Chapter 15

I've always held a certain favor for the age-old phrase, "it was a dark and stormy night." Don't ask me why; I really cannot pinpoint any particular rhyme or reason behind it.

Well, that afternoon, it began to rain. At first it was just a bit of a light storm, something that everyone assumed would probably blow over in an hour or so. How wrong we all were.

By lunchtime, there were branches getting caught in the wind, flying up and hitting the windows of the office. Soon after, the electricity went out. I was in the middle of deciding between two venues when the computer screen went out and the lights flickered off. It was perhaps the most frightening thing I had experienced in a long time. I stumbled to the door to find an equally pitch black hallway. Palms pressed flat against the wall, I felt my way directly to AJ's office. I knocked lightly before bursting into the room, giving him little to no time to react.

"Kevin?!"

"What are we going to do?!" I asked frantically. It wasn't the storm that scared me; it was how long it would last, and what would possibly happen before it ended.

A little rectangle of light illuminated AJ's face as he whipped out his phone. "No service," he whispered quietly. "Do you have any candles?"

"Yeah, because I definitely carry candles around with me wherever I go," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes despite the fact that he could see me.

AJ paused for a moment, and then his eyes lit up. "I think I know where we can find stuff!" He grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the hallway toward a little room that closely resembled my broom closet. Along the way, I heard whispers about the storm, and none of them were good.

"Just the beginning..."

"No power for miles..."

"Last all night..."

"Flooding..."

"Stranded..."

I shivered at the thought of being stuck in the building for so long.

AJ pulled open the door of the closet and stepped in, finding a massive supply of candles and blankets. He put two blankets in my hand and several candles, then put the rest in a box and handed it to a nearby office girl, quickly commanding her to distribute the supplies among our floor. Then, he grabbed the stuff from me and walked back into his office. I followed quickly, not wanting to be left behind.

"AJ, what are we doing?"

"We're going to wait out the storm," he said simply. I heard him shuffling around for a moment, and then a small flame illuminated his features. In swift succession he lit the candles, giving the room a warm glow. I felt myself relax as soon as I could see clearly. AJ looked up at me and grinned. "Not so bad now, is it?"

I nodded and smiled back. He picked up one of the blankets, walked over to me, and gently draped it over my shoulders.

"You're lucky I have a couch," he laughed. "Imagine having to wait this out in your desk chair!" I shuddered a little when I considered it, shivering in the dark in my hard plastic desk chair all alone. This was a much better alternative.

"Thanks," I chuckled.

"No problem, sweetheart," AJ winked jokingly, pulling me over to the couch. "Guess what else?"

"What?"

"I have a coffee machine in here, too!" My jaw dropped.

"Seriously?!"

"Aren't I just full of surprises?" he laughed. He walked over to his desk and pulled a coffee machine and two mugs from one of the multiple drawers.

"How are you going to plug it in when there's no electricity?" I asked curiously.

"That's the beauty of it," he said. "It's a special battery-powered one since I only have one outlet in my office, and the power strip plugged into it is constantly full."

"That's... convenient," I laughed. AJ simply nodded and began brewing the coffee.

"I'm afraid I don't have any milk or cream, but I do have sugar."

"That's perfectly alright; it's still warm!"

AJ walked back to the couch, mugs carefully clutched in his hands. I took one excitedly, letting the warmth from the drink seep through my skin. AJ sat down next to me, wrapped in his own blanket, and smiled at me. We sat there, quiet and content, sipping our hot drinks for a while, when the door opened and in stepped none other than Lee Kiseop.

"Hey, AJ, I was wondering if you knew where any more candles and blankets were?" He paused, looked at me curiously. "So you were in here!" he exclaimed.

My eyes grew wide, and I could not think of a way to remedy the situation.

"There are more closets on each floor," AJ said blankly. "Just look in those; I'm sure there's plenty. There are also some boxes in the basement of the building, if the first floors haven't gotten there yet."

"I'll look into it," Kiseop smiled. He waved at me with a grin and stepped back out of the office.

