MIDNIGHT RAIN

The Rain Serenade

Night had fallen, and rain poured over the city as if washing away the last traces of light from the somber sky.

In a small bakery at the end of the street, Lania was still awake. The room had been quiet since late afternoon; her coworkers had already gone home. But Lania, as usual, chose to stay a little longer. She glanced around, then began tidying up the tables, arranging utensils, sweeping up crumbs, and organizing leftover ingredients. It wasn’t her shift tonight. But she was covering for a friend who had an important appointment.

Once everything looked neat, Lania took off her apron and hung it near the kitchen door. Her steps led her to the corner of the shop that faced a large window. Outside, the rain had started to fall harder, drenching the city in sheets of water.

Lania sat in her favorite customer seat, a quiet corner near the big window that offered a view of the city at night. Car lights reflected off the rain-slicked streets, scattering like shards of light dancing across the pavement. The rain fell with a gentle rhythm, like a lullaby the sky had written just for the earth.

A small earphone rested snugly in her ears, playing soft, mellow R&B music filling the empty space and the quiet corners of her heart with an invisible warmth. She hugged herself gently, rubbing her arms that felt cold despite the loose blue knit sweater she wore.

Her gaze was vacant, drifting far beyond the glass. She wasn’t thinking of anything in particular but she wasn’t completely empty either. She was simply... savoring. Savoring that rare moment when life didn’t ask too much of her.

No drama today. No startled heartbeat or breath caught off guard by something unexpected. Today was peaceful.

And for Lania, that alone was enough to be grateful for.

Rain had always been her escape.

She could no longer run freely beneath it like she did when she was a child, rain no longer treated her fragile body kindly. But just listening to the sound of raindrops falling on the pavement, watching the drizzle slip between the gaps of streetlights... that alone had become its own kind of peace.

Slowly, Lania opened her sling bag and pulled out a book with an eye-catching cover, a romantic fantasy novel she’d been addicted to lately. She gently brushed the edges, slightly warped from the moisture. Her fingers traced a small fold on one of the pages, marking where she had last left off. Then she opened it, slid the bookmark back into place, and let herself sink into the world of the story.

A faint smile played at the corner of her lips. Her eyes sparkled softly, as if she'd found a sweet piece of life, even if only through fiction.

"If only everything were as simple as in novels," she whispered, barely audible.

She flipped through the pages one by one, her slender finger following the words. The music from her earphones became a soundtrack to the scene, enhancing the emotional weight of every moment she read. Every now and then, she let out a quiet sigh or frowned slightly when the male lead started acting irritating.

Lania even chuckled softly when a sweet scene appeared out of nowhere, and quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

Meanwhile, across the street…

Remian stood still, almost motionless, only his long black coat stirred slightly as the night wind brushed past him. Rain fell without warning, drenching the city in a steady rhythm that echoed between the buildings. He glanced up at the sky briefly, then let out a quiet sigh, weary. Tonight’s meeting had already been frustrating, and the rain only made him want to leave this place sooner.

To Remian, cold weather and rain meant nothing. He wasn’t an ordinary human. But tonight, the rain was a nuisance, an unwelcome disruption.

He despised the way those drops slipped, uninvited, into the carefully structured rhythm of his life.

The streetlight cast a partial glow on his face, carving a sharp silhouette like a silent shadow etched into the night. His figure was tall, steady, and commanding, as if he were a piece of the night itself. Leaning casually against a concrete pillar at the side of a building, half his body was swallowed by shadow. His face was unreadable, cold and composed, but the sharp gleam in his eyes betrayed a constant vigilance, scanning the surroundings.

A few people who had been taking shelter nearby glanced at him uneasily. They shifted, then slowly drifted away in silence.

There was something in the air around Remian, something they couldn’t explain. But their instincts screamed the same thing: stay away.

Then suddenly, amidst the hush of the drizzle, something caught his ear, a faint melody not born from the street.

Music. Soft, rhythmic, like a whisper floating in from another world.

His brow furrowed slightly. He lifted his head, following the sound with his eyes… until they landed on a bakery window across the street, warmly lit under a gentle yellow glow. Through the slightly fogged glass, he saw a girl sitting quietly.

Lania.

The girl sat by the window, her body leaning slightly forward, a novel lifted in her hands. Her left hand propped up her chin, a white earphone tucked neatly in each ear, and her head nodded ever so slightly to the rhythm of a song only she could hear. A soft smile played at the corner of her lips genuine, calm and... it made time feel as though it had paused.

Remian froze.

For a moment, he forgot the rain and the miserable night. He narrowed his eyes, trying to catch the tune that brought such a smile to her face. Through the rain-slicked glass, faint notes drifted toward him. Gentle. Warm. Soothing. Like a drizzle kissing the earth with quiet affection. The music seeped into him, brushing against a part of him he thought had long since gone numb.

The edge of his lips curled slightly. It wasn’t a friendly smile, not quite but more like a silent confession that… the girl had excellent taste in music.

He kept watching. Just for a moment, he told himself.

But the seconds slipped by, and his gaze refused to leave her. He studied every movement, the way her slender fingers turned each page, the soft laughter she let out when something in the story amused her. She was lost in a world only she understood and somehow, without realizing it, Remian found himself being pulled into it, too.

Then, all of a sudden…

Lania lifted her head. Her brows furrowed slightly. She stared out the window, her eyes sweeping across the street. There was a flicker of unease in her gaze, as if she could feel someone watching her.

Remian jolted faintly. Instinctively, he turned his face away, lowered his head, and pretended to brush back his wet hair. He stole a deep breath… then let it out slowly. Inside his chest, his heartbeat skipped, just a little out of rhythm.

Lania kept looking outside, her eyes squinting against the curtain of rain. But all she saw were a few people standing across the street. No faces clear enough to recognize. She bit her lower lip briefly, then shook her head softly and whispered to herself,

“Maybe I’m just imagining things.”

She looked down again, flipped the page of her book, and sank once more into her story.

Remian stole one last glance. He found Lania already immersed in her novel again, as if nothing had happened. But he knew, she had noticed his gaze.

In that moment, he decided not to look her way again. Not out of fear, but because he didn’t want to break the rare peace that had settled between them.

The music he’d heard still played softly in his mind. He closed his eyes for a moment, allowing himself to feel the harmony, something he had no right to claim.

Their worlds were different, and yet tonight, they seemed to share an unseen space, connected by notes only the two of them could understand.

Then, the rain began to ease. The drops slowed, falling more sparsely, leaving behind puddles that shimmered beneath the glow of city lights.

Remian lifted his head. The sharpness had returned to his eyes, his expression cool and unreadable once more.

Without a word, he turned and walked away, his footsteps leaving faint impressions on the rain-soaked sidewalk. He didn’t look back, unaware that his shadow still lingered on the bakery window, and that, for a fleeting moment, the night had quietly belonged to them both.