[3-Minute Novel] Wet Hair and Cold Body Temperature | Cold Flower ― The brilliant green

On a night with 90% humidity,
the air in the room felt heavy, clinging to my skin.

The sound of rain beating violently against the windowpane drowned out the silence of the small studio apartment.

Sau stared at the screen of her smartphone, which was trembling slightly on the bed.

The two characters 'Ren' appeared on the screen.

Contact from him always came on nights with such heavy rain.

“...Hello.”
“I'm downstairs now. Open up.”

From the other side of the receiver, the sound of pouring rain and his languid voice echoed.

I know.
I know that if I unlock the door, I will return to that endless maze once again.

Since we broke up in college, we have repeated this sheltering from the rain many times. We cannot go back to being lovers. However, the time we spend together just to fill the loneliness is far too sweet and cold.

When I opened the door, Ren was standing there with droplets dripping from his hair.

“It’s a terrible rain.”

Sau said nothing as she draped a towel over his shoulders, him smiling without a hint of guilt.

The scent of rain and his cologne mixed and filled the room.

I lent clothes to the soaking wet man, and we sat side by side on the small bed. As always, Ren began to talk sporadically about his capricious daily life. It was a convenient distance, one that didn't step too deeply into my own life.

When I touched his wet hair, my fingertips turned cold. Yet, the skin beneath was surprisingly hot. That contradiction tightened my chest.

Suddenly, as if stealing a glance at Ren, Sau looked down at the street outside the window.

I found it recently.
In a corner in front of the apartment where the dim light of a streetlamp reached, a small blue flower was blooming from a crack in the asphalt.

Being pelted by the heavy rain and splashed with muddy water, it was desperately holding on with a stem that looked like it might snap at any moment.

(Ah, it's just like me.)

I whispered softly in my heart, not telling anyone.
It is not admired by anyone, just continuing to be bathed in the cold rain. Even so, I cannot live without this rainy night.

I projected such twisted obsession onto the weed flower.
I had no intention of letting Ren know about this pain.

“...Sau? Are you listening?”

Ren peered at my face with a puzzled look.

“Yeah, I'm listening.”

I turned my gaze away from the window and smiled vaguely, as I always do.

Ren didn't press further, instead lifting my chin with his fingertips and pressing his lips to mine. Even though his lips were cold, my body was easily melted by the heat he poured into me.

The heavy sound of the rain drowned out the reason that was screaming that this was a mistake.

When I woke up in the morning, the languid light of early summer was streaming in.
Ren was no longer by my side. Only the faint body heat remaining on the sheets was proof that he had been there.

I opened the window and looked down at the street below.
The weed flower that had endured the heavy rain was still there, standing quietly, cold and wet.

I surely cannot end this.
Every time it rains, I will likely wait for Ren again, just like that flower.