“This ,” said Joy with a childish pout.

The rain was pummeling the earth with a force to be reckoned and acknowledged. It came out of nowhere, only being foretold by the whistle of the wind rapidly growing stronger, dragging the dust and trash with it, dragging the fallen leaves and the occasional plastic bag and--perhaps--someone’s precious paperwork or essay. To some of the poor citizens out there, the dust and the sand was getting to their eyes, the plastic bag was clinging to their face, their paperwork was flying higher than a kite and they were starting to get assaulted with the tough raindrops. 

They all wondered how the hot summer could host such a tremendous storm that had the cold crawl up to their skins when they were supposed to be enjoying the warm reserves, surfing up the waves and refreshing themselves with a good ice cream or two. Now there was everyone, shivering cold at the sudden drop in temperature, grabbing everyone off guard as they all wore light attire. 

Their plans also went cold when the rain started to pelt down. They fantasized about going to the beach and getting back to an empty house ready to party--just themselves of course--but now such fantasies remained just that. A fantasy. 

All curled up in the couch and pouting, the girls lamented the forecast lying to them in the morning. Wendy, Son Seungwan, the hamster of the group, was sitting in the armrest with her arms crossed and pouting in thought rather than defeat. On the opposite end, in the other armrest was Park Sooyoung--Joy, who was not Joyful today--, pouting a lot more dramatically, totally defeated and upset that she would not have her summer fun. In the very middle was Bae Joohyun whose discontent was apparent but not too overwhelming; things happen and she is well aware and it’s not like they could not have some fun inside. Truth be told, being the homebody that she is, Joohyun much preferred to stay inside and with the cold crawling through the cracks of the house (and the ceiling, though they weren’t too aware of it yet), she had a good excuse to cuddle the girls. Between Joohyun were the two maknaes--don’t cringe--, Kang Seulgi and Kim Yerim who were also lamenting but while Yerim was along the lines of Sooyoung, Seulgi was far more on the lines of resilience like Wendy but not quite, furiously thinking of what to do to fight the weather and go out anyways.

The answer was simple, of course.

“What are we gonna do now?” Yeri asked, just to have them confirm what she had in her mind.

All of them hummed and shifted in their spots, getting cozier as the cold breeze was starting to cool the house and refresh them from the almost untenable summer heat, but soon to become far too cold. Well, hey! At least they did not have the desire to jump into a pool and to stay there.

“We can watch some TV and wait it out,” Wendy reasoned with the galaxy brain she had, her smile reassuring and hopeful.

“Right,” Joohyun nodded. “We can even get some news or watch something fun!”

And in that moment a small droplet fell on Joohyun’s head, making her jump a little and subsequently making everyone jump with a soft yelp. Well, soft for everyone except for Joy who already had her hands in the air like an elegant ice skater or like she was praying to the holy ghost to take over. Amen. Which in turn had everyone laughing for a change. It was a cacophony mixed with incessant and excited clapping from one hamster and the absurdly loud laughter of the apparent Ice Princess Bae Joohyun, who was having the time of her life.

“What?!” Joy asked, exasperated. “I got scared!” She crossed her arms again and sulked, which made Wendy’s heart melt and the laughing cease slowly.

“The way you get scared is always funny,” Yeri elbowed her thigh, as if to remind her that they were just teasing her.

Another droplet of rain dropped, this time on Seulgi’s head which prompted her to look up. Squinting, the realized what scared Joohyun. “Uh, guys?”

They all looked up and unfortunately, the next person to get the drop of rain was Seulgi, and she got it in her eye.

“Ah! Darn it!” She exclaimed as she held her eye, erupting another round of laughter, this time Joy joining and Seulgi--being the good sport that she is--laughed along.

They all detached from the cozy couch (everyone’s favorite part of Seulgi’s tender house) and got to work right away. Moving the couch backwards in a group effort and starting to scatter about to get any bucket they could find. Seulgi herself, the very owner of the house and who has lived there for a whooping seventeen years of her life, still could not--for the life of her--find where the buckets were located, so she required of the assistance of everyone. Everyone was in the kitchen, searching every cupboard and every crevice for the red and purple buckets the Kangs used several occasions before. It was baffling how hard it was to miss and yet, while searching the kitchen, they didn’t look into the kitchen pantry where they sat very patiently at the corner, waiting for someone to watch their vibrant colors and yell ‘EUREKA! I found them!’

