The whispering in the air seemed to announce the beginning of the rain. At first it was just some plunking and plodding that accompanied with drips of water, but the soft pitter-patter soon turned into a forceful drumming, professedly trying to release all the stress stored up in the clouds. Intensified batter of rain drops hammered constantly onto the windows of the dorm, which rang in Sung Yeol’s ears and his mind with such compulsion that he had to shut his eyes and his ears to let go of all his stress, despair, and that one particular spot of his heart was broken permanently.

  ‘C’mon, Yeollie! This might be the last time we’ve ever gotten to play in the rain!’

  Myung Soo’s voice was far-off and muffled, probably because of the rain and the distance between the two. Sung Yeol could not see anything amidst the slick curtain of rain. Squinting his eyes, he could barely make out the fuzzy built of the man wearing black clothes, who was dancing in those sheets of thick curtains. Happy. Carefree. Untroubled. Myung Soo looked like a little kid who had just found his present his mother hided under the Christmas tree. So cheerful and jovial that Sung Yeol was jealous of him.

    ‘Are you coming? Yeollie?’ Myung Soo's voice rushed into his ears again, this time more impatient.

    'I'd rather not. I don't want to wet my clothes---Argh!' Sung Yeol tumbled onto the grassy ground and stared up at Myung Soo with revengeful eyes while watching his whole body soaking with water bits by bits.

    Pulling Sung Yeol into the rain was not a hard job. Shutting his complaining mouth up was.

    'Stop complaining,' Myung Soo glared cold into Sung Yeol's eyes,give up standing him cursing and cussing for the god-knows-how-many times.

    'Fine, Myung, one last question. Why are we here? It is freaking raining and we will be scolded by manager hyung-nims later when we get back to the dorm!'

    Myung Soo didn't talk as they watched the passerbyes who were busy protecting themselves from the heavy rain and fixing weird glances at the two grown-ups. Sung Yeol guessed they look really bad now, with that huge amount of water being poured onto their body. He could feel some of his hair plastering against his face. Some strands even smeared onto his brows and to his lips. He quickly pulled the strand out from his mouth to make himself look less idiotic, but that definitely ddin't work as he received more glances from the pedestrians.

   'Then why do you hate the rain?' Myung Soo broke the quietness between them.

   'Uh...I...' Sung Yeol was at a loss of words at the sudden question. 'Uh...I just don't like the sensation of the rain and the mess to fix afterwards,' He threw out his answer after a moment of thinking. Myung Soo nodded his head in understanding, but the smile on his face did not waver a single bit, again showing how much he loved the shower. Curious, Sung Yeol inquired ,'Why do you like raining?'

  Myung Soo closed his eyes. 'To be honest, I don't like rainy days at first. Just like many people, I found raining annoying. But then I realised that without rain there will be no rainbow.' He fluttered open his eyelids and grinned at Sung Yeol. 'Everyone wants happiness and no one wants pain. This is completely normal But rather than to enjoy the rainbow, first enjoy the rain. Feel it, accept it, embrace it. Affiliate to it. Soon you will find the shadows of rainbow hiding in the raindrops and waving to you.'

   Sung Yeol could never forget the warmth and sincere radiating from Myung Soo's iris as he said those words. 

---

  Droplets of rain rattled against the window in a fuzzed up obscure. Sung Yeol peered over the window pane and let the rain run freely through his palms. The frigid cold sensation lingering on his thumb, soon to his head, his nose, his everywhere.  He did not waver when the chill pace through his spine, which was acutely trying to mimic the impulse of the piercing spasm he felt at the back of his throat. Using his slim fingers, he traced the trails of silver liquid plastering on the window with an increasing force. His fingernails screeched through the smooth surface, slowly yet fiercely, his vocal chords abated from his original energy and formed into sobs.

  The door was yanked open suddenly and Myung Soo busted into the room. Still panting and puffing, he did not forget the slam the door shut before settling his body onto the oh-so-messy room, but Sung Yeol did not even react at the loud bang. Myung Soo walked forward and, without a word, he pulled the crying Sung Yeol into his arms for an embrace.

  For what felt like eternity, bits by bits, the sound of sobbing finally subsided. Myung Soo gently lifted Sung Yeol’s head up and placed it onto his lap. ‘Yeol. Is it about the rumors on the internet?’

  The one question almost sent Sung Yeol crying again. Taking a deep breath, he could only mutter one word or else his tears would fall down again. ‘Myung…’

  Myung Soo patted Sung Yeol’s back. ‘You know perfectly that the rumors are not true, right?'

  'Still...They talked so many bad things about me and my family...' Sung Yeol nearly choked on his own tears. 'I would not have chosen to be a singer if my family had to suffer so much from my fame...'

  'Shh. It's gonna be all right--'

  'God. You know nothing is going to be fine! Tell me. When was the day you do not need to care about your actions and your image while standing in a crowd? When was the day you can act freely without any restrictions? Or, in a simpler case, eat freely without thinking twice beforehand about the calories you are going to gain? And now. Just because of a stupid mistake on the broadcast, I have to make my parents suffer from all these public pressure. All my effort in building up a good image was screwed. Just because of one scripted mistake! A scripted one! How unfair!' Sung Yeol exploded. 'If it was meant to be scripted, then why should we work hard? What's the purpose of it?'

  Myung Soo grew silent for a moment and Sung Yeol was suddenly ashamed of his own outburst. 'Myung ah. Sorry. It is not your fault. I--I should not direct my anger at you--'

  'No, no. It's okay.' Myung Soo smiled. 'Yes. You are right. It's quite unfair for us to suffer so much from a scripted mistake, huh? But this is life. And life is unfair.'

  'Sometimes mistakes are not made by you but you have to bear all the consequences. True, you have to go through a lot of stress from the unwelcoming public, but it's just for now. Sooner or later, they will realise that they have falsely accused an innocent person. Just like you,' Myung Soo gave off a geniune smile that drove Sung Yeol crack up a bit. 'Just, remember, everything is going to be all right. When it rains on your parade, instead of feeling down, you should smile and wait for the rain to pass. Run over the hurdles for the beautiful rainbow, Yeol ah.'

    Myung Soo stood up and dragged Sung Yeol out of the dorm. 'Come on, Yeol. This may be the first time we'd ever play in the rain with so much joy.' He pushed Sung Yeol gently into the rain. This time he did not protest, for he was far too distracted by the beautiful shadows of rainbows in the raindrops.