it was a rainy day when she met seulgi. the sound of the raindrops was flooding her ears and it was all she heard for hours. juhyun found herself loving rainy days, it eased her soul. juhyun slid her black trench coat onto her slowly and shuffled into her favorite rainboots. she rummaged through her closet and found her light purple umbrella. she flicked the house lights off and then stepped outside while propping the umbrella out. juhyun needed to get going otherwise she would never reach the bus stop. as she held the umbrella up, she stared at everything slowly. the drops of the rain hitting the pavement, the slow increase in puddle sizes and how the water slid off cars easily. she stuck her tongue out briefly to taste the water as it was a childhood habit and instinctively put it back in . she thought about everything that was troubling her and then nothing. for a moment juhyun moved her umbrella out of the way to feel the rain gently touching her face and then covered her head again. she liked the way the raindrops stuck to her eyelashes and cheeks.

after what seemed like an eternity of walking in the drizzling rain, she was finally at her bus stop. she checked the time at the stop and saw that the bus would be coming in 30 minutes precisely. she closed her eyes for a moment, because she was tired of walking and wanted to soak in the rain. she could hear nothing but the quiet pitter patter of the rain. the sound of wet shoes slapping across the sidewalk broke her internal silence. she opened her eyes and was greeted with a lovely girl with the prettiest face she had ever seen. her hair was bright orange and matted across her face in sweat. she could tell her clothes were semi soaked and her shoes had holes in them.

"can I stand with you? i usually remember my umbrella but i was running late today!"

juhyun dipped her head down to indicate a yes and suddenly the girl slid in very close to her. her surroundings felt warmer now and she resisted the urge to grab her hand. what was she thinking, when she didn't even know her?

she smiled brightly at her and then blurted out, "my name is Kang Seulgi! what's your name?"

juhyun slowly whispered out back, "Bae Juhyun. pleased to meet you."

seulgi beamed at her with her shiny cheeks and started to ramble. she felt her body getting hotter the more seulgi would ramble. why was this...stranger so endearing to her? she's met tons of people, but out of all of them, she felt the most comfortable sharing this umbrella with her. the rain sliding off the umbrella, the way seulgi's eyes would turn into crescent moons, the warm air shared between them. it was all so soothing and perfect. she wish that time could freeze so she could hold onto this moment forever. she looked at seulgi and then slowly slipped her hand into her pocket. seulgi's hand was soft and gentle. it made feel so cozy just knowing that her hand was in seulgi's pocket. she loved standing here, and hearing everything that came out of seulgi's mouth. from the way she talked about her work life to the types of music she liked. she wanted to listen to kang seulgi's voice every single day. before she knew it her bus had come and it was time to let go of her hand. she gently tugged it out and while she was doing so, she felt her heart ache. it felt wrong to not have seulgi's hand entwined in hers. she looked at seulgi directly and mouthed out her phone number as she stepped onto the bus. she knew she would be seeing her for the rest of her life.