Broken!South Korea x Reader - The Rain

The rain had started out light. A rhythm of pitter patter on the rooftops... It was but a small shower.
However, little by little without much notice until it was finally too much, it had escalated into a full downpour, swirling its cool liquid tendrils towards the souls of Seoul.
The people within the never-ending metropolis and its skyscrapers rushed and bustled for umbrellas, a sharp contrast to light, flimsy parasols from centuries ago. They all went about their daily lives without hesitance, the only thing breaking their thoughts away from the stresses of it all being the very drops that thundered down towards their faces, never to be seen again as they met the barriers of plastic separating humanity's beautiful faces from their cold embraces.
Oh, how the effect of such a blockade could only resonate into certain people's heads, the rain unwanted yet missed in times of desperate desire and wistful longing. 
It was only here in such a moment that Im Yong Soo dared to lower the umbrella from above his head and let it fall to his side, eyes searching for an answer which only the rain could give. Empty chocolate brown eyes slid back behind closed eyelids, the air around him swirling and ensnaring his skin in goosebumps as traffic zoomed by all around him. Men and women rushed to the nearest sheltered buildings, their heads all too aware of aesthetic consequences as they tried to dodge the water falling down from above.
What was the meaning of this all, Yong Soo thought. Why did he care to continue?
His life was done. There was nothing in it anymore. His brother was gone, perhaps even dead.
His parents had become shut off from the outside world, barely able to even comprehend the meaning of having their number one son defect to the North, police coming around almost everyday for three months nonstop in the autumn of that year. The politics involved soon after were outrageous, words like 'traitor' having been screamed aloud in the streets night after night towards his parents' home. 
Pale hands clutched at a briefcase, jet black hair growing matted to a broken face.
He didn't want this anymore. Dark flashes of pain always worked their way into his system, reminding him of loneliness and how much of a hold it had on him.
A trouser-clad yet toned leg stepped forward, puddles slick beneath a young man's feet.
Why did his brother have to leave? Why did his love for him have to become like this, only leaving agony in its wake?
Cold and icy blue-purple lips parted, a wordless and shaky breath slipping out in a sob from between them, raindrops trembling upon his top lip.
Why did he himself want to die? Yong Soo didn't know the answer. Maybe perhaps he never would. Only time would tell if he moved his second foot forward, bringing his body on with steps only to combust amidst the traffic before him in the rain.
No more pain, no more regret... No more disrespect for him or his family. A life for a life.
Buses turned at the next set of traffic lights, people warm and cosy inside amidst the impending weather trailing its fingers all over the glass, no doubt returning to long-missed lovers to embrace after a long day.
It wasn't like this all the time. Yong Soo knew it wasn't. It never used to be. He had it all - a high-paying and respected job at Samsung, one of the largest companies his proud nation hosted, friends who respected him for him, money, a modern apartment here in the heart of Seoul itself... Why would he ever want to leave?
Raindrops splattered from his fingers to the pavement, making no sound at all compared to the other falling spectacles of liquid, the symbolism achingly similar to what he felt. 
Sometimes, he supposed as the water trickled down his nose, maybe it was harder to find reasons to stay than reasons to leave. He was but a simple raindrop in a large puddle, after all. His death would have no effect at all.
He was replaceable and he knew it all too well.
With a deep breath, he dared to let his eyelids part open even if it would only be for a minute. The dampness of his eyelashes didn't deter him, the mix of warm tears and cold rain on his face having no negative effect. The young Korean merely soaked it in, taking it in with every inch of his living tissue.
He could have screamed were he somebody else, but he had chosen an odd moment of serenity with nobody and nothing else but him and the rain falling around him, the drops making their icy presence known against his heated skin as he blocked out the sound of the cars all around him. It was a moment that, if he were allowed two memories in death, he would choose as one of them.
Yong Soo let a final prayer slip from behind his lips.
Within himself, he forgave his brother. If he was to go, then so be it. He would go.
The young male stepped forward, polished black shoes dim in the grey light surrounding him.
Within himself, he forgave his mother. If she was to cry, then so be it. She would cry.
