Meet Me Here

Chapter 18: My Best Years

Boom!

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ye Jin cursed when it started pouring out of nowhere.

Stuck in the lobby of their school, neither Ye Jin nor Hyun Bin had an umbrella that could spare them from getting drenched like a wet puppy. Thankfully, Ye Jin's mother was coming to fetch them that day, but they still needed a form of shelter between their school and the car.

"Whoever designed this shelter clearly didn't think much about the rain. Can't they extend the shelter a little bit so that we can get to the car without getting drenched?" Ye Jin lamented for the thousandth time.

"Or...you could pack an umbrella in your bag, Jinnie. For someone who doesn't like getting wet, I don't understand why you don't want to put your umbrella to good use." Hyun Bin shook his head in amusement.

"I'm just saying..." Ye Jin huffed while Hyun Bin let out a laugh.

"Don't worry, Jinnie. I'll protect you." Hyun Bin winked.

"How?"

Instead of replying, Hyun Bin took off his jacket and held it up to Ye Jin. Seconds later, they were running towards the car together with Hyun Bin's jacket shielding them from the rain.

Although the jacket wasn't nearly as waterproof as a raincoat and if they were being objective, they did get drenched in the end, Ye Jin couldn't help the burst of warmth that blossomed in her chest when she thought about the way Hyun Bin promised to protect her.

Although she hated getting drenched, Ye Jin couldn't help but laugh as they braved through the rain together, with Hyun Bin's arm slung over Ye Jin securely.

If only he was by her side now...

It was the same dreary day. She was standing in the same lobby with the sad excuse of a shelter shielding her from the downpour. She was waiting for her mother's car to save her from the storm.

The only difference was, Hyun Bin wasn't here to protect her this time.

That thought only made her feel more alone than ever.

Hugging herself, Ye Jin soothed her thumb over the wool of her cardigan, sighing softly when the rain only seemed to grow heavier.

It wasn't going to cease any time soon, just like the growing ache in her heart.

Minutes later, her mother's car pulled up and Ye Jin made a run for it. Slamming the door hard behind her, Ye Jin was absolutely miserable as she combed through her wet hair and shook off some of the water.

"How was your day, sweetie?" Her mother asked.

"Good." Ye Jin shrugged, leaving the conversation to wither into nothingness.

Smiling tightly at her daughter, Ye Jin's mother wisely kept her mouth shut, recognising that her daughter hasn't been herself since Hyun Bin left for the US.

She could empathise. She missed her best friend too but it was different when young love was torn apart by forced separation.

As with all her free time these days, Ye Jin plugged in her earphones, playing the only song that could calm her on repeat. The gentle rise and fall of a piano's soulful song filled her ears, reminding Ye Jin of the days that Hyun Bin would play this piece next to her.

As children, he had always been the one who was musically inclined. While she struggled to even learn the Fur Elise, Hyun Bin had mastered it in a day and could play it with his eyes closed in two.

He even wrote a song for her.

Their song.

The only song that could soothe her aching heart but at the same time, make her heart ache more.