2. Embrace the rain [Pairings: Myungyeol]

“Let the rain kiss you.

Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.

Let the rain sing you a lullaby.”

- Langston Hughes

“It’s raining again.”  Sungyeol stared at the window blankly. Raindrops were dripping down silently, leaving a trial of water on the cold glass surface.

There weren’t many people in the coffee shop, Yiruma’s “Kiss the Rain” was playing in the background, easing the awkward silence. What caught Sungyeol’s eyes was a boy around his age. The boy was in all black, with a camera hanging on his shoulder.

Eyes sparkling with interest and amazement, lips tinged with a smile, eyebrows raised. Every part of him was screaming anticipation.

“How could someone like rain? It is troublesome, it is depressing, it brings sad memories!” Sungyeol exclaimed in his heart.

A bang, followed by some jingling, made Sungyeol snap back to reality. The door was trembling from the violence, and the boy was gone.

Sungyeol looked outside again, the rain hadn’t stopped yet. Every raindrop plastered to the window was reflecting a little world. Sungyeol trailed his finger on the cold surface and he stopped his track when he saw someone out there.

This person was stretching his arms under the rain, breathing between the gaps of rain. His body was soaked, a camera hung dangerously on his shoulder. Undoubtedly, it was the boy in the shop a moment ago.

Sungyeol stared at the boy in astonishment. He looked so carefree, like a child, he could not understand. In amazement, he stared at the boy until the cold sensation on his fingertip reminded him to stop staring.

His attention went back to the cup of coffee in front of him, which had stopped emanating circles of steam, reminding him that time had elapsed.

He took a few swigs of the coffee, enjoying the bitter yet sweet beverage caressing his tongue.

The night had silently arrived, darkness was embracing the shop and Sungyeol, the rain had also stopped unknowingly. Only the water trails on the glass proved the existence of the afternoon rain, blurring the soft light in a distance. The cup was empty long ago, but his hand was still tightly gripping it, not willing to let go of the last warmth. He sat there staring into emptiness, until sleepiness caught him.

The piece “Kiss the Rain” had paused. The occasional clanking sound of the utensils echoed in the empty shop. He looked around, he was the last customer, as usual. He hated his home, they were never a family, they were just three separate people living under the same roof. 10:00p.m. His parents were most likely not back, nor did he wish to see them.

He dragged his drained body up from the seat and something caught his eyes. It was a photograph, sitting on a stool casually.

Carefully, he picked it up. It was taken by a lake, willow was swaying across the lake, stoking the peaceful lake’s surface. There was a Chinese-style bridge, like a guardian who protects every passenger. The clear reflection of the bridge on the lake moved with the rhythm of the willows. An old couple was sitting on a bench by the lake, there was an aura of sweetness and happiness about them. Sungyeol stared at the picture, a tear silently dropped. The couple reminded him of his parents. He had never seen his parents talk calmly. He hated it, the chaos and the arguments. Sungyeol could feel warmth diffuse and embrace him, he had never felt that peaceful before. He flipped over the photograph, expecting to find a signature. And there it was, an alphabet, L.

Sungyeol traced his fingers along the signature, wondering how the person had felt when he signed. He felt warmth, he felt peace, which he had never experienced all the years at home. His lips unknowingly formed an upward curve.

He carefully put it in his wallet, cherishing it as if it was a piece of gold.

He tugged his jacket before leaving the cozy coffee shop. For the first time, he didn’t shiver from coldness.

Sungyeol took off from the bus under the pouring rain. He looked at the grey sky in disgust.

“It’s raining again.” He checked the time in annoyance. He would possibly be late, thanks to the rain. He stood under the roof across the bus stop. Rain was battering roof like a hail of bullets, rain hammered down, wall of water, smudges of light, tumult of the storm, rain-lashed, brief and sudden showers, driving rain. Water drips downwards via the roof, like teardrops, falling on the floor continuously. The rain hit the ground violently, splashing into numerous water flowers. A group of children went by, stepping on every water pool, and his shoes were soaked.

Time had been ticking, but there was no sign of the rain to stop. Sungyeol looked at the sky, which was in an ugly grey hue, helplessly. The weather was so unexpected. The sky was clear, and the sun was shining bright that morning. Sungyeol of course didn’t bring his umbrella, thinking it wouldn’t rain. And now he was there, stuck in that heavy rain.

He exhaled a deep breath that he was holding, trying to suppress his annoyance towards the rain. People with umbrella were walking quickly, as if to show off that they brought an umbrella. His annoyance was at the edge of explosion. Then he felt someone was approaching him, staring at him in interest.

“What does he think I am? A tourist attraction? Or a statue?” Sungyeol muttered, feeling the person's each footstep on the floor.

He looked at the person, he was around his age. The boy was in all black, a camera hanging on his shoulder. The figure was strangely familiar, but no matter how Sungyeol searched in his memory, he couldn’t recall his name.

The boy was nearer and nearer to him, until they stood face to face.

