It was a petty fight. They got in those from time to time, and they usually weren't a big deal--normally resolved within an hour or less--but this time, Key had apparently had a long day, and luck wasn't on either of the boys' side that night.
"I explicitly told you this morning to clean the kitchen! I even wrote you a note and put it by the coffee pot! But I come home and the kitchen is even messier than when I left!" Key shouted, gesturing to the pile of dirty dishes in the sink that would soon start to grow their own ecosystem if they weren't taken care of.
"I'm sorry, but I forgot!" Jonghyun shouted back. "I kept putting it off because I had homework to do!"
"Oh, bull!" Key crossed his arms. "It does not take you eight hours to do your homework. You were just watching some cheesy movie!"
"It's Doctor Who, not cheesy at all! And it's not even a movie, it's a TV show!" Jonghyun retorted. "And like I said--I forgot about the kitchen after I did my homework!"
Key threw his hands in the air in frustration. "Fine, you forgot! As if you actually did any homework--I bet you just lazed around all day like usual, right?"
For a second, Jonghyun actually looked hurt, and there was a split second where Kibum wished he could take his words back, but Jonghyun turned around and stormed over to the sink, where he began furiously doing the dishes. Kibum stared at his back for a minute, chewing his lip and almost wanting to say something, but finally he spun on his heel and marched out into the bathroom, closing the door and preparing his shower.
It took me a little over ten minutes to do the dishes, and no sooner had I the dishwasher did Key walk out of the bathroom, clothed in his white bathrobe. Our eyes met for a brief second, but I looked away quickly. There was something I couldn't identify in his eyes that I knew I didn't want to see, so instead I pulled out my phone and began fiddling with it, pulling up the weather forecast for something to do.
My eyes widened when they saw tonight's forecast, and my head snapped up to stare at where Kibum had been standing, but I was met with the sight of the door of our bedroom closing, the sound of the lock clicking into place reverberating through the silent apartment.
In a sudden act of complete desperation, I ran across the room to the door, jiggling the knob and shouting, "Kibum! Bum, I'm sorry!" There was no response from the other side, and I banged on the door once with my fist as I gave a final shout. "Kibum!"
Again, there was no response. I sighed as I leaned against the door, staring at the forecast, which predicted a 100% chance of strong thunderstorms.
'Maybe I'll be able to fall asleep before it hits,' I thought as I burrowed further into my blankets on the couch. However, falling asleep on the couch proved to be more difficult than I thought, and by the time I felt like I was finally about to fall asleep, a loud clap of thunder sounded overhead, and I screamed in shock and fear, burrowing deeper into my blankets. "It's just thunder, nothing to be afraid of," I muttered to myself, though I knew it was hopeless. Tears began to flow down my face and I whimpered as another thunderclap exploded around me.
The fear consumed me, eating away at my chest and controlling my thoughts. The small portion of my mind that was still rational was quickly beaten down by the overwhelming need to get away from the thunder. I caught sight of some lightning outside of the window and squeezed my eyes shut, sobbing quietly as yet another thunderclap roared, surrounding me and causing me to try and burrow even deeper into my blankets.
Kibum woke with a start at the sound of Jonghyun screaming in the other room. The blond scrambled out of bed, grabbing the baseball bat he insisted they keep near the bed in case of intruders. Kibum ran to the door, shouting. "Jjong! Jjong, what happened? Jonghyun!" He shouted as he entered the living room, but instead of seeing a burglar with a knife or a gun as he had been expecting, he saw something he wished he would never see again.
Jonghyun was curled in a tight ball on the couch under a pile of blankets, and as Kibum watched, a clap of thunder sounded outside, and Jonghyun whimpered in fear, tightening his grip on the blankets and burrowing deeper underneath them. The bat clattered against the wooden floor as Kibum ran into the living room to kneel next to Jonghyun, whose eyes were squeezed shut. Kibum reached out and brushed the other's bangs out of his face, causing Jonghyun's eyes to fly open in shock as he jolted up into a sitting position.
