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It was not supposed to rain.
Jungkook is usually pretty good at planning for things; he prides himself in his organization skills, always one step ahead of where he needs to be. He likes to be prepared for things, he likes to know what is going to happen before it does, and he likes to know what is going to happen even after that, too. He functions properly that way, never having to guess because he usually always just...knows.
Usually.
It was not supposed to rain.
He had triple checked the weather forecast that morning in an absent minded sort of way while going about his morning routine, making sure that the clothes he picked out would suit the temperatures outside, and if he needed to bother with making sure his hair would remain in its presentable little side sweep despite any humidity━which had been called for: humidity. Not rain.
It was not supposed to rain, and yet here Jungkook is, caught in a thunderstorm the likes of which he should have seen coming from miles away. It had happened in quite an opposite way from that, however; one of those storms that seemed to appear out of thin air. A beautiful, sunshiny day one moment, and the next a flood of rain and rain and rain, like the sky had just decided to open up and pour out everything it had been keeping up inside it.
Jungkook thinks he’d like to know what that feels like, to open up and pour it all out, but that’s a story for a different day.
In any case, Jungkook had not been prepared for the rain that was not supposed to happen. No rain jacket, no protective shoes, and no umbrella. Fortunately (though, maybe not) he does not seem to be the only one: people around him lift newspapers and briefcases over their heads and shrug deeply into the light jackets that they wear as they run for cover under the awnings of storefronts nearby, quickly clogging up any vacant space that Jungkook might have slipped into while they all wait out the downpour.
Jungkook gets a little soaked because he has to run a few doors down to the nearest convenience store, but it seems like a waste by the time he gets there, anyway. Convenience stores don’t have the widest umbrella selection known to man, but Jungkook is pretty hard-pressed to find that they’ve all been sold by the time he makes it there.
Dejectedly, he exits the store and stands under the shop’s awning, hoping for the rain to pass quickly. He hadn’t even been halfway through his errands, and there were still many more left to get done before the end of the day, not to mention that he needed to get his list done before he had to go and pick up his little brother from school, and he can’t be late this time because he was late last time, which is already very out of character for him, and━
“I can share mine, if you want?”
The first thing Jungkook sees is red.
A big, bright flash of red, sticking gauntily out in the suddenly somber atmosphere of the rain shower. The grey of the sky makes the red umbrella blinding for a moment, and Jungkook finds that he can only blink over at the man who’d posed a question in his direction.
“I’m in no rush to get particularly anywhere,” elaborates the man, who has probably mistaken Jungkook’s startled silence for unease or hesitation. “It’s a nice day for a walk, anyway.”
Now, that has Jungkook’s attention.
“A... nice day?” Jungkook can’t help the astonishment in his tone, glancing up to where water from the rain splashes down and off the awning that he’s cowering under. It isn’t subtle or calm or peaceful; it’s muggy and humid now, too wet and the raindrops just a bit too loud to be comfortable. Jungkook would not really venture to call this day a nice one.
Still, the stranger smiles. Nods, like he knows that it’s backwards and yet thinks so, anyway.
“I like to walk in the rain. It’s good for the soul.”
“Not so good for the sinuses, though,” Jungkook remarks, surprising a laugh out of the man.
He offers his big red umbrella again. The way he stands there is jarringly peaceful, in Jungkook’s eyes. The longer that he looks at the stranger, the more he realizes that it fits; he wears wide jean pants and a plain green shirt. A navy blue ball cap is tucked over his head, ears sticking out on either side. His shoes are the color of his umbrella: a vibrant red, like they were meant to be seen. Jungkook thinks that it makes sense for a man like him to consider a day like this to be ‘nice.’
Everything about this situation is strange, to Jungkook. It isn’t every day that he’s approached by a total stranger, much less offered something the likes of which he’s being offered now. It isn’t so far-fetched; it’s just that, well, Jungkook can’t remember the last time a stranger went out of their way to be so...kind, like this. Everyone here is like Jungkook--rushing, always, trying to get things done as quickly as possible so that they can move on to the next thing that is taking up all of their time. It’s a tedious way to live, but the pace of it feels like Jungkook took off running a long time ago and never really stopped.
That’s what makes this man who walks in the rain with a big red umbrella so odd. It’s because he walks, and doesn’t run. He knows how to appreciate a day as gloomy as this, because he isn’t in a rush to get it over with. He’s just enjoying it, and that’s something Jungkook hasn’t seen in a really long time. Something he hasn’t stopped rushing for long enough to see.
Jungkook wishes he knew the secret to being at peace like that, wishes he knew how to step out into an unannounced downpour and still call it nice .
So, maybe that’s why Jungkook says yes.
Standing under the awning while the rain beats down relentlessly is like a big pause; he takes a second to look, really look at the man. Not at his clothes and not at his big red umbrella, but at the smile on his face and the look in his eyes. Jungkook doesn’t have to look in a mirror to know that his own face is miles away from peace like that.
But, he wishes.
So, maybe that’s why he says yes.
Maybe it’s because he wants to find out what’s so great about walking in the rain, what there is to admire in it. Maybe that will tell him the secret to slowing down, to being. Just, being. And, if the walk in the rain doesn’t tell him, well. Maybe the man with the big red umbrella will.
“I just need to go about a block down,” Jungkook says, stepping out into the downpour. The stranger meets him halfway, and Jungkook’s shoulders only catch a couple of drops of water before he’s underneath the sheath of red. It doesn’t feel strange, like he thought it might. It just feels close, and quiet. It feels...human. “I’m Jungkook.”
It’s like he’s stepped into a bubble; the sound of the rain hitting the top of the plastic above them is so nice , and for once Jungkook isn’t hyper aware of the fact that he’s sharing all of his personal space with a stranger, which is something he tends to avoid at all costs. It can get so uncomfortable in the hustle and bustle of the city, where it seems like everyone is pressing in at once, too busy with their own hectic lives to mind other’s. But, somehow, it’s hard to be uncomfortable underneath the umbrella. He’s come across such a pleasant person, with such a pleasant smile, on such an otherwise pleasant day despite some mildly unpleasant circumstances. It’s so nice .
“Hi,” says the stranger. “I’m Namjoon.”
They walk together, and Namjoon doesn’t talk much, but for some strange reason Jungkook doesn’t feel like they need to. It feels a little like he’s learning the secrets to peace as they go. Maybe it’s dramatic; maybe he’s thinking too much into it (he usually does) and it’s just that Namjoon really is a plain weirdo who enjoys catching a cold every time it rains. But it’s peaceful. The roads have cleared just a bit, and people aren’t scrambling in every direction all at once, and Jungkook feels like he’s finally taken a breath for the first time. The rain keeps on coming and coming and coming, and for the first time in a really long time, Jungkook doesn’t wish it away.
And, if they walk a little slower or a little farther than they’d originally planned to, neither of them mention it.
After all, it’s a nice day for a walk.