The first time they met was at the local park. It was a particularly rainy day that day and she sat on the swings, sobbing.
Myungsoo was walking home from the convenience store when he heard the sobs, and that’s when he saw her. Curious, he walked over a little closer and saw that someone was on the swings – crying. He frowned. He carefully strolled a little closer and covered her with his umbrella.
Suzy looked up and saw a silhouette of a man – he was holding his umbrella over her. Rain no longer hit her and he could see her tears thanks to the light coming from the lampposts.
“Why are you crying?” he blurted out before he could stop himself. His eyes widened and he panicked, hoping he hadn’t offended the stranger. She just stared at him with wide eyes, her tears coming to a stop.
“I… I don’t know,” she admitted, sniffling. “I just… I–”
He smiled gently and pulled his umbrella back and set it on the ground. He set the plastic bag he was holding down next to his umbrella and held out his hand.
“Do you want to dance with me?”
She stared at him in shock. “Now? In the rain?”
He grinned and nodded. “Yeah, why not?”
“Won’t we get sick?” she hesitated, completely forgetting that she had been sitting under the rain ten minutes ago.
“What’s life without a little risk?” he smiled and took her hand. “Come on, let’s dance.”
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As expected, the next day, Suzy woke up with a fever. She blinked groggily and sat up with a groan. She felt pain all over her body. Reaching over, she picked up her phone and peered at the screen, wincing slightly at the brightness of it (her curtains were dark and so her room was a bit dark). It was 11:30 A.M. Her school had started four hours ago.
She blinked a bit and lay back down on her bed and yawned.
“Well,” she murmured to herself sleepily. “Might as well skip.”
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Myungsoo was late to class that day due to the cold he seemed to have caught. Maybe dancing in the rain wasn’t one of his smartest ideas.
He wondered how that girl he danced with was doing. He hoped she wasn’t sick; he didn’t want her to suffer because of his rash decisions.
“Food for your thoughts?” a pretty girl’s face popped in front of Myungsoo’s with a light smile. Myungsoo smiled back.
“Hey, Jiyeon,” he greeted.
“What’re you thinking about with such a serious face?” she sat down next to him, a little too close for comfort, but Myungsoo didn’t mind. They’ve known each other for years.
“I met a girl last night,” he began, not noticing how Jiyeon stiffened. “She was crying in the rain and so I tried to cheer her up. I made her dance in the rain with me and I got sick because it. I hope she’s not sick as well.”
Jiyeon didn’t reply and instead glared at the floor, but Myungsoo didn’t notice.
“Anyways, I should get to class,” he stood up and grabbed his guitar case. “I’ll see you later, Jiyeon.”
“Yeah, later,” she muttered.
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“Suzy!” someone pounced on top of Suzy, making her grunt. “Where were you today?!”
Suzy peeked out from her covers and saw her best friend, Jieun, frowning down at her. Grunting again, she pulled the cover over her head.
“Leave me alone,” Suzy buried her face into her pillow. “I’m sick,” came out her muffled voice.
Jieun gasped dramatically and forcefully pulled the covers off. “What?! You’re sick? Are you okay?”
“Your yelling isn’t making it any better,” Suzy grumbled and sat up. She ran her fingers through her hair and blinked at Jieun tiredly. “Why are you here–no, how did you get in here?”
Suzy and Jieun stared at each other. Breaking out into a sheepish smile, Jieun blinked at her best friend.
“Um, well you know how when you went out of town that one time?” she gulped while Suzy narrowed her eyes.
“I thought you put the key back.”
“I, uh, might’ve… forgotten.”
“Did you forget or did you not want to put it back?”
“… A little bit of both.”
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Myungsoo was walking towards the bus stop when someone wrapped an arm around his neck.
“Myungsoo!” he cried. “I missed you!”
“I saw you yesterday, Sungyeol,” Myungsoo rolled his eyes and smirked. “You act like you haven’t seen me in years.”
Sungyeol let out a dramatic sob as the two resumed walking. “Twenty-four hours away from you is too long, my dear Myungsoo!”
“… Do you need something?”
Almost immediately, Sungyeol let go of Myungsoo and blocked his way with a grin.
“So, uh, I got kicked out of my apartment–”
“Are you serious.”
Sungyeol let out a sheepish laugh and nodded. “Yeah, the landlord person was on his man-period or something and–”
“Yeah, okay, so what really happened?” Myungsoo deadpanned.
“I didn’t pay my rent because I forgot and I spent the money on a new phone,” Sungyeol began to draw circles with the toe of his shoe on the ground. Myungsoo let out an exasperated sigh.
“Okay, you can stay with me, I guess. I have an extra room anyways,” he shook his head. “But you’re paying half the rent or I’ll kick you out too.”
“You’re the best, Myungsoo,” Sungyeol cooed as he hugged Myungsoo. “I love you.”
“The feeling isn’t mutual.”
