Minjung stared at the hands on her lime green watch (it was a gift from a friend who found it funny since Minjung hated lime green), absentmindedly taking in the way the second hand ticked away bit by bit. Her other hand held an umbrella and she was lulled into a state between awareness and sleep because of the constant drip-drop of rain on nylon.

She stood on the sidewalk, perched on her tip-toes (something she did subconsciously because of her height), waiting for her best friend to pick her up. And no, it was not the friend who so delightedly gifted her with the watch. This friend was much more into torturing and teasing Minjung than the other one.

Her watch said it was twenty minutes after the set time that her friend said he’d be picking her up. She was lucky she had an umbrella because in that twenty minutes the sun had been swallowed by clouds and rain replaced it. She glanced from side to side but still there was on sign of her friend anywhere.

“That jerk Kim Jongin. Where is he?” she muttered.

At that moment, Minjung heard a pair of feet sloshing through puddles to her right so she turned her head to see who was walking her way. She cocked her head a little, intrigued and quite bewildered by the way this stranger was walking on the street rather than the sidewalk. He padded through the puddles that formed right by the edge of the sidewalk. She could only wonder what was going through his mind as his feet drowned in rainwater.

The stranger had been staring at his feet while he walked but as he approached her, he tilted his head up just enough to meet her eyes with his incredibly large ones. She unconsciously in a breath as she watched a whirlpool of unreadable emotions swimming in the stranger’s eyes.

He paused then, regarding her slowly as his shoes remained submerged in the giant puddle he stood in. His lips curled up ever so slightly before he continued his trek through the waters. It was odd, the way he didn’t utter a word to her. He made no sign of greeting besides the hint of a smile. He was making his way by her, still wading through the water, until she stopped him.

“Wait!” she called out, gently though so as not to surprise him. He did wait, freezing in his tracks and slowly turning his big eyes on her again. “Here.” She walked over to him and held her umbrella out. The stranger did nothing but stare at her hand offering the item to him. “Take it,” she said once more, with a little more force.

And this time, he did take it.

Minjung thought he would keep walking away and she couldn’t stop the look of surprise that crossed her features when he stepped onto the sidewalk and stood beside her. The stranger held the umbrella above them, squeezing a little too close to her in order for them both to fit under it. She felt slightly uncomfortable that this stranger had no problem standing shoulder to shoulder with someone he just met and she wondered if it had been best if she hadn’t offered her umbrella to him.

Yet, there was something soothing about the feeling of his shoulder brushing against hers. She found security in the rustle of fabric against fabric even though she was rooted by a stranger.

They stood like that, bodies touching every time they shifted in place, until Jongin’s black BMW pulled up in front of them. Minjung watched him reach across the passenger seat to open the door and she got in when it swung open.

“You can keep the umbrella,” she said to the stranger with a light smile on her face. “By the way, you shouldn’t walk in puddles anymore. Your shoes are soaking wet and your feet must be cold. You should go home quickly and dry off.”

She didn’t offer him a ride because she knew he wouldn’t accept.

“Thank you.”

They were the first words she had ever heard him say and for some reason she felt her heart shiver in delight at the soft sound of his voice. She would have said you’re welcome but Jongin was quickly growing impatient. Instead, she offered a small smile that spoke for her and lifted her hand in a tiny wave goodbye. The stranger smiled back and that gesture seemed to speak so much more than she ever could.

“Hurry up and shut the door, the seat is getting soaked,” Jongin growled. Minjung glanced at the stranger one last time but he had already begun walking again, and this time he was travelling on the sidewalk. She shut the door and Jongin immediately drove off. They sat in silence for a while as Jongin calmed his nerves and Minjung continued to think about the stranger.

“So, who was that?” Jongin’s question hung in the air because Minjung had no clue how to answer it. She wanted to say it was just some stranger but she longed to be able to say that he was more than that. A friend that came with the rain, a companion who waited with her, maybe close to someone special but not quite yet.