But that is not happening, not today. Seulgi, who has to squint to see, didn’t bother to look into the darkness of the pantry, Joohyun preferred to follow Seulgi--having some semblance of trust that she is not as much as an airhead--, Yeri who was not fond of dark closets or pantries, Joy who also didn’t think of it and Wendy following her unnies.

“How the hell do you not know the locations of your own buckets?” Yeri asked the golden question as she was standing on her tippy toes to reach a high cupboard and failing to even get there.

“Because she’s a dumb dumb!” Joy replied and opened the cupboard for Yeri, then signalled it with a flourish to let her have it.

Yeri growled playfully and then… had to hop to take a look at the cupboard, which prompted a snicker from Joy. That didn’t erase the fact that she could not reach anything to save her life.

“As if you guys know where YOUR buckets are!” Seulgi defended, crossing her arms and leaning against the counter with a tremendously heart-warming pout. 

“That is true,” said Wendy, her voice muffled because she was literally crawling into the lower cupboards and was buried deep in it. 

She didn’t see the pout, but Joohyun did.

“Yah, don’t tease Seulgi,” Joohyun said as she walked on over to Seulgi to press a comforting kiss on the cheek, feeling Seulgi’s hand grabbing a fistful of her shirt automatically, almost pulling her closer into their intimate moment. “Don’t listen to them, baby.”

“EEEEWWWWWW!” Yeri cut their intimate ceremony short with a playful mockery.

Joohyun looked back and made an unintelligible (but adorable) noise and a face before she detached herself from Seulgi and continued searching the lower cupboards, duly noting that Wendy, Son Seungwan, the ever so dutiful, was buried halfway into one of them. 

With that Yeri alerted everyone with a slam to the counter in the middle of the kitchen. Everyone turned to see, Wendy hitting her head with the cupboard door, and she had, quite smartly, placed the soup and stew pots on the shining and cold marble for everyone’s sight. “Idiots, how about we use this?” Her big grin was so proud, like she had figured a riddle in dire times.

“Ah, I don’t know if mom won’t mind,” Seulgi scratched her head. 

Joy shrugged and reasoned further. “Well, she won’t like the fact that the floor--.”

“And the carpet!” Yeri butted in, united with her satan buddy by a telepathic connection.”

“... And the carpet, thank you,” Joy continued. “They’re getting absolutely ruined with the droplets.” 

Wendy, finally untangling herself from the lower cupboard full of pots and utensils, shining silverware that had her distracted truth be told, emerged from below and showed herself. “I think we could use it, but we still gotta find the buckets.”

“Okay, okay,” Seulgi nodded. “But Mama is gonna scold YOU guys.”

With that, they grabbed the pots and a mop, heading on over to the living room to find out that the droplets were still there, gathering at the end of the carpet and on the carpet. Frantically, they moved the carpet away, mopped the floor and placed the pots strategically to gather all the rain drops. Outside, the rain had seemed to gain force and started to really bombard the ground. The puddles created everywhere, the water flowing across the streets, dragging the trash and the hopes for an outing down to the sewer. 

For certain, now they had to remain inside. At least, with the pots in place catching the drops, they would be okay to do anything else.

“Great!” Joohyun exclaimed now that they were done with their duty. “Now, we’ll find the buckets later. For now, let’s watch TV?”

With a nod, the girls all scattered and reunited cozily on the couch, nestled all together as Seulgi grabbed the remote control and the TV. At first, they flipped through the channel for something they really wanted to watch, a show, a movie or anything. Stopping briefly to watch the action of a cooking channel then switching to a reality show—two people beating each other up, as always—then to a game show with a very thin young lad excitedly answering the question wrong and so on. Eventually they gave the channels an entire run about and settled for whatever seemed appealing to them. Well, not appealing but fitting to the occasion.

The weather forecast.

The unexpected forecast had the host quite nervous, explaining that it was a sudden storm but that within an hour or so it would diminish and—perhaps—even stop entirely. The girls, altogether, looked outside the window and saw the pelting rain crashing against the window, the current so powerful it was like a foggy mist lingering around and forbid anyone to look at it or through it.

