Sehun’s POV

It was around 8pm now and I just realised that we hadn’t had dinner yet. We were still lazing around on the couch, either watching dramas on the TV or talking about anything and everything. It had been a while since I had felt this good, this complete. I didn’t feel like letting her go home. I was still unsure whether she was staying the night. I hoped she was.

Just at that moment, I could hear thunder booming outside. Perfect timing! I took the chance to ask her, “Are you going to go home in this storm?”

She had her eyes fixed on the screen as she shook her head. Well that was easier than I expected… “Was that what you were hoping for?” she asked, grinning smugly without looking at me.

I looked away from her, feeling myself blushing. I was just hoping that she wouldn’t notice it. I told myself to keep calm before I countered her, “It’s fine with me if you wanna go home. Who knows? Walking in the rain may be therapeutic for you.” I said it as nonchalantly as I could.

When I looked over, she had her arms crossed and her lips pouted, her round eyes staring straight into mine. More than satisfied that I got my expected reaction out of her, I got up from the couch and headed over to the kitchen. “Want something to eat?”

Behind me, I heard Jiho get up from the couch and followed my trail. She beat me to the kitchen and opened the fridge, staring at what I had in it. Before deciding on something though, she wore a puzzled look on her face and asked, “Where are your parents? I totally forgot to ask about them.”

My gaze shifted to the ground for a split second. She didn’t have to know how complex my family matters were now, so I just managed to tell her a “Oh, they’re on an overseas business trip. They won’t be back so soon.”

Luckily, she never doubted my words and went back to choosing ingredients. She took out a whole chicken, too, which surprised me. “You want to cook that whole thing now?” I asked, gaping at her.

“What? Don’t you think I’m capable of that?”

I put both my hands up in surrender. “By all means, go ahead,” I told her. I had no idea how to cook a chicken well on my own, that’s why it’s been sitting in the fridge for a few days.

A few minutes later, she had me dressed up in an apron. “Stop laughing at me!”

“Stop whining, Oh Sehun,” she cackled. “You look really funny in that apron.”

I did a model pose from behind the counter and smiled sarcastically at her. “Really? I thought I looked quite cute, though.” She laughed even more at that, her eye-smile showing up. I went back to normal and smiled at the view. Seeing her happy like this was very satisfying, especially since I knew I was the cause of it. I was going to make up for those scars no matter what.

“Hurry up and cut the chicken, moron,” she teased, walking over to me. I did as she said and started chopping. “Not bad for a newbie,” she commented.

It still beats me how she managed to make me agree to wear an apron and cut a chicken. I didn’t even do it when my mum asked me to. Park Jiho, you really are something.

Around an hour later, we finally finished eating after plenty of fooling around and a mini food fight. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that we weren’t still kids. We sure acted like we were one.

“Hurry up and help me clear this mess,” I called to her as I started clearing the counter. We really weren’t the neatest people in the world. The whole kitchen seemed as though a tornado just blew in. She walked into the kitchen, carrying our plates and placing them in the sink. I didn’t have to turn around to get the gist of what she was doing.

It was silent for a while and at first I thought she was getting ready to do the dishes, but when I heard no sound, I was about to turn around when I felt a pair of arms snaking their way around my body. I could feel her against me. It took everything in me not to spin around and kiss her right then. I didn’t know what to say, so I just chuckled and continued clearing the counter.

“Sehun?”

“Mm-hmm?”

“Thank you.”

“What for, princess?” I asked as I swept the waste into the trash bin at the edge of the counter. She let go of me to let me walk over to the sink to wash my hands, and to wash the dishes. She joined beside me to do the same.

“This is probably the happiest I’ve been since…” her voice trailed off and I could tell she was getting emotional. I resisted the urge to hug her, scared that she might just burst into tears if I did.

Instead, I looked at her and gave her a comforting smile. “Anything for my baby,” I told her. I hadn’t meant to call her ‘baby’, but I just did. It just came out of me. I saw her eyes getting even more watery and I could tell that her mind was full of her father. “Do you want to talk about him?”

While continuing to wash the dishes, I listened to her speak. She was reminiscing about the happy times with her father, smiling slightly at some very fond memories. She seemed to be okay, up until the part where she recalled how she received the news.

“How did he…” I stopped myself. I hadn’t meant to say that out loud, either. “I’m sorry,” I quickly said, looking away from her. What the hell is wrong with me?