Since she couldn’t say any of those things, she responded with, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know him but you let him keep your umbrella?” remarked Jongin. Minjung nodded absentmindedly. Jongin eyed her for a second longer before turning his eyes onto the road once again, concentrating on driving through the torrent of rain.

Minjung glanced back one last time to look at the stranger even though they were far away by then.

---

That had been her first encounter with her current boyfriend of four years, Do Kyungsoo, and it was most certainly an unusual one. However, that’s what made it stick in her mind. Their second and third encounters were hazy in her mind at best, but nothing was clearer to her than that rainy Thursday. Smiling, Minjung placed the bouquet of roses in a vase on the nightstand.

Before she could reminisce any longer, Minjung left the bouquet and went out into the kitchen. As always, there was a brown paper bag waiting there for her with a smiley face drawn on it in black sharpie. She would read the post-it note in there later during lunch, because Kyungsoo always left her notes in her lunch to cheer her on during a tiring work day. It was things like this that made Minjung fall in love with Kyungsoo all over again.

Her eyes shifted towards the door and on the desk beside it where all her necessities for the day lay, such as her keys, wallet, cell phone, and more. Minjung had a habit of forgetting at least one item at home usually forcing her to either go home herself to retrieve it or call Kyungsoo to bring it to her. She was extremely lucky he was a manager at a printing company and he had plenty of time to run errands for her if need be.

Minjung smiled once again as she gathered all her belongings, however this time the upward curve of her lips felt awkward and almost empty. It was always like this. Kyungsoo always did things for her, left her little presents, wrote her sweet notes, but he never said much to her. She absolutely loved everything he did for her, but she wish she could hear him say “I love you” or even just a simple “have a nice day”.

Kyungsoo’s voice was a treasure to her. She only heard it at the most crucial moments, the moments when she knew that he would speak. She yearned for his voice to come as a surprise to her, for him to randomly call her during the day just to ask her how she was doing. His voice could always speak straight to her heart and it could make her shudder from the gentle, sweet timbre.

There was no point in standing there and wishing anymore, so Minjung left their apartment with a sigh on her lips.

Work was the same as always, she sat in a cubicle with a computer in front of her typing away. Her friend, Byun Baekhyun, pestered her from the cubicle beside her by throwing little paper balls or poking her with a pen. He was practically the opposite of Kyungsoo, talking endlessly no matter if anyone was listening or not. She often wondered why he even bothered coming to work though (he never did anything other than annoy her and play games on his computer).

When lunch came around Baekhyun followed her to the small employee break room and he fussed and begged for any part of her lunch. After all, Kyungsoo was an amazing cook and his lunches were “perfectly put together and utterly delicious” as Baekhyun put it. Baekhyun peered over her shoulder to read Kyungsoo’s note and pretended to gag.

“Why are you two so cute together? I wish I had a girlfriend, and then I’d call her my sweetie pie every day,” Baekhyun sighed while staring into space most likely imagining his ideal type calling him oppa or something similar to that.

“Maybe if you weren’t such a lazy bum, a girl might actually fall for you,” Minjung retorted.

“Me? Lazy? Never!” Baekhyun placed a hand over his chest and placed an over exaggerated look of hurt on his face. “How could you insult me like that?”

“I’m your friend, that’s how,” Minjung said as she rolled her eyes. She looked back down at the post-it note in her hand, reading the words again and sighing. Would this be the extent of their relationship? Were her and Kyungsoo merely going to be stuck like this, one showing their love through words whilst the other showed it through action? It seemed like the perfect set-up, a balance between words and actions. But, the scale felt off to her nowadays. She found herself speaking to him less and less and it turned into her waiting for him to speak to her first.

“Hello? Minjung?” Baekhyun whispered in her ear and poked her temple. She pulled out of her thoughts and swatted his hand away.

“What?” she hissed.