The businessman took a breath, air ghosting past his teeth and down into his lungs. It was time.
Finally, within himself, he forgave his father. If he was to lay the flowers down on his grave, then so be it. He would lay the flowers down for his last son.
Yong Soo let the last tear run down his face.
A sprint was all that was needed as he ran head-on into the traffic's blinding lights.

-

A beep sounded out suddenly into a blank consciousness as the gentle brushing of sheets started to tingle against a man's skin.
One could only ponder the questions of what the beeps were as silence responded with its cold embrace for what seemed like an eternity. It was as though the patient's mind was playing tricks on him, twisting and distorting his weak existence to believe in perhaps an imagined sound.
Nurses passed by outside, unaware of the awakening within the white room soon to come.
Two more beeps echoed throughout the small space, mere repetitions of the original sound before silence responded for twice as long yet again.
Yong Soo heard the mechanical whirrs first before the beeps. They sounded to his right with each pulse that quivered through his frail body, a gentle wave of minuscule pain reverberating throughout him with the sound. Confusion and disorientation plagued his form as he fought to wake up to what was going on, the beeps beginning to increase in speed slowly as he came to consciousness.
The rain from earlier still fell outside, the small droplets pattering against the pane nearby yet somehow still remaining unrecognisable in the young Korean's current state as he began to grow aware of the whirrs and beeps being synonymous in timing with each other.
It was as though the technical sounds were lovers, embracing each other with each new wave of discomfort plaguing Yong Soo's body.
How ironic, considering he didn't have such affection himself.
A cough strangled its way out of his throat as he attempted to breathe in preparation for a cruel laugh at the thought. With the foreign object down his throat, the young Korean came to realise that perhaps something was amiss.
A chair creaked outside as he breathed out harshly, arms pulsing sorely with each movement. Perhaps it was someone he knew? 
Chocolate brown irises slowly revealed themselves to the world as he foggily came to full consciousness and regained his mental ability with each second that passed by. The roof was surprisingly clean to Yong Soo as he stared at it. How did they bother to actually keep it so spotless?
Another cough managed to rip itself out from his throat and convince him to look around himself, identify where he was, what he was doing here. He needed to get this tube out.
It didn't take much to find the glowing button at his side, conveniently placed in accordance to a place near his fingertips, in the instance that what occurred right now should happen. His fingers gently brushed over it, admiring the neon colour before weakly pressing it into the pad that accompanied its width. His digits were lengthy, thin and elegant in their extension over the button before him.
It made him let a snort of amusement accompany his thoughts.
As if on cue, nurses in starch-straight uniforms entered the room, door clicking open with their pristine faces and tightly pulled back hair reminding Yong Soo of a freshly made bed. No crinkles adorned their skin, as if to compare to a perfect white sheet, yet he felt sorry for them because of the slightest hint of dark circles beneath their eye makeup showing through.
It became clear that they'd had no sleep because of him in his drugged and fragile comatose state, thus becoming something he regretted being a burden for.
Once again he became focused on the roof as they checked his vitals, measuring the stability of his pulse and his blood pressure with a grace most unknown to some hospital nurses around the world. The words they spoke, however, fell on deaf ears as the young male's pupils focused themselves on a small, almost invisible dot on the ceiling.
So the perfect roof did have a flaw after all, he pondered, eyes still focused on it as he took note of its shape. It was round, yet its edges were unsteady, as if someone had blurred it out over years of cleaning yet carried on without noticing it. It appeared as though it were on its last legs, most likely to be obliterated with the next wipe.
Was this a sign?
Suddenly his head was being tilted back, the dot becoming lost from his now watering vision as the nurses looked down at his handsome yet tired face. Gently shaped eyebrows along with chocolate eyes stared back up at them, round and plush lips pale from the lack of health which had hailed from what was meant to be his final venture. A soft yet angled nose contoured his face, jawline a seemingly perfect 'v' that was so commonly treasured in their society's aesthetic nowadays.
It almost made the nurses weep to see him in such an exposed state before them all.