I was relieved, thinking that he didn't care too much about the fact that AJ and I were curled up together on his couch. How wrong I was.

Not even two seconds later, Kiseop stepped back into the office, demeanor completely changed. "Kev... what are you doing in here?" he seemed... almost nervous, as though he was curious, but didn't actually want to hear the answer.

"Well..." I didn't know how to tell him.

"I decided to take pity on her," AJ shrugged.

"You don't take pity on people, AJ," Kiseop said suspiciously. "Now tell me what's really going on!"

"You see... We're... AJ and I... Well..." I tripped over my tongue, unsure of how to painlessly phrase the information.

"We're dating," AJ stated swiftly.

I never before thought that I would actually see Lee Kiseop cry. Yet, as soon as he processed those words, the tears fell. The rainstorm inside was almost worse than the one outside.

"S-sorry, I'm... I'll..." he darted out of the room at lightning speed, slamming the door behind him. We heard his heavy footsteps run down the hallway.

I began to stand, to find him and console him. I have no idea what stopped me. When I looked over at him, AJ seemed perfectly willing to let me chase after Kiseop and explain. Yet for some reason, I couldn't bear to do it. It seemed... cruel, somehow, to sit there and explain my relationship to the one person who was obviously never going to be okay with it.

With a sigh, I slid back on to the couch.

"You're not chasing after him?" AJ asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"How can I?"

"Doesn't he deserve to know?" AJ was trying to be gentle, but the stress of it all had just hit.

"For goodness' sake, AJ, I don't know! I didn't know he would be upset! I don't know why he is freaking out, I don't know how to explain, I JUST DON'T KNOW!" Feeling the tears sting my eyes, I quickly buried my head in AJ's shirt. He began rubbing his hand up and down my back in a soothing manner, letting me cry my eyes out for as long as I needed to.

Soon enough, my eyes were dry. I lifted my head and did my best to smile up at AJ. "It's okay, sweetheart," he said softly, laying a kiss on my forehead. "He'll understand soon enough, I think."

"I hope so," I sighed. "Maybe SooHyun will explain it to him," I joked. All too late I realized that that was an extremely viable option. "What if SooHyun explains it to him?!" I said frantically.

"Calm down, Kev, calm down! Even if SooHyun does tell him, isn't that better than him not knowing?" AJ reasoned calmly.

"I suppose so..." I shrugged, unsure of how to handle the situation. I closed my eyes, put my head on AJ's shoulder, and drifted off into that strange place between asleep and awake for a few minutes. I was rudely jolted from my foggy haze by the door slamming open and an angry SooHyun marching in and yelling.

"HOW DARE YOU HURT HIS FEELINGS LIKE THAT!" he cried. "AJ, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO KEEP IT A SECRET! THIS IS COMPLETELY UNCALLED FOR AND I--"

"SooHyun will you please shut up!" I cried in exasperation.

"S-sorry, I guess I got a little carried away..." SooHyun said timidly, his face turning from beet red to a somewhat normal peach.

"That's better," I sighed. "Kiseop talked to you?"

"More like sobbed some random words at me," SooHyun said angrily. "I just kind of pieced them together and figured out what he was trying to say. How could you do that to him?"

"I... I really didn't know he... He never said anything about it, so I didn't think about it," I breathed.

"Kev, he's been in love with you since he first laid eyes on you," SooHyun whispered sadly. "You just never saw it."

"I really don't want to hurt him, but..."

"You have to?" SooHyun practically read my thoughts.

"My heart won't let me hurt AJ just for the sake of Kiseop," I shrugged helplessly.

"Kev..." AJ breathed, placing a hand on my arm.

"Well it's true," I laughed bitterly. "I don't know what kind of magic trick you performed, but it sure did work!"

"Can you at least go talk to him?" SooHyun said hopefully.

"What can I possibly say? 'I'm sorry, move on'?"

"Tell him... Tell him that you're sorry, and tell him that he will find someone better some day," AJ suggested.

"Wow, this is the first time in awhile that you've actually had a good idea, AJ," SooHyun said in surprise.

