Mingyu loves the rain. He can smell it coming, which isn't anything special because lots of people seem to have that sense of foreshadowing. But more than just smelling it, he can sense it. Something tingles from the tips of his fingertips up the lengths of his long arms and he just knows. Rain is on the way.

He has a large collection of umbrellas, different sizes and colors and patterns. Even the ones that eventually break are there, as he can't bring himself to throw them away. He has memories attached to each one and they provide him with snapshots of times before, even if they are just stacked and hidden away in the closet when not in use.

There's the large mint green one he had used one April day last year. It was a few days before his birthday and it was raining in sheets. Most people stayed hovering under storefront awnings and coffee shop doorways, but Mingyu didn't mind. The umbrella wasn't too useful, as the water cascaded down so fast and hard that it splashed up and soaked the bottoms of his pant legs. That didn't keep him from enjoying the sensation of it though.

Sometimes when it rains, he imagines he's in a film. There's some soft piano melody in the background and everything around him has this hazy glow to it that's so romantic. And that's how he envisioned things the first time he saw Wonwoo.

Wonwoo was meant for rain. He fit into gloomy, moody days so well that the first time Mingyu laid eyes on him, he thought he was a figment of his imagination. He looked like the personification of the dreary yet invigorating weather that the boy from Anyang loved so much. The god of rain.

He had a black shoulder bag over his head in attempts to shield himself from the water and he was lightly jogging, puddles splashing up and drenching him from the waist down. He may have been running the opposite way Mingyu was going but he was in no rush himself. Something unseen seemed to catch his arm and yank him around, extending his umbrella to cover the soaked man.

He had looked at Mingyu strangely before slowly smiling and Mingyu could feel flowers beginning to bud from behind his eyes.

The small and now broken red umbrella was used during a particularly terrible storm in May that same year. Two of the flimsy metal arms had snapped and Mingyu wasn't surprised; the thing was old, one that remembered his mother using when he was a very young boy.

Mingyu was returning home from work when the storm hit and the overpowering winds had destroyed the umbrella within seconds of him being outside. He didn't mind getting wet, he had laughed about the circumstance even. But the amusement had been short-lived as he only made it one block before he felt the rain seize to hit his head and shoulders.

Above him was a sturdy black umbrella and holding its handle was a smirking Wonwoo. Mingyu wasn't surprised by the choice of umbrella the other had, nor by the fact that he found out that same night Wonwoo drank his coffee black, only wore black shoes, and could only fall asleep in complete darkness.

Everything about him was dark except the way he looked at Mingyu. His presence was rejuvenating and seemed to awaken something inside Mingyu that had been hibernating.

Mingyu also has a rainbow umbrella but it isn't used often. Wonwoo had disliked the thing, calling it gaudy and tacky and while Mingyu disagreed, he didn't make a big deal of their differing opinions. That is until the two of them are out on a day trip in Gangwon-do in August and a sudden summer downpour interrupts their relaxing day in nature.

Wonwoo had asked why he didn't check the weather before they drove all the way out there and Mingyu had simply smiled and stated that he did.

When Mingyu pulled out the rainbow umbrella from the trunk of his car, he expected Wonwoo to maybe protest. But he had only rolled his eyes with fondness before shaking the water from his hair and huddling under its colorful outstretched canvas beside the other.

Mingyu swore he felt vines extend and grow and curl around his ribcage, squeezing his heart.

It's not raining the time Mingyu opens the navy and white striped umbrella he owns.

He's not even outside; he's in his now shared apartment, reorganizing the closet full of his tangible mementos. It's a walk down memory lane.

"Why do you keep so many of these?" Wonwoo asks him, lounging back on the couch, his legs tossed over the arm of it.

Mingyu smiles as he admires the navy and white one in his hands. Suddenly he opens it and Wonwoo gasps.

"What are you doing?"

"What?"

"You can't open that indoors. It's bad luck." Mingyu doesn't have much time to react before Wonwoo stands and scurries over, snatching the item from his hands and promptly closing it. "Don't you know you'll infuriate the sun god?"

Mingyu laughs and while Wonwoo bites back a smile and pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, he decides to play along. "Why should I care about upsetting the sun god? I like the rain."

"I know you do, but you shouldn't want to anger him. You're like the sun yourself, you should understand."

Wonwoo may at times be dark but he is soft and refreshing too, and those are all things that Mingyu loves about the rain. They are things he adores about Wonwoo.

Mingyu is sunny and warm and one night when Wonwoo whispers to him how blinding he is, how he shines so brightly, he wants to laugh it off. But somehow he understands the feeling and accepts the confession.

The budding flowers within him fully blossom and burst, all vibrant colors and sweet fragrances, yearning for both sun and rain.