September 2013

All stories begin with a meeting, theirs was no exception. But instead of loving glances and shy exchanges, theirs only had smeared eyeliner, rain, and a big pororo umbrella.

It was raining then, hell it was pouring. Chanyeol had just finished his shift at the coffee shop not far from the university he was attending. It wasn’t much to be honest and only served as a cheaper alternative for students who couldn’t afford the high end stuff like Starbucks. But still, Chanyeol thought being a barista sounded pretty classy and apart from paying the bills -that was pretty much the only reason to it.

After punching out his shift, Chanyeol stepped out of the little brown shop and onto the drenched pavements. Under the shelter of his giant umbrella which had penguins printed on every square inch of it, he made his way down the streets of Seoul.

Despite the onslaught of rain, the pavement was still packed with people and Chanyeol had to push and be pushed to escape the crowd. He scrunched his nose in disgust as his body brushed past a few office men who probably have never heard of deodorant and made a mental note to take a long, long shower once he got home.

Eventually he lost the crowd, but not the rain unfortunately. The steady drops on his umbrella progressed into palm sized bullets and soon Chanyeol couldn't even see his own two feet. His boots squelched under him with each step he took, he was taking extra care not to bump into passerbys who were just as blinded by the rain as he was.

If Chanyeol hadn't looked down at that moment he would've probably missed him. And in the future he wondered if he should've just walked on and ignored the crying mess in front of him. Walked on and carried on with his own life. Maybe it would've turned out better.

He halted instantaneously and scrambled to keep his balance, one more step and he'd literally cave in on the boy. Despite all the commotion, the boy's head didn't surface from his hands.

Chanyeol stared at the rain and then at the boy, before wordlessly bringing his umbrella to shield the both of them from the downpour. He peered at him again, the sudden jerks in his body made it clear that he wasn't in his happiest state.  

His fingers reached forward to tap on his shoulder gently.

"Are you alright? It's raining like crazy here and at this rate you'll catch a cold."

The boy did not reply nor did he make a single move.

"Hey, did you hear me? I said-"

"Go away."

Chanyeol frowned. He was about to open his mouth to say something but shut it back, sometimes saying too much can't help anything.

Leaving him in the rain wasn't an option; the boy would catch a wicked cold. In the end, he just wordlessly stood beside him, sheltering both of them from the rain.

He looked down and watched as he let out occasional sniffles and brought his knees closer to his body. Time rolled past with no words exchanged, the only sound made was from the splattering of rain when it came into contact with the concrete floor. Chanyeol had his earphones plugged in to pass time, repeating his whole playlist again and again.

The sky soon grew dark and the stars made its entrance, lighting up the sky with its brilliant glow. The rain was reduced to a mere drizzle and Chanyeol could smell the sickly fresh scent of wet grass. He glanced at the boy again, not expecting to find him staring right back. Chanyeol froze at the sight of his face.

His hazel eyes reflected the stars in them and it complimented his auburn hair, his lips were curved up at the sides. He was beautiful. That was why it broke Chanyeol's heart when he saw traces of tears on his milky cheeks and smudged eyeliner staining the corners of his eyes.

"How long have you been standing here?"

Chanyeol snapped out of his thoughts and looked away shyly.

"When I got here the sky was still bright so... that should give you an idea."

"Why didn't you just leave me here?"

"I couldn't bring myself to," Chanyeol said, "trust me you'll be glad I didn't or you'd have woken up to the nastiest cold tomorrow."

"You can go now I don't need your help."

"Then what about you? Are you still gonna stay here?"

"Yes. Got a problem with that?" the boy challenged.

"Not at all. I guess I’ll have to spend the night out here too."

The boy went silent. Chanyeol saw confusion in his eyes and wondered if he'd tear up again.

"Why are you doing this?"

"This world is a good place. There's no reason for helping someone, you just do."

"How would you know how the world is? If the world was such a great place, I wouldn't have been crying in the rain."

Chanyeol smiled.

“I never said the world was a happy place. But it is pretty beautiful once you learn to open your eyes.”

