It was raining when 21 year old Yoon Jeonghan was on his way to his shift at Carat Cafe this stormy afternoon, and of course it was Monday, the day everyone hated. He had just left his shared apartment and was in such a rush that he didn’t realize what the weather had in store for him. Halfway to work, it had started to rain… of course, just his luck! Even the weather doesn’t like Monday. Naturally, he had to seek shelter and he happened to seek it under the small roofing of a building nearby. Judging by how harsh the raindrops were hitting the pavement, he was going to have to wait for the weather to die down before he could travel in it, at this point he’d get drenched. Now is not the time to catch a cold.

He ran a hand through his long brown locks and sighed before pulling out his phone to contact one of his friends, who happened to also be his co-worker, at the cafe to tell him he’d be running a little late due to the weather. “This has to be the first time I’ll be late for work.” He muttered to himself as he turned his phone display on. “Would anyone even notice, though?” Just as he was about to bring up his contacts a girl spoke out to him, it almost startled him, it was so sudden!

“Excuse me, are you stranded?” Her voice was small and innocent and… kind of cute. The soft voice had him looking up quickly to see such a precious and innocent girl dressed in a pale yellow summer dress and white sandals. Her hair was long and straight and adorned with matching hair accessories for her outfit. Her makeup was very light and so natural looking, he could’ve been fooled to think she wasn’t even wearing makeup but her lip tint gave it away. Everything about this girl screamed cute and adorable to him and as much as he wanted to comment about it, he had to call his friend about work. Now is not the time to get googly eyes over girls in the rain.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.” Jeonghan gave a small smile in reassurance before returning to his phone. He felt conflicted right now, here was a cute girl talking to him out in the rain and all he could do was just focus on getting to work. It’s been awhile since I talked to girls like this. It was strange that he oddly felt nervous since he was the biggest flirt in high school. He wondered where all the confidence went? Oh… his ex-girlfriend probably took it with her when she left. Don’t start thinking like that now! He scolded himself before noticing the girl was still standing nearby like she wanted to keep speaking to him. It was hard not to notice as her yellow dress stood out a lot, and then something silly came to mind. Is she even real? Am I just imagining things? Just a random cute girl out in the rain by herself like this, that doesn’t seem right?

“Here, take it.” Suddenly a pitch black umbrella was offered to him and he was confused when he actually felt the object being placed into his hand. So this was real? “It looks like you need it.” She added with a cute smile and it had his nervous heartbeat pick up in pace. It’s too early for this! He thought while accepting the umbrella from her. She’s cute, I get, but this is probably the last time you’ll ever see her. You know how the movie goes, so quit getting so excited!

“What about you?” He managed to ask calmly after accepting the item from her since she kept holding it out towards him, he felt like she wouldn’t stop until he took it. “This is your umbrella…” because this would totally give him another chance to meet her at a later time to retur-

“It’s okay, I can buy another one.” She assured him with a bright smile and for a second he felt disappointed. What the hell were you even expecting?! He was laughing at himself for even thinking of cliché scenarios. “Hurry, before you’re late!” She ushered him to leave, which meant she must have overheard him talking to himself a moment ago.

“... thank you.” He managed to get out while trying to keep it cool. That was really nice of her, wasn’t it? How could he repay her now? He has to, right? “Uh… did you want to-” he turned around to suggest her to come with him to the cafe and he’d give her a free drink, but it seemed like she already ran off after he started to leave.

Who was that girl? She was stuck in his head the rest of the walk to work. He had to wonder if they’d ever meet again? A part of him didn't but another part wanted to, then he snickered at his own thought. You don’t have time to be thinking about girls! He walked out into the rain after opening up the umbrella that was given to him. Now that he had portable shelter protecting him from the harsh rain, he was on his way to  his job. When he walked around the corner, he could see the girl from earlier entering a shop down the street and was relieved to know she managed to find a place to seek shelter from the rain, he also hoped she’d be able to buy a new umbrella in that shop as well. Then he found himself staring in the direction of that shop, pausing at the corner for a minute or so just thinking about that kind act she just did for him. Now's not the time to get distracted by girls!

He wasn’t sure why he was phased by such a small gesture let alone a common one. Anyone could have offered him their umbrella. It wouldn’t be the first time, honestly, given his stunning looks and charming aura. He was a flower boy and was always getting attention from any and everyone, like he was some kpop idol walking down the street and he had a lot of fans! Usually his ‘fans’ would linger around and try to get acquainted with him, but this time was different… which was probably why her presence stuck longer with him. Before, he’d forget about any girl he’d encounter because they weren’t important enough to remember. He rarely ever sees them again anyway, it was a waste to remember all of his ‘fans’. He grew to hate the attention, that’s why.