Yes, it would stop soon, right?

“That’s not gonna stop anytime soon,” Yeri said matter-of-factly and everyone nodded.

Well, not everyone because looking around, they noticed Seulgi had gone missing. For a moment they panicked, wondering if this was suddenly going to turn into a horror story, but far from it. No one had noticed that Seulgi had escaped from the couch’s cozy claws and hurried to her room. Now, she was coming back with a bunch of table-top games in her lanky arms and a huge grin on her face.

“I think we’re due for some games, then?”

The girls nodded in agreement again. They would have fun, no matter what.

[x]

“You didn’t say UNO, grab two cards,” Seulgi excitedly said as she hopped on her spot, pointing her accusatory finger to the always-winning, competitive Bae Joohyun.

Joohyun froze. She knew she was forgetting something that moment when she put that card down. A side glance, more like a glare that drove a stake to Seulgi’s heart. Joohyun had only one card left, one! She had been so close. Reluctantly she went over to the pile and grabbed two cards, pouting as they were hideous cards that she could not make a move with. Yet, at least.

Yeri’s eyebrows were furrowed as she was deep in thought, not so discreetly glancing over to Seulgi’s cards who were not too well concealed, her arms and hands rather loose. Much to her dismay, Joy was also having a look at them, snickering at the oblivious Seulgi. It was an intense game where rivalry was intense and vibrant.

Uno, the friendship destroyer.

To everyone except Seungwan, Son Wendy, The Canadian who would not hurt a fly but could belt vocals that made the world shake with the strongest emotion. She, of course, was all grins and also vibrating in her spot. She had very little cards, not quite winning, but her optimism would move mountains if she wished it.

She was having fun!

Until Joy put the plus two card with a smug smirk, followed by the predicted two plus card from Seulgi--which both Joy and Yeri were trying to get her to play, because she had no more of those despite having a library of cards--, which made the bonus cards jump to Yeri, but then…

Yeri put a plus four card with a maniacal laugh, making it all fall on Seungwan, the sad chipmunk, who was dignified.

“What?! NO! Not fair, the four plus doesn’t count!”

And the girls laughed because it was the very Wendy who put the extra rules. A whooping twenty minutes before this moment, Seungwan was excitedly explaining the rules of her household. Uno was fun as it was, but there were some additions that made it more chaotic. If you put a plus two down and the person next to you has a plus two or plus four, they can reply with that and the total amount of cards shall be picked by the person next to them, should they not have a plus card. Four plus cards were very much allowed.

So, a whopping total of eight cards were Seungwan’s now. 

“Are you having fun now, Wendy?” Joohyun asked with her lips pressed into a thin line. “These people are ruthless, let’s join up together,” she said, her smile slowly reappearing.

However, it was Wendy’s turn. She, with pouty lips, pointed her chin to Yeri, as if to signal for her to call the color she wanted on the board. After all, Yeri put the plus four.

“OH! Right, uh… Yellow?”

And Seungwan put the card seven. Her pout disappeared and Joohyun’s smile also did.

“Give me your cards, Joohyunnie,” Wendy gathered up her growing library and handed them over.

This was a rule set by the very Joohyun. If someone puts the card seven, they’re very much allowed to grab someone else’s card deck and switch them with her own. This, of course, was an optional effect card to play. You could put the card down and choose to remain with your deck and this was the second time this was used. So, Joohyun had to change her three card deck to Wendy’s library of Uno cards that was coming close to the twenty cards library that Seulgi had in her hands.

“I’m going to kill you, Son Seungwan,” Joohyun growled menacingly, and everyone erupted into hearty laughter, which in turn made the sore loser laugh as well.

Well, serves them for making more chaotic rules.

Eventually, the constant betrayal between all the girls wore them down. A warfare about to begin thanks to UNO needed to be stopped before it reached catastrophic levels, so for this Yeri prompted everyone to play some classic dominos.

Classic, except for the fact that both Seulgi and Joy were being a pain in the .

The teams were comprised of Son Seungwan, the local champion of arm wrestling but not domino, accompanied by Kim Yerim, local whiner and part-time satan. The other team had Park Sooyoung, the girl who fills the Satan spot after Yerim clocks out and Kang Seulgi, Cereal Killer and teddy bear next door. As a referee was the very Joohyun, who did not enjoy playing Domino as much as she enjoyed watching the chaos happen right before her. Seated to the side, watching Seulgi’s hand and Yeri’s as a spectator and enjoying the discourse.