“Lunch is over. We gotta get back to work,” replied Baekhyun who worried his lips with his teeth. His eyes lingered on her face as if he was reading her like a book, picking apart what she was thinking of. It was one of the few times Baekhyun looked serious, his warm eyes shimmering slightly, and Minjung had no clue how to react so she got up and threw the remnants of her lunch into the trash bin. Her stomach felt queasy and she didn’t know why. When she turned around to see what Baekhyun was doing, she found that he was already gone. This happened ever day after lunch and she never knew where he disappeared to.

Minjung headed back to work to find a cup of coffee sitting on her desk. Baekhyun was already there, playing a game on the Internet. “Did you get me coffee again?” she asked him. Baekhyun nodded absentmindedly and put complete and utter focus into his game. “Well, thanks. I guess,” she mumbled mostly to herself.

A few hours of mindless working and Minjung was finally free to go home. Baekhyun had already left the second work was over, shouting a quick goodbye, and going off to who knows where. Minjung looked out the window in her manager’s office and let out a long sigh when she saw that it was raining. She hadn’t brought an umbrella since the sky had looked clear that morning. Just as she was about to leave, she accidentally kicked something by her chair. It fell over and she stared down at it.

Dear Minjung,

I saw that it was raining outside and I noticed you didn’t have an umbrella. You can use mine for today. But, don’t forget to return it to me tomorrow!

-Baekhyun

Minjung’s face broke out into a wide smile as she picked up the navy blue umbrella glad to have a friend like Baekhyun. Pocketing the note as a reminder for herself, she left to go home.

---

It was Saturday, Minjung’s favorite day of the week. Why? Because that was the day when both she and Kyungsoo had off of work. It was the day that they actually got to spend together, going out to eat or walk in the park or even just staying at home cuddling under a warm blanket while watching cheesy romantic comedies.

Saturdays were the days when Minjung would wake up earlier than Kyungsoo and cook breakfast for him albeit she wasn’t as good a cook. She’d bring breakfast into their bedroom and they’d sit together on the queen sized bed, feeding each other. Then, she’d ask him what he wanted to do that day and he’d reply with a shrug of the shoulders (It frustrated her but she never told him so). She’d pout cutely and demand him to pick an activity and he’d say in the softest voice “I’m happy with whatever you want to do.” In the end, she would give in and pick something and then they’d race to the bathroom to see who’d get the shower first.

This Saturday was different.

Minjung woke up first but this time she did not get up and cook breakfast. This time, she to her side with Kyungsoo’s arm still draped over her body. His hair was ruffled from tossing and turning in his sleep. She traced a gentle finger of the features of his face stopping over his soft lips. Her eyes lingered there and she could almost hear Kyungsoo’s soothing voice when he sang in the shower or from those special, rare moments when he’d whisper “I love you” into her ear.

She let her hand fall back onto the bed, shutting her eyes tightly and squirming closer to him. Her forehead rested on his chest and she listened to the steady beating of his heart. There was something wrong with her that day. She felt sick (not physically but emotionally). Her own heart ached as she buried her face into his cotton shirt fighting back the tears that pricked the corners of her eyes. She felt empty like she wanted more than what she had right in front of her. And even the mere thought that she felt like that terrified her.

Kyungsoo awoke from her touch, a hand automatically coming up to brush his fingers through her hair. She tilted her head up to gaze at him and he blinked at her with his large eyes. Then, the most beautiful smile appeared on his face as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. Her eyes shut and she breathed deeply when his lips came into contact with her skin.

“Good morning,” she whispered into his chest. A low hum was the only reply she got. Her heart emptied again and she wished with all her might that she didn’t feel the way she did then. A yearning for the sound of his voice consumed her heart and made her feel like nothing was good enough anymore.

Silently, Minjung crawled out of bed and went to get breakfast ready.

Today, Minjung had no energy to go anywhere or do anything. She didn’t race for the shower like she usually did. She didn’t scold Kyungsoo for not figuring out an activity for them to do. And she didn’t talk.