The boy wore a loose black silk shirt with leather cuffs and black trousers with a camera hanging on his shoulder. He had the kind of face that stopped you in your tracks. He was slim, muscular, with an almost perfectly symmetrical face. His rich tousled black hair which was thick and lustrous. He got that brown skin Adonis look going on, deep and catastrophic eyes that made every one weak at the knees, flecks of silvery light performed ballets throughout.  His lips were pink and thin, and his nose was well-defined. A prominent jaw curved gracefully around.

“Hey, mister. Take the umbrella.” The boy’s voice broke Sungyeol’s thought. He blushed when he realized all the time he was scanning the boy's body feature.

“Yes… Wait, what?” the boy chuckled at the muddle-headed Sungyeol, seemed not mind the fact that he was being stared.

“Do you need the umbrella?” he asked.

“How about you?”

The boy pointed at the bus, and rushed into it. Sungyeol stared at the boy’s silhouette disappearing with the bus. A figure flashed in his mind, and he found the answer to the question why did the boy looked familiar, he should be the same boy he met in the coffee shop that day.

Sungyeol looked at the all black umbrella, then at the further and further away bus. And smiled. Warmth is everywhere.

The rain hit his skin like it would go right through and the water washed the street like a river would rise. Beneath the sound of the city traffic, Sungyeol couldn’t hear his own footfalls. He was so completely wet and numb that he didn’t feel the splashing of the vehicles or the wind that blew so hard that the litter swirled into the air like the poor relations of autumn leaves. The streets passed in a frigid blur, he wasn’t heading for home, instead he was running away from it. Rain slid down Sungyeol’s cheek, mixing with his tears, rolling down from his cheek to his neck and to his broad shoulder. He wiped away the water that stung his eyes.

His umbrella was sitting in his bag quietly. But he didn’t have the thought of taking it out. He let the rain washed his tear-stained face.

He stumbled along the pathway, not caring the weird glances he received from the pedestrians. The rain was pouring hard the sky was covered in a big grey blanket.

He couldn’t stand it, the heaviness exerted by the pouring rain and the aching pain in his heart. He crumbled down, squatting on the wet concrete road.

So painful, he let his tears to mark trails on his face wantonly. He sobbed and sobbed, until all the tears were cried out, until he got no strength to cry. His eyelids as if weighed ten tons, and he fell into a world of unconscious.

In the dream, Sungyeol was once again in his blank house, curling in his bed timidly. The screaming, the shouting, the clanking, the crying from the living room was ear-piercingly loud to Sungyeol. He held his blanket more tightly.

“No, stop it, stop it, please.” He begged in a whisper which was impossible for the two people who were overtaken by anger to hear. He hated it, he hated all the chaos occurring in this little house. His hope was simple: he wanted a family, not just an apartment without any warmth. Sungyeol screamed voicelessly, but his parents did not seem to hear.

His room and the shouting vanished entirely then, and his dad was standing over the kneeling Sungyeol. The old man leant over him, Sungyeol furrowed his eyebrow upon the whole alcoholic smell the man in front of him was giving. He was holding a whip. As if he was watching a slow motion movie, the whip flew in the sky, and slowly landing on Sungyeol’s scarred  back.

Sungyeol woke with a cry, his eyes flying open, and found himself staring at shadows. Painfully he hauled himself into a sitting position. Every part of him ached from the mental exhaustion. He glanced around. He was tucked into a linen-sheeted bed, his bed had a small nightstand beside it with a white pitcher and cup on it. Curtains were pulled across the windows, blocking the light, although he could hear the pattering of the rain against the window.

“Oh, you are awake.” A boy around his age, who looked strangely familiar to Sungyeol, walked into the room, holding a cup of water, “you need this.”

“Thanks,” Sungyeol said weakly, used his trembling hand to hold the cup.

The boy sat beside him, looking at him drinking silently.

“So, where am I?” Sungyeol asked after he finished the cup of water.

“My house.” The boy answered calmly.

“Your house? It’s beautiful.” Sungyeol praised sincerely, while admiring the interior design of the room. The couch was cream but inlaid with a fine black silk, the white curtains were linen, the ink of white that was untouched by hands and devoid of dust. A cursory look to the right showed him the almost hidden cords that were used to open and close them. The floor was a high polished wood, dark and free of either dust of clutter. There was no television, no bookshelf, only photographs arranged on the wall tidily, and a shelf which contain different type of cameras and lens. The photographs were different natural scenery, not casual family snaps, but it looked like by a professional. Any one of them wouldn’t look inferior to the others.

“Thanks.” The boy smiled, showing a cute dimple.

“Why am I here?”

“I found you all soaked by the roadside, so I brought you home.”

“Oh…”

“Why were you there?” the boys question left Sungyeol speechless.

“I... uh… I was very… um… very sad.” Sungyeol stammered

“But why?”

Silence.

“It’s fine, if you do not want to talk about it.” The boy comforted Sungyeol.