It was not that it was intense, it was just that Seulgi and Joy were goofing far too much for Yeri’s and Wendy’s patience, which eternally amused Joohyun.

At that moment, Park Sooyoung, Joyful joy, was staring at her hand and wondered what move to make. The numbers to put down were three and six and she had some moves to make, some counting to do, some strategies to think about, some--.

“I can see you shaking girls,” Seulgi excitedly said as she hopped into her chair repeatedly. “It’s like you guys know we’re gonna win already.”

Joy looked up and found that Seulgi was saying that to their rivals, Yerim who rolled her eyes and Wendy who, with the tiniest of smile, shook her head.

“They’re so aware that they’re gonna lose, right Joy?” Seulgi piped up again, raising her palm up high. “Give me five!”

Joy placed down the domino tile with a powerful slam that had the earth shaking, the birds flying away, the dogs barking and the FBI alerted. It made Seulgi retreat her high five to look at the tile. It was such a decisive move, something so intense that had everyone gripping at the edge of their seat and with their breath hitched up against their throats. Finally, they exhaled and leaned over to look and--.

Joy had put a double five on the six.

“Sweet move!” Seulgi said with an 80s surfer radical tone.

“You know it, swood!” Joy said excitedly with two sophisticated and cute finger guns before she raised her hand up for a high five that was reciprocrated with the enthusiasm of a child.

“Uhh,” Wendy pointed at the tile and tried to get Joy’s attention. “Sweetie, that’s a five.”

“No it isn’t,” Joy shrugged and sounded so sure of herself that Wendy leaned over to count the black dots. Meanwhile that, she snickered maniacally and saw Seulgi and Joohyun losing their minds over such a silly antic.

“That’s a five, can’t you count?” Wendy said, now totally sure but also exasperated.

“Wendy,” Yeri said now, resigned completely and waving her to move out of the board. “They’re doing whatever they want, because they know they’re gonna lose--.”

“US?!” Seulgi said with a dignified look despite not being able to hold her laughter for thirty seconds. “We are the ones winning here, right?”

“We’re so winning,” Joy insisted. “Gimme that fist, winner.”

“Sure thing, winner,” and so Seulgi bumped fists with Joy, leaving a completely tired Yerim to just play along with the five and Wendy to start pulling the strands of her hair.

Despite this stupid play, the girls managed to lose anyways. The clear winners were Wendy and Yerim, managing to close the game in their favor and amounting a considerable amount of points to their favor. Despite this obvious victory, they were not met with defeat but rather a celebration They met with an uproar of victory and a battle cry from Seulgi that was reminiscent of Tarzan. This had Joohyun laughing at her best friend and this had Joy replicating it, sounding way too adorable for everyone in the room.

They were losing zero to seventy-four and yet Joy and Seulgi bragged about the incoming victory, which had the apparent losers shaking in their boots. Joohyun was losing it at the antics of those two, because it’s very becoming of Seulgi to lose and yet try to turn things around to have some fun. 

The game did not even finish, as somewhere near the end of the last round, Seulgi started to create a tower of domino tiles, suddenly being helped by Yeri who was kind to even borrow her tiles. After not managing to get the girls to become serious, Wendy gave up and even gave her tiles away to Seulgi for the cause. The construction of the tower of Mentius, Seulgi declared as the tower was at its staggering finish.

It was the tower of a former King exiled from his home after being found out to be addicted to chicken rather than meat, in a largely anti-chicken empire.

“Chicken are for the traitors,” said Seulgi in a mighty tone. "And losers," she added, giving Joohyun a glance.

“That’s true,” Joohyun replied with a pleased nod.

“HEY!” Yerim piped up. “I love chicken!”

“Shh!” Wendy hushed the girl, excited to hear the story Seulgi was creating.

The man had been exiled and betrayed by his own bloodline who he took care of with his sweat and blood, tussling with every monster and brawling against the very realms of darkness to protect his family. Now, he was nothing but a former warrior, living off his former glories and hidden within the domino tower, awaiting his doom if death has any compassion and sympathy.

