Prologue

Kim Jongin was fifteen when he realized that he was in love with Song Mira. He already had a crush on her since primary school but he never considered it as ‘love’. Not until one rainy afternoon.

They knew each other since they were three years old since their families were close and Mira’s family lived just right across their street. He was of the same age as her and they were going to the same school. They were classmates ever since and she was always his after-school buddy.

He was always together with Mira that they eventually became the best of friends. However, as he grew up, he started to be more aware of Mira’s presence. Whenever she wasn’t around, he would always look for that sweet, strawberry scent that she acquired from her favorite shampoo. He found himself staring at her face more than usual; admiring how long her eyelashes were and her cute nose which would always scrunch up whenever he . And her voice, that same voice that would always nag him for not wearing socks, was probably his most favorite melody in the world.

Being the naïve and stubborn boy that he was, he dismissed those feelings as something that was in between admiration and infatuation. He thought that his being possessive whenever other boys would try to get Mira’s attention was because he was being protective of her as a bestfriend. He never realized how stupid he was until one day in spring.

The rain poured in the city of Seoul that afternoon. It was a bright, sunny morning when they left for school so both of them didn’t think of bringing umbrellas. They were caught up in the rain while walking home so they had to take shelter in front of an establishment to wait for it to stop.

“Crap. Global warming .” Jongin grumbled as he squeezed the hem of his drenched uniform.

“Global warming’s your fault since you don’t wear socks.” Mira said as she opened her bag to make sure her notebooks didn’t get wet.

Jongin whipped his head to the side to glare at her. “How is that related to global warming?”

A chuckle escaped from her. “I was just kidding. You’re so grumpy, Jonginnie.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Jonginnie~” She repeated in a sing-song tone.

“I said stop.”

“Jonginnie~”

“Mira.” He called her name in warning.

“Alright, alright.” She said with a laugh. “We’re going to get home soon and you can catch up to your favorite television show so cheer up, okay?” She pinched his cheeks.

He frowned when she finally took her hands away then sighed. “What if it will never stop though?”

“You’re always so pessimistic.” She remarked with a slight shake of her head. She brushed away a few strands of her wet bangs. “But if we get stuck here, I think it’s a