For Flavea

From Secret Santa

Prompt: Epik High - Umbrella

Pairing: HoSoo

Droplets of Memories

It was rainy season in Seoul.

He definitely knew that. But of course, he forgot to put buckets all around his flat. The water started leaking from the hole on the roof, and he groaned in annoyance. It wasn’t the first time his flat got flooded, but every time it happened he had to clean it by himself and that was what annoying.

Lee Howon was not someone who tended to forget about things as trivial as this.

But of course, with no someone on his side, he forgot a lot of things.

---

“Howon ah… should we stop seeing each other?”

The question threw him off guard, and he almost dropped the umbrella in his hand. “What?” he asked his boyfriend, afraid that his ears playing trick on him.

Kim Myungsoo bit his lower lip, looking anywhere but at Howon. That gesture always makes him threw all of his logic and just kiss the younger boy square on the lips, but the serious glint in his eyes refrain him to do so.

“I think, we should stop seeing each other,” Myungsoo repeated his word, slower this time and there was no way Howon will miss that.

The silence that followed is suffocating. The sound of water pitter patter on the umbrella was too loud for Howon’s liking.

“Why?” he asked, and he had to pat his back mentally because his voice didn’t waver.

Myungsoo lowered his head, hiding his face behind his blonde bangs. He remembered how Myungsoo was really stressed out when he dyed his hair blonde because losing a stupid bet. He always wore hoodies or caps and hiding behind Sungyeol’s height.

Howon hated how Myungsoo always hid behind his hair when he was distress. He couldn’t read see his face, couldn’t read the emotion hid behind it.

“I want to concentrate on my studies.”

“That’s the lamest excuse I ever heard. And believe me, I heard a lot of excuses.”

“I have deadly illness; I’ll die in a few months.”

“You will not tell me something that serious in the middle of nowhere. Not to mention that it’s rain heavily to the point my shoulder is wet now.”

“… sorry.”

“No problem.”

Myungsoo didn’t say anything for a while before he finally lifted his face to meet Howon’s gaze. “I… don’t think our relationship is working anymore.”

Ouch.

Can’t Myungsoo say it in a nicer way?

“O… kay…” Howon cleared his throat. He knew that his and Myungsoo’s relationship wasn’t the best these past year. In fact, he could also feel that their relationship was slipping away from their grasp. Entering his final year in medical major, Howon was busy with his studies, while Myungsoo also had a lot of projects that required him to go to a lot of different places to save the forest and its inhabitant.

It wasn’t like their feelings for each other change; they still love each other, that was for sure. But even if they together now, there was no special thing going on. They chatted, they ate, they slept. For about 3 years, that what was going on between them.

There was no spark like it used to be.

“Thanks for walking me home, Howon ah,” Myungsoo’s soft voice brought Howon back to reality, and he just realized that they already arrived in front of the younger male house.

“Sure. No problem,” he said. Leaving his side, Myungsoo smiled sadly at him. But before he stepped away, Howon instinctively reached for his wrist. “Wait.”

“Yes?” Myungsoo was staring at him confusedly now.

Howon hesitated for a while, before he finally gathered his courage and sighed. “Can I have one last kiss?” he asked, almost pleading.

The question seemed to throw Myungsoo off guard, but not too long after that he smiled warmly. “Sure,” he whispered and leaned forward to press his lips against Howon’s.

The kiss is short, chaste, and sweet yet bitter at the same time. It ended faster than what Howon’s want, but he decided to not force Myungsoo.

Caressing his cheek softly, Myungsoo smiled sadly at him. “Take care, Howon ah.”

---

Howon stared at the mirror in front of him. His reflection was a wreck, and he knew his apartment room condition was no better. Sighing, he exited the bathroom to search for something to eat. Maybe something good would finally happen to him.

Opening his refrigerator, he couldn’t help but cringe at the amount of leftover there. Since the incident, he always called for food delivery (mostly pizza, God knows how many kilogram he got the past few days) because no was there to cook for him anymore.

---

“I really think I should ask Woohyun’s hyung for more recipes.”

Howon turned his head slightly from the soap opera he currently watching. “Eh, what?” he asked absent-mindedly. The show was getting interesting; the wicked woman almost stabbed the female lead. Though the lead was a gorgeous blonde, he had to admit he has a thing for dangerous brunette.

He could hear Myungsoo sighed from the kitchen behind. “You’re still watching that drama? I seriously think that Woohyun hyung and Sungyeol fight over a 13 year old is girl more interesting.”

“That’s what you call a drama,” Howon couldn’t reply seriously, because the next second the blonde got stabbed. “Ouch, that must hurt like .”

A loud clank could be heard, meaning Myungsoo just thrown something from its place. He was too absorbed with the drama to notice that the younger male tip-toeing toward him as soundless as a cat.

“Whoa, Myungsoo!” he yelped when he felt a weight on his lap, only to got his view blocked by the said man face. “What are you doing? I’m trying to watch here.”

“Mmhm. No can do,” Myungsoo purrs seductively while his lower lip in process. “I hate you Howonie hyung… you ignored me just because some… blonde. You know I hate it.” Pouting, he slowly circling his arms around Howon’s neck.

It wasn’t the blonde that he watched, it was the brunette. But Howon couldn’t say anything when Myungsoo kissed him suddenly.

All the thoughts about how hot the brunette is flew away from his mind, because he was currently busy pining Myungsoo down on the couch.

---

“Aish, seriously…” he clicked his tongue in annoyance when he heard the rain poured harder. Sulking, he took some bucket from the bathroom and put it all around the wet area. It didn’t make too much difference, but at least it’d be easier to clean later because the water didn’t splash everywhere.

