1

Eunha hates rain. She never wants to get out of the house when it's raining even for an important appointment.

"Hey, you're gonna attend the class today, right?" Yuna, her friend, asks over the phone.

"I don't know." Eunha answers.

"Why? Are you sick? Or did something happen?"

Actually, according to the weather report, it's going to rain the whole afternoon. That's why Eunha's hesitant to go.

"No, it's not that" She answers short.

"I have the book you're looking for"

"No way!"

"Yes, I do. So, are you coming or not?"

The book is very important for her study. She has been looking for it for a while. And the deadline for her assignment is just a few days away.

Eunha wants to tell Yuna to send it to her apartment, but it's going to be rude cause Yuna has found the book for her. Plus, there's only one class today. And she could just run back home after it finishes.

"Yes."

Eunha quickly gets up from where she sits in the living room to pack her bag. She doesn't forget to bring an umbrella with her.

The sky is strangely looking fine today. It's bright blue and there are only a few grey clouds. Very few that it doesn't look like it's going to be raining in the afternoon. Eunha feels glad about this. The weather report might just be wrong. Though of course, in a country like Korea, it's rarely wrong.

Yuna already sits inside the study hall when Eunha comes. She waves her hand to Eunha, giving a sign to her to sit right next to her.

"Here." Yuna pulling a book from her bag and gives it to Eunha.

"How did you get it?" Eunha asks.

"I found a senior that has it. He said it's indeed difficult to find. So, he asked to be really careful with it. Oh, and also make sure to bring it back to him when you're finished." She explains.

Eunha nods in understanding.

The class is almost over and the sky is still as bright as it was a few hours ago. Eunha feels relief.

She lifts her bag and says goodbye to Yuna before she leaves the room.

'It seems like I don't even have to rush back home.'

So, she thinks.

When she walks past a park near the campus, she can smell water drops on the soil.

She looks up. A drop of rain falls on the tip of her nose. The grey clouds that were not so visible start to cover the sky in the area.

"Oh, ." She murmurs.

She runs as fast as she can. But the raindrops also fall as fast as she tries to run away from it. There's no way she could reach home or even the next bus station even if she breaks her own record in running. She needs to find shelter.

She finds a gazebo near her. She rushes there and takes shelter from the rain. The timing is great and she's pretty lucky. Even though the rain came down so suddenly and fast, the water doesn't make a significant mark on her clothes.

She sits and puts her bag beside her in the gazebo. And just a few minutes after, someone rushes there too. A student. High school student.

Judging from the uniform, she's from a high school near the campus. But this is not the time when a high schooler is out of school. Eunha looks at her watch to make sure.

She somehow wants to ask the girl about what is she doing there with her in a gazebo avoiding the rain rather than inside the class, but Eunha doesn't really like the thought of meddling in other's business and the awkward moment that will occur if she asks the question, so she doesn't.

She looks outside the gazebo where the rain is getting heavier and heavier. She wouldn't be able to hear her voice cause the sound of the water falling down from the sky is just too loud now.

"Dang it." She mumbles.

Meanwhile, the high school girl is still busy trying to dry her uniform and tidy her hair up.

Eunha took her earphone. She connects it with her phone and listens to some classics to help her concentrate as she decides to read the book while waiting for the rain to stop.

And just when she's about to take out the book, she realizes there's a water stain on her bag. Then she sees water dropping down from the ceiling of the gazebo.

She pulls her bag away from the leak quickly. She starts to panic cause she remembers what Yuna told her earlier in the class about taking care of the book.

She grabs it out and hopes that the book is fine, but she can even feel the water inside her bag. The book is not going to be okay. And it isn't. Half of the book is soaked. Eunha even has to be careful to not make it scrambled.

"! I hate rain." Both Eunha and the girl shout it almost at the same time. That makes them look at each other for a while. Surprised.

Eunha then looks away and puts down the book.

"I'm doomed." She mumbles.

"Hey, ajumma (Old lady)." The girl says.

There’s no one around except for them in there, so Eunha assumes the girl is calling her ‘Ajumma’. That makes her think if she actually looks like an old lady.

‘No, there’s no way I look like one. I just graduated high school last year.’

She’s staring at the girl.

‘Doesn’t she look even older than me?’ Eunha thinks.

“Ajumma.” The girl repeats. “Aren’t you going to unpack your bag? It’s wet, right?”

‘Damn, she’s right!’ Eunha wanted to be mad at the girl for calling her ajumma, but she’s right about the bag. She needs to take out everything inside to dry it. She arranges everything neatly on the gazebo.

Eunha looks at the girl. She kind of wants to thank her. But the girl seems busy checking her stuff and phone. So, she doesn’t say anything in the end.

Both fall into silence. Only the sound of the rain accompanies them. Eunha’s looking at the rain blankly. Then she looks at her watch to check how many times have passed. It’s 2:30 pm. The rain still falls hard and the wind starts blowing. Eunha gets chill even though she wears a jacket today.

She turns her head and sees the girl is slightly trembling. Eunha can only see the girl properly now. The upper part of her uniform is completely soaked. Exposing a little bit of her underclothes and skin.

‘It must be very cold.’

Eunha looks at her jacket. She takes it off and gets closer to the girl.

“Here.” She hands her jacket to the girl.

The girl looks at it then at Eunha.

“I suggest you take off your uniform and wear this instead. Before you catch a cold.”

Eunha thought the girl would be a little bit shy, but she quickly undoes her button. Eunha’s surprised. She looks around, making sure no one’s looking. Then she spreads her jacket to cover the girl while she undoes all the buttons.

“You should tell me when you want to take off your uniform. What if someone’s watching?”

“There’s no one except us here.” The girl answers it coolly.

“Still.”

“The rain falls too hard to see anything anyway.”

She’s right. Even so, Eunha still thinks that she needs to be covered. Eunha is someone else anyway.

The girl hands her uniform over to Eunha and takes the jacket.

‘Hwang Eunbi.’ The name that is written in the uniform. ‘So, her name is Hwang Eunbi.’

“Yes, my name is Hwang Eunbi.” Eunbi says.

“How do you…?” Eunha’s surprised.

“You’re looking at my name tag. So, it’s obvious that you’re thinking about my name, right?”

Eunha hates that Eunbi’s always right.

Eunbi takes her uniform from Eunha’s hand.

“Thank you, a…”

“My name is Eunha and I’m not an ajumma.” Eunha cuts before Eunbi finishes her sentence. She gets back to where she sat before.

There’s silence again between them before Eunbi breaks it.

“So, what are you if you’re not an ajumma?”

Eunha can’t believe that Eunbi is actually asking that question. She sighs.

“Do they teach you manners at school?”

“They do, but I refuse to obey everything people say they’re teaching me.”

‘This Eunbi girl is sure extra-ordinary.’ Eunha thinks.

“So?”

“I’m a college student, probably only one or two years older than you. Happy now? So, please stop calling me ajumma.”

Eunbi just nods.

“You bring an umbrella, why don’t you just go?” Eunbi asks, looking at the umbrella among the others thing that Eunha spread.

“I’m still going to be wet by the time I reach home with this kind of rain.”

Eunbi doesn’t argue and they fall into silence again.

Time passed, before they know it, it’s almost 5 pm. The rain doesn’t seem to be going to stop any time soon.

Both are looking outside.

“When do you think it’ll stop?” Eunbi asks.