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It’s a cloudy Monday afternoon, and a convenience store bell jingles the moment a broad-shouldered boy dressed in all black from head-to-toe waltzes inside.
With every step, the small sounds of the metal connected to his outfit creaks.
Instead of taking his time to scour the store, with his old alt-rock playlist blasting in his ears to the maximum volume, the boy heads straight to the scrawny-looking cashier, grabs a Hershey’s bar from the small display near it, and slams it on the counter.
“....Is that all for you today?” the worker timidly asks him.
The boy, who goes by the name of Bang Chan, grimly nods, adjusting his headphones to pause his music for a moment.
“$3.72.”
Overcharging on a silly candy bar? Capitalism’s hit a new low, Chan grumbles, slamming a crumpled five-dollar bill on the counter.
The scrawny register boy, clearly shaken by the other’s reaction, speedily goes through the cash register to collect his change.
Chan puts out his left fingerless-gloved hand to receive his proper change before trudging out the store.
The moment he steps out of the store, Bang Chan takes a deep breath, adjusts his headphones, and starts walking.
But that’s when he feels a raindrop on his hoodie.
Followed by another one.
And then the downpour.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Chan grits, pulling his hoodie over his head and running to the nearest bus stop.
It doesn’t help that Chan already has to wait ten minutes until the campus bus arrives to take him to his dorm hall, which is a thirty-minute walk from here. Chan also refuses to remember his roommate Changbin’s small comment this morning of “It looks like it might rain today finally.”
Chan also hates how poor his day has been in general - one of his assignments in music production received a low mark due to his professor thinking Chan did not “grasp” the concept they learned in this chapter, he tripped on the sidewalk and roughly scraped his right knee, and right when he came home from his classes Chan’s said roommate kicked him out of their room after Changbin’s boyfriend stopped by.
And to top it all of, he’s here now, running to the nearest bus stop sign in the pouring rain.
Drenched.
While trying to ensure water does not seep through his headphones that he paid good money for.
After an exhilarating run across the pavement, continuously splashing into puddles with his combat boots in tow, Chan does eventually arrive at said bus stop.
...Only to watch the bus that he’s supposed to get on leave said bus stop without him.
“Oh come on!” He loudly shouts to no one in particular, kicking a puddle aside.
What a great day indeed, Chan bitterly thinks before sitting down on the already drenched open bench, feeling the rain continue to pour down on him as he waits for the next one, which won’t arrive until another fifteen to twenty minutes, give or take.
He just wants to go home and blast Gerard Way in his dorm. That’s all Chan wants.
But fate says otherwise.
Chan sits on the bench with his head in his hands in annoyance, letting the rain have it until the rain suddenly stops coating him in wetness.
Chan furrows his eyebrows, still hearing the rain screeching around him before eventually looking up to see small white bows and cartoon characters looming over him.
That’s when he turns around to see someone, dressed in the most contrasting outfit with his: a soft pastel pink sweater, tan pants, matching pink converse, and a cheery smile.
Holding what looks to be a lacy pink umbrella coated in small characters above Chan’s wet head.
It’s just like light meets dark, only in a different era. And poor timing.
“Hi!” The person suddenly says, rapidly waving at him with his free hand covered by his overly-large sweater.
Nevermind, Chan thinks.
But the moment he sees the other boy smile at him, Chan can feel his heart start racing by the second.
He covers his initial shock with a cough, before finally responding to him. “Can I help you?” he asks bluntly.
Chan watches as the umbrella boy’s cheeks tint slightly pink.
“Umm… I was walking home and saw that you were all wet, so… I thought covering you with my Sanrio umbrella could help.” He innocently admits.
The longer he looks at this huge ball of sunshine, Chan can feel his heart softening, which he does not want at all.
“There’s no need to do that.”
The other boy frowns.
“But you’re all wet!” he cries, “You might get sick and run a fever, which would be worse!”
“...Aren’t you also risking your health too?” Chan points out sarcastically, as the other boy is slowly getting soaked as well.
The boy has a thoughtful look on his face for a moment before he takes the seat next to Chan, holding the umbrella over both of their heads to shield them from the rain.
“Now we’re not risking our health!” The other cheers. Chan gives him a look.
“I’m Minho, by the way!” the boy introduces sweetly.
“...Cool.”
“Now it’s your turn to introduce yourself!”
Chan is briefly silent before finally muttering it aloud.
“...Chan.”
“Huh?” Minho blinks confusedly.
“Chan,” he repeats, louder this time. “My name is Chan.”
Hearing it louder this time makes Minho smile.
“That’s a nice name, Chan! I hope we can be friends; I like your jewelry!” he says, gesturing to Chan's multiple piercings.
Chan can’t help but snort at how innocent Minho was.
“Are you going to SNU too?” Minho asks all of the sudden.
Chan raises an eyebrow at him. “Depends. Do you like to be this chatty?”
Minho nods. “Only with my friends, like you!”
Chan frowns.
“We just met.”
“And?” The other says, “We’re friends! But since this is a campus bus stop, I assumed you were a student too. I was on my way walking back to my dorm hall, which is pretty far. But then I met you!”
Chan gives him a questioning look.
The closest dorm hall from here was where Chan’s dorm was.
“ Which dorm hall?” the other asks.
“Dorm Hall A.” Minho brightly responds, “I live there with my roommate Jisung!”
That is Chan’s dorm hall.
“...I see.” is all Chan says.
Silence.
Chan looks at Minho for a brief second before looking back at the empty road in front of them.
“Minho.” Chan says.
The other hums, looking at him.
“Yes?”
Chan’s going to regret this.
“Do you…”
He’s gonna regret this for sure.
“...want to take a walk back to the dorm hall with me?”
Minho looks just as shocked as Chan is.
“Umm…” the boy softly stutters. “I… are you sure?”
Chan nods, grabbing the umbrella and getting up from the bench, still hovering it above the two of them.
“I’m not taking it back, am I?” He asks.
Even within the dark clouds and pouring rain, Chan can still see the clear pink blush on Minho’s cheeks again as he slowly gets up to stand next to him.
“Okay,” he softly smiles, “Let’s go.”
The all-dark Bang Chan ends up walking with the soft-pasteled Lee Minho that afternoon, learning more about the sweetheart with every step they took under the rain with the “adorable” Sanrio-charactered (yes, Minho gushed all about these characters) umbrella.
And even though he got a cold a few days after, although Chan refused to admit it, he now had a cure: Lee Minho’s smile.
...He might’ve gotten a kiss on the cheek too, but that’s for another time.