“Sincerity is always so powerless

Crumbling away like the sand and

Spraying out like the waves

And you just can’t stop the rain…”

- Standing In The Rain, Nell

-

     Rainy morning greets them again the day after, and after breakfast, Seah sneaks into Baekhyun’s room, where the occupier is as usual practicing his singing.

     “Oppa, oppa.” Seah hops onto the bed, and faces Baekhyun who is standing in front of the mirror. “Tell me things about Jongin.”

     Baekhyun throws her a mischievous look. “You like him, don’t you?”

     “No!” Seah quickly denies. “I’m just interested in him.”

     “Everyone is.” Baekhyun lets out a bored tone. “He’s a star in our school, even seniors are all over him.”

     “You’re jealous.” Seah mocks him.

     “I have my own fans.” Baekhyun sticks out his tongue. “But I understand, though. It’s easy to like that kid.”

     “I don’t—“ Seah takes a pillow and buries her face on it. “Well…”

     Baekhyun ignores her, and takes a book from Seah’s brother shelf. “Hey, tell Sejoon hyung I’m borrowing this, okay.”

     “Oppa, does he have a girlfriend?”

     “How am I supposed to know? Ask him yourself.”

     Seah scowls and lies down on the bed. “Why aren’t you getting ready yet?”

     “I’m going to go a bit later, at 12. Oh, I’m going to sleep at my friend’s house to practice tonight. Is it okay to leave you two alone?”

     Seah goes wide-eyed, but then calms down. “Okay.”

     “Don’t do anything to Jongin.”

     Seah throws the pillow to his direction. “That’s something you have to tell him!”

-

     Later, Seah gets what she wants, a subway ride together with Jongin, and once they’re separated, she gets confused on where to go. She has told Jongin she’s also going home with him, under the excuse that she’s going to shop and meet her friends until the evening. She ends up watching two movies and staying in a manhwa rent room to pass time. Exactly at 5 PM, Jongin calls her, and she almost slides down her chair when she sees it.

     “Hey, are you finished?”

     “Yes, let’s go home.” Jongin’s voice sounds drained. Seah actually plans to have dinner with him outside, but today doesn’t seem right.

     “Okay, I’ll come to you.” the manhwa room is only a few buildings away from Jongin’s practice room, and Seah needs to go slowly, in case Jongin gets suspicious. He’s already waiting in front of the building, his eyes look exhausted. He still manages to give her a smile, and hurriedly approaches her.

     “Today was especially tiring.” Jongin opens the conversation first. Seah looks at his sweat-bathed face. “We had to change some moves.”

     “But you can do it, right? You’re good, you must be a fast-learner.”

     Jongin slowly laughs. “Thank you. It’s still exhausting.”

     “This will be paid off with a win. Fighting!”

     Jongin laughs again, and pats Seah’s shoulder. “Thank you so much.”

     “Should we order chicken tonight? You seem to love it.”

     Jongin instantly nods. “Oh, how do you know? Is it that obvious?”

     Seah laughs. “Oh right, Baekhyun oppa is not coming home tonight.”

     “Hmmm.” Jongin responds. “He threatens me not to do anything to you, or he’ll send me home in an instant.”

     They both laugh, as Seah gets her second wish granted tonight, to go home with Jongin.

-

     Later that night, Seah and Jongin are munching on chicken together in front of the TV. When the show ends, she musters up her courage to open up another conversation.

     “Do you have any siblings?’

     “Hm.” Jongin nods. “Two older sisters.”

     “Your birthday?”

     “January 14.”

     “Ah, it’s passed already…”

     Jongin just nods repetitively, still focuses on the chicken. Seah secretly looks at him, and thinks repeatedly on whether she should ask the next question or not.

     “Do you have a girlfriend?”

     “I just broke up a few months ago.”

     Seah is surprised about how fast and casually Jongin answers it, she expected him to throw her a weird look or a little pause before answering. “Oh…”

     “And you?” Jongin gives the question back.

     Seah shakes her head. Jongin goes back to his chicken. He seems not to think anything about this.

     “Where would you like to go on the weekend?”

