“God, I hate this!” Sunny went out her room, slamming the door as she did.

The dorm was dark and she could barely see anything. The only light she found was coming from the weak candle placed in the middle of the living room. Her friend was sitting next to it, listening to her iPod.

“It’s just thunder, Sunny,” said the taller girl without turning her head.

“But it made me anxious,” Sunny plopped down next to Sooyoung, pouting.

The whole city had gone dark since several hours ago due to severe thunder storm that night and the backup generator that supplied electricity to the building was exhausted and ran out of fuel.

“That’s right,” Sooyoung took her earphones off, “you hate loud noises.”

Sunny sighed, “Yeah.”

Sooyoung gave Sunny her iPod and stood up. “It still has some battery left, it should accompany you to sleep.”

“Where are you going?” asked Sunny.

“My room. I’m tired,” Sooyoung yawned and waved the shorter girl goodbye. She disappeared into her room and left Sunny alone in the dark.

Listening to the music from the iPod, Sunny slipped down the sofa to the floor, staring at the half burned candle. It was pathetic, she thought, to be scared of loud noises. Her parents said that it was probably a childhood trauma but Sunny could barely remember her past now that her present was so blindingly beautiful. But every time she heard thunder roaring in the sky, fear got the best of her.

A half an hour passed and the rain was still raging. Even with the volume on the highest level, Sunny could not keep the sound of thunder away and things got worse when the small music player device ran out of juice and died out on her.

Sunny leaned on the sofa after putting the iPod down, scared and alone. She hugged her own knees and watched the candle burn itself down. When the last spark went off, Sunny closed her eyes. Thunder clapped in the sky and it sent shiver through her whole body.

Suddenly, a pair of hands found their way to her ears, covering her from the scary sound of thunder. Sunny opened her eyes but she didn’t look back, she knew exactly who it was.

“Sooyoung,” she said under her breath.

The taller girl sat on the sofa right behind Sunny, putting both hands on her ears. “Hey.”

“What are you doing?”

“Don’t listen to the thunder,” said Sooyoung as she leaned forward and pressed her body against Sunny’s back. “Just listen to my heart beat.”

Sunny did what she told. She leaned back and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of Sooyoung’s breath and the rhythmical thumping of her heart. It was magical, Sunny thought, how the universe seemed to mute everything at that time so she could hear every rushing blood in Sooyoung’s veins. As exaggerated as it may sound, Sunny found peace in that arms and she could finally sleep.

The sun had already peeked through the curtain when she woke up. Sooyoung was sleeping on the sofa, curling in a fetal position. The rain had stopped and the sky was free from dark clouds. It seemed like the thunder storm last night was nothing more than a very vivid nightmare and Sooyoung saved her from that.

Sunny pushed herself up and looked at the sleeping girl. She gave her a soft peck on the cheek and whispered, “Thank you for coming back and save me.”

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