"Rain..."
"Stop." I was making a wish. It wasn't just a wish. I was making a wish to truly stop. As I muttered, the sky, which had been pouring rain, began to spit out the sun again. The once gloomy world was filled with sunlight. The sunlight reached my house, dipping into my still-dry school uniform. The warmth made my damp eyelids flutter. Only then did my pounding head calm down.
The walk to school was refreshing, thankfully. The sky cleared after the rain. It couldn't have been worse. Everyone held an umbrella. They looked puzzled by the suddenly clear sky. Well, of course. I had stopped the rain that was supposed to fall. Puddles of water sloshed at my feet. My earphones dangled with every step. An old band's music flowed from them. I hummed softly in my mind.
Ah, a question that might come up at this point: How did you stop the rain? It's nothing special. When I make a wish, the rain stops. I still don't know why. It's mind-boggling. And this, you could say, is my somewhat special, incredible life story.
Clear Boy
01.
"Hey, Beomgyu."
"huh?"
"Are you that cool as a hero?"
"What, so trivial."
"Answer quickly."
"Why are you asking something so obvious?"
It's the coolest thing in the world. My dream is to become someone stronger than Superman.
That's how I was when I was five. The people I admired most in life were my parents, followed by Superman. He was so cool, flying around in his jumpsuit. Saving people and defeating villains went without saying. I always wrote "Superman" in the "Age of Future Past" column. I played with my red cape, seemingly without shame. One day, I was trying to imitate Superman, but I fell off the bed and broke my arm. It hurt so bad I couldn't stop laughing. It was a glorious wound. I must have been completely crazy back then. The next day, I went to school in a cast, and my friends clucked their tongues. "You're so weird."
I couldn't sit still for even a moment. Every time I was told to stay still, my whole body would twitch. My legs would tremble, wanting to go outside and play with my friends. Oh, the weather is killing me today. Should I play tag or tag? I'd throw the dictation test paper with the points on it carelessly at the house and rush out. I always stayed at the playground until the very end. Even after the kids left, I'd swing by myself and then go home. Mom would nag me, covered in dirt, to quickly wash up. The house always smelled warm and delicious.
When I entered middle school, I developed a bad temper. My dream job changed from Superman to a blank space. I no longer ran around wearing a red cape. My motto back then was to be cool and presentable. I chewed gum for no reason, hung out with scary older guys, and had the default look of a rebel. But I didn't do anything bad because I believed in drawing the line. Despite being a delinquent, I attended class diligently and never touched a cigarette or drink. I got along well with my peers. We fought very rarely. If no one started an argument, we just smiled and got along.
My dreams were gone, but I still longed to be a superhero. I watched every Marvel or DC movie without fail. My room was covered in posters depicting heroes. I also had a ton of action figures. My mom was always telling me to throw them away, but I couldn't. I always cried after watching a superhero movie. I never cried at sad melodramas or famously scary horror movies. But it was always superhero movies. In a movie theater where no one else was crying, I was the only one sobbing. My friends who went to the theater with me looked at me strangely.
"No, why on earth are you crying?"
"You damn skinny bastards..."
"A kid who falls asleep while watching a horror movie is a star..."
"Don't you have any feelings?"
When I yelled at them, everyone ignored me. "Leave him alone, he's always like that." I wiped my stuffy nose and let the lingering feeling settle in. It wasn't about the concept, it was genuine sadness. It's so cool to see a hero saving the world with his own abilities, but it was so sad to see a hero who couldn't actually live his own life. What's that? He lost his family and friends. What's the point of saving the world? The kids all looked at me strangely, but I was serious in my own way. For a middle schooler who was immature and arrogant, it was the most sophisticated thought.
The distance between my middle school and my house was quite far. It was about a 20-minute bus ride. So, whenever I rode the bus, many thoughts would run through my head. The one I often thought about was, of course, heroes. I think I was a little crazy. I don't know why. Just one thought would keep me going. If I had powers, would I be that miserable? Would the sense of responsibility to save the world keep me awake? I blinked on the rattling bus. All sorts of thoughts. You need powers, after all, to worry about them or not. Back then, I just wished I had a special power. With the belief that nothing bad would ever happen to me.
02.
Fate is always unexpected. It appears unexpectedly, at the most unexpected times, and turns everyday life upside down. Even I, a seemingly ordinary middle school student, was visited by fate. Not a person, but an ability I'd longed for. Dare I say it, it was a turning point in my life. It was a total mess.
That's what I thought the first day it stopped raining. Maybe I was dreaming. Honestly, I did. Who could actually stop the rain when they wanted to? But I could. The reason I managed to stop it was incredibly absurd. I was just walking home when it started raining, and I didn't have an umbrella. I was so annoyed that I muttered, "Stop the rain." Just a whisper. And then, as if by magic, the rain stopped. Not long after I muttered, the sun rose. I froze in place. The day I first discovered my power, I thought it was just a coincidence. In fact, it was too incredible to be a coincidence. But I tried to think. The rain, which would have stopped anyway, simply coincided with my prayer. It was just... a coincidence. Yes. That's all. But it wasn't a coincidence. When I muttered again, "Stop the rain," and when the sunlight rose again, as if by magic, I realized.
"...It's not a coincidence."
My clasped hands tingled. An indescribable feeling washed over me. This is crazy. If I just make one wish, the rain will stop? This isn't a dream, is it real? I pinched my cheek hard, and it stung. The corners of my mouth quirked up involuntarily. From then on, I was desperate to show off my abilities. I wanted to brag about my incredible abilities, like the heroes in the movies. Looking back now, it was the biggest mistake of my life. It was like inviting my own misfortune. Like the beginning of every movie, it didn't seem like much at first.
