Alone in the Rain

For a moment he felt wronged, but soon Cha-heon grew restless again and turned his gaze toward the corridor window. He had climbed all the way up to the third-year hallway, yet his heart still pulled stubbornly toward the second-year classrooms.

…It's raining today, and I have no idea where Baek Yu-gyeong is or what he's doing instead of coming to school. It's worrying.

Just then, a familiar face beyond the rain-streaked window caught his eye. In that downpour, far off by the school gate, someone with bright hair stood waiting.

That rare, tall, well-proportioned frame. That light-colored head of hair.

…Baek Yu-gyeong? …Without even an umbrella?

The instant he spotted him, Cha-heon rushed back toward the classroom, snatched an umbrella, and bolted down the corridor. Fortunately morning assembly had already begun, so the hallway was empty of students.

"Hey, third-year!"

"I'm sorry! Something came up!"

Impossible to miss in the deserted corridor, Cha-heon ignored the teacher's shout from behind and kept running. He never even thought to open the umbrella—just gripped it tight—and sprinted without pause, crossing the athletic field in a single breath before racing straight for the gate.

"Baek Yu-gyeong!"

"……."

He had called loudly from a distance, yet whether Yu-gyeong failed to hear or simply did not look, he never turned this way. Only when Cha-heon drew close enough that faces were almost visible did he call again.

"Baek Yu-gyeong!"

"Oh… hyung?"

Having finally reached him, Cha-heon gasped for breath, then hurriedly raised his hand, snapped the umbrella open, and held it over Yu-gyeong.

"Hey… huff… you… hah… why are you standing here getting soaked?"

"…Ah."

"…You…."

Judging by the school uniform, he had clearly been on his way to class—yet he had been stuck here, going neither forward nor back.

He usually gets driven by a chauffeur, doesn't he? Had he never gone into the classroom at all?

Why on earth was he lingering here like some abandoned baby animal? The thought that he might have been standing there frightened, unable to walk inside, only deepened Cha-heon's worry. The way Baek Ha-gyeong had spoken earlier had not sounded like a first attempt—had things like this happened before?

"…Hyung."

Baek Yu-gyeong began to speak, then stopped. Something close to a cold sneer slipped out of him.

"…You were in Class 4 earlier?"

"Huh?"

Had he come all the way into the classroom? Cha-heon briefly weighed the words, then quickly nodded.

"Yeah. I was curious which class you were in, so I went to the one that has your little brother. I meant to give you the gym clothes."

"…Ah…."

"Ah, I was in such a hurry the paper bag got completely soaked."

Cha-heon examined the paper bag that had escaped the umbrella's shelter and was now dripping wet, then sighed.

"I'll wash it again and give it back."

Baek Yu-gyeong stared at him fixedly. The gaze felt strange—as if he were measuring something, carefully examining it. Was it only the rain-blurred weather? The cream-colored eyes that usually sparkled with life had lost their light and looked dull and clouded.

…Judging by the look of him there are circumstances involved, and honestly we aren't close enough that digging would do any good.

Curiosity did rise, yet Cha-heon set it aside and studied Baek Yu-gyeong's condition instead. His bright wheat-colored hair was plastered flat from the rain. Wherever he had left his blazer, even the spring uniform—shirt and vest alike—was soaked through and heavy. Remembering how he had always been noisy yet neat, every inch the young master, this was the complete opposite of his usual self.

…What a wreck. This is the same guy who usually won't even sit on the floor for fear of getting dirt on himself.

Cha-heon fretted over what to say, then simply spoke a little more casually, hoping at least to ease the atmosphere.

"You—it's still spring, so it isn't cold, is it? Spring chill, you brat."

He pressed the umbrella into Yu-gyeong's hand at once.

"……?"

From the start the boy had offered no real answers, only blankly following with his eyes—less like an animal left alone on the street than something simply pitiful. The sight left Cha-heon oddly uncomfortable, and he looked him over more carefully.

"Wait a second. Hold the umbrella properly."

He peeled off the beige cardigan he was wearing, shook it out, and draped it over Yu-gyeong's upper body. Unfortunately the size difference meant it refused to go on properly; it merely looked like ill-fitting clothes hanging off him.

"…Sorry. The look is really…."