Jiho turned off the tap after we finished washing up and lightly squeezed my hand. “It’s okay,” she said comfortingly, smiling at me. I smiled back. Then, she gazed dreamily out the window before it turned into a blank stare. “My mum said that he got into a car accident. He was drink-driving before running into a lamp post,” she explained calmly.

I wanted to ask her how she was dealing with it, but I knew the answer as soon as I thought to ask of it. The answer was me. She could deal with it now because she had me, I was sure of it. It made me feel important, but stressed out at the same time. What if I wasn’t good enough?

“You know, the memories haunt you. No matter how much you try to forget, you keep remembering. They’re engraved on you like a tattoo, no matter how much you try to rip and scratch them off in a desperate attempt to forget, the memory is still there, and all you’re left with is the scars.” I know what you mean, Park Jiho. I didn’t say that out loud though. Her words resonated with me.

I wiped my hands using the hand towel before pulling her closer to me. She leaned her head on my chest and breathed in deeply.

“I don’t mean this in a harsh way, but you’re gonna lose people in your life and realise that no matter how much time you spent with them or how much you appreciate them and told them so, it would never seem like it was enough,” I told her, kissing her temples.

Just then, she stood away from me and gave me a playful look. “Are you aiming to be a philosopher now?” she teased. I couldn’t blame her. I guess Jiho was just used to the young and childish and playful me. I never really could be this serious around most people.

“Glad I could entertain,” I said and bowed, playing along with her. It earned me a laugh from her, and I was definitely sure then that I had what it took to make her happy, even if just a little. “Anything else bothering you, my lady?”

She rolled her eyes upon hearing the new nickname I came up with for her. Then, she gave me a confused look and cocked her head to the side. “Yeah, actually. I think you should talk to Chanyeol more some time soon,” she told me, taking a seat on the kitchen stool.

“Yeah?”

Jiho nodded. “He seemed really sad and…” I gave her a look, urging her to go on. She seemed hesitant to say something. “I don’t know, I think he’s just keeping things to himself and by experience, I can say that it feels terrible.” I nodded, agreeing with her. “And I figured that since he said that you were his best friend, I thought that maybe you should try and talk to him. Maybe he’d tell you.”

I leaned against the sink and made an ‘okay’ sign with my hand. “Can do, ma’am,” I agreed. She stuck her tongue out at me. “Do you want to make out with me so bad that you’d stick your tongue out?” I was kidding, but her face flushed red and she immediately stuck her tongue back in. I suppressed my laughter, not wanting to further embarrass her.

She saw my amused expression and hit me with the hand towel she was holding. I quickly the sink and splashed some water at her. “Stop hitting me and get up to my room, I’ll get you something to change into,” I told her, turning the tap off and leading the way.

Jiho’s POV

Outside, the rain was heavy. I could still hear the clap of thunder loud and clear. Although I didn’t show it, I was praying that the thunder would stop. Hearing it scares me a little, not that I had a phobia of it. Then I turned my attention back to the guy in front of me. I was following Sehun as he led me to his room. I smiled at the thought of having him around. He made me feel safe, secure.

He opened the second door on the right and motioned for me to enter. It looked better than I expected. It wasn’t as messy as he thought it to be, apart from some books lying on the ground rather than on the shelf where they should be. On the far right corner was his bed, and on the far left his study table. Towards my right was his closet. I nodded approvingly, seeing how cosy yet spacious his room was.

“Here, you should be able to fit into these well,” he said, handing me a dry-fit green shirt and a pair of Nike sweat pants. I took them and thanked him. He stared at me. “Are you going to change in the bathroom or do you prefer if I stayed here and stare at you while you change?”

I hit his arm before stomping off towards the bathroom. Before I entered, I managed to look back at him and stuck my tongue out. He gave me a sly smile and I knew he got the hint.

When I was done changing, I opened the bathroom door only to find Sehun standing there, changed into something more comfortable. He wore a sleeveless white top and a pair of black knee length dry-fit shorts. He had really nice biceps, I had to admit. I had to give the guy props. He definitely knew what he looked good in. As I shifted my gaze upwards, I could see his hair was a little messy, tussled around. Sometimes, guys would look barbaric with that hair, but not Sehun. Definitely not.

He took a step, inching closer to me so that our noses touched. It was nerve-wracking to be this close to such a handsome human being. My gaze shifted down to his lips, and I think he must have noticed it, because he smiled satisfactorily and pulled away, heading back into the hallway. I masked my disappointment as he turned around. “Coming?” he asked.

