He felt the slight shift in the weather. It was beginning to feel chilly. Joonmyeon snuggled against his shabby hand-me-down sweater, burying himself in the warmth his scrawny body had to offer as he waited in the cold. The cacophonous thunder could be heard in a distance. A storm was coming. It was heading in Seoul's direction. A small, twisted smile, as twisted as the shrivelled heart he owned, lit up his soft features.

Thunder rumbled from the skies above. Howling of winds echoed throughout the streets. Seoul was entirely covered with tumultuous, murky and ragged clouds. Within minutes, droplets of rain began pounding on the asphalt road. Unfazed by the heavy downpour, Joonmyeon stood in the middle of an empty road, spreading his arms apart and let himself get drenched in the rain. Beads of water pelted from the top of his head, soaking his clothes, then glided down his exposed skin. Joonmyeon felt relished, as if all the pain in his heart had been lifted; washed away like his sins. Lightning strikes, blindingly. The dull grey skies illuminated, just for a fragment of a second, before it darkened. Joonmyeon barely flinched. He wouldn't mind being struck by lightning. It was better if he died anyway. His life wasn't worth living.

“Take me with you," he whispered, voice barely audible against the deafening roar of the thunder and rainstorm.

The rain continued heavily. Joonmyeon was still rooted in that very spot, unmoving. There was barely a living soul in the streets. Most of them were tucked away in the comfort of their warm homes. Some others were seeking shelter from the storm. They gave Joonmyeon a weird look before continuing their search for shelters nearby. It was foolish for anyone to stay in the storm. Everybody knew that. But they weren't bothered. No one ever bothered about Kim Joonmyeon.

Minseok could barely see anything from the large glass window from the cafe, only blurry images of people scurrying around to find shelter. He smiled as he watched people running aimlessly, trying to protect themselves from the raging storm. Silly people, he thought to himself. No one likes the rain. When lightning flashed, Minseok caught a glimpse of a figure standing in the rain. Intrigued, he pressed his face against the window and squinted.

“Kim Minseok, I know it’s raining outside but let me remind you again that you have customers needs to tend to,” a booming voice rang. It was his bossy manager, Kim Jaejoong.

“Fine, fine, I’m coming,” Minseok muttered crossly and reluctantly dragged himself towards the counter. He took one last look at the silhouette, sighing deeply.

“What were you looking at, Seokkie?” A man around his age asked, his voice laced with curiosity. He had a very boyish appearance which made him look years younger. Pressed against him was a younger man that held a striking resemblance to the older one.

“God, you scared me Lu.” Minseok clutched his chest, startled by the sudden presence. “I was just staring at something. I guess it’s nothing all important,” Minseok mumbled. “What can I get for you?”

“Sehun wants hot chocolate.”

“With loads of marshmallows,” Sehun piped in.

Luhan glared at the boy for interrupting him before turning back to Minseok. “With loads of marshmallows. And I’d like a cup of cappuccino.”

“Alright, have a sit right there. I’ll call you when it’s ready,” Minseok gave a tiny smile. He then busied himself concocting the hot chocolate and cappuccino  for both Luhan and Sehun. His thoughts never once left the strange man in the rain. Was he still there?

Distracted, Minseok spilled a cup of boiling hot water on his hand by accident, the pale skin turning an angry red colour. “Ouch,” he hissed in pain. “Damn it!”

Both Sehun and Luhan stopped their casual banter, shocked that Minseok was being so careless and came running to his aid. “We need to get you to the clinic,” Luhan said with finality. He was being dead serious, Minseok had no choice but to adhere.

His manager shook his head disapprovingly and sent him to the nearest clinic, asking another barista to replace Minseok.

Minseok stared bleakly at his bandaged hand, lips pressed in a thin line. It hurts so bad, Minseok couldn’t help but clenching his fist, hoping that the pain would ebb away. He cursed mentally for being so negligent. Again, his thoughts drifted to the man who was foolish enough to stand in the heavy downpour. Minseok wondered why the man did that. He was perplexed. No amount of reasoning would suffice in his explanation. The man was basically asking for his own doom, to be struck dead by lightning. It saddened Minseok to think that the man probably had been going through a hard life and ending his life was the last solution. A realisation dawned upon him. Minseok actually cared for the stranger he never even met. Since when did I care about someone that much?

Joonmyeon remained undaunted. Despite knowing he might die of pneumonia, Joonmyeon stood in the rain until it slowly subsided. It had been almost more than an hour and a half. Until finally Joonmyeon crumbled onto the ground and gave in to exhaustion. Joonmyeon laid in a foetal position, hugging his knees tight. He was shivering in the cold, lips trembling ever so slightly. And his breathing laboured as his eyes fluttered shut. At last he was cleansed. His pain had washed away. A small twisted smile, as twisted as the shrivelled heart he owned, lit up his soft features.

The rainstorm began to wane after almost two hours. Minseok stared listlessly out of his windowsill, bored out of his wits. He would rather spend his time back in the cafe than his crummy, rundown rented apartment of his. His mind drifted back to the man. He had to do something. For some apparent reason, Minseok was worried that the man might have gotten sick. Reasons he couldn’t fathom. Seeing that the rain had stopped, Minseok grabbed his jacket and left in a hurry. He was glad that his apartment building was merely two blocks away. As he walked past the buildings, he couldn’t help but notice how strangely quiet it was. Maybe because people decided to stay in after the storm ended. It was not until he reached the cafe that he saw a huge crowd gathered around an ambulance. There was a few police officers trying to block off the curious passerby and paramedics who were busy saving a life. Minseok squeezed through the crowd, struggling to stand upright.

“What happened here?” he wheezed.

“A man found dead. Poor guy. No one even bothered to help him,” the police answered curtly.

Minseok felt as if someone knocked the wind out of him. “D-dead?” he choked on his spit, wearing an incredulous look.

“Yeah. Do you know him or something?” the policeman’s question was left unanswered.

Guilt was slowly devouring every inch of his sanity. Minseok felt his heart twinge in pain. It was his fault. If only he had ran out of the cafe, ignoring his manager, and whisk the man out of the rain. Only if he cared enough to walk out in the rain. As he saw the man, lying lifelessly on the stretcher, dragged away by the paramedics, a look of recognition flickered across his face. It was the boy he knew back in highschool. Kim Joonmyeon, the boy who depended so much on him, the boy who was bullied often by everyone in school. It was Kim Joonmyeon, the boy Minseok cared about so much but was too shy to confess. The boy Minseok was still ever so in love with. It was too late now.

“I’m sorry,” Minseok cried. It was merely whispers in the wind.

sorry for making you guys cry. mianhae. lemme hug you. 1k worth of angst.

/whispers/ minseokkie secretly cares for joonmyeon