Kyungsoo must’ve sensed the change in her because he sat down on the couch beside her with a bowl of popcorn, his brows furrowed. One hand went up to her forehead to check her temperature while the other was placed over hers. Minjung gently peeled his hands off her and gave him a weak smile.

“Don’t worry. I’m not sick. I just don’t feel like doing much today. Work’s been stressing me out,” she lied. Kyungsoo opened his mouth to say something and Minjung was practically leaning forward, anticipating the words about to come. But suddenly, her phone rang from inside the bedroom and Kyungsoo’s mouth snapped shut. Minjung almost cried in frustration and cursed the person who dared to bother her just when she was going to hear Kyungsoo’s voice. It seemed desperate, the way she had to wait for her boyfriend to speak.

Sighing, Minjung got up and went to check her phone. There was a text from Baekhyun asking her to come over and that it was an emergency. Her gut wrenched because Baekhyun never texted her on Saturdays since he was always out with his friends or going on blind dates. Quickly grabbing her purse and a jacket, Minjung rushed out towards the door. Her hand was on the knob when Kyungsoo’s voice came from behind her, the most beautiful sound of curiosity with a bittersweet tinge of pain.

“Where are you going?”

Just four words and Minjung’s heart already soared into heaven. She didn’t want to leave him alone, not when he was looking at her with eyes that pleaded her not to leave.

“Baekhyun said he needs me and that it’s an emergency. I’m sorry,” she apologized. Kyungsoo looked as if he wanted to say something but decided not to and merely nodded. “I’ll see you later tonight, okay? I love you,” she said.

“I love you too,” Kyungsoo replied quietly. Minjung stopped in her tracks at the pleasant sound of his voice. She crossed the threshold and was standing in front of him in a flash, her eyes dull and apologetic. Leaning down, she kissed him on the lips and Kyungsoo’s hands immediately cupped her face as he deepened the kiss. She pulled away, breathless, and had half a mind to just stay home and kiss Kyungsoo all day. It had been a while since he’d last kissed her so deeply and passionately like that. But, in the end she left the apartment regretting each step she took away from him.

---

It turned out that Baekhyun’s “emergency” was merely the fact that he had a bottle of champagne that he’d gotten as a gift and no one to share it with. Minjung threatened to beat him with the nearest object she could find (which just so happened to be the umbrella he had lent her) and he pleaded mercy.

“Please, just listen to me! I’m sorry, don’ hit me!” Baekhyun begged, clasping his hands together. “I knew that you’d be spending the day with Kyungsoo but I really needed someone to hang out with today. Chanyeol got a girlfriend and now he spends all his time with her, Joonmyun and Sehun went out of town together, and you know Jongin. He wouldn’t hang out alone with me even if I were the last person on earth.”

Minjung grimaced at Baekhyun’s long and unnecessary explanation. “Alright, I understand. But we can’t drink so early, it’s only one o’clock,” she stated. Baekhyun relaxed when he saw her place the umbrella where it had been before. At this statement, Baekhyun beamed and Minjung was reminded of a puppy that just got a treat. She chuckled and sat down on the couch beside him.

“We can just kill time till you deem it’s okay for us to drink this,” Baekhyun smiled as he held up the champagne.

“You are the strangest person, bringing out champagne on a random day like this,” Minjung shook her head.

“But I’m your favorite strange person!” Baekhyun exclaimed whilst throwing his arms into the air with a huge grin. Minjung laughed and nodded, pinching his cheek. “Ow! Why’d you do that?”

“Because you’re cute, that’s why,” Minjung responded. She found herself falling into a sort of rhythm with Baekhyun, exchanging light and playful banter so easily as if they’d known each other their entire lives rather than just a year. It was so natural, so simple, that she liked it. This was actually the first time the two had spent time alone together outside of work. They usually met up on Sundays with their other friends.

A couple hours of flipping through random channels on TV, battling for the remote, pigging out on all the junk food in Baekhyun’s apartment, and other activities passed until the sun had already set stealing away the colors from the sky except black. Minjung hadn’t even noticed how much time had passed because hanging out with Baekhyun was too much fun.

