Spring Fever

A silver sky laced with clouds. Fluffy clouds littering raindrops one by one onto the concrete ground. Large, delicious puddles perfect for splashing and getting wet. A perfect day of rain in Daegu. Perfect for cold, grimy wet fun. What more could a three year old ask for?

For Kim Taehyung, unfortunately, it’s an umbrella. What was he and his mother thinking when they had stepped out the doors of the Kim household and outside the moist black gates of Bombi Elementary School?

Taehyung cranes his neck and stretches out his arm. Little pellets of rain pelt his tiny palm. He wipes his palm on his jacket and then scratches his bare neck. No hooded jacket either.

He looks around him. All the other little boys are huddled together as they waddle back home like penguins, and all the little girls are walking back home with a dry head courtesy to their mothers holding the umbrella under them.

He sticks out his bottom lip and playfully kicks out his heel onto a nearby puddle. A large wave crashes onto the black concrete.

No other choice for him, he shrugs. He steps out from under the roof and begin to walk back as fast as he can. He slips onto a puddle and almost crashes. What happens when you’re a three year old with puppy legs, he grumbles.

He wipes his hands onto his jacket again, but his jacket is wet as well and now his hands are even wetter.

He decides to run back inside. Shivering, he looks over and sees a small girl carrying a light yellow backpack waddling out a classroom and stands right next to him. She doesn’t look at him at all.

Her name is Misuk, Taehyung suddenly remembers. She’s in Class A with Taehyung. She sits one seat ahead of him and two seats to his right. She always has braids interwoven in her hair to make it look like she has flowers in her hair. Whenever the teacher is not looking she turns around and whispers to Mikyung the answers, because Mikyung is always staring and picking at her fingers.

Misuk is wearing a light pink puffy jacket on top of a small white dress with yellow roses. She’s wearing white tights underneath. Her hair is

braided into flowers again. Even her eyelashes are long and curled like rose petals and her cheeks are as rosy as cherry blossoms. Her lips are pink and full like camellias.

“Hello,” Misuk says quietly, looking at Taehyung for no more than a good second and then looking at her feet. She drags her feet up and down the wet concrete road, her colorful rain boots turning shinier.

Taehyung blushes and looks away. He’s never really seen more than the back of her head. She’s pretty.

“H-heh-”

She pulls out an umbrella. She clicks the button and suddenly a bright burst of red blossoms out. Stumbling back a little, she manages to hold up the umbrella.

She stares at the umbrella blankly and steadily pulls it over her head. She takes a deep breath and then sighs.

“Goodbye.”

She drops the umbrella onto the ground and pulls the hood of her jacket over her head. She runs out into the open rain, waving back to him absentmindedly.

“Wh-“

Stunned, Taehyung looks at the umbrella and then looks back at Misuk, who’s already past the gates and nowhere to be seen.

“Wait!” He grabs the red umbrella and starts running past the gates, carefully balancing the umbrella over his head.

Looking to his right, Taehyung catches Misuk, who’s casually walking down the sidewalk with her hands in her pockets. She’s making her way to Nolang Street.

“Wait!” Taehyung pants, catching up to the small girl and stopping to put his hands on his knees.

Misuk turns around and looks at him. Panting, Taehyung hands her the umbrella, the cold rain tapping his head. “Yuh-you forgot your-”

“I don’t need it for today, keep it. You can give it back to me tomorrow,” Misuk says, pushing the umbrella back over his head. “Go home.”

“B-but it’s your-” Taehyung stutters, loosening his grip on the handle.

“My mom probably won’t even notice, we already have so many umbrellas back at home.” Misuk insists, pushing the handle into his hand. Their hands touch for a split second, and Taehyung swears that his knees are about to buckle. “It’s cold and wet, just take it and go home.”

“R-really?” Taehyung asks. Misuk nods and continues her walk.

Quietly, Taehyung trudges behind Misuk with his head hanging low. Agitated, Misuk turns around and puts her hands on her hips. “Yah, why are you still following me?” She asks.

“This is the way I go home too,” Taehyung says quietly.

Misuk rolls her eyes and continues walking, Taehyung continuing to walk from behind.

She’s nice, Taehyung thinks, watching Misuk abruptly stop in front of a house and knock on the door.

I guess I can see everyone likes her so much, the door swings open and a large pair of arms appear. They grab a smiling Misuk by the hips and pull her inside, the door following after.

It’s not long before Taehyung reaches his own house on Jangmi Street, casually taking out the spare key from under the potted thuja tree. He unlocks the door with ease and begins taking off his shoes.

Looking at the umbrella again, he looks back out at the open streets and wonders if he should go back to her and insist to her one last time that he doesn’t need her umbrella.

But Mommy wouldn’t like that, Taehyung suddenly remembers. I can’t just show up by myself.

Frowning, Taehyung closes the umbrella and takes it up to his room. It’s a deep red umbrella, like the color of roses. There’s even a big red heart drawn on one of the sections, which is already fading and looking coarse like chalk writing. A large yellow rose is embroidered next to her neatly written name.

“Property of Lee Misuk,” Taehyung reads out loud, looking at the small letters written in permanent black ink at the top of the umbrella.

Placing it gently at the foot of his bed, Taehyung ignores the umbrella for the rest of the night. He finishes his homework quickly and then watches his cartoons idly. His parents come back from prenatal exercises and cook kalguksu for dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Kim tell Taehyung that he’s having a little brother.

“Mrs. Lee at the hospital center sent me some flowers as a congratulations,” Mrs. Kim begins, “’Says her daughter grew them all by herself in their backyard.”

“That was very nice of her to do so,” Mr. Kim replies, sipping his water. “That’s cute, her daughter grew the roses.”

“That’s what I said to her.” Mrs. Kim replies proudly. “You know, Taehyung-ah, Mrs. Lee says she also has a daughter of her own that goes to Bombi as well. She’s the same age as you, same grade even in same class.”

Taehyung looks up mid-chew, looking at the vase of flowers and then at his mother.

A proud vase of yellow roses sits at the center of the table, where a little note was attached to one of the stems.

“They’re such nice roses too,” Mrs. Kim purrs, stroking one of the petals. “It’s very hard to get fresh blooming roses at this time of the year. Roses usually don’t bloom until May or June. That’s so cute, her daughter grew all the roses.”

“You said that her daughter is in Taehyung’s class?” Mr. Kim verifies and Mrs. Kim nods happily.

“She’s such a sweet girl, too! One time when she brought her daughter with her to work she brought this huge bouquet of flowers and she gave one to each of the nurses!” Mrs. Kim beams.

Taehyung rolls his eyes and looks back at the flowers.

“Taehyung-ah, do you know her? Her name is Lee Misuk-ah, and she’s in Class A with you too.”

Taehyung gulps and then looks at the vase of roses with wide eyes. Then he thinks of the large red umbrella that sits idly next to his bed, patiently waiting to be returned to its proper owner.

Of course, Taehyung thinks. A pretty girl with flowers in her hair who gives flowers to everyone she knows.

“Yeah, I know her,” Taehyung says with a full mouth. “She’s not really my friend though.”

I guess I wouldn’t mind it though if she was, Taehyung thinks, finishing his soup.

I don’r really have any friends, he thinks sadly.

A perfect rainy day in Daegu. Warm, fluffy, and flowery.