A summer night isn’t supposed to be cold. Hell, it isn’t even supposed to rain. The rain had been falling for hours, I was stuck in a convenience store within the district of Nonhyeongdong. I slurped the hot ramyeon I decided to eat to somehow ease the chilly feeling, as I watched the girl behind the counter write on her notebook. A small pile of books and a calculator rested beside her. When she felt that my eyes were stuck on her, she gazed back and blink. I gave her a smile but she kept her face straight, she obviously looked tired. She immediately looked away and went back to her business.

I quietly laughed at the idea of her studying hard just to graduate and get a better job to survive. It’s funny, people are all the same. People live to stay alive. It sounds bull but that’s what everyone does in the simplest terms. But to be honest, living that way is inevitable. I also struggle to survive. It’s just that along our way to death, we feel like we need to accomplish things just to somehow make us feel like life is really worth living, which it is at some point.

My eyes quickly shifted to the entrance when its door bells chimed. Dongsun walked in looking a little bit annoyed while Nahyun, his sister, tailed behind him. Nahyun gave me a huge smile as she took the seat across mine, her perfectly curled bangs and short haired bounced to her jumpy movements. She leaned onto the table and asked, “So, how was it?”

Park Nahyun and I used to be in the same classes when I was still in college. She was one of the people who pushed me to do what I really want to do. If it wasn’t for her, I’d probably be like the girl behind the counter. It would be a boring life for me. Nahyun likes hip hop too, but she doesn’t love it like how I, and his brother, love hip hop. She listens to them at times, go to concerts at times, buys albums sometimes, but she never came to the point where she had to quit college just because she wanted to make a career out of the music she loves. And honestly, she’s smart and obviously loves studying psychology. She’s happy with the way her life is right now.

Because of Nahyun, I met her older brother, Dongsun. Park Dongsun isn’t really the kind of friend I’d call if I need a drink. He’s more like the kind of friend I could talk to anything about hip hop and music, nothing more or less. He taught me the most technical things I wouldn’t be able to teach myself, he gave me equipment he used to use so I could practice on it, and he let me meet his friends that later became my friends too. He’s basically my fairy god father. I’m just thankful I met him.

“It’s kinda pointless, I should’ve went home and slept,” I shrugged as I chew the hot noodles in my mouth. “This day is tiring enough, you know how much I hate getting my energy wasted.”

“Pointless?” Dongsun repeated as he crossed his arms.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “We just talked, and listened to one of the songs included in the mixtape. We could’ve done it in Salon de Café.”

“It’s not pointless,” Nahyun disagreed. “Can you believe Suga actually picked you up from the coffee shop at 10 PM… just to talk, and make you listen to a song he made?”

Nahyun’s voice raised and it was loud enough for the girl behind the counter to hear. She glanced at us then went back to her homework.

“So?” I asked, I don’t really see her point.

“He’s trying to make a move on you.” Nahyun winked and I couldn’t help but cringe. “You’re cute, he’s a popstar. He can easily get you by just standing in front of you.”

“No he cannot, I’m not that easy.” I rolled my eyes because of Nahyun’s imagination. She does that a lot, she couldn’t help but assume romance between a man and a woman just because they had the chance to get along. One time, she insisted that I was crushing on her brother, when my legitimate first impression of Dongsun is how huge of an and slob he is. “And he doesn’t like me. If he does, he should’ve driven me home. But instead, he just left me this umbrella.” I raised the black umbrella Min Yoongi gave me before leaving me right in front of their building.

“Because he’s playing the cold guy.” Nahyun chuckled.

“Oh, please.” Dongsun lightly pulled Nahyun’s arms up so she could get up from her seat. “Ahreum is nothing compared to girls he’d seen.” He cringed when he looked at me. “Ahreum isn’t so areum at all.”

