Seoul, South Korea; A while ago in late October.

Thunderstorms and rain in an average fall night: the best way to pass it by was just to sit in front of the burning fireplace, doing nothing, or at least studying or reading.

Wearing my old Adidas hoodie and a pair of large, gray sweatpants, I was lying on the couch;
Podo - my black and white, hairy cat - was soundly sleeping in the crook left between my elbow and the edge of the sofa, snoring almost like me in my sleep.
"What if i kicked you out in the pouring rain right about now, you fat cat?" I smiled, scratching the cat's head with a finger. He slowly turned to me and blinking it's big yellow eyes, he let an annoyed "meow" leave his mouth.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, Continuous and angry ringings, so I supposed it must have been someone really impatient to enter; my mind wandered off to who might have been on the other side of the door, as I kicked the cat from the couch and almost jumped on him in the rush to get to the door as the ringing continued.

"....Jae?" I immediately recognized the small figure in front of my eyes. Youngjae was standing there in the rain, without an umbrella or something to cover himself. His usually soft and neatly styled hair was now a single, compact and water dripping mass of dark color, he was wrapped in a trench coat that must have been of a creamy color, originally, but which was now as gray as the pavement behind him and the coat only covered just half of his thighs so the remaining parts of his legs were humid and wet, just like his sneakers.

My heart ached when I saw him rattling and tightening in his arms, looking down. My best friend was there, hugging himself, looking like a picture of misery and I couldn't help but feeling an intense pain at that sight.

"D-Dae" he mumbled, with a feeble voice, gathering up all of his straighten to look me directly in the eyes. "C-Can I ent-ter?" Something inside of me broke as I heard him speaking. "For God's sake, what kind of a in' stupid question is that?" I grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside, worried and concerned about him.
Youngjae let himself being dragged and as we were both back in my house, I closed the front door with a slam. Youngjae quickly kicked off his shoes and looked so scared.

"Wait here! Don't move!" I ran to the bathroom and grabbed one of my shower towels, which should have been big enough to cover my best friends entire self.
Once I came back, I made him his trench so that now he was just in his black long sleeve shirt and skinny fit jeans. Quickly I wrapped the towel around him, pulling him into my body and rubbing his shoulders with my hands, trying to warm him up.

"Th-thanks" he said in a soft voice, talking into my chest "So-sorry that I st-stormed in here like a hur-hurricane.." Youngjae stuttered again, still shivering and with agitation in his voice. "...B-but I had nowhere t-to go and y-yours was the clo-closest place within r-reach..." I held him even tighter, wrapping my arms around him.
I wished that he would just stop shivering like a leaf.

"Mi casa es tu casa, Jaejae." I said to him, trying to calm him down and to ease the tension; gently gripping his shoulder then, pushing him just a few inches away from me. I looked at my best friend, his big chocolate brown eyes looking as sad as the could be.
"I'll rememb-ber that..." he replied, trying to look at me and once again, his expression made me worry even more about him.

"You're soaking wet, you're rattling and your eyes are so..." I pushed a wet strand of hair away from his forehead, running my fingers along the side of his face "..red and puffy. The last time I saw them like this was when I broke your bike as we were playing in your dad's garage like ten years ago." I tried to make him smile but didn't really succeeded at it.

He turned his head away and looked to the side, avoiding my eyes. I carefully cupped his chin with my thumb and index finger and gently forced him to look back at me. Something was definitely wrong. "Jae." I whispered, his cheek "Just tell me what the hell is wrong, I'm getting more and more worried!"
Yoo Youngjae's eyes went all wet again and suddenly they were filled with tears.

"That son of a ."

"Jongup?" Oh, his so-called boyfriend who just seemed to be the most perfect guy in the world. In my words: arrogant and stupid, like all dancers. I clenched my jaw at him saying his name.

"He ch-cheated on me." He looked down at his feet, playing around with the hem of his shirt. My heart wouldn't stop aching at the sight of tears running down that beautiful face, which I loved too much to see it like that.
"I found o-out with my own e-eyes."

His crying was now accompanied by sobs, getting louder by every second passing by. He buried his face in his hands as if he was trying to hide from me. Me who was looking at him with an intense sorrow carving my heart and soul.
I pulled him towards me, crushing his fragile body covered in the white towel into mine, wrapping my arms around him as tightly as I could.
Then I lifted him up as if he was a toddler, his arms thrown around my neck and his legs around my waist as I carried him in front of the fireplace.
Carefully I placed him down on the huge, square plush carpet on the floor, grabbing two or three pillows that were disorderly lying on the couch and made sure that he lied down with his head on one of them.

He adjusted himself on his side, facing the burning fire, crouching like a baby in the womb. Still sobbing, still crying.

I lied right behind him, once again engulfing him in my arms, leaning my head in the crook between his shoulder and head.
Youngjae let a few minutes pass before he spoke again. He used those moments of silence to cry and cry, as I had him in my arms, preventing other thing from hurting him. I really thought that he had been having enough pain and sorrow for that day.

"...Why?" He spoke with a quiet and trembling voice "Why d-do I always have t-to end up in this st-state because of complete doucheba-bags? What did i d-do to deserve s-such a tre-treatment?"

"It's not you who s up, I told you." I sighed and whispered against his cheek "It's all of us men who are just incredibly stupid and I'm the living proof of it."
I lifted my hand and wiped some of the tears away from his cheeks with my thumb, feeling his soft skin covered by a layer of salty, dried tears.
My heart jumped a little when I heard a soft, very low chuckle leaving his lips.

"I'm a man too, you know."

"Yes I do know Jae. Very well, if I may add. But see? I'm so stupid, I made you laugh even in a moment like this, huh?" I continued, smiling at him, holding him as if he was the most precious thing in the world. I didn't wanted him to break into pieces.
Youngjae turned around, facing me. He lifted an arm and wrapped it around my head, playing with my hair.

"I want someone to just... don't know, stay with me without dropping me for another brainless ." He talked again after taking a deep breath. "I'm so tired of those idiots I could.. Well, reconsider the idea of becoming a monk." I turned my head to him and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you really want to deny me the possibility of raising up your kids as uncle Dae with that crazy idea?" I smiled at him, tickling his side and he quickly grabbed my wrist with his small and smooth hand. Hearing his laughter again made me the happiest guy on earth. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling but his hand still around my wrist.

"Oh no, I'm not going to deprive you of such an honor, my dear friend." He replied, rubbing his right eye, then he turned his head at me and softly touched my lips with his fingers. His slim fingers following the contours of my nose, my jaw and neck. I slightly blushed when he kissed my cheek. I felt all of his gratitude flowing into me from his lips and I hugged him tighter, making him feel my presence.

'Friend'. I was a friend to him.

That's why I couldn't tell him that I would like to raise his, since he was gay, adopted kids as their father, for example.

But in that moment, it just felt so good to be there comforting and protecting that boy who to me was the most precious and important person on earth.
I was so absorbed into my thoughts that I didn't noticed that Youngjae fell asleep in my arms. Softly I placed a kiss on his temple and held on to him.

Podo was now back on the couch, the fire was slowly fading. The rain was still there outside the big windows of the living room, his breath so regular and peaceful.
All of it was my lullaby, on that stormy October night in Seoul.




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A/N:
I had the weekend off and it was raining like crazy.
I honestly had a hard time deciding on who should be the poor soul.
Sorry Jae. I love you and Dae does too.
This turned out so bad, oh god I'm sorry. I don't really like it.

Are you all diligently voting for BAP for the EMA's?
I am, reminds me of the time when BigBang was nominated and the whole kpop fandom helped.
Let's win again, alright?

- instanttoffee ♥