#06
s o f t  r a i n s

Jessica expected a nice weather on the weekend, because she had planned on going for a jog around her apartment building, then stop by to get coffee and eat good pancakes in a nearby diner. 

Unfortunately, it turned out that it rained on Saturday morning. Just a drizzle, but the sky was quite dark, and the air is certainly cold. It was an overcast day, and after waking up that morning, Jessica spent a good thirty minutes lying upside down on her bed, staring outside the window, while gathering the energy to stand up and go shower.

No joke, Jessica really was craving for pancakes. It's been a long time since she's been to the diner, anyway. Because it was chilly, she decided that she'd wear one of those sweaters she had bought on her shopping spree a few days ago. Her choice went to a dolman sleeve red cardigan, worn with a cartoon top and denim pants, and a pair of red sneakers. She grabbed an apple from the fridge (because Tiffany always tell her to eat apples since it's healthy) and took her bag outside.

The diner wasn't very far from her building, Jessica could walk there and not feel exhausted at all. Carrying a small umbrella, she made her way towards the diner while admiring the sight of Seoul streets in precipitation. The traffic was not as smooth as usual because of the weather, and she thought she made a good choice by walking. And it's healthy too.

Suddenly, the sound of honking surprised her. It was so near since it came from behind her, so Jessica, unconsciously, out of surprise, turned her head.

From the car not too far behind her, Jinki was poking his head out of the front seat side window. "Jessica!" he waved to her.

Jessica's jaw practically dropped. "Oh my God," she gasped. "Jinki, what are you doing?! It's dangerous!"

"Oh, sorry! Wait, I'll park by the sidewalk!"

Jinki's car advanced and stopped just in front of Jessica, who was face-palming herself out of frustration. He got out of the car with an umbrella, and approached her. "Hey!" he greeted her innocently.

"Uh, hey?" Jessica looked at him half-unbelievingly – how could a guy be this carefree? "You shocked me! Please don't do that again."

"Sorry.. I was just surprised to see you walking by, I got excited," he grinned. "But honestly, I almost didn't recognize you. I mean, you look really cute in casual clothes, different from your office wardrobe."

Jinki said it so casually that it made Jessica blush, despite the fact that the guy nearly gave her a heart-attack. "Um, thanks," she managed to utter.

"We seem to meet outside the office quite often. Where are you going?"

"Coincidences," Jessica muttered under her breath, before answering, "Friday's Diner down the street."

"Oh, I know that place. It's not too far, but since it's raining, let me take you there!" Jinki offered – well, more like insisted.

Jessica looked up at the sky, considering the rain which has just gotten heavier by the second. It wouldn't hurt riding in his car, and besides, it'll be just like when they had lunch together. "Okay, then. Let's go."

Her answer brought joy to Jinki's face that he looked extremely astonished. He quickly opened the passenger seat for her, and circled the car to enter the driver's seat. Jinki started the car and soon they were on their way.

Jinki's car was just a regular sedan, colored a shining night blue. Inside of it was fragrant of the pine-scented air freshener stuck to the dashboard – a strange smell for Jessica, but thank goodness it didn't smell too strong. On the backseat, there was a large drumstick plush with his bags. For a man's car, it was pretty neat. It seemed that he put his CDs inside the compartment, and surprisingly, his tape was playing a mellow rock song Jessica likes.

"I don't know you listen to this kind of music," she commented. "Do you like rock?"

"I listen to almost all kinds of music, really. Rock is good, but I don't listen to them very much. I'm probably more into pop songs and ballads," Jinki replied, sometimes turning to the passenger seat if not looking at the road. "What about you?"

"Everything but country, I guess? I even listen to classics," she said, and Jinki chuckled at that.

It was only a five minute ride, but Jessica and Jinki managed to talk about a topic interesting enough for the two of them, it got them to talk all the way into the diner and even while waiting for their orders. From the music talk, they wandered off talking about celebrities, and then suddenly politics, and then they talked about themselves. At some points in their conversation, Jinki cracked some jokes that made Jessica laugh. It was new for the two of them – for Jinki to have someone actually find his joke funny, and for Jessica to crack up at someone's joke. And not like before, even after their pancakes arrived, they were still talking in the middle of eating.

"Can I ask you something?" asked Jinki through a mouthful.

Jessica nods, chewing on her pancake across the table.

"I kind of heard the talk about you being an ice princess.. but, are you really a cold person? I mean, from the outside you may seem like it. But now that we've had a few conversations, you don't seem like a cold person to me."

She swallowed before answering, "Sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

"Well, yeah. I'm not cold all the time, but I probably am.. most of the time," Jessica shrugged.

"Why?"

"People annoy me," Jessica replied honestly. "It's not like I'm antisocial or something, it's just that.. people are heartless and compassionate, they're selfish and cannot be trusted. I don't like it, even if people say that it's human nature –" she said, emphasizing the phrase by air quoting it, "– for me it's kind of unbelievable. Because of that, I chose this cold pretense, so I don't have to deal with them."

Jinki nodded in understanding. "But you still have to deal with them too, in the end," he then said.

"I suppose so, but the point is, my cold personality makes dealing with them a whole lot easier since being cold means I don't really have to care.."

