“.”

Baekhyun is scrolling through the daily news when he finds out about the appalling weather pronostic: it’s going to rain the whole week. Rain, and if it that wasn’t bad enough , in this season it means storms, which then, mean thunders  - loud, echoing, trailing behind lightning and lowkey scary, thunders.

At the sole thought of them, Baekhyun shivers, the meeting he is supposed to have in around five minutes totally forgotten.

But wait, Byun Baekhyun - an about-to-be-successful 26 years old man with a stable job and a small but quite nice apartment - can’t be afraid of thunders anymore. So he places his phone on the desk, fixes the bow on his collar, combs his hair once more, and runs to the meeting. The smell of coffee, the screams of his boss and complaints of his teammates make him forget about the rain anyway.

That is until evening arrives, when his shift is over, the sky is grey, and the first raindrop lands on his coat. When he looks upside, he grimaces at the haze and rather gloomy clouds starting to gather up in the sky, deciding that the best is to step back and wait for Kyungsoo under the entrance frame.

There is no way someone like Kyungsoo - his best friend friend, favorite neighbor at the apartment complex, and employer of the month  - would forget an umbrella. Baekhyun trusts him blindly to be prepared for all the situations he isn’t. Prepared for life, that’s it.

Baekhyun must have jinxed their walk home, though, because when Kyungsoo finally appears at the entrance, he holds that apologetic smile that is so difficult to accept but even harder to hate. He has tried.

“I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you I’m going out with Jongin today.” He purses his lips in a thin line waiting for an answer. Baekhyun parrots him, earning a soft smack on the back, but in the end, he assures Kyungsoo there is no problem at all - he can head home alone.

“Soo,” Baekhyun calls before Kyungsoo can return to the office. “Did you bring an umbrella today?”

“Yes, I did.” There it is again, the apologetic look with a nervous half-smile. “But someone took it, I’m sorry.”

Baekhyun groans, turning back to the street, where the rain has only gotten worse. A few minutes pass, but it seems it won't get better. So, huddled in his coat, briefcase under it, he prepares himself to run until he gets to the next place with a small roof on.

“Want to share?” a rather soft voice speaks behind him.

When he turns around, he finds a smiling Yixing holding an umbrella big enough for both. It’s a black one with white on the front, and through it, he notices a small yellow triangle on the top.  Without a doubt, it’s Kyungsoo’s penguin umbrella, that one Baekhyun got him for his birthday as a joke. Kyungsoo is so annoying, though, he didn’t mind it and started to use it as a regular one.

“So you took Kyungsoo’s umbrella.” Baekhyun smiles, but Yixing looks quite confused. His eyes go back and forth from Baekhyun to the umbrella, finally settling on the latter with his thin eyebrows knitted.

“No, this is Jongin’s umbrella. He said I could take it.”

“Jongin’s one. Right.” It’s not surprise for Baekhyun that, at this point, Jongin and Kyungsoo share so much, their belongings are already mixed. It’s just a tiny bit hard to get used to it, that’s all.

It’s rather surprising and slightly funny how three people could end up living in the same apartment complex and working at the same place. But who is Baekhyun to complain or ponder much about it when he has someone to head home on a rainy day like this one?

“We should totally buy a car,” Yixing breaks the comfortable silence that had settled around them. His small smile makes Baekhyun realize he hasn’t said a word for a while despite him usually being the chatter of their small group. It’s always like this on rainy days, though, with merely the sound of it having a weird effect in his mood. “Kyungsoo, you and me. At least for work.”

“I don’t know about Kyungsoo, though,” Baekhyun replies, feeling slightly hesitant to talk about that with Yixing, despite him growing rather close to them for the past year. “He might or might not be moving out with Jongin soon.”

“Oh,” Yixing coos. “That’s a shame.”

“I know, right?” Baekhyun casually sneaks his arm around Yixing’s waist, just like every single time they walk together. “Who would like to live with Jongin?”

That makes Yixing giggle. It’s quite an endearing and comfortable sound in comparison to the rain, but it isn’t enough to distract him for long. Soon enough, Baekhyun is focused on the rain again - by how it fills each crack on the street and flows towards the end of the sloping street.

“Are you alright?” Yixing asks slightly concerned.

“Yeah, it’s just that the rain kind of s up my mood.”

