the late summer's breeze

01.

A day in August, 1998.

It rained very heavily that day.

There was nothing to do in the CD store. Today's part time job seemed very worthwhile for Felix, he could make money without putting much effort.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, a gust of wind blew in, and even a wet person was swept in. It was a boy, drenched from head to toe.

The boy saw him and said softly, "It's raining too hard outside, can I come inside for a while?"

Well, you're already inside, Felix thought, but didn't say anything, only nodded, grabbing a chair for the boy, and got him a dry towel.

The music in the CD store kept changing, until it got to Felix's favourite song. The boy also sat still, squinting his eyes like Felix, while listening to the song.

Once the song was over, the boy walked up to Felix and asked, "What song is that, I want to buy it."

Felix flipped through the discs in a drawer, pulling one out and handing it to him.

"Intimate Lover"

-

In summer after it rains, there will be sunny days as expected.

The rain outside hasn't completely dried out yet, and the air is full of stuffiness, dampness, and sticky heat. The late bell rang for the end of classes.

Felix got a bottle of iced soda, and leant his head on the window by the corridor, the soda pressed against his left cheek to cool him down.

He closed his eyes.

A gust of wind blew past, lifting his bangs, and the corners of his mouth.

The sound was very loud downstairs, mostly coming from the basketball court.

Suddenly, Felix felt something cold on his right cheek too.

He looked up, it was the boy hiding from the rain the other day.

He was holding two popsicles, handing one to Felix.

Felix tore open the package and put the popsicle in his mouth, chilling from the coldness.

The boy looked at him and smiled, ran a hand through his hair, and began introducing himself.

"I'm Hwang Hyunjin, from class 3. Umm... thanks so much for taking me in that day, today's popsicles are my treat."

Felix took out the popsicle from his mouth and stood up straight, like a soldier from the military in his first day of training.

"Lee Felix, class nine. It was nothing, I just happened to work part-time there that day. If you have a disc you like in the future, you can come to me. I can give you a discount."

After that, the two boys often met, ate popsicles, listened to music, and rode bikes together.

Friendship quietly sprouted, and grew into the appearance of a tree.