Even if that girl wasn’t a ‘fan’ of his, he concluded maybe she wasn’t worth remembering either. Now that he thought about it, he noticed her clothes were really nice, her hair was really pretty, she was really nice and cute and almost too good to be true. He never met someone like her before and the longer he thought about it, things started to click in his head, bad things. She was probably a spoiled girl based on her appearance, which he hated to think that way. But if she was like that, would she have really stopped to give me her umbrella? Okay, maybe that wasn’t the case. So why did she? That was a question he was curious about. Or am I really that conceited that I’ll label any girl as a ‘fan’? He had to laugh at himself for that. Whatever… Shaking those thoughts out of his head before crossing the street.

It wasn’t that long before Jeonghan entered his workplace and was greeted by his co-worker upon entering the break room of Carat Cafe. “Right on time! I thought you weren’t coming today, you’re usually here like 10 minutes before your shift, what happened?” He asked as he was fastening his name tag on his own uniform which was just an apron over his normal clothing. Won Woo was the name printed on the tag.

“I got caught up in the rain. I woke up late and didn’t notice a storm was coming when I was rushing out of the apartment. I got stranded for a good 10 minutes or so until some girl gave me her umbrella. I was about to call you and tell you I’d be late but I suppose today was my lucky day.” Jeonghan explained while tying his long locks back into a low ponytail, making sure that his long fringe wasn’t included.

“That’s cute, a girl gave up her umbrella for you? I thought it should be the other way around?” Won Woo teased but dodged Jeonghan’s attack as he was passing him. The older hated it when his friends , but he supposed he deserves it from all the teasing he does to them on a daily basis. He could be so evil at times!

“It was weird though, she suddenly disappeared after I started to leave. I wanted to properly thank her for giving me the umbrella by bringing her here for a free drink or something but she was already gone by the time I turned around, and I’m talking about, I turned away for 2 seconds and she was already out of sight, like she vanished into thin air.”

“Wow, are you sure you didn’t just encounter your guardian angel?” Won Woo asked with a look of awe.

“Maybe, I don’t know.” Jeonghan shrugged after putting his name tag on and looked up at the clock on the wall by the door. There was 5 minutes until they start their 5 hour shift.

“That’s a laugh, you being greeted by an angel. Or maybe she was here to make sure you weren’t causing too much chaos?” He was just met with an unamused glance by that comment. “Well, I guess the more important question is… was she cute?” Won Woo asked in a nonchalant tone. Jeonghan just looked at him with a more annoyed expression this time at the younger’s teasing.

“Shut up, we have work to do.” He muttered before leaving out to the front. He was done talking about it with him for now. Once he made it out to the front counter, he could see the weather had let up a little since he got there and that made Jeonghan feel a little more at ease since he wondered if that girl he met earlier was still running around without an umbrella?

‘I can buy another one.’

He wasn’t sure if that was true or not and she was just saying it to be nice. It was taking a lot for him not to feel guilty on taking her umbrella, but she was so insistent, what did you expect him to do? He was hoping he’d run into her again so he could properly thank her for her kind act and possibly just return the umbrella to her.

“Thinking about that guardian angel still?” Won Woo teased as he nudged Jeonghan who was spacing out in front of the counter. Not many people were here at the moment, possibly because of the weather, it was quiet and a bit boring which he didn’t mind… he could be the laziest person on the planet sometimes. He preferred when they weren’t busy!

“Thinking about how I’ll knock you on your if you keep pestering me about that.” Jeonghan replied calmly as he left the counter to check the tables near the back for any missing items that needed to be replaced or cleaned. Just to get away from that annoying co-worker of his!

✨~💖~✨

“Can I help you?” An older woman asked the cute female customer who rushed into the store a few minutes ago, obviously from the terrible rain outside. She had to be the first customer to come in this morning as other people were smart enough to not travel in such weather.

“Ah, do you have any cute colored umbrellas in stock?” The girl asked as she was smoothing out her slightly damp hair. “I forgot my umbrella before coming out and it started to rain!” She added with a sheepish laugh before smoothing out her dress next.

“Oh no, I’ll go check!” The clerk gave her a kind smile before hurrying off to go look for the mentioned item. Once she was out of sight, the girl clicked her tongue while looking around the store to see who else was around.

“She was way too eager to help me out…” she muttered as she took a few seconds to browse the store while she waited for the clerk to come back. It didn’t seem like there were any customers at the moment which was a relief, she didn’t like crowded places. “Isn’t there at least one person who doesn’t know who I am?” And then the encounter with that guy earlier came to mind. He didn’t seem to be shocked to see me? Usually everyone is shocked or at least surprised to see me in person? Now she was being conceited about her social status.

