“Is this sound of the rain, your voice?

Is this a sound that calls to me?”

- Rain Sound, B.A.P

-

     The next morning, Seah is in the middle of doing the laundry when Jongin wakes up. He gives her a smile, and walks to the living room. He’s wearing a maroon sleeveless shirt and black training pants. Seah stares at his back as he stands in front of the window.

     Revealing skin on this cold morning… He’s something else. Seah thinks to herself. She walks to his direction, and opens the window a bit for fresh air to come inside.

     “It even drizzles in the morning.” Jongin comments. Seah stays beside him, and stares at the rain too.

     “This is nothing. The rain is no joke this week.” Seah shakes her head. “I almost think the Han River is going to overflow.”

     Jongin laughs. “Hopefully it won’t. I would love to see this view every day for two weeks from now.” he looks at the scenery of Han River which is seen clearly in front of this apartment. The weather makes it look especially mellow and greyish these days.

     “Enjoy it while you can.” Seah smiles. “What time will we go?”

     “Ten. Are you really free today? You’re not going to school?”

     “I’m on my semester break, don’t worry.” Seah says as she goes back to the laundry room near the kitchen. “I haven’t gone outside for days, it’s getting boring. The rain looks tame today, too. This is a good chance.”

     The sound of Baekhyun singing Lee Juck’s Rain goes louder as the singer comes out from his room, already in his outing outfit. “Hey, you should prepare for today, not leisurely looking outside the window like that.” he points to Jongin.

     “Is that the song you’re going to sing, oppa?” Seah asks. Baekhyun nods happily.

     “I have three songs to practice, and this is my solo. Hey. You. Shower.”

     Jongin nods lazily. Seah remembers something. “Is the shower working well?”

     “Yes, it’s fine.” Jongin says as he goes to his room. “I don’t think I need your help to shower again.”

     Jongin closes the door. Baekhyun looks at Seah expressionlessly.

     “That sounds wrong in my ears.”

     Seah pretends not to hear Baekhyun’s words, and disappears to the laundry room.

-

     “Seah, I’m leaving Jongin with you. I’m going!”

     The two kids wave Baekhyun goodbye as he leaves the apartment, and they’re doing their final preps for going outside. Seah looks for umbrellas and panics silently when she only sees one big umbrella near the shoe shelf.

     “I’m sorry, there’s only one umbrella…”

     “As long as it could fit us two, it’s okay.” Jongin says coolly. “Let’s go.”

     Luckily the rain hasn’t gotten any bigger when they come outside, and Seah leads their way to the subway station under the umbrella. They’re walking shoulder to shoulder, and Seah feels a bit awkward now. They must look like a couple.

     “Here’s where you buy the ticket… And there’s when you need to check in…” Seah points at the spots in the subway station Jongin needs to remember. “I’ll accompany you to the practice room, and I’ll stay at Apgujeong for today to meet my friends. When you finish, call me.”

     “Is it really okay? You’re going to practically wait for me all day.”

     “It’s okay. It’s only until 5 PM, right?”

     They exchange phone numbers, and board the subway. Jongin looks around like a child, and Seah can’t help but smile a little.

     “Why? Is it different with your town’s?”

     “There’s definitely something different, but I can’t point it out.” Jongin keeps looking at the train interior. “Seoul is different.”

     Seah quietly laugh. “I can take you to go around, if you want. Are you going to have practice every day?”

     “No, I’m going to be free at weekend. If the weather is good, how about we go sightseeing?”

     “Okay. We’ll ask Baekhyun oppa too.”

     After a few stops, they arrive at Gangnam, and the practice building is five minutes walking from the subway station. Seah leaves Jongin in front of the building, and she waves him goodbye.

    “See you at 5. Are you going to need this umbrella?”

     Jongin smiles and waves his hand no. “I’m going to stay inside all the time though.”

     Seah nods, and when she was going to turn around and leave, Jongin hugs her with an arm awkwardly, and pulls away quickly. As always, Seah can only stand still.

     “Thank you. Go safely.” Jongin says, and he disappears into the building.

     Does the town they come from adore skinship? Baekhyun oppa loves it too but since he’s a family…

     Seah stares at the wet ground, and walks away with her umbrella.

     Tsk. If you were really going for a hug, you should have hugged properly.

     She hangs her head down, and tries hard to suppress her happy smile.

-

     Seah is sitting in a café with two of her friends when 5 PM is approaching. She uneasily checks her phone every few minutes, and her friends smile suspiciously.

     “Seah-ya, so is he really going to live with you for two weeks? That’s going to be interesting.” her friends already have all kinds of imaginations even though she only told them that Jongin is her cousin’s junior, no more details following.

     “Yes, and he’s going to go home after the competition. I can only wish that he could go home as a winner.”

     “So he’s going to win the competition, is he going to win your heart too?” her friends giggle, and Seah can only laugh, embarrassed.

