who knew that a rain delay can change your life...
Rain… the phenomenon of water falling from the clouds. An event that has been occurring from the mere hours of the morning, to the current late hours of the night. It wasn’t that dramatic rain that occurs in k-dramas or movies, but rather a cold one that makes the city feel quieter than usual.
Y/N adjusted the strap of his backpack before checking his watch. Trains have already been delayed, leaving this late night convenience store the only place of solitude. People sparsely filled it, many of them being unfortunate business men who were forced to do a bit of overtime. However there was one unwritten rule here that everyone seemed to follow;
If you don’t bother me, I won’t bother you
Following that rule, YN sat alone at one of the tables. His laptop opened as his pencil laid lifelessly on the notebook. Bags under his eyes showing many long nights of studying. A yawn stifled before gazing out into the empty street once again. An internal debate of whether to stand up and buy a drink or save the money.
In the end, the desire for a sweet drink won as he stood up and walked over to the aisles.
RING
The bell above the door rang as someone walked in. At first, YN went along with his business, following the unwritten rule. However slowly he began to notice something strange. Having been here for a while, it was obvious when a person is actively paying attention to their own business or acting. So glancing at a couple of people, it was obvious they were trying to pretend.
Y/N’s eyes then began to scan the aisle, eventually finding its target. Nearby a woman in a black hoodie and mask was quickly moving through the aisles, keeping her head down. Her expression looked tired, but physically but rather… emotionally. Like she had spent the whole day keeping up the facade.
Y/N recognized her immediately
Not from the hoodie and not from the mask. It was when her eyes met his that it all clicked together. She was one of the biggest up and coming idols in Korea. One that many would recognize due to the legendary cover that her and her group did. But those eyes… you would be an idiot to not recognize them.
Kim Sooin, the main dancer and vocalist of the 5th gen group MEOVV. Her powerful stage presence and fluid movement captured the hearts of many. The smile she would always possess in her performances would imprint itself in your mind. However, right now, that smile was not there. Instead the look on her face clearly said that she wanted to be left alone.
So that was precisely what YN did. Grabbing his drink, he didn’t spare her a second glance as he paid for it and sat by the window. But it was those exact actions that made her notice him.
After sitting down, YN felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. So taking it out, he quickly felt his heart sink to his stomach. A singular notification was on it, and with big bold letters it said; Train services suspended due to weather. Updates will follow shortly.
A small sigh escaped his lips as the inhabitants of the store also looked disappointed. Looks like no one would be going anywhere soon.
YN let out another sigh before pocketing his phone. His eyes slowly went over to look at his laptop when a certain sound filled his ears. The sound of the plastic chair across from him scratching against the floor. Then a black sweatshirt filled his peripheral, the same black sweater that…
“You know…” a voice then spoke, making the young man look up. His eyes widened as the famous woman in the store was now sitting across from him. Her eyebrows furrowed as her eyes seemed to be studying him, “you’re the first person I’ve seen all day that hasn’t asked me for a photo.”
YN opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. Opened it again, but quickly closed it once more. It was as if the words were stuck in his throat, his mind unable to get them out. Luckily for him, Sooin wasn’t expecting an answer, rather a small exaggerated chuckle escaped her lips
“Guess you’re all still awestruck though with an idol in front of you,” she grabbed her small snack, “shame… I thought you’d be one of the different ones,”
YN watched as she stood up from her chair, gazes slowly turned to them. The boy quickly took a deep breath, his eyes locking onto hers.
“S-sorry, you just caught me off guard,” YN said truthfully, “I assumed that you wouldn’t want anything to do with us here since you looked like you wanted to be alone. I know that you get people swarming you all day, but if you want to have a normal conversation… I’d” He hesitates, “… I’d gladly have one with you.”
Her eyes stared at him for a moment, as if it was assessing him. They slowly narrowed before turning warm, “Thank you,”
A moment of silence as they sat across from one another. Y/N felt his hands fidget once more, however, the words flying through his head. Sooin on the other hand kept quiet, her gaze looking down as she began to open the box.
“So…” Y/N finally spoke, earning him the gaze of the girl, “that’s a nice snack you got there,”
Silence quickly followed once again between the two as Y/N swearing he heard a groan from a person nearby. The young boy then felt his head slowly lower again, his fists clenching in embarrassment. That was stupid., his mind yelled.
But then a noise cut through the silence. A noise coming from the person in front of him. It wasn’t a noise of disgust or a groan of annoyance, rather it sounded to be… laughter? Slowly the boy picked up his head, his eyes looking across the table. Sooin was looking right back at him, her eyes crinkled upwards, forming a beautiful eye smile. Y/N felt his breath hitch at the sight.
He had heard stories before on how beautiful these kpop idols were. But seeing one in person… seeing one right in front of you… it…. It's a different experience. But deep down, Y/N knew better.
Luckily for him though, her voice spoke up,
“So that’s how you’re gonna start the conversation?”
“Uhhhh,” Y/N responded, “I panicked,”
Another chuckle came from her, causing a soft rosy tint to appear on the boy.
“I know, and I appreciate it,” she took a bite of her snack, “but let me start the conversation this time,”
“That might be a better idea,” the boy confessed, making the girl nod. After that, Y/N watched as Sooin’s eyes glided over to his notebook. Her eyebrow raised slowly as she stared at the various equations scribbled inside.
“So, you’re a student?” she questioned, her gaze still on his notes.
“Hm? Oh yeah,” he slid his notebook across the table, letting her look down at it. “I’m a student at the local university, Currently doing my second year there,”
Curiously, Sooin reached out, her hands gripping a page in the notebook, “May I?”
The boy simply nods, making the girl start flipping through the page. Her brows furrowing more and more as numbers continued appearing on the pages.
“What do these even mean…” she murmured, leading to Y/N peeking over, “wait why are there letters in math…”
“I don’t even know,” Y/N confessed, “sometimes I wonder if they exist only to annoy me,”
“Annoy you? Does your major not use this kind of math?”
“We use math, but nothing like this,” Y/N explained, “mostly I’m taking this class since its required for me to graduate”
“I see,” she nods slowly, “and are the exams hard?”
“Depends if I study or not,” he chuckles, “but as of late, I have been studying a lot. Midterms are around the corner,”
“Midterms, huh?” she said, her tone shifting slightly “What I would trade to do exams right now,”
Y/N kept quiet for a few moments, refusing to look at her gaze. What could he even say in that situation? He silently looked down at his hands for a moment, trying to formulate the words in his mind, but in the end…
“I… I don’t think I’m the right person who should give you advice regarding that,” he said truthfully before picking up his head, “but… I know how it feels to have a bad day. How it feels to be overwhelmed by everything,”
She nodded, handing the journal back
“In the end…” he opens his journal to the final pages. Gone were the equations and numbers. What replaced them were simply just… words. Long sentences written haphazardly, taking up numerous pages within the journal. Sooin looked at each one, her eyes slowly widening with each sentence,
“What…” she looks up at him, “what are these?”
“They’re stuff I wrote,” he continued flipping through the pages, “whenever I felt like shit or annoyed, I wrote in here. Every single thing I thought about at that moment lay inside this notebook.” A small chuckle escaped his lips, "definitely a lot about my math professors in here,”
He watched as Sooin’s eyes continued moving throughout the notebook, her eyes reading from line to line. From a rant about a specific professor’s grading system, to a simple line of him encouraging himself. All of them seemingly caught her eye as she continued staring deeply at the paper.
4 likes from kryphtot, Sullyoonist, DCH, and eeeebbbbaaaadddd.