Believe Again: Your Name

A/N: No, this chapter is not based off "Kimi no Na wa". XD

(I highly recommend the movie to anyone who hasn't watched it, btw.)

Your sopping wet shoes splashed against the pavement that was covered entirely in one big puddle after another as you ran down the path back home. You were clutching your bag close to your body, using your cardigan to keep the cold shards of rain from getting your things drenched just like you were at the moment.

Lightning flashed overhead, and it was quickly followed by a deafening boom of thunder. You jumped from the shock and barely managed to stop yourself from slipping and crashing straight to the ground. A groan of mild frustration left your lips. What rotten luck you had. It just had to rain on the one day you forgot to bring your umbrella. The downpour was so heavy that the tall buildings in the distance were no longer visible, hidden behind a curtain of pelting raindrops.

The cold was seeping into your body and you shivered, rubbing your palms together to generate some heat. It was cold, and you didn't want to fall sick, so you marched forward as fast as you could, wanting to get home so you could take a hot shower and dry off.

You were nearing the park, and from here you could tell it was devoid of people. No one would be insane enough to stay out in this weather. Surely that man wouldn't be there either. There was no shelter near his favorite bench, and the trees beside it wouldn't be much help in keeping him dry. Oh well, you could always see him tomorrow, provided it didn't rain.

You continued on your way, and in the back of your mind, you wondered what he would be doing now, since he couldn't sky-watch for the evening. He could well be in his home, sitting by the window to observe the overlapping gray clouds above.

...Or, you know, sitting on his favorite bench with a big, black umbrella to keep him dry while he sky-watched as if it was just any other day.

Your lips parted questioningly as you stopped just a few steps away from the usual spot. You could hardly believe your eyes. You needed to blink a couple more times to confirm that you weren't simply hallucinating.

His head turned in your direction when he heard your feet splash against the puddles on the pavement. His eyes widened considerably when he saw you standing there. Clearly, he hadn't been expecting you to come either. Or at least, not come looking like this.

You felt a little self-conscious, since you were certain that you weren't looking your best. Not with your hair in messy wet clumps or your makeup that was probably all washed away by now. He, on the other hand, looked effortlessly handsome as always, dressed in his usual attire. He didn't seem to bother with his clothing choices very much. He looked especially lonesome, sitting out here alone in the rain. Much like a character in a particularly sad movie.

You weren't sure if you should greet him, or ask him what he was doing out here. You had long gotten into the habit of not talking around him. It was always just quiet between you two, with single-word exchanges the furthest the both of you had gone thus far.

A chill that caused you to shiver and goose bumps to appear on your arms snapped you out of your thoughts, reminding you that you had to get home as soon as you could. Getting to see him was a bonus you had not been expecting, but at least your day felt more complete now.

So, flashing him a courteous smile and a small nod, you started off again, running past him.

But, you didn't get to run more than three steps past him before you felt a hand on your wrist tugging you back.

The sudden pull on your body caused you to flail your arms as you stumbled, losing your balance. A sharp gasp left your lips as you held on tightly to the hand that was still attached to your wrist. It pulled you back up and before you realized it, you were slamming straight into the man's chest.

It took you a few seconds to steady yourself and comprehend the situation in its entirety, and then you were stepping backwards, pulling your hands off his rock hard chest and sputtering apologies in embarrassment. Your face was probably an alarming shade of red — you could feel it in the flames in your cheeks and the steady increase in pace of your heartbeat.

He didn't seem all that flustered compared to you, but you caught just the slightest hint of amusement playing in his eyes as he stared at you silently. His hand remained on your wrist, keeping you from moving away again. You were about to ask him what the matter was — you two had never shared any physical contact whatsoever prior to this, other than to pass ice cream cones to each other. You were acutely aware of the strong, firm grip he had on your wrist, the icy coldness of his fingers against your skin, and the warmth that his touch had sparked within you.

Before you could gather your wits about you to say anything, however, he was taking his umbrella and placing the handle in your hand. You accepted it, caressing the smooth wood in your palm and noting the heat that his grip had left behind.

