It started to rain the next afternoon.
Not a heavy storm, but that persistent kind of drizzle that coated the windows and blurred the world like a watercolor painting.
Liz didn't mind the rain.
She sat by the library window after class, sketchbook in her lap, half-distracted as she traced the shape of a scarf fluttering in the wind. She hadn't given it back yet. Part of her told herself she just… forgot. But the truth sat warm around her neck every time she wore it.
She flipped the page. Drew a boy's silhouette. Tall, slightly hunched. Always looking elsewhere, but somehow present.
"Are you stalking me now?" a familiar voice teased from behind her.
She turned, unsurprised.
Wonwoo stood there, droplets clinging to his blazer, camera slung like always.
She raised an eyebrow. "Maybe. What if I am?"
He smirked, rare and fleeting. "I'd let you."
Liz blinked.
It was a joke, probably. But something about the way he said it—low, offhand, like he didn't mean for it to slip—made her stomach twist.
She looked back at her sketch. "What are you doing here?"
"Needed shelter." He pointed to the window. "And... I figured you'd be here."
Her pencil paused.
"You figured?"
"You have a habit of watching rain like it's talking to you," he said. "Kinda hard to miss."
Silence again.
But not awkward. Just thoughtful.
He sat down beside her, close enough that their sleeves brushed.
Liz didn't move.
Outside, the rain whispered against the glass.
Wonwoo opened his bag and handed her something. A photo.
It was the rooftop from last week, caught in soft morning light. But in the corner, half-cropped, was her—back turned, hair lifted slightly by the wind, the scarf unmistakable.
She stared.
"You took this?"
He nodded.
"It was supposed to be for the project, but... I liked this one better."
Liz felt her heartbeat pulse through her fingertips.
No one had ever looked at her the way this photo did. Like she was part of the quiet beauty of the world. Like she belonged in it.
"You're giving it to me?"
He nodded again.
She took it, careful not to smudge the edges.
"…Thanks."
Wonwoo didn't say anything.
He just watched the rain with her, close enough to hear each other breathe.
And in that soft silence, something between them shifted.
Not loudly. Not completely.
But just enough.