_{for those who love the rain, and wish for a better tomorrow.}

_{perhaps, you will find love in the most unlikely places.}

his mind has been pondering in wonder, if he had went home with his friends, and didn't have an urging biology test he should study for the next day, he would still meet her. jung soojung. the girl of oddity with her habit of casting opias upon strangers, enganging herself and the other in an eye contact, in which she would look at you, to the point you would feel chagrined by her seemingly judging stares.

junghan wonders that day, thoughts floating as he sits in a trance, gazing at her from afar as she sits with her own group of friends, them laughing and her breaking out into small smiles, now and then.

it has exactly been three days (junghan keeps counting, just because he doesn't want to forget), since the time when he was stuck in a bus station, as the rain kept pouring and seemingly never stopping, with a girl he did not know, and he never noticed before, that was dressed in a school uniform of his school. 

junghan had found it extremely awkward, especially since there were only the two of them, and junghan could never stand silence. 

he had intended to use the bus station as a place to wait for the rain to end soon, as his house is actually very near and it would take too much of a time to get on the bus, for the next stop would be far away from his house. however, the rain, persistent in falling and cleansing the earth, didn't permit him to go home just yet. junghan reminded himself that spring has arrived, and he should never forget to bring his umbrella next time.

junghan looked at his wrist watch. fifteen minutes to five. he was losing time and junghan began to lose his cool, cracking his knuckles and tapping his feet repetitively.

he was curious of the girl, two seats away from him, that didn't produce even a single sound. if she was breathing then she must be doing it very quietly, junghan thought. he turned his head to her, then saw that she was staring off into an empty space, her back leaning to the back of the station. junghan could only get two details of her; a strikingly strong features and furrowed eyebrows, before she caught him looking at her. he expected her to turn away, and he expected himself to look away also, but they didn't.

the girl gazed back at him, deeply and boldly (junghan refuses to admit the fact, that there was a speck of him, who was flustered at her intense gaze). 

junghan felt like he couldn't turn away, as her eyes kept pulling him in, and there was a part of him that kept saying he would lose if he faltered. junghan found that thought silly, since there was nothing worth fighting for, in this non-existent fight between them.

she wasn't smiling or even frowning. her brows no longer furrowed, and they settled back above her eyes, thick and lined expressively. she was staring at him in wonder, looking at his long hair.

junghan found the courage in him to look away, and the sky was getting more darker in the darkness of the approaching night, yet the clouds were still raining cats and dogs. junghan had enough of this persistent rain and tied his hair into a ponytail, rolled up his sleeves, put up his bag over his head, and was ready to dive into the pouring droplets of heaven and to run his w-

"wait!"

it came out so urgent, not something she had planned on, not something soojung imagined in her head.

junghan stopped and looked back, now facing her.

"here, you can have my umbrella-"

her voice sounded calm then, her long arms stretched out a pastel green umbrella, as she sat upright this time, five steps away from him.

"but you-" but she was a girl, and junghan didn't like the idea of her standing in the rain. it would be too much of a burden, especially since he barely knew her.

"but your hair-" she pointed out, now looking at his hair. junghan probably imagined it all, but he literally saw her eyes turned tender and crinkled a little into a smile, as they landed on his black locks. "-the rain is very cruel today, i think your hair doesn't deserve to have the torment from the sky."

she spoke in riddles, which he understood, and he held back himself from gaping at her. her concern for a mere stranger astounded him, and he managed a stutter instead of a proper answer. "h-how about you?"

she smiled, and looked up to him. "i don't mind the rain,"

junghan didn't know what to reply, but he still insisted. "but still, it's your umbrella-"

she was gazing at the rain before her, and then sighed. junghan tried to look for anything that she was seeing in the rain, but he couldn't see anything that was worth the little twinkle in her eyes. "and that is why, i'm lending it to you,"

he approached her, and took the umbrella from her hand, then she nodded at him, silently assuring him that she would be fine.

