1 The Umbrella

Yoobin and I had decided to have a study date on Friday. Friday approached and I went on a field trip but came back in time to take a test during my last period of the day. Afterwards, I texted Yoobin asking if we were still going to the library two streets down from the school.

She said yes but asked if it was raining. It was raining when I got to school at the start of seventh period. She then asked if I had brought an umbrella. I did not.

"No ;;;;;; I didn't know it would rain today," I texted back. The bell rang and I was looking at my phone as I left class, waiting for a response:

"Oof ok, do you still want to go?"

"Yeah! ☆"

"ok. I got an umbrella from my mom so come to the stairs."

I did not even bring a hood that day. I tried covering my phone from the rain as I sighed in disbelief. Of course this would happen. What's worse is that not only would we have to share an umbrella because of my unpreparedness, but that of course my brain would jump to the thought 'Isn't this something straight out of a romance manga?' This kind of thing doesn't happen in real life. I know I always fantasized about it and got jealous that other our friends would share an umbrella with Yoobin since Yoobin and I were the only two who brought umbrellas out of our friend group—and we always brought separate umbrellas to my utter disappointment. But this was different. This was not my imagination; this was real life. How could the two of us actually share an umbrella on a rainy day on a walk to the library: just the two of us? Cuddled up that close? All close-like?

Of course, it is not as big of a deal as I make it out to be, but that only makes matters worse. I knew that only I would have such a thought, that only I would care about something like this, that only I would get flustered by something as small as that. Can you blame me, though, when something I've only ever fantasized about materialized into reality? I couldn't help but feel my stomach tangle into a knot and think 'how romantic.' I looked forward to it, but a part of me wanted to curse out fate for putting me in this kind of situation. To my dismay, Yoobin was probably unphased by the entire situation. It was, after all, only me dramatizing this. Stop thinking and just get going, Minhee!

I cleared my throat and shook my head as I met Yoobin. There she was, standing with a soft pink sweater and light blue jeans. For being the tough, snake-loving badass, she sure did light up the cold, sun-absent day more than the car lights which seemed to be the only source of light. I was wearing all black except for my childlike, non water-resistant, Tiffany-blue workout shoes. Oh right! The library.

We walked together, side-by-side. Immediately, I apologized for my clumsiness. Grace and foreseeing events had never been my forte. "Sorry... this is kind of inconvenient," I said of my lack of umbrella. Yoobin tilted her head and looked up as she pouted in a near-indifferent pose. "Mm, well it would have been more inconvenient if you had brought one, communication-wise I mean."

"Mmn," I nodded. I suppose she was right, but then why would she have asked if I had an umbrella in the first place. Surely she had wanted... not this, right? I thought to myself as I watched the wet concrete ground beneath us, being torn between feeling I was inconveniencing Yoobin and agreeing with her reassurance. I don't think I physically signed but I had felt as though I had done so internally. Something interrupted my thought though.

The electricity pole was in the dead center of the sidewalk and we were approaching it. Either I would have to squish closer to Yoobin or go around it. Instinctively, I try going around it but quickly stop in my tracks when I looked up and realized my reality. That is to say, it was raining and we were sharing an umbrella so we would have to walk together. Unless I decided to get wet (which defeats the whole purpose of sharing an umbrella), I would have to squeeze back with Yoobin, but even closer this time. I did so suddenly and apologized as I bumped into her slightly. I explained the situation to Yoobin, but she only smiled and nodded, chuckling, "Yeah." Of course she has eyes, idiot.

If I had allowed a moment of silence to follow, I would make things even more awkward so immediately jumped in asking about her day. Then, when it was my turn to describe my day, Yoobin got what I remember to be a phone call or notification of some sort. I wasn't quite sure what it was but before I could let my curiosity wonder about it or my eyes glance down at their phone, she immediately tucked it away and dismissed it, "Ugh, not important, go on." She smiled at me, reverting her full attention back to me as if her phone did not even exist. I couldn't process so much at the time so I continued to discuss my day.

After a few moments, it was actually kind of fun. I enjoyed being that close to Yoobin, discussing things as usual, under her umbrella, protected from the rain. I took back what I thought about it being 'the worst day for it to rain.' And I almost became disappointed that we were nearing the library, but Yoobin offered to get some snacks at the convenience store just a bit further down.

We ended up going and the rest of the day was quite fun. The worker talked with us a the convenience store. She was quite a friendly lady. I also felt like a married couple when we were shopping for snacks. We then went to the library and started working after roaming for seats after awhile. We sat at a desk and she let me use her laptop. Then we were able to get a study room and we dimmed the lights. I could see the night sky get darker and after our adventures we were able to get some work done. The library closed earlier than we would have wanted it to so we walked to a restaurant nearby. It was practically night by now, and we discussed the logistics of how to defend ourselves if a kidnapper or rapist suddenly appeared, among other more deeper subjects like how hard life can get. We got to the restaurant and ordered food, working diligently. As we were nearing the end of our homework, the guy next to our table asked if we were freshmen, and after I clarified that we were seniors, he, to my disgrace, said, "She looks like a senior but you look like a freshman." The man left shortly after and invited us to his bakery. Yoobin got a quick laugh out of that interaction, despite me kicking her feet underneath the table, embarrassed. After awhile more of working, she confessed that she had never been this productive on a Friday night and that today was a success. I agreed. I was secretly happy that she thought of it like that and associated my with a positive achievement like the completion of homework, in contrast to the other times she has attempted the same with other friends but had never been successful. We wrapped up our homework and when we finished our homework, we watched videos on YouTube and listened to some music as we waited for my mom to pick us up.

Overall, I'm glad the day was a success and I'm glad it turned out the way it did because I formed a lot more memories with Yoobin than I probably would have in a crowded, chaotic, unproductive, loud, crammed school event like we had originally planned.

If only I could live in my memories for longer. Things will probably go back to normal when we go back to school tomorrow.