The rumbling outside grew a little louder and Baekhyun could barely repress the shiver that shot down his spine. Luckily the one person that could have seen it was currently passed out on the floor in front of him.

His mouth itched from where the blood had dried and his left eye and jaw throbbed painfully. He cursed aloud, knowing it would be bruised and swelling soon. He hated being ugly. But at least he was alive.

His hands were tied behind his back and his elbows around the middle. He wished that those thugs had at least made that mistake but then again he was a little proud that his reputation as an escape artist had proceeded him. But now was not the time for pride. His legs were tied as well so he was rather like a worm, unable to move without awkwardly sliding around.

All that was left was to wait for the boy lying freely at his side to wake up again, or Tao and Kris to come barging in, realizing his predicament. He’d told them to intercede if he hadn’t checked in in more than two hours. With the way the boy was snoring happily it almost seemed more likely that the latter situation would happen first.

The stupid smile on his face and bored snore that escaped his mouth exceptionally pissed Baekhyun off. Before he knew it, he was wriggling out of his comfortable position against the crates and scooting towards the boy. The rumbling in the distance grew steadily louder and he started to panic. He wanted to be well away from here and safely in his bed before the thunderstorm hit.

With both feet he donkey kicked Chanyeol in the stomach, sending him flying, startled, and in pain up to his knees. He looked up with wide eyes and saw Baekhyun staring up angrily from the ground.

He thought he was still dreaming, so he couldn’t stop the bubble of laughter that escaped his mouth. Baekhyun’s jaw dropped open when he heard the other stammer something about a worm in a cocoon. So he lifted his legs and kicked the boy in the face. That stopped him.

“Oh my god!” shouted Chanyeol, holding his soon to be bruised cheek.

“Shh! Dammit! You’re the only one untied do you want them to ing know you’re awake!?”

Chanyeol covered his mouth quickly until he noticed his boss’ bruising face. “Are you alright?” he whispered urgently.

“I’m fine!” spat the other. “Now untie me!”

 Chanyeol kneeled down behind Baekhyun and examined the knot-work. “Do you have your knife?”

“If I did do you think I’d still be in this mess?”

“Well your hands are tied so…”

“The answer is no!” Baekhyun growled lowly. “So just untie me!”

Chanyeol frowned as he tugged on the knots. “Well I would…but-“

“But what?”

He was seeing double and his nails wouldn’t catch on the tough twine. “It’s too tight! I can’t! ...My fingers won’t move the way I want them to,” his head throbbed dully. “I think I might have a concussion.”

“Ugh!” Baekhyun groaned. “That’s just ing perfect. Just my luck. Look, just…go look around. See if there’s anything that can cut it…If not, look for a way out.”

Chanyeol stood, swirling dangerously, and pressed a palm to his aching head. He staggered once, then twice around the room, but the only things inside were the wooden crates. There wasn’t even a splinter. He even lightly jiggled the metal door and found with disappointment that it had no flaw. When he returned he sat back down and pressed his back against the crates, closing his eyes.

“There’s nothing. Nothing here except the boxes and the door. There’s not even a window.”

“Dammit!” hissed Baekhyun. They must be in a storage shed inside the warehouse then. He wriggled and struggled to sit up in his awkward position. Noticing his discomfort, Chanyeol numbly pushed him up and leaned him near where he sat, much to Baekhyun’s displeasure. He sat with his brows furrowed, teeth turning his lips white.

“Why didn’t they tie me up anyway?” Chanyeol asked, unable to stand the tense, awkward silence.

Baekhyun sighed exasperated. “They probably thought you’d be out longer. I don’t think they thought much about this, let alone me kicking you awake…Plus, you don’t seem like much of a fighter… I, however,” gesturing with his chin to his ropes, “am a lean green fighting machine.”

Chanyeol almost laughed, until he remembered suddenly that the two guards from earlier had died. “I thought they were gonna kill you,” he said solemnly. “Why didn’t they?”

“I thought so too…but I think they finally realized that they’d get a lot more out of me alive than dead…Or at least they would if there were anyone to ransom.”

“…What do you mean?”

Baekhyun was strangely open, maybe resigned in his current situation, or maybe that was just his personality. Chanyeol wasn’t sure. It’s not like he had ever really talked to the guy…After all, he was his boss. Not to mention freaking scary. Either way he seemed more loose-lipped than before.

“Well my dad’s been dead for over ten years now, but I still don’t think many people recognize me as the head, even though it’s me who’s been in front all this time.”

That information surprised him. Not only was he young, but the man in front of him was actually the head of the organization, something he couldn’t wrap his mind around still. “So you took over when? You’re like 27, maybe 28 now, so…?”

“I took over before I was old enough to buy a damn cigarette,” he said with a cold laugh. “Committed my first major felony before I was 13. I think it’s about ing time people realized I’m running the damn show! I’m on my own, dammit.”

Chanyeol detected a bit of sadness in his voice, loneliness even, and suddenly he saw a glimmer of light from the other. He felt even a little sympathetic. But before he could speak Baekhyun laughed again.

“I guess they could always ransom Junmyeon…but we have a standing agreement between us if a situation like this arises. No hostages.”

