Chapter 1 — Colors Reflected from Afar and the Sound of Raindrops

Everyone has a color they are drawn to.

For some people, beauty is something that exists in the eyes of the crowd — something bright, something admired, something everyone wants to possess.

But for Chloe, beauty was never about what everyone could see.

It was hidden in the smallest details that most people overlooked.

Back in high school, Chloe was the girl everyone dreamed of.

Her glowing skin, her bright eyes, and the warmth of her smile made it impossible for people not to notice her. Almost every boy in school admired her, yet strangely enough, no one could truly get close to her.

Because Chloe was always looking at something else.

Someone else.

A senior two years above her.

Leo.

Leo was a person who stood out in the entire school.

He was the student who always ranked first in mathematics and literature. He won almost every academic competition he entered. He was considered a genius by many.

But strangely, people praised him less than they criticized him.

“Hey… look. The genius is here.”

In the school cafeteria, Chloe’s friends laughed quietly as they watched Leo walk by.

Leo walked alone, holding a book tightly against his chest. His steps were steady and perfectly timed, as if the noisy world around him did not exist.

Or perhaps…

As if he simply chose not to let it reach him.

“He has autism, you know,” one of her friends whispered. “Being smart doesn’t matter if you can’t even talk to people. Look at him. He buttons his shirt all the way up to his neck. He’s so weird.”

Chloe stopped eating and frowned.

“Why do you guys always have to make fun of him?”

Her voice was gentle, but firm.

“He’s not weird. I think he’s actually kind of adorable. He’s just living peacefully in his own world.”

Her friends stared at her in disbelief.

“Chloe… you seriously think someone like him is cute?”

Chloe didn’t answer.

Her eyes simply followed Leo’s back as he disappeared into the crowd.

Everyone saw Leo as someone strange.

But Chloe saw something different.

She had always possessed a natural sense of art. In her eyes, Leo’s precise movements, his careful habits, and the way he organized everything around him were not flaws.

They were colors.

Colors that most people were unable to see.

The most interesting thing was—

while the entire school chased after Chloe’s attention, Leo was the only person who seemed completely unaware of her presence.

And yet…

Sometimes Chloe felt it.

A pair of eyes watching her from afar.

When she sat beneath the trees, sketching makeup designs in her notebook.

When she laughed with her friends.

When she quietly mixed different shades of colors together.

From somewhere far away, Leo would occasionally look at her.

But whenever Chloe turned around, he would immediately look away, returning his attention to his books or the chess pieces in his hands.

Leo was not studying her face.

He was studying her colors.

The shades of her clothes.

The rhythm of her movements.

The way she blended into her surroundings.

It was as if he was observing a painting rather than a person.

And the first time the distance between them became smaller…

was on a rainy afternoon.

⸻

That day after school, the sky was dark and heavy.

Rain poured endlessly over the campus.

Under the school building’s shelter, students gathered together, waiting for the rain to stop.

That was when Chloe accidentally looked to the side.

And she saw him.

Leo.

Standing alone beside the wooden railing.

He was staring outside at the rain.

In his hand was a folded black umbrella.

But he wasn’t using it.

He simply stood there, watching the raindrops hit the concrete ground.

“Leo… you have an umbrella. Why aren’t you leaving?”

Some students passing by laughed as they teased him.

Leo didn’t respond.

His lips remained tightly closed.

Chloe stepped away from her friends and walked toward him.

“Leo…”

Her voice was soft.

So soft that it stood out even among the sound of the rain.

Leo flinched slightly and turned around.

But instead of looking at her face, his eyes went straight to the pink cardigan she was wearing.

“The rain has been falling for 34 minutes.”

His voice was quiet.

“The raindrops don’t follow a pattern. The sounds are too loud.”

At that moment, Chloe understood.

For Leo, the rain was not just rain.

The irregular sounds and overwhelming noise were something his senses struggled to handle.

Chloe gently reached into her bag and took out her headphones.

“Try these.”

She held them out to him.

“They don’t play music. They just reduce the outside sounds a little.”

Leo hesitated for a moment.

Then he slowly took them.

When the noise of the rain became quieter, his tense shoulders finally relaxed.

“Do you feel better now?”

Chloe asked with a smile.

Leo nodded slightly.

“It’s calmer…”

Then his eyes moved back to her pink cardigan.

“Soft pink…”

He paused.

“A warm color.”

Chloe was surprised.

Everyone else only noticed her beauty.

But Leo noticed something different.

Her color.

“That’s my favorite color.”

Chloe smiled.

“The color I like the most.”

Leo slowly nodded.

When he handed the headphones back, he quietly said—

“Thank you…”

A pause.

“Soft pink.”

That day, Leo never called her name.

But he remembered her color.

And somehow…

that small moment beneath the rain stayed with Chloe for many years.

Because sometimes, the people who see the world differently…

are the ones who notice the things everyone else misses.