Yixing hums, but that’s it. Both men walk under the rain in a comfortable silence, not sharing a word but sticking together. Baekhyun only needs to caress Yixing’s waist from time to time or tug at his coat to have a small dimpled smile in return.

It feels nice.

Baekhyun screams as he sits up, clutching his blankets, closing his eyes, biting his lips - that’s it because even if it’s already done, he doesn’t want the neighbors to complain about how loud he can be. Again.

It’s probably midnight and one of the worst thunders of the night just woke him up, though he’s not sure he has slept at all.

The rain keeps drumming on his windows and it’s starting to get really cold. This makes him remember when he was a little kid, cute and a bit chubby, running to his parents’ room every time a thunder striked. But he isn’t a little kid anymore and there is no one to run to without hurting his ego, at least not tonight.

Baekhyun gathers what remains of his courage before hiding under his blanket and burying his face under the soft pillows. As he unlocks his phone to listen to music and forget about the thunders, he realizes this might not be that bad. He can definitely survive a stormy night alone.

A thunder.

Or maybe not.

Another thunder.

Definitely not.

Baekhyun puts his slippers on, takes a grip of his blankets, phone and a clean sweater, and with his pajamas still on, he rushes outside his room. Only when he arrives to the door of his apartment, he remembers Kyungsoo still wasn’t back from his date when he went to sleep. Meaning, he surely isn’t home right now and he isn’t an option.

But he was the only option, wasn’t he?

One final thunder makes Baekhyun open the door and peek in the hall before running to the fourth floor. This doesn’t mean he is a coward, in no way. This only means he needs company, a support. Even big guys look for support sometimes.

Before knocking on Yixing’s door, though, Baekhyun hesitates once again. He must have sent a text, made a call. Yixing must be sleeping and he is about to wake him up, and for what?

But friends do that, right? Baekhyun wouldn’t hesitate on helping Yixing when he feels afraid and perhaps a bit lonely and mushy through the night, when he feels like being covered in sweet blankets and fed with homemade chocolate cookies - if he ever feels like that.

He knocks the door once, twice, thrice - leaving enough seconds between them to not wake up any neighbor. A fourth time, a fifth, and he would be so annoyed already if he was Yixing, but suddenly Yixing opens the door - in bananas patterned boxers and a plain white sweater.

“Baekhyun? Did something happen?” he asks while rubbing his eyes. If it wasn’t for the fact that Baekhyun is still ready to die at the next thunder, he would either laugh or coo at the sight of Yixing’s messy hair and sleepy eyes.

“Listen, this may sound really weird coming from someone like me, but I need your help,” he peeks past Yixing to take a glance of his living room. The last time he was there, he saw a nice purple loveseat, perfect to sleep on. “Can I spend the night here?”

Yixing doesn’t hesitate for a second as he steps aside, motioning Baekhyun to come in and turning the lights on.

“Why, though?” Yixing asks closing the door behind him. Baekhyun is trying to come up with an excuse while he sits on the loveseat, squeezing the cushion to see if it can work as a pillow. He is about to joke about feeling lonely when another thunder can be heard and his whole body tenses, small goosebumps are raised from his nape and through his spine. “Oh.”

“Yes, I don’t like thunders,” Baekhyun mutters lying on his stomach and hugging the cushion. “You can mock me about this all you want tomorrow.”

“I won't, a lot of people are afraid of thunders,” Yixing says, but Baekhyun can hear the playful undertone from him. Anyhow, he lets Yixing ruffle his hair before he returns to his room.

Baekhyun checks his phone. It has only been fifteen minutes since he arrived to Yixing’s apartment but he is still distressed by the storm outside. Drifting his attention by having someone sleeping under the same roof isn’t as easy as he expected it to be.

Usually, when Baekhyun wants to stay with someone during the storms, that someone would be Kyungsoo. He can be a bit grumpy and might laugh in Baekhyun’s face, but secretly, he is a thoughtful person who fakes to be entertained by Baekhyun’s fear to accompany him in the living room. Sometimes, he even lets Baekhyun sleep in his own bed with him, which is so common since their teenage days.

In his half-asleep and tired state, he wonders if Yixing would let him do the same.

“Are you asleep?” Yixing whispers right next to him, startling him in the process.

