Cloudy with a heavy chance of rain. (w/ WJSN Eunseo)
(As always, much appreciation goes to @a-casual-kpopfan for the help given to me by editing this post, it's been a while since I've posted a fic, and I hope my skills aren't that rusty. Love, schmerzhafte.)
Rain.
It always enamours you in this weird way.
It always reminds you of aā¦
Memory.
Is it sweet? bitter? or something else?
You do not grasp it well, but you feel it anyway.
Especially when you are accompanied by someone you adore, someone you care about, someone you love, and someone you cherish until the end. It always brightens your days when you spend time with her, seeing her smile and laugh whenever you crack a joke or two. It is a smile you will never forget, even if you have already seen it a thousand times. It still hits you deep. And hopefully, you will always experience this forever and ever.
āHey, dummy! Donāt just blank out like that! Iām here you know.ā
And with that, your thoughts that are starting to grow, embracing your memories, fade instantly. Because there is a smile that warms up your life when you look away from the window. Itās the smile that you wonāt forget, after all.
āJeez, I sometimes wonder why you do this often, you know? You always blank out randomly every time we hang out.ā
Right. You know that she recognizes this behaviour very well. It always occurs whenever you spend your day alone or with her. The thoughts always linger around, emitting a bright light in what currently is a dark place. It is night, after all, which is always the time when both of you finish work, and decide to spend the rest of your days together, in this cafƩ. The cafƩ that you know well holds every beautiful moment that you and she create every time both of you come to this place after dealing with the mess that is life, especially when you work in such a busy office, and she also deals with the same thing as you are, albeit in a different environment.
āYeah, I know. Sorry, itās justā¦remembering what happened to us, what we deal with together in life, and what we have to face every day, yet we get to meet here, in the exact same place, every day. Itās justā¦comforting.ā
āAfter all these years, Iām still confused, and itās slowly grinding my gears, you know.ā
Ohā¦shit.
You know this expression very well, whenever the mood starts to shift, you can easily recognize it by staring at her face, which, while expressing an angry emotion, seems to make your smile wider, just by imagining how cute she is whenever she gets angry.
āYou are a cute princess whenever you get angry, Juyeon. Iām starting to notice that as well.ā
āJeez, focus on the topic! Iām asking you why you do this!ā she pouts in the most adorable way possible.
āWell, hereās why.ā
And then you do the most sacrilegious thing youāve ever done in your whole life, one that you never thought you could do to other people. But you need to do it anyway, just to prove a point, just to declare something, to her.
A boop to her nose.
āHey!ā
āThat is why.ā
āWhat do you mean by that?ā
āIt means I love you, dummy, it means that you are important to me, to my whole life.ā
The expression suddenly changes, gone is the pouty face that you thought was the cutest thing in the world, and appearing to you, a surprised face that you rarely see, because she always expects the most unexpected thing from you.
But whenever you talk about this kind of stuff, she blushes very easily, like itās second nature to her. Maybe itās coming from her past, which you are very knowledgeable about, or because of how much you care for her, she didnāt expect it to come from you, due to how different you are acting towards your acquaintances, friends, orā¦someone you cherished forever.
āDonātā¦just say that to me, after the fact that you BOOPED MY NOSE!ā
That blush again, itās hard to hold a smile and a laugh, seeing that beautiful expression.
āYouāre so damn cute, I wish I could see this expression from you every day, every time.ā You replied, whilst holding and stroking your hand to her right cheek, remembering how cute she is whenever she gets like this. And you just wish you could do this forever and ever.
āYou know you can, right? We always meet at the end of our work, and whenever the weekend arrives.ā
āYeah, but I just wish I could do this to you every day, 24/7.ā
āThatās just wishful thinking, you know? Oh, by the wayā¦ā she glances at the barista, which you also know well, because, of course, both of you come here after work hours, ordering the same type of drink, and spending the rest of your days together, eventually, someone from the cafĆ© would recognize both of you well. āThe same one!ā she spoke to the barista, ordering her favourite drink, which is the hot cappuccino with brown sugar instead of white, which she always claims āIt is healthier than white sugar you know. You should try it!ā of course you ignored it, but you just love to see her complain about it every time you ordered a drink with white sugar. Those small things are what keep you alive, those memories that you hold forever. But, whenever she ordered a drink, you know damn well you must keep up with her, just to not leave her alone with her drinks.
āOh, and for me, one espresso with a shot of rum.ā You said to the barista. A rare combination, but you know damn well that you must work late tonight because your boss asked for an egregious amount of wishful thinking that gets approved by the department. With how close the deadline is approaching, you know that you must work harder this evening and stay up late, making letters and invitations to different companies.
āDamn, not just an espresso, but a rum as well? Guess your boss is acting up again, huh?ā She scoffed at your order. āYeah, heās acting up again, asking for ridiculous favours, adding weird things to an already approaching deadline, which means we have to work double the time to requisite more budget and items to the other department.ā You replied to her with a disgusted look.