     “Guys, please.”

     “How does he look? Is he good-looking?”

     “He’s…” Seah thinks for a moment. “He’s tall. His skin is not too white, but it’s not dark either. He’s skinny. A typical dancer.”

     Seah would love to add his hair looks fluffy, his smile is blinding, his laugh sounds like he just hears the funniest thing in his life, and his hand is so soft for a guy, but that’s way too observant of her.

     A call from Jongin comes, and Seah feels this short jolt when she sees his name on her phone. Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen when you only see three characters of Hangul, but why…

     “Hello?”

     “Hey, Seah. Are you still staying in Apgujeong?”

     “Yeah, I’m still with my friends... Are you finished?”

     “Yes. Can you tell me where you are? My instructor is giving me a ride, and he’s going to Apgujeong so I think we’ll just meet there.”

     “Oh? Okay, I’ll—I’ll text you.” Seah stutters, and hangs up. She hurriedly texts the café’s address, making typos in the process because of her shaking hand, and her friends mischievously smirk at her.

     “Oooh, what happened? Are you going?”

     Seah doesn’t answer, and just drinks her coffee. Fifteen minutes later, she spies Jongin entering the café. He has his hoodie covering his head, and his bangs look partially wet because of sweat. He throws a smile. Seah’s friends barely hide their marvel upon seeing Jongin.

     “Guys, I’m going home. See you later.” Seah waves them goodbye, but her friends are both looking only at Jongin. Seah shakes her head, and heads outside with Jongin beside her, and pops out the umbrella. The rain gets somewhat heavier as the sky gets darker. “How’s your practice?”

     “It was exciting. I thought my shoes were going to rip.” Jongin says with a grin.

     “Be careful with your shoes. You don’t even want them to get wet, right?” Seah eyes the black sports shoes he’s wearing.

     Jongin laughs. “Haha, yes, but I have other shoes for dancing—“ Jongin points at his backpack. “—but yeah I don’t want these to get splashed by rain water too. Didn’t you notice how slowly I walked this morning? I thought you were going to complain.”

     Huh? Seah totally didn’t notice it. Did he really walk slowly? She must be enjoying her time with him too much, that she got oblivious.

     After subway rides, they arrive home, and Baekhyun is already inside, preparing dinner, with Seah’s mother’s pink apron and all. After they wash up, Jongin and Seah comes out from their rooms on the same time and sit on the table to eat the (ordered) food Baekhyun prepared.

     “Whoah, thank you, Baekhyun appa.” Seah raises her chopsticks.

     “Today was tiring. My throat is already not feeling good. I should cut down talking for tonight.”

     But of course that can’t be done by Byun Baekhyun. He keeps talking about his first practice, and when they finish eating, the three of them sit on the sofa in front of the TV to watch a drama, with Seah in the middle, and he lets out endless comments about the show.

     “There’s no way he could live for hundreds of years without getting noticed, especially when he only stays in Korea all those time—oh, a call comes.” Baekhyun stands up from his seat, and walks away to his room with his phone, leaving Seah and Jongin on the sofa, side by side.

     For a few minutes, there are only the sounds of the rain and TV between them. Baekhyun hasn’t come back to the living room. Seah is immersed in the drama, for once not paying a close attention to Jongin. She wonders once why he doesn’t say anything, but before she could turn her head to check him, Jongin’s body falls to her shoulder, having gone to the dreamland.

     Seah’s heart skips a beat, and looks at his warm cheek on her shoulder. She contemplates whether to push him away gently or lie him down on the sofa, but she decides to let him be.

     The drama ends, and Seah turns off the TV. Now, besides the rain sound, Jongin’s soft breathing sound is clearly heard by her. She forms a little smile, and carefully moves so he can lie down. She crouches in the carpet in front of him

     “Kim Jongin.”

     He didn’t react.

      “Jongin-ah.” Seah tries for the second time.

     “Hmmm.”

     “Go to your room.”

     “Hm.” he only moves his hand a little, and does no more. Baekhyun comes out from his room, and notices Jongin.

     “Tsk, this kid. Just let him be, Seah. Go sleep if you want to.”

     Seah sighs, and leaves to her own room.  Seah, all sleepy, has her eyes closed once she lies on her bed. She has a dream, an exaggerated version of what happened earlier today. There are no other people in her dream besides herself and Jongin. His voice rings inside her dream, and she opens her eyes, but there’s only rain sound in her room when she’s awake. Only an hour passed since she got inside this bedroom.

     She goes outside again to check, and Jongin is still sleeping on the sofa. Seah shakes her head and tries to lightly coo him to move to his bedroom. Again, he only lets out a mumble. Seah takes an extra blanket, and covers his body with it. She takes a few steps away and looks at his sleeping figure, decorated by the sound of heavy rain outside.

     I think I like you.

-

“On a rainy day, I fell for you…”