"I understand. So that's what you think of people.."

"Well, not all of them," Jessica interrupted. "I still believe that pure, kind-hearted people exist, but sadly, I only have one of them in my life."

"Tiffany," Jinki guessed–or more like stated–and Jessica nodded. "You guys are really close, huh?"

"Me and Tiffany go way back, we've been friends for almost seven years now, she knows me better than everyone, and I love her for that," Jessica stared at her plate, smiling. "She's like my mom. She takes care of me like one, and I really wish I could care for her like she does for me."

Seeing her smile, made Jinki unconsciously pull the corner of his lips upwards, smiling as well. "Tiffany worries about you a lot, Jess," he said. "A few days ago when you showed up at the office in a mess, or at least that's what she said, she kinda talked to me about it.."

Jessica cocked an eyebrow. "About what?"

"About you staying up late to do work?" he said it like it was the obvious answer, and Jessica nodded, relieved. "Anyway, she told me that you overwork yourself too much. It's not healthy, you know?"

"I know, but I just have to do it."

"Oh, another question just popped into my head; are you really a workaholic too?"

"I don't know, I just do it to get my mind off things. Work isn't really a stressful thing for me because I find it easy."

Jinki laughed. "You are really superior," he said.

"Enough with the talk about me, now it's my turn to ask questions about you," Jessica pointed her fork at Jinki, giving him a fake interrogative look.

He gave her a challenging stare in return. "Fire away."

"How can you seem so happy and carefree?"

Jinki stopped to think for a moment. "Uh, because I am?" he lifted his shoulders, and Jessica shot him a look. "It's true! I'm happy with my life, though not fully content about it, but I still enjoy it. It's not that I'm carefree, but I think I care just enough for what's necessary, so I don't make it more complicated than it should be. I mean, I like my job, I have a steady income, a few friends here and there.. there isn't anything to complain about, really. Although being less clumsy and having abs will surely make me better.."

Jessica laughed at him. "I'm serious!"

"And you think I'm not?" Jinki smiled along with her. "Seriously, Jess, I–"

"Call me Sica," she interrupted. "Jess is okay, but I like Sica more."

"Oh, okay.." Jinki was dazed for a while, that she allowed him to call her by her nickname, and then snapped back to reality. "Anyway! I'm serious, Sica."

Jessica nodded. "I know, you don't seem like the type to lie, anyway," she said (which Jinki found amusing – how could someone suddenly come up with such judgement anyway?). "But I still don't know why you're so happy."

"For me, probably because I do what I love and I love what I do; photography," said Jinki. "What about you? Are you happy with what you're doing?"

Jessica shrugged. "I don't know.." she muttered. "Doing something that has to do with art is probably a comfort for me, because I studied under it and I'm good at it. I have a good position and like you, I too have a steady income. I think I'll be fine as long as I don't go out of my comfort zone.."

"Maybe that's your problem," Jinki pointed out. "Step out of your comfort zone, do something spontaneous for once! Maybe then you'll find something that can really make you feel happy and content with your life."

Jessica nodded, thinking about his words over. "Maybe."

"And if you're too scared to do it, I'll tag along with you! If jumping from a plane five-hundred feet high makes you happy, I'll gladly jump with you," Jinki snickered.

Jessica let out a chuckle. The guy in front of her has managed to make her laugh a good amount today, and that made her happy. It was another comfortable thing for her, she could really enjoy eating together with him, talking about random things. It's just hit her, but there's something about Jinki that intrigues her. Really, Jessica couldn't even remember why she thought he was annoying before. She wasn't very sure of it, but maybe, she will listen to Jinki. Maybe she could get use to having him around.

"Thanks," she finally said. "You're a really nice person, you know? Really, really nice."

Jinki grinned. "From the way you said it, it sounded like I saved your cat from falling from a tree," he said. "I just realized, though, we've been here for almost two hours now, and the rain had stopped."

Jessica looked out the window beside them. "Oh, yeah.. should we go now?"

"Where do you want to go? Home, or shall we go for a walk?"

"I'd love to," she smiled.

Jinki paid for their meals, and Jessica didn't make a big deal out of it this time. Once they were in front of his car, Jinki told her to wait for a second, and grabbed his camera. Jessica leaned against the car, observing him taking pictures of the diner's gigantic light board, their table that was visible from outside the still droplet-covered window, and when he aimed his lens at her, she quickly ducked out of the shot.

"No," said Jessica.

Jinki lowered his camera, pouting. "Why not?"

"I have my reasons," she shrugged, and then entered the car first. "Come on!"

Jinki just smiled after she slammed the door in his face. Shrugging, he entered the car and soon it drove away from the diner, and onto the streets.

© hellopsr stories, 2012

For me, this chapter was fun to write. I love how Jessica opens up to Jinki here, and as simple as a conversation could be, this chapter is the real beginning of their story. Expect more of them in future chapters!

Have any of you watched the SM TOWN LA PressCon? The main image for this story happened there! Jinki and Sica had super small, super meaningful interactions and I screamed and cried and giggled for a good twenty minutes really. If you haven't watched it yet, you should really! Picture credit to andantaes@tumblr. Enjoy the new chapter!