Joy, not paying attention, grabbed a tile she held back and started to carefully align it with the small doorway-like space between the dominos. In the middle of Seulgi’s passionate tale about the old king who loved chicken, Joy slid the tile at a high speed, aiming between the tiles and then…

And then…

It swiftly passed through, flying off the table and hitting Seulgi in the stomach, which prompted her to move and hit her knee on the table to cause an earthquake on the Exiled King’s tower and, positively, destroying its foundations with a beautifully catastrophic destruction. The former tower of the great king now turned into single domino tiles came crashing down on top of Seulgi and the girls were losing it with laughter. The thunderous cacophony was no match to the orchestra that mother nature had going outside, still going and still powerful. But even that could not foil their plans of having fun, together and under the roof.

Even if the cold seemed to start seeping through and hunger, after all their crazy friendship antics, seemed to start rumbling like the thunder above them.

Which made them jump, of course.

[x]

They had spent an incredible amount of time in the kitchen before huddling around the couch again, to the point they had all come back to a TV Channel showcasing the ever so elegant and always so nice to see White Noise. Hitting lines flawlessly, never missing a beat, always on time, engaging with the audience like Oprah and with a charisma so enraging that no one liked it. White Noise was far too boring, except for maybe a dog, so when the rain started to pour real hard and there was nothing to see, the girls’ pout re-emerged, per the audience requests.

When I say that the girls were preparing for this day, the day where the boring Summer would turn on its tail and become such an exciting outing to the beach with new people to meet, I was not joking.

The kitchen had a cupboard that was the designated ‘Sweets and Candy’ cabinet. A cupboard where, when searching for the buckets, Yeri stole a chocolate bar from and no one noticed. I digress. That cabinet was filled to the brim with sweets, snacks and cookies for their return from the beach, presumably with some other friends they would have found at the beach. A lot of bags of chips, many variants too, cookies, hard candies, a bag of lollipops, a cup of creamy chocolate that was definitely not Nutella put into another jar and named Noot-A-Lela (you know, a bootleg version), a few cans of pringles (okay, maybe these were Seulgi’s personal stash at the administration of her parents) and a few empty and clean tubs of ice-cream they planned to use that very warm afternoon and later on in the evening after dinner. Dinner being the very sweets, too. 

Well, had the day not turned so cold, they would have downed the entire Ice-cream container in one go to escape from the blazing heat, but now it was shining with its absence. Still, they were all gathering all the chips and sweets, ready for an overdose of candy. However, they also had the genius idea of making milkshakes with the syrup for the ice-cream, the fruits from Seulgi’s fridge and the whipped cream Seulgi bought separately from this occasion. What for? Well, the girl liked to snack on whipper cream and pringles, not necessarily together.

Unless…

So, they started to make a mess, play with whipped cream and then were forced by the always diligent and proper Bae Joohyun to clean it all up, herself included. No longer feeling playful, they cleaned and got their stickiness off their skins and faces. So now, the kitchen clean, the milkshakes in hand, the snacks in hand, they all plopped down the couch and found themselves staring at the TV and the … uh, gibberish? On the screen.

Seulgi was quietly sipping into her thick milkshake, humming in delight as she just kept chugging it in. She tasted it, delighted herself in it but she also ate quite fast.

The girls were staring blankly at the screen, as if hoping to stare it down until it decided to give them signal. So, while Seulgi was too busy devouring her milkshake, the girls stared at each other and wondered what to do collectively. They had ran out of games and refused to have their snacks without some entertainment. Finally, they took a stance against the hammer of rain above them, no longer accepting the rain and taciturnly stay inside like a scolded dog with a tail tucked between its legs. No, they would be ferocious, barking at the sky in protest. Only to run away when the thunder claps close to them--.

So, Joy’s idea seemed appealing. To get out on the rooftop and fiddle with the antenna until it worked and it obeyed to their command. But of course, not even Joy herself wanted to go out and be subjected to the wrath of Poseidon. Or Thor? Whoever was in charge of rain up there, maybe Achilles? Wait…

“So, who’s gonna get up there?” Joy asked, crossing her arms and diverting her gaze to the beautiful paintings around the room.

Wendy, usually so serviceable and throwing herself to the occasion to help, scratched her head and looked around.

