III. Thunderstorms
On A Rainy Day I passed the white towel through my hair, trying to dry it slowly and take as much time as I could in the bathroom. There were a few candles illuminating the bathroom, and it somehow made it look like one of those romantic scenes in a drama. I lowered the towel, and looked at myself in the mirror. Butterflies began to fly around my stomach as I realized that Yongguk was in the same house, maybe even across the room. Why was I feeling like this? He was only a man - a man that I have known for about two days!
I lifted the towel once again and continued trying to dry my hair. Once I decided that it was okay, I walked out of the bathroom. His bedroom was dark, which the storm was one of the many reasons to thank that for. A simple large bed rested in the middle of the room with two beside tables, one of them holding a few picture frames. There was a board above the wooden desk, and a computer rested on top of it. A flat-screen television rested on the wall in front of the television, and to the other wall had a small bookshelf filled with a few books. There was a window by the bed, but it was covered by a thick curtain that prohibited the sunlight to appear. The sound of thunder rang through my ears, and I let out a small yell by accident.
"Mone?" Yongguk asked as he walked in. "Gwaenchanayo?" I turned my head and looked at him, nodding vigorously before dropping the towel to another sound of the thunder. My hands cupped my ears as another sound rang throughout the room. I squeezed my eyes shut and bit my lip, hoping to have the sound disappear. Seconds later, I felt strong arms wrap around my body, and pull me towards their owner. "You're afraid of the storm." he said. It surprised me that it wasn't a question.
"Ne," I muttered. "I'm okay." He chuckled and began to brush his hand up and down my back.
"Don't be," he whispered. "Nothing will happen to you." The sound rang once again, and I pulled myself closer to his chest. Warmth. The warmth of his body made me feel comfortable, calm. I could feel his chest rise with every breath he took, how his heart beat calmly. I could hear every intake of breath, and the sound of thunder was completely ignored with that.
"Hyuuung!" A few voices rang in the room. I tried to pull away, but I just couldn't. I was too comfortable against his chest, as if I was stuck to him.
"Don't scream," Yongguk chuckled. "I'm right here." I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the calls from the other boys.
"Is that noona?" a voice asked. I moved away from Yongguk's chest and peeked over where the voices were coming from. Five boys stood besides the bed with a smile on their faces.
"Annyeong!" they greeted me. A smile broke out on my face, and I bowed to greet them. Five happy boys bowed back, all of them grinning from ear to ear.
"Hyung," the tallest one beamed. "Is that noona? Oh, noona you're so pretty!" A blush rose around my cheeks as I bowed to thank him. Were all of them this charming? First Yongguk, and now this boy.
"We didn't know what she'd like, so Junhong and Jongup bought the entire store," one of them chuckled. "At least I stopped them before they moved to another store and completely destroyed it."
"No we didn't," a brown haired boy scoffed. "We simply bought what was necessary, nothing more. Junhong and I were simply making sure that we would make noona feel comfortable here." The boy named Jongup, as Yongguk pointed out, nodded and crossed his arms. The tall boy, who was named Junhong, nodded also as he followed the movements from Jongup.
"Arasseo," Yongguk laughed. "Go to the kitchen and prepare it. I'll be here with Mone." They immediately left, and I looked up towards Yongguk to see a small smile on his face. He sat down on his bed - perched like a king before slowly leaning back and holding himself with his hands. "They're so young," he mumbled. "I feel bad for having them here."
"Who?" I tilted my head to the side, sitting behind him and lifting my legs up on the bed.
"Junhong and Jongup," he answered. He turned his head and looked at me with dark eyes. Nothing. I couldn't read what he was feeling. I couldn't see what emotion ran through his face. I couldn't understand him. "Junhong is just sixteen, and Jongup will be turning eighteen soon. They're so young, but they chose to be here." He scoffed, and ran a hand through his chin.
"What do you mean?" he bit his lip. "Yongguk oppa."
"Yongguk oppa," he repeated. "It has a nice ring to it. I don't think I've been called oppa for a long time now." He was changing the conversation, but I let him do so. Knowing him for only two days, I couldn't speak much about his past life. I didn't have the strength to ask him.
The boys were a handful, but they were fun. I learned their names as soon as they kept bickering and calling each other so that they would stop fighting. Kim Him Chan was the second oldest, then came Jung Dae Hyun and Yoo Young Jae. The two loud and always-hungry maknaes - Moon Jong Up and Choi Jun Hong. And then there was their trusty leader - Bang Yong Guk. All of the boys looked up to him, especially Zelo. I could see it by the look he gave Yongguk when they were just speaking. His eyes would have a small glint of admiration, heroically even.
"Noona!" Jongup called, taking a drink from the banana milk. "What are you going to study? I heard from Yongguk hyung that you got accepted Ewha." I put down the bottle of water and gave him a small grin.
"I'm studying to become a doctor," I said. "I know quite a lot, but I still need to learn more."
"Doctor?" Daehyun said as he arched a brow. I nodded, softly chuckling and biting my lower lip.
"I'm planning on saving lives," I mumbled softly. I looked at each one of their faces, seeing surprise written all over it - especially Yongguk's face. He ran a hand through his hair, a frown forming on his face.
"Hyung, she'd make a good addition." Himchan said as he looked over at Yongguk.
"I'm not going to risk it, Himchan." Yongguk answered with a hiss. He shook his head several times, his hands clenching and unclenching on his lap.
"Yoonhee's incident could never happen again with her, hyung!" Youngjae said as he looked down at his hands. He took in a deep breath and looked over at us, "None of us would have to go through what she went thro- Mianhamnida, hyung. I shouldn't have spoken about it." Yongguk nodded once and stood up, walking back to his room.
"Is he okay?" I asked, readying myself to stand and follow behind him.
"He'll be alright," Himchan smiled. "He just needs to have a very long thinking time."
I am sincerely sorry that I haven't updated in quite some time. Honestly, I had a bit of writer's block but I had some inspiration come to me now.
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