The rain in Seoul was different from the rain back home.
Myeong Jaehyeon sighed as he listened to the rain hitting the window.
"Of all days..."
Since morning, the forecast had clearly said it would be sunny.
So he hadn't brought an umbrella.
The problem was that, near the end of his afternoon class, it suddenly poured.
"At this point, maybe I should just go get soaked."
Myeong Jaehyeon stood at the building entrance and looked up at the sky.
One by one, the students opened their umbrellas and left campus.
Some shared an umbrella with a friend.
Some walked along with their lover.
Watching them, Myeong Jaehyeon suddenly felt lonely for no reason.
It had been a month since he came up to Seoul.
He'd made friends, and he'd gotten used to school.
But sometimes, in moments like this, he still felt like he was alone.
"Myeong Jaehyeon."
He turned toward the familiar voice.
It was Taesan.
"Huh?"
"Why aren't you going."
"It's raining."
"So."
"I don't have an umbrella."
Taesan silently held up the umbrella in his hand.
Myeong Jaehyeon widened his eyes.
"You had an umbrella?"
"If I have one, of course I'm carrying it."
"No, it's just surprising that someone like you would even bring an umbrella."
"Someone like me?"
"Someone who always lives so planfully."
Taesan sighed.
"Come with me."
Myeong Jaehyeon hesitated for a moment.
"Together?"
"We're both going to the dorm anyway."
"Ah..."
His heart beat a little faster for no reason.
Of course, it was a meaningless thing to say.
Same dorm.
Same room.
It was only natural to go together.
And yet, weirdly, he felt good.
"Thanks."
"I'm just trying not to get wet."
"Still."
One umbrella was narrower than he'd expected.
Myeong Jaehyeon tried not to stick too close to Taesan, but raindrops kept landing on his shoulder.
"You're getting wet."
Taesan said.
"It's fine."
"It's not fine."
"You're getting wet too."
"I'm fine."
"Why?"
Taesan didn't answer for a moment.
Then he tilted the umbrella a little more toward Myeong Jaehyeon.
"If you catch a cold, it'll get noisy."
Myeong Jaehyeon couldn't hold back a laugh.
"Is that your way of worrying about me?"
"No."
"It is, though?"
"I said no."
"Taesan."
"What."
"You're surprisingly kind."
At that, Taesan's steps slowed just a little.
"You're imagining it."
"I'm not."
"You are."
Myeong Jaehyeon laughed.
At first, he thought Taesan was a cold, scary person.
But the more he got to know him, the more different he seemed.
He always spoke coldly.
But his actions were the opposite.
When they reached the dorm.
Myeong Jaehyeon brushed his sleeves and said,
"Oh, right."
"What."
"Why did you bring an umbrella today?"
Taesan answered as he took off his shoes.
"Because they said it would rain."
"You check the weather?"
"Yeah."
"You're seriously a planner."
Myeong Jaehyeon laughed in admiration.
Then, as if something had just occurred to him, he said,
"But how did you know this morning that I didn't bring an umbrella?"
Taesan's movements stopped.
"..."
"Taesan?"
"You."
"Me?"
"You were happy yesterday when you saw the forecast and said it wouldn't rain tomorrow."
Myeong Jaehyeon blinked.
"You remember that?"
"We were in the same room, so I heard it."
"Still."
Taesan sat down at his desk as if it were nothing.
"I also know you forget that kind of thing a lot."
"What?"
"Your charger."
"..."
"Your student ID."
"..."
"Your dorm card."
Myeong Jaehyeon fell silent.
"Do you watch me?"
"No."
"But you know everything."
Taesan didn't answer.
Myeong Jaehyeon laughed to himself.
That night.
Lying on his bed and looking at his phone, Myeong Jaehyeon opened his photo album.
A photo Taesan had taken a few days ago.
A picture of himself smiling under the sunset on campus.
Staring at it for a long time, Myeong Jaehyeon muttered,
"Taesan is weird."
At first, it had been uncomfortable.
He didn't talk, and he didn't show much expression.
A person whose thoughts were impossible to read.
But then.
At some point.
He had become the first person to take care of him so he wouldn't have a hard time in Seoul.
Then, from the bed next to him, he heard a voice.
"You're not asleep?"
"Huh?"
"Turn off the light."
"Oh, sorry."
Myeong Jaehyeon quickly put down his phone.
A moment later.
Taesan's voice came again from the darkness.
"Jaehyeon."
It was the first time.
That Taesan had called his name.
Myeong Jaehyeon widened his eyes.
"Yeah?"
"...Never mind."
"What is it?"
"Nothing."
"What the heck."
Taesan said no more.
But Myeong Jaehyeon strangely found himself smiling.
When they first met, he had been someone who even said names briefly.
And now that person was calling his name.
It was a very small change.
But for Myeong Jaehyeon, it was a pretty big one.
Unfamiliar Seoul.
An unfamiliar school.
And an unfamiliar roommate.
All of it was slowly becoming familiar.
