"I hate when it rains." Jisung breathed out as he stared through the glass window of their dorm. "I hate its sound, its smellㅡ I just hate the rain all in all."
Jaemin, who was laying on the couch, sighed as he, once again, heard the small rant of their youngest member. It would happen everytime the clouds decided to have its downpour. He just couldn't get the reason why Jisung hates it more than he hates cockroaches. With another sigh, he sat up, giving the maknae a stern look.
"Seriously, what made you hate the rain so much?" He asked which only earned him a shrug.
I hate the feeling it brings, Jisung thought.
"Everything turns gloomy when it rains. It's sad." Jisung mumbled, not intending for his hyung to hear it out.
The rainy days lasted for a week, causing Jisung's mood to drop. His performance, however, weren't affected but his attitude towards everything changed. He became grumpy and it started to annoy Haechan.
It was another rainy day, the group was practicing for their comeback song when suddenly Jisung shouted at Chenle for having a mistake. They were all surprised by his outburst, even their manager was left speechless.
"Watch your attitude, Jisung." Haechan scoffed towards Jisung since the maknae suddenly became disrespectful.
The youngest only heaved a heavy sigh before standing up and left the practice room without saying anything. Everyone was worried but they decided to leave him be, Jisung might only need some time to think and calm himself.
The lad ran out to the nearest park with his hood over his head, hoping to get some fresh air. Jisung was frustrated. Everything around him actually frustrates him more. He was stressed and exhaustedㅡ he wanted to get some break.
He sat down on a bench, letting the little downpour drench him for the first time. As usual, the rain made his mood a lot more worser.
Jisung silently watched the people passing by. Different faces with different expressions, it was unusual for him to pay attention to people's demeanor for his job as an idol could sometimes earn him terrifying and traumatic expressions from the audience.
"I don't know what's happening to me." He mumbled as his elbow was rested on his knees with his large hands covering his worn-out visage.
A few moments have passed, Jisung finally decided to go back. He made up his mind to apologize sincerely to his hyungs for he knew he was wrong to yell at Chenle. The stress was getting out of the hand, why not let them know about his issues? They could understand him the most, he hoped.
However, as soon as he removed his hands from his face, he was greeted by an unexpected view: a lady that was about his age was standing a few steps away from him with her looking towards the gloomy sky and a smile was plastered on her face. For a moment he saw how she actually wanted to remove her umbrella that was sheltering her from the downpour but couldn't, and he concluded, maybe it was because she was afraid her things will get soak in the rain.
Jisung stared too long that the lady felt a gaze digging on her. She looked to her left and met the young lad's eyes. Surprised by the sudden eye contact, Jisung immediately looked away, secretly hoping that she wouldn't come his way.
But it was too late, the girl was now walking towards him.
She stopped a few steps from his front and she extended her umbrella, preventing the rain from drenching the somewhat already drenched guy.
"You'll get sick if you stayed under the rain for too long," she spoke.
Jisung looked down. He was internally freaking out since he was afraid of being discovered. Who knows, maybe the girl standing in front of him is actually a fan of them?
"I could say the same thing to you," Jisung replied.
Without saying another word, the girl sat down beside him but still maintained a little space between them. The umbrella was sheltering both of them as the silence covered them. He was struggling about what to do; to leave her alone or to stay for some time? To be very honest, he was delighted when she came over and shared her umbrella with him.
Deciding to break the silence, the girl said, "I guess you hate the weather."
Flustered by her words, Jisung looked at her, only to see her looking up into the sky again with the same smile plastered on her face.
"Was it too obvious?" He asked.
"Not really." She chuckled. "I just noticed how you frantically heaved countless sighs under this magical phenomenon."
Ah, she loves the rain.
"Your choice of words is unusual." He commented, copying her gesture as he looked up to the sky as well.
"Really?"
"Yeah." He said back. "Or maybe just for me since I'm usually surrounded by hyungs who talk a lot and do not commonly use the words countless and magical."
"Well I am indeed one of a kind." She chuckled then turned to look at him. "And so are you."
Silence, once again, surrounded them but it somehow became more comfortable compared to before. She silently smiled towards the rain while Jisung, he observed her.
Her fierce eyes give off that cold and intimidating look but the warm smile plastered on her face contradicts the coldness away. She radiates an unfamiliar feeling, quite similar to the feeling the rain brings to Jisung. She looked simple but there was something on her that made it hard for him to look away. In conclusion, she caught his interest.
