The sky had been sulking all day, thick with clouds, and finally broke open just as we stepped outside. Fat drops smacked my head and streaked down my neck.
"Perfect," I muttered, glaring up at the sky. "Just what I needed."
Beside me, Woo-jin gasped like it was a plot twist in a drama. He swung his bag around, pulled something out, and with a magician's flourish, popped open a pink umbrella. How embarrassing.
"Ta-da!" he declared proudly. "Saved by the umbrella of eternal love."
I blinked at him through the downpour. "…The what now?"
"The umbrella of eternal love," he repeated solemnly, angling it over my head before I could dodge. "Legend says if two lovers share it during a storm, their hearts are bound together forever."
"Woo-jin." I stepped back, only for him to follow, umbrella moving with me. "That's not a legend. That's the script of a bad romance drama."
His lips twitched. "Exactly. And who better to reenact it than us?"
"Us?" My voice cracked in disbelief. "There is no us."
"There's definitely an us," he said confidently, tucking me fully under the umbrella with him. "You just keep pretending there isn't."
"Out of anything, why pink? JUST WHY? It's embarrassing."
"So colours are now embarrassing."
"What would people think about this?"
"Here we go again honey bear." He paused. "Reputation is what you only care about and you don't even enjoy your life."
"Shut the hell up." I stared at him coldly.
He placed his hand on my face. "Hey, aren't you cute?"
I shoved at his arm, but he was annoyingly solid. "Stop being ridiculous. Move over."
"Can't. It's called sharing for a reason." He leaned closer, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "Besides, people are watching."
I glanced up. Sure enough, a few pedestrians were already sneaking looks at us—the tall, award-winning actor shielding his "husband" under an umbrella.
My face burned. "Woo-jin, I swear—"
"What's wrong? Afraid they'll see how in love we are?" His grin was shameless.
"You're humiliating me!"
"No, I'm loving you." He flashed a dazzling smile at a passing couple, who giggled behind their hands. "See? They ship us already. We are married and yet you try to hide that fact."
I groaned. "You're unbelievable."
"Unbelievably charming, yes. I know you love me and you don't know of it."
I stopped dead, rain pelting my shoulders as he tilted the umbrella back toward me. "Woo-jin I swear. If you sing in the middle of the street, I'm leaving you here and I will not care what you do or how you will come home."
His eyes lit up. "Sing? Excellent idea." He immediately tilted his head back and belted out the first line of some sappy ballad at the top of his lungs. "Oh how much I loooooooooooove my hooooooooooooneeeeey bear. He is my soulmate. My heart. My-"
"Woo-jin!" I slapped a hand over his mouth. Trying to shut him up. "Are you crazy?!"
His eyes gleamed with mischief above my palm. Then—he licked me.
I yanked my hand away with a horrified yelp. "You disgusting dog!"
He doubled over, laughing so hard he almost dropped the umbrella. "Oh, the look on your face—it's worth it. Ten out of ten. Would do it again."
I really had enough this time. I cannot handle his craziness anymore. He's ruining my reputation.
"I hate you," I muttered, turning away as fast as I could.
"No you don't." He jogged to catch up, umbrella steady over both of us. His grin softened just a little. "You've never hated me, Dae."
That struck a nerve I didn't want to name. My chest tightened, and I snapped louder than I meant to.
"I am SICK of your crap, Woo-jin!. I hate you. I really do. Do me a favor and disappear!"
He blinked, startled. "Wha—"
"I don't care about you! I don't care about your stupid acting, your fake smiles, or your dumb jokes! I don't care about omegas either! You know I hate them."
The grin slipped completely. "Dae…"
"Just stop!" My voice cracked, raw and sharp. "Stop following me, stop suffocating me, stop pretending we're something we're not! I don't need you, Woo-jin! I never asked for you!"
The rain hammered around us.
Woo-jin stood there, umbrella slack in his grip, water splashing against his face and hair. His mouth opened like he might answer, but no words came out.
"There was someone I actually love and I can't really remember who."
I shoved past him, stepping into the downpour without looking back. The cold hit me like knives, soaking through instantly, but I kept walking.
Behind me, his voice finally called out, faint and hoarse.
"You'll regret saying that."
The words were soft, almost swallowed by the storm, but I heard them.
I froze mid-step, my back still turned. Every part of me screamed don't look, don't give in, but my head betrayed me anyway.
I glanced over my shoulder.
Woo-jin was still standing there in the downpour. The umbrella dangled uselessly at his side, rain drenching him completely. His pink hair clung to his forehead, his shirt plastered to his skin. But it wasn't the sight of him soaked that made my chest ache.
It was his face.
The usual grin was gone. The mischief, the teasing sparkle—gone. His eyes were downcast, his mouth a tight line, like he was holding something back. For the first time, he didn't look like Kang Woo-jin, the shameless actor who lit up every room.
He just looked… hurt.
Something twisted painfully inside me. I almost said his name. Almost.
But my pride slammed the door shut.
I tore my gaze away and kept walking, faster this time, the rain masking whatever expression I wore.
By the time I reached my apartment, I was shivering, soaked to the bone, and furious at myself.
I told myself I hated him. That I didn't care. That leaving him there was exactly what he deserved.
So why did the image of his sad, rain-drenched face refuse to leave my mind?
I buried my face in my hands and let out a bitter laugh that sounded far too much like a sob.
"…Idiot."
I didn't know if I meant him. Or me.