“Here you go, Miss Chae!” The clerk from a few minutes ago returned with a yellow umbrella, apparently to match her outfit. Well at least she’ll look like she knows how to match for once. I should wear black next time I come out.

“Thanks.” The girl accepted the item from her before they walked up to the register to check out. Given the clerk called her by her last name, she definitely knew who she was, referring to her earlier thought ‘Usually everyone is shocked’ to see her.

“Have a wonderful day, Miss Chae!” The woman beamed as she left the store. The girl liked how nice she was, so she flashed her a thankful smile before leaving the store, because it was the polite thing to do. Compared to other encounters, this was a pleasant one today!

“Well, that wasn’t so bad…” she mumbled to herself after exiting the store and opened up the umbrella to find out it was a Pikachu themed umbrella and stared for a good minute, there was a look of surprise of her face before a huge smile spread across her face. Accident or? She wondered. Someone actually paid attention to the unnecessary interview I did awhile back?

Who is she, you might ask? Well, for starters, her name is Chae Soo Min, age 21 and currently a third year college student studying Art at Hansung University. She’s cute and kind and a lot of people adore her as she’s the daughter of a successful duo in the fashion and entertainment industry. She doesn’t really understand why people treat her like she’s some super famous celebrity, last she checked it was her parents who were the celebrities, but regardless they still treat her like one. There’s always paparazzi around and sometimes it’s because of her parents who want to know what she’s up to as they’re too busy to meet with her on a daily basis. Sometimes she hates it and just wants to hide because she absolutely hates her picture being taken.

Growing up with popular parents, she was always told to act properly when she was out in public. That meant being super nice to any and everyone as well as maintain her sophisticated persona when in reality she’s a normal girl with a ton of flaws. In public she’s like a spoiled princess but at home she’s your typical fangirl. She likes to eat pizza and binge watch k-dramas and spazz over kpop group comebacks… which is why she was so excited to get that Pikachu umbrella earlier!

Some would see it as childish so she wouldn’t be caught dead doing anything that would ruin her well groomed persona, despite Pikachu is cute and harmless, ‘Kawaii’ to be more exact. But since the clerk picked it out for her and she had no idea, this would be okay! And because she’s so kind, she wouldn’t return it and ask for a different one, loop holes were her best friend sometimes. It worked out perfectly since the umbrella she grabbed earlier was a black one… something she shouldn’t be seen with when she was wearing something light and pretty. It was such a contrast to her outfit. That was my favorite umbrella, too. She would need to order a new one when she gets home. Maybe I’ll order that Katana umbrella?!

Making it to a crosswalk, she could see across the street a cafe she hadn’t seen before and curiosity began to swirl inside her. The name displayed above the entrance said “Carat Cafe” and for some odd reason, she could only think of carrots! It made her giggle while she pulled her phone out of her shoulder bag and brought up her contacts to make a phone call.

“Yeees?” The male voice on the other line chimed in greeting, making her snicker on the inside. It was like he was expecting her to call him just now.

“Ren, are you doing something right now?” She asked while scanning the area for anyone eavesdropping.

“Depends!” He replied and she could totally hear the grin in his answer.

“There’s this cafe I just noticed, Carat Cafe. Wanna go check it out?”

“You mean like a date?”

“N-”

“Well, if you insist! Text me the address!” And he hung up...

“Why do I even bother with him?” She chuckled to herself while tapping away on her phone to send her whereabouts. It was common here in Korea to hang up like that, but she didn’t like it. Since she had American friends, she grew accustomed to the way the Westerners end their phone calls with a mutual goodbye. She had to wonder if their friend Aron has gotten used to the culture change since he only moved to Korea a few years ago. I should ask him next time we meet.

At least by now the rain was dying down, but not enough to put her brand new umbrella away. After texting Ren, she looked up and started to admire the sheltering device with such a fond smile, she really loved this umbrella! I’m keeping this no matter what anyone says. I’m a grown adult, they can’t tell me what to do, right? Then she sighed. That was a bad habit of hers she had growing up, the habit of pleasing everyone.

She always aimed to make her parents proud of her any chance she got. She was a straight A student and never got into trouble which was every parent's dream. She always went beyond people’s expectations and went the extra mile with everything. Anything she did was praised and she loved all the positive reactions she’d get from everyone… but at some point in time, she’s set her expectations of herself too high just to keep everything up. She never had a bad thing mentioned about her, or ever failed at something so when she did disappoint people, it was felt tragic. She felt absolutely horrible and you could definitely say she didn’t handle it very well when it happened, but could you blame her? Someone that’s always been perfect suddenly wasn’t perfect? How do you react in a situation like that?

