Kim Lami heard footsteps splashing on the street adorned with mud and fallen rain as she made her way to an uncertain shelter. As she ran, the bag working as her shield repeat­edly hit her head softly, reminding her of the pats of her first love and the face of her current crush simultaneously.

   Little girl, you shouldn’t mess in rain. Kekeke…

   His laughter rang in her ears as the raindrops composed a beautiful melody of their own. She smiled slightly to herself as her eyes closed slightly at the sentiment of nostalgia. Before she could finish one full thought of those mismatched eyes for the day, her conscience directed her to a crowded ramen shop.

   Shaking the raindrops off her bag with one hand, she shuffled her hair with the other whilst looking for an empty seat. When she found one, she sat down gladly as she ordered Sujebi. While she waited for her food to come, she stared at the people entering the shop. She found herself smiling when a couple with their little child found a taxi and left the place. The couple looked as if they were madly in love with each other, with the child who played in both her parents’ laps in turns, and with the rain.

   She found her eyes tearing up at the slightest show of love before her, and she face-palmed. I’m such a fool, she thought to herself as she wiped away the tear which was yet to roll down.

   As she opened her eyes and straightened, she felt her already cold feet and hands grow colder, her eyes widening, her breath being held back. Her hands gripped the edge of the table as her eyes followed him taking up the empty table which was occupied by the family she was sweetly envying a minute back. He rubbed his palms together as he finished telling the waiter what he’d like.

   “Is he ordering what he used to eat with me five years back?” She found herself thinking so as her mind drifted back to the year she adored the most, the year which she regarded as her golden year; 2005.­ ­

   They had met when it was raining. She was waiting for her bus to arrive, as her hand played with the pouring rain from beneath the bus-stop. Suddenly, she started to invade her arms, her s, torso, and little by little, her whole body in the rain. As she swirled around in that little space of hers which she had drawn with her vivid imagination, she heard a low laugh. She ignored it, as she swirled harder. Before she could go on, her legs jumbled up, and she tripped over a rock to fall down on the wet, hard, ruthless street.

   Her sprained ankle couldn’t take her weight, nor could her proud mind bear the fall. As she struggled to get up and hide herself in her little shell, she felt an umbrella becoming her blue, clear sky; shielding her from the rain she loved.

   “Little girl, you shouldn’t mess in rain!” the man holding the umbrella said, as he laughed.

   She bowed, sensing that he was older. He helped her walk the little distance to the bus-stop, carried her into the bus, and sat by her as the bus quietly drove on.

   From the corner of her eyes, she could see him. He was reading a book kept neatly in his dry lap, pushing his spectacles in position with his finger.

   “What’s your name?” she asked, not minding the situation, which, to her was perfect for small talk.

   “Should I be telling you my name, Kim Lami-sshi?”

   “How’d you-”

   “It’s on your ID.” He said as he smiled fully.

   “Oh, and I thought you’re a… stalker.” As she finished, her words drifted off. However, the successor of the conversation wasn’t dim at all, as they laughed whilst replaying eccentricity of the whole scenario that had happened involving them in the last thirty minutes.

   He was a college student, she was a high-schooler. He was the son of the Head-Master of a renowned high school, she was a student of that very high school.

   They had to break up on their hundredth day.

   “I’m sparing you just because my son seems to be fond of you. If I ever see you around him again after tonight, I’ll be compelled to expel you.”

   She had left the room in tears.

   She had left him with nothing on her face.

   “Changmin Oppa, mianhae. It’s not your fault!” she couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth.

   “You can’t break up like this on our 100th day anniversary, Lami-yah! Did my father do something?” he asked, as his face grew stiff.

   “No it’s not that… Oppa, annyeong.” She had said,

   And left…

   He was a very caring boyfriend, Shim Changmin, her first love. They used to stroll by the empty park, they used to eat bulgoggi and drink cola together, they used to kiss on each others’ cheeks every now and then…

   “And now he does all this to this woman.” She thought, as she saw him kissing a beautiful, tall, and attractive woman on her cheek, before settling down with her comfortably. They laughed among themselves as they shared a bowl of samgyetang. The woman whispered softly in his ear, and she saw as he shivered slightly under her breath, he was getting goosebumps just being with the woman. He was replying to the woman with probably a funny remark, at which the woman never failed to laugh. The sound of her laugh was beautiful, like a tinkling music that used to play in her heart when she used to bid the sun goodbye for the day with him. His thumb caressed the woman’s cheeks, his hands held the woman’s hands; and they stared at each other lovingly for a brief moment after each laugh they shared.

   To her, it was like an eternity before they had left the shop, hand in hand, eyes on eyes. As the beating of her heart relaxed and matched the pace of the rain, which wasn’t as heavy anymore as her heartbeat even a few seconds ago; she looked down at her Sujebi.

   She took the chopsticks with her trembling little fingers, and twisted the noodles around them before putting them in . She could’ve ordered a cold noodles instead.

   “But why is it so salty?” she thought to herself as she ate another bite.

   “Agassi, would you like some tissue?” a waiter asked.

   She eyed him questioningly, as he handed her one. Her hands involuntarily moved to dab her cheeks dry.

   “I salted my food with my own tears again for him!” she thought as she laughed a little at herself, and devoured the bowl, sniffing.