I loved the rain because Soonkyu and I met when we were eleven-year old kids on a rainy day.

“Aish! Why did it suddenly rain today?” I whined while hiding under the slide. It’s a Saturday and I am currently in our town’s playground. When I arrived here an hour ago, I thought it was my lucky day because no other kids are here. The playground is all mine for the day. But the sky proved me wrong. It isn’t my lucky day. I’m stuck under the slide, waiting for the rain to stop. But instead of stopping, the rain only poured heavier. “How am I supposed to go home??”

Before I could shout and curse at the sky for raining, a kid who looks like my age popped out from who knows where and stood before me. She is wearing a denim short-jumper with a plain white shirt underneath and a black rubber shoes. Her hair is neatly tied in a ponytail with her full bangs covering her forehead. I looked at myself. I’m wearing a black plain v-neck shirt paired with a denim pedal and black converse. And my hair is tied in a bun. We kind of have the same fashion style. The only difference between us is I’m perfectly dry while she’s soaking wet because of the rain.

“I’m Soonkyu!” She smiled brightly. “Why are you hiding under the slide?”

My eyebrows creased at her stupid question. Duh! “Because it’s raining. Why are you standing under the rain?” I asked.

“I’m not standing; I’m playing under the rain!” Soonkyu answered with a cute high-pitched voice. “Come, join me!”

Soonkyu grabbed my hand. But before she could pull me away from the slide, I stopped her. “Are you crazy? If we play under the rain, we’ll get sick!”

“But it’s fun!” She reasoned out.

“But we’ll get sick!” I repeated again, hoping that she’ll understand how bad and troublesome it is if a person gets sick.

“But it’s worth it! I swear! If you’ll join me playing under the rain, I swear you’ll have fun! And after playing under the rain for the first time, you’ll always wait excitedly for the next time it rains!”

I thought deeply about what she said. And I regretted it because when I was thinking whether to join her or not, she pulled me out of my hiding place. Before I could say yes to her invitation, she already pulled me away from the slide, making my whole body soaking wet.

I took my hand back, the one she’s holding. “Yah!” I shouted but she only laughed it off.

When Soonkyu stopped laughing, she stared at my face. She reached her hand out towards my face and placed it between my creasing eyebrows. “Stop frowning, chingu!”

“I’m not your chingu!” I swatted her hand away.

Soonkyu pouted, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. I panicked. “Y-yah, stop! Don’t cry! Okay, okay! Fine. The two of us are friends. I’m Taeyeon.”

When I told her my name, she smiled immediately. “Ha! Fooled you! I always knew I am a great actress.”

“What?? You’re so mean! I was scared that you might really cry!”

And Soonkyu laughed again. I noticed her laugh is really cute compared to mine, where my classmates tease me because my laugh is like an ahjumma’s laugh.

Suddenly, Soonkyu grabbed my hand again and dragged me. Soonkyu is running around the playground, dragging me along with her.

While running behind Soonkyu, I stared at our intertwined hands and then, at the side view of her face. She’s smiling widely, her eyes turning into cute crescent moons.

This girl is running around and having fun as if the moment is the happiest moment of her life. And I admire it, I admire her smile.

I smiled a little at the memory of how we became friends, best friends even. I used to thank God for making it rain that day because I became friends with Soonkyu due to the rain. But then, I remembered the day I started to stop loving the rain. It was four years ago. The day where I broke Soonkyu’s trust, the same day my best friend died. And it was a rainy day.

Soonkyu dated a jerk five years ago, Leeteuk. He was her first love. They started dating during their senior year in high school and were dating for almost two years already.

Soonkyu and I are now twenty-five years old. We went to the same middle school, high school and college. And now, we both work at the same fashion company.

After that jerk, Soonkyu never dated any other guy again. She said guys are a waste of time. It’s been five years since they broke up, but I know her heart is still not fully healed yet.

I hated that jerk for hurting my be