The day was supposed to be warm and sunny, according to the weather forecast. She groaned, thinking about the scorching heat taht would be burning the top of her head when she walks home after school hours. Her finger travels from one app to another, until she finally reaches her class. She kept it back into her pocket, where it was left untouched for the rest of the day.

“Hey, Yul! Want to study together for the next exam? I really, really need help on Alegebra.” Yong Sun whined, showing her best puppy eyes to the boy. Yul rolled his eyes and let out a sigh.

“You just like to use me to your fullest, don’t you?” 

“I really, really need to pass… I-I’ll offer you dinner if you help me…” Yul smiled in amusement, seeing how desperate the other girl is. Yong Sun in the other hand shudder at Yul’s sudden psychotic-like smile, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and she didn’t want to play with the not-so-over-the-top-scores of her least favourite subject.

“I hate to break this to you, but with your marks like this, I don’t think you can do well in the finals.” The woman flipped the exam booklet, looking slightly frustrated as she faced the visibly nervous student.

Yong Sun stood there, unsure of what to say. She grips on the ends of her skirt nervously as the teacher went over her mistakes again.

“I know that you could do well, I mean you managed some questions well, but it felt like you concentrate on certain topics too much that you didn’t do as well for other types of questions.” The teacher pointed out all her flaws in such a precise manner that it striked a sensitive spot.

“I hope you will take my advice to heart. I’m looking forward to your finals, Ms. Kim.”

This is how I die, she thought to herself before her soul flew out of her body momentarily as she listened the teacher nagged on.

Yul took a deep breath and let out a sigh, but his smug grin remained on his face, a look which Yong Sun absolutely hates about this guy. But she forced a smile through her cursing mind, teeth gritted in the process as she tried being as friendly as possible.

“You can come over to my house since most of my reference books are there.” Yong Sun’s eyes glimmered, the happiness and excitement were prominently reflected onto her face.

“I demand cakes and coffee upon arrival.” A sense of relief followed by happiness flood over her as Yul was unusually in compliance.

“Yes, sir.” She playfully saluted, making the other chuckle at her silliness.

*************************************

Yong Sun loved the feeling of the breeze gently grazing onto her face as she cycles. She pedals faster when she recognised her usual shop just around the corner.

“Hi! Same old?” The barrister asked.

“Yeah, but make it two this time with today’s cake alright?” She flashed her usual grin, to which the barrister nodded and began brewing the coffee.

“You’re dressed really nice today, are you seeing someone?” The barrister propped his elbows over the counter. Yong Sun was taken aback for a moment, wondering how a plaid shirt over tee with short is considered ‘nice’.

"I'm just meeting a friend, Eric.” She giggled a little as she walked over to the empty seat. The barrister nodded and looked away, hiding his face behind the espresso machine to hide his reddening ears.

She sat not too far from the entrance, her eyes were on the lookout for a certain younger girl. As time passes, she saw the silhouette striding near, with a simple dress shirt tucked into her long denim, paired with a leather belt and a long necklace that reaches to her chest. The younger may not look like it, but she sure has a good sense in fashion.

When their eyes met, the younger flashed a smile as she lightly waved. Yong Sun couldn’t help it but to smile back, but at the same time also wonder what could have cause the girl to dress up as a guy in school when she looked so gorgeous as a girl?

“Are you that mesmerized by the view?” The girl said as she sat in front of her. Yong Sun snapped out of her thoughts, taken aback by the remark.

“I was just lost in my thoughts.”

“Well, let’s just hope you don’t get ‘lost in your thoughts’ as you do all of these questions.” She places a few books in front of the girl, making her sigh in frustration.

“I’ll throw this book to your face.” She sneered as she grabbed the corner of the relatively thick textbook. Yul smiled as she lifted her arms up  in defense.

**********************************************

They started off with a few simple questions, and to the younger girl’s amusement the older girl could actually solve quite a few of them. She smiled as she watched the other girl in full concentration, fingers scratching her scalp from time to time when she got herself stuck in a complicated equation. She absorbs the younger girl’s teaching easily and works hard without complaining much, making the progress easier.

Yong Sun felt bad making Yul wait as she finishes another question. The silent atmosphere would have bound to make the other girl bored. She looked up, just to make an eye contact with the other girl staring at her writing.

“If your stare could pierce, my book will have a hole already.” The older one cracked a joke, to make up for the silence. The younger one suddenly got flustered and stumbled a little, and began stuffing her face with the cappuccino crepe cake.

“I-I just find your writing really cute, that’s it.” Yong Sun began laughing, a part of her was happy seeing a cute side of the younger girl, who munched away at the cake.

**********************************************

Yul shifted her gaze to the streets, only to notice that the once blue skies were now covered with darkened clouds, little droplets of water began covering the windows of the cafe. Another storm is coming.

The sides of her lips dropped as she began picking onto the skin on her fingers. She quickly shifts her gaze back to the Yong Sun, who’s eyes were focused on solving the questions in her book.

Her eyes darts around the noise filled shop, trying to shift her focus onto the sounds around her, taking a few deep breaths in the process. The sounds of the brewing machine followed by the smell of a freshly brewed espresso calmed her down a little, reassuring her that she’s in a safe place.

It’ll be over soon. You can do this.

She looked over to the other girl, who bit her lip slightly and eyebrows all furrowed up as she tried solving the question with full concentration. Her heart calmed down, realising how cute the older one looked when she’s concentrating.