Regardless of her small mistakes in the past, she still aimed to be the best for her parents because it’s what they do for her, it’s only right that she does the same! She had to make up for her choices, the choices that disappointed her parents. Her father wanted her to get into the entertainment world as anything of her choosing. Singer, actor, dancer, stage performer, all of the above… but she didn’t want that. She didn’t like being in the spotlight of anything, there was no way she could do any of that! Despite her answer, her mother tried to talk her into modeling or becoming a fashion designer just like herself, like mother like daughter… but again, she didn’t want that! Her parents looked so disappointed and she never felt so guilty before. Now that she was older, she had more say in what she wanted to do, but when she was younger, she did everything that was asked of her. Perhaps they thought she was going to comply to all their requests even after growing up and that didn’t sit well with her.

Now she had a somewhat awkward relationship with her parents, but it was actually one sided when you really think about it, only she felt that way. It was sad that she even felt glad that they were too busy to meet with her regularly. They do live together at their family estate, but Soo Min lives with her grandparents on their side of the place since she’d be really lonely at her parents house because sometimes they don’t come home due to work. Because of that, she’s spent a lot of time alone, even while staying with her grandparents.

She wasn’t always keen on going out and meeting people, she only knew a handful of people to be honest and she was okay with that small amount. Who said you had to have a million friends? Even though her grandparents encourage her to go out more, she didn’t want to because she’s also… lazy. That’s right, she’s probably the most laziest girl on this planet! Why did I come out again? She whimpered on the inside now that she was thinking about it. Right, because Halmoni told me to! Sometimes she didn’t like her nosy grandmother, but it wasn’t that bad at least. So how long has it been since I texted that fashion diva? The rain hadn’t let up as much, but she could tell the storm would be over in a bit. Now she was looking around for any sign of her friend.

That fashion diva is a good friend of hers, Choi Minki aka Ren, they went to high school together and their families are also good friends. He’s the same age as her, 21, and currently a third year at Hansung University studying Fashion Design, something her mom wanted her to study but she didn’t have much of an interest in it despite loving art. She was more into drawing and portraits. She actually liked his persona a lot because it was his real persona and not a fake one. She envied that he was enjoying his life while she was suffering and lying and hiding her true self. Sometimes she’s thought about just doing things how she wants it to be, but again, with how well groomed she’s been all these years in the public eye, that would be a drastic change of events… wouldn’t it?

She couldn’t imagine how people would react, would they react in a positive or negative way? Would it hurt her parents social status? There were so many possibilities of it going wrong and that’s all she could think about. Would they accuse her parents of not raising her properly? Would they look at her real self and say she’s imperfect and a mess? Probably! In that kind of community, people were so judgemental.

She’s careless!

She’s childish!

She’s not lady-like!

She has no manners!

She’s rude!

She’s mean!

She’s terrible!

She’s a liar!

Those were probably things that would be said about her if she dropped this act she’s been playing for so long. How could someone change so quickly like this but better yet… how could she let this go on for so long? To the point of no return? On days she wants to go out but doesn’t feel like putting up that facade, she goes undercover so if paparazzi are around she wouldn’t get caught doing things a well groomed daughter of two successful people wouldn’t be doing. Like going to arcades, eating at a ramyeon stall, getting snacks at a convenience store, (sometimes)laughing at inappropriate humor on the street, browsing a comic book store because any well groomed daughter would be in a library reading intelligent books in a sophisticated manner… things that were deemed not okay for a person like her.

I hate it. For a second time, she looked around for her friend. At least he never has to worry about ‘slipping up’ in front of the public… She has to admit he’s funny but sometimes full of himself and is always joking around, if she behaved like he did, surely she’d get a negative reaction but it was ridiculous how she doesn’t get a bad reaction by simply hanging out with a person like him. He’s known for joking a lot in public and it makes her laugh until her face hurts. Just like when he asked if she was asking him on a date, there’s no way they’d ever be in a relationship like that, right? He’d probably only date himself, his standards are probably really high!

“Hey, Pikachu!” Suddenly his voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned to the source of that soft and calm sound. There he stood, dressed to impress with his black umbrella. So that’s where he’s been? She giggled to herself at the thought, it must be why it took so long for him to get here! “What is it?” He took notice of her amused expression.