“Not me,” Joohyun said firmly and at once, making Yeri shut and lower her hand. She knew the kid was ready to suggest Joohyun to do it, but she was having none of it. “I just got out of a flu spree, I will not turn back.”

Seulgi, who was so absorbed into absorbing her milkshake, suddenly looked up and looked at the girls. “Uh?”

“Seulgi! Thank you for offering! It’s very brave!” Joy immediately said with a big grin, wrapping an arm around the lost girl whose eyes got bigger.

“Yes, Seulgi, thank you,” Yeri clapped her hands then laughed like she never had before, feeling the evilness rumble from within.

“NO, no, I don’t--What is happening?!” Seulgi frantically said, getting away from Joy’s embrace.

And that’s how the shouting of the century started. All girls spoke over one another and none of them seemed to understand each other, everyone was talking and talking until Joohyun put an end to the argument with a glare. Now, everyone was docile like a puppy. Seulgi argued her case and demanded that everyone did a rock, paper, scissors fight to put an end to the dispute.

When the girls gathered around in circles, it was as easy as one, two, three. Everyone put paper and the sole loser was Kang Seulgi, who instinctively put rock. And then, while the girls celebrated, Seulgi pouted and languidly walked to her closet with a slouch.

[x]

Seulgi, Joohyun and Yeri were bundling up the strong marine that would brave the weather and save the day so they can watch possibly boring TV programmes while chowing down junk food until they could not do anymore. They were busy arranging and searching for all kinds of waterproof attire while Son Seungwan, Wendy the ever so dutiful and thoughtful, sneaked into the kitchen to prepare some warm cups of hot chocolate--as if they needed more sugar intake--, but this was mostly for when Seulgi came back down from her brave service to the community of just this household. She was sitting against the marble counter, watching the heat up and slowly warm up to a boil in the microwave, watching Seulgi’s favorite bear mug spinning like in an exhibition. She was brushing her lower lip, deep in thought and wondering if this was at all a good idea.

Said thoughts were disturbed when a slightly taller Joy blocked her view with a big grin and her imposing nature. The moment Wendy looked up, Joy leaned down and planted a firm kiss on her lips. They could both hear Kim Yerim’s loudest ‘EWWWWW’ of this year, if she had seen this happen at all. Joy, who never backed down ever, gets closer to Seungwan and wraps her arms around her waist as her lover, petite and canadian, wraps her arms around her neck and brings her closer. It was a fiery, passionate kiss that ended prematurely with both lovers pulling their tender lips back away from one another--only with a small space in between them, a space warmed by their hot breath. In a moment, they both share a gaze.

Just one gaze.

The microwave beeped and stopped, asking for attention only to be ignored by the two lovers playing their own romantic version of a ‘romantic story’ that would end well, unlike Romeo and Juliet. Let us stop using those two as a comparison for non-complicated and happy couples by the way, shall we?

I digress.

They smile at each other, laugh and untangle themselves from one another. No words, no questions and certainly no answers. Their intimate moment, albeit brief, was best left without words. A single smile and a laugh let them both know that the kiss tickled and warmed their hearts, it made them feel the ticklish sensation all over their body, the endorphins racing like crazy and their hearts beating enthusiastically, preparing for what would come but never does.

They anticipate the day they might be able to continue on more than a kiss, perhaps in the confinement of their bedroom, maybe a lonely living room at Wendy’s house, or maybe proclaiming their love passionately at the school’s bathroom--an adrenaline filled escapade. They also anticipate the moment they become official and confess to the girls their hidden affection and admiration. Though Yeri and Seulgi were clueless, Joohyun was well-aware but discreet and acting dumb.

Joy playfully slapped Wendy’s as she was walking away, earning a quick and drowned yelp from the chipmunk who turned around and--with an adorable pout--slapped the grinning rascal’s arm and dragged her back to where they were supposed to be. Their brief moment non-existent, with only God as a witness.

[x]

Who knew that rain water would be so violent? Perhaps it was not only the thumb-sized, almost solid drops beating the umbrella but the wind trying to aggressively push the girl down the rooftop. The damp, soaked, slippy rooftop at that. This was a terrible idea, she knew it; she could not help but to feel some kind of fright on top of her rooftop. Sure, it wasn’t a long fall, but it was not necessarily nice either. After all, she was NOT in the mood for parkour. There was always the chance that she could get electrocuted, maybe pushed down by a way too strong of a wind… 

Oh dear, it was best to stop thinking about it.

