“yah choi jong hyun! When are you getting married???!!!”

“ Im sick of seeing your face here in my house every damn weekend! Go date somebody, girl or boy.”

“I don’t care, just get a life dammit. You workaholic!”

Sighs…

“arasso omma. I’ll find myself a HANDSOME BOYFRIEND SINCE U DON’T MIND ME BEING GAY!”

Changjo whined as he heads out from his mother’s home. He was a good son, caring and sweet. Always providing the family with great money and blessing but he only has one flaw. He was a hardcore workaholic. Even on weekends he would go back to his office and re-do his employees report.

A typical perfectionist.

It was another Saturday, slow and boring. Like usual the boy heads to his office when his phone rang quite frequently than usual that day. He opened his kakao only to realize that today was his birthday. Friendly and warm congratulations flooded his timeline as the boy smiled sheepishly while waiting for his bus.

“aishhh these rascals. Haha. Uh…. Its…raining”

“great….”

Rain was not an enemy but nevertheless the fact that he was carrying a broken umbrella had made his heart thumping with annoyance. A long red old umbrella, an umbrella so nostalgic that he kept it for three good years. It was so worn that he could barely open it properly. But that umbrella was an umbrella he had gotten on his birthday from a very special person......

Three years ago, when his life was in turmoil and nothing had made sense and dying felt logical. A warm bright smile had saved him from his depression. Like today, it was his rainy birthday. But a rather gloomy one, the wishes and warm emoticons felt hollow. It was the day his fiancée decided to throw away her promises and abandon changjo just like that, drenched by the street.

The raindrops felt like rocks hitting his face as sadness crawls on his trembling skin. He wanted it to end, because he felt like no matter how much he tries, she would never come back. So he stood under the heavy rain across a junction, waiting for the green light to turn red. To cross the road and end all his pain…

When a boy with this red big umbrella ran to him and covered him from those painful raindrops.

“erm excuse me! Aren’t you cold?”

The boy had this innocent smile across his babyfaced face as he shrugged closer to jonghyun. The rain was splashing on changjo’s shoulder, while the boy looked up to the cloudy sky.

“uh! Your shoulder!”

The boy who noticed jonghyun’s drenched shoulder immediately adjusted the umbrella, protecting the taller lad completely from the rain whereas himself was getting wet. Changjo’s sullen face quickly changed as he watches this stranger covering him from the rain….

The wind was as cold as ice, winter had arrived. However for the first time choi jonghyun had felt warmth. He didn’t even know who the pretty boy was but goodness he felt loved. Changjo’s stare slowly transformed into silent sobs as he started to cry.

“ku..kumawo-yo…….”

The slightly smaller boy looked up to jonghyun’s crumpled face and smiled ever so brightly. Then he said…

“aigoo such a handsome man crying wet under the rain is such a pity”

“you should smile, im sure you’d find yourself a better person, a person who would truly cares”

The boy who owned that red big umbrella smiled again and with that simple sentence he had save changjo from death. Then the boy tapped changjo’s back and stepped outside of the umbrella.

“now then chingu ya, go home and get warm”

“hehe have a nice day”

“aishh why is this umbrella acting up again… uh! The bus.”

Changjo hastily closed the worn out umbrella as he stumbled up the bus. Bowing politely at the driver as he sat by the window. The rain sounded loud, so he plugged his ear shut with music and continued scrolling his smartphone. Smiling occasionally at the wishes he had got from his dear friends.

Then suddenly a boy sat beside him. Jonghyun didn’t bother at first but then he noticed something quite fascinating. The passenger beside him had carried the same red umbrella like the one he was carrying. But jonghyun’s curiosity was cut short as the bus stopped in front of his office. So mindlessly he took his umbrella and got off.

However like a miracle his red umbrella opened effortlessly. Perfectly fine as if it was brand new.

“uh… aishhhh! I took the wrong umbrella! Otoke! Omg poor guy”

Time passed and the day was getting dark. Too preoccupied with his works, changjo didn’t realize it was midnight and his birthday had passed rather meaninglessly. No birthday cake or even some seaweed soup, just clusters of reports done.

Then as he made his way home the rain comes flooding back. It was so heavy he could barely find a good shade as the bus stop was filled with people. Thankfully his umbrella was working fine so obediently the lad stood silently beside the bus stop.

Suddenly a petite boy ran and stood under jonghyun’s large umbrella.

“im..s..sorry but urm.. what are you doing?”

“erm? Standing under my umbrella of course”

“mma …'my'..?”

Changjo scoffed as he stared at the masked stranger. He was rather petite with big round hazel eyes and white milky skin. Quite pretty for a boy his age. Then the stranger shrugged closer to changjo. Jonghyun growled as he warns the stranger to keep a distance.

“excuse me, isn’t this your umbrella?”

The stranger showed changjo another umbrella that looked exactly the same but at the same time rather different. It was jonghyun’s worn out umbrella that he mistakenly swapped with the passenger in the bus. 

“hmmph, calling my umbrella his ow…… uh! You shoulder!”

The petite masked lad quickly adjusted the umbrella protecting changjo’s wide shoulder as he shrugged even closer. Suffocated the stranger took off his mask and exhaled silently. Changjo’s eyes widened and his pale cheeks slowly changed into a bright red flush.

“you’re… babyface! My babyface!”

“sorry?... uh… you’re that miserable dude by the junction!”

“haha what coincidence! Anyway the bus has arrived chinguya and since this is mine too, you can take the one you’re holding now. This one is so old already”

And like that the kind hearted babyface boy left changjo and climbed up the bus. Once again leaving changjo with a brand new warm and protective umbrella. But jonghyun was a different man.

He ran up the bus and sat beside the stranger.

“first of all, both of these are yours. So take’em back.”

“secondly, its my birthday and im pretty sure this is no coincidence. So maybe….”

“you can join me for a drink? Chinguya’?”

The stranger giggled silently as he looked straight into changjo’s eyes making the boy flutter.

“it’s ricky, chinguya. U can call me ricky”

“and since your birthday looked so miserable with this annoying heavy rain, the drink is on me?”

Even with his heart sprinting across his chest changjo lets out a wide grin as he gave ricky the new red umbrella and said…

“this time, lets share this properly”