"Don't you know that?"
"what?"
"Can I stop the rain?"
"Just kidding."
"Trust me. I'm telling you it's true."
"Oh, yeah. You must be stupid."
That sullen face was so annoying that I threw a fit, desperate to win. "Then I'll show you on a rainy day." My friend had been grinning until then. "Yeah. I'll be waiting for you." And when I showed him I could, he gaped at me. His gaze lifted my shoulders. I felt like I had truly become someone special.
"crazy."
"Look. I'm telling you, it's true."
"No, you... what are you?"
I just shrugged. My friend kept muttering, "This is awesome." It definitely started off well. Awe-inspiring looks, laudatory acclaim. I thought everyone would be like that. I thought everyone would appreciate my abilities if they knew. I watched a ton of superhero movies, but I hadn't learned anything. The protagonist is happy at first, still living his daily life. Then, all of a sudden, it all falls apart. By the time I realize I'm done, I've lost everything. It didn't take long for that to become my story.
He definitely wasn't a friend with a soft spot for words. That's why I trusted him and told him. Of course, it was a huge deal to keep secret. Stopping the rain was a fun rumor. The next day, when I went to school, five people already knew about it. I was taken aback, but since they were all familiar faces, I let it slide. The next day, about ten people knew about it. I started to feel awkward. As the days went by, the number of people whispering about me increased exponentially. Now, even kids I didn't know were whispering about me.
"Hey, who did you tell this to?"
"uh?"
When I suddenly showed up, my friend trembled as if his feet had gone numb. His mouth twitched, unable to utter a word. Watching him, the back of my neck stiffened.
“Who did you tell?”
“Just... a few people I know.”
"How many people do you know? But how come the whole school is talking about it?"
"that..."
"I told you to keep it to yourself."
"I didn't know it would spread like this."
The friend who spread the rumor was so aggrieved that he was even more offended. Who knew it would spread like this? I'm embarrassed, Beomgyu. And there's nothing wrong with you. Your abilities aren't bad either. His eyes, as if he really didn't understand why I was angry, made me feel weak. "Yeah, you would be..." The strength left my tightly clenched hands. The stiffness in my neck also relaxed. I realized at once that getting angry was pointless. The rumor spread, and even kids from other schools came to see me. Even though I liked people, I hated this kind of excessive attention. My nerves were on edge. Just passing by in the hallways made everyone whisper.
"Hey, that's him. The clear boy."
The kids had already nicknamed me "Clear Boy," the boy who would stop the rain if I prayed. I was starting to tire of the attention. I'd thought the attention would be simply pleasant, but it was far more exhausting than I'd expected. I wasn't as resilient to the gaze of others as I'd thought. Fortunately, the unsubstantiated rumors gradually died down. My friend's eyewitness account lacked any concrete evidence. The kids who'd been clamoring for me as "Clear Boy" soon lost interest and withdrew their attention. Only then did I finally breathe a sigh of relief. Ah, I'll live. I collapsed on my desk and slept soundly. For a while, kids kept coming to see me, so I couldn't sleep properly. I resolved to avoid talking about my abilities as much as possible. The problem was that life didn't always go as planned. Not long after, I publicly stopped the rain. Because of that damn provocation. I might have just gotten over it now, but back then, Choi Beomgyu couldn't.
"Can you really stop the rain?"
"....."
"Aren't you just doing this because you want attention?"
"....."
"That kid only talks."
One rainy day, a kid I wasn't usually close with started a fight. From what I heard, he hated me because I stole his seat. It all started with me becoming friends with the so-called "popular" seniors. They liked me so much that I could leave. He didn't give a shit. Whether I left or not, he seemed to be even more aggravated by my indifferent attitude, and he kept picking on me. It was just a little too much to ignore. Even I, who hadn't really thought much of it, was starting to get annoyed. This was a kind of fight. He'd woken me up from my nap and nudged me on the nerves. Waking me up was already gross, but picking on me made my teeth grind. "Hey, you want to lose?" he said with a scowl. The class atmosphere instantly froze.
"Then show me."
"....."
"You're the Clear Boy or something, right?"
"....."
"Or you'll just get screwed."
Outside, the rain was pouring down heavily. It was so loud it drowned out my voice. My ears were stuffy, like they were filled with water. I tilted my head and thought, "Should I just hit him first?" I didn't like the way he was smirking. After a few seconds of deliberation, I decided not to waste my energy and quietly stood up. A group of boys were laughing, "Hey, he must be praying!" I thought to myself, "I should have hit him first," but I ignored them and clasped my hands together.
"Stop the rain."
I closed my eyes loosely, clasped my hands together, and pointed at the sky. Nothing grand was needed. A simple request to stop the rain was enough. The laughter directed at me faded away as the rain cleared. The classmates erupted in a frenzy of cheers. Not long after I made my wish, the sun rose. I checked the weather and looked at the boy. He had a blank expression, as if he hadn't expected it to be real. I stood before him and smiled brightly.
"Okay?"
"....."
"Don't bother me and get out."
After saying that, I lay down again and went back to sleep. I thought to myself, "That was pretty cool." I felt relieved, as if I'd landed a punch. The class was still noisy. It took a while for it to die down. The boy who'd been picking a fight was long gone. Thanks to that, I was able to sleep comfortably that day. I didn't know it then. This was the event that would change my life.