The next morning the bright sun beamed into the bedroom, gently waking Rainie from a strange dream. It had been about Peniel. Strangely enough, she hadn’t been able to get the boy out of her mind since last night. In her dream he had been in front of her, constantly telling her to follow him somewhere. She kept running after him, but he’d always be just a few steps ahead, coaxing her forward. Every time she felt like she could almost reach him, he seemed to float away. Could this dream mean something?

Shaking her head to fully wake herself up, Rainie dismissed the possibility and sat up in bed. She rubbed her eyes with balled up fists and yawned. Rainie turned when she heard a quiet knock on the door.

“Ah, you’re awake! Quick, we prepared some breakfast, come eat with us.” Mama said with a twinkle in her eye. “And, please, feel free to wear some of the clothes in the closet or dresser for now, it’s not good to wear your dirty clothes from yesterday again.”

“Thank you Mama.” Rainie replied simply.

The events last night, from start to finish, had somehow changed her temporarily, finally dragging a smile out of her, but now, thinking of going home put a twist in her stomach. Her smile had disappeared, and now only dread tugged at her lips.

Rainie felt bad. Mama and Papa were so kind; they deserved more than a crabby guest. Looking in the mirror, she tried to force herself to look happier. Now she just looked like she was grimacing.

Maybe a change in clothes could alter something in her. Heading towards the closet, she opened the door and peered inside apprehensively. Judging from the rest of the room, Mama and Papa’s daughter seemed like a true girly-girly, a trait Rainie had lost a long time ago. Shuffling through the array of outfits in the closet proved her assumption almost completely; all of them were variations of pink, purple, and white, with the occasional pastel blues and greens. A look through the dresser left Rainie very little to work with.

Finally deciding on a lacy blue shirt and white jeans, Rainie slipped on her sneakers and proceeded to quickly braid her hair. A few minutes later, she left the room, the bed sheets neatly folded and her dirty clothes in her arms.

Breakfast had been nice. Mama and Papa had prepared porridge and some sweet bread, along with various fruit juices and preserved vegetables. They’d done most of the talking, and as Rainie wasn’t much of a speaker, she’d appreciated it. Over the food, they’d gone on to tell her that her parents had called and arranged that she live with Mama and Papa in their spare room until further notice, which suited her just fine. The more she distanced herself from her restricting parents, the better.     

Now it was fifteen minutes to noon, and Rainie sat in her usual booth at the back of the bubble tea shop, tapping her foot quietly to the music playing in the background. She didn’t know what song it was, but it didn’t matter; she just needed something to keep her mind off of the current situation.

Several minutes later, the bell to the front door of the shop rang sweetly as a tall skinny boy wearing shades and a green hoodie walked in. Seeing Rainie in their old spot, he walked over quickly and sat down across from her.

“Hi Ray.” He said gently, pulling of his glasses.

Sungjae still called her by her old nickname, the one that had stuck ever since the days when she couldn’t pronounce her own name and had to shorten it.

“Hi Oppa.” Rainie replied, twiddling her thumbs nervously. Across the table, she noticed Sungjae in an identical state. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“I…I just thought I should say, I’m really sorry I haven’t made an effort to talk to you all these years.” Sungjae said, his eyes looking anywhere but directly at her. “I guess… just the stuff that happened yesterday, and talking to Peniel, all that made me realize that I owe you an apology for the way I’ve acted.”

Rainie wanted to ask what Peniel could have said to make Sungjae feel so guilty, but decided against it. She just nodded, clamped tightly shut.

“You must really hate me, I mean, I’ve ignored your presence and allowed mom and dad to treat you so unfairly. I’m a horrible person.” He said sadly, looking down at his hands.  

“It doesn’t matter, Sungjae, I won’t hold it against you.” Rainie reassured him, reaching across the table to lightly pat his hand as he stiffened up. “I’m just glad we’re starting to act the way we used to again.”

Sungjae smiled widely and visibly relaxed, to Rainie’s relief. “Yeah, me too.” He answered.

The rest of their time together at the shop went by smoothly and naturally. Of course, the first couple minutes had been awkward and both Rainie and Sungjae had no idea what to say to one another, but after then it felt just like the old times. Sungjae opened up to Rainie, and as always, Rainie listened patiently, nodding in agreement at all the right places.

Rainie found out that life as an idol wasn’t all that smooth of a transition for Sungjae. Times were hard for BTOB; they weren’t as popular as their CEO had hoped, and they were constantly being overshadowed by other bands, like EXO. Sungjae always felt below everyone else, even in his own band. It seemed to him that no matter how hard he practiced or tried, nothing outstanding ever came out of it.

Throughout their conversation, Sungjae tried to get Rainie to talk about her own life, but she always changed the subject or avoided his questions. She knew that it would hurt Sungjae if she told him that he was the reason for her misery. It would be better for him not to know that the she was bullied daily due to their relationship.

After a couple hours, Sungjae’s phone rang with a call from Peniel, telling him to go to the high school to rehearse for their concert the next night. Rainie decided that it was time for her to get back to the restaurant, but she hadn’t expected what Sungjae would say.

“Ray, you’re coming with me to rehearsal. And I’m not taking no for an answer.”