brian absolutely despised the summers of south korea. or, well, just summer in general. it was hot and humid, and the chances of rainfall was so much higher. spring wasn't too bad that year, but the coming of summer storms swallowed up any chance of relief to fill the blonde's body.

before moving to south korea, he had read up on the climate and the usual weather. he was greatly dismayed to see the drastic change in temperature from the usual chilliness of canada. winters didn't help too much, either; they were too unpredictable in korea. he could swear he'd be just about sweating one day, and not be able to feel his fingers or toes the next. he had to leave the familiarity of the cold behind, and he had to embrace the mild weather of south korea. with that weather came the several storms in the summer from june till september.

it was now early july, the wettest month, and brian's expectations were met when thunder slowly began to rumble one night at the dorm. it was dark, and everyone was sleeping after having had two radio shows and a music show along with their usual practice. the bassist had been peacefully asleep too, until he had woken up with a start to a flash of white and a distant crash of sound that rolled throughout the sky.

fear seized him immediately. he began to tremble after another quiet tremor shook the dorm, shakily sitting up and struggling to stand from his bed. he wobbled for a moment before finding some strength in his legs, biting his lip to muffle a startled yelp to fall from his mouth after another crash of thunder that was much louder. he took a deep breath, dragging his thin blanket with him on his way to the couch in the living room. he knew how this was gonna play out, and he didn't want to disturb his bandmates' rest.

right as he had laid the blanket across the sofa, the loudest boom yet caused him to jump and for a quiet whimper to escape past his lips that he had tried so hard to seal closed. his blood ran cold, and goosebumps ran across his skin when he realized he had emitted a sound that could quite possibly wake someone up.

but before he could think more on it to worry, rain suddenly pelted against the building. sharp splatters made brian tense up, eyes wide with alarm as he could practically feel the droplets shoot into his skin even though it was impossible.

images of his mother sobbing and his father grimacing filled his head as the storm raged on. he vaguely heard himself let out a choked sob as he fell to the ground, missing the couch where he had been planning to hide under the covers. flashbacks of his mother crying out as thunder rumbled and lightning flashed filled his mind, seeing his father move and suddenly there was a distant sting on his cheek. he remembered all the sounds, and how he saw that his father still hadn't shaven, and that there were still two cracks in the wooden boards of their floor by the kitchen. he remembered how the rain splashed against the windows, sounding like bullets shooting at the house. he still remembered that night, and he just wanted to forget it. he didn't want-- he couldn't deal with how--

he hadn't realized he had been crying until a drop fell onto his shaking hands. his nose was running, and his throat was sore from stifling so many sounds. his heart felt cracked, felt used, and he just wanted to make the sounds stop, make it stop!

"brian?"

he froze at the call of his name, curling in on himself when he figured it was jaehyung from his voice. , why'd it have to be him? why--

he couldn't continue the thought, as a sharp bout of thunder struck, followed by a blaze of silver. brian's body shook even more, knuckles turning white as he grabbed at his arms in an attempt to comfort himself, pulling his shirt closer towards him despite it being impossible to do so. the tears fell more now, and the rapid fire of raindrops on the windows did nothing to help his mental state. he covered his face to try and stop them, but to no avail.

"hey, hey, shh... it's okay," jaehyung said softly, coming forward to kneel before brian's crumpled form on the floor. "i'm here." he held the other boy in his arms, tightening his grip around his waist and rocking them back and forth in a gentle rhythm.

brian went lax in his hold, stuffing his face in the crook of jae's neck. he sobbed quietly as thunder continued to rumble, weakly holding onto the older boy's sweatshirt to ground himself.

as the rocking continued, brian's sobbing quieted to soft whimpers. coupled with jae's soothing singing, the canadian managed to stop trembling so much, his breath evening out a bit more.

noticing this, jae gently laid the younger's head on his arm so that he could see his face. he visibly softened when he saw the dry tear tracks along his cheeks along with his red and bitten lips that jae wished to kiss better.

brian slowly opened his eyes when he felt the pads of jae's fingers tenderly wiping away the remaining tears. he gave a weak smile in gratitude, too exhausted to do much else.

"you good now?" jaehyung murmured gently, holding brian's face in both of his hands, thumbs running over the smooth skin. he wasn't sure if it was to comfort brian or purely because he wanted to, but he did it all the same and the younger didn't seem to mind one bit.

brian sleepily nodded, humming in content as he leaned into jae's touch. his eyes were half-lidded with exhaustion, and his body was limp in the other's grasp.

"why didn't you tell us that you're afraid of thunderstorms?"

the question caused brian's eyes to fully open and for his cheeks to color a pretty pink. he pursed his lips in thought, his mind a bit muggy.

"didn't wanna seem weak," he finally mumbled drowsily, blinking languidly. he began to hum again when the american began to card his fingers through the other's bleached locks, his eyes falling shut once more.

"you're not weak," jae stated firmly, eyes narrowed incredulously. "you're honestly really strong. we don't tell you that enough, but...you're just really great, y'know?" he laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

"you're pretty great too," brian mumbled, opening his eyes to look at the other for a moment before closing. "really, you are. and i love you a whole lot. but like, not in that friend or brother kind of , y'know? like, let's be gay and . because honestly, wow, you're hot and i just wanna kiss you all the time but i'm too much of a puss to do that so i've just been stuck in limbo for the past year," he droned, not really seeming to realize had said that out loud to his crush.

without even thinking, jae pushed his lips onto brian's. they were plush, though chapped a bit and slightly crusted with blood from where the bassist had bitten down too hard.

it took a bit to register in brian's tired brain, but once he got over the shock, he tentatively returned the sentiment. the kiss was soft, gentle, like a sweet rain shower that caused rainbows to light up across the sky and across lawns. it was chaste and patient, no ill want on either ends.

brian was the first to pull away, not missing how jae leaned forward a bit before catching himself. he smiled widely; the kind of smile that was so full of happiness and bliss and joy that a kid had when he got exactly what he wanted for christmas. or when they had the loudest fanchants yet at one of their music shows. it was the kind of smile that was so genuine and so pure it didn't seem real.

jae returned the smile with just as much radiance, pecking brian's lips with a quiet giggle that seemed to be contagious since the younger giggled too.

and if the others saw the two cuddled up quite serenely the next morning, they said nothing about it and let them lay there.