Weather forecasts are a game of probability.

Like an odd-even game, it was always a problem that couldn’t be consistently predicted, but the weather in May, which was supposed to bring summer, was struggling with heat, cold, and rain, making it even harder to predict.

Because of that, Yoo In’s newly formed habit lately was to check the air and sky conditions as soon as she woke up in the morning.

Seeing the ominous clouds spreading widely, she bet on the probability that it would rain today.

However, until the afternoon, no rain fell, and the result of the probability game was set to be a loss.

“You finish at 4 today?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll come pick you up when you finish.”

“What? All of a sudden?”

On her way to the library with time to spare before the next class, the umbrella Yoo In had brought in the morning dangled in one hand.

Ki Yeon, who had somehow memorized Yoo In’s class schedule, not only contacted her as Nam Yoo In’s dedicated free time notifier but also sent a notification that he would come pick her up.

“It’s going to rain when class ends. Gotta keep Nam Yoo In from getting wet.”

“I brought an umbrella today, so you don’t need to come.”

“I’ll be your umbrella, so use me instead of that one.”

The sound “Uh-” that escaped her lips represented her dazed state of mind.

Use him instead of an umbrella, what could this mean?

While her mind was interpreting his words, her frozen feet stuck to the asphalt, and her fingertips gripping the phone tingled and ached from applying too much pressure.

She had no idea how to respond.

“…No, since before, what.”

“What? Don’t stutter, just say it. I can’t understand what you’re saying.”

Did he really not understand, or was he simply trying to tease her?

Yoo In closed her eyes tightly, then opened them and let out a hot sigh before starting to walk again.

“Director, do you find it fun to tease me?”

“Hmm. Generally, yes?”

“Aren’t you busy?”

“No matter how busy I am, I always have time to be Nam Yoo In’s umbrella.”

The calm but weighty low voice gently passed through her eardrum, quickly flowed through her blood vessels, and finally reached her brain.

Nam Yoo In’s umbrella.

At first, the sentence that brought a small ripple soon created a huge whirlpool and swallowed Yoo In whole.

Ah, this man is especially harmful today. Making her heart flutter, making her tremble, and giving her mind a shock that made her tingle.

“…Director, you’re my umbrella?”

“By the way, refusal is not an option. I also have something to give you.”

“Something to give?… What is it?”

The man who had so sweetly volunteered to be Yoo In’s umbrella took on quite a romantic title and deprived Yoo In of her right to refuse.

It seemed questionable whether a person could be this contradictory, but this irony too was, well, just like this man.

“You’ll know when you see it later. Call me when class ends.”

The call ended with a “See you later.”

Yoo In looked down at the screen showing the ended call, then startled when she saw her own reflection in the darkened display.

What’s this? Why are you smiling?

The phone, by virtue of being in her hand, became the unfortunate target of her embarrassment and was shoved deep into her bag.

The noise of chairs being moved, the sound of packing up, the footsteps of people leaving – Yoo In belatedly realized that class had ended when she snapped back to her senses.

It was a moment when she keenly felt the meaning of ‘time flew’. In her thought circuits, only the man who said he would be Nam Yoo In’s umbrella was floating and drifting about.

Inwardly repeating ‘He’s crazy. This is crazy,’ she quickly packed her bag and went outside the building, where a sun shower had fallen during her daze, filling the campus with a rich scent of grass.

“Ah. The call.”

Remembering Mr. Umbrella’s words to call when class ended, she took out her phone.

Just as her thumb was about to touch the number at the top of the recent call list, the arm holding the device was suddenly pulled by someone.

Startled out of her wits, Yoo In dropped her phone, and the rectangle plummeting towards the ground made an unpleasant cracking sound.

Yoo In looked at the fallen phone in bewilderment, then raised her head.

“Ah, sorry. I’m sorry, Yoo In.”

Ji Han, who had appeared from somewhere looking unwell, was standing there with a frown. Repeating his apologies, he picked up the pitifully lying device.

“You looked like you were about to leave, so I grabbed you in a hurry… I’m sorry.”

“Uh….”

The returned phone was wet and cracked, looking almost beyond repair.

The cracks drawn densely and the touch screen not working at all. While randomly touching the hopelessly shattered screen, she vaguely saw an incoming call, but couldn’t answer it since the touch wasn’t working.

Yoo In let out a sigh.

“It can’t be helped. But why did you come? Your class?”

“It’s raining, so I came to give you an umbrella. About the phone… I’m really sorry. I’ll buy you a new one.”

“It’s okay… But Ji Han, I have an umbrella.”

Yoo In waved the umbrella she was holding.

You should have called before coming. She added, glancing up at the sky, which was in a temporary lull but looked ready to pour again soon.

Yoo In was about to tell her friend to hurry and go to class, but noticing the obvious hesitation on his face, she stopped and asked.

“Ji Han. Do you have something to say?”

“…”

“Yoon Ji Han. What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“…Yoo In.”

“Yes. Tell me.”

His bright eyes, moist as if holding rain, fixed on Yoo In’s vibrating phone.

Yoo In, worriedly examining Ji Han’s pale, dried-up face, followed his gaze and subtly covered the screen with her fingertip.

This caused a scratch in his gaze, but Yoo In didn’t notice that far.

Ji Han’s lips, which had been pressed into a straight line, opened.

“Yoo In. Let’s talk for a bit.”

“…Now?”

Perplexity etched itself between Yoo In’s brows.

The constant vibration was telling her someone was waiting for her. But she couldn’t ignore her friend who had appeared with slumped shoulders, cowed for some reason.