It had been everything she wished for from Kyungsoo. She wanted him to tell her corny jokes so that she’d laugh at them despite how bad they were. She wanted him to so she could back, arguing like little kids.

Hanging out with Baekhyun was exactly that.

“Hey, is it champagne time yet?” Baekhyun grinned. Minjung glanced at her lime green watch that told her it was nine thirty already. She bit her lip and tapped the glass worriedly. She had promised Kyungsoo she’d be back soon. He was probably waiting for her like he always did.

Yet, she didn’t want to leave.

Her heart was split into two sides and they battled against one another. Should she stay? Or should she go home?

“Yeah, I think it is,” she said. And the war was over.

The two commenced their night of drinking, one glass turning into two, then three, and eventually they lost track of how many drinks they’d had. Minjung had gone past the point of merely being tipsy and she couldn’t get her head straight. Baekhyun was rambling on about nothing in particular because he apparently talked even more when he was drunk.

“Y’know, Minjung. You’ve got the best boyfriend,” he slurred with a loopy grin on his face. “He cooks breakfast for you and lunch. He leaves you little notes,” he hiccupped. “And he always brings coffee for you after lunch. He tells me just to say that it’s from me.”

Minjung blinked blearily but shook her head when she heard this. “W-what?” she mumbled. Kyungsoo brought her coffee? Not Baekhyun?

“Yeah, and three days ago,” Baekhyun began. “He dropped off that umbrella for you and told me to write that note saying it was mine.” He chuckled deliriously before gulping down the rest of his glass.

Now, Minjung was more alert. “That was his umbrella? He left that for me?” she asked. But Baekhyun had stopped talking. He refilled her glass and brought it up to her lips.

“Here, drink,” he said. She unconsciously opened and Baekhyun tipped the glass, champagne pouring into . Some of it spilled onto her shirt and she flinched in surprise. “Oh, . My bad,” Baekhyun mumbled.

Minjung had no idea what happened next but all of a sudden Baekhyun’s face was centimeters apart from hers, his lips hovering over hers. She gulped and she had no clue if it was the alcohol that made her lean forward and catch his lips in a kiss. It must have been the alcohol. Baekhyun sighed into the kiss and responded back forcefully. Everything became a blur of clothes being flung everywhere as hands roamed over skin and tangled into hair.

Baekhyun’s words about Kyungsoo from before went to the back of Minjung’s mind as the alcohol took her over.

---

The next morning Minjung awoke to the aroma of burnt toast. Her nose wrinkled from the unfamiliar scent. Kyungsoo didn’t make toast often, and when he did he certainly never burned it. Her eyes fluttered open and panic struck her. She was not in her bedroom at their apartment. And what made matters worse was the fact that she had no clothes on.

There was a blanket draped over her that she pulled around herself. She could hear metal clinking in the kitchen so she stood up and quickly looked for her clothes. Last night was nothing but a haze to her and she couldn’t remember anything even if her life depended on it.

It wasn’t until Baekhyun came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of blackened toast and half-cooked eggs did Minjung recall the events of the night before. She gasped and the worse feeling sunk into her chest. She felt as if she’d been shot and her heart was bleeding out. Baekhyun smiled shyly at her and stood outside the kitchen, most likely debating whether he should go over to her or not.

“What have I done?” Minjung whispered to herself. “I’m so stupid.”

Baekhyun could see where this was going so he immediately placed the plate down and walked over to Minjung. “Listen, Minjung, I’m really sorry about last night. I don’t know what came over me. It was the alcohol,” he apologized.

Minjung turned to him with empty eyes and he took a step back. “I have to go,” she murmured almost inaudibly.

“Y-your clothes are in the bedroom. You can change in there,” Baekhyun stuttered and pointed to a door.

