-Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.
My heart was pounding as I stood still, trying to catch my breath, feeling the tingling in my fingertips and chest as the blood circulated through my body.
Even though it was the middle of July, it felt like winter had come for me alone, as if I could see my breath.
“Ugh…! I did it again…!!!”
Sitting on the stairs I had just jumped down from, I covered my face with my hands, hiding my expression from no one, and stomped my feet as I regretted what I had done.
The narrow stairs echoed loudly in the quiet night, and I froze for a moment, worried about being heard, before I began leaving Ninima’s apartment.
The way home was long and far.
It was too late for buses to run, and not a single taxi, which was usually everywhere, was in sight.
Even the usual traffic was sparse tonight, leaving me in the moist air that smelled of rain, lost in thought with my now somewhat calm mind.
I remembered how it was when I first talked to Chocoa on the phone…
For some reason, since then, I’ve found myself acting impulsively and making reckless decisions.
“Tomorrow…won’t work… Maybe I should meet the teachers again later this week…”
Thud—
About an hour after I had started trudging home, I noticed raindrops scattering under the headlights of a passing car.
“Ah.”
Although I’d been sensing the smell of rain all along, I didn’t expect it to start now.
I thought it wouldn’t come until tomorrow or the day after at the earliest, but of course, it had to start raining just as I was walking home with nothing on me.
Unable to blame anyone, I began dragging my already weary legs to find the nearest convenience store as the rain began to soak me.
***
“Hm-hmm~”
At a convenience store somewhere in Seoul, the part-time worker was humming to the music from one earphone while reading posts on the community about Chocoa and Baraa’s sudden surge in romantic rumors after their latest broadcast ended.
The worker’s expression soured when they saw the rain pouring down outside.
Sighing deeply, they laid out a box at the entrance and put up a sign that read “Umbrellas Available” before returning to the counter.
The sound of the door opening interrupted the brief silence.
“Welcome to—”
Swoooosh—
The quiet convenience store, where only soft music had been playing, was filled with the sound of rain and the heavy breathing of a woman entering the store.
***
Lee Su-yeon POV
Patter, patter—
“Ah…I’m sorry.”
Having worked part-time at a convenience store before, I immediately noticed that the clean floor was getting wet from the rainwater.
Stepping onto the box laid out near the entrance, I called out to the stunned part-timer.
After a moment of hesitation, they hurriedly responded, likely looking exhausted from the night shift.
“I’d like to buy an umbrella.”
The worker quickly took the card I handed over and rang up a transparent convenience store umbrella.
“Ah…my wallet…it’s all wet…”
Noticing my black wallet, which always seemed to carry Chocoa’s warmth, was soaked, I let out a sad sound.
Wiping it as best as I could with my clothes, I tried to dry the water that had seeped inside while it sat in my back pocket, but it wasn’t enough.
***
Lee Min-young POV
“Wow… It’s pouring out there.”
Watching Ninima’s broadcast replay, which she had done in collaboration with her older sister, I heard a faint noise and opened the curtain.
Beneath the deep darkness, rain was falling fast and hard.
“Unnie doesn’t have an umbrella!”
I yelled as I raised my upper body from the bed, startling Strawberry, who let out a small whimper.
Thinking of my sister, soaking wet, I considered filling the bathtub with warm water, but there wasn’t even a bathtub in this tiny studio.
“Now that I think about it, we haven’t gone to one together in a while… Maybe we should check out a bathhouse next time.”
As I held Strawberry and imagined the fun, I heard the sound of the door code being entered and the door opening.
At this hour, there was only one person who could be coming to this house.
“Welcome back!”
“Huh? Hasn’t she come home yet?”
Standing at the entrance, folding her umbrella, Eun-ah unnie shook out her slightly damp hair.
“Ah.”
“What? Why? Do you know when Lee Su-yeon’s coming back?”
“No, but I think it’ll be soon… Why?”
“It’s nothing urgent. There’s just some grown-up talk I need to have with her. If it’s not now, I’ll figure it out later.”
Eun-ah unnie said this before leaving.
My sister returned about ten minutes later.
“Ugh… The wallet Chocoa gave me…”
She entered, soaked to the point her white underclothes were visible, looking like a drowned rat, and on the verge of tears.
***
“Food always tastes best after waiting for it…”
“Huh? You haven’t eaten yet?”
“Never mind that. What about the wallet?”
My sister’s tearful face turned toward the black wallet in her hand.
“Ugh… I’ll get you some clothes. Go wash up with warm water before you catch a cold…”
My sister, looking genuinely worried, went into the room.