Looking around his room, he dazedly think of the time when he let all the water fell freely from the hollow roof. The last time it happened was when he didn’t pass one of his exams. It was really frustrating he seriously thought to just jump from the campus’s rooftop on a rainy day.

---

“Err… what are you doing?”

Howon turned around and found a familiar face holding an umbrella. He remembered seeing him around Sungyeol… the one who always smiled and laughed at what Sungyeol did, and the one who always fought with him without any good reason.

“I’m trying to jump here, so I’d appreciate it if you turn around and never come back,” was Howon’s cold reply. The other male eyes widen when he heard his answer. Of course… what kind of sane person would tell other person that he was trying to jump?

“No!” the male shouted, and Howon thought that his voice was really weird, even weirder than Sungjong’s dolphin scream and Sungyeol’s annoying shriek. But before he could do anything, the male already tackled him, trying to take him down from the platform he currently used for leverage so he could jump better.

Howon lost his balance, and so did the male. It was weird how he suddenly ended with his back on the ground while the other lay on top of him, holding his waist tightly. “You can’t just jump like that!” the male said.

“Yeah, yeah, I wouldn’t. It’s embarrassing enough that someone caught me when I tried to commit suicide,” Howon groaned in defeat. “Now get off me, you’re heavy.”

The male face reddened in embarrassment before he got up from Howon’s body. Still sitting in front of him, he looked at anywhere but Howon’s face. Howon also sitting up, the he raised an eyebrow. “You’re Sungyeol’s friend, right?”

“… yeah,” the other replied quietly. He seemed embarrassed that he just did something reckless (that actually could make them both get killed) and relief at the same time.

“Of course. Sungyeol and his minions… I should’ve known that,” Howon said sarcastically. “Listen; don’t tell anyone about this, ‘kay?” he asked, but one would know that he threatened him. If this kid told Sungyeol, the giraffe without a doubt will tell the other too. Dongwoo hyung would be hysteric and Sunggyu hyung had to calm him down before he got a panic attack, Woohyun would be pissed, probably would set an appointment with a therapist for him, and Sungjong would only looked at him with disappointment all over his face while silently promising a slow and painful punishment later.

Shuddering at the thought, he shook his head and looked at the male in front of him again. “I won’t,” the kid said. His hair and clothes soaking wet, and Howon just realized that it was raining. So that was why he held an umbrella before…

“What’s your name?” Howon asked, searching for the forgotten umbrella. The kid didn’t say anything for a while, probably too surprised that Howon asked for his name. The silence continued, and the only thing Howon could hear was the sound of rain splattering the rooftop.

“I’m Kim Myungsoo.”

---

Howon looked around his flat. So he’d need more buckets, cooking ingredients (at least emergency food like ramyun and egg had to present in his refrigerator), some cleaning supplies and maybe more dramas. He hadn’t pay for his TV bills, the reason why he couldn’t watch his favorite dramas.

After tying his shoes, he took an umbrella and exited the room. He might forget a lot of things, but he never forgot to lock his house (even when he thought there was nothing valuable enough to steal).

The sky outside was dark and the temperature was cold. Thankfully he didn’t forget to bring his jacket. He opened the umbrella and walked to the street. Looking around, he could see a lot of people also holding an umbrella with them. Some people stood under building, trying to hide from the rain and wait for it to stop.

He didn’t waste any time getting toward his destination. He needed to get his mind out of this and continue his life. But still… if it was easy to move on from someone you love, then there would be no depress people and suicide cases.

When he finally finished shopping, he exited the shop and looked upward. It was still raining, though not as hard as before. He planned to just head straight to his home (he had cleaning to do), but something just held him off. It had been a while since he last exited the house, so it’d be understandable if he took a detour, right?

With that in mind, he took the opposite way from where his house located.

He walked around aimlessly, only relied on his feet to take him somewhere. The moment he stopped and looked at his surrounding, he was at Han River. “Seriously? Here?” he chuckled lightly. It was the place where he and Myungsoo celebrated their first anniversary, also the place where they shared their first kiss.

It was also raining that day, and he remembered how Myungsoo almost cried because he thought it’d be a bad omen for their relationship. He tried his hardest to calm Myungsoo down, but he won’t listen to him so he used the last thing he could think about; kissed him. That seemed to work, considering how the younger kissed back and his sobs turned into tiny hiccups. But he was smiling, and that was enough.

He was too busy reminisced he didn’t realize someone were walking toward his position. However, he looked at that person when he felt a familiar presence. He froze when he looked at that person, and that person also looked shocked when he saw him.

They stood frozen for a while, only looking at each other. The rain had turned into small droplets, ready to stop anytime soon. Howon’s eyes soften when he saw the other person. The same blonde hair, the same pouty lips, the same posture. The same scent.

He smiled softly, because he knew he looked the sincerest when he smiled.

“Hi.” Howon greeted first. The person, Myungsoo, startled. Then he too smiled at him, dimples showing.

“Hello.”

The rain stopped.

A/N: Though the prompt asked for the lyric, I tried to combine the MV and lyric together. I hope you don’t mind! I hope it’s not too dramatic, and at first I wrote a comedic one, but it was a disaster so I had to make a new one, lol~ about the ending, I leave it to your imagination whether they get back together or no, to be honest I don’t know either ^^; (please don’t kill me) and also, Merry Christmas for you who celebrate it! Let’s support Infinite and be Inspirit forever~ <3