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The sky was grey, darker than it usually was in the evening. Streaks of rain flew past the air, staining the ground with drops of grey. The howling wing whistled through the buildings, so loud that it almost concealed the sound of thunder.
Baek Saheon looked out the window, the view blurry from the small streams of water running down the glass. A quiet melancholy settled over him despite the storm raging outside.
He used to like the rain.
He remembers jumping into puddles with his sister, the muddy water splashing and soaking through their clothes, their laughter loud and carefree, wide grins stretching their faces.
He remembers huddling under a blanket with his sister, their bodies pressed close against each other to preserve warmth in the cold stormy weather, the soft drumming of rain against the tiles lulling him to sleep.
He remembers his sister teaching him how to make little boats out of leaves, releasing and racing them in the ditch beside their house, the rainfall creating strong currents that propelled them forward, his cheers and his sister’s soft laughter as his boat passed her’s.
They were all precious memories that he had cherished.
But now, those memories were tainted, the joy turning bittersweet.
It was raining the day his sister had drawn the golden stick from the box and was separated from him. He had tried pulling his sister back to him then. Even if he didn’t understand what would happen to those chosen during the festival, he had seen enough of the aftermath to know that nothing good would happen to her. But he was too weak, his short arms too powerless to challenge the villagers, and he was left behind on the rain-soaked ground.
The rain had felt like it was stabbing into him then, each droplet piercing his heart. The wuthering winds carried off their unsaid goodbyes somewhere into the unknown, never to be heard. And at some point, still curled up on the muddy earth, he couldn’t tell if it was rain dripping off his face or his tears, each drop adding to the puddle beneath him.
He hates the rain. The wet weather brought back what he wanted to forget, what he couldn’t bring himself to remember. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to look away from it.
Creak….
The front door opened behind him. It must be his roommate, Kim Soleum, who had returned to their dorms, back from work.
Although Baek Saheon didn’t trust that psycho with his back — who knows what that madman would do to him where he couldn’t see — he still stood where he was, still staring out the window, still reminiscing on the past.
He missed his sister. He missed her so much.
He wanted to be playing in the rain with her again, wanted to cuddle up against her for warmth again, wanted to race little boats in the ditch with her again.
But he couldn’t. She was gone, taken away from him too early.
His roommate stepped into the living room, the light taps of his bare feet against the linoleum flooring echoing in the silent room before stopping somewhere behind him.
“... What’s wrong with you?”
“...”
Baek Saheon didn’t reply, not that he didn’t want to, but that he couldn’t. He was lost in his memories, the familiar grief rendering him mute.
After a minute without a word from Baek Saheon, Kim Soleum seemed to have lost interest in him, walking off to his room instead.
Baek Saheon could hear him move through the house behind him. A door opening, the soft clack of drawers and cabinets being rummaged through and closing, then the sound of water running in the showers. His roommate was taking a shower.
He wanted to retreat to his room while that maniac was in the showers. He didn’t want to be here when his roommate left the showers. However, his feet refused to obey his commands, stuck where it was, leaving him still standing before the window, his eyes still drawn to the rain outside.
The sun was setting outside, the soft glow obscured by the dreary gloom slowly fading below the cityscape. And with it, it felt as if the temperature had dropped around him.
Baek Saheon could feel himself shivering, even with the heater on. Was it his proximity to the window that was making him feel cold, or was it all in his head?
Then, the sound of the shower stopped — Kim Soleum was done with his shower so fast? Did he lose track of time? — and the bathroom door clicked open. His roommate was done with his shower.
But instead of ignoring him and making his way back to his room, his roommate came to stand to his left.
“Seriously, what’s wrong with you today?”
“...”
He stayed silent again, this time on purpose, hoping that this bastard would leave him alone as he had earlier. But his hopes were for naught.
“So you’re ignoring me, huh?”
Baek Saheon jolted, turning to face Kim Soleum with, hopefully, a polite expression. He wasn’t sure if he had the energy to contort his face into a smile and not a grimace. He couldn’t afford to offend Kim Soleum by greeting him with a sour face and he didn’t know what this adrenaline junkie would do to get his attention if he kept ignoring him.
“Ah, no sir, I’m just a bit distracted right now.”
“So? What’s wrong?” Kim Soleum asked again.
“... What?”
Why was this bastard pressing so hard for? Couldn’t he see that he wasn’t in the mood? Or was he getting a kick out of this?
“Don’t think I didn’t notice. You’ve been moping around ever since I got home.”
For a split second, he had thought that his roommate was concerned for him — that he was actually a decent human being who could empathize with people.
“It’s really killing the mood here.”
Then, all his expectations were shattered once more and he was slapped in the face with reality.
There was no way this psychopath was concerned about him. He was just concerned that he wasn’t entertaining him.
“It’s nothing.”
“Nothing?” Kim Soleum scoffed. “Doesn’t seem like it.”