“Nothing.” She shook her head before pointing to the cafe across the street. “It’s over there, let’s go.” He happily agreed and they headed to the crosswalk down the sidewalk to get to the other side like proper citizens, crossing the street without a crosswalk would be reckless for their kind. They should follow all the rules in their surroundings. As they waited for the signal to come on, she took a moment to look over at Ren and admired his outfit for a few seconds before admiring his hair. It was weird looking at him just then as memory from her encounter with that guy earlier came to mind. They sort of look alike? She thought as her stare lingered on him. They seemed to have the same eyes and eyebrows. She wasn’t sure if their noses were the same since she didn’t get to look at the other guy for that long, she left once he started to leave. But another thing that reminded her of him was Ren’s long shoulder length hair. The only difference had to be Ren’s hair was blonde.

“What is is?” Ren asked when he could sense she was looking at him. “Star struck?” He teased with a small grin. She didn’t usually look at him like that, so this was new. He wondered why she looked so interested just now and his thoughts started to wonder.

“Perhaps.” She joked before looking away with a faint chuckle. The signal hadn’t come on yet and after a few more seconds she looked back over to Ren but this time she looked up at his black umbrella. Then she looked to hers above her own head. They definitely contrasted each other and she found it amusing. You’re lucky, Ren… She envied him for being able to use a black umbrella today, a silly thing to do but she didn’t care!

“Where’d you get that umbrella, by the way?” He finally asked as the signal came on. It was getting a little too quiet between them and most of the time he wouldn’t mind it but when he’s in the company of another person, he was always taught to keep a conversation going.

“Oh, I forgot my umbrella this morning when I left the estate. A lady at in the small shop I went to earlier picked it out for me. I couldn’t possibly tell her to pick out a different one so I just took it.” She answered calmly as they crossed the street. “At least the color matches my outfit.”

“And your character.” He gave her a sweet smile and for once she was a little stunned and paused before fully crossing the street. For a brief second she felt her cheeks get warm and wondered if it was because she was embarrassed or-

“What are you doing? Come here!” His voice snapped her out of it and she saw him beckoning her to hurry over to his side since she was still in the road. She quickly hurried to his side while muttering a quick apology. “Gosh, don’t do that again!” He lightly scolded, she could hear the hint of worry and smiled to herself before apologizing again and then they started their way to the Cafe up the sidewalk.

Halfway there, Ren noticed some suspicious looking characters coming their way and instinctively reached out to guide Soo Min to walk on the other side of him, almost like he was shielding her from them and that confused her until she heard the sound of a camera going off. Paparazzi.

“What’s this? On a date?” One of them asked and she frowned, knowing Ren would probably joke and say they are and cause a mini scandal, but for once he didn’t joke.

“No.” He answered. “Just two friends meeting up to chat.”

“How boring! Surely you’re interested in each other, right?” Another asked as they were trying to get some snapshots of Soo Min over his shoulder. That’s when he brought his umbrella down a bit to block them out of the way.

“Just take your stupid picture and get lost. I’m warning you now.” He said in a more serious tone. “You don’t think I can get my hands on those photos before you sell them?”

“Easy, relax!” It was hard for them to take Ren seriously since he was always joking around, everyone knew it after all these years.

“You can take mine, but delete her photos, or else.”

“Alright!” They agreed. “Another time then?” Their question was directed to Soo Min who simply nodded her head just so they’d leave. “Enjoy your chat~!” And then they were gone.

“So bothersome, I swear.” Ren muttered once they were far enough. “At least they weren’t complete jerks like last time.”

“True.” Last time was a nightmare and neither of them liked to think about it.

“You okay?” He noticed her expression when he turned to face her and felt bad. He knew she hated the paparazzi and it was why he blocked her off from them.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” She assured him with a small smile. “Thanks, Ren.”

“No problem!” He flashed her his dazzling smile and it was another first! She was really starstruck this time now that he was leaving without her because of the small trance he put her in. What’s with me today?! She was thinking to herself before she felt a hand grab hers.

“Do I have to drag you?” He chuckled while leading her down the sidewalk by the hand. Now her heart was racing in her chest… Why now all of a sudden? That’s when they stepped into the cafe and she saw him… she saw the guy from earlier and it finally clicked in her mind. Because they look similar?!

Chapter one~!

Chapter one! The start of everything~!

Already got a taste of Diva Ren haha

Jeonghan was just confused about meeting her haha

Won Woo just being the annoying co-worker lol

This first chapter is a bit long to make up for the long wait of it being posted.

I don’t know how soon I’ll have chapter two out, but I hope everyone can be patient~!

I have a lot planned for this fic and I hope I can have fun with this ><

Until next time!