“Aren’t my eyes already open?” the boy retorted.

“I didn’t mean those eyes. I mean those eyes.” Chanyeol kneeled in front of him and pointed at the shorter boy’s heart. “You don’t see truly beautiful things with your eyes -you see it with your heart.”

The boy pushed his finger away and avoided his gaze.

“You’re crazy.”

“Maybe I am. But I’m not the one crying on the floor in the rain,” Chanyeol grinned.

The boy folded his arms, rolling his eyes.

“This is getting really awkward,” Baekhyun commented.

“Yeah… tell you what, let’s turn back the clock and pretend we just met.”

“Hi. My name’s Park Chanyeol. I’m 22. Majoring in Science," he said, holding out a hand.

Baekhyun took it.

“Byun Baekhyun. Twenty-two. Arts major.”

“Well surprise, surprise, we’re the same age!” Chanyeol beamed.

“Is it a surprise?” Baekhyun lifted an eyebrow. “I wasn’t aware that I didn’t look my age.”

Chanyeol let out an awkward laugh and ran a hand through his hair.

“You know I didn’t mean that.”

“You better not,” Baekhyun growled and jabbed a finger to his side.

Chanyeol jumped at the sudden contact and fell sideways onto the pavement, causing Baekhyun to burst out in laughter.

He got up and dusted off his pants, whereas the latter was still laughing hysterically.

“Cut it out,” Chanyeol pouted.

“S-Sorry,” Baekhyun apologized between fits of laughter. "You just have this stupid grin on your face all the time and the way you move is stupid too."

"I think the word you wanted to use instead is cute, and since you're all cheered up now." Chanyeol took back his seat beside him. "Will you tell me what happened?"

The smile on Baekhyun's face vanished almost instantly and he dropped his gaze.

"I...I got dumped."

"Oh."

Chanyeol whistled awkwardly and swung his arms back and forth.

"Look, I'm no good at comforting people but...I'm sorry to hear that. Your girlfriend made a huge mistake I mean... you seem like a nice guy."

"Boyfriend, actually," Baekhyun corrected and waited for Chanyeol's reaction.

"Oh my bad. Your boyfriend made a huge mistake then."

He looked at Chanyeol warily.

"You're not gonna judge me?"

"Nope. I've dated guys too."

Baekhyun almost choked and his eyes widened in shock.

"You're gay too?"

"Nah... I've dated both. Biual's the word," Chanyeol said.

"Not a surprise really. You seem handsome enough to attract both genders... while I can't even keep a guy," Baekhyun laughed bitterly. "I don't blame him. Nobody would want an ugly boyfriend, regardless of their uality."

"I think you're beautiful."

"Don't comfort me."

Chanyeol stared at Baekhyun long and hard before he did something that sealed their fate together. He leaned in and kissed the shorter boy on the lips. He expected him to struggle but he didn't, instead, the boy shut his eyes and savoured the moment. Chanyeol was the one who broke the kiss when they finally ran out of breath.

He gave Baekhyun a shy smile; the latter only blushed and looked away.

Chanyeol got on his feet and held out his hand again.

"I know we just met and all but... I feel like this relationship could work out," Chanyeol's voice quivered with nerves. "Will you take this chance with me?"

Baekhyun noticed Chanyeol's dark eyes, they were shining with something all his past boyfriends didn't have -sincerity. Then something sparked within him. He was going to take this chance, he was going to give love another shot.

He grabbed the taller boy's hand and was pulled right into his embrace.

As the pair walked down the streets of Seoul hand in hand, under the shelter of the oversized pororo umbrella, the hole in Baekhyun's heart was already almost gone. It was if there wasn't one to begin with. Baekhyun gazed at Chanyeol's forever smiling face and held his hand even tighter. Tonight he took a chance; and he had a feeling he would never live to regret it. 

a/n: So if a few of you are wondering "didn't you publish this story before?" Yes, yes I did. But I deleted and am reposting it again because I felt that the original one I wrote wasn't really going the way I wanted it. So please show some love and comment down what you think of the story so far ^^ As always, thanks for reading!