junghan bit on his lips, and reluctantly walked away, only to spin back, seeing her still in the same spot. "it seems like we go to the same school-"

"-isn't it very beautiful? the rain is," she didn't listen to him, and instead she began speaking about her fondness of the rain. "it washes your pain away, telling you 'it's okay, you will be fine' as they fall to the earth to keep you company. though, they are not very kind today." she seemed displeased with her voice sounding irritated, and her brows became furrowed for the second time.

junghan only stood on his feet, entranced. it took a few seconds for her to realize, that she was too caught up with the cool and lukewarm atmosphere, with the rain beginning to fall lightly, and slowly, carresing the world, apologizing now for the ruckus they have caused, for those who were afraid of the shaking skies and thunderous sounds.

she shook her head, and blinked a few times, flustered as shades of crimson coloured her pale cheeks. "oh my, i'm sorry! i was talking to myself.."

junghan laughed as he found her sudden outburst amusing, and soojung smiled as she looked away abashedly. "it's okay. as i was saying, i need to return this to you tomorrow. what's your name?"

"i'm jung soojung. class 2-h."

"soojung?" junghan repeated his name, feeling her name glided out from his tongue effortlessly.

she nodded and he opened the umbrella, walking into the rain.

he glanced back to see her staring at him, intending to bid her a farewell, and a hope for another meeting. "see you at school?"

she didn't reply and only gave him a small smile, a hint of enigma flashing through her eyes.

(junghan waited for a few minutes near the station, to see that jung soo jung literally jumped into the rain, and spun around jovially, her laughters colouring the clouds. one thing leading to the other, and junghan was bewitched by the sight of her dancing in the rain.)

the next day, he walked to her class, that he had realized, was pretty far from his. no wonder he couldn't recognize her, even though they are in the same grade. as he arrived there, he asked one of her classmates and they said that jung soo jung was absent that day. junghan wanted to return her umbrella by himself, therefore he cancelled his thought of giving it to her classmate instead. she was so kind in offering her only umbrella, and therefore junghan felt the need to return him with gratitude also.

he also couldn't deny that he wanted to be her friend, to know more about her. junghan also realized, that he was bewitched by the sight of jung soojung, dancing in the rain in bliss as if no harm would come to her.

"junghan, why are you so quiet today?" snapped jisoo to reality, and junghan wakes up from his trance, cluelessly looking around at his bunch of friends who stops to look at him.

"isn't it obvious? some girl has probably casted some magic spells on him" teased seungcheol, only to receive a hard shove on his side. "-see! i was right! look at him getting all flustered!"

junghan tucks his hair behind his ears. "it's not just some girl, and her name is jung soojung," junghan thinks it's better to clear things up now, rather than having his five buddies wondering and questioning people around.

mingyu smirks roguishy, as he sits in junghan's left side, he takes a part in noticing the look on junghan's face the whole time. "oh, so that girl you've been staring at the whole time, is jung soojung? wow, junghan. so you like those kind of girls, i see."

jun jumps in. "where, where? i want to see her-"

"oh god jun, don't turn back! she is facing our table right now," junghan stretch both of his arms out in a flash, preventing the guy sitting in front of him to move his body. 

seungcheol bursts out into a huge fit of laughter, entertained by the sight of his flustered friend. "chill junghan! it's not like we will tease you all week for this!"

junghan only gives them a roll in the eyes. "yes, you all will. and mingyu, don't you ever try anything stupid on her." 

he only smiles cheekily in return, and continues to eat the half-eaten hamburger on his plate. "hey, i was only kidding! look at you, getting all defensive like this. she got you wrapped around her fingers, han!"

he sighs. "no, mingyu, you're wrong-"

-then his eyes meet soojung's, and like the other day, she stares back and looks at him more intently, as if she delves deep into his soul, unlocking and prying through his private thoughts and feelings. 

"you're staring at her again!" booms jisoo, and junghan can only facepalm himself.

