BGM: Park Myungsoo feat SNSD's Jessica - Naeng Myeon

The rainy season in South Korea, which is commonly referred to as jangma, coincides with the middle of the summer. From early July all the way 'til August, sporadic amounts of rainfall are expected to shower the streets of Seoul. So, when the rain finally poured on this gloomy Wednesday afternoon, you knew that the sunshine-y part of the summer was already nearing its end.

"Honestly, I wasn't even expecting you guys today," you confessed, while adding scoops of tapioca pearls into the plastic cups.

Despite the heavy pouring of rain outside, the SM trainees still accompanied their friend Kyungsoo all the way to the Happy Bubble Tea Shop.

"Why? Because of the rain? Oh, please. This is nothing," Chanyeol said.

You also noticed that Moonkyu was without his pseudo-twin today. When you asked him about Jongin's whereabouts, he just said that his friend was being stubborn that he refused to leave the practice room until he perfects this particular dance move that they learned today.

"Yeah, and if I didn't drag him away from the practice room, Yixing would probably still be there with Jongin right now," Kevin remarked.

"I also didn't expect the three- I mean, the four of you to be here so early," you admitted, referring to the Chinese boys who normally attend Korean lessons during Wednesdays.

Yixing then explained that the reason why their Korean language instructor decided to dismiss them early today was because she wanted to catch the live airing of the World Cup semi-final between Spain and Germany with her German boyfriend.

Folding his arms across his chest, Luhan smirked, "I didn't know you were taking note of our schedule,"

"I don't!" you denied, shifting your attention to the brewing tea leaves instead.

"So, how come you knew that we usually arrive late during Wednesdays?" Luhan asked, obviously determined to continue with the teasing.

In an attempt to avoid Luhan's interrogation, you asked them about Jinho instead. You realized that ever since you were introduced to him during the charity fun run, you haven't seen him visit the shop with the rest of the boys.

"Oh, Jinho's taking extra singing lessons," Kyungsoo answered. "He's about to debut, you know," 

Briefly looking away from the newly-brewed tea, you exclaimed, "Really?!? That's great, isn't it? One of you is finally going to be on TV!"

"Yeah, he's going to debut with a ballad group soon," Minseok confirmed.

While you and the boys were discussing Jinho's upcoming debut with what would eventually be called SM the Ballad, Joonmyun was just quietly enjoying the cup of Americano he bought in the coffee shop next-door.

Although he was genuinely happy for Jinho, he couldn't help but feel envious of him. Jinho, who just joined the company two years ago, was actually preparing to debut in a project group with three of SM Entertainment's most-skilled vocalists: Jay of The Trax, Kyuhyun of Super Junior, and Jonghyun of SHINee; while Joonmyun, who has been with the company since 2006, was still nothing but a mere trainee.

Chanyeol, who instantly noticed the serious expression on his hyung's face - one that obviously revealed his doubts about ever debuting, came up with a plan to distract Joonmyun from such thoughts.

"Isn't it weird... that we're drinking bubble tea in this type of weather?" he asked. Looking at you and Kyungsoo, he quickly added, "No offense to the two of you, but bubble tea and rain just don't suit well with each other,"

"I know, right?" you agreed with him. "I mean, don't get me wrong. I do appreciate the fact that you still order bubble tea despite this weather, but really? Bubble tea? It's pouring outside! All I can think of right now is a nice, hot bowl of ramen,"

"That's why I prefer coffee... it's perfect for any kind of weather," Joonmyun declared, gently raising his cup as if acknowledging a toast.

"Ah, Jaemi~ why did you even mention ramen?!? Now, I'm craving it!" Minseok admitted, almost salivating at the thought.

You decided to even further. "Don't you like it when you slurp the tasty noodles for the first time and it mildly burns your tongue, but it doesn't hurt at all because it just tastes so good?"

"Oh! Oh! That's right!" Chanyeol agreed. "...and, and somehow, that last drop of soup seems to be the most delicious! It's so good that you'll end up craving for more!"

"Yeah, and for some reason, a cold glass of water tastes so much better after eating ramen..." Moonkyu chimed in.

While you and the boys were describing how good it is to eat ramen, Minseok found himself rubbing his tummy and keeping his mouth closed in case a bucket of saliva attempts to escape from it.

"Hmmm... ramen," you drawled, slowly glossing your lips with your tongue as if savoring the rich flavor of the soup.

"STOP DOING THAT!!!" Luhan yelled, surprising everybody in the room. "That's it!" he declared, standing up from his seat before grabbing his backpack. He then took Yixing by the arm and dragged him towards the exit.

Also clueless about his friend's sudden outburst, Yixing asked, "Hey! Where are we going?!?"

"We're going to buy ramen!"

 "Jaemi. Picture." 

While Luhan and Yixing were out buying ramen, Zitao took this as the perfect opportunity to approach you. He walked towards the green-painted counter and repeated the words 'Jaemi' and 'picture' while flashing you his iPhone.

Tilting your head in confusion, you asked, "Picture what?"

"He wants to take a picture with you," Kevin explained.

Scrunching your eyebrows, you asked, "But why?!? I'm neither a popular celebrity nor a famous landmark! Why would he want a photo taken with me?!?"

"Becauthe he hath a crush on you and he wantth to uthe your picture ath hith wallpaper," Sehun joked, although the expression on his face and the tone of his voice didn't gave away the fact that he was only kidding.

Before you could react and accuse Zitao of being stalkerish, Chanyeol quickly cleared up the misunderstanding. "Don't worry, Sehun's only kidding!"

Minseok added, "Yeah. You see, Zitao has a thing for selcas..."

"He's already asked all of us to have our photos taken with him," Kevin revealed. "Now, I guess it's your turn,"

"Really?!? Is it okay if I have a look first?" you asked, and after almost a minute of charades, Zitao finally understood what you meant and showed you the photos.