Olympia

Tuesday, December 17th, 2018

They said the rain has something to do with missing a person, at least that what Yujin knows. Under the rain, it's the best time for her to savor the feeling of missing someone so dearly it almost hurts her. She didn't want to admit it if she could. But how could she not admit it if she dreamed about her almost every night.

Yujin is a pluviophile and rain is her comfort zone, the only place for her to pour all her emotion. Every drop of it hugs her body, bringing the comfort she always longing for. But comfort is not the reason why she loves the rain.

Jang Wonyoung.

Three months since the last time she saw Wonyoung who returning to Osaka and Yujin missed her. Usually, when Yujin came dorm after playing in the rain, the younger girl always had shows up on the door, completed with her hands folding on her chest and annoyed expressions on her face when she saw Yujin wet from head to toe.

Wonyoung would always greet her with the usual long talk of nagging that Yujin had memorized and then throw a towel right on her face, mostly because Yujin let her be. And then, as it always happens, Wonyoung's hands would move to wipe her face and drying her hair (while nagging the grinning Yujin). Wonyoung would push her (gently) to the bathroom and never forget to shout a 'use the hot water!' from the outside.

When Yujin finished with the bath, Wonyoung would be in the bedroom, laying down comfortably on their bed, waiting for Yujin. A glass of warm milk or chocolate was readied on the nightstand for Yujin because Wonyoung wouldn't let her get cold. Wonyoung would let Yujin approached and snuggled onto her, and then they would spend the night talking about everything and anything with the blanket hugged them warmly. Eventually, they would fall asleep with the TV still on and made them scolded by Kaeun or Eunbi the next day.

Wonyoung is the only reason why Yujin loves rain, and she never intended to change her habit of walking under the rain. Wonyoung would scold her, but Yujin knows Wonyoung would always be there, greet her with a towel and hot water. Because the bond between them was formed after so many of Yujin’s innocent grin and Wonyoung's nagging, a thing between them that Yujin hopes will never change.

The memories of making Yujin take a deep breath. She let the scent of the raindrops hitting the ground filling her lungs, a signal for her to let the longing feeling inside her to be released.

Petrichor.

The scent was intense it made her close her eyes. Her body relaxes and feels contented, as if there's no more empty holes inside her.

The rain always brings all the memories with them, all the missing feelings, along with the tiredness that she let opened.

The first rain of spring.

When Yujin met Wonyoung for the first time in the backyard of their dorm almost two years ago.

The first rain of summer.

The moment Yujin stopped trying to run away from Gallia and accepted her destiny as one of The Pillars who was in charge of guarding The Ruler of Earth, Jang Wonyoung. For the first time in her life she made a promise that she knew would not only risk her pride, but also her life.

The first rain of fall.

When Wonyoung told her that she had to return to Osaka for quite a long time and Yujin choose to seclude herself in their room for almost a week.

This evening...

The first rain of winter.

It's still too early to call it evening, though. But the sky has slowly turned dark without giving time to the sun to say goodbye properly.

It's been an hour she was alone at Olympia after training she did with the others. She had just been lying down at the bench while enjoying the sound of music in her ears after the rain and cold touching her skin.

Everybody loves the things you do

From the way you talk

To the way you move

Everybody here is watching you

'Cause you feel like home

You're like a dream come true

(When We Were Young - Adele)

But suddenly, Yujin opened her eyes when one touch touched her face. She grimaced in pain as the long fingers ran down on the bruises on her face. Even so Yujin didn't keep her face away from that touch. Instead, she leaned her face on the palms cupped on her cheeks.

"Am I dreaming?" Yujin closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm back. I'm here. I miss you, Unnie.” Wonyoung grinned as Yujin opened her eyes for the second time. She took the airpods in Yujin’s right ear and wore it. She sat next to Yujin's head and patted her lap as a signaled for Yujin to shifted her body to lay her head on Wonyoung's lap.

"I heard Chaewon Unnie and Yuri Unnie beat you while sparring." Wonyoung took out an ointment from her jacket pocket and started checking the bruises on Yujin's face.

"I'm not." Yujin frowned at Wonyoung's statement. She winced as Wonyoung deliberately pressed bruises on her face at Yujin's answer.

“You're too late to avoid their attacks that's why your face became like this. Yeah, I know.” Yujin snorted at Wonyong's sarcastic tone. Seeing Yujin's reaction, Wonyoung held her smile. This is not the first time Yujin won't admit her defeat.

Even so, Yujin did not argue and let Wonyoung keep checking her wound. In silence Yujin kept to thinking about what happened a few hours ago. Although others said that her defeat was natural because of differences in the term of experience, Yujin still could not accept it.

She is An Yujin, a warrior who born with pure-blood and also one of The Pillars was annoyed when she was defeated in sparring. She might be able to accept it gracefully if she is defeated by Eunbi, Hyewon, or Yena who is also a pure-blood warrior. But she was upset with herself when many times she had to accept defeat at the hands of the half-blood warrior. Even Chaewon, a half-blood healer also defeated her very easily.

“You have a hard time defeating Yuri Unnie because she is already bound by pure-blood warrior. Not to mention, the pure-blood warrior attached to it is Yena Unnie, one of The Pillars. Technically, Yuri Unnie was born as half-blood warrior. The same reason why you can't beat Chaewon Unnie. Even though Chaewon Unnie tied to Minjoo Unnie, a half-blood warrior. Chaewon Unnie was born as The Pillars and has the strongest element among us. Without bonding with Minjoo Unnie, as half-blood healer, she has power that might be below you, but she is already bound. She's stronger than you.” As if she could understand what Yujin was thinking, Wonyoung broke the silence between them.

"In the past, I thought it was difficult for us to find bonding soul, but when I joined Gallia, I was met with so many bonding souls. The annoying thing about the concept of bonding is that anyone can easily escalate their power and changed their hierarchy with bounding soul.” Yujin wet her dry lips. "Don't get me wrong. I'm glad they found their partner, especially for Yena Unnie and Chaewon Unnie. Now they have super power to protect you. But on the other hand, I can't forget the fact that I'm also one of The Pillars, a pure blood and a warrior. It's a shame if I always lose by those who are not part of The Pillars or pure-blood warriors.”

“Hyewon Unnie accepted her lose and enjoyed her role as a philautia.” Wonyoung laughed at her words. “She didn't even care about the hierarchy that took place at Gallia. She is a warrior but she always takes healer classes and training. Hyewon Unnie is The Pillars and pure-blood, but she's not cocky and annoying like you.”

"Hyewon Unnie isn't attached to anyone. Not yet. Her power will increase when she bounds with her partner. Her skill will also escalate if she does odyssey around Gaia.”

"Likewise with you, Unnie." Wonyoung repulsed. "You can do the same thing."

Yujin didn't give her a response and Wonyoung to