With a careful tug here and there, a burn lit up the young Korean's throat as the tube was removed from his body, gloved nurses careful and reassuring during the process. Why they were being so kind Yong Soo had no idea, but it didn't matter to him at that moment, a slight perplexity coming over his face as he returned to observing the dot on the ceiling once again.
Why had it been left there? Perhaps it was for what he was doing right now. Perhaps it kept the patients calm.
A full breath escaping from Yong Soo's rough lungs, he let the air course freely through them, the blood coursing through his body feeling more alive with each moment. The rain outside hadn't let up, so the male turned to look at the sight, Seoul's sparkling city lights twinkling beyond the dampened window pane.
With a whisper of thanks to the nurses, they left, promising to return later with food and water for the poor soul they'd chosen to take pity on that night. Yong Soo didn't necessarily want it, but he just let them file out with their words, choosing to focus on the water that dripped down onto the outer windowsill. Did the water have a journey? What was its course?
A sigh slipping from his lips, he attempted to stare back out the window, but an unknown and sudden voice caused him to jump and become startled, the voice echoing quietly throughout the room.
Scrambling back onto his hospital bed's pillows, his collar bone showed itself to the sudden intruder openly, the gown having slipped down Yong Soo's shoulder in his rush. The pale, hospitalised skin that stretched over his bicep could have brought an odd look to a local's eyes, but he'd only wanted to ensure his safety. In all honesty, at that moment, the Korean male could have cared less for indecency.
After all, what good would it be for him to die when he couldn't even remember what had put him here in the first place?
Beeps could be heard in rapid succession on the monitor to his right, but he managed to collect himself together enough to lock his chocolate eyes with the foreign colour that stared back into his own.
Slowly, but surely, he began to stabilise his breathing, realising the woman that stood before him was no threat to him at all. Though, one question did bounce around in his thoughts. What was a foreigner doing here seeing him?
For the first time in what seemed like an age, he let himself remember the English taught to him from what seemed like oh so long ago, his voice slipping from his mouth in a smooth tone. It was pure luck that he was able to speak like this - his throat was burning worse now than when he drank the occasional homemade soju from a rural friend. It was enough to send a shiver dancing down his spine, trailing its fingers all along his vertebrae.
"... Who are you?" Yong Soo asked, a slight accent to his voice as he tried to keep it as neutral as possible.
The woman before him stared for a moment then smiled, her hand reaching up to wave, as though nothing had ever been amiss and she'd been his best friend for years.
In a sense, at this point Yong Soo didn't know what it was, whether it was the drugs or his actual mind that decided that the smile he saw before him was something to be trusted. The teeth that showed their white pearls, the hair that seemed to be crafted so well to suit the woman's face... This foreigner was far too intriguing.
His heart skipped a beat on the monitor.
"The woman who saved you from dying in the street," she started, her reply in what seemed like perfectly practiced Korean to the young male. "I'm an English teacher nearby to where you stepped out and I was the one who brought you here. Please, take my business card, it has my name."
An exchange of bows was made, albeit with Yong Soo awkwardly nodding his sculpted head, and the business card was taken gratefully, Yong Soo's eyes beginning to brighten in their chocolate shade at the sight of her name. It was eloquent to the man, though he never could be sure if it was the drugs they'd assigned him to be put on making an influence on his opinion.
"You have a nice name. Thank you," he spoke gently, as if though a word too harsh might crush his new guest. "Might I ask why I was walking in the street?"
"Your face was sad and you let your umbrella fall to the ground. My guess was that you wanted to be hit by a car. I couldn't pull you out of the way until it was too late. You were lucky they slowed down enough though - you were concussed and broke a few ribs as well as spraining your arm," the foreigner generously explained, her eyes softening as if to say that she understood why he did it.
"Oh," Yong Soo whispered, the memories flooding back in.
It was all so clear now.
"Yes. I ask that you don't do it again, but I suppose I can't and won't coerce you just yet," she hummed quietly, looking up towards the dot on the the ceiling as she smiled to herself softly.
The young Korean before her couldn't help but notice where her gaze had landed. An old humorous nature of his came back out to play, even if only for the slightest of times. She was a persuasive young spirit, wasn't she?