You furrowed your brows in confusion. Why was he giving this to you? Wouldn't he need to go home too?

You were about to ask him, when he turned his back on you and left the shelter of the umbrella, walking off in the opposite direction.

Ah... So that was what he meant.

The corners of your lips twitched upwards into a smile. He was kind, far kinder than anyone else would have thought given his usual stone cold demeanor.

But, as suave as his exit had been, you weren't about to let him suffer and potentially get himself sick simply because of your carelessness.

So you ran after him, your feet splashing loudly against the pavement while you reached the umbrella out towards him. He turned to look at you just when you managed to get the umbrella over his head. In the span of about half a minute, he had nearly become just as soaked as you were. His red bangs were matted to his forehead, barely covering his surprised eyes. His clothes had also turned a darker shade from the rain already, leaving only a few dry spots here and there.

You held the umbrella handle out to him. "It's yours," you said, waiting for him to take it from you.

He merely stared at you, studying the firm expression you had on your face. A few seconds later, he replied, "It's fine." He was about to leave again, when you pulled on the end of his sweater, tugging him back. He faced you once more, and you could see the signs of a frown appearing on his face.

It was a completely irrelevant thought, but you wondered what other faces he could make, aside from his default blank poker face. It was kind of fun discovering these sides to him, like a treasure hunt.

"Either way I'm getting home wet, so it doesn't matter. Thanks though," you said, boldly taking his hand and placing the handle in it. That was what you would have done if you could, anyway, because he refused to budge his arm to take the umbrella from you.

"I said it's fine. Just take it. I don't care if I get wet or not." You didn't think he would be this stubborn. Or that he could talk this much in a single evening.

You weren't about to budge on this either, so for a while the both of you were at a standstill, staring at each other until someone made the first move. Somehow it always went back to these staring contests. It was silly, but fun in its own way.

At last, you gave up. You always did.

But of course, you wouldn't go down without a fight.

"I have a suggestion to make."

He arched an eyebrow, sending you a rather skeptical look as he waited for you to continue.

"Walk me home, and then you can get home with your umbrella," you said. He seemed to contemplate this a little, although the frown on his face suggested that he wasn't too agreeable with the idea. You found it a little too forward as well, but this was the only way both of you would stop this silly tug-o-match in the middle of the pouring rain.

If he still wouldn't agree, then maybe your last resort would be to throw the umbrella down and make a run for it.

Thankfully, you didn't need to go to that extreme. The man nodded, indicating his agreement to the arrangement, and then he took the umbrella from you and began walking in the direction of your home. It struck you as a little odd that he would know the way to your home, until you remembered that he had seen you going the same way back every day.

The both of you were relatively quiet during the walk home. You didn't really know what to say. You never felt the need to speak to him before, but today, something was different. Maybe it was because he had taken the initiative today, and offered you kindness you would never have expected from anyone whose name you didn't even know.

Oh, right. You still didn't know his name.

You stole a peek at him through the top left corner of your eye, wondering if you should ask. If he never asked for your name, did it mean he wasn't interested in finding out?

But, you supposed it wouldn't be much of an issue to just ask for his name. It would only be polite to do so, after all. Besides, you figured plenty of time had passed since the both of you started noticing each other, and proper introductions were severely overdue by now. He noticed you staring at him then, and you averted your eyes immediately, lowering your head while mentally cursing yourself for your lack of stealth.

"What?" he asked, in that hauntingly beautiful voice of his. Maybe it was more beautiful to your ears because you hardly ever got to hear it. He wasn't much of a talker, after all. Well, neither were you, when you were around him at least. Perhaps because of that, you had come to treasure every word that he uttered, be they gruff or gentle.

"Your name," you muttered. You could see him frowning as he attempted to discern whatever you had just said, so you repeated a little louder, "What's... your name?" There, you had said it.

He blinked twice, taking some time to register your question. Then all he did was return his gaze to the path stretching ahead. "Secret."