“Who’s-?“

Chanyeol’s question was cut off by a sudden and loud clap of thunder, directly overhead. The lights flickered off for a moment, but when they came back on, the image he saw was more disturbing than the noise.

Somehow during the brief blackout, Baekhyun had flopped over to his side again. He was wriggling insistently trying to escape his and his eyes were wide and scared.

“Baek-…..uh, Boss? Are you okay?” he asked in complete disbelief.

“Yes!” the other insisted, but his face had turned deathly pale and he continued to struggle uselessly.

There was another shocking boom that reverberated off the walls and this time the man on the floor gave a tiny and pathetic out-of-character squeak. Chanyeol crawled over curiously to him on his hands and knees. Baekhyun’s symptoms were something he recognized from his own childhood, and he almost couldn’t believe it was what he was seeing. But the man who only before had seemed so dangerous was now so puny, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

Baekhyun’s head snapped up roughly, eyes full of mortification. “Don’t ing laugh at me!” he screeched.

Another clap louder than the second had him shaking, and eyes squeezed shut he curled in on himself.

“…Boss?...Are you afraid of thunder?”

As the pathetic man turned his face into the dirty concrete a low whine escaped his mouth. Seeing how scared he actually was, Chanyeol had to stop laughing. A strange feeling bubbled up in his stomach, and somehow, with the man in front of him tied up and unable to do it himself, he felt a strange sense of responsibility to protect him.

Carefully, he lifted the bundle of Baekhyun from the ground, moving him only a few inches and upright until he again sat back against the crates. With his throbbing head he was at least capable of this much. He sat down next to him and began humming, and while Baekhyun’s eyes were squeezed shut, he tentatively placed his arm around the smaller’s shoulders and his hands over his ears.

Baekhyun’s eyes popped open. “What are you doing?”

Chanyeol continued to hum for a minute before answering. “When I was little and I was afraid of thunder, my big sister used to do this for me.”

“I’m not afraid and I’m not a ing child! Don’t compare me to you!”

He tried to squirm out of Chanyeol’s grasp but the thunder shook the walls, again switching the power off. When they turned back on he was in Chanyeol’s lap, and he could hardly stand it.

Nothing embarrassed Byun Baekhyun. That is, nothing except his stupid and irrational fear of thunder.

He was very much embarrassed now, tied up and shaking in his underling’s lap, an idiot boy he’d only brought in mere hours ago. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to move away. This boy should know nothing about his boss’ fears. This boy should not be sitting so relaxed with the man who was the scourge of the underworld, taking care of him like a baby. He should be panicking, thinking about the fact that the two were hostages. They could very well be killed.

Baekhyun cursed himself. This shouldn’t be happening at all. Stupid thunder. He shouldn’t even be afraid.

Chanyeol didn’t mind that Baekhyun was shy. Even though he was swearing a lot, he had to admit that it was a little…well…a little cute. For lack of a better word, anyway. He didn’t really think much about what he was doing. Perhaps it was the ropes holding him back, or maybe it was his own concussion, but Byun Baekhyun had never seemed so helpless or frail to him. So despite whatever the other tried to say, he would help as best he could.

“Here,” he said, pulling Baekhyun up again until he was leaning against his shoulder. Again he placed his hands over his ears and started humming.

As another clap filled the air, sounding a little more distant now, Baekhyun began to more confidently protest. “I can still hear everything, bag.”

“Yeah, I could always still hear everything too…but doesn’t it just feel better knowing someone’s holding you?”

“No.” Baekhyun squinted up at him. “You’re acting awfully familiar with me for an umbrella boy…You keep holding me. What? You trying to hit on me or something?”

Chanyeol retracted his arm slowly and inched away, frown on his face. ”No! I’m not even gay! I have a girlfriend.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “It was a joke.”

“I couldn’t tell.”

“I can see that.” A lower roll of thunder made him squeeze his eyes shut like he was in pain.

Chanyeol was admittedly concerned and opened his arms wide with what was hopefully a reassuring and not in any way erted smile. “Are you sure?”

“Posi-“ Before Baekhyun could even say positive the whole building burst into sound, the last effects of the large rain shower. Chanyeol almost couldn’t stop himself from snickering at the pressure now in his side, small man now squeezing close. Baekhyun wasn’t a Doberman, he decided. He was a Pomeranian, all bark with a wicked little set of teeth that he wasn’t afraid to use if you stepped too close. He acted really tough, and hell, he was tough, but everyone’s afraid of something. It just so happened, that also like a small dog, the terrifying mob boss was afraid of a little loud noise.

He did continue to protest against it however, and Chanyeol let him pretend. “Why would I even be afraid of thunder? Is there something wrong with your brain? Are you defective? Do you not understand who I am? I own you.”

“Yeah, yeah. You can say all you want but that doesn’t change what I saw a minute ago.”

Baekhyun paused and looked up at him. His brows turned menacing but he bit his bottom lip like he was thinking very hard. Finally he scowled, “You better ing forget what you saw or I’ll re-break your hand.”

Chanyeol yawned, basically completely unafraid now that all he had to deal with was bark and no bite. He