Happy Birthday Rui~❤
Here is my gift to you--in the form of 1,280 words
I hope you enjoy this one.
Tee xoxo
 

Caught in the rain

The clouds in the London sky swirl a foggy grey all day long, and it isn’t until Jiyong glances outside that he notices the clouds have finally settled on darkening to black. Methodically finishing up the day’s cleaning routine, he counts how many wipes each table takes to sparkle and the windows to shine, trying to make them twinkle that little bit more. Between running on his feet all day and using up his lunch break to dash out to stock up on film for his collection of cameras and also buying a sneaky gift in the form of the latest 'no but I really reallllly need this one, Yongie' Bearbrick, Jiyong is about ready to drop. Thoughts of having a warm, home-cooked dinner to look forward to and retiring to bed early to read one of his favourite books brings the brightest of smiles to his tired face. Curling up by his boyfriend’s side, stealing soft kisses and gentle touches fill up that hopelessly romantic head of his and he can’t fight off the secret smile and twinkle in his eye at the thought of being home some. Suddenly, racing home in the dreary London weather is the most exciting thing to happen in his daily plan.

The moment he steps out the door of the coffee shop, locking it up behind him for another day, the very first tiny raindrop of the day makes its way down from the sky and lands on his head. The skies have been threatening to open up all day and the rainclouds chose right now, this very moment to unleash their watery fury. As the rain starts to fall all around him, he doesn’t see the tall, beautiful brunette standing directly in his path, and he walks right into that solid, warm body. Stuttering out an embarrassed apology, Jiyong stops short and looks up when he feels familiar hands gripping onto his wrists, stilling his wildly flailing arms. His warm brown eyes immediately lock on to the darkest shade of brown before you can consider calling it black—and Jiyong blushes over the fact that he should have recognised that broad chest he just smacked his face into. To anyone else, those intensely dark eyes should feel cold and empty but they only fill Jiyong up with a sense of warmth and longing and something else that settles deep within his chest and distinctly reminds him of one word and one word only—home. How on earth such darkened eyes can hold so much love and affection in them, Jiyong will never know. But he will also never question.

“Seunghyun, what are you doing here?”

“I saw that you left your umbrella behind, so I thought I better come and walk you home.”

“You do realise that you haven’t brought an umbrella with you?”

“I forgot it on purpose.”

Seunghyun smiles that infamous cheeky lop-sided grin of his, signalling he had other ideas in mind for their rainy walk home together. Seunghyun slides an arm around Jiyong, pulling him close for a brief moment to feel his warm breath against his neck. Burying his nose deep into the already dampened mess of Jiyong's blond hair, Seunghyun snuffles his nose at tickling feel of those coarse strands scratching against his skin and takes in the rich, comforting smell of his cinnamon-scented hair. All warmth and sweetness with a little bit of spice. One of them whispers, let’s go home... but the sound is nearly lost by a loud clap of thunder above them, and by the time the sky settles on silence again they’ve forgotten who said it and who is supposed to answer. Moments before, the rain had nearly ruined Jiyong’s hope for a happy ending but now walking home in the rain doesn’t seem so bad with Seunghyun by his side.

A few short minutes are all it takes to completely soak them through and through, yet they never stop once to seek shelter. They only try to fend off the chilly air by grasping onto to each other’s hand a little more tightly, sharing their body heat through laced fingers.

When they turn off the main street and find themselves getting lost down a quiet lane they’ve taken many times before, Jiyong slows his pace with each step, until they both come to a stop. Thoroughly drenched from head to toe, both men are thankful for the buildings on either side of the alley which thwart most of the raindrops before they can travel all the way down to the ground. The sound of the rain echoes down the empty alleyway, drowning out the sound of Jiyong’s ragged breathing. Noticing the slight frown on his face, Seunghyun gives Jiyong’s hand a gentle squeeze. Jiyong smiles up at him and squeezes back before lifting their frozen hands up to warm them with his breath.

“You know I love you, right?” Jiyong’s whisper barely reaches Seunghyun’s ears over the sound of rain but the words are clearly painted across his lips.

“Well that depends.”

“On what exactly?”

“On whether or not you know that I love you.”

“I do.”

They both smile at each other for a moment or two as the rain plummets down around them, beating down on the shelter above their heads, echoing loudly in their ears to cover the sounds of their twin hearts pounding senselessly against their chests. Arms which are much stronger than they first appear encircle themselves around Jiyong’s waist and pull him in until chest presses against chest, nose touches nose and breath mixes with breath. Seunghyun’s cold hand comes up to brush those dripping blond locks back from Jiyong’s forehead and they take residence all tangled up together.

“...Something’s bothering you, what is it, Ji?”

“I don’t know. I’m just being silly.”

“Tell me.”

“I know you love me but... do you still need me.”

“Of course I need you. But honestly? I would much rather be bound to you by want than need.”

Jiyong seems more than happy with that answer and stands on the tips of his toes to place a soft kiss on Seunghyun’s mouth and whispers against his lips, “And you do love me,” before pulling back to return the favour from before and combs the wet tangles of Seunghyun’s hair off his face. His hair is a tousled mess from the rain seeping into those caramel brown locks—or perhaps Seunghyun was intentionally going for the 'I just rolled out of bed and stumbled out of the shower to come and get you' look.

“I do love you,” Seunghyun replies as he cups Jiyong’s cheek and catches what might be either a raindrop or a teardrop sliding down his face.

“Promise promise?” Jiyong gives him a slightly pouty smile.

Seunghyun chuckles and leans in to kiss him again, pressing his now slightly-less chilled lips against those full plump lips that fit so perfectly against his own. “Promise promise.”

“Can we take the long way home?” Jiyong asks him quietly, those big brown eyes sparkling up at him with a smile.

Stepping back out from under the shelter, water continues to fall around them but they carry on their journey and ignore the storm. Staying close to each other’s side makes the thunder and lightning seem like it’s far away enough that it will never reach them, never get close enough to put an obstacle in their path. The soft pitter-patter of rain follows their feet as they make their way home, hand in hand. And the promise of creating warmth together, any way possible is enough to keep them going.

Until they reach home.