"Eh, I'm full of surprises."

"Where is he?" I asked SooHyun.

"Now's probably not the best time--"

"If I don't go now then I'll chicken out!" I interrupted SooHyun.

He took a deep breath, then sighed in defeat. "He's in his office."

"Thank you!" I stood up and turned to AJ. "I'll be right back, okay?" I leaned down and gave him a quick, reassuring kiss. He smiled up at me, and I took that as permission to chase after Kiseop for a moment. I ran out of the room and straight into his office, doing my best to shed myself of my nervousness for a couple minutes.

"Kiseop, can I talk to you?" I asked softly. He looked up, eyes red and bloodshot, tears streaking his cheeks. I crouched down next to him, placing my hand over his. He was very quick to pull away. "I'm sorry," I sighed. "I didn't know how to tell you."

"All you had to do was just say it, you know," he chuckled bitterly. "Hey, by the way, Kiseop, I'm dating our boss. Isn't the weather nice today?"

"If I had known..."

"That I liked you? Well, it wouldn't have made much of a difference anyways."

"And why not?" I asked defensively.

"Because AJ always gets what he wants."

"I'll have you know, Lee Kiseop, that he did not just 'get' me," I sighed. "In fact, he tried a lot, and every time he failed. It ended up being my decision."

"Oh, because that's just so much better," he said sarcastically.

"I'm not saying it's better; I'm saying that if I can choose, then you can choose, too!" I paused, trying to figure out how to phrase my thoughts. "My point is, you are a wonderful person, Kiseop. And one day, that special someone will come along and sweep you off your feet, and you will fight for them until you feel like there's nothing left to do. Then, amazingly, that person will finally be yours. You'll be the happiest person in the world. It won't be easy after that, by any means, but you will have found love, and isn't that what's most important?"

"Can you please leave?" he said softly.

"But I--"

"The longer you stay, the worse I'll feel. Just give me some time, okay?"

"Time. Right." I stood, slowly moving toward the door. "I really am sorry. I know it doesn't count for much, but I am." I stepped out and closed the door behind me, exhaling in relief. Quickly, I made my way back to AJ's office.

"How'd it go?" AJ asked, hints of concern playing across his features.

"SooHyun, I think you'd better keep an eye on him for awhile," I sighed. "And get him lots of chocolate; it has antidepressants in it."

"That bad, huh?" SooHyun asked sadly.

"I tried my best, but he's a little too upset at the moment," I shrugged. "Just make sure he doesn't do anything extreme, okay? I'm really worried."

"Will do!" SooHyun said quickly, saluting me as if I were an army general. He dashed out of the room in a flurry of concern, leaving AJ and I alone once more. I moved back over to the couch and plopped down next to my boyfriend.

"I feel really bad for him," I said sadly.

"He'll be okay," AJ said slowly. "He's not one to give up on himself so easily. I've seen him in some tough spots before, and he's always muddled through somehow."

"That doesn't keep me from worrying." I pulled the blanket closer around me and snuggled up to AJ, allowing my eyes to drift shut. The storm raged on outside, thunder shaking the building and rain tapping on the windows. It was angry, yet equally soothing. I quickly fell asleep, listening to the lullaby of the rain.


A/N: This is definitely a heck of a lot shorter than the last chapter... It's sitting right now at roughly 2,286 words, which I think is pretty good, but I'm still WAY behind. Today's goal is 21,666, and I have about 19,271. That's about 2,395 words for today, plus another 1,667 for tomorrow. Urgh. Stupid homework.
SOOOOOO I really was looking forward to this scene but it didn't exactly turn out like I had planned, so... all in favor of another "dark and stormy night," leave a comment and tell me WHY, and WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN. With any luck, this will motivate me to write enough to catch up with my count! xDD Thanks so much for being amazingly faithful to this story! I LOVE YOU ALL! AND I promise my NaNo crazies will be gone soooooooooon justmaybenotsoonenough... xP I'm gonna go to sleep now. Sleep is good. GOODNIGHT!! :D