In a few minutes, Minjung was dressed. Not uttering a word to Baekhyun (much less looking at him), she left the apartment. Her watch said it was six o’clock in the morning. Baekhyun must have felt guilty for last night considering the fact that he hated waking up early. Her phone had over a dozen missed calls and voice messages. There were also texts, all of them from Kyungsoo.

She opened one of them and choked back tears. They all essentially said the same thing: asking where she was, wondering if she was okay, and suggesting that he pick her up. The fact that he was still worried about her even though she had gone to her guy friend’s apartment hurt her to the point where she couldn’t breathe.

About a block away from their apartment building, Minjung saw a figure running down the street. She squinted to see better, finding the figure to look familiar. And soon enough, she saw that it was Kyungsoo. He looked to be sweating and breathing heavily as if he had been running for hours. When he caught sight of her, the pure relief that washed over his face was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

Kyungsoo engulfed her in a tight hug, her hair and gently cradling her in his arms. “You’re okay. Thank God. You’re okay,” he murmured over and over. Minjung crumpled in his arms and he held her tighter. “Come on. Let’s go inside.”

His voice that would normally soothe her only made her feel worse. He should have been angry. He should have been furious. He shouldn’t have been comforting her and coaxing her with such a gentle tone.

She didn’t budge when Kyungsoo tried to bring her inside the apartment building. Her feet stayed rooted to the sidewalk even when morning rain began to pour. Kyungsoo pulled an umbrella out of his coat pocket and she laughed. It was the umbrella she had given him at their first encounter four years ago. He stared at her, puzzled, even as he opened the umbrella to shelter them. Her laughter turned into choked sobs that had her shoulders shuddering. Her hand covered as she openly broke down.

“You should hate me right now! I stayed the night at a guy’s apartment without even calling you. I didn’t tell you what I was doing. I cheated on you, Kyungsoo,” she sobbed. “Why are you being so nice to me?” Her voice broke into more uncontrollable weeping.

“Don’t cry. It’s alright. I forgive you,” Kyungsoo murmured as he wiped her tears away with his thumb. “I will always forgive you.”

“No, no you shouldn’t!” Minjung screamed at him. “How could you forgive me after this? I slept with Baekhyun last night. Do you know that?”

Kyungsoo’s eyes were distant and he swiped his thumb across her cheek again, catching another tear. “I know,” he breathed. “I know. But that was just one mistake. I can’t hate you over one mistake Minjung. I could never hate you.”

Paralyzed, Minjung realized that this was what she had always wanted. Kyungsoo was actually talking to her, spilling his feelings out in words rather than sly actions. He was saying words that made her heart flutter despite the utter agony and guilt gripping her.

“Please, let’s go inside and talk,” Kyungsoo said. Talk. She never thought he’d ever say that. But, maybe it was too late. Her legs trembled but she took a few steps away from him, backing up and out of the umbrella’s cover. Immediately, she was getting drenched under the rain.

“I-it’s not supposed to be this easy for you. You’re not supposed to forgive me just like that,” Minjung stammered pitifully.

“What more do you want from me then?” Kyungsoo whispered. “If you don’t want me to forgive you yet, than what should I do?”

“Get frustrated, angry, jealous, anything! Yell at me and curse me, at least glare at me,” Minjung laughed bitterly. “I get angry at you sometimes. I get annoyed. You should do the same.”

“I don’t understand…” Kyungsoo replied as he stepped forward to shelter her from the rain again. She stepped back into the rain.

“I don’t understand you either! It’s been four years since we started dating and sometimes I still feel as if I don’t know you. You never tell me anything. And don’t even say that it’s because you want to express your love through actions. I’ve had enough of the actions, I want your words,” Minjung finished, tears still flowing freely.

Kyungsoo had no reaction for a moment. He merely stood there gazing at her, studying her features, memorizing them as if he wouldn’t see her again. Then, he took a deep breath in and shoved the umbrella into her hand.

“Okay, if that’s what you want.” Those were his only words he said before he tenderly her cheek with the back of his hand and walked away.