"Well, with someone so observant, it's hard to say no, right?" he chuckled, a slight haze to his eyes as he met her eyes once more. "Even you noticed the marking on the ceiling."
"It's hard not to."
A knowing smile grew between the two at the remark, chuckles harmonising as they echoed gently within each other's grasp. The rain outside seemed to echo a peaceful rhythm, far less disruptive now than the hours before as it pattered against the window. The woman before Yong Soo couldn't help but let a hint of playfulness cross her face as she watched his eyes center on her lips, chocolate brown irises expanding to let a dilating of pupils take place.
She had him under her grasp, but she had no idea just how much. After all, hadn't he read something on attraction and three minutes being the standard time for it a short while ago? 
"Hey, my eyes are up here, Im Yong Soo," she teased, foreign eyes twinkling with something almost unknown. "Or am I mistaken and you just want my shade of lip balm?"
A laugh echoing throughout the sterile room, the young Korean man bit his lip and chuckled to himself, shaking his head as he refocused his eyes on the blankets spread before him. It was as though the woman next to him was a mythical creature, tempting young men to their knees just by the way she stood and composed herself. She held a steady yet strong smirk, eyes alight with mischief and soft amusement as her body stood tall and fierce with her hair perfectly aligned, regardless of the anxious waiting she had done over the past few hours.
The rain continued to fall outside, as though bowing down to her presence.
"Well, just as long as it tastes like peaches, strawberries or even cherries, then I don't think I'd mind what shade it was on me," Yong Soo chimed in response, a white-toothed smile spread across his handsome face with irises alight in interest.
Although he supposed he probably looked as though he'd been without sleep or food for weeks in the presence of this woman, it somehow didn't matter. After all, the dot on the ceiling was flawed, but it was intriguing. Why couldn't he be just the same?
Perhaps the rain outside would provide the answers, its language choosing to reveal its true intent as time went on. It couldn't possibly be without fate that he'd been lucky enough to end up alive with this young belle by his side via such a natural phenomenon, right?
Maybe he asked too many questions.
"Peaches. You're good," his new-found companion grinned, twirling the lip balm around her fingers before handing it to him with a cheeky expression, worldly eyes sparkling with a friendly accent to them as she let it go.
Raindrops gently trailed down the window outside, their reflective liquid catching the light of many signs and apartment blocks around Seoul once more, twinkling around her form this time as opposed to open air as she leaned forward towards the other in a moment of lone affection.
"Will you promise me something, Yong Soo?" she murmured, gentle hand coming down to brush away an eyelash from his cheek with a soft smile as though this was their little secret, only to be between them and never to be shared with anyone else.
"Yeah, sure, what is it?" he chuckled quietly, trying not to let his heart beat any faster than it already was.
"Don't give up," she breathed, taking both of his strong cheeks in both of her softened hands as she stared into his eyes with the most serious expression she could ever manage. "Don't ever give up. If anything, do it for me. I don't want to have to wait for you to wake up from such a thing ever again. Just promise to stay in this life with me."
Leaning just that little bit more forward, she pressed a gentle kiss to his hair-swept forehead, only a hint of tears in her colourful irises as she let the peach scent of her lip balm caress his paled skin. The rain reflected her fluid orbs for just a moment before it was blinked away, reserved for another day. It was only meant to be a friendly gesture, but she couldn't help the slight attraction she'd garnered towards the man accent the chaste kiss before she pulled away slowly, straightening back up to her full height with a new smile.
With this, she turned to walk away, a slip of paper with her phone number on it gracing his bedside table should the young Korean forget to check her business card the next day.
A gentle sway to her hips, she finally headed for and out the door, glancing over her shoulder with a slight grin as she waved with peach lips curved in the only way Yong Soo ever wanted to see them curved: upwards.
Rain falling even more gentler than before, Im Yong Soo let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.
In the space of a day, he'd tried to end his life. The skies had poured hard and rough, unrelenting in their merciless attacks. Yet, also in the space of a day, he'd restarted it. The rain now had no more effect on him in this city of Seoul, softening in its forgiving apologies.

In the space of a day, he'd found her. He'd found you.