Sunshine Shower

The weekend was indeed the weekend. There were far more customers than during his weekday part-time job. Moon Seoyoon felt the rush of working on a weekend after a long time and moved around busily. Thanks to working nonstop, closing time approached quickly before he realized it. Despite the physical exhaustion, he appreciated not having any time to get lost in his thoughts all day.“Wow, it’s really busy today. It always seems busier on the days I fill in. Same thing yesterday.”“Yeah. Do you want to take a break?”It was right after all the customers had left the tables.“No, it’s almost closing time anyway. But aren’t you overworking yourself? You’ve been moving around all day. You were the same yesterday.”“Just trying to sober up a bit.”Moon Seoyoon made up a plausible excuse. He did have some beer yesterday, so it wasn’t entirely a lie. He thought it was a decent excuse, but Song Juah gave him a suspicious look, seemingly playful.“Suspicious.”“It’s true.”“Hmm.”Even though he knew it was a joke, he didn’t know how to respond to her teasing tone, so he just lifted the corners of his mouth. Just then, he heard the sound of a bell ringing, drawing his gaze to the café entrance.“Oh…”Moon Seoyoon let out a groan unconsciously. The person who entered while looking at their phone was Kim Seonju. Soon, she was standing in front of the counter, meeting his eyes.“Oh? Seoyoon.”“Seeing you here.”A somewhat awkward voice slipped out.“So you work part-time here. It’s near school; how did I not know?”“Yeah.”“Right. I need to order. Two vanilla lattes, iced.”Isn’t she with Woo Yeonjae? Moon Seoyoon wondered as he swiped her card.Woo Yeonjae’s coffee preference was always the same. He wouldn’t even touch a vanilla latte, which included both milk and syrup.“I’ll make it.”Song Juah lightly tapped his back as she passed by. Moon Seoyoon returned the card to Kim Seonju.“No wonder. Woo Yeonjae comes here often.”Not knowing what to reply, he just gave a clumsy smile while Kim Seonju continued speaking.“Well, he’s my ex-boyfriend now, so I don’t care.”She cheerfully put the card back into her wallet. Surprised by the unexpected news, Moon Seoyoon blinked, thinking he might have misheard. It seemed his bewilderment showed on his face because Kim Seonju widened her eyes.“Woo Yeonjae didn’t tell you?”“…Uh. Did you break up?”“Yesterday.”“Oh…”What should he say? Not knowing how they broke up, offering premature condolences seemed odd. Moon Seoyoon’s lips moved, and he finally managed to say one word.“Sorry.”“Why are you apologizing?”Kim Seonju chuckled, leaning against the counter.“It’s my first time dealing with something like this, so I don’t know what to say.”“Yeah, it is kind of funny to tell my ex-boyfriend’s friend that we broke up.”Kim Seonju wrinkled her nose.“But it’d be weird to suddenly ignore you just because I broke up with Woo Yeonjae. Even if we weren’t close, we always greeted each other.”“Yeah, that’s true…”“Even if Woo Yeonjae ignores me, don’t join in, okay?”Her tone was playful, almost as if joking.“I won’t.”“Two vanilla lattes are ready.”Song Juah placed the drinks on the counter, and Kim Seonju giggled as she moved to take them.“Let’s say hi when we meet next time. Bye.”Moon Seoyoon awkwardly waved his hand as Kim Seonju left.“What was that? Did she break up with her friend’s boyfriend?”The café was quiet enough that Song Juah, who pretended not to hear, couldn’t help but know. Moon Seoyoon nodded. The sudden news still left him bewildered.“Seems like it.”“They looked fine when I saw them last time. Why did they break up?’Right. Why did they break up?Suddenly, he recalled the back view of someone getting out of a car.* * *He managed to avoid sitting next to Woo Yeonjae on both Monday and Wednesday. He deliberately timed his arrival at the lecture hall perfectly. Even though Woo Yeonjae must have noticed, he didn’t react. The only sign was a brief frown when he looked back.Friday. For some reason, Woo Yeonjae was not seen in the last lecture. Is he deliberately coming late?Moon Seoyoon, who had been anxious all along, could only relax after the lecture ended. He wasn’t entirely relieved by the thought of avoiding him for now. He had only bought himself two days, and he couldn’t keep avoiding him forever, so he needed to figure out how to face Woo Yeonjae over the weekend.But why isn’t he here today? Kim Seonju’s voice saying they broke up brushed past his ears.