     “Oh, right.” Jongin gets a little bit brighter. “Actually I’ve visited the popular spots of the city like Namsan on my school trips a few years ago, so this time I just want to go around the town, shopping and eating. Is that okay? We’ll ask Baekhyun hyung too, maybe there’s somewhere he wants to visit.”

     “That’s fine with me. I’ll buy you a meal.” Seah offers.

     “I will buy you a meal.” Jongin smiles. “As I said, I need to give something back for staying here for free.”

     Seah laughs, a bit too happily, and clears to calm herself down. “You look tired, you should sleep earlier.”

     “I’ll help you tidy up first, then I’ll sleep.”

     “Just don’t sleep on the sofa again, okay. You’ll get cold.”

     Jongin goes blank for a second, then laughs loudly. “Oh, that time. I’m sorry. It must be hard to wake me up.”

     “Since I couldn’t carry or drag you to bed, I’m sorry too.” Seah chuckles.

     “You’ll break your bones.” Jongin says, as he lifts the chicken box to the kitchen.

     Seah’s smile fades when she realizes something. I shouldn’t have mentioned the sofa part, this way I couldn’t pretend to sleep there and maybe he’ll take care of me like yesterday…

     Seah slaps herself lightly. You rotten girl.

-

     Seah wakes up early on Saturday, anticipating the day. However she spots Baekhyun preparing his shoes on the entrance, ready to go.

     “Oppa, where are you going?”

     “Ah great, you’ve woken up. I need to go home today to take care of something, but I’ll be back tomorrow morning.”

     “Huh? How about Jongin?”

     “No, he’s staying. He said you’re going to go around the city today, no?”

     “Yes, but too bad you can’t go with us…”

     Baekhyun gives her the same look he did on their talk a few days ago. “Enjoy your time.”

     After Baekhyun leaves, Seah notices the open door of Jongin’s room, and peeks. Jongin is sitting on his bed, putting a bandaid on his right foot.

     “Are you hurt?” Seah speedily gets inside, ignoring what Jongin might think with her unwelcomed entrance. Jongin glances at her, and gets back on his foot.

     “No, I just got a scratch, nothing big.”

     “That’s a relief.” Seah sits on the edge of his bed. “I thought you’re injured.”

     “I would be really pissed if I got injured at this time.” Jongin collects the bandaid package and sets it aside. “I never think too deeply or dramatically about my life problems and difficulties, because I can always dance it away. But when I can’t dance… That’s the real problem.”

     “Dancing must mean a lot to you.”

     “I wouldn’t be here if not for dancing.” Jongin forms a smile.

     “Baekhyun oppa unexpectedly leaves… Do you still want to go today?”

     “Why not?” Jongin answers casually. Seah tries hard not to make her smile visible. She thought Jongin would feel awkward to go with just two of them.

-

     Seah takes Jongin to the places he wished to visit, like shopping districts, game places, and snack shops. The day draws late, and they visit a pasta house for dinner. In the middle of their meal, Jongin receives a call.

     “I don’t think I can go.” Jongin says to his phone. “Baekhyun sunbae is going home, and his cousin would be home alone if I leave tonight. I don’t want anything bad to happen to her.”

     Seah looks at her plate, and the heat she feels on her face makes her think it’s already the same color as the tomato sauce in front of her. She tries to relax.

     “Next time, okay. Maybe next week… Or when we go back home, I’ll go to your house.”

     When we go back home… Right, Jongin is going home eventually. Seah’s shoulders drop and she weakly plays with her fork as Jongin puts back his phone inside his pocket.

     “Who is that? Are you going somewhere?” Seah asks.

     “My friend invites me for a drink… But I don’t exactly want to. I also don’t want to leave you alone tonight.”

     Seah turns red again, and hangs her head down. “You should just go, don’t worry about me.”

     “No way, Baekhyun hyung asks me to take care of you.”

     Seah smiles, but she also feels wary inside. I may feel happy now, but he’ll go home in the end.

     Jongin spills his drink, and his adorable surprised reaction makes the two of them burst in laughter. Seah hands him a napkin, and stares at him with a longing look as he cleans himself.

     Don’t make me like you more…

-

“There is very little we can do

Our heart would wet,

Along with the rain.”