I still remember the day of our first encounter.

It was on a rainy night and I was crying alone in the playground after running away from home. I was looking down the entire time, covering my crying face from being seen even though I knew there was no one else other than me. The sounds of footsteps approaching me made me go quiet since I didn't want people to find out I was crying. That time, I could only hope for the person to ignore me and walk away but he didn't. I couldn't feel the heavy rain that was pouring on me. I realised he protected me from the rain using the umbrella. I looked through my wet bangs that covered half of my eyes, and I saw he was standing right in front of me.

"I'm not going to say anything so you can keep crying," he said, which made me feel curious to know who the person in front of me was. Finally looking up from the ground, my eyes met with his dark brown eyes.

"I'm okay.." I lied, obviously. The red eyes showed that I had cried longer than an hour. My body was trembling because of the cold wind but I really didn't want to become a burden to people, a total stranger too.

"I was planning to walk away because I thought you would get up in any minute but.. it's been 30 minutes and you were not moving. You might get sick," he softly said, sounding out of concern. But what shocked me the most was that he waited 30 minutes and wasted his time just because of a stupid girl like me.

Since I didn't want to cause more burden to him, I got up from the swing. "Thank you and I'm sorry for troubling you when it was supposed to be my problem that I should handle by myself." I walked away but he grabbed my wrist, stopping me. He gave me his umbrella, forcing me to take it even though I refused.

"My house is around here. I don't really need the umbrella. Well then.. be careful on your way back home and see ya!" He ran first after handing me the umbrella while I watched him disappear from my sight. I let out a sigh and began to walk.

The next day, I went to the playground bringing the umbrella that he let me borrow with me. I was planning to give it to him in case he passed by here. It's evening so the playground was full of childrens playing with their friends. The swing I sat on yesterday was already taken by a girl smaller than me. I only smiled and took a stroll around. I might be smiling instead of crying but deep inside, I was hurting with lots of invisible wounds. Everyday was the same. It's like living in hell.

A house that was supposed to be a safe place became a nightmare to me. The moment I stepped my feet inside the house, I felt suffocated as if there's a chain hanging around my neck and pulling me deep into despair. It was my routine to come here to get some fresh air and release the stress. Far away from home, far away from them.

"Ha.. I wonder when he is going to come.." I kicked the pebbles in front of me and it hopped a few times, stopping at someone's foot. I moved my eyes from below till the face just to realise it's the person I was waiting for!

"Are you perhaps waiting for me..?" he asked, walking towards me.

"W-what no.. I just happened to be here with your umbrella, yeah! Who knows I might end up crying in the rain again, hahaha!" I was making a fool out of myself. I could've just admitted I was waiting for him but I was embarrassed especially after he asked first. "Anyway, here is your umbrella. Thank you again." I smiled at him, a genuine one.

"It's really not a big deal," he held the umbrella.

I glanced at him and gasped after noticing how tall he was. I didn't notice this yesterday because my visions were blurry but why is he so tall?! I felt small standing beside him.

"Um.. did you come from school? I've never seen you before till yesterday but you are wearing the same uniform," I asked, just because. I wanted to talk to someone.

"Yeah but I always come home late though. Maybe around 8pm? Since I went to the academy after school as well. Today I don't need to go to the academy because the teachers are busy."

Academy? I had never been to one before because it cost money and my parents thought I wouldn't need it because they assumed I was intelligent and could always get perfect scores. That's why they got mad when I got lower than they expected but I'm not a genius.

We decided to sit on the bench after standing for too long. I planned to go home as soon as I returned the umbrella but somehow.. I didn't want to end the conversations. He seemed to be fine with it. We had talked a lot but I never got to know his name. As if he just read my mind, he suddenly introduced himself, "I'm Nishimura Riki but you can call me Riki. Also, I'm 11th graders."

"Nishimura..? That's not a Korean name."

"That's because I'm Japanese. How about you?" He asked politely. I had never talked to someone as polite as him. It gave me comfort to talk in such a peaceful situation because people always talked loudly to me. It hurts my ears.

"Ha Minjae and we're the same age then." I introduced myself but after that, it became silent. None of us wanted to speak first. If I kept this longer, it would become awkward. I really.. don't want him to go. "Actually.. I ran away from home yesterday."

"Huh?" Riki looked at me, waiting for me to continue since he didn't ask or say anything.

"My parents fought. Well.. they often fought so I'm not surprised anymore. But I'm still scared whenever they fight. They were shouting, throwing things and I.. I don't want to hear it. It's not enough to cover my ears with headphones and music, that's why I came to the playground." I told him. I hope he wouldn't mind listening to this. I didn't have anyone else to tell me about my problems. It's not because I didn't have any friends, I just didn't trust them. But why am I telling this to him? Was it because he's just a stranger and wouldn't care about it?

"It must be really scary for you.. you know what? You can always tell me your problems if you want to." The sudden offer made me confused and questioned him. We're not even friends. Why would I tell him about my stupid problems?

