pairing: BaekLay
length: 1142 words

“Oh god, Yixing, you’re soaked!” Baekhyun immediately approached his boyfriend with concern, helping the older male shed off his waterlogged coat. “What happened? Did you forget your umbrella?”

Yixing just sent a strained smile to the younger male as he kicked off his drenched shoes before dazedly stumbling into the living room and flopping onto their couch. He let out a deep sigh as he lay down and covered his eyes with his right hand, palm facing outward. His erratic, thundering heartbeat gradually slowed to a much calmer, rhythmic rate. The older male’s hair felt damp against his skull and droplets of water rolled down his face, but he ignored them and blanked his mind into a canvas of white. Seconds later, Yixing heard his boyfriend approach the couch and sit on the floor next to him. Thin fingers tenderly enclosed over the Chinese male’s free left hand.

There was a long stretch of silence until Baekhyun broke it by quietly asking, “Do you want to talk about it? Or do you need some more time to rest?” The younger male’s thumb gently tiny circles against the back of Yixing’s hand.

The Chinese male let out another shuddering sigh in response.

Realizing that Yixing had no intention of verbally answering any of his questions at the moment, Baekhyun settled himself into a more comfortable position on the floor and silently continued rubbing his boyfriend’s hand in comfort as the rain pattered noisily on the roof of their humble home.

It wasn’t until there was a sudden jolt of lightning followed by a booming clap of thunder right after that Yixing also jerked in place, his hand tightly gripping Baekhyun’s. There was a slight tremble in the older male’s grasp and Baekhyun looked at him with palpable concern.

“Yixing?” he hoarsely whispered.

There was no response again.

And time ticked by, second by second, minute by minute.

When the second bout of lightning struck, Yixing rolled onto his side and wrapped both of his hands around Baekhyun’s, squeezing them as if his life depended on it. The Chinese male’s knuckles were beginning to turn white from how tightly he was gripping his boyfriend’s hands. Several more seconds passed until he finally said in a low voice, “You’ll forgive me, right?”

Although Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, he softly answered, “I will, Yixing. No matter what it happened, I forgive you.”

The Chinese male’s hold on Baekhyun slackened slightly until he abruptly let go and sat up, causing the younger male’s head to snap up as well.

“Yixing?”

In one sweeping motion, Yixing stood up and made his way back to the door of their home while Baekhyun gaped at him, frozen and stunned. The Chinese male threw open the door and slipped through the entrance.

The rain was pouring down even harder now and Yixing shivered involuntarily as the cold nipped at his bare feet. As thunder crackled overhead and thick droplets pelted his skin, the Chinese male began running down the street without abandon.

He ran and ran and ran, the wind whistling in his ears and through his hair.

Flashes of lightning filled the sky above him, illuminating the otherwise dark street for the briefest of moments. And he continued running into the darkness that threatened to swallow him whole, closing in on him more and more.

Yixing didn’t know how long he ran for until he finally stopped at a giant oak tree and slumped against the sturdy trunk, panting heavily. His clothes were completely stuck to his icy-cold skin and his hair was messily matted across his wet forehead. He stared blankly in front of him as he caught his breath and the rain pattered down around him in droves.

“Zhang Yixing!” A familiar figure dashed up to him and fell to his knees, also breathing heavily from the exertion. “What—what on earth were you thinking, running out—out into the storm like that?!” Baekhyun choked out in between breaths. His gaze then darkened when they landed on his boyfriend’s bare feet. “Oh god, you’re bleeding.”

The Chinese male glanced at his scratched up, blood-streaked feet. “Oh.” And the pain just then registered in his brain.

“Yixing, what’s wrong?” Baekhyun asked beseechingly as he crawled next to the older male, sheltering himself under the tree boughs. “I didn’t want to press earlier, because you seemed so upset, but I can’t not ask when you run out of the house so suddenly. I was terrified that something would happen to you out here when I saw you bolt.”

Guilt filled Yixing’s chest as the adrenaline gradually seeped out of his system. He looked into Baekhyun’s eyes and saw that they were rimmed with raindrops.

Or were those tears?

Either way, the younger male looked as alarmed as he sounded and Yixing lightly bit his bottom lip before answering in a wobbly voice, “I—I just don’t know what I’m doing anymore. I don’t feel like I belong anywhere. I always feel like I have to put up a front at work, in public, everywhere.” His hands curled up into fists next to him. “You’re the only one I can be myself in front of, but I can’t always burden you with my problems. I just—I needed an escape tonight after things went horribly wrong at work today.”

“Yixing…”

“I just—I just need—I need—” Unable to contain his emotions any longer, Yixing escaped the cover of the oak tree and faced the storm clouds above him.

And as soon as he screamed towards the sky, Yixing felt a huge weight lift off of his chest.

So he continued screaming. And even though his ears began to ring and his throat began to dry, Yixing relished being able to freely unleash all of his pent-up frustrations like this.

Next to him, Baekhyun also began to scream. And the couple screamed in harmony while the rain poured onto their pale faces and the thunder cracked overhead like a bizarre, cacophonous orchestral arrangement.

When they finished screaming, the two males turned to each other with relief in their gazes and the widest of smiles on their faces. And they instantly burst into uncontrolled laughter, clutching at their sides and falling to the ground once more. They rolled around, cackling at the top of their lungs and not caring at all that they were getting grit all over them.

Once their laughter subsided, Yixing let out a happy sigh and turned to Baekhyun. His boyfriend held out his hand for Yixing to grab and the Chinese male took hold without a moment’s hesitation. They lay there in silence again until Baekhyun softly asked, “Feel better now?”

Yixing nodded and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend as the rain continued falling around them. “Thanks, Baekhyun. I really needed this.”

♈♈♈