Also called Flower of the Morning Rain.
Once upon a time, there was a strange little child, scorned and hated by everyone. Whenever he's at home, his parents would shout at him all day long because of his clumsiness. Whenever he's at school, his classmates and teachers would always make fun of him due to his weird habits.
One day, one of his classmates smiled and talked to him. It was his first time experiencing such kindness. Whenever he would make a clumsy mistake, they're the only person who wouldn't laugh or shout at him. Whenever he looked at this classmate, they would immediately look back and smile. They were like a ray of sunshine in the boy's world.
When the school year was about to end, the teachers decided to make all the students give a folk dance presentation. It was a partner dance with two people. As usual, his clumsiness made it difficult for him to follow the steps of the dance. Everytime he attends the dance classes, the teacher would always scold him and his classmates would make fun of him. Soon enough, many of his classmates started dropping out of the dance lessons and even his partner left. Thus, the teacher eventually assigned him the nice classmate as his partner. He was overjoyed.
Together, they danced gracefully and happily. Everytime the boy makes mistakes, his partner would patiently help him. When there is a dance move he cannot understand, his partner would patiently teach and train him during breaktime. This encouraged him to attend the first few weeks despite the teacher's continuous scolding. His favorite part of the dance was when they held hands together with his partner and slid toward each other, rotating their positions for a few times.
However, when the performance draws near, the teacher's scolding and shouting intensified, so much that he decided to stop attending the class. He figured that his partner would be much happier without him, that the class would have better performance without him. Thus, he stopped attending without saying a word.
Yet he seems to have forgotten one thing, he left behind something important on the classroom — his own feelings. At first, he cried because he suddenly realized that he abandoned his patient partner without a word. Then he wailed because he abandoned the only person who showed him kindness. This continued for countless days and nights. Everytime he tried to sleep, his eyes would overflow with tears. He knew he made a decision that he would forever regret.
Since they separated schools, he didn't see that classmate again. Not until two years later, where fate allowed them to meet once again. It was in a taekwondo tournament where he was cheering for his team and saw that classmate on the opposing team. While he was watching from the sidelines, his classmate was participating in the tournament as a fighter. He was so happy to see them again, so he cheered for them even if he was in the opposing team.
They lost but it was a fierce fight. Being satisfied at seeing them again, he climbed the empty stage and sat at the middle, thinking about his life. During the break, he saw that classmate walking towards him to the stage and sitting beside him. Surprised and overwhelmed, his heart pumped like never before and made him completely froze. His classmate tried to say something but he was unable to hear it properly due to his nervousness. Thus, they simply sat there beside each other, without saying a word. This continued for half an hour until the break was over.
When he regained his senses, he had to leave now because of his team. He was already outside the gate when he hesitated and became unable to leave. Thus, he remained standing under the cover of a small waiting shed, waiting for his classmate to also leave home so he can talk to them. The storm arrived with a strong rain, yet he was still determined to wait.
He contemplated if he should go back at the tournament hall but he's too scared to do that. He waited and waited, he waited for so long that time seems to have passed an eternity. The rain was still getting stronger. Eventually, he became so tired of standing and waiting that he decided to give up and return home with nothing. He doesn't have an umbrella so he walked under the strong rain and heavy winds toward home. After he returned home, he cried himself to sleep once again.
They didn't meet again until a few years later in senior high school. He was about to return home so he was waiting for a rickshaw. However, the rain became so strong that there are barely any more rickshaws that accepts passengers. Then he was reminded of that classmate in his childhood, so he prayed and wished that he would meet them once again. Suddenly, he felt someone accidentally touch his elbow. He looked beside him and saw them once again, also waiting for a rickshaw like him.
When his classmate got inside rickshaw that passes through their home, he suddenly went inside as well even fully knowing that this rickshaw won't directly take him home, that he would have to walk a kilometer towards home. It was just as he have always dreamed, daydreamed, wished and fantasized, they were both inside the rickshaw with very close distance with each other. Again, his heart pumped like crazy and made him completely froze. He was unable to even look at them in the eye. Thus, he simply pressed his head against the interior front wall of the rickshaw during the entire duration of the trip, without saying anything to each other.
Eventually, they stopped at their house while he only watched without doing anything. The rickshaw moved again and stopped him at the final destination, which is still far away from his house. There was a strong storm and it was raining very strongly but this time he has an umbrella. Unfortunately, the rainfall and wind was so strong that he was completely wet despite his umbrella. He walked towards home and cried himself to sleep, again.
50 years later, they managed to meet again during the early morning except this time his old nice classmate was already buried under the ground. This time, he finally gained the courage to talk them, more specifically, to their gravestone. Despite the heavy rainfall, he talked about everything he wanted to say to them for a few hours. His tears fell to the ground faster than the rain. Everytime the thunder rumbled, he would cry even louder.
When the rain finally stopped, he also stopped crying. It was then he noticed a beautiful red flower beside the grave, one that he has never seen before. It was short and small yet it didn't budge despite the powerful storm. He looked at the flower and smiled, remembering all the kindness he received from this person, without being able to apologize or thank them.
It was a truly wonderful flower, he called it the Flower of the Morning Rain.
"Behold, the first story, the first legend where everything began."
"The moon greets the descendants of the morning rain flower, for the kindness of one shall save the lives of many."
"In the first life, I will be a fool. At the second life, I will be a hero. For the third life, I will be a villain. And in the fourth life, I will be a wanderer of secrets and mysteries."