“Oppa.”He was packing his bag, scanning the lecture hall to see if Woo Yeonjae was sitting at the back. Seo Jieun approached him.“Yeonjae oppa didn’t come to this lecture either? Is something wrong?”This lecture too? It sounded like he missed other major classes as well.“I don’t really know. Did he miss other classes too?”“You don’t know either? I heard he didn’t attend the third-year major class today. I heard he never misses a class. The seniors asked if something was wrong, so I asked you since I didn’t know either.”People seemed to think that Moon Seoyoon was Woo Yeonjae’s closest friend since they were asking him about it.“You don’t know either. Hmm, it should be nothing. Anyway, see you next week!”“See you next week.”Moon Seoyoon answered absentmindedly as he packed his bag and left the lecture hall. He unconsciously fiddled with his phone. I hope nothing’s wrong. Even if something did happen, it probably wouldn’t be a big deal for Woo Yeonjae.‘It should be nothing.’He tried to reassure himself and not worry, but his thoughts kept drifting in that direction.Could it be because of the breakup? If so, it wasn’t something he should be concerned about. Asking if he was okay when he had feelings for him would be hypocritical.“Ha…”How long did he hesitate? Eventually, Moon Seoyoon let out a deep sigh and ruffled his hair. Soon, his fingers found the familiar name and pressed it.‘I’ll try once, and if he doesn’t answer, I’ll stop worrying.’He might have secretly hoped not to hear Woo Yeonjae’s voice.As he anxiously waited, worrying whether or not he would answer, the long ringing sound was cut off by a faint noise just before the machine sound took over.– Yeah.Soon, a lethargic voice stretched out from the other side of the phone. Moon Seoyoon unconsciously shivered. His suspicion quickly turned into certainty.“Woo Yeonjae. Are you sick?”– Yeah, I’m sick.As expected, the anticipated answer came. His voice and manner of speaking were much more drawn out than usual. It was one of Woo Yeonjae’s habits whenever he was sick.– I’m sick and alone, so I feel miserable…?Moon Seoyoon bit his lip.– I want to see Moon Seoyoon right now…His lips twitched slightly as he spat out the words.– Moon Seoyoon.The timing forced him to respond.“…Yeah.”– Will you come to see me?His whining tone seemed to mix with laughter.After getting out of the taxi, Moon Seoyoon looked up at the officetel building with a low sigh. The conclusion to the worries that had been lingering in his mind throughout his part-time job ultimately led him here. No matter how awkwardly they parted, it was hard to ignore a sick friend. The fact that Woo Yeonjae rarely got sick made it even more difficult.“Did you tell your mom?”Since he wasn’t the kind of son to inform his parents about everything, they probably didn’t know. And it wasn’t common for an adult to inform their parents about catching a cold.Moon Seoyoon pressed the call bell at the officetel entrance. He waited a few seconds but received no response.…Did he collapse? Knowing that was unlikely, his hand quickly pressed the entry code. If the elevator hadn’t been on the first floor, he might have run up the stairs.He quickly reached the floor where Woo Yeonjae stayed. Although he had only been there once, the door felt oddly familiar. After a brief hesitation, Moon Seoyoon pressed the doorbell. If there was no answer this time, he planned to enter using the password.As he counted the seconds in his head, deciding whether to enter or wait a bit longer, the door opened from the inside.“You’re here.”Thankfully, Woo Yeonjae was standing there. Fresh from a shower, his hair was still dripping wet. His eyes were slightly unfocused, and his cheeks were flushed with heat, indicating he wasn’t lying about being sick. The fact that he managed to shower meant he wasn’t critically ill.