Already tired from this conversation, Baek Saheon turns to look out the window again instead of Kim Soleum, hoping that he would take this as his cue to leave him be.
“I just… don’t like the rain. That’s all.”
“You? Afraid of the rain?” Kim Soleum sounded incredulous, as if he actually thought Baek Saheon had a phobia of rain and was baffled by it.
Baek Saheon could feel his hackles rising in spite of his weariness. Him? Scared of the rain? Was Kim Soleum mocking him?
“I’m not afraid of it.” He almost spat out in anger, offended by Kim Soleum’s question. But then, he was reminded of who he was talking to — this maniac who might lash out if Baek Saheon didn’t watch his tone— and his anger almost immediately dissipated, leaving him drained once again. “Just… I don’t like it, I guess.”
Kim Soleum lets out a questioning noise, sounding like he didn’t believe him, as if the idea of him disliking rain was ridiculous.
“Whatever.” Kim Soleum took ahold of his arm, pulling him towards the living room couch. “Come here.”
Come here, he says like he’s giving Baek Saheon a choice, like Kim Soleum wasn’t already dragging him along whether he liked it or not.
Kim Soleum pushed him onto the couch, plopping himself next to him and picking up the TV remote to turn it on.
The TV screen lit up, the channel still on the same one that Kim Soleum was watching cartoons on yesterday.
Baek Saheon’s head turned between the TV screen and Kim Soleum in confusion. Did this psycho just drag him here to watch cartoons with him? Was he that bored?
Despite all the questions swirling inside his head, Baek Saheon swallowed them down. It was better to play along with what this psycho wanted. He didn’t want to die after all.
So he slumped into the couch, his gaze fixing itself on the TV instead of the maniac beside him.
But no matter how much he wanted to focus on the cartoon playing on the TV, Baek Saheon’s mind kept drifting back to the man next to him.
The damp warm shoulder pressed against his. The sound of their soft breaths. The scent of Kim Soleum’s grape-scented body wash intermingling with his strawberry-scented one, creating a sickeningly sweet amalgamation that would rot his teeth if given the chance.
They distracted him from the cartoon playing before him and Baek Saheon didn’t understand why. It was driving him mad.
Yet, it somehow comforted him, knowing that there was someone next to him on this gloomy day and–
Ah… He didn’t know when, but he had long since forgotten about the rain, the soft pitter-patter of rainfall and roaring winds fading into the background, covered by the cheery music emanating from the TV.
He relaxed, his guard lowering just a bit. It probably wasn’t Kim Soleum’s intention to take his mind off the rain, but it was working. He could feel himself growing more and more sleepy the longer he watched the cartoon, even when Kim Soleum was beside him.
His blinks came in slower and slower, each one longer than the last. Then, with his next blink, he found that it was now morning.
He was now lying on the couch, head resting against the armrest, a warm weight against his chest.
He looked down. It was Kim Soleum sleeping soundly on top of him.
The man was snoring softly, his face snuggled into Baek Saheon’s collar, his breaths warming his skin. His hands were fisted into his shirt, crumpling it into a wrinkled mess. Their legs were tangled together, making it impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. Baek Saheon’s arms were wrapped around his waist, hugging Kim Soleum like he was an oversized teddy bear.
It was oddly peaceful. This was the best sleep he had had in a while.
Baek Saheon felt like he could get used to this — this domesticity and calm.
Unfortunately, this was Kim Soleum he was talking about. This was probably a one-off thing, something that Kim Soleum had done on a whim.
And besides, what was he thinking about with this psycho???
Acting domestic with this lunatic? Cuddling in bed with this maniac?
All preposterous ideas that would only happen if he were seeking death. Especially right now, when he’s in this exact position.
Baek Saheon started to become worried. Would Kim Soleum murder him when he wakes up and sees them like this?
So Baek Saheon tried to get out from under Kim Soleum, lightly nudging him so as not to rouse him — he wouldn’t want to experience Kim Soleum’s wrath from being woken up too early.
But no matter how he tried, it was impossible to remove Kim Soleum from his chest. Kim Soleum’s fingers clung too tightly onto his shirt, and every nudge made him stir, enough that Baek Saheon was afraid he might awaken.
Baek Saheon sighed, softly so as to not wake Kim Soleum, and resigned himself to stay under him.
Guess he was dying young then. He hopes that by letting Kim Soleum sleep for a while longer, he would make his death painless.
Turning his head towards the window, probably the last time he could do so, he finally noticed the morning sun that dyed the curtains a soft orange and cast a gentle glow in the living room, illuminating the once-dark room. The rain had stopped somewhere in the night. The window was now dry, faint water stains marring the glass. The sky was a clear azure blue, devoid of the stormy clouds that had swallowed it yesterday.
Wait.
How high up is the sun in the sky?
What time is it?
…
Shit.
They were late for work.
Kim Soleum was definitely going to kill him.