“Yixing, what the ?” Baekhyun says when he realizes Yixing is crouched next to him.

“I was wondering if you could sleep… with the thunders and all that,” he still whispers, which is half-adorable, half-confusing, but Baekhyun lets it pass.

“I’m managing,” Baekhyun yawns and places his cheek back to the pillow, his toes curling due to the cold. The blanket he managed to bring was the wrong one, but he is not returning for another one now.

Yixing hums, slightly pouting as he pats Baekhyun’s back. “Alright, you can come and sleep with me.”

Baekhyun snorts, but when he realizes Yixing isn’t aware of the double entendre of those words, he blinks confused. “Are you for real?”

“Sure,” Yixing shrugs. “I don’t mind it, but if you aren’t comfortable, I-”

Before Yixing can end his sentence, Baekhyun is already standing with blanket and cushion, heading towards Yixing’s bedroom. The latter trails behind him between yawns, catching up as both sit lazily on the bed.

Baekhyun gets comfortable to sleep and lies under his blanket. with his feet still exposed to the cold.

There is a small, soft laughter coming from Yixing, who shares his bed sheets with him.

“Laugh all you want, but when you are scared because a spider is inside your shoe, I won’t kill it,” Baekhyun mutters, watching how Yixing lies on his side to sleep.

“I’m not afraid of spiders.” Yixing replies before patting his back. “Goodnight, Baekhyun.”

“It’s just for one night, though,” Baekhyun mutters half a minute later just in case.

“Baek, you can come any day you want.” Yixing mumbles. “Now, sleep.”

*

Just for one night. Baekhyun repeats himself the next morning when he wakes up with Yixing preparing coffee in the kitchen.

*

Baekhyun knocks Yixing’s door twice the next night. The weather broadcast isn’t giving him any hope for the rain to stop soon, at least not this week. And on top of that, Jongin has decided to spend said week sleeping at Kyungsoo’s apartment.

Which only gives Baekhyun one option to where spend the night. It’s not as if he couldn’t do it alone, but he would rather not.

Yixing opens the door fast, looking slightly confused to see Baekhyun there that early - when the rain continues but there are still no thunders. Baekhyun calls it being cautious.

“Night, neighbor.” Baekhyun winks teasingly, making Yixing smile and step aside to let him in once again. When Baekhyun walks in, he notices the half-empty Chinese take out on the table. “Sorry I interrupted,” he adds, turning around to find Yixing already on his phone and heading to the kitchen.

“Don’t worry, I will order more for you.”

Baekhyun smiles, dropping his backpack with everything he needs for a good night of sleep next to the loveseat and sitting there while he waits for Yixing.

Each apartment of the complex has the same design, the living room being the biggest room of the place to serve as a reception, with one hall that leads to the kitchen and bedrooms, and big windows that are both a blessing and a curse. That depends, of course, on the weather.

With Yixing’s blinds to the sides, Baekhyun has the “best” sight of the rain he never asked for - a gloomy sky with heavy grey clouds, rain falling on the slightly tarnished glass. It drums and doesn’t stop. Soon, the thunders will come.

While the thunders are what makes Baekhyun jump from his seat, the rain isn’t that pleasing for him either.

Till this day, Baekhyun isn’t sure what’s about the rain that makes him feel slightly uneasy. Perhaps it’s the lack of light, the sound of it, or maybe it’s because he still doesn’t understand how something as colorless as the water could make a cloud look so dark. It does turn everything else slightly darker if he thinks about it.

It’s nothing similar to a sunny day, when the light makes its way through the blinds, and there is warmth all around him, with the sun heating his skin and giving him the energy he needs throughout the day. It’s vibrant and full of life.

But the rain has none of that. At least not for him.

It starts with the feeling of sleepiness and then it crushes him with a mixture of sadness and nostalgia he doesn’t even know where it comes from.

And it also makes the days silent somehow. Silence has never been that good to handle when he is alone, he must admit it. It makes him get bored easily and his mind drifts to certain thoughts he knows he should ponder about but he has no energy to. As if the rain also had the ability to make small problems big ones if he pays enough attention.

Usually, he sleeps through it, but thunders make that impossible.

“Done,” Yixing suddenly appears from the hall with a big smile and a soda can, ready to wipe away any kind of worry that Baekhyun might have had. Or at least, keep them shut for a while.

