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The first thing Rain did upon leaving the presentation room (aside from pumping his fists and jumping around and quietly screaming between his teeth) was whip out his phone and open his message app.
His large grin calmed into a quieter happiness as he read his last message from Payu, sent during the early hours of the morning.
[06:23] P’Payu : Good luck today.
Rain’s grin widened once more as he finally allowed himself to respond.
[13:32] Rain : P’Payu can I call you?? Are you busy??
He allowed himself all of a minute before deciding to clarify the importance of his request.
[13:33] Rain : I have something exciting to tell you!!!!
Tucking his phone away, Rain practically skipped down the hall and out of the building, not even noticing his friends calling out to him to see how he did on his final presentation.
“Maybe it went well?” Sky guessed.
Once in his car, Rain pulled out his phone again, only this time his grin dropped away entirely as he opened his messages. Still no response from Payu. Usually, Rain knew to be patient. Payu was extremely busy. Even with Rain spending all of his studying time at the garage, it was rare for Payu to be able to slip away to spend even a moment with him.
But this was a special occasion! With a shrug, Rain decided he was just going to have to be annoying about it and Payu would have to deal.
[13:40] Rain: Missed call
“Ow?” Rain pulled the phone away from his ear. The phone didn’t even ring? It just went straight to voicemail.
[13:41] Rain : It went to voicemail…
[13:41] Rain : That’s ok! This just means I get to tell you in person!
[13:42] Rain : I’ll see you at the garage in a bit!
Satisfied with this plan of action, Rain buckled his seatbelt and pulled out of his parking spot.
For how often he was at the garage, Rain should have had Payu’s work schedule memorized. But he didn’t, which is how he came to find himself being scolded by P’Aon as he continuously poked his nose into one too many grease pits.
“The boss isn’t even here today! Didn’t he tell you? You should know his schedule even better than me at this point!”
“Er…I’m sure I have that knowledge somewhere in my brain?” Rain appeased with an apologetic wave.
“Go wait for him in the office like you always do. There’s no point in hanging around outside with the rest of us in this weather if you aren’t getting paid for it. The last thing I need is to get fired because I let you stay outside when the rain starts.”
“Oh, is it going to rain today?” Rain squinted up at the sky as he made his way to the office. There weren’t too many clouds out, but all that meant was that the storm was still hours away. Which Rain interpreted to mean that Payu was still hours away.
[14:34] Rain : P’Aon said it’s supposed to rain later, so he’s letting me wait in the office.
[14:34] Rain : So don’t fire him!
[14:36] Rain : Drive safe!
Rain had learned to come prepared for the days he had to wait for Payu at the garage. He dug out his phone charger, plugged himself in, and settled back on the couch to catch up on a few hours of mindless RPGs he hadn’t had the chance to touch in months.
The day was made even better when the eventual rain drove all the mechanics to gather together into the office for an impromptu pizza party. Rain was ordered to put his phone away for a second and tuck in with everyone else.
[17:03] Rain : I know you’re busy, so make sure you remember to eat something!
[17:03] Rain : You don’t have to worry about me. Your workers invited me to eat with them! (*￣▽￣)旦 且(´∀`*)
“Oh! But don’t tell the boss!”
Rain froze, his eyes slowly moving from his screen to the stares all around him. “Uhm…what?”
“Don’t tell the twins,” one of the mechanics repeated. “They’ll definitely dock our pay if they find out we’re slacking off like this. Even if it is just for an hour.”
Rain’s eyes darted back down to his screen.
“You didn’t already tell them, did you?”
“No!” Rain cleared his throat in an attempt to get rid of his high-pitch problem. “Of course not! Your secret is definitely safe with me.”
[17:04] Rain : Please don’t fire them.
With a sheepish smile, Rain wai’ed in apology and put his phone away to enjoy the next hour (and a half, but who was counting?) with good food and raucous company.
The party ended when someone reminded the rest of the group that the next race was coming up and they still had quite a number of bikes to work on before the deadline. It was then that Rain learned that regular business hours were dedicated to the public, and after hours were dedicated to the vehicles that ran in the illegal street races.
“Why do they always wait until the last minute to bring their bikes in to be serviced!?” one of the men complained as they all shuffled out the door, once again leaving Rain alone.