"If there's something troubling you, you can tell the rain." She stated. "Although I'm not sure if it will work for those who're not fan of it but talking to the rain could be comforting. Each rain drop catches the problems you tell it. It would hit the ground, sometimes would form a puddle or would just stay in the ground until the rain stops and when it did, the soaked ground would eventually dry up. The rain drops would evaporate along with your problems that you let it carry."
"But don't you think that if the rain is a person, then it would be bothersome for them to carry out other people's problems?" Jisung asked.
"It wouldn't be." She responded. "If it would be a person then I'm certain it'll be the person who is more than willing to help other people carry their burdens. The rain would be someone who always listen to whatever you'll say. It won't judge you nor think lowly of you. It would just be there, always has its ears open to hear you out no matter who you are."
Jisung thought for a while, letting her words sink in. The uncommon conversation he was having with a girl whose name was unknown for him was actually comforting. He felt the urge of telling her what was troubling him, and that was what he did.
"Then can I tell you what was bothering me?" His sudden question surprised her.
"Of course," she answered. "But instead of saying it to me, why not tell the rain about it as well?"
Jisung looked into the ground, staring deeply as the rain drops hit it. He proceeded to spill out what was troubling him. He explained it from the very beginningㅡ from how he came up with the dream of becoming an idol and the struggles of finally achieving it. He was somehow relieved when he didn't earn a surprised reaction from the girl after saying his career. She just listened until the end, without interfering him.
By the time Jisung ended his story that somehow turned into a rant, he felt a lot better. He looked at the girl to see her reaction and his lips curled up into a smile as he saw her smiling warmly at him.
"That was kind of deep." She commented. "But I think you shouldn't stress yourself much. Don't live to impress everyone. Being an idol, ah, it's hard but I'm certain by just showing and being who you really are is more than enough to impress and be loved by your fans. There are people who'll love you no matter what you do and wouldn't it feel a lot more better if you know that they love you wholeheartedly even though you're showing your true self?"
He nodded.
"Be honest to yourself and to everyone." She stated. "And just always do your best. If ever your best isn't enough then strive to improve. You're more than enough, okay?"
"Thank you, I'll take note of that." Jisung smiled to her.
"You're welcome!" She exclaimed. "I'll look forward on seeing you perform well on stage."
"Yes, please anticipate a new me." He laughed.
"Oh, look at that. The rain stopped." She moved the umbrella away from their heads to feel if it was still raining and a pout made its way to her lips.
"It stopped right after I finished talking about my problem."
"Well, you're problem was quite big." She chuckled.
"It indeed was." He agreed. "But I feel a lot more better."
"I told you." She grinned. "I think you should head back. They might be worrying about you."
"I still have to apologize." He sighed.
"Stop sighing." She pouted once more. "You can do it! If ever you feel down just let it all out." She then did a 'fighting' gesture.
"Alright alright, I'll stop sighing." He grinned. She then stood up from her seat.
"Then I should take my leave." She said. "Thank you for your time." She bowed with Jisung returning the gesture and as she took a step away, Jisung called out.
"Wait!" Her feet halted and she turned to look back at him, Jisung was already standing. "I didn't catch your name and will I ever get to talk to you again?"
"Y/n." She answered. "Y/n Y/l/n. I work at the coffee shop next to this park. Feel free to drop by if you need a talk." She then squinted her eyes. "Excuse me if this sounds rude but may I know your name? I'm really bad at memorizing the names of the idols I get to see on the television.."
"Park Jisung." He chuckled. "From NCT. It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice meeting you as well!" Y/n exclaimed. "Now hurry up and go back to your hyungs."
With one last goodbye, they separated ways. Jisung was smiling when he got back, confusing the hyungs who were just about to scold him. They were all surprised when he suddenly apologized but they let it aside, what's more important is that Jisung was back to his usual self and even more determined to do well on stage.
The hatred he felt towards the rain disappeared. Jisung still couldn't enjoy the gloomy weather but he never fails to smile as he remembered his meeting with Y/n. He would occasionally drop by the café where she work at with full disguise just to talk to her.
As Jisung looked through the window of their dorm, with the rain continuously falling, Jaemin was relieved to not hear any complains about the maknae. A wide smile was on Jisung's face as he watched the rain.
The rain reminds him of Y/n.