The light emitted from the shop windows slowly dims as their feet take them further down the narrow street, unlit, except for a few streaks of light escaping drawn curtains in the lower floors of some apartment buildings. The night sky is overcast, and you can only see the soft yellow glow of the moon through the murky clouds, making it hard to distinguish the sky from the mountains overbearing the city, only apparent by the streetlights along the road trailing up the steep hillside. The two aren’t rushing, taking their time with each step, impact between the ground and sole of their shoes being the only sound heard in the otherwise empty alleyway. One is pulling a bit ahead of the other, urging the taller one to up his pace.

 

The air from his body condensates as he breathes out, low temperatures biting his nose and leaving with a smell of frost and dead grass. It’s autumn.

Hyunwoo takes a few longer steps, surroundings passing quicker by as he catches up to the younger. The grocery bag he is holding in one hand swings a bit with the movement of his body. It’s heavy, and it’s starting to hurt his hand. The plastic is chafing his palm, and his fingers are turning red. He glances over at the other, whose posture is slightly hunched forward, eyes a bit more squinted then usual due to the cold. It looks like he is drowning in the giant coat he is wearing, hands stuffed into his pockets as he walks heavily. He is seemingly focusing on one point down the street, determinedly moving towards it. Hyunwoo turns his head to find out what it is, but sees nothing. The buildings up ahead are all laid in darkness, some seemingly unused for a while, and everything is rather grey and blurry, streetlights most likely not even connected to the power grid due to their age. They are rusty, padded with remains of posters and sticking out above them like branches.

 

As the light from the shop they just left is completely gone, Jooheon’s brows seems to have become tightly knit, eyes wandering a bit more. A sudden noise from a dumpster nearby can be heard, painfully loud, and his entire body reacts like if a giant truck just drove past them. His hand escapes the warmth of his pocket and naturally retreats into Hyunwoo’s, unconsciously squeezing it with all his might. A timid but loud «ah.!» Escapes his lips as he jumps. The younger stops and is staring tensely down the darkened alleyway beside them, a dead end. The dumpster is barely visible, lid only half shut from the amount piled into it. Probably not emptied in a while. Something small could be seen tumbling out and scurrying away, heading further down the slit between huge buildings.

 

Hyunwoo is starting to notice just how quickly the younger’s chest is rising and sinking, warm air condensing into the cold around them as he breathes. His red tinted face seems slightly more pale, and eyes more widened. His back is pressed up against the elder’s shoulder, slowly backing them both away to continue walking. Hyunwoo’s hand feels clammy wrapped around the smaller one, who was never retracted, but just left clinging on firmly. He is painfully aware of the contact, but chooses not to retreat when he notices the other’s tense shoulders, tense arms, tense everything, alarmed after the scare, and now scanning every darkened corner and alley they pass as the two continue walking down the narrow street.

 

Jooheon is hitching his breath as he tries to collect himself, placing one hand on his cheek, realizing how much heat has gathered there. The hand feels almost foreign, cold and numb, fingertips turning yellow-ish as he stretches out his hand. He makes a fist to warm his chilled fingers, suffing the hand back into his pocket. His face must be red, but his mind is racing so much, and he feels his stomach unsettle with the mood around them, imagining someone leaping out at them any minute. Pipes along the walls of the houses sometimes creak with a sound that hits him right in the spine, retracting in on himself, and the dripping and rustling all around them makes him anxious, not realizing how he is mushing himself closer and closer to the other.

 

The younger is now clinging a bit too much to Hyunwoo. They have never been this close before, is he really that scared? He looks down at Jooheon’s dark hair, uncomfortably close to his shoulders. He feels stiff. The other must be blinded by fear, because he never acts like this; painfully alert and silent, no longer walking with confident strides, but rather short reserved steps clumsily placed along his path. He feels like wrapping his arms around him, protecting him from the danger that in reality isn’t there, like a concerned parent comforting their child. He has no idea how to react to this, but the other’s scared face is intriguing. The eyes that usually are like two slits on his face are now very much open, pupils smaller then usual, and the colour of the iris is more prominent then ever. Their eyes meet for a quick second, as the younger feels something lingering at his face and turns to see.

 

They had to walk quite far to get to a store at this hour, road feeling more endless with every minute that passes, at least for the younger, whose steps have decreased in length, feet lagging a bit behind Hyunwoo, whose long legs carry him much further with each stride. Jooheon is still clinging, accidentally stepping him on his heels, causing a soft “sorry” to float into the air. Hyunwoo have always liked his voice, though as the “accidents” keep happening, he is starting to feel annoyed.

 

“Yah.” Hyunwoo turns around, causing Jooheon to stop abruptly.

 

“stop that.” He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, stuffing a hand in his pocket.

 

The younger squints his eyes again, looking up at the elder, down at his feet, and then away somewhere, leaning a bit forward, but not seeming particularly interested in whatever he is looking at.

 

“ah, ok… sorry.”

 

They stand for a while as their words linger in the air, constant sound around them seeming uncomfortably loud.

 

He looks back at the older again, lingering a bit. Something changes in his expression, shame almost, as he searches for a way to convey his thoughts. His eyes seem glazed over, lips trembling as the words bunch up in his mouth before escaping.

 

“please get me home?” He is looking forward, but with blurred vision, not focusing at anything specific, just tense, seeming like he really does not want to be there.

 

Hyunwoo looks at the other blankly for a bit, taking in the person in front of him, not knowing quite how to respond. He starts fidgeting with his pants for a second, rubbing the fabric between his fingers. The other looks particularly vulnerable, slowly lowering his head again after speaking. The older feels his face turn a bit warm. They were already heading home, right? He never quite figured out how to properly comfort somebody. Hyunwoo leans forward, stretching his arms out and firmly embraces the other, tangling them around him as he slowly untenses with the warmth.

 

“… sure.”