Well, not quite alone. There was a mountain of pizza boxes, dirty plates, and empty drink cups piled around the tiny office trash can. Understanding the importance of hiding all the evidence, Rain got to his feet and began the task of making multiple trips to the dumpster. With that mess cleared out, he then noticed all the crumbs they left behind both on the counter and floor, not to mention the cup ring stains and tipped over office plant in the corner.
Deciding to pay back the kindness everyone had shown him, Rain hunted down a cabinet of cleaning supplies and took to bringing the office back to its former glory to ensure no one would be the wiser come morning.
He had only just finished up and sat back down when the door jingled open.
Rain immediately perked up, but rather than it being P’Payu wiping rain droplets off his shoulder as he entered, he was greeted by the sight of P’Aon instead.
“I’m so sorry, but everyone is done for the night so we are closing up shop and I need to lock up the office. You haven’t been able to get ahold of the boss yet?”
[20:24] Rain: Missed call
Despite his call still not connecting, Rain’s mood remained perky even as he shook his head and grabbed his belongings.
“It’s okay! I can just hang out in his room!”
P’Aon’s eyes drifted up towards the second level. “And you’re sure this news you want to tell him can’t wait until tomorrow? I’d hate to leave you here by yourself…”
“I don’t mind!” Rain insisted as he turned off the lights and stepped out into the storm. “I definitely want him to be the first to know!”
He ignored the shake of P’Aon’s head and muttered, “Youthful follies.” as he rounded the building to carefully climb the stairs to Payu’s private quarters.
[20:25] Rain: The office is closing. I’ll be waiting up in your room
The door was locked. With a frown, Rain tried again with more force just to be sure. He then decided to rattle it a few more times to be annoying about it in the hopes that some face would appear on the inside to see what the ruckus was about. It was then that he noticed the interior was unusually dark – not even the soft neon lights had been left on.
[20:29] Rain : Your room is locked. Does this mean you weren’t coming to the garage today?
Back in his car, Rain tried to figure out his next course of action.
[20:34]
Rain
: I really want to tell you my exciting news!
Going home was out of the question. He’d spill the beans the second his mom asked how his day was. But…! What if he went to
Payu’s
home instead? That was a genius idea! Then he could act like they were in a K-drama and say, “Annyeonghaseyo!” and ask how Payu’s day was as the man collapsed all exhausted on the couch. And Payu would pull a face and explain about whatever kept him so busy today. And then he would ask how Rain’s day was, and Rain would slip into his lap and casually remind him about how today was the day of his presentation and–
Rain squealed and beat his fists against the steering wheel. Yes! His plan was perfect. All he needed to do was find Payu’s house.
…Where
was
Payu’s house? Rain sat stumped for several minutes. He had only been there once after Payu dragged him there after he got caught sneaking into the race. Out of mild concern for his safety and the fact that he had left his best friend behind, he had shared his location with Sky despite Sky not even noticing – wait. He had shared his location with Sky!
[20:44]
Rain
: I’m pretty sure I can find your house
Rain pulled up his text chain with Sky and scrolled back scrolled back scrolled back geez! How much did two best friends have to say to each other in a month?? Ok, the meme war had been funny. Rain allowed himself to be distracted long enough to go through all the images once more for a good laugh. Sky’s sense of humor could get surprisingly dark at times which usually put an end to their banter. The meme war was no different.
Fortunately, immediately following this was Sky texting that he knew where the street race was happening and where to meet. And following
that
was Rain’s panicked string of texts that had never been responded to along with the dropped pin sharing the exact location of Payu’s house. Score!
Plugging the address into his car’s GPS, Rain started up his car and began the drive out to the suburbs. The GPS told him it should only take 12 minutes, but with the torrential rain, it was closer to twenty.
[21:02]
Rain
: I found your house!
Rain tried buzzing in, he tried rattling the gate, he tried shouting, none of which actually helped his cause. The driveway was empty and the windows all remained dark no matter how much attention he tried to bring to himself. It looked like Payu was definitely still at work.
[21:15]
Rain
: No one is home…but I’ll wait for you!
☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆
Turning around to face the street, Rain tried to see if Payu’s Range Rover was approaching. With how late it was, Payu shouldn’t be at work too much longer. Maybe an hour at the most? Rain figured he could wait that long. It would definitely be worth it to hear Payu tell him he was finally worthy to stay by his side after all his hard work.
[21:19] Rain : I can’t wait to tell you what happened today!