“Thank you,” Baekhyun says, stretching his arms to change his mood for the better.

While having dinner, Baekhyun decides to show Yixing some of his favorite movies. He might get a bit over the top and imitate a few dialogues with exaggerated pitches and gestures, but Yixing doesn’t mind it. Instead, he is soon enough losing his breathe due to the laughter.

Baekhyun might or might not be a bit infatuated with Yixing’s bubbly laughter and small additions to his jokes.

That night, Baekhyun sleeps on the loveseat and Yixing on the sofa.

*

Baekhyun places a pillow above his head in order to stop the loud thunders of tonight. It isn’t the worst night he has spent in years, but he is still unable to drift into the deep sleep he so badly needs after helping Kyungsoo throw away everything he won’t be taking to his new apartment - his and Jongin’s soon-to-be new apartment that still hasn’t even been chosen.

It’s awful, but Baekhyun can’t do nothing but wiggle on the bed a little more, trying to settle on a comfortable position.

“Can’t sleep?” Yixing suddenly says and that’s when Baekhyun realizes he is facing him, probably staring at him despite the darkness of the room. It makes him a little nervous all of sudden.

“Uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“It’s alright,” Yixing mutters, probably about to fall asleep again. “Would a hug help?”

It’s probably only a joke, but now that the thought is out there, Baekhyun can’t help but believe Yixing must be warm and quite comforting.

Baekhyun isn’t sure what gets into him, perhaps it’s the sleepiness, perhaps the fear at the back of his mind, or perhaps it’s something more that has been with him for weeks, but whatever it is, he scoops closer to the man.

The latter flinches but doesn’t back away, instead he lets Baekhyun circle his arms around his waist before embracing him back.

“Am I soft enough?” Yixing mumbles.

“Very.”

Warmth engulfs Baekhyun’s body as he tries to close his eyes, realizing that with Yixing this close, falling asleep is a matter of seconds.

*

A thunder.

A chill runs down Baekhyun’s spin as he sits upright, almost dropping the spoon he has in hand. It had been a nice afternoon, with warm beef stew - one of Kyungsoo’s best dishes if you ask him - and company to distract himself from the rain. At least, until the first thunder striked.

“Easy,” Kyungsoo simply says, not even taking his eyes off the furniture catalogs he has been reading the whole afternoon.

“This is it, the end.” Baekhyun mumbles to make conversation - by talking, the thunders aren’t that sonorous. “The rain season is probably going to kill me.” But Kyungsoo only hums, flipping another page. “I mean it, though. Kyungsoo, I will die and you will miss me.”

“Baek, it’s the same thing you say every time there is raining season.” At least this time, Kyungsoo raises his eyes, fixing the spectacles over his nose and placing the catalog down. “I was reading an article the other day and-”

“Do Kyungsoo reading an article the other day?” Baekhyun arches both eyebrows - as far as he knows, his best friend is into reading, but only novels or webtoons.

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “Yes, Baekhyun. From time to time, I read articles… In fact, Jongin showed me one and-”

“I knew it.”

“Shut it,” Kyungsoo groans, playfully pushing Baekhyun’s forehead with his thumb. “The point is-”

Another thunder.

“,” Baekhyun groans, lifting his feet from the floor to hug his knees on the chair. Kyungsoo smiles. “What’s so funny?”

Kyungsoo shrugs. “So, the point is that the rain affecting your mood is pretty normal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it, you know? Buy a few more lamps, do a bit of exercise, stretch on the morning, listen to loud music-”

“So the new neighbors can kick me out.”

“So the new neighbors can kick you out, that’s right.” Kyungsoo snorts, making Baekhyun smile with him.

This is the kind of afternoons Baekhyun will miss - the same kind he has had frequently for the past 12 years. Not that he can’t visit Kyungsoo wherever he is moving out anymore, but it will be less and less frequent. That makes Baekhyun feels sentimental once again.

And a bit mad, if he is quite honest.

But it only takes one look to Kyungsoo, and that corny look he has when he gets a text from Jongin, for Baekhyun to understand this was meant to happen someday.

This can’t be that bad.

*

Baekhyun is installing his new floor lamp. It’s the third and final one he has bought in the week, but he must admit he feels a tiny change on his mood with them. Maybe it’s a placebo, who knows, but he is willing to try.

