The view was bleak from Luhan’s thirteenth floor window, and the incessant rain didn’t help. Heavy droplets fell from the forever gray sky in sheets as if to wash away everything that was wrong with the world. If only, thought Luhan to himself, sulking away from the sight and falling rather dramatically into the meticulously straightened white sheets of his bed. For a minute, he considered just letting the exhaustion overtake him so that he could once again escape into a much more satisfying dream world, the one that helped him fall asleep every night. No. It was far too early in the day for that, and there was a much more important task at hand. I have to find him, thought Luhan, willing himself to brave the storm and follow his heart.

...-

Black curtains hung precariously from a set of insecure hooks above the windowpane, keeping all but a hint of light out of the bedroom. A tall, thin boy with an equally black head of hair lay motionless in bed beneath a mess of white sheets. Kai had not even bothered to change out of his half-ed collar shirt and loosely knotted skinny tie, both of which showed wrinkled evidence of the previous night’s adventures. There was a persistent ringing in the air, loud enough to awaken him from his sleep-deprived slumber. A moan was all he could muster as he reached blindly towards his nightstand, hoping to silence the unbearable sound. Instead, he managed to knock his cellphone onto the floor.

“God damn it,” he said loudly, toppling more than climbing out of bed and reaching for the source of the noise. He got there a second too late.

Squinting through his puffy eyes at the too bright screen, he made out the familiar words: Missed Call. Before he could investigate further, he heard a muffled knock coming from the distance.

Who the hell would visit at this hour, he thought to himself as he ran self-conscious fingers through the tangles of his hair. Then the ringing started again.

Still, the screen gave no answers: Restricted Number. Kai cleared his throat before bringing the phone to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Open your door,” replied a voice that he could’ve sworn he had heard before.

“Who is this?” he asked hesitantly, unable to pinpoint it exactly.

“You’ll find out soon enough. Open your door!”

Kai went against his better judgment and plodded towards the front door of his thirteenth floor apartment, phone still glued to his ear. The tile floor was cold beneath his bare feet as he made his way across the entryway and reached for the silver lock. The door gave an angry creak as if to object to the disturbance.

“Jongin-ah!” beamed the inexplicably happy figure standing before him. Before Kai could recover from the shock, Luhan had thrown thin arms around his neck.

Kai buried his face into Luhan’s shoulder. “What took you so long?”

Luhan laughed as he ran gentle fingers through Kai’s messy hair. “You make it sound like it’s been a year.”

“It feels like it has.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Jongin-ah,” said Luhan lightheartedly, pulling himself up out of Kai’s arms. “We only just met last night.”

“Last night?” asked Kai hesitantly as he tried to rummage through the mess of memories flying through his brain. “All of that couldn’t have happened in just one night.”

“Well it did,” replied Luhan, beaming once more, causing tiny wrinkles to form around his eyes.

Kai couldn’t help but stare at them.

“So aren’t you gonna let me in?”

Kai immediately stepped out of the way, making room for the boy dressed from head-to-toe in white. “What’s all this?” he asked, brushing some gray sand off of Luhan’s shoulder.

Luhan shrugged carelessly as he removed his shoes and placed them at the threshold of the carpet. He continued to walk forward, past the kitchen and towards a rather worn-out looking couch. “I’m starving!” he exclaimed, plopping down without invitation. “It’s already past noon and I haven’t even had breakfast yet. Were you still sleeping?”

Kai self-consciously took a seat beside his new friend, not too close, but not too far away either. ‘New’ didn’t really seem like a particularly good description of their relationship. It felt more like they had known each other forever. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Luhan staring at him, but he couldn’t quite get himself to make direct eye contact. Without even realizing it, he began to run nervous fingers through his own messy hair, as if to massage the answer out of his scalp. Butterfly wings were brushing against his innards, making him feel that uneasy, almost antsy sensation, the one he normally got when talking to a stranger or going somewhere unfamiliar. This time he was doing neither. Regardless, he could feel his heart racing against his chest, pounding away to an all too familiar beat.

“Earth to Jongin!” exclaimed Luhan, waving a hand in front of Kai’s dazed expression.

“Huh?”

Luhan just laughed, placing one hand on Kai’s shoulder and patting his stomach with the other. “Come on, let’s eat. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”

“We do?”

…

Kai narrowed his eyes against the unexpected brightness as he walked out of the bathroom. His bedroom was never this full of light.

“Luhan?” he called out, stopping in front of the newly bare windowpane. “What did you do to my curt- AHHH.”

The scream echoed around the apartment, and was quickly followed by hysterical laughter.

“That was NOT funny,” protested Kai, grasping at his own chest as the air returned to his lungs. “You look like the grim reaper or something.”

Luhan effortlessly swung the black fabric off his head and draped it around Kai’s shoulders like a cloak, trapping them in between so that they were standing face to face. “Look! It matches you.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Cheer up mister doom and gloom. Take this as a favor. It’s about time you get some light back in your life.”

“And how exactly do you expect me to sleep in here now?” replied Kai, uncomfortably trying to pull away from Luhan’s grip. “That curtain was the only way it ever got dark enough in here, what with all those damn street lights outside.”

Luhan smiled mischievously. “You won’t have any trouble sleeping once I’m done with you.”

Kai could feel the blood rush up into his face. He quickly turned away to face the window once more. “When did it stop raining? It d