"Calm down, it's just me," Kibum murmured, pulling himself up so that he was sitting on the couch next to his boyfriend and opening his arms in an offering to the other boy.
"Aren't you mad at me?" Jonghyun asked quietly, and Kibum could hear the hint of bitterness in his boyfriend's shaky voice.
The blond blinked, unable to help the hurt feelings that attacked his chest at Jonghyun's words. "No, I'm not. I shouldn't have overreacted like that, and I'm sorry," he answered, keeping his voice low.
Jonghyun still looked apprehensive, but at the next clap of thunder he scrambled into Kibum's embrace, throwing his blankets aside and hiding his face in the other's chest. "I'm so sorry," Kibum whispered, pressing his lips to the top of his boyfriend's head. "I forgot about the storm tonight. I'm so, so sorry, Jonghyun." A thought flew briefly into Key's head about earlier it had been Jonghyun who was sorry for forgetting something, but now their positions were switched. He pushed the thought aside, disgusted with himself for all the horrible choices he had made concerning Jonghyun that night.
In response, Jonghyun squeezed Kibum's waist tighter and muttered into his chest, "I love you, Kibum," and Kibum couldn't help but smile into Jonghyun's hair, leaning down slightly to whisper his response in his lover's ear.
When the storm seemed to calm down for a few minutes, Kibum wrapped an arm around Jonghyun's waist and led him into the bedroom, pulling him down onto the bed so they could cuddle. "I hate being like this," Jonghyun muttered, toying with a stray thread on Kibum's shirt.
"I know," Kibum replied, one of his hands running through Jonghyun's hair. "But it's just something you have to deal with. The doctor said its a pathological fear, so there's nothing you can do about it except wait for the storm to pass. In the meantime, I'm here," the blond pressed a gentle kiss to Jonghyun's forehead.
"But that's not entirely true," Jonghyun whispered, so quietly that Kibum had to strain his ears to hear him over the pitter-patter of raindrops against the window.
"What do you mean?" The blond asked, pulling back slightly to look Jonghyun in the eyes, his hand pausing in its ministrations.
"I've never felt safe during storms," Jonghyun explained, his voice a little louder now. "I've always known that it's completely irrational, but you know how they make me.
"But when I met you, I've found a way to feel safe during a storm. When we're like this--together in the bed or on the couch or wherever, talking quietly as you play with my hair--it makes me feel safe. I'm still terrified of the thunder and the storm, but I don't feel like I'm in danger anymore. Does that make sense?" he asked, looking up at Kibum, who ignored Jonghyun's question and instead leaned in to take the other's lips in his own. Jonghyun responded to the kiss, and when thunder boomed outside again, the brunet winced, but instead of pulling away and hiding again, he wrapped his arms around Kibum's neck and deepened the kiss.
When they finally broke apart, Jonghyun nuzzled into Kibum's neck and sighed contentedly, relaxing in his boyfriend's arms. He tensed every time more thunder clapped, but each time Kibum whispered in his ear and rubbed his back until finally they both fell asleep to the monotonous soundtrack of the rain on the window.
A/N: Here we go, another chapter. Yay~ I'm going to come back later on my laptop and fix some formatting stuff and add an image to this chapter because I was too lazy to get out my laptop now but I really wanted to post this.
I tried to describe Jonghyun's fear as accurately as I could. I have a pathological fear of cockroaches(or just large bugs in general) and heights, so I tried to transfer my feelings whenever I'm up high or see a large bug into Jonghyun's fear during a thunderstorm. And yes, this was inspired by my own fears. The only reason I made Jonghyun the fraidy cat is because I feel like Key is the one who receives a lot of love and pampering, so I guess I wanted to switch it? It probably also has something to do with how I see Key as the bottom and Jong as the top, so I wanted to see if I could switch it.
Comment with your thoughts, please! :D
~AA
Comments