I nodded, following him as he led the way. We walked past his room, and I wondered where he was taking me. When he opened the furthest door in, I realised that this must be the guest room. Was I going to sleep alone? It wasn’t that I really wanted to sleep with him, although the thought was tugging on me, but I just really hated sleeping alone in a foreign place.

I entered first, looking around and gaping at how good it looked. It was as though I had stepped into a hotel room. The carpeted floors were warm in contrast to the cold marble tiles in Sehun’s room. The bed was bigger than the one in Sehun’s room and there was a TV mounted to the wall opposite the bed.

“Like it?” I heard him ask from the doorway. I nodded profusely, jokingly telling him that he was lucky he was born into such a wealthy family. He chuckled. “You’re not wealthy until you have something that money can’t buy,” he commented and I could detect a hint of seriousness in his voice. “Glad that you like it anyway,” he said in a slight yawn.

“Are you tired?” I asked him. I must have tired him out. He probably isn’t this busy, seeing as how he got his house to himself. He probably just spent his day playing games or studying, as opposed to showing me around, lazing on the couch flipping through channels or even cooking dinner and cleaning the kitchen. Before he could reply, I told him to get some sleep, which he obliged to after my endless insistence.

Once I was left alone in the room, I trudged over to the bed and turned the television on. I grumbled to myself when I found nothing good to watch. I tried to get some sleep myself but I found it too hard a task. I was uncomfortable with sleeping alone and the heavy rain and loud thunder weren’t helping. I’ve seen one too many horror movies and all the scary images were creeping into my mind, scaring me. I was thinking of what to do, but I hesitated when I thought of it.

A couple of minutes later, however, I found myself tiptoeing to Sehun’s room, trying not to make a sound. His door was slightly open, so I carefully let myself in. I spotted him sleeping peacefully, his fringe covering part of his eye. It was time he got a haircut, I thought to myself. I was about to leave, seeing how serene he looked that I felt bad if I went over and disturbed him, but just then the thunder got louder. I cursed under my breath, knowing I would never sleep if I returned to the guest room.

Sighing, I closed the door behind me and walked over to his bed. I felt really bad for doing this but I really couldn’t help myself. I sat down on the edge of his bed and contemplated how I was going to get myself to sleep now that I technically wasn’t alone. Should I just sleep on his floor? Would that be weird? Yes, of course it would be.

While I was thinking, he stirred in his sleep and I figured that it might be because of the cold. I looked at his air conditioner remote control and saw that it was set at 18 degrees Celsius. Oh Sehun, are you crazy? I know very well you can’t take cold very good. 

I had no idea how to work the controller, so I got the blanket sticking out from his closet and started to tuck him in. I hadn’t fully covered him when he suddenly pulled me by the waist and laid me down beside him, nearer to the wall. When I got my hair out of my face, I could see him grinning over at me. Great, now he was going to gloat.

“I don’t mind if you lie in my bed. We can stay here forever now,” he said sleepily. That wasn’t quite the greeting I was expecting, but it did enough. It made my heart pound really fast. I was facing him, and as though I wasn’t close enough, he tightened his grip around my waist and pulled me closer. Our foreheads were touching and our lips were barely apart.

“You and your sweet mouth,” I grumbled, covering us fully with the blanket.

“Any chance you could stay right here and never go away?” I heard him say, and somehow, I didn’t know whether I was thinking too much, I thought I sensed a slight desperation in his voice. It was a somewhat saddening tone, but I convinced myself it was because he was tired.

When I didn’t respond, he stirred and buried his head in my neck and I could feel him breathing me in. “Hopefully one day, when I wake up at 3am, unable to sleep, I will look next to me and you will be there, sleeping peacefully beside me, and suddenly the world won’t seem so lonely,” he mumbled. Why was he giving me a feeling there was something he was not letting me in on? He definitely seemed like he had troubles yet here he was helping me cope with mine. I sighed. Maybe I would get to the bottom of it next time, but for now, I was getting sleepy as well.

“I hope so too,” I whispered, although I think he was already asleep so he wouldn’t be able to hear me. And with that, it became the most peaceful night yet. It was definitely the most comfortable, being able to lie in bed with the person you love. I wished it would never change.

A/N: Hey, just wondering if you guys would like more Chanyeol-Sehun/Chanyeol-Jiho moments? Should I tone down the Sehun-Jiho a bit? ;) and who else from Exo should I feature hmm...