“Bring it on.”

 

Daehyun proceeded without much fear. He’s got his buddy with him. His umbrella. He jumped out of the protection of the roof and dived into the heavy rain. He knows that he’ll be sacrificing his newly washed sneakers but he’s adamant to delve in his bed’s comfort already.

 

His steps were precise and quick. He jumps expertly away from every puddle of water that bravely comes his way. He smiled. ‘This type of obstacle is nothing but a piece of cheesecake.’ He thought while evading some of the droplets that are persistently finding their way towards him. Most of the penetrating droplets came from other people’s shield (umbrella).

 

The path that he takes towards his destination (bus stop) is very crowded and all the illegally parked cars doesn’t help very much.

 

‘I can do this. I’m almost there.’ It took just a few more splatters of mud on his pants and sneakers and he finally reached the dispatching area.

 

“Luck is definitely with me.” He muttered to himself as he saw a bus approaching right after he arrived.

 

After winning World War III (an activity that involves pushing and pulling fellow passengers), he succeeded in riding the said bus. The bus made several stops before finally reaching Daehyun’s neighborhood.

 

Pressing the switch for the buzzer isn’t very hard to do but his timing went a little bit off because the strap of his knapsack found it interesting to hold on to the corner of his seat where he left it dangling just a while ago. So instead of taking off on his designated stop, the driver gave him a gift of one more stop before he can get off. He thanked the driver for the additional ride and started walking in the rain. (He conveniently forgot his umbrella and left it on his seat where he placed it while struggling with his bag.) ‘Great. Now I’m getting a free bath while exercising.’ He smiled again.

 

When he reached the house where he and Youngjae shared, he’s all drenched from head to toe. Well, the same can be said about the papers inside his bag.

 

“Holy shame.” He realized he didn’t have his keys with him. He knocked on the door and shouted for Youngjae. Nobody answered.

 

‘He must have gone off to the supermarket to buy our groceries. Guess I need to utilize my ability and skills again.’

 

He rounded the house and started to prepare himself. He took his shoes off and positioned the toes of his left foot on a tiny crack he found on the wall and took hold of the protruding stone using his right hand. He then lifted himself just enough so that he can reach another protruding stone with his left hand. He then settled his right foot on the stone where his right hand was holding just a moment ago. He repeated these movements for about five times in order to reach the sill of the window located on the second floor.

 

‘At last.’ He silently celebrated.

 

He tried to open the window while catching his breath but it wouldn’t budge. “I usually leave this window open. Why of all times is this closed now?” He muttered. That’s when he lost his footing and the worst happened. He fell. planted on the softened earth. He grimaced in pain. But he still gathered his strength to stand up. He slowly limped his way towards the door.

 

Now he’s really tired and beaten. In his weakened state, his final resort is to slump on the door.

 

It all happened in a slow motion.

 

The door gave in due to his weight.

 

In a split second, there came a loud thud as he fell face first on the hard floor.

 

“Damn it. To hell with no cursing policy!” 

 

Poor door.

 

If he only bothered to open his phone he would have read a certain message.

 

To: Dae

 

“Hey. I left the door open in case you forgot your key Dae. Take care.”

 

From: Jae