The rain fell cold and hard on your back as you sat looking out at the water. The wind whipped your wet hair into your face but you couldn't feel the sting past the stinging of your eyes as you cried. You sat with your knees to your chest, arms wrapped around them while one hand gripped your wrist and the other gripped your phone. You had just gotten notification that your best friend had died in an accident. 

You sat there staring out at the choppy waves and let the tears streak down your face. With the rain, no one would really be able to tell. Or so you hoped. You tried to stifle your sobs so they just looked like shivers. You would sit there all night crying if you felt like it. 

"Who are you?" A soft male voice called out to you. 

Without looking over, you responded. "Nobody. Just let me be."

You looked back out to the water but it was harder to visualize now that you had been interrupted. 

"Why are you sitting in the rain?" 

Finally, you looked up to see Taekwoon leaning down toward you.

You sighed at being interrupted and the rest of the riverside park faded from your view to reveal the empty white room of your mind. Well, mostly empty. There was still Taekwoon, the raincloud above you which continued to rain on you and the puddle of water underneath you. 

You banished the cloud and puddle before addressing him. "I wanted to cry so I sat in the rain." 

You weren't sure why you addressed him like you had known him for years but it just felt right. 

"What made you want to cry?" 

You suddenly saw yourself from his point of view for a moment and heard the question echoing in his mind. Why am I so concerned over a stranger?

Good question. You thought in response as the vision faded. 

"Nothing." 

"Nothing?" 

You could feel his disbelief but it was true. Although you had come up with a scenario to explain why you were crying, the truth was, you just felt like it. 

The two of you stayed there in silence for a minute and you instantly dried yourself. 

"Is there something I can help you with?"

He shrugged and sat down a few feet from you. 

You turned back as the park and river came back into your view. You sat in silence for a while. 

"Did you create this?"

It was raining again but you couldn't feel it like you did before and you didn't feel your clothing getting wet either. You made a sound of agreement and continued looking out at the water.

Still, you kept watching him from the corner of your eye. You noticed that he also wasn't getting wet from the rain. You lightened it to a drizzle. 

What was he doing here? How were you so calm?

"It's beautiful." He said in a voice so low you almost missed it. 

You looked out and saw how the water pitched with the wind and the small disturbances of the rain hitting the water as it fell. The tree leaves dipped down gently with each drop that hit them. You realized that it was exactly like what it would be if you were actually there. Despite this, the white room loomed behind you, proving that you hadn't completed the illusion, only what you were able to see when you were looking straight ahead. 

"Oh." You acknowledged his comment but didn't know what to say. 

Another few minutes passed as you watched the water churn and the rain fall. You could feel Taekwoon's presence which distracted you from the scene and the emotions you were feeling before. However, the park slowly faded back into existence behind the two of you. People walked by at a distance. They were distorted by the rain and distance made them blurry. No one approached the area you sat in and you were glad for that. 

Reflecting your own emotions, the sea before you gradually calmed its pitch to settle into a gentle lapping at the shore while the drizzling rain fell. In contrast to the cold you felt earlier, you felt warm and comfortable. Most of all, you felt like it was attributable to the man sitting beside you. 

Sitting still in silence eventually began taking its toll on your joints and you shifted to become more comfortable. You leaned to one side, propping yourself on one hand and stretching your legs to the opposite side. 

You saw Taekwoon from the corner of your eye and it seemed like he was watching you but you decided it wasn't something to dwell on. 

Suddenly, the scene ended as the sound of a car lock being set cut through your daydreaming. A few seconds later, your sister walked through the front door. For the next few hours, you and your sister talked about work, watched some videos, and made and ate dinner. At times, you felt as if you hadn't completely left the park and were still being watched by Taekwoon. It only lasted until your attention turned back to whatever you were doing and you ignored the feeling. 

After dinner, you sat back down to watch some more videos and wait for the hours to pass until midnight when the ball would drop and then you could go to bed. This was how it usually was on New Year's lately. It saddened you slightly that you always felt alone on days like today, but at least you had family around. 

Before midnight, you would tune into some of the New Year's festivities to see a few performances and see where the countdown was at. It was usually only for a few minutes until you got bored and flipped back to another video. 

By 11:30, you found yourself picturing Taekwoon sitting with you on the couch as your sister sat in the chair in the corner. You acted normal even as your mind imprinted his image in your current surroundings and interacting with what you were watching. 

He caught sight of your cat when she wandered into the room and slid off the couch to inch toward her to pet her. She laid down and rolled to her side just out of his reach in typical cat fashion. He slowly moved closer to her until he was able to pet her and ended up sitting in front of where you sat on the couch. She laid her head down and fell asleep as he pet her. He seemed very happy. 

You looked back at the computer sitting in your lap where you were writing another short story. It involved meeting a K-pop group in a different city and making friends with them. You had been stuck on it for two days as you hit a portion where you couldn't see what would happen next. You spent another 15 minutes trying to write but gave up when nothing came to you.

You saved your work, closed the laptop and set it aside. As you reached to sit down the device, your arm brushed Taekwoon's shoulder. He glanced back at you but said nothing. You noticed that his eyes passed over your sister as he looked back to the cat beside him. She had been disturbed by your movement so she wandered over to lay on your sister's lap. 

Taekwoon looked upset at the departure of the cat, but decided to sit back against your legs. You were a bit surprised at the straightforward action but it made your heart happy that he seemed comfortable around you. 

You changed the television back to the New Year's festivities for the last 10 or 15 minutes until midnight. You had no idea who the performer was that was currently on the screen but you knew that they would leave the screen in just a few minutes so you dealt with it. There were K-Pop performances every year lately but they always performed earlier in the evening than this. Taekwoon seemed mildly interested in it. Your sister wasn't paying attention as she tried to keep herself awake by scrolling social media on her phone. 

"I'm going to bed after the ball drops." She spoke suddenly, startling you. 

You looked over to her. "Okay. I'll go, too."

She nodded and you turned back to see Taekwoon looking between the two of you. You smiled in response. 

Finally, the countdown began and you shifted, causing Taekwoon to also shift. You felt bad but it was nearly time to go to bed anyway. You stood and stretched, watching from the corner of your eye as he stood with you. Your sister had taken something to the kitchen and returned to stand and watch as the seconds ticked away. 

3

2

1

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"  The television screamed as fireworks lit up the sky in the picture. 

Unexpectedly, Taekwoon leaned down and kissed you quickly. Your mind blanked at the gesture, surprised that you could swear you felt it. 

Your sister called your name as she turned the television off. 

"Yeah. Coming." 

You reminded yourself that this was just a daydream that had bled into your current surroundings. Still, he followed as the lights turned off and you vacated the living room.

By the time you finally laid in bed staring at your ceiling, you were questioning your sanity. Taekwoon had followed you to your room then waited there as you went to the bathroom and came back. He now lay beside you, staring at you as you tried your best to ignore him. How this strange daydream turned to this, you'll never know but as you began to drift off to sleep, you realized that you were actually comfortable with him there.

"I'm going mental." Was your last thought before you fell asleep.