The roaring rain in the background remained close to his ears. He dreaded the thunderclaps that might drum down any second then. Everything around him was dull grey; oddly, he could see the rapidly falling raindrops around but not feel any hitting on him.

“Wooyoung,” a familiar voice echoed from somewhere far yet sounded so close by. It had called him in a calming tone, causing him to feel at ease.

A blurry silhouette gradually appeared before his eyes, dull black at first, then bits of color began forming on it. Wooyoung saw a pale boy, who was wearing the warmest smile he’d ever seen; and of course, he recognized the boy. Almost instantaneously, he felt a sudden urge to rush into the safe arms of his, to escape his insecurity and fear.

However, his body did not budge no matter how hard he tried to move. He only watched as the silhouette approached him.

Khun walked over and enveloped him in a comforting embrace, showering him with warmness that greatly contrasted the cold and harsh rainfall. He Wooyoung’s back in a soothing pace and Wooyoung unconsciously returned the hug, pressing himself against Khun’s body for his warmth.

“Khun-hyung,” he cried silently into the said boy’s chest.

“Everything’s okay, Wooyoungie. I’m right here,” Khun said as he patted Wooyoung’s head.

Wooyoung woke up with a start, abruptly sitting up in his bed. He awoke to long fingers of sunlight penetrating through the gaps of the pastel blue curtains, extreme quietness of the absence of the thunderstorm, and, sadly, loneliness. His dream from last night lingered vividly in his mind, almost as real as a personal experience, depressing him because he knew it had only been a dream. Streaks of dried tears on his cheeks told him that he had been crying in his sleep.

He trudged out of his room to the bathroom for a quick shower, successfully shaking off his morning grogginess though not his depression. Sighing, he went to check on the younger boys and found them both in Chansung’s room, cuddling fast asleep (fully dressed *cough*). Although happy for them, seeing them like that only added to Wooyoung’s loneliness. He shut the door quietly and shuffled to the kitchen in search for a simple breakfast.

Early Sunday morning basked in warm sunlight and clear, aqua blue sky, Wooyoung decided to escape to the outdoors, thinking he could dance to his heart’s content to lift his mood. After leaving a note on the kitchen table for the younger boys, he made his way to the south side of the campus, where he did his group performance on the previous day.

On normal circumstances, Wooyoung would still remain fast asleep in his cozy bed at the current wee hours of dawn. No one in their right mind would wake up that early on a Sunday morning for no reason at all, hence he was alone. Sighing again, Wooyoung plugged in his earphones, played his usual dance music at a safe volume of four and heaved a deep breath of the fresh morning air before retracing the steps of a warm-up dance routine.

Gradually, he let his inner dancer flow and immersed himself into the only sound, the music in his ears. Naturally, he was unable to notice a person – the source of his depression – standing, observing him with an easy smile.

A few minutes later, Wooyoung returned to a standstill as his music loop ended. He was about to reach for a small towel in his pocket but halted halfway, realizing that he had forgotten to bring along one. Not having his water bottle with him did not help either; the forgotten depression now seeping back into his mind again.

Out of the blue, a small plain white towel was offered to him by a fair-skinned hand. Wooyoung glanced up to face the owner of the elegant hand, finding his ever familiar sunbae right before him. He suddenly found himself frozen and muted as memories of his pleading and dream from last night came flooding into his mind. Wooyoung slightly stumbled backwards.

Khun was taken aback by Wooyoung’s unusual reaction. Unable to help it, he asked, “What’s wrong, Wooyoung?”

“Nothing, I was just su-surprised,” Wooyoung stuttered, accepting the towel from Khun and thanked him.

Khun hummed understandingly as he led Wooyoung to a stone bench nearby, “You were great at dancing!”

Wooyoung blushed upon his compliment and stammered his thanks embarrassedly. He then proceeded to stare at the towel in his hands, his body bent over and his elbows propped on his knees. He remained silent.

For the second time in a row, Wooyoung’s oddness plucked at Khun’s attention and he was starting to get worried. Khun had known his junior to be a rather active boy who is, at the very least, different from how he was behaving right then. Hence, for the second time that morning, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m sorry, Khun-hyung. I just don’t feel like talking,” Wooyoung replied.

Could it be…? No, it’s impossible… or not? Khun wondered soundlessly. He decided that maybe the boy needed to be alone, so he excused himself,

“It’s okay, um, I’ll leave you to your thoughts, then,” Khun got to his feet, but was stopped curtly as a hand gripped his wrist.

“Please stay with me for a bit,” unable to hold himself back, Wooyoung pleaded.

Khun flashed him a light smile before sitting back down, “Sure, Woo.”

After a few moment of thoughtful silence, Khun cleared his throat before saying, “Wooyoung, I can see that you’re bothered and I think I know why. It’s last night’s thunderstorm… right?”

This statement caught Wooyoung off-guard. “H-how–?” Wooyoung was sure no one knew about his… vulnerability, not even his own sister.

“So it’s true. This might be weird, but I saw you in my dream last night… At first I could only see a figure, since I was standing under a downpour, much like last night’s. Then I saw that it was you when I got closer. You seemed petrified… And I sort of, uh, went and hugged you.” And you also hugged me back and called my name. Khun had deliberately left this part out, wanting to keep it only to himself.

“And I hugged you back and even called your name. You even patted my head…” Wooyoung muttered to himself quietly. However soft it was though, Khun’s sensitive ears caught every word and his eyes consequently widened in astonishment.

“Wooyoung, could it be that you’ve had the same dream as me?” Khun queried.

When Wooyoung remained silent, Khun apologized, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you last night…”

Upon hearing that, Wooyoung quickly shook his head in response, “Don’t be, it’s not your fault. Besides, no one knows I’m afraid of the thunder.”

Awkwardly, Khun encircled his arms around Wooyoung’s shoulders and pulled him closer. He explained sheepishly, “Um well, since it was in a dream when I hugged you last night, I’ll protect you now… though it’s already sunny.” Khun laughed lightly.

Though frozen, Wooyoung managed to let out a small chuckle, and he then completely relaxed in Khun’s embrace. “It’s warm,” Wooyoung murmured.

[A/N] I’m sorry for pushing this ty chapter to you guys, I’ve been feeling depressed and still am right now. Writing helped me very much, so at least on Asianfanfics my mood is lifted.

This chapter ended up like this because it was the only down-to-earth way of making Khun suddenly appear to comfort Woo ㅋㅋ and I would like to give my thanks to Jazmin8Sarina for giving me the idea of having Khun come over to comfort Woobaby, else I’d still be pondering over this chapter right now lol *showers donuts and candies upon you~* ^^

I love you guys~ <3