Sunshine Shower

“It’s true. Who else would comfort you if not me?”“Right.”It had already been a month since Moon Seoyoon’s mother passed away.As he quietly watched the face hidden by his palm, the corner of his lips twitched, as if he was biting the inside of his lips. Woo Yeonjae shifted his gaze slightly to the side. He noticed a cheek that seemed slightly swollen.“Moon Seoyoon.”His voice instinctively lowered as he spoke. He withdrew his hand and looked at Seoyoon’s cheek again.“Did someone hit you?”“Ah…”Moon Seoyoon’s cheek, which had subtly flushed as if he didn’t expect to be found out, frowned slightly.“Did the professor hit you?”Woo Yeonjae carefully touched his cheek, avoiding the tender area. His temper flared, feeling a surge of heat from his head to his toes. Hitting a child. An adult man hitting a mere sixteen-year-old—it was absurd and infuriating.“I got hit because I deserved it.”Moon Seoyoon, biting his lip as if embarrassed, grabbed Woo Yeonjae’s wrist holding his cheek with a small voice. Woo Yeonjae withdrew his hand, following the grip that held no strength.“What nonsense is that?”“Because I said I’d quit playing the piano…”“So he hit you because of that?”Words of contempt slipped out unknowingly. Woo Yeonjae let out a hollow laugh and repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist. It was hard to understand both Professor Moon, who hit his son for such a trivial reason, and Moon Seoyoon, who accepted the unjust punishment as if it were normal.“He must have been angry because I decided to quit after playing for over ten years. Plus, he’s on edge since Mom passed away.”“If you say you’re quitting piano, he should check on how you’re doing first rather than hitting you.”As expected, he wasn’t a good father.Woo Yeonjae didn’t bother to hide his sarcasm. To hit a kid just for quitting piano—he was a man who cared more about appearances than his child.“And is the professor the only one on edge? If anything, you should be more so. It’s not like spouses and children are the same… A professor can meet someone else, but you… damn, you’ve lost your one and only mom.”Woo Yeonjae ran his fingers roughly through his hair. A half-muttered curse slipped out between his twisted lips.He did not consider the grief of Moon Seoyoon and Professor Moon to be the same. The sorrow of losing a blood relative and the sorrow of losing a spouse could not be alike. Just as a professor could meet someone else, while Moon Seoyoon couldn’t.The concept of love was similar. While there might be unconditional love between parents and children, love between people was just an illusion. When a lover dies, a person can find another lover—that’s love between people.“Do you want to come to my place? My bed is big.”In any case, he didn’t want to leave Moon Seoyoon alone with a father who raised his hand against him. Woo Yeonjae asked lightly as if making a joke. It was more of a test than a serious offer.“There you go again.”Moon Seoyoon dismissed it as a mere habit of speech, but it was never insincere.“Why not? If you decide to stay, my parents would welcome you.”“Probably because I stop you every time you cause trouble.”“You’re so naive, Moon Seoyoon.”Woo Yeonjae raised the corners of his lips into a crooked smile.The reason his parents liked Moon Seoyoon wasn’t as simple as that.Moon Seoyoon was, so to speak, a symbol. A testament that their son, with a defect in his brain, had grown up normally without any incidents.Afraid their beloved only son might go astray, they poured immense attention and affection into him. It was thanks to this attention that they noticed early on that he was different from his peers.It was impossible not to like the childhood friend who made their usually indifferent son appear like a child of his age.No one responds more sensitively to their child’s changes than parents. They realized that Moon Seoyoon was a kind of benchmark for their son. A standard that allowed him to act like his peers and not deviate noticeably. They had noticed this since the age of six when Woo Yeonjae started holding hands with Moon Seoyoon.Woo Yeonjae also understood his parents’ thoughts now.“Anyway, it’s okay. Father was surprised too… He apologized. Although I think he’s still not completely over it.”“Look closely.”Woo Yeonjae moved closer and grabbed Seoyoon’s chin. Tsk. A clicking sound escaped his tongue. It was odd for there to be no trace after an adult man had hit him.“If he lays a hand on you again, tell me immediately.”“He won’t do that.”As he listened to the small voice, he remembered the talk of quitting piano. Woo Yeonjae asked nonchalantly, as if it were no big deal.“Are you quitting piano?”“I don’t think I can play anymore. It’s not that I dislike the piano… It’s just that my heart feels strange.”He was quitting. The soft mattress of the bed failed to catch the irregular tapping sound of his fingernails.