Yong Sun stretched in content, as she could almost solve all the questions that she couldn’t before this.

Yong Sun was so into her work that she got startled by the lights that was suddenly switched on in the shop. Her head turned to the glass windows to see that it’s covered with droplets of raindrops. It’s raining.

She looked over to the younger girl, suddenly remembering the moment they had in the library before. To Yong Sun’s relief, the girl wasn’t as frightened as she was before, but clearly bothered by the rain.

Part of her felt bad that she had to put the other girl through this, this would never had happened if she promised to meet up somewhere else, or even on another day when it wouldn’t rain.

“Hey, what are you thinking?” The younger girl managed a smile. It snapped the older girl out of her thoughts as she shifted her gaze to Yul.

“I should’ve known that it’ll rain. You don’t like rains.” She gripped onto the edges of her shirt, angered by her own ignorance. I should’ve known better.

“It’s not your fault that the weather is crazy here. And I’m alright. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Yong Sun smiled at the girl’s unusual thoughtfulness and placed her palm on top of the younger’s slender hands. Her tiny hands were cold, and she rubbed it lightly, hoping that it would warm her up a little.

It was all good at the moment, all too good.

**********************************************

A flash of lightning striked onto one of the buildings not too far away from the café, followed by a loud crack. The vibrations from the thunder could be felt from the ground all the way to the café where they were at. Yong Sun could have sworn the building even shook a little.

Nature is truly frightening.

Both of them jumped at the sound of the first thunder strike. Yong Sun quickly turned towards the younger girl, suddenly remembering that she isn’t fond of the rain. The other girl, clearly shaken, began biting onto her lips. Guilt washes over her as she blamed herself for not noticing the darkening clouds. If only she had noticed it earlier, they could have left and gone home, where things would have probably be better for the younger girl.

“Yul..” She tried holding the other girl’s hand again, to which she quickly grasped it away. Yong Sun was startled by her change in response, but remained a calm composure.

“I’m alright.” Her lips were pulled into a thin, forced smile.

Yong Sun didn’t want to continue her work but the younger insisted, saying that she should prioritise in finishing her work. Frustration rumbled in her, making her drop the pen in her hand. She kept an eye on the younger, whose eyes were concentrated in the surrounding of the shop.

It was fine for the first 15 minutes as they waited for the rain to stop, the elder also had a few conversations with the younger, which placed her at ease.

It wasn’t until the after-work hours, which sent more people into the shop seeking for cover from the rain. Yul didn’t really care much until she got fixated at the crowd, eyes quickly averted to the ground as the picking of her skin got more intense.

“Yong Sun, we should leave.” The elder was stopped mid-sentence, her eyes cast a worried look. It felt like they were back at square one, if not worse.

“The rain hasn’t stop, will it be okay?”

Her lips were sealed tightly as her body trembled.

“I-I can’t stay. He’s here..” Yong Sun almost missed the mumble that younger kept to herself but manage to get the memo. Yul kept her head down, hands travelled to her ears to cover them.

“Who’s here?” Yong Sun shifted her gaze onto the entrance, where she notices a group of office workers who had just entered.

“Just get me out of here. Please..” She almost sounded like she was crying. Yong Sun didn’t really know what was happening, but immediately packed all her stuff.

“Let’s go to my house, it’s much closer.” She didn’t get a reply.

As they walked out of the entrance, Yong Sun felt a hard grip onto her arm, realising that the younger was pulling her closer, shielding herself from whatever that awaits her outside. Although her arm was in pain, but she could also sense that the other girl was trembling.

She took a good glance at the crowd again, wondering who could’ve caused the girl to be so frightened.

**********************************************

It was one of her worst days. She could have sworn that the weather forecast app in her phone reported that it would be a nice and sunny day.

She was wrong.

She thought she could have finally gotten to the stage where the rain wouldn’t bother her as much as it did, but everything crumbled into pieces when her eyes met someone that looked familiar.

Someone a little too familiar for comfort.

She hated it when her body starts shaking, she knew that he couldn’t be here. She was so far from home and nobody knew that she was here.

I’ll always find you. You know I will.

Her mind became fuzzy as the words back then were repeated over and over in her head. She needs to get out of here. The world turned for a moment as she could feel herself fading in and out of consciousness. Not here. Not here. She bit down into her tongue, trying to keep a grasp on reality.

Her heart was beating so hard as she passed by the group of people, that she was afraid that it might pop right out just to run away from that place. Her mind convinced her that it might not be the same person, and all she got to do to confirm that was to look up.

It couldn’t be him, it couldn’t be him. But what if it’s him?

The fear was overwhelming, and her heart could have just stopped there and then, but she took a deep breath to calm herself down, trying to muster the strength to prove to herself that the person not too far from her wasn’t who she thought it was.

Until she remembered the smug grin the person used to have, and her heart dropped. She clenched her fist to hide her shaking hands. She grabbed onto the older girl for support, to her relief the older didn’t seem to object or like she usually does.

She was thankful that the elder didn’t ask much – and that she brought an umbrella, and how Yong Sun had her hand over her arms on the way back home, keeping her warm under the chilly weather.

Her legs felt wobbly, and it felt like a war just took place within her. Just a few more steps to the house. She could hear that the older girl was talking to her, but she couldn’t make out her words. Her eyelid felt heavy as her breath drew short. And the world became dark, once again.

*******************************************