You let out a scoff at that. Even though he did a poor job of showing it, you could tell he was just kidding — partially, maybe — from the way his cheeks shifted upwards slightly and the corners of his lips twitched, with the ghost of a smile playing on them.

"Okay then, Unknown," was your rather sarcastic reply.

For some reason, your reply made him pause abruptly in his tracks. You only realized that when you felt the sting of cold raindrops on your forehead because you were no longer under the shelter of the umbrella.

You moved two steps backwards to go back under the umbrella, arching an eyebrow at the odd expression he had on. It was a mix of pain, regret, confusion, but that all evaporated within seconds and without another word, he continued moving along at a faster pace. You had some difficulty catching up.

Had you said something wrong? He was upset. Maybe the random nickname you just gave him had triggered bad memories of some sort.

Maybe it would be wise if you changed the subject.

"So anyway, why were you out here today?" It was the only other question you could think of.

He kept mum, and you sighed inwardly. You had just messed up big time. For all the progress you had made with him, you had just taken one huge step backwards. You wanted to hit yourself, really. You probably shouldn't have said anything at all.

But it appeared he just needed some time to think of an appropriate answer. "...The sky looks different today," he spoke up a few moments later, and you perked up at his response, looking at him curiously.

Well, yes, you supposed the sky did look different today, gray sky and all. It was a rather peculiar reason to be out in the rain at this time, but since it was him, you decided it wasn't all that strange.

You let out a quiet chuckle, one that caught his attention. "What?" he asked again, frowning down at you.

"It's nothing," you replied with a small shrug and a smile. "It's just... so you."

He cocked his head to the side, looking at you as if you had just grown two heads. "You're a weird one," he commented.

"I guess. You're pretty strange yourself, you know."

He emitted a short exhale as the corners of his lips tugged upwards slightly. "I guess."

The park wasn't very far from your home. Before you knew it, the apartment building where you lived in had come into view and he walked you to the sheltered entrance.

You were reluctant to leave — this was the first time you two had talked this much, and you wished you could stay to discover more things about him. But, there was no reason for you to stay.

"Thanks for walking me home," you smiled, turning to face him. It was then that you noticed his clothes on his left side were entirely drenched. His sweater was dripping wet, and some droplets of rainwater was trailing down the left side of his face.

No wonder you didn't feel a speck of water on you throughout the journey.

You were about to say something more when he looked away and used the back of his hand to wipe the moisture off his face. With his fingers, he combed his bangs out of his eyes, pushing it backwards. His forehead was glistening with moisture from his wet hair, and you thought he looked quite cute with his hair styled this way too.

"You should get home now." He did not meet your eyes as he said that.

From the way he leaned the left side of his body away from you, you figured that he didn't want you to mention it.

Your chest swelled, touched. You kept the questions you had to yourself as you bid him farewell and started heading in.

"...Saeran."

The sound of his voice made you freeze in your tracks. You spun around, seeing the man standing in the rain, holding his umbrella up. You could only see the right side of his face, and even though you couldn't see very well through the rain, you had a feeling his cheeks were changing in color.

"Saeran?" you echoed. Then you understood.

"Just Saeran?" you asked, now grinning.

"Just Saeran," he said with a curt nod.

"Nice to meet you, Saeran. My name is—"

"I know," he cut in, looking straight at you now so his eyes were boring into yours. Despite the distance between the both of you, you could feel his gaze piercing right through you. You felt vulnerable against his gaze, but it wasn't a bad feeling exactly.

"You... know?" you repeated, confused. "How?"

He didn't answer your question. All he did was offer a wordless smirk in response, and then he left, with the pitter patter of the gradually lessening rain trailing in his wake.

A/N: It's been raining all day so talk about a good atmosphere for writing this chapter. Also, I needed to take breaks in between writing this because I thought my heart was going to stop with all the fluffy scenarios running through my head hahaha.

Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it!

To Rishia: believe when I say that 99% of writers treasure each and every review/comment they get haha. Honestly we're the ones who feel honored when we get to hear how readers feel about our work. :) So that said, thank you so much! Hehe. I'm also wondering how the story will go from here (it's pretty organic so far lol).