I sneered at him. But I’m kinda used to hearing it, people always make a joke out of it. Because really, I’m not pretty. I’m just your average Asian girl, with a shoulder-length black hair just like everyone else. I don’t even dress according to the trend; my closet contains nothing but oversized shirt, plaid polos, shorts, and jogging pants. My fashion is all about comfort, which most people don’t really understand.

“You know, if you glamour up, you’d be pretty enough,” Nahyun said. We both got up our seats and left the convenient store.

It was still raining hard. Back then, I’d worry about my room being a bit flooded by the rain that would find some way to get through my roof. But because I’m now living in a more comfortable place, I’m loving the rain.

Dongsun owns a Lexus, a gift from his Dad when he turned 21. Their family isn’t as rich as those kids you see in the TV. They’re more like we-can-buy-this-if-we-save-for-this kind of family, which is pretty much like my family. Their parents are very supportive on whatever they want to do with their lives, they never hold their children back, so they turned out to be goal-driven. They were motivated enough to work hard and not give up, unlike me.

One of my favorite things about life is having a midnight ride. The streets are almost empty and street lights brighten up the whole city. These kind of rides are one of the few experiences I appreciate and wish it could last long. But unlike the awkward drive with Min Yoongi, it seemed shorter. One thing I knew, we were already in front of my house.

“I’m gonna see you later?” Nahyun asked before I pulled the door knob of the car’s door.

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“Six o’clock, I don’t want to wait. Don’t be late!” She blurted out.

“Thanks for the ride,” I answered with a chuckle. I gave the siblings a nod before stepping out of the car.

I stood in front of the gate holding the umbrella with my left hand as I watched the car go farther. When they were already out of sight, I struggled to find my keys in my bag with just one hand.

The gate made a loud noise when I pushed it so I gently shut it close so the people living in the house won’t be bothered by the annoying pitch of two steels’ friction. My place isn’t the typical apartment. It’s basically a three-story house with a beautifully landscaped garden surrounding it. It’s huge and people might think my rent is about as pricey as the tall apartment buildings of Gangnam. But it’s probably one of the cheapest decent home in Gangnam. Well, it’s actually a house where a complete set of a happy rich family lives in. The room on their rooftop used to be a storage room but since Mr. Han is a dear friend to them, they offered their storage room for a really cheap price when they found out Mr. Han was looking for one. They even renovated the room and turned it into a minimal, cozy room.

I walked through the cemented pathway in the middle of the small front garden as fast as I could since the rain kept on falling harder. Mrs. Choi, the light of the family, stood in the porch in her white robe. She coughed on the smoke she inhaled as she watched me run to the porch.

“I didn’t know you were still out,” she said as she stub out the cigarette on the ashtray sitting on the porch table. She smokes a lot but she don’t want anyone seeing her smoke for some reason. Most days she would be on the rooftop, but yeah, she couldn’t be there because it was raining hard.

“Business thing.” I stretched my neck just to somehow relieve my fatigue.

“Business,” she raised her brows as she said the word. I love telling her good news since her reactions are always priceless. She will really show how happy she is for you. She’ll even make a celebration if she has some time. “I wonder what that could be.” She smiled.

It wasn’t really the news for her. I didn’t want to tell everyone about it yet since it’s going to be a big one. And usually, whenever I encounter such opportunities, it always becomes a flop. So I learned to shut up and only inform the closest ones to me.

I chuckled. “It’s no big deal,” I replied and went up the narrow circular stairs right beside the house.

Whenever I get home, I always feel lucky for finding such a nice place like that. I live with a family but I don’t have to bother them in their home just to get in and out of my own room. My room is like separated from their house. It has its own stairs and its own bathroom. Their laundry is on the rooftop so it was more convenient for me.

I keyed in the password to unlock my door. I quickly took off everything on me before letting myself fall on my bed. I didn’t realize I was that tired until I got home. I didn’t want to get up even though I knew I had to do my nightly routine. I just stayed on my bed as Yoongi’s song played in my head.

I scoffed when I realized that I was singing beneath my breath.

“Love songs are so ing sappy,” I murmured to myself before letting myself complete doze off.