The school day was coming to a close, and Luhan still hadn't been able to get Minseok alone. The other boy was constantly surrounded by curious classmates. Even at lunch, he saw that Minseok wasn't able to eat properly because he was so busy answering questions. Still, there had been no sign of Minseok ratting out his secret. Luhan's stomach was in knots. "Just because he hasn't told anyone yet, doesn't mean he won't when he makes a friend.", he thought. 

The last bell rang and everyone made a run for it, including Minseok. Luhan packed his bag and headed out as well. Once outside he looked up at the dark clouds, pregnant with rain. If he didn't hurry home soon he would get caught in it, and he didn't have his umbrella today. He turned left out of the school gate and picked up his pace.  If he hadn't been so worried about the rain or staring at his shoes, he might have noticed the boy leaning against the wall as he passed him.

Minseok pushed away from the wall and jogged to catch up with Luhan. "Hey! Wait up! Luhan!" He jumped in front of him, forcing him to stop walking. "Hey, I was wanting to talk to you, but I needed to get rid of the mob, you know. So, where are you headed?" 

"Home.", Luhan whispered.

"OK. Well, I'll walk you. We can talk on the way. Then Minseok turned and started walking in the direction Luhan had been headed.

After a moment, Luhan followed, chewing his lip. He had been wanting to get Minseok alone to ask him to keep his secret, but now that he had him alone, he was too nervous to say anything.

"Tell me more about yourself, Luhan.", Minseok said, breaking Luhan's reverie.

Luhan shook his head.

"Why not?", he asked, turning and walking backwards so that he could look at him. "I noticed you don't have any friends at school. Wanna be my friend?"

Luhan shook his head, "I don't need any friends."

Minseok stopped walking, forcing Luhan to stop or bump into him. He put his hand on Luhans head lightly. "You may not want friends, but I bet you need one. I promise I won't tell anyone about your singing."

Luhan's head shot up at that, his eyes wide behind his long bangs.

"I knew that would get your attention.", Minseok said, his smile gone. "I had a feeling that you didn't want anyone to know about it. I swear, I will never tell anyone. It will be OUR secret. If it makes you feel any better, I will tell you a secret of mine.", the crooked smile back in place.

The quiet boy shook his head, "No, I believe you."

"You sure? It's a good one.", Minseok said trying to get Luhan to look him in the eye. When he finally caught his eye he just stood there, back bent and head tilted, studying Luhan's eyes.

As if his friends, the clouds, could sense Luhan's increasing heart rate, they chose that moment to open up and pelt them with fat raindrops. 

Luhan threw up his hood and started running, Minseok at his heels. They ducked into an empty bus stand and beat the raindrops from their clothes and hair.

"How far do you live from here?", Minseok asked, sitting down on the bench and stretching his legs out in front of him.

"It's about a 20 minute walk.", Luhan whispered, sitting down about a foot away from the other boy.

"Hmm. I live 2 blocks away. Do you want to make a run for it? Hang out at my place until the rain stops?"

Luhan shook his head once, hard. "No."

Minseok nodded, "OK. I'll wait with you." He pulled out his iPod and scooted closer to Luhan, putting one of the earphone in his ear. Luhan tried to pull away but Minseok "Tsked" him and put it in his ear anyway. Once they were both hooked up he scrolled through his playlist then hit play. 

Not even a minute into the song, Luhan was shaking. The lyrics speaking to him, like someone had reached into him, pulled out his insides and thrown them onto paper. "Who is this?", he asked, closing his eyes.

Leaning back against the bench, his eyes closed, Minseok sighed. "It's Home, by Tablo. Do you like it?"

Luhan gripped his knees but didn't answer.

"Dude went through a really hard time because of some bullies. He used his music as an outlet to try to get work through his depression. If you ask me, that is the best way to express how you are feeling and try to relieve stress. Music, I mean.", he turned to Luhan. "Is that why you sing alone in the dark? Because you feel to many emotions and need to work them out?."

Luhan stood up. "No, I sing because I don't feel anything any other time." Then he put his hoodie back up, stepped out into the rain and headed for home, his expression blank. 

Minseok watched him until he was out of sight. "That is no way to live, Luhan.", he said, then got his umbrella out of his bag and opened it up. "Let's see if I can change that for you.", then he walked home, making sure to jump into every puddle.