“What about school? We’re going to high school next year.”“I’m thinking of going to a regular high school instead of an art high school. I decided to study instead of continuing with the piano.”Moon Seoyoon answered as he fiddled with the edge of his nails. The fingers that had pressed the keys now hovered over a protruding hangnail. Thinking it might bleed if left alone, Woo Yeonjae intertwined his fingers over it.“And it’s only me going to high school. You’re going to America.”“America?”Woo Yeonjae tilted his head and then stretched out his words with an “Ah.” His already long eyes looked even longer as he squinted.“I’m not going to America.”“What? Why not?”“Because I’m going to attend school with Moon Seoyoon.”“Stop joking.”Woo Yeonjae raised his eyebrows with a straight face. Interpreting his crooked expression as sincere, Moon Seoyoon widened his eyes.“When did you decide not to go?”“A little while ago.”It wasn’t hard to swap the words “a little while ago” for “a few seconds ago.”If he was quitting piano, Moon Seoyoon’s study abroad, planned for someday, would also be called off. Considering his schedule to go to the U.S. next year, it would be difficult to see him for nearly ten years. If he also served in the military, Moon Seoyoon wouldn’t be able to graduate from college until he was twenty-five.He didn’t intend to leave Moon Seoyoon alone for such a long time.‘I think my dad will be furious.’Maybe taking a few hits would suffice.“Do you still have the piano?”It seemed that unless the topic of conversation changed, the discussion about canceling his trip to America would continue.“Yeah. Since it was my mom’s, I don’t think we’ll get rid of it. Why?”“I’ll play the piano for you.”The habit that started at age six showed no sign of breaking. Woo Yeonjae reached out his hand, just like back then.“You can’t play the piano, though.”“Watch me play horribly. I’ll watch Moon Seoyoon laugh.”With a light laugh, he pulled Moon Seoyoon into the piano room. The air was stuffy.When Moon Seoyoon approached the window and opened it, a gentle sound of rain poured in.“It’s raining. Such nice weather.”“It’s a sun shower.”Woo Yeonjae muttered as he approached from behind and rested his chin on Moon Seoyoon’s shoulder as was his habit. It was quite a beautiful scene, but it didn’t particularly move him.“Are you really going to play?”Moon Seoyoon, who had been looking out the window, turned his body as Woo Yeonjae sat at the piano bench with indifference.“What are you going to play?”“Chopsticks?”“Are you an elementary school student?”“Nope, I’m sixteen.”Woo Yeonjae giggled and began pressing the keys.He wasn’t particularly interested in the piano. The act of pressing the keys was the same.In fact, he might have disliked it.Instead of the chopsticks march, an unidentifiable tune started flowing from his fingertips. Whether it was all messed up, Moon Seoyoon’s laughter mixed in with the chaotic melody. It sounded better than the piano.“Just play chopsticks, then.”“Why? I think I have a knack for the piano.”“Are you serious?”To the question full of incredulity, Woo Yeonjae shrugged and randomly hit the keys. The sounds bounced around, creating an overflowing cacophony. He certainly didn’t find it interesting.The non-performance that lasted for a few minutes slowly came to a halt. Woo Yeonjae hunched over like a harmless predator and leaned his face on the piano. A strange sound popped out as the keys were pressed all at once. It seemed worth maintaining an uncomfortable posture, as Moon Seoyoon burst into small laughter once again.“Now you’re laughing.”Woo Yeonjae squinted his eyes, the long horizontal shape curling up prettily.“Did you play so I’d laugh?”“I told you to watch me play horribly. I wanted to enjoy watching Moon Seoyoon laugh.”He had done something he didn’t care about to change the subject and lift the somber look off Seoyoon’s face, and it seemed to have had some effect.“Moon Seoyoon.”“What?”Woo Yeonjae knew well how to hide his true nature.“The world won’t fall apart just because you can’t play the piano.”In truth, he didn’t particularly like the piano. He only pretended to be interested because Moon Seoyoon liked it, but he had never felt the emotion music was supposed to evoke.“It’s nothing that our Seoyoon should act like the world’s ending over.”It was just an instrument. An instrument that Moon Seoyoon loved the most in the world. An instrument he mistook for his world.“And I don’t like Moon Seoyoon just because he plays the piano. I just like Moon Seoyoon.”Sometimes he got annoyed when Moon Seoyoon clung to it too much.The longer the piano monopolized Moon Seoyoon’s time, the longer Woo Yeonjae felt he was losing time with him.Ah, I really do dislike the piano.It seemed the rain outside had stopped. The bright sunlight suddenly poured into the room. The light streaming in was so dazzling that Woo Yeonjae furrowed his eyebrows and straightened his hunched upper body.