āWell, such is life, sometimes you get a good workplace environment, sometimes you get a shitty one, just be glad that you have a nice workplace, but with the handicap that is your boss.ā Thereās a hint of truth in what she said. Yeah, you work every day from 9 to 3, but the workplace you live in is comfortable; a good internet connection, pantries with many ingredients to cook something when you have downtime, an actual good income, and many friendly colleagues that always support one another. It is a rare blessing for some people, because many of those people get a shitty workplace, and a shitty boss too. That is what youāre proud of, but of course, the downside is that your boss is a tough one.
āYeah, youāre right, anyway, the drinks have arrived!ā
The barista comes with both of your beverages, her hot cappuccino, and your espresso with a shot of rum. āStill together, are we? What a lovely couple both of you are, I hope the best for both of you, living the best life, and loving each other!ā she happily exclaims. You saw your soulmate smile gently whilst laughing, with a hint of blush on her cheeks. Thatās a good expression to see. āThank you, miss. We wish you the same thing as well, we hope your cafĆ© keeps running well!ā she happily replied to the barista, and you as well said the same thing. The cafĆ© actually runs really well, it was constructed and ran probably 3 to 4 years ago, which is a good accomplishment for a self-owned cafĆ©. The owner and the staff have been great to both of you, and made a drink named after both of your favourite moments in life, āCloudy Rainā, a grey-coloured cocktail with egg white that has been shaken in order to form a ācloud of foamā that floats on the top, representing a drink that symbolizes struggle, and a hardship that both of you need to tackle to move forward in life.
āMiss Juyeon, if you have the time, can you come here at around 9.30 a.m.? We need to deliver an order, but when we saw the place where we were supposed to deliver it, we noticed that itās your workplace. Soā¦if you wouldnāt mind?ā the barista hesitantly asked your soulmate. Itās not often that the cafĆ© gets a delivery order, because itās supposed to be a ātraditional vintage cafĆ©, which only serves a dine-in customerā, but when thereās an order, it usually comes from your Juyeonās workplace, because of how she promotes the place to her colleagues and acquaintances, which in turns, creates a huge profit for the cafĆ©. A rare occurrence indeed.
āOh sure, itās probably Hyunjung or Sojung, since both like this placeās beverages. Iām sure itās the same order as the previous one, correct?ā she asked. Call it intuition, but she knows her colleagues well enough to the point where she remembers the exact drink her colleagues ordered every time, she asks them about ordering beverages from the cafĆ©. āYes! Wow, someoneās a great colleague, huh? Youāre very lucky to have a soulmate like her who cares about her colleagues.ā The barista happily exclaimed. It surely puts a smile on your face too, seeing her being this cheerful, especially with how busy both of your life has been, itās a rare occurrence, but when it happens, itās a once-in-a-lifetime moment, that you will surely remember for the rest of your life.
But you feel sleepy all of a sudden, it feels like a weight is put on both of your shoulders, and your eyes share the same sensation, forcing a situation that you damn well canāt pull out from, with how intense work and life is. Itās weird, because youāre supposed to be awake, with how you ordered such heavy caffeine, combined with a rum as well. Itās supposed to help you with your work tonight. Instead, it forces you to fall asleep, knowing well that you need to drive home with Juyeon back home, in order to work more, and maybe get a proper rest. But luckily, she notices it well enough.
āHey, dummy! Donāt go to sleep yet, you must drive us home, remember? Hey! Wake up!ā she shouts while nudging your shoulder.
But the rain, the heavy feeling, and the warm sensation of Juyeonās smile put you to sleep quickly, and you canāt help but notice that the rain continues to ring in your ears, keeping your company. Itās been like this for hours, but surely the rain will end soon, right? You clearly checked the weather app this morning, and it predicted that the rain would come to an end at around this time.
But it doesnāt.
Instead, itās the sleepy feeling that comes to an end quickly.
You wake up in the same place, facing a window, watching the rain outside, you donāt even realize how long you have been asleep, but thereās one thing you do realize.
A familiar voice peeks into your left ear, shouting.
āHey, itās 1 a.m., and we are about to clean up before closing the cafĆ©.ā
Itās the CafĆ© owner, nudging your shoulder, whilst on her right hand, holding a broom.
After that, do you realize, that you are still in the same place.
The only difference is that youāre alone.
The heavy sensation that you felt, now comes again, but it doesnāt put you to sleep. Instead, it heavily pushes your mind and your heart. The rain, forcing you to memorize a certain moment that you, and the other person you used to be here with, shared.
With your phone in your grip, you checked, and a notification from the Calendar app came.
ā11th November: Cloudy Rain.ā
As you pull away from the window and your phone, there you see, on the other side of your table.
Grey-coloured Cocktail, with heavy foam on top.
And a familiar portrait of a person.
In front of it, a bouquet of White Chrysanthemum and Gladioli.
Someone who youāve cherished all the time.
Who youāve shared those moments, those memories, those sensations.
Someone, with whom you shared the rain together, after hour, in this very place, with a hot cappuccino, and an espresso with a shot of rum in front of you.
Someone, who you loved, to death.
And indeed, as you stare at the portrait,
of Son Juyeon.