With that, Cha-heon simply knotted the sleeves around the boy's neck. The result was faintly ridiculous, but what choice was there? This was the only outer layer he had. It was entirely his own fault for being so big. Still, the light hair somehow matched the cardigan, and with those handsome features even this looked almost like a deliberate style.

In the middle of the absurd situation Cha-heon glanced at Yu-gyeong's wet hair and frowned a little.

…No matter how I think about it, he is not the type who would enjoy getting rained on in weather like this.

He might look as if a screw were loose, yet he had been raised with care and always conducted himself with a certain refinement. Separate from all the cute, fluttering affection, if anything stuck to him he would carefully brush it off with his fingers; if he was about to sit on the bare floor he would spread his own clothes underneath. The gym clothes Cha-heon held right now had been brought for that very reason.

…Come to think of it, the reason this guy got into fights in the original story was… because Baek Ha-gyeong spread those rumors after all, wasn't it?

At this point the students seemed to know Yu-gyeong was a young master from a well-off family, but not that he was a chaebol. Perhaps that extra friend from the original had learned the family's circumstances through Baek Ha-gyeong and started talking behind his back. The gossip itself had been "the child abandoned by the Baek family."

Of all things they are the same second-years… wait. Ah, shit, hold on—Baek Ha-gyeong and Baek Yu-gyeong are the same age, right? Then… wait.

Whether it was divorce or bereavement, if the birth years overlapped inside the same calendar year, something was off. Cha-heon felt his fingertips turn cold and clenched and unclenched his fist. Hearing someone else's private affairs was one problem; realizing he could suddenly guess at Yu-gyeong's situation made him dizzy.

…Today is going to be a complete mess for Baek Yu-gyeong.

On top of everything, a boy that outstanding and popular with the girls was bound to attract plenty of jealousy. Listening to those kids talk in the classroom earlier, it seemed he already had more than a few enemies.

I see. Thick fanbase among the girls, target of envy and jealousy among the boys.

…This was pure male-lead material.

…If things kept going like this, all those prickly edges he had in third year of high school must have had their reasons.

Adolescence was a delicate stretch full of complicated feelings and hypersensitivity even to small things; it was understandable.

Coming to school looking like this was out of the question, yet simply sending him home alone also left Cha-heon uneasy.

If only we were the same year I could stay with him… of all things our grades are different too.

…It might only be shallow sympathy, but still—

"Baek Yu-gyeong, do you have some free time?"

"…Huh?"

"As it happens, I need an extra pair of hands. If you've got time left, come with me."

Cha-heon decided to hold out his hand. He took the umbrella back from Yu-gyeong, supported it firmly again, and offered his free hand.

Baek Yu-gyeong stared blankly—first at the outstretched hand, then at Cha-heon's face.

"What, you don't want to? Usually you stick to me going 'hyung, hyung,' but now you're flipping your attitude like a palm, huh?"

"No! It's not that."

It was an expression of flustered embarrassment Cha-heon had never seen before. Yu-gyeong's eyes went round and he shook his head hard. Somehow the look made him seem exactly his age, and Cha-heon almost laughed.

"All right then, let's go."

He wiggled his fingertips, yet once more Yu-gyeong only stared at them in a daze. It seemed to take quite a while before Yu-gyeong finally moved to take the hand. At that exact moment a fierce wind blew from the right and flower petals began to scatter. The cherry trees lining the schoolyard swayed, and the sparse blossoms still clinging to the branches fluttered down in fine pink shreds.

"Whoa!"

A sudden rain-laced gust whipped up; Cha-heon hastily flung out a hand to shield at least Yu-gyeong's face. The wind died as abruptly as it had come. He had managed to protect Yu-gyeong's face, but a few pink petals stuck to his own cheek, and Cha-heon chuckled. It was absurd—and funny, once he realized he could simply have used the umbrella yet had never even thought of it before thrusting out his hand.

"Wow, the weather's really something today, right?"

Even while Cha-heon laughed and spoke with easy affection, Baek Yu-gyeong remained perfectly still, unable even to blink, only rolling his eyes from side to side.

Only after Cha-heon carefully plucked a couple of petals from Yu-gyeong's hair did he roughly brush the ones from his own cheek. Then he simply reached out first, closed his fingers tightly around Yu-gyeong's hand, and started forward.

"Let's go home, Yu-gyeong. The weather's far too cold."

He had expected the hand to be freezing. The hand of Yu-gyeong he held that day was strangely warm.