L. Joe mentally cursed everything in the universe that had conspired to make his life , as he slowly trudged home in the rain. He'd only just moved back to Korea a few days earlier, and he was already being sent back to school. Today had been his first day, and it had been less than pleasant. With all that he'd endured that day, if he were anyone else, he'd be in tears. But L. Joe was too proud to indulge himself in such childish behaviour. No, he wasn't wallowing in self-pity, over everything that had gone wrong. He was angry about them, but he kept all of it in, behind his cold facade.

That was typical L. Joe. He was quiet, but it was one of the traits that fed his reputation as a bit of a rebel. He had all the attitude of a punk, and he knew it. He enjoyed it. He thought it made him cooler, than the other kids.

It certainly made him different. Everything was so strict and structured here, even in speech patterns, there was no room for rebellion. The other kids looked at him with awe at his courage; acting like himself, refuting everyone else's attempts to control him. But never getting in trouble for it.

They thought he must scare everyone into letting him get his own way. He was okay with them thinking he was that powerful. It would make it less likely that he'd be picked on for his accented, halting Korean and slight build. No, he just chose to be smart about his attitude. He only ever revealed it when he knew there would be no consequences for his actions.

But all those, supposedly smart kids couldn't figure that out.

In a way, he was kind of disappointed.

As he started the long trek down his street, he regretted the fact that he hadn't brought an umbrella to school with him. His mother had said something about being prepared, but the sky had been a bright blue when he left home that morning. There weren't even any clouds in the sky.

He'd made it to his street, but he still had a fair walk before he'd make it home. Still, he was glad that he lived far enough away from the school to get that bus pass. If only one of the buses stopped closer to his new home, he'd be set.

That bus ride had been about the only thing that had gone right for L. Joe that day. He'd met another kid on the bus, who seemed rather nice. He wouldn't tell anyone, but he'd actually felt really left out, when he saw everyone else surrounded by a group of friends, while he had no one. He felt like he didn't belong. He spent enough of his time feeling like that, he hadn't liked the thought that he might have to get used to feeling that way when he was in school too. That kid, Niel had invited him to hang out with him the next day.

As he got further down the street, he looked up to make sure he got out of the way of the spray of water that followed a passing car, not wanting to get any wetter than he already was. He glared daggers at the back of the car, as it sped off down the road.

That's when he noticed someone walking out into the road, at the end of the street. They were pretty far away from him, but L. Joe found himself oddly fascinated by the lone figure. No one was out in this rain; the whole street was deserted. What could possibly entice this random person to go out into the downpour, without so much as an umbrella? He started darting around all over the place, and L. Joe wondered vaguely if he was having an attack or something, given his odd movements.

He had to give the person credit, they had a lot of guts, even if he did think that they were stupid for going out into the middle of the road like that, and staying there. Still, the end of their street was a no through road. They were lucky if they got a half a dozen cars there a day, so he supposed the person could be forgiven for thinking that they were safe there. They probably would be.

L. Joe put all thoughts of that random person aside, as he entered his new home. He didn't call out to his mother, to let her know he was home. He and his parents weren't on the best of terms these days. They tried to act like things were okay, but he could feel the tension between them. He knew things were never going to be the same between them again. Not after what had happened.

He walked straight through the place, heading for his room. He felt a chill, from his damp clothes, so he stripped, dressing in some more comfortable clothing. He wandered back out into the apartment, wanting to lay his clothes out so that they could dry out before he had to wear them again the next day, only to find his mother staring out of the doorway.

Perplexed, what she seemed so concerned about, L. Joe stalked over beside her, startling her. “Oh Byunghun... I don't suppose you could go down and check on that boy, could you?” she queried, looking at the boy, who had caught L. Joe's attention only a few minutes earlier. From their much closer position, L. Joe could see that apparently, the person was dancing.

He eyed his mother like he thought that she'd gone crazy, “Are you kidding? I'm not going to go talk to them! They could be a weirdo, or a criminal!” he spluttered.

His mother waved her hand, still eyeing the person with concern. “Nonsense. He rely a little earlier than you, and he was wearing your school uniform. Who knows, you might make a friend!”

“Did it ever occur to you that I might've already made friends of my own? Besides, him being at my school doesn't make it any less likely that he could be a criminal! In fact, I think it makes it more likely!” L. Joe exclaimed, stubbornly.

“Oh stop your nonsense, Byunghun. Go down there and make sure he's okay.” his mother chided.

“But I could die!” he exclaimed, horrified.

“And if you don't go down there and check on him, he could die! Floundering around in the rain like that! He'll get sick. I said, go Byunghun!” she ordered, pointing out the door.

Knowing when he'd lost an argument, L. Joe bit back the terse words threatening to topple from his lips, instead grabbing an umbrella from beside the door, and leaving their apartment silently.