***
Lee Su-yeon POV
Following her advice, I carefully placed the wallet on the desk and entered the bathroom to strip off my wet clothes clinging to my body.
“Ugh…my legs hurt…”
The warmth of the water thawed my body, which had been chilled by the rain, and I wrapped myself in a blanket until the shivering stopped.
“Everything in your wallet has been taken out and placed over there. For now, I’ve put it on the drying rack, but there’s hardly any sunlight, so I think we’ll have to dry it with a hairdryer later.”
“Mm… But it’ll still be usable, right?”
Min-young said this while drying my hair as I hid under the blanket with just my head poking out. Meanwhile, Strawberry was sleeping soundly on my lap under the blanket despite the noisy sound of the hairdryer.
“Ugh… Strawberry, just come out for a moment…”
Today, I ran down several flights of stairs, played outside all day, walked everywhere, and then dragged my exhausted body home for over an hour. Though walking long distances was something I often did, today was particularly grueling, and my weak legs seemed to have reached their limit, screaming in pain from the overload.
Once Min-young left, the house finally became quiet. Just as I uncovered myself from the blanket to drink some water and placed my feet on the floor, a feeling I absolutely despised began to strongly spread through my legs.
“Meow?”
At that moment, Strawberry waddled out from under the blanket with an innocent expression and climbed onto my lap again.
“Arghhh!!”
The cramp in my leg was excruciating and incredibly unpleasant.
“Ahhh… Stra…wberry…”
Clutching my leg, I called out to Strawberry, who sat nearby watching me curiously. But she tilted her head as if she didn’t understand, then licked me.
“What’s going on?”
Min-young returned to the house less than three minutes after leaving.
“A cramp…”
As I let out shallow groans, Min-young patted my leg and pressed down on Strawberry’s head. Hearing about my situation, she seemed to take revenge on my behalf, squishing Strawberry’s cheeks and head. Although I felt a slight sense of satisfaction from this small act of revenge, the pain caused by her patting my leg was far more intense.
Tap, tap, tap, tap—
“Does it still hurt?”
“I think it’s getting better now. Sorry…”
Even though it was late enough to call it early morning, I felt a twinge of guilt for making Min-young massage my leg. However, she pressed down on my leg firmly and said,
“If you get hurt, it’s the most dangerous thing for this household. Remember when you caught a cold and had to lie down for days? We nearly missed paying rent back then. You came home drenched today, too, and didn’t even turn on the heater in your room…”
“It’s been a while since I’ve heard that.”
“…Yeah, it feels like something similar happened before. It’s a bit confusing. Unnie.”
“I think it’s fine now. Go get some sleep. You need to grow taller.”
“You should be more worried about that, Unnie.”
“…Tsk.”
Slightly annoyed by the sudden counterattack, I watched as she gave my leg one last pat before returning to her room. Determined to achieve my original goal of quenching my thirst, I moved onto the warm floor heated by the boiler Min-young had turned on and reached out for the mug sitting on the desk in front of me.
“Huh?”
Just when I thought my leg was better, it gave out, and my balance suddenly shifted. My vision tilted downward. I flailed my arms to grab hold of something to steady myself, only to realize I had made a huge mistake.
Crash—!
“Ugh…”
A sharp sound echoed through the room. Strawberry, now curled up tightly, stared at me. Worried Min-young might have heard, I glanced toward the door but sighed in relief when there was no response. However, the sting and pain in my right hand made me wince. Though no shards of the mug had lodged in my hand, there was a small cut deep enough for some blood to seep out.
“It’s fine… It’s fine.”
I stroked Strawberry, who was trembling slightly, with my left hand to calm her down. I then opened the first-aid kit from the corner of the room, taking out some antiseptic spray and a few bandages. I carried Strawberry out with me, worried she might touch the broken pieces of the mug.
“Ugh… Breaking a mug at my age…”
After checking that the cute character bandages on my hand were securely attached, I cleaned up the mug shards.
“It was a gift from Ninima…”
Regretfully, I decided to use my old mug until I could get a new one or receive another gift. Turning off the lights in my room, I lay down on the bed. With the boiler on and Strawberry clinging to me more than usual, my body felt warm and relaxed. As my eyelids grew heavy, I thought to myself:
Though today ended painfully, miserably, and even with my wallet soaked, it was a day that felt like it would never fade from my memory.
The face of Ga-young unnie came to mind.
“…Hmph.”
At least, I ended today with a small smile as I fell asleep.