Her body was covered and bundled up with some waterproof coats, hats and the best umbrella at the house, belonging to the very Bae Joohyun who was watching Seulgi attentively and with a little bit of nervousness.

She was celebrating before, but now that she was seeing Seulgi’s tentative steps, she was not all that sure. The woman fiddled with the antenna and she was the communicator between Joy, Yeri and Wendy to Seulgi. They were paying attention to the television and Joohyun was paying attention to Seulgi. 

The only reason the other girls were not braving the weather to watch out for Seulgi’s safety, even if protected by the window doors, was because they loved Seulgi but not THAT much. Also, they did not feel fond of catching a cold. Ironically, Joohyun had just gotten out of a flu spree, but willing to get back into the sick bed just to make sure her girl was safe. 

The girls were attentively watching the TV as if there was something to watch, but only the white noise twinkled before their eyes. Yeri looked back and shrugged her shoulders, raised her hands and shook her head, in an adorably cartoony manner.

“Nothing yet!” Joohyun shouted over to Seulgi, fighting the thunder and obnoxiously loud rain with a shrill. 

Seulgi gave a nod and fiddled with the antenna a little more, just enough to try and get something but not enough to break it--though the wind seemed to have that mission and it was determined to get it. 

When the same results happened, Seulgi shook her head and gave up, making a signal. “I’m coming down!” She shouted at Joohyun, who was now holding the necklace Seulgi had given her for her birthday, clenching it tightly in her fist and obviously worried. It made Seulgi smile against the violent rain that had untenable coldness creep everywhere. 

“Be careful!” Joohyun shouted back with all her might, resuming to her lovely pout which distracted Seulgi.

And that was the problem.

Seulgi made a step and she slipped!

“Woaaahh!” Seulgi’s feet just slipped, like it had stepped on a superbly slippery banana peel. She had no idea how, but she slid off the rooftop and fell on her , her humble buttocks falling on the bushes and letting the wet leaves--trimmed to beautiful perfection--engulf her body and soften her already small fall.

“S-SEUL!” Joohyun’s voice got louder as she was about to climb the window, realizing that doors exist soon after. She went to the door, did not even bother to put anything on but a blazer they had tossed about on the living room, and went out to find Seulgi.

She had to cover her eyes with her arm, the blazer quickly getting damp, as she ventured through the strong currents of water and wind. It was like she was fighting against a waterfall, trying to swim upwards to save her loved ones. But this was far more possible and less dramatic. I know, I know, I had to spice this up somehow, don’t look at me like that--. 

She carefully made her way to Seulgi’s position and found the girl laughing and cleaning herself off from the leaves attached to her body.

“Seulgi! You’re alright?” Joohyun asked quickly, skipping over to Seulgi to help her up, suddenly  being the strongest woman in the world and helping her up in a split second.

“Yah, I’m fine!” Seulgi said between laughter, patting the remaining leaves stuck and into her body. Maybe the fall had hit her head and all but she was no longer feeling so cold. It was like she had gotten used to the rain, to the freezing, teeth clenching wind. Not welcoming it, nor detesting it, merely moving along with it as it was a natural part of life.

Eventually, all the girls had gotten out to check up on Seulgi, getting soaking wet with the pouring rain with little to nothing to cover them. Actually, nothing to cover them than the clothes they already had. After all, all the coats were on Seulgi and the only umbrella around the house (at reach, at least) was Joohyun’s who also was on Seulgi’s possession--or was it? 

None of them realized it, but the umbrella was slowly getting dragged by the ferocious wind. The canopy violently shook at the wind hitting it from all directions, the tip of the umbrella clawing to the wet grass like a human digging its nails into the earth to avoid being whisked away with the wind. Soon enough, it gave away and was dragged at the mercy of nature, moving almost as fast as a car and disappearing into someone else’s backyard and beyond.

Back to the girls, they were distracted by the laughing Seulgi, who seemed to be just fine except for the fact that she was laughing.

“Is Seulgi alright?” Joy instinctively yelled, her voice giving away just a little at the cold.