“No, it’s just that…”

“It’s fine.” The boy insisted.

“I went back home early today, the corridor was silence. Suddenly, a loud voice from my home broke through the silence. My mother was screeching at my dad. Then I heard a loud thump on the wall, the powerful sound waves rebounded off the wall of the narrow corridor and started throbbing against my ear drum. More sound was followed by, things were thrown on the floor violently. I heard the endless echo of crying and screaming. All I wanted to do was to shut myself in a box, isolated myself from all this chaos. I intruded to the home, it was as if world war III had just occurred. Shattered plates and photo frames were all over the house, and my mother’s blood-shot eyes caught my eyes.” Sungyeol retold the story, tears were whelming in his eyes, “But they didn’t stop even when I stepped into the apartment, they greeted me with shouting and screaming. I shouted for it stop, but no one heard me. The fight just carried on. Then I saw my father, that old man, pinning my mother up against the wall and screaming in her ear. I couldn’t stand it, I turned away, grabbed my bag and rushed outside, not caring if it was raining heavily. I imminently needed some fresh air, my lung was about to explode after seeing such scenery. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t have a normal family, having parents that love me, care about me…” Sungyeol broke down and sobbed helplessly.

The boy let him cried, embracing the other with his own warmth, while soothing him. The only sound in the room was the sniffing and the breathing sound.

“You are strong.” The boy broke the silence after a good while, “you didn’t escape the reality. You face it, no matter how painful it is.”

“It’s just that I don’t get a choice.”

“Relax yourself, distract yourself with something else. Stressing yourself is not a good option.”

“What should I do?”

“Taking pictures.” The boy got up and returned with a camera.

“It’s that why your room is filled with photographs?” the boy nodded in response.

“I love photography because it can capture all the beautiful and amazing memories, and see the beauty every day.” The boy explained.

“Oh…”

“Take this, I can teach you.” The boy handed him a camera.

“Ar… are you sure?” Sungyeol voice reflected uncertainty.

“Yeah. This is my old camera, I don’t use if often now. I can give it to you.” The boy said, showing his adorable dimples.

“Thanks, you are so nice.” Sungyeol loved it, he loved the feeling of being loved. “But, what’s your name?” he asked shyly.

“Myungsoo, Kim Myungsoo.” The boy answered, not feeling awkward. “you can call me L.”

L, this alphabet, came as a bolt out of the blue, made Sungyeol frozen in his spot.

“Then what’s your name?” L asked, having no response.

“Lee Sungyeol.” Sungyeol said absently, mind was drifting to the two encounters they had before. “You are L?”

“Yeah.”

Sungyeol took out his wallet, and pick the lake photograph he picked in the coffee shop, and took the umbrella in his bag.

“Maybe I should give these back to you.”

L’s eyes widen when he saw the photograph and the umbrella.

“I thought I couldn’t see it anymore,” L said, while caressing the photograph, “thank god it is you who keep it. Thank you, Sungyeol-xi, my photograph could be kept nicely.”

Sungyeol blushed at the compliment.

“And this umbrella, I didn’t think that it is you whom I gave the umbrella to.” L said.

“Aish, it is raining again.” Sungyeol stared at the window blankly. Raindrops were dripping down silently, leaving a trial of water on the cold glass surface.

There weren’t many people in the coffee shop, Yiruma’s “Kiss the Rain” was playing in the background, easing the awkward silence.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” L popped out from nowhere and sat next to Sungyeol swiftly, scaring the older to half-death.

His eyes were sparkling with interest and amazement, lips tinged with a smile, eyebrows raised. Every part of him was screaming anticipation.

“No, rain is troublesome, it is depressing, it brings sad memories!” Sungyeol denied.

A bang, followed by some jingling. The door was trembling from the violence, and Sungyeol found himself outside of the coffee shop with L.

L ran out into the rain, stretched his arm in the rain.

“Sungyeol, come. It’s fun.” L said while chuckling, water was dripping down his wet black hair.

Sungyeol bit the bullet and went out there, and he soon he found himself enjoying it too, breathing between the gaps of rain. His body was soaked, the camera hung dangerously on his shoulder. But he didn’t care, all he was enjoying the happiness he was having. The feeling of carefree, the feeling of cheerful under the pouring rain.

“Sungyeol-a,” L turned his head, and talked to the older.

“What?”

“Enjoy the rain, appreciate it. Admire the beauty of it, be optimistic. There are always thunderstorms in your life, but there must be a day when the rain stops, and the rainbow greets you.” L smiled, “Embrace the rain, embrace the obstacles, and slowly, you will be in love with it.”

“I will try to.” And Sungyeol made a sincere smile.

Author: Hi, I am here with this new one-shot story - Embrace the Rain.

If you like it, please subscribe and leave a comment, it really motivates me a lot. ><

p.s. the following photo is the photograph I described

(I took it in Qing Hua University. Beijing, China)