(junghan still sees her smiling while shaking her head silently to herself, through the gaps of his fingers)

"i want to return your umbrella."

junghan had waited after school for soojung in front of her class, and as she dismisses her friends, she takes the umbrella from him.

fingers brushing, she could feel the sparks alight in her. soojung is still composed.

"thanks," said junghan, as she remains silent.

"it's no big thing, really," she shrugs it away, nodding her head.

"but still-anyway, i'm-"

"junghan, right? i know." she take the words from his mouth instead. "we were classmates in elementary school,"

junghan is stunned, of course, and he recalls a name, amongst all of his lively classmates. "ah! you are that soojung!"

"yes, i am. that soojung is me," her lips stretched widely, one into a smile so wide, he can see the child version of her in the past, the one who was boisterous and a tomboy of his class. 

"why didn't you tell me?"

bright eyes over thin lips painted over her face. "well, it won't be fun. that's the reason."

he shook his head in disbelief. "you are silly, soojung."

"i know, junghan. i know."

ever since that day, junghan finds himself inching closer to her. the fact that she was his past classmate actually makes him easier to get comfortable with her. they are not always together, but whenever they pass each other in school, there would be an eye contact, a fleeting smile, and a fastened heartbeat. 

days molded into months, and junghan sums jung soo jung into everything that is cool and calm, and toned down. sometimes, he would find her off-beat, telling him tales about the rain and her thoughts, and how she loves the concept with how the galaxy was created (she also said that she likes his long hair, as she glides her fingers through it, and junghan likes the way her fingers peer through the tresses of his hair carefully). then in the most urgent situations, she becomes shrewd, solving problems with her level-headed thinking, without an ounce of influence from any emotional feelings. seungcheol said that she is the best kind of girl he has ever friended, as she is very just in seeing things from every perspective.

that doesn't mean jung soo jung is flawless. she has her share of anger issues from time to time, that she buries deep down inside, and would explode one day, out of the blue. triggered by a little mistake, that is actually not worth shouting about. junghan doesn't mind, because as far as he could see, the target was never him, but mostly kim mingyu, who constantly picks on her.

"you're so messed up, soojung. that's not worth me getting a shout from you. what the is wrong with you?"

"i'm tired of your , you . if you don't bother me all the time, i would have never shouted at you!"

junghan holds soojung back that was about to come into a full throttle at him (he recalled her punching some bad kids back then, and he doesn't want his friend to be beaten into a pulp. especially by soojung, as she will regret it later).

"you should never take him seriously, soojung," told junghan to soojung as they walk home together. 

she clicks on her tongue. "i know. but it's irritating, junghan! i feel like sewing his mouth close!"

"now that's too much, don't ever do that, okay?"

she sighs. "how could i? it's just a thought."

the street is quiet as people rush in to their houses, meeting their families and bask in the warmth of home. junghan is with soojung, and he admits that he feels at home with her. he feels assured whenever she would share her thoughts with him, and told him the little things she love to do. the sky that covers them and becomes the roof of their journey is blue, with hues of orange lined across the horizon. the sky reminds him of soojung and how her presence brings peace into him. junghan imagines himself, ten years from now, perhaps no longer with her, and her no longer with him. and he feels like promising something that he wishes to come true.

"hey, soojung-"

"hm?"

"-marry me in ten years."

he expects her laugh, to tell him that he is being ridiculous, to smile at him with that darling way she has.

"marry me in nine years. you're the guy, so you should do it first. i should be married by twenty five,"

he stares back at her, wide eyed and loss at words. 

"you are crazy, jung soo jung. but, yes."

"i will be waiting, junghan-"

junghan means everything, soojung doesn't know.

still, soojung crosses her fingers. hoping and hoping for it to come true.

let it be true let it be true, soojung chants in her head. junghan doesn't see.

at that very moment, they are completely oblivious that the stars, who are silently watching them all this time, from the thin layer of the sky that is scraping its old shade away, laugh at them wistfully and heartily. for the little, silly and innocent promise that they made, will turn into a reality in the future far away from here.

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