“Hey kiddo, are you going home for the week?” Yejin asked me the morning of our vacation. She stuffed her sweater in her backpack and zipped it up. Our little vacation is just a week away from the dorm to either spend time with family or at the company spa. In Yejin's case, she staying with her friends for the week while spending time at the spa. She said that she needed to rejuvenate herself from all the stress that piled up.

 

I nodded and helped her pack, “Yeah, I'm going to drop in and give my greetings. I'll probably be at the dorm still.”

 

“You're still not on good terms with family?” She said suddenly. It surprised me how she'll bring something that's sensitive so easily. I ignored it and played it off coolly.

 

“Not as bad as you think, but yeah... They still think this is a stupid idea.” I mumbled and she pouted. I brushed away the old scar and distracted myself with her bag zipper. 

 

“It'll be okay.” She my back and pulled her bag away from me. “Anyway, I'm going to head off. If you leave before Heeae, tell her to make sure that she locks the door and turns off all appliances, okay?”

 

“You're reminding me to say that to our mom?” I scoffed and she smacked her head.

 

“Right.” She laughed at herself, “That girl probably triple checked everything.”

 

“See you.” I waved and she lugged her bags over her shoulder.

 

“See you in a week. If you don't end up going to the spa care, I'll get some products for you. My treat.” She winked and I watched her leave the dorm.

 

Everyone else had one to two large bags to take home while I just had a small duffel bag. I didn't need much since I'm just going home for dinner. I should leave as soon as possible after the dinner just to avoid having another fight with mom. If she catches anything that is slightly off, she'll make a huge lecture of it.

 

“Well I'm here.” I sighed and let my bag strap fall off my shoulder. I dropped the bag onto the concrete floor and looked around the streets I once always walked on. It seemed a lot shorter and cramped. It used to seem so big to me when I would follow the white cracked paint lines on the ground. I looked ahead and recognized a change in the street corner. There used to be a wall that sort of stuck out along side the road, but I guess they finally got rid of it. Just around the corner would be the neighborhood where my house is.

 

I reached for my bag, but a raindrop landed on the back of my hand. I wiped off the droplet and looked at the cloudy sky. The weather was bright and a warm enough for me to be wearing just a thin jacket. It can't be raining... I hope not.

 

And I thought wrong. A second later, pellets of rain washed over my body and I grabbed my bag and covered part of my face with my hands so that I could see. I just need to look for shelter and wait until it stops raining. It's not a problem since I'm not in a hurry to get home.

 

“Hey!” A voice shouted from behind me over the sound of the rain. I turned sideways and all I saw was a blurry figure running towards me. It didn't help having the rain hit my face. I wiped off the excess and there stood Jin with his jacket over his head. He covered my head as well and I followed his pace.

 

We arrived at our school not soon after and took shelter under the small roof that peaked out from the gym entrance.

 

“What are you doing here?” I asked, dabbing my face with the back of my hand. He shook his hair and wiped the water from his face with his shirt.

 

“Probably the same as you.” He brushed his hair back, “I wanted to visit my parents so I came. I saw you on the way here and I just kept walking behind you. Now I know how it was like to be you back then.” He laughed and caused me to feel embarrass. It's not like I meant to follow him every day to and from school back then. “I don't get how it would suddenly rain this hard.” He stuck his hand out and let the rain fall on his palm. “I hope it clears soon.”

 

“I'm fine just the way it is. I'm not in a hurry. Maybe you are though.” I sat on my duffel bag that was placed against the door. “How is your parents? Do they still brag a lot about you?”

 

“I'd rather they not. It's nice, but sometimes they can be too exertive.” He laughed, rubbing the side of his neck as he looked down. A memory of him always doing that popped in my head.

 

He's still the same with his habits. I smiled and looked out to the court yard. “How long do you think it's going to keep raining?”

 

“Beats me. Remember that time when there was a rain storm while we were still at school? That was horrible. I can't even remember how I even got home.” He shuddered and sat next to his back pack, “I just remember going home with my shoulder and shoes soaked.”

 

It just hit me. On that rainy day, I did something I swore to myself to forget about. Now it's rushing back to me and I looked away to hide my face.

 

He found me on my way home when my umbrella decided to give out. My two dollar umbrella of three years finally said goodbye. It was a clear, retractable mini umbrella I bought at the convenience store.

 

He greeted me with the same smile and had his sky blue umbrella over us. He offered to walk me home and even though I noticed his shoulder kept getting wet, he didn't mention anything about it. The feelings that kept building up within those years were bottled up inside of me. The feelings of denial and acceptance clashed constantly.

 

Back then, I wasn't sure if I should of said anything or not, but on that particular day, I felt brave. We were just half a block from my house when I stopped abruptly and turned to him. I still remember how he looked when he asked me what was wrong. His eye brows were furrowed and his lips were pouted while he was deep in thought.

 

The words, 'I like you.' escaped my lips and almost right after, I regretted speaking. He blinked at me and that moment felt like hours to me. Everything moved so slowly. He apologized and said he couldn't hear me over the rain.

 

It was true though. I barely heard myself saying those words, but it makes me wonder if he really meant that or he pretended to save me from embarrassment. His words surprised me and so after that, I acted like nothing happened and swallowed my feelings. I think I took it well as a rejection even if he hasn't addressed it. I'm glad he's not the type of guys that would humiliate people for confessing.

 

“Hey, look.” He said and I gave him my attention. He had his bag open and in one hand, he held up a black umbrella.

 

“I guess we're going home?” I asked and watched him open it up. He had a proud smile across his face.

 

“Like old times.” He chuckled and adjusted his bag on his shoulder, “I can't believe I forgot I threw an umbrella in my bag. I have a lot of junk in here I should probably clean out." He mumbled and rummaged through his items.

 

The rest of the walk towards my house felt very natural. I thought I would be really nervous and conscious if I were to be alone with him. It must be the constant text messages we had even if most conversation didn't go anywhere.

 

Throughout the walk, he asked me questions and I filled him in on what happened in my life since I pretty much knew most of how he got into Big Hit. He listened very intently which at times I was thrown off by how focused he looked.

 

“Well, I'll see you.” He waved as we stopped at the corner of my street. I asked him to leave me here since I can walk half of the way by myself. The rain is getting lighter anyway.

 

“Thanks for walking me.” I bowed and spun on my heels to face the street.

 

A car driving by had it's blinker signaling right. I let it pass and just when it did, I see Jin rush in front of me and the sounds of water hitting plastic.

 

“That was a close one.” He sighed and moved his umbrella that shielded the both of us. My face was just inches from his chest and his arm was tightly around my shoulders. He didn't take long to notice how stiff I was. He cleared his throat and stepped away.

 

“T-Thanks.” I mumbled. He saved me from getting splashed by the big puddle on this corner. When did he get this quick with his reflexes? He wasn't that active back then either. 

 

“Alright. I'll see you around.” He said with a smile and reached out with his hand. He hesitantly stopped his hand by my head before placing it on my head as if he wasn't sure if he should touch me. “Text me if you want to go out. We can go by the cafe. I hope it's still there.”

 

“Okay.”

 

These feelings... It can't return now. He's giving me mixed signals... It shouldn't be like this, but...

 

Why does it feel so nice?