baby, i'm yours | winrina miniseries

ceilings

a/n: sad, short, sweet

Minjeong meets Jimin when it rains.

She has her earphones in, playing Lizzy McAlpine's ceilings; she never much takes them out anyway, so the music is soft, a perfect backtrack to Jimin's sunlight.

Sunlight is a good word for Jimin. It always has been.

They're in the gymnasium of their school. Minjeong is exiting through the side door, which leads straight outside; but it's pouring rain now.

"Can I help you?"

Minjeong turns.

There is a girl there, and Minjeong would be stupid to not recognize her.

Yu Jimin, Minjeong's crush for the past three years. She is popular, far away, like a glowing star at the fingertips of every high school student; a glamorous dream, accompanied by perfect makeup and a showy life. She is kind, a rare oasis amongst the whirling storm centers of her friends- yet she is patiently beautiful, a kind of outgrown gorgeous they don't make anymore, pure and unabashed.

"Yeah, the door, it's just stuck," Minjeong manages to hash out, shoving at the metal door, jammed against its frame.

"Oh, it rusts in the rain," Jimin says nonchalantly, a smile on her face, calm and reserved; almost as if she's not really there. Her smile is distant, her eyes far away.

"Oh. Great."

Minjeong backs away and takes a seat on the gym bench. It creaks as she moves, and Jimin moves to sit beside her.

They are the only ones there. Minjeong doesn't ask why Jimin is there, and neither does Jimin. Silence engulfs them, stretching, yawning across the dark gym, the inactive scoreboard looming on the opposite corner. The tall windows display their proud pattern of pounding rain, fat drops splattering and breaking against the thick glass panes.

Ceilings, plaster

Can't you just make it move faster?

Lovely to be sitting here with you

The singer's voice rings in Minjeong's ears as she thinks, and she realizes belatedly: how perfect her song is for this moment.

Jimin looks at her with a kind of fond smile, albeit still distant. "I'm Yu Jimin."

Minjeong just nods. How could she forget?

"I know."

A smile emerges on Jimin's face, a real one, and she looks around. "Do you want to try the other exit?"

Minjeong shrugs and stands. "Sure."

She runs toward the back exit, the other door, and shoves against it: her sneakers squeak, and she hears Jimin's laugh as she jogs to help Minjeong. They shove against the door together, and it cracks open. Minjeong slips and then she's sliding into a puddle just below the doorstep, one that she hadn't seen before.

You're kinda cute but it's raining harder

My shoes are now full of water

They stand below the overhang, Minjeong in the puddle and Jimin just above her, the rain as a soundtrack to their little moment. Jimin smiles again, and it reaches her eyes; she leans down and brushes a lock out of Minjeong's face.

"It feels like I've known you forever."

The words "I wish you had," slip out of Minjeong's mouth unbidden, and a confused look slides across Jimin's face, replaced by placid amusement.

"I see."

Lovely to be rained on with you

It's kinda cute but it's so short

Minjeong steps out of the puddle and Jimin jumps down nimbly beside her. The rain is raging now, aggressively slapping its bounty against each surface in sight. Minjeong sighs. There's no chance of walking in this weather.

"I can drive you."

Minjeong looks sideways at Jimin.

Then you're drivin' me home

Then she is in the car, and Jimin is revving the engine, putting in Minjeong's address. They talk nonsensically; Jimin's likes, her dislikes, Minjeong's family. It is brief.

Too short.

And I don't wanna leave

But I have to go

Then Minjeong is back on wet pavement, waving goodbye to Jimin and thanking her.

She never gets to confess.

Jimin never gets her name either; they are forever apart, separated by an ocean of words unspoken.