Rain || Choi Beomgyu

on a stormy night

Beomgyu drops on his knees, clutching the paper in his hands.

Why was the world so cruel? He asked himself.

Just like the roaring skies, his tears poured uncontrolably and he screamed. To passerbys, he looked insane, but he didn't care. His phone was ringing nonstop, probably Taehyun looking for him.

He stayed like that for what seemed like forever until he heard rushed footsteps towards him.

"Hyung! I've been looking for you!" Taehyun calls out, kneeling in front of him, holding his shoulders. He grabs the umbrella's handle pinned on the middle of his neck and shoulder to cover the older boy.

Beomgyu still hasn't stopped bawling his eyes out as thunder clapped once again. "Hyung, let's go home. We'll look for her again tomo—"

"She doesn't want me to see her."

"What..?"

"She's so unfair! She won't let me see her one last time!"

"One last time..?"

"She's dying, Taehyun, DYING!" Beomgyu screams. "And I don't even know where she is! She won't even let me talk to her!"

"Hyung... let's go home."

°°°

The rain had finally stopped.

Beomgyu lets out a shakey breath as he lowers his head. He stands up from where he sat before heading towards another direction. He absentmindedly heads to the bus stop, making sure he had his card.

He gets off in a familiar bus stop. He heads straight to another park, one that was near his school.

The boy stops on his tracks as he sees someone standing in the familiar place they had expressed their love for each other. He takes another shakey breath before he finally gathered enough courage to walk towards the person.

"...Jinsung?" The said boy turned around with wide eyes.

"Beomgyu! I haven't seen you in years!" The boy exclaims as he gave Beomgyu a small smile.

"Uh hey... yeah, you moved away after..." Beomgyu cuts off his own sentence.

"Yeah, I'm sorry..."

"It's alright, it's in the past."

"Do you have free time? I want to take you somewhere. It's not far from here." Jinsung asks him as to which he nodded.

"Sure, lead the way."

With that they headed towards a flower shop. "You wanted to take me here..?" He asks dryly, as to which the younger one chuckled at his 'enthusiasm'. "No! I just have to pick something up on the way. Wait here." Jinsung explains before heading inside the flower shop

After a few minutes, he comes back out with a bouquet of carnations on hand.

"Are we visiting your girlfriend or something?" Beomgyu looks at him with narrowed eyes.

"Just follow me."

"Alright, lead the way."

It took them at least 20 minutes to finally arrive to a hospital. Jinsung stopped in front of the entrance.

"She stayed in this hospital. I'm sorry we never told you. She refused to let us tell you." Jinsung tell him. "She stayed strong until her last moments..." he continues, trailing off.

"Sounds like her. I know she's a fighter." Beomgyu replies, a sad smile on his face.

"Yeah." Jinsung agrees, staring at the building for a little bit more.

A few seconds later, Jinsung motions Beomgyu to follow him again as they finally reached their destination.

The cemetery.

Beomgyu takes a deep shaky breath, already knowing where they were going. Jinsung gives him a concerned look, knowing how painful this must have been for him.

With a subtle nod towards the younger boy, Beomgyu followed him as he starts walking. They walked through endless gravestones before finally finding one with a familiar name.

박 채 린
Park Chae Rin

November 26, 2002 - March 18, 2019

Jinsung places the bouquet of white carnations underneath the gravestone as he sits down in front of it, gesturing the older boy to sit next to him.

"March 18th..? That means she..."

"Yeah. She really held out. 'I refuse to let go before Beom's debut!' was what she kept telling us."

Beomgyu let's out a heavy sigh, tears starting to gather in his eyes before Jinsung continued.

"Chaerin never missed the chance to watch your videos and like you social media posts. She always smiled like an idiot everytime she'd see you. And when you finally debuted, she waited for the mv to drop and the livestream of your debut showcase."

At this point, Beomgyu was trying to stop himself from breaking down then and there.

"She never stopped loving you. She loved you so much that she tried to get treated, hoping she'd get cured and meet you again... but treatment didn't help her."

"What was it?"

"Her illness?"

"Yeah."

"Bone Marrow Cancer. The cancer cells spread out too fast but she had prolonged her life a little bit longer"

"She fought bravely..." Beomgyu mutters, finally letting out a wail as Jinsung pats his back.

"Ah... she also bought an album. She wanted me to give it to you too. I always kept it with me so if we ever met in music shows or wherever, I'd be able to give it to you, but I kept forgetting it" Jinsung says before grabbing his backpack and pulling out the said album. Beomgyu grabs it from Jinsung and tried to open the familiar blue album before the latter stops him.

"I suggest you open it at home instead of here." Jinsung suggests and Beomgyu nods. "Thanks, Jinsung... for this and for taking care of her." Beomgyu tells him gratefully, wiping off his tears.

"It's nothing. Chaerin and I grew up together and I see her as my own sister. I love her a lot." Jinsung tells him with a small smile on his face. "Thank you, too, Beomgyu hyung. You became her strength through her tough times in the hospital. You gave her motivation to fight against her cancer." The younger boy continues.

After a while of talking about Chaerin, idol things, and catching up a little, Jinsung finally stands up.

"Well, it's about time I return to the dorm. Stay a bit and talk to her a little more, I'm sure she misses you a lot. I'll see you around, hyung." He bids goodbye before leaving.

Beomgyu gives him a small wave before looking back at the gravestone.

"Hey Chae, I missed you. Am I the most awesome boyfriend now?" He asks with a sad smile.

"I love you."