Fingers laden with difficulty at every joint brushed through her long hair.

Inside, a scale weighted with their respective importance teetered back and forth.

Ji Han and that man. Their similar weights, formed unknowingly at some point, couldn’t tip the seesaw in either direction.

After a long moment of looking at the cracked screen again, Yoo In finally spoke.

“Ji Han, I’m sorry but I have an appointment so I think I need to go soon. If it’s going to take long, can we do it later?”

The words that came out after much deliberation meant, in any case, that she would postpone Ji Han for later.

It was the same as saying that the seesaw in Yoo In’s heart had tilted towards Ki Yeon.

“Can’t you listen to me first?”

“…Huh?”

“Can’t you listen to what I have to say before anything else?”

Watching Ji Han insist like a child with an anxious expression, Yoo In couldn’t hide her bewilderment.

Ji Han always considered Yoo In, always yielded, always put Yoo In first. In any situation. Not throwing a tantrum like this.

What could be so important that he had to skip class to say it? Yoo In’s heart grew urgent as Ji Han kept asking her to listen without getting to the important point.

Yoo In needed to quickly hear Ji Han’s business and go to Ki Yeon. The vibrations from the unanswered phone still hadn’t stopped.

“Nam Yoo In!”

At that moment, an angry voice like lightning flew in, seeming to split the two apart. Yoo In reflexively turned her head towards the sound.

There stood a man, his solid chest heaving as if he had run, his cold eyes glaring sharply at the two standing side by side.

His long legs approached with impatient footsteps.

“What are you doing here, not answering your phone?”

Faced with the neat sculpture-like face engraved with anger, her heart made an uneasy thumping sound.

From him, she felt a cold chill and at the same time a scorching heat. Her mind scattered, struck by the man’s fierce current of hot and cold coexisting.

“…Director.”

Instead of any words, Ki Yeon’s icy gaze passed from Yoo In’s trembling eyes to her crushed lips, finally arriving at Ji Han.

Ki Yeon’s sharp and heavy gaze, overwhelming his opponent, clawed from Ji Han’s head to his toes.

A gaze that made even an onlooker’s breath catch and hands and feet tingle, Ji Han silently endured, looking straight back at Ki Yeon.

“I have something to talk about with Yoo In, so please step aside.”

Ki Yeon only raised the corner of his mouth in a cold smile with fierce eyes.

“Who are you to tell me to step aside or not? Did Yoo In say she wanted that?”

“I came first and we were talking.”

“First? Is that priority agreed upon with Nam Yoo In?”

One person’s sarcasm grew thicker, and one person’s gentle expression grew more distorted.

“We don’t need any agreement. You’re the one who came and interrupted-”

“The one interrupting isn’t me, but Yoon Ji Han. You should get your facts straight before talking.”

“I know the facts. You’re nothing to Yoo In, are you?”

“And what about Yoon Ji Han? These days, do people call friends a relationship that doesn’t need agreement? Aren’t you being too blatantly clingy?”

“…What did you say?”

The atmosphere between the two, clearly attacking and belittling each other, only grew more hostile.

Not knowing why such an atmosphere had formed, Yoo In looked back and forth between the two with unstable eyes, as if walking a tightrope.

Then, as she had done once before, she gently grabbed Ki Yeon’s sleeve.

“Director.”

At this, Ki Yeon instantly withdrew his fierceness and transformed into gentleness in a blink, looking down as if asking “Hmm?”

“What’s wrong? Stop it.”

She doesn’t like him being angry. It’s scary when he freezes his face coldly and spits out sharp words.

Seeing this once was enough. With a simple thought, she grabbed his arm and tried to stop Ki Yeon.

Then Ki Yeon’s mouth, which had been examining Yoo In, began to curve upwards.

Why are you laughing all of a sudden? Glaring at the man whose strange actions were nothing new, Yoo In looked ahead.

“Yoon Ji Han. The same goes for you. Why are you acting like that towards the Director?”

“…”

After finishing scolding Ki Yeon, Yoo In gave the same reaction to Ji Han, but Ji Han only remained quiet with his eyes lowered.

After a moment of silence passed, Yoo In spoke to her friend who gave no answer.

“Ji Han. What did you want to say? If it’s urgent, say it quickly.”

“…Here?”

Ji Han’s delicate eyelids trembled as they rose. He looked at Yoo In, then at the man standing close beside her as if it were his rightful place, then back to Yoo In.

And he shook his head.

“Not… here.”

“Not here? Why?”

Yoo In looked frustratedly at her friend who once again gave no answer. Why is he acting like this, really.

“Then, I’ll listen to what you have to say later. Okay? No, I’ll call you this evening.”

“…”

“That’s okay, right, Ji Han?”

Yoo In took one step closer and smiled slightly. Not knowing that her actions trying to comfort her friend only made Ji Han more sorrowful.

Brown eyes turbid and rippling as if about to burst into tears looked desperately at Yoo In, but Yoo In was already prepared to step back and move away.

“Don’t worry about the phone, I’ll take care of it.”

Her usual casual hand gesture patted his shoulder lightly and was quickly withdrawn.

Just as Yoo In was about to turn her back on Ji Han, the sky finally began to drop raindrops one by one.

“Yoo In, let’s go quickly. It’s raining.”

At the urging voice from behind, Yoo In replied “Yes” and looked at Ji Han one last time.

“I’m going, Ji Han.”

Ji Han did not answer in the end, and Yoo In, after hesitating for a moment, took Ki Yeon’s hand and left the place without lingering.