me, but instead of letting go, he pulled me closer to his wet body until we were only inches apart. And the second I surrendered and weakly rested my forehead on his shoulder, the tears I had held back all day long started flowing. I didn't even know his name, but the feeling he gave me was one that I hadn't felt for a painfully long time. Someone to actually care about me without me wanting it, knowing what I felt without me telling him, someone that I had waited for a really long time. He slowly let go of my wrist and pulled me into his arms instead, carefully up and down my back as the day was rinsed out of my heart as I silently cried my eyes out. He didn't say anything, he just held me for a long time and then I felt that he was doing small swimming , light enough not to disturb me but powerful enough to approach the shore again.

Still today I don't really know how that happened, but in an instant, I felt the warmth of his car surround me. He had picked up our clothing, mine soaked and useless, his sheltered from the umbrella, and put both of it in the trunk after lending me his sweater and putting on his jeans himself. I was still faintly jerking from all the crying and so he just sat next to me. He weren't driving but resting in the warmth that really felt good after the lake had somewhat cooled down my body temperature and his as well. I almost felt sorry for that – he didn't have to. But on the other hand, I was glad he had come looking for me. It wasn't like I was going to drown myself, but I still felt rescued. Saved from the sorrow I couldn't put aside by myself.

„Thanks“, I managed to say somehow in between my faint sobs, „thank you.“ He tilted his head to one side so he was able to look at me, a smile on his face, caring and almost loving. It sent shivers down my spine to just look at him smile, his eyes dumbfounded me. He shook his head a little, refusing my thank-you's, but I knew he had acknowledged them.

But after some more minutes of silence, he raised his voice. „Promise you won't do this again?“ I limply raised my eyebrows a little when he asked that question. It sounded to clichée for someone to actually say it out loud in real life and I found it hard to answer. Plus, I wasn't sure whether I would come back here or not. After all, he wouldn't be there every time to catch up with me and carry me out of the water bridal style like a helpless mermaid that forgot how to walk. But I wasn't planning on saying that. I wanted to enjoy the moment as it was, and to imagine that maybe one day he'd come back here was enough for me. He looked at me but since I didn't answer, he decided to act otherwise. He stretched out his arm to reach for the glove box and clicked it open, pulling out a pen and an old sales slip that he turned around to write on its back side. My gaze lingered on his fingers as he wrote his name and a number under it, and if it wasn't for the situation, I would have laughed shyly.

Was he really giving me his number? My heart skipped a beat at the thought of that and it felt good, so when he handed me the paper, I took it from him thankfully. I knew that I wouldn't call him so soon because after today, I wouldn't want to look him in the eye again for some time, but having this in my pocket was a glimpse of today that would rest for the time until we met again. I look down onto the paper and read his name. 'Kim JoonMyun', my head echoed after reading it several times. And unter that, in smaller hangul, 'Suho', the guardian. I laughed a little at that, wondering if he had made up that nickname just now or if he was known for anyway, and then turned my head to look at him and say something.

But the moment I did, he leaned forward and placed his lips on the corner of my mouth. I felt my whole body tingle warmly at the touch of his soft lips on mine and I lowered my lids immediately, but not entirely as I wanted to be able to see him still. A wave of sound happiness washed over me and I was barely able to breathe that moment, but everything about it was enjoyable. His smell, his lips, the way his lashes were silhouetted against his skin as he closed his eyes and how he gently and casually put his hand on my exposed thigh as he leaned over to me, his skin warm and comforting on mine. It was the only kiss he gave me that day, but it seemed to last forever. His lips left an invisible mark on my skin that I would carry around forever, and when he noticed the smile that curled up on my face after he sat back again, he put his hands on the steering wheel and started the motor. „At least call me when you're about to hop in again so I can join you“, he said before after leaving the area around the lake. „Yes, mom.“ I nodded obediently before snuggling into the seat, his light laughter ringing in my ears.

And before I fell asleep out of exhaustion, I noticed how he the radio just the second Heo YoungSaeng's 'Rainy Heart' came on. We both laughed at the ironic coincidence, but the song was going to be ours forever.