"I know you're kind but you don't need to go that far. It's fine. We just happened to meet and we're not going to the same school. We're nothing but mere strangers that know each other's name." I said. I didn't think it's the right thing to tell people about my problems.

"We can be friends then. If going to different schools is the problem, we still can meet outside of the school. We can meet here. Of course I'm not forcing you.. I just want to make you feel at ease. Whenever you have problems and want to talk and want someone to listen to you, you can always call for me."

"Won't it be tiring to listen to me? I talked a lot, you see.. you're going to find me annoying." I stared at my lap. I told him the truth. I might look quiet but I love talking to people. But I always get carried away in the conversation and tend to talk about myself or unnecessary stuff.

I didn't mean to do that but since I didn't want the person to stop talking to me or making it awkward for us, I talked about the most random thing sometimes. That's also because they had nothing to say. They wouldn't talk unless I started first. I put effort into talking to them. They never said I'm annoying, I thought of myself that way. I tried my best to not get excited or talk too much.

"If you think that way.. how about we exchange secrets? Everytime we meet, we will tell each other's secrets or problems.. that would be fair, right? We can keep each other secrets. It can be anything. After all.. humans have lots of secrets within them." He smiled. He had such a pretty smile.

"Are you really okay with that? It's called a secret for a reason you know. You only tell secrets to people that you trust.." I always had my guard up with people around me. I never told people about my secrets or problems because I couldn't trust them. I had experienced and seen how people talked behind their best friend's back. If I told them, they would talk behind me as well.

"I trust you." He showed his pinky finger at me. "I promise you can trust me too."

That was my first time making such a promise to someone. As I linked my pinky finger with him, I felt his gaze on me with a soft smile on his face.

"How about I tell you my secret now? I'm adopted." He said without making many expressions but my smile slowly faded away after hearing that.

"I-Is it okay for you to tell me this? I know it's a secret but don't you think it's a big and serious secret..?" I panicked.

He chuckled, "This isn't a big secret. Most of them at school know about this. Don't worry."

"Ah.. really?"

"My parents passed away when I was seven. They had a good best friend.. which is my father now. After my parents passed away, they adopted me as their child because his wife couldn't give birth. But since they lived in South Korea, they decided to bring me here."

"I see.. Do your adoptive parents take a really good care of you?" It must be hard for him to lose a mother and father at a young age. I didn't know how painful it would be since I still have my parents but I couldn't imagine living without them. They might hurt me but I still need them.

"They do. My parents love me and adore me so much. They always care and treat me kindly. I received so much love. I'm so lucky to have them.."

"That's good to hear!" I smiled. At least he had new parents that took good care of him and helped him recover from the pain of losing his parents.

—

Riki's pov

"I'm home.." I stepped into the house just to receive a harsh greeting from him when he threw the vase towards me. If only I didn't notice it, it might hit me. I stood at the door, looking at him who's waiting for me on the couch. What's gotten into him today? He seems furious.

"Did you realise what time it is? I heard that there's no classes at the academy so why are you late?!" His fist clenched, crumbling the newspaper in his hand.

Good grief. I thought it's something serious or I made a mistake. I put on a fake smile I always wear, "Am I not allowed to hangout with my friends, Father?" Even though I didn't hangout with friends from the academy, I didn't lie. I really hung out with a friend, a new friend.

"Ha.. you're supposed to be home early and continue to study. Every action you make will affect your results. You need to keep being in 1st place." He sighed before looking away.

I went to my room upstairs, laying on the soft mattress. I know what to do. He doesn't need to remind me every time. After all he's my father now and I should make him proud. I should at least pay him back by making him proud of me. "It would be nice to talk to Minjae.." I scrolled through my phone and stared at the phone number she gave me before I left.

"That time.." I was going home from the academy. It suddenly started raining and I had to buy an umbrella from the convenience store. As always, I used the same path but I never saw someone at the playground at night until I saw her.

"Huh?? What is she doing in the rain..?" I frowned, locking my eyes on the girl on the swing. Is she crazy? Maybe she just needs to cool down. I should ignore her and go straight home. Father will get mad at me if I'm late.

I was about to walk away when I heard a sobbing coming from her. "She is crying," I decided to wait for a bit more. I waited until a sound of notification startled me. Oh my! I'm already late. But I can't just walk away. What if she faint or something? I walked towards her, standing right in front of her so that I could cover her from the rain. Why did I do this?

I can just ignore her and act like I see nothing. It's always easy for me to ignore people. She's just a stranger. Maybe she also wouldn't want me to listen to her crying. She might get embarrassed. But listening to her cry kinda hurt me too.. Why is she crying?

"I'm not going to say anything so you can keep crying," I said, trying to comfort her. I'm really not good at this. She looked up from the ground, my eyes met with her round eyes. She's like a puppy..

"I'm okay.." she said, which I can tell it's a lie. The red eyes that showed she had cried longer than an hour. Her body was trembling. If I keep her here any longer, she might really get sick.

"It's okay, I will be meeting her tomorrow." I smiled to myself.