Just another thing adding to his horrible day. Just another thing making this one of the worst days of his life. He thought to himself, sullenly as he made his way downstairs. He took one look up into the dreary, grey sky, before putting his umbrella up and making his way out into the street. He'd sort of been hoping that the boy would have gone back inside by the time he got down there, just so that he wouldn't have to talk to him.

Talking wasn't exactly one of L. Joe's strengths.

As he got closer he noticed that his mother was right. It was a boy, though there was no trace of a school uniform covering his body now. He was dressed as casually as L. Joe was, though his clothes were clearly drenched. Whether that was because of the rain or because the young boy had been working up a sweat form all his dancing, L. Joe wasn't sure.

He wanted to get their conversation out of the way as quickly as possible, hoping that speed would be able to do something to make the whole thing less awkward and unpleasant for the both of them. The other boy seemed to have noticed his arrival, and pulled an earplug out of his right ear, anticipating that L. Joe would have something to say to him, though he'd never so much as laid eyes on him yet.

“Why are you out in the rain like this? Don't you know that you're going to make yourself sick?” L. Joe began, tone brisk and slightly cold. He hadn't intended to sound so condescending even if he did think the other boy was being kind of stupid.

The other boy crossed his arms defensively, almost instinctively, practically daring L. Joe to argue with him, or otherwise force him to do anything other than what he was currently doing. He didn't say anything.

L. Joe sighed, before trying again, consciously making sure that his voice came out softer, and more friendly, in the hopes that it might make the other boy more amenable to talking to him, or at least listening to what he had to say. “Don't you think you should get out of the middle of the street? It's dangerous.”

Again the stranger said nothing, glaring at him disapprovingly. He thought L. Joe should mind his own business and leave him alone. L. Joe didn't blame him. If it had been up to him he would've left the other boy to his own business. Darn his mother making him come out to check on him. Darn himself for obeying her.

Having had enough of the other boy's silence, and wanting to get back inside and out of the rain, L. Joe felt his earlier annoyance growing. He gave in slightly, reaching out and tugging the other boy out of the street, onto the footpath, under his own umbrella. The other boy struggled in his grip, but he was clearly very startled by L. Joe's audacity, touching him like that.

They were glaring at one another, barely 30 cm separating their faces. From this distance L. Joe could see the tears b in the other boy's eyes, which had been invisible earlier thanks to the rain. So that was why the boy was so adamant that he wanted to stay out in the rain. “What's your problem?” the other boy grumbled, but his voice spoke volumes of misery rather than actual anger.

“When other people are being stubborn about acting stupid.” L. Joe answered, simply. The other boy glared at him, but he didn't say anything. He could see it in the other boy's eyes that there were a million things he'd like to say to him in return, but he chose not to say anything in return to L. Joe's sleight.

“Why are you crying?” L. Joe tried again, not really expecting the other boy to answer him. If he were honest, he'd admit that he was curious about this other boy. He was irritating, because he insisted on trying to keep everything to himself, but L. Joe didn't think he'd be able to keep that up for long. For a boy to be dancing around in the rain, to hide his tears was by it's very nature melodramatic. Someone like that couldn't keep their feelings to themselves for long; they wanted an audience.

The other boy shuffled about, scuffing the gravel at his feet slightly, as though weighing up whether he should answer L. Joe or run back out into the rain. “My whole world just came crashing down.” the other boy admitted with a sigh, fresh tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. L. Joe really hoped that he wouldn't cry. He had no knack for comforting people. Especially not crying people. Normally, he'd nearly be reduced to tears himself from trying to comfort them.

“Why is that?” he pressed, intrigued. This bedraggled boy before him was definitely the most interesting person he'd met yet. He didn't like the thought of being left with an enigma when they parted ways.

“I'd really rather not say.” the other stated, sounding a little agitated. “If you don't mind, I'd really like to get back to what I was doing, before you interrupted me.”

“But I do mind.” L. Joe interjected. “If you want me to stop bothering you, you need to go back home. Just listen to sad songs on your iPod, and scream and cry into your pillow like a normal person. Get a good night's sleep, and things will look better in the morning.” L. Joe suggested, none too gently.

“I think I'd prefer to handle things my own way.” the stranger stated, cautiously.

“Then I'm going to stay out here bugging you.” L. Joe informed the other boy, easily, a wide grin set upon his face.

The boy looked at him aghast, as though he couldn't believe what L. Joe was saying. He could see the boy trying to size him up, as though he could read whether L. Joe was bluffing or not in his face. The boy was out of luck; L. Joe wasn't bluffing. He'd rather do anything than his homework that evening. Tormenting the poor boy would be much more fun. “Jerk!” he hollered, storming across the road, not once looking back in L. Joe's direction.

L. Joe didn't turn to go back into his house, until after he saw the other boy enter another apartment building. In a way, he was a little disappointed. After they'd started talking to one another, that had actually turned out to be pretty fun.

Besides, the boy was pretty cute when you looked past his angry glare and teary eyes.