Yeri was just laughing at the weird raincoated Seulgi and Seulgi was laughing along with her, both entertained by the silly joke of Seulgi slipping.

Wendy was trying to cover Joy’s head with her hands and failing miserably, the raindrops dripping down to her already damp head anyways. Hey, but at least no one can say Wendy did not try. 

“She’s alright,” Joohyun said with a sigh and reached over for Seulgi’s arm and hugged it, tugging her to get back into the porch and into the house, but Seulgi stopped her. “Let’s go inside before we all catch a cold.”

Seulgi stood at her spot and looked around. For a moment no one understood what she was looking for, except Joohyun. 

“Seulgi, where’s the umbrella?” Joohyun asked firmly, not at all caring that the rain was literally drenching even their underwear at this point.

“Didn’t you use it to soften your fall, Mary Poppins?” Yeri said between laughter which started to die down nice and slowly. 

Seulgi turned around and looked back into the bush, shaking her head. She had not realized it that it had fallen on the other side, on the backyard, and that by now it was gone with the wind. The girls all started to look about, especially Joohyun because that was her favorite umbrella. It was not until Wendy circled the house and was in the backyard that she saw the umbrella far, far away and getting further.

“Uh, guys?” Wendy shouted and beckoned them over. Once the girls gathered, she pointed at the blur in the distance that neither Seulgi nor Joy (for some reason) could see, but Joohyun saw it clearly. “W-What… do we do?”

Joohyun sighed and scratched her head, still feeling the now not-so-cold rain pelting on her skin, but with a lighter hit this time. It seemed the rain was starting to fade or at least turn down the aggressiveness. “I’ll buy another one, I suppose. Unless a good samaritan finds it and returns it.”

“Did you name tag the Umbrella?” Joy asked almost in disbelief, tilting her head.

“No!” Joohyun pouted and crossed her arms. After a nice and lovely pause, she continued: “I didn’t have time to.”

“You’re telling me…” Yeri began in effect. “You tag your name to your umbrellas, but when your sister got a kitty you didn’t bother to buy a--.”

“HUSH!” Joohyun barked at her with a bigger pout than before.

“You’re TEEEERRRIIIIBBLLEEEEEEE~” Yeri mocked, starting to get behind Joy. 

“I hate animals in my house,” Joohyun defended herself, looking away.

Seulgi suppressed her urges to give those pouty lips a tender and warm smooch.

“But you put name tags in you--.”


“THAT’S IT!” Joohyun then lunged forward to try and catch Yeri, who smartly made a lot more distance while the pale, angry bunny was not looking. “COME HERE, WE NEED TO TALK.”

And that’s when the chase started, Yeri running away and mocking Joohyun while Joohyun was doing her best and slipping many times. 

Wendy, Joy and Seulgi stood there, watching the ordeal go down. Exchanging a glance or two, they shrugged and joined the chase. Seulgi being the first one to slip but also the first one to drag Joy with her by grabbing her hand and leading her down to meet the slippery ground. Joohyun, watching Yeri laugh at Joy and Seulgi, started to laugh and forgot what the ordeal was all about.

Eventually, they all forgot the rain as well. It helped that it was lessening, the cold becoming more bearable, as well. Sure, the cold would creep in at any moment later that week, but who cared? It seemed that the initial anger at the rain subsided, fighting the rain and having fun all together. They were all covered in mud and laughing as the rain cleaned them. It was a matter of time all of them slipped and fell too, Yeri especially as she mimicked Seulgi falling and fell herself. The boring summer seemed to not exist anymore, replaced with laughter and good memories to last through the ages.

After that, the channels came back, the rain slowly faded and all of them were huddled back on the couch--clean and pristine with borrowed clothes and pajamas--nursing cups of hot chocolate, sipping carefully, engulfing in the warmth it provided, enjoying the clean and dryness of being inside the house without the constant dripping of the ceiling. As the movie played, the snacks were eaten and the hot chocolate all drank down, the girls eventually fell asleep all cuddled together. Tangled limbs, a snore here and there and angelic faces.

The summer rain, unexpected and unwanted, may have foiled their plan but it was not all that bad. Sometimes, all the fun you can have is within a household and with your faithful group of friends.