Weak Hero: Rain (Prelude to Satellite)

Rain (Prelude to Satellite)

Stephen remembered liking rainy days. Despite the gray sky and gloomy atmosphere, there was the refreshing sensation of cold rain droplets sprinkling his skin from under his umbrella, it brought him a warm sense of nostalgia. Nostalgia of something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, a memory he absolutely cannot decipher. In High school? No, Middle school- it’s as if there was something blocking his memory from emerging.

 Ever since the accident a long time ago -about eleven years, Stephen recalled- He was made aware that he had, in fact, lost a collection of his memories. Although thankfully he forgot only certain. but trivial things such as; the events leading up to that point and his mothers name which he remembered soon afterwards. Nothing too important. About half a year after he woke up from his coma, his mother had decided he would take therapy sessions for the sake of daily checks on his mental health- since what got him into a coma was the fact that he fell off the roof of his school. Therapy was quite uncalled for, but Stephen understood why his family was taking precautions when it came to him and his situation. He couldn’t help but only feel thankful for it.

Back to the topic of rain. Ever since then, Stephen hadn’t felt as ecstatic as he used to be. The nostalgic feeling started to bother him, the fact that he could feel the pleasure of being in the rain, but never really know why. Of course- it’s completely possible that he just likes the feeling of rain or the ‘whooshing’ sound that cars make on a rainy day. But it felt deeper than that, like it was more meaningful, like there was an actual reason why. Which led him to believe that he perhaps really did forget something important. Not important fundamentally, but important personally.

There he stood, rain drenching his sneakers as he waited in front of a cafe for his girlfriend. He didn’t like the overwhelming feeling of familiarity washing over him. Although, he wasn’t completely opposed to it. In a way he felt like he was always one step closer to remembering that one important thing every time he pulls out his gray umbrella to combat the pouring rain- that being said, it’s been at least eleven years and he still can’t recall what he’s missing. Submerged in his thoughts, he failed to notice that his Girlfriend had already arrived and was pouting at him underneath her own gray umbrella.

“Stephen,, you’re spacing out again.” She scolded and pinched his arm, managing to break him out of his little thought bubble.

“Oww, Minyoung, Oww” Stephen jokingly made a face at her, earning a hard flick to his temple.

His girlfriend, Minyoung, was a beautiful girl in her early twenties’ about three years younger than Stephen. But he didn’t mind, she was kind, intelligent, knowledgeable, and had a strict demeanor especially when it came to schooling. Which, Stephen surprisingly found attractive when he first met her in College. Minyoung, although younger than him, had this wise look in her eyes, as if she had already experienced her hardships and had already learnt everything she needed to learn about life. But something about her also made her seem empty. For Stephen, it gave him the same kind of nostalgia he’d get from standing out in the rain. But instead of bothering him, he started to grow interested- which is ultimately how they ended up dating. 

There was something about taking care of Minyoung, making her smile, and taking down the wall she’s built for herself that just made Stephen feel warm. Almost like he was reliving a past romance, except this time, the right way. This made him question himself- what if that important thing that he forgot was a person, maybe even a romance. A romance he left behind? Just thinking about it made him feel extremely guilty. If he’s correct, even in the slightest, he would like a chance to properly apologize to that mystery person. His heart ached for that person.

After their date, the two of them exited the cafe with hot drinks in hand, and proceeded to explore the large shopping area of Seoul. The rain didn’t make it any less enjoyable, the two took silly pictures, romantic pictures, just a handful of pictures in general. Stephen couldn’t have imagined a better date on a rainy day with his partner. At about their third store- a streetwear store - Minyoung had split up from him to go hunting for the cute couple shirts she found on instagram, which left Stephen with himself just checking out the other products in the small outlet. His eyes were immediately drawn to a plain gray t-shirt hanging under a collection of matching gray caps that had little cartoons printed onto them. Thinking about Minyoung and her obsession with matching accessories, he lifted one of the caps and inspected it.

By the time Minyoung found him once again, he was carrying an armful of gray items that were about the same shade (almost beige if you look hard enough). Minyoung let out a light chuckle, helping him handle the stack of gray clothes. 

“I swear Stephen, what’s with you and the shade gray?” She chuckled harder, linking her arm with Stephen’s to prevent him from losing balance.

“I don’t know, I guess I just really like gray!” He responded.

Truthfully, the color gray was also one of those things he couldn’t decipher. For some odd reason Stephen couldn’t pick out, gray was just something that he seemed to notice everywhere. There have been instances where he’d get asked by other people about his strange obsession with the shade, and he could only reply with bogus reasons that he couldn’t confirm for himself. ‘Oh, because gray is a cool shade’ -Which is a white lie, or ‘Because I think I look best wearing gray’ -Which is a complete lie in itself. But unlike rain, the shade didn’t bother him very much, which is why almost all of his T-shirts are gray. His umbrella, shoes, and car are all the same shade of light (almost beige) gray.

As the couple exited the store, they had at least four gray bags filled with completely gray clothing, in exception to the couple shirts Minyoung bought that were a light shade of turquoise. One last place to check out before their date ends. Now, the rain had calmed down, and was at a light drizzle. The sky was already dark, and all the stores had their signs lit up lighting up the wet sidewalk with the reflections of neon colors. Their last destination was a bakery which was located across the street, the bakery was in quite an awkward place. It was sandwiched between a nightclub and a coin-karaoke place. But Stephen didn’t really mind, Minyoung said that the bakery had a good collection of desserts they could take back home.

Arms linked together, under Stephen’s umbrella, they crossed the street together along with the crowd of people waiting to cross the street as well. Mid-way through, Stephen felt someone bump into him from behind. Being the polite person he is, he looked back to check on them. As he looked back, he locked eyes with a boy- no, a man whom he first thought was a girl, but after closer inspection was actually a male in an oversized hooded sweater and a dirty white shirt who looked to be in his mid twenties. His eyes- a sharp shade of pink -looked shocked as he stared back at Stephen. The male had medium length gray hair, the same shade of gray that always catches Stephen’s eye. Just like the rain, the same sense of overwhelming familiarity washed over him.

“Are you okay, sir?”