It’s a minimalistic model with the shape of a sphere that looks quite lovely with the living room new yellowish carpet. It has had Baekhyun too entertained to even think about the rain or anything else until he turns the lamp and just a second later, a thunder strikes and the lights of the whole apartment turn off. It must be a power cut.

Baekhyun finds himself yelping and leaning against the wall. This season will definitely be his end. Still, he reaches for the phone and turns on his flashlight, shivering when he realizes his battery is on 15%. He groans, remembering Kyungsoo has a portable battery to spare, but since he stayed with Jongin once again, Baekhyun would have to first search for the keys that are probably inside his drawer.

And it’s too dark to go there yet. Just give him five minutes.

Baekhyun is already on the hall when there is knock on his door. When he opens it, perhaps a bit clumsy and desperate, he finds Yixing on pajamas, with popcorn in hand and a big smile.

“Yixing, thank God you-” he stops himself when he realizes of the diverting look on Yixing eyes, right to his rilakkuma pajamas - the “revenge” gift coming from Kyungsoo. “I won’t be shamed.”

“They are fabulous,” Yixing laughs, leaning on the door frame. “Can I come in?”

“That depends. What’s your battery percentage?” Baekhyun squints before taking a look at his own. 12%. He feels sick.

“Forty percent.”

“Oh my God,” Baekhyun pulls him by the shirt to drag him in and close the door. “I could kiss you right now.”

“I’m up for that,” Yixing mumbles, making Baekhyun choke out of nowhere as he turns around.

“What?”

“What?”

The heavy rain is there at the background, still bothering Baekhyun, but not enough to not give Yixing enough attention.

With the faint light of his dying phone, Baekhyun can see Yixing’s features being highlighted. The blushed cheeks, the cute bridge of his nose, the messy hair falling over his forehead, the parted lips and the endearing eyes looking back at him. So tender and so familiar.

He watches the small quirk on the corners of his lips as he gives him an embarrassed smile, with his deep dimples showing and a soft chuckle that escapes from him as his eyes crinkle up.

Baekhyun suppresses a soft gasp of realization, but opts to smile - even wider with his teeth showing up when he notices how Yixing follows the trace of it with his eyes.

“Come here,” Baekhyun chuckles, tugging at Yixing’s shirt as the latter gets closer with a shy smile before pressing their lips together.

It’s slow and sweet, but Baekhyun takes his time to give Yixing light kisses as he runs his hands over his waist despite still holding his phone with one. It’s another thunder that separates them, as Baekhyun flinches and almost drops his phone to the floor.

Yixing chuckles, mumbling soothing words as he holds Baekhyun’s face and pecks his nose, cheeks, forehead and lips over and over again.

“Ah, ,” Baekhyun groans between a kiss as another loud thunder strikes. Yixing, who has been straddling his lap for about half an hour already can only giggle once again. “What’s so funny?” Baekhyun joins him, hiding his face on the crook of his neck, relaxing once more with the faint vanilla scent.

Still, Yixing gets off from him and gets comfortable on the couch, dragging Baekhyun along with him. Baekhyun is now almost laying over him, with his cheek over his chest and embraced so gentle.

There is that warm sensation that Yixing must carry in his hands again, that one that soothes Baekhyun when he ruffles his hair or rubs his shoulders with care.

“The popcorn must taste awful by now,” Yixing mumbles, caressing Baekhyun’s cheek with the ghostly touch of his fingers.

Baekhyun snorts but doesn’t move. Instead, he lies there, hearing attentively to Yixing’s heartbeat and groaning whenever he hears another thunder or even catches the glimpse of a lightning.

The electricity is back by the morning, Baekhyun isn’t exactly sure when.

*

In the next days, there aren’t even thunders, just plain rain. Small changes here and there in his apartment, a new (and easy) exercise routine, and new headphones have helped to lift up Baekhyun’s mood.

But even then, Baekhyun still finds himself arriving to Yixing’s apartment or opening the door for him with a wide smile. Either way, rainy days never brought something sweeter.

Thunders are still scary, though.

Thanks for reading ♡ comments are really appreciated! If you liked the story, I have another old but close to heart Baekhyun/Yixing fic here: epoch- joss