that one stained shirt | mark lee ✓

it's raining men

On Thursday morning, I had to run a few errands. The nice weather didn't hold for long, because just as I left the house, rain started pouring. It wasn't too bad until a literal storm broke out and I had to sprint across the streets to not be completely drenched. I stopped once under some shop's roof, trying to catch my breath, and looked around in case a taxi would be close enough to catch.

But of course it wasn't.

I checked the street once more and started running again, avoiding umbrellas and tourists. I honestly didn't care what the others thought. The raindrops blurred my vision, but once I spotted the post office, I even sped up my tempo. I dodged a group of people in front of me and headed straight across the road.

Should I have looked before doing that? Probably.

Because the next thing I knew was a hard surface, a pain somewhere in my leg, and a distant sound of cars and chatter.

Rain was falling straight into my eyes. Someone knelt next to me, holding my hand. I heard them ask if I could hear them. I let out an incoherent sound, but they turned my head and made me look at them. A young woman was talking to me, slowly, asking me what my name was. I took a deep breath.

"You're alright, miss. But I need you to respond, okay?" I heard her stress and nodded weakly. I told her my name. She asked if I had an ID or anything like that with me, to which I pointed to my purse. I heard her rustle through it. Then she tried to sit me up, but the moment I raised my upper body, a shooting pain ran through my ankle and calf.

"Is it broken?" I asked her in tears, closing my eyes. I felt her fingers graze over the injury.

"I don't think so. Seems in one piece."

"I can't stand up," I sobbed. "I can't."

"It's alright," she took again my hand. "We'll have the ambulance come for you, okay? Just don't move much."

And so I lay back again. My head throbbed in agony and I felt tears sting on my cheeks. I have no idea how long I lay there, but soon a group of paramedics stood around me, their voices by turns muffled. Two of them made me sit up again, another was kneeling by my leg and pressing something against it. It hurt like hell, but they kept asking me questions so there was not much time to shriek.

In the end, they carried me to the car, laid me on a bed, and drove me to the hospital. At some point of the ride, I was so sleepy, that they had to pinch me in my arms to keep me awake. I must have protested badly. They ran some tests on me once we were finally in the building and bright lights shone everywhere. One of the nurses told me to dictate to her the phone number of a family member. I told her Sarah's. I was not muddling Johnny into this even if I knew his number.

"Okay, Miss Suh, you can rest now. Once we'll have the results, I'll come straight to you."

"Thank you," I whispered and watched her exit my room. My eyes flickered around the walls, watching the machines and supplies. I closed my eyes, breathing deeply to calm down my pulse. What have I got myself into?

I had two weeks before the finals. What would happen if I wasn't able to attend? Would they kick me out? Or make me repeat the year?

I knew it wasn't the best to panic over school at a time like this, but I couldn't help myself. The only reason my parents had finally agreed to let me transfer to Seoul was because of the university. They didn't like the idea of me teaching children, in their eyes it was a lame job with not a big enough salary. But it was my dream. If I dropped now, not only would I have to come back to Chicago, but I would also have to explain everything to them. And that itself terrified me to death. How would I make sense of a fake relationship and a mid-storm car crash?

I wouldn't. They'd force me to go back into law school because that is where I always belonged.

A shiver ran over my spine.

I must do something about this.

"JESSICA! JESSICA SUH!" I heard suddenly from the hallway and a little smile spread on my face. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN? SHE'S MY BEST FRIEND, OF COURSE I GET TO SEE HER! MOVE, WOMAN, I HAVE NO TIME TO LOSE HERE WITH YOU."

Then my door burst open and a messy-looking Sarah almost tripped into the room. I spotted someone behind her, but she quickly shut the door and marched to the bed. I don't know what I expected, but not such a furious expression. I was to be yelled at, that was for sure.

"Can you be so nice and explain to me what happened?" Sarah growled and I gulped. Maybe she was in some way even worse than my mother.

But I told her. About the rain, the run, the reason I had to be there so fast in the first place. That reminded me that those papers still needed to get sent. Another problem, nice. I told her about the tourist group I had almost crashed into and she rolled her eyes.

"They were waiting at a red light," she breathed out, annoyed, and I just hummed. "Didn't you see?"

"No," I confessed, ashamed. "The rain was too heavy." Her look slowly softened. She sat down beside me and took my hand into hers. "I'm sorry."

"Oh no, Jess, don't be. I know you didn't mean to. The nurse told me it's looking good, some of the results have already come back. They might send you home tomorrow, maybe even today."

"I hope so," I breathed out and pulled Sarah closer to me. "For a second I thought I had fallen into a coma or something," I chuckled and looked in front of me. "Everything was so blurry and quiet. Like it all happened in a distance."

"That was the shock," she said and smiled gently. "But it's alright now."

"Yeah, I know."

In about two hours, a nurse came with all my results. She said the leg was only severely bruised and that I should not walk around too much. She gave me some medication, wrote down a few names and phone numbers, and gave me a pass home. Sarah helped me to get to her car, sat me down in the backseat, and started to drive me home. When we passed the first big crossroad, an idea occurred to me.

"Could you drive me to Mark's?"

Sarah looked at me through the rear-view mirror. "To Mark's? You've been there?"

"Yeah, it's a long story. Well, actually it isn't, but that doesn't matter now. I can navigate you."

"Okay, girl, if you want so."

"Thanks, Sarah, you're the best."

She scoffed. "Tell me something I don't know."

"How are things with Haechan?" I teased while I took out my phone and dialed Mark's number. She basically slapped me through the mirror. I had to laugh. "What?"

"We are not talking about that man."

I was about to object, but Mark picked up. "Hey, Jess? What's wrong?"

"Hey, um, could I come to your place? Like now?"

"Now?" I could vividly see his confused face. "Why?"

"I will explain later, trust me. I just need to stay at yours now."

There was a thinking pause. Some voices rang in the background, so he had to be in practice. Again.

"Okay, Jess, you can go. The spare key is under the doormat. I'll be home at around six, I think. We've got a couple of schedules left."

"Thank you so much, Mark. See you at home, superstar."

"See you, love. Be safe."

And then he hung up.

Maybe I should have been concerned about his reaction once he'd know what happened, but that new nickname completely broke my brain. I couldn't stop the smile tugging at my lips. And Sarah saw that too.

"You're so in love," she snickered and tapped a rhythm on the steering wheel with her fingers. "It's disgusting."

"Sounds like something Haechan said to me earlier," I chuckled, and she sent me another death stare. I knew I should stop provoking her. "Just get me to Mark's, please. He's allowed me to stay."

And his voice resonated in my head for the rest of the ride.