3. With Rain

"Fucking Hugo!"

Jea let out an exasperated breath. Ignoring the curses Lucia gave to her date Hugo.

This time the working hours are over. Not wanting to stay in the restaurant full of oil smell for long, Jea packed her belongings in a backpack.

"Disgusting things keep repeating." The girl muttered before saying goodbye to Lucia and the rest of her co-workers.

"Hey! you want to just leave?" Lucia asked stopping Jea in the doorway of the employee break. The girl nodded slightly, confirming Lucia's question without saying much.

"Has the broccoli grown? If so, I'd like to cook it on the weekends." Jea nodded again.

"You have many things in your house, yes, Jea."

Now Jea's gaze turned to Simon. The question made the girl's head tilt slightly. "Yes, in my house there are many things except money." she said then walked away.

The sky was a little cloudy because around noon it was still drizzling. she put his hands in his gray hoddie pocket. Looking down counting the steps he took towards the bus stop. Footprints of puddles of water on the street splashed on his dull shoes. Jea's days are always the same. Sleep then go to work to eat. The rest just listen to music from his old earphones and lie in the room.

Or, meet his mother.

The afternoon continued to darken when Jea's steps stopped at a bus stop that wasn't too crowded. He wiped the wet traces of the drizzle fondling the hoddie. The bus came not too long after Jea waited. Crowded and squeezed, making Jea who almost stood up to the bus to stop her steps.

She squeezed the girl's cold fingers. Rethinking whether she will really go up or not. Slow decision until the bus starts again and Jea is left alone.

It's nothing new if Jea misses the bus. The girl doesn't like crowds. The cramped space makes it difficult to breathe. If life didn't require food and money, Jea certainly wouldn't need to do anything but sleep. Stomach demands it to work. Every day chatting with a crazy heartbeat and wet palms when the restaurant visitors are busy.

This time he wanted to rest for a while. From a heartbeat that exceeds an octave on the bus. she had been quite overwhelmed and had almost lost sanity from the morning until her shift was over. Better decide to wait for the next bus or just walk.

The sound of passing cars was loud. Speeding up made Jea decide to take out his earphones, then put them in the ear holes. Not even turning on the music on the cellphone screen, the rain fell heavily, bringing the sound of falling water slowly entering the girl's ears. The streets are getting quieter, people are running for shelter in front of the canopied shops.

It was a relief because no one chose to pull over at the bus stop with her. Minutes passed without any thoughts. Obsering the sound of the pouring rain whose water is now splashing Jea's shoes. Sneaking in, damp and cold.

"If I go home now will someone greet me like in a drama?" he muttered.

"You guys came down so hard. I couldn't go home. Is anyone crying over someone's departure?" He looked up at the dark sky full of swarms of water sliding onto the ground. "Or is there someone who intentionally left their sadness to you? Like me at that time."

"Why do you always talk alone?"

Jea was taken aback. Someone's voice pierced her ears. Shifting her attention from the sky, the girl looked straight at the source of the sound. The man was standing not far from her. Looks like they want to take shelter like other people who don't bring a spare umbrella. The man's clothes were soaking wet and hugged him tightly. Blue lips and a familiar face made Jea frown.

"Is your hobby really talking alone?" asked the man again. Sitting carefully across from Jea, bending his arms trying to find warmth under his armpits.

"None of your business."

"Why don't you just talk to me?"

"What?" every meeting with this man makes Jea always surprised. What he did and said didn't make sense to Jea.

"If there's no one you can talk to. Then I'm willing to be your friend." A smile was etched on his face that was swept away by the rain. Looks warm like Lucia taught.

"Oh thanks. But there's no need. I don't really need that because we don't know each other either."

"I'm Joe! My name is Joe Echart. Now you know my name so let's be friends!" The man who claimed to be Joe stretched out his wet hand. Jea just looked at him suspiciously, carefully took the earphones that were still plugged in and then prepared to take a stance.

"Always disgusting!"

No matter the rain that was still falling, Jea ran as hard as she could. Breaking through the rain and dirty water puddles on the streets. Her day was always the same as he had been. Too boring and too monotonous. Sometimes there are things beyond reason that almost took her sanity. Jea just wants to have an ordinary life. ordinary clothes, ordinary food and ordinary death.

But after meeting four times with the man who, unfortunately, is now trying to catch up to her, her life is not the way she wants it to be.

There were many things that made Jea wonder about a man named Joe. Does the man like to disturb the peace of people's lives? Does that guy also have a lot of weird vocabulary that he always tells other people? but why should jae? An ordinary girl whose life no one even sees.

Constantly running in the rain made Jea's knees freeze. The girl decided to stop in an alley near her house. Bad luck befell him because the strange man never gave up chasing Jea down the alley. Dropping his legs and buttocks on the asphalt, the man pointed at Jea with his index finger.

"Haahh.... why.. run? haa haah."

"You too! why are you following me!?"

"I'm just asking you to be friends! Hahhh.. no bad intentions!"

"Why me?! I'm a foreigner! You don't even know my name!"

Screaming at each other in the alley with soaking wet conditions was a new thing for Jea. It was the first time anyone was this adamant about wanting to be her friend.

"Then tell me what your name is, please!"

"What for? I don't need friends!"

"But I want to have a strange friend like you!"

"what the hell!? what nonsense are you talking about?" Yea is getting confused. It looks like a quiet alley. The girl began to think about how she could escape safely.

"Name?!"

Exhale tired. The girl finally gave up. Patting her wet ass and starting to stand up before shouting "JEYA LA EPIONE!! Twenty-four AND I DON'T LIKE YOU!" then ran away leaving Joe who was still silent in his place.

The tiring day that was wrapped in tension was about to end. I hope so.

"NOW WE ARE FRIENDS, JEYA!!"

The cold that creeps deeper into Joe's smile. The man also got up, loosening the tie that seemed to be strangling his neck. The narrow and lonely streets and the new name now written in Joe's memory made the man excited to go home.

"Her speech is even colder than the rain. Yeah, at least my efforts to catch up to the girl during this rain weren't in vain. Even our names are very similar, right?"