Summer Rush

Pt 14

Thunder. A downpour of rain, cold and constant. My garage door opened slowly, water splashing onto the concrete. I swiped my phone screen.

Hey, do you mind if I invite a friend? Kinda owe her a favor.

A couple of minutes.

Yeah sure :) Tae says he's fine with it

Push and turn the keys. Shift to drive. A quick dial.

"Hey, what's up?" Clara sounded alert as always.

"You wanted to meet Taehyun, right?"

++

As I pulled up to his house, I saw Soobin standing outside with an umbrella and a pleasant smile on his face. Raindrops breaking as they crashed onto the concrete. He was wearing a simple white shirt and black ripped jeans, but my eyes were drawn instantly to his leather jacket. He walked down Taehyun's front steps and up to my car door. I opened it and crouched underneath the umbrella.

"Uhh, some help here?!" Clara had stepped out of the car and the rain was pouring down on her..

"Ah!" Soobin gasped, "Sorry."

We ran over to her side and Soobin held the umbrella over all three of us.

"Thanks," Clara said, annoyed.

"Come on, let's just get inside," I cringed as the clouds crashed. The wind started picking up, flipping the fabric of the umbrella out of its metal frame. We ran inside and closed the door abruptly. Taehyun's house was incredibly neat and clean, much cleaner than Soobin's. Instinctively, I took my wet shoes off. Soobin and Clara followed. A plush rug underneath our socks.

"Everyone else is setting up in the basement, follow me," Soobin took my hand proudly and led us downstairs. Even the basement was fully furnished and had an incredibly cozy feel, however it was surprisingly cold. A combination of the gloomy weather and overpowered AC. I exaggerated a bit and feigned a shiver, raising my shoulders and crossing my arms. Just as I had hoped, Soobin turned to look at me and started pulling the sleeves of the jacket off of his arms.

"Here," he took it and placed it over my shoulders. A white t-shirt. Rolled up sleeves. Nice. I tried to hide my smile and looked down at the ground.

"Thanks," I said softly. We walked into another room, Clara following shyly. The other four were setting up their instruments and speakers. Plugging wires into sockets and bickering.

"Guys!" Soobin yelled as he entered the room. He paused dramatically, gesturing to Clara and I, "our first audience."

Soobin jogged to the drum set and sat down on the stool. Beomgyu and Yeonjun had just pulled the bass and guitar straps over their heads. Huening and Taehyun were setting up their mics and a keyboard. Kai adjusted his microphone over the keyboard; it just barely reached his height. Clara and I sat down on the couch.

"Yeah, he's really pretty," I heard her whisper.

"Beomgyu!" Yeonjun yelled, "will you ever put that phone down?"

Beomgyu was tapping away, probably typing out a text message.

"Gyu!" Taehyun called.

"What?" Beomgyu put his phone in his pocket, "unlike you guys, I actually have people to talk to," he grumbled.

"Yeah, like your new girlfriend?" Soobin teased. Clara turned to look at me, eyes wide. I shrugged and laughed.

Beomgyu didn't even notice and was fiddling with the strings, "Yeah, well she's mad at me since I didn't let her come today. I told her that she should wait until we-hey wait!" he shot an angry look at Soobin, "she's not my-'' he paused, "okay, yeah, maybe she is, whatever."

"Can we just start?" Taehyun laughed, grabbing his mic. Everyone nodded. Soobin held up his drumsticks.

"1, 2, 3, 4," he hit them together. On the fourth count, Yeonjun started playing the electric guitar, Beomgyu strummed on his bass, and Huening and Taehyun started singing a soft melody. It was instantly familiar. It had been the song Soobin was humming that morning at the drive-in. Suddenly, Soobin began pounding on the drum set, confidence overflowing. Dark hair bouncing up and down with every beat. Feet stomping on the pedals. Wood crashing into the cymbals with a sizzle that echoed throughout the entire room.

The song had started off slow, but now it was surprisingly powerful. Taehyun sang for the most part, Hyuka adding harmonies during the chorus. Clara and I were absolutely mesmerized. With one last strum, the song ended. Immediately after, Soobin looked up at me for approval. I clapped in delight and nodded.

"Nice work, guys," Yeonjun smirked, "looks like we've still got it."

"I'd say," Beomgyu brushed the bangs out of his face, "we're awesome!"

Huening laughed with joy. They were all beaming.

"I'm going to try to get us in on Thursday," Taehyun whipped out his phone, "you guys take a breather. Food's upstairs if you're hungry. My mom made lunch."

Yeonjun, Beomgyu, and Huening started walking up the steps while Soobin, Clara, and I lingered behind.

"I'll stay down here for a bit," Clara twisted her hair behind her ears, "I-"

I laughed and grabbed Soobin's hand, eyes glancing at Taehyun for a moment as he was on the phone.

"Oh," Soobin paused, "do you have a..?"

"Ah," Clara flushed in embarrassment, "maybe a little."

"Come on," I smiled and started walking, pulling Soobin up the steps.

There were a couple pizzas on the counter and a couple of pints of ice cream.

"Mint?" Beomgyu scoffed as Yeonjun scooped some into a bowl.

"Uhh yeah? What, is something wrong, princess?" He teased. Hyuka silently started scooping it himself.

"Just didn't know you enjoyed eating toothpaste," Beomgyu pulled out a tub of vanilla from the freezer.

"What?! It's not like toothpaste! You're just not sophisticated enough to enjoy it," Yeonjun grumbled and started walking back downstairs, holding his bowl of ice cream, plate of pizza, and a coke.

Hyuka followed him after noting, "It's really not that bad," to Beomgyu. Beomgyu simply rolled his eyes and shrugged to Soobin. He walked downstairs behind the other two, leaving me and Soobin alone.

"Do you like mint chocolate?" He asked me quietly.

"Ehh, it's not really my thing," I said honestly. He simply nodded.

"Yeah I like it sometimes, but other flavors are much better," Soobin reached for a paper plate.

"You were pretty great," I nudged him lightly, "on the drums."

"Thanks," Soobin smiled and nudged me back, "that was just a warm-up though, wait until you see us live! Taehyun's trying to convince the fair board to let us play."

"That would be fantastic," I scooped some vanilla ice cream into a bowl.

"You really like watching me play, don't you?" Soobin's cheeks puffed as he blushed.

"I can't say I don't."

A few more hours of playing and Clara quietly fangirling. I was excited, too, of course. Soobin was an entirely different person. I had gotten him to relax a bit over time with us being together, but his confidence skyrocketed when he started playing.

At the end of the session, everyone started packing up their things. Clara personally thanked Taehyun for hosting and for letting her come. He nodded and smiled kindly to her.

I laced my fingers through Soobin's as we walked upstairs. I stood up on my tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek before leaving. He crouched down slightly to catch it.

"Text you tomorrow?" he said quietly.

"Please do," I released his hand and walked out with Clara.