The thoughts that you’re by yourself

            The world that has no answer

                        The light has waited for you

She sighed and swirled the now-lukewarm liquid around in her glass. Her mind was barely tuned in to the senseless chatter of the girls surrounding her. Social events weren’t really her thing.

She’d come as a favour to an old friend, but now she was severely regretting this decision. Her “old friend” was too busy wandering off or flirting with the nearest warm body to even give her the time of day. Or the woman was here, seated with a group full of unfamiliar faces.

“I swear, it’s like she’s deaf sometimes.” Her friend giggled and took another sip. She swallowed dryly and set her glass down in distaste. “Hello? Anyone in there?”

“I can hear you.” She set her jaw and avoided eye contact. Her friend prodded her leg.

“You’re always so out of it. Can’t you even pretend to be having a good time?” Maybe her friend had one drink too many.

The taller girl leaned in and eyed her suspiciously before scoffing and slumping back in her seat. “I swear, you are so stupid sometimes.”

She felt sick to her stomach. Maybe they’d all had one drink too many.

She opened to retort smartly, but the echo of a glass shattering stopped her. Everyone turned to stare at the bar.

“Say that again!” A tall man was clutching onto someone’s suit lapels, glaring so hard he practically defined “if looks could kill.”

The man dangling in his grip only smiled and held his hands up innocently. “Easy, man.”

“Don’t play around with me; I’m not in the mood for games. Say that to my face.” The attacker pulled back his fist, poising to strike. There was a unanimous gasp and a few murmurs. She shot to her feet, elbowing through the crowd until she reached the bar. Just as he was about to throw the first punch, she grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“Sanghyun, stop!”

Thunder hesitated, but he didn’t stop glaring. Up close, she could see how angry he was. Whatever this man said, it had her fiancée seething. Even though she thought he might deserve it, the last thing she wanted was for the both of them to cause a scene.

“Sanghyun, please stop.”

Her date grimaced but dropped his fist nonetheless. Sneering, he turned around and gripped her wrist. “Let’s go home. I’m suffocating here.”

She didn’t protest.

Both were completely silent. The apartment echoed their mood, rain streaking the window and turning the whole atmosphere grey. Thunder didn’t say a word and marched off to the bathroom. She sighed, watching after him a moment before tearing her eyes away, shuffling off with the intent to change into something more comfortable that didn’t stink of alcohol.

Even though darkness wraps around me

            Even though I can’t see one inch before me

He barely heard her pass the bathroom. The shower was running in a desperate attempt at a distraction. His hands gripped the sides of the sink until his knuckles turned white. His blood was still boiling. Need to cool down.

He didn’t even bother closing the door. Thunder ripped at the button-up shirt until it fell to the floor, buttons scattering everywhere and blending with the sound of running water. He didn’t bother with his pants. He practically tripped over the bottom of the shower, stabling himself against the wall. The icy water hit his skin, causing his body to recoil in shock. His mind, on the other hand, finally seemed to calm down. Need to remain calm.

The hurt heart of hers that got wounded

            I will wrap around; I promise

She stood in front of the window, seemingly fascinated by the raindrops racing down the glass. Her mind was blank. All the insults had accumulated to intolerable white noise. Echoes of her apparent failure to be intelligent were giving her the start of a massive headache. She hated feeling like this. Somewhere in the background, the shower turned off.

She knew she should be worried about Thunder. He almost caused a fight and bruises would have been way too difficult to explain to Seungho. But she couldn’t bring herself to move. She was frozen in front of the window, heart hurting too much to command her legs into motion.

She jumped when a pair of cold arms wrapped around her waist. His chin rested on her shoulder, his eyes closed. His hair was soaked and he was shaking, but he said nothing.

The shock of his temperature startled her out of her stupor. “Thunder… you’re freezing. Did you leave the water cold?”

“Mm.” It was all he offered.

“Why?”

“Calm.”

“You’re shaking. You call that calm?”

“My mind.”

She made a small sound in realization. He must have doused himself to cool off after the incident at the party. Maybe she should try it.

Her that is getting tired of the repeated times

            If you have no place to lean, then come and lean on me

“Tell me what’s on your mind.”

She turned in his grasp just enough to meet his eyes. “You already seem like you have enough on your mind without me adding to it.”

“Please. I know something’s wrong.”

She sighed and turned back to the window. His arms tightened. His lips softly brushed over her neck, a small noise of encouragement reverberating from his throat.

“Am I stupid?”

Thunder recoiled, obviously caught off guard. He released her only to move around, his back to the window. His eyes displayed hurt and disbelief as he searched her blank expression for any clue on how to respond. He settled for honesty.

“Who said you were stupid?”

“Everybody.”

“That’s a lie.”

“It’s not too far from the truth.” Her laugh was hollow. She stared past him out the window.

“I don’t think you’re stupid. That’s not everybody.”

Finally, her gaze shifted to meet his. He took her hands and brought them up to his face.

“I think you’re the smartest person I know. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know a damn thing.” He smiled and closed his eyes, kissing her fingers. Her laugh sounded a bit brighter this time.

“You flatter me.”

“I enjoy it.”

Her smile was quickly replaced with another frown. Thunder mirrored the expression. He closed the distance between them and swept her up in a sweet, loving kiss. His mouth moved against hers in silent reassurance. He knew she was feeling insecure and hurt. He knew she felt lonely, and it killed him inside.

“Oh, Thunder… Sanghyun.” She breathed his real name for the second time that night. He smiled and kissed her again.

“I love you. Nothing anyone ever says about you will ever change that. And if you ever, for one minute, think you’re alone – you have me.”

She bit her lip in a feeble attempt to keep tears from spilling over. Before the first sob could escape, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. He was still freezing. He didn’t seem to care.

A bright tomorrow is waiting for you

            I’m here; I will go together with you

Thunder chuckled and rubbed her back. “Today was a crappy day.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“I don’t want to think about that. I want to think about tomorrow…. One better day.”

“What?”

“One better day. That’s what tomorrow will be.” he pulled back, a huge grin on his face as he lifted her up and slowly spun her around. “It’ll be just you and me all day.”

“Promise?” Her lips finally twitched in the beginnings of a small smile.

“I promise.”

He was just about to kiss her when a violent shiver wracked his body. He apologized and tried to shake it off.

“Psycho. Why did you douse yourself in freezing water?”

“I acted on impulse.” He shrugged sheepishly.

She shook her head with a smile. “Come on, crazy. Let’s get you warmed up.”