Nam Jihyun, the girl who had asked to prom in his senior year of high school, would probably remain a large part of his life forever.

Although she had broken up with him over a year ago and almost immediately proceeded to post dozens of pictures on her social media accounts of her new boyfriend, it pained In Guk (as he deleted his search history from his phone) to admit that he would never be able to forget about his first girlfriend.

He had given her everything—his first kiss, his first love, his life from the time he was eighteen to twenty-one.

Whenever he lost himself drinking with his friends in his last year of university, tears would appear in his eyes as he thought about the memories he had shared with her.

Like the time he surprised her with balloons and flowers when he shyly asked her to be his girlfriend, or his first year in community college when he used to drive for two hours in a straight line on the freeway just to drop her off at her university, and he would have to drive two hours back home just to sleep in his class.

Memories like that really could destroy a person while he was wallowing in his own self-pity.

But now, at the age of twenty-two, he was a university graduate who was finally back in his hometown. Most of his friends that he had attended high school with had also graduated at the same time as him, so they were all back in their small hometown that was known for being next to a beach.

They wanted to go drinking with him tonight, but since no one agreed to be the designated driver for the night, they ended up just chatting and laughing about stupid things that they used to do in high school while drinking soda in their fancy plastic red cups in the bar.

As he was laughing with his friends and joking around, the ceiling lights were twinkling in his vision and he felt so much happier here than in his university. He was back home, his friends were back, and they were all going to have fancy jobs, date pretty girls, drive fancy cars, and maybe settle down ten years in the future with one of those pretty girls they were all going to undoubtedly date and have kids. They'll raise the children with nothing but happiness, send those children to university, and those children will be sitting in their spots twenty or thirty years from now.

Life was good when you were a college graduate.

As he took another sip from his cup, he laughed at a joke that rang across the table. He was doing so well not thinking about the girl he had promised to spend the rest of his life with when of course, someone had to ask him the question he had been dreading.

"Hey Inguk, I just realized. Are you still with Jihyun?" Nam Joohyuk's handsome face looked innocent underneath the dim lighting of the lamps, but it was still a question that pierced through his heart as if Joohyuk had intended to hurt him with his words.

In Guk flinched slightly and forced a smile.

"We broke up a year ago. She's with someone else now," he responded as casually as he could under the circumstances, wishing that he was drinking alcohol instead of soda; but, the last time he went out drinking with his friends, he ended up crying over her, so maybe it was for the best that he was sober.

Joohyuk gave him a look of sympathy (a look that he despised) and asked the bartender for his strongest beer. With a dramatic yell and a pinch of his own nose, he grabbed the huge cup that the bartender had given him and practically slammed it down on In Guk's table.

"You know what, I'll be the designated driver. Just drink, dude. Just drink."

In Guk didn't need to be told that twice. He grabbed the cup and practically inhaled the entire content with one gulp, wanting to drown himself in the liquor.

Maybe life wasn't that good when you were a fresh college graduate and he was nursing a broken heart, but at least he was heartbroken with a college degree that he could wipe his tears with.

There was no designated driver for the night despite what Joohyuk had proclaimed earlier.

Everyone, including Joohyuk, was drunk. Fortunately for the rest of the guys, they all lived near the bar, so they all gathered in a group and walked home as they clung to each other. They would yell at each other to get off as the sang songs underneath the moonlight, enjoying their freedom as college graduates before they started applying for jobs in the future.

His fingers on his phone were already looking up the number of the closest taxi that would take Joohyuk and him home, but Joohyuk snatched his phone and wagged his finger. He had a sly smile on his face and a dazed look in his eyes.

"I'd let you go home, but I need to go buy some seaweed at the market to cure my hangover tomorrow morning. I haven't seen you in forever, so you're coming with me."

In Guk felt like he was being asked out by a pushy upperclassman, but he shrugged and thought nothing more of it. He didn't really want to go home yet anyway.

When they entered the small market, Joohyuk seemed to be familiar with the store when he went straight to the correct section. He grabbed one bag of seaweed and quickly walked over to the register, but despite being quite late at night, the line was long. In Guk wondered if it was really worth waiting over ten minutes in line just to buy one thing, but the two cashiers in the front seemed to be very efficient. The line moved faster than he expected, and soon, they were in front of the line.

The cashier who rang him up was wearing oversized round glasses and a pink beanie, which clashed with her red work uniform, but she still looked pretty. He noticed that she had a thin line of brown eyeliner and seemingly no other makeup.

"Is this all for you, sir?"

Joohyuk opened his mouth to open the question, but under the influence of alcohol, he suddenly blurted out something else that made In Guk feel stupid for not realizing sooner.

"Wait, aren't you...Eunji, from high school?" Joohyuk widened his eyes and pointed at her quite rudely as if he couldn't believe that she was standing in front of his eyes.

In Guk immediately felt sober when the realization hit him.

The natural flush of her cheeks, her obsession with the color pink, the long black hair.

Why didn't he realize sooner? And why did Joohyuk seem to care more than him?

Her lips quirked to the right, a habit that she had since from the time had met her, and she pointedly ignored his question. "Do you need a bag, sir?"

In Guk had long forgotten about her, but seeing her in front of his eyes made him think of his first year of high school. It had been such a long time since he had thought about his first year; it was usually the last year that he thought about.

But seeing Eunji made him remember the day he had met her on her birthday. That day was a rainy day, and the day he walked her to the library was a rainy day, and the night he walked her from the library to the store was another rainy day. Right now, he was even wearing the same black jacket that he was shrugging off his shoulders for her to wear over four years ago.

He heard the first raindrops fall from the sky even before it started raining.

Of course, it would rain the night he saw her again.