<please note that for your full viewing experience, I highly recommend that you play the song in the multimedia while reading this chapter>

The next day when I had woken up for school, I tried to leave the house as fast as I could. I showered and put on a long-sleeved shirt with jeans and sneakers again. I saw mom sleeping on the couch as I crept out of the door.

Aside from that day, I cleared another week of school, watching out for Ahreum, declining Taehyung's invitation to eat lunch with them, and ignoring him and his friends the whole time.

Going home was the same. Trying to avoid a drunk mom. She would only get this way when something doesn't go her way. The hickeys on her neck had started to fade. I figured that's why she came home drunk so much now.

Me, on the other hand, would only come home after the dog park and Starbucks of course. I had no intention of going back home, especially while mom was still tipsy.

For a change of pace today, I went to an arcade and just walked around watching people play DDR to kill time. It looked like it was going to rain soon and I didn't have an umbrella.

I decided stopped at Starbucks to pick up the usual before I headed home and it had started drizzling while I was ordering. I walked out with my drink, about to run home when I saw Taehyung walking past. He noticed me.

"Y/n, hey." he crooned innocently with his face slightly concerned seeing me in the rain.

It was at that moment that my mind went blank. Is this what they call fight or flight? My drink had fallen to the floor, causing the lid to pop off and the contents inside to escape. The next thing I knew, my legs had begun moving on their own. I started running in the rain trying not to bump into people.

In my head, wondering why I'm running away. Running away and ignoring his calls out to me. Deep down in side, I was hoping that he would give up but even deeper, wishing he didn't.

"Hey! Y/n! Wait up!"

<Taehyung POV>

She looked at me as though she'd seen a ghost. Her drink fell to the ground as she dashed in the pouring rain. What on earth was she running from? I didn't know, but on impulse, I ran after her.

I ran, trying not to drop my umbrella as she manoeuvred through the crowd. Suddenly lightning struck and thunder roared through the sky. She tripped and fell to her knees.

I sheltered her with the umbrella and asked, "yah! Why were you running!?"

I watched her shiver on the ground, her eyes closed and she was not answering me. I figured she was cold from being wet. When thunder roared again, and she jumped up and clung to me.

I then realised that she wasn't shivering. It was something more than that.  Trembling. She shook with fear. In order to calm her down, I patted her long, wet hair to reassured her.

"Hey, we should get you home." I cooed to her, but surprisingly, she clenched her hands onto my shirt, clinging onto me as though she were a koala.

It was apparent that she was uncomfortable with that idea. With every roll of thunder that pierced our ears, her grip got tighter and tighter.

I placed my head on hers gently as she buried it into my chest. Her head was nuzzled so far in that I could feel her heart racing out of her chest. I used my free hand to gently hold her, rubbing her back on circles to calm her down further.

We stood in the rain, us both sheltered by my grey umbrella.

<Y/N POV>

I clenched onto him, inhaling his scent. Surprisingly, it was calming. He smelt musky and had a hint of the sweet smell of flowers.

Every time the thunder clapped, I would flinch, grasping him tighter. My fingers had intertwined themselves in the neck of his coat as he rubbed my back in circles. I could feel my fear slowly dissolving at his warm touch.

My head against his chest, trying to replace the noise of an angry Mother Nature with his heartbeat. This feeling, it was warm. It felt like.... butterflies? no. It can't be. Indigestion maybe? My mind went blank but all I know is that I was calmer with him around.

We stood in the rain, us both sheltered by his grey umbrella.

There we were, back in line a Starbucks. He had convinced me to go back inside since standing outside wasn't the most logical thing to do.

He had taken his coat off and gently placed it over my shoulders to keep me warm since my clothes were soaked from the rain. Like the thoughtful person that he comes across as, he ordered us new drinks, replacing the one I dropped earlier.

The coat was slightly big for me but it was warm and had a calming scent that I couldn't help but inhale; a scent that was intoxicating enough to put you in a trance.

When he had received our orders, he handed me one and put his arm over my shoulder to console me as I was still a bit jittery. Not from caffeine, but rather from the bellowing noise of the thunder outside.

We found a corner booth and went to opposite sides to face each other. Just as we sat down, thunder roared again, causing me to spring up and hit my knee against the corner of the table.

"Hey, careful! You okay?" He asked as he stood up quickly and reached his hand out to place on my shoulder.

"Y-Yeah, just a little..." I thought again, rephrasing my words, "okay, a lot scared of thunder. It reminds me of the loud noises of when people fight." I answered.

I pushed my hair back behind my ear and let out a small chuckle trying to make light of this situation. I watched as he fiddled in his pockets for something that he couldn't seem to find. He was slightly elevated from the seat until I saw a pair of headphones emerge from them.

"Why don't we try this?" He said, raising them to my view.

Before I could respond, he waved his hand and gestured me to come forward as he leaned in having his elbows rest on the table between us. Before I could even lean in and put the bud in my ear, I could already hear the song playing.

"Oh my goodness, is that Neyo?" I asked in awe to which he nodded in my direction gently.

"That's so cool. I didn't know you were into classics." He said and we both chuckled. He gently handed me one ear and we listened to the song, slowly getting lost in it.

We were listening to his song 'so sick'. Every time I listen to it, I feel as though I can relate to Neyo. Everyone has this craving for something they've lost because they didn't value it enough and when you can't get it back, you can't help but reminisce.

I felt that way. I miss the days where I could go to school and just live like a normal person. I miss being able to walk through the hallways without having them undress me with their eyes. I always think back to when mom would cook us a nice, family dinner and we would all eat around the table like a happy family that had no problems.

Everything was perfect. Even if it wasn't, to my young and naive self, it was. Sometimes I just wish that I'd wake up in the morning and the last few years of my life would have just been a bad dream.

Song after song, we sat there not exchanging a word between each other, just feeling the transcendence of the music as he sometimes tapped the beat of the song on the table. The music he played was calming. We'd been there for a while and our cups were now empty.

For some reason, through the songs he played, it felt like we were communicating with each other. Our body movements would be in sync while tapping of bopping to the beat, and occasionally we'd share a smile. Being so lost in the moment, we hadn't noticed the rain stop, nor did we keep track of time. My clothes were also starting to dry up and were merely damp now.

I looked outside, wishing that the rain would never let up and the skies would cry forever. That way, we wouldn't need to leave here. When I looked at my phone and saw the time. 8:34 pm.

"I should get going." I said, reluctantly. I didn't want to leave, but I was afraid of getting home too late.

"Ah! I'm sorry. I kept you for too long." He apologised. When he said this, I raised my arms in the air to deny his statement.

"N-no no! That's not true! I'm the reason we came here in the first place." I started to take his jacket off but he had placed his hand on my shoulder and stopped my motion. He nodded his head, acknowledging the time and realising he would also have to leave. I tried to give him his coat back but he insisted that I kept it on and give it to him at school tomorrow.

With that, we said our goodbyes and headed in opposite directions home. Coffee was fun but I think I enjoyed something more than the bitterness of the coffee today. It's been a while since I've been able to just dissolve in front of another person like that. It's been a while since I've been at peace like this.

Maybe it's him. Being with him is comfortable and he never makes me feel unwanted. He respects me, that's something that not a lot of people do. He's like this shelter over my head that can protect me from the storm. I want to get closer to him.

I want him to be my umbrella.

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