Minghao still wasn’t asleep.

He was just laying there in his bed, listening to Mingyu’s snores coming from the next bed over.

He got in bed at the precise time he usually does, which was around 10:30 PM or so. Minghao had flopped down on the mattress and pulled the covers over himself, expecting the waves of fatigue and exhaustion to pull him under and into dreamland. But they didn’t come. No matter how much he tossed and turned to try different positions.

The thunder rumbled outside and rain pounded on the window. The clock read 1:17. It started raining at around 12:31, but Minghao still could not be lulled to sleep listening to the raindrops pattering rhythmically against the glass.

He could blame Mingyu for being a noisy idiot, but it wasn’t his fault. Mostly. Minghao had just gotten used to Gyu's mannerisms after being roommates with him for a while. With a weary sigh, Minghao threw aside the blanket covering his body and sat up, bringing his socked feet over the side of the bed onto the floor. He ran a hand through his black hair, allowing a few strands to fall over his eyes.

With a soft huff Minghao pushed off from his bed to stand upright, walking over to the window. He lifted the curtains apart a bit, observing the raindrops on the glass and the streets below, the street lights revealing the rain falling in heavy sheets onto the wet ground.

Just then, a rather loud clap of thunder shook the window a little, and Minghao flinched backward as lightning flickered, blinding his vision a little bit.  

“...” Minghao hissed under his breath in Chinese, letting the curtains fall back into their original positions.

There was no way in hell he was going to sleep anytime soon, and he didn’t want to bother Mingyu who was sleeping very soundly. So instead, Minghao opened the door to their dorm room and slipped outside into the hallway. He wrapped his arms around his thin frame and shivered briefly, thinking vaguely of getting some hot tea to drink, when another door quietly creaked open and a sliver of lamp light filtered into the corridor.

“Minghao?” A voice inquired gently. Minghao turned around to see who it was. It was Junhui, who had his head poked out of the door that led to his and Wonwoo’s room.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Minghao whispered.

“No, not at all. I was still awake looking through Weibo,” Jun replied, smiling slightly. “What are you doing at this time? Thought you would’ve been asleep by now.”

“Of course you were,” sighed Minghao, “But I just couldn’t sleep for some reason, and I thought I could make some tea or something that could help me sleep.”

“Mmm,” hummed Jun understandingly. He bit his lip and studied Minghao thoughtfully for a moment, before saying, “Wanna come in and spend the night?”

“Oh no, it’s fine. I’ll just go make some tea and go to bed.” Minghao was quick to assure him, not wanting to bother anyone and cause a nuisance tonight.

“Okay,” Jun nodded, “Good night then, Hao. Knock if you need anything.”

Minghao nodded and echoed Jun’s good night, smiling slightly. He watched as Junhui closed the door. He stared at the spot for a moment, before shaking his head slightly and continuing to the kitchen.

He e light on and went to do what he came to do as quietly as he could. He filled up the kettle they had with water and flicked the switch that would make it boil. Then he got out a small mug and teabag of a flavor he liked. As soon as the water was done, Minghao poured the water into the mug.

He sipped his tea in silence, listening to the rain outside. As soon as he was finished, Minghao placed his mug in the sink and filled it up with water to let it soak before turning off the light. It definitely warmed him up, but it didn’t really do much. He sighed and decided to go back into his dorm room, deciding there wasn’t much he could do except hop back in bed and close his eyes and wait. He knew that he would be grouchy in the morning, but at least he got some sleep.

As he was walking back to the room, another loud crack of thunder sounded what seemed directly above him, and the hall was briefly illuminated. It startled him a little bit, and he hugged himself, tensing as he waited for the awful sound to stop.

Minghao didn’t like thunder very much, and it was a bit ironic coming from a person who liked rain. He wasn’t afraid of it per se, but it was just the way thunder went off so erratically, especially during the night time when he was trying to sleep. It reminded him of a night when he was a little kid, around 5 or 6. His parents had not come home from work yet, and so his auntie who had babysat him for the day tucked him to bed and left. Minghao woke up at around 10:45 to a completely dark house and rain pounding on his window. He laid awake for a bit, before a thought occurred to him. He probably should turn on the light in the kitchen so that his parents could see where his toys were so that they didn’t step on them and fall.

So Minghao had gotten out of bed and walked into the kitchen to turn the light on. Proud that he helped his parents in some way, Minghao turned to go back into his room, when there was a large rumble and crack, and the lights went out. Minghao had spun back to turn the flip the light switch again, but it didn’t work. Another loud clap of thunder came, accompanied with a flash of lightning. It was most likely the trick of the flickering light, but Minghao had thought he saw a tall, dark figure standing at the end of the hall. He ran back into his room and cowered underneath the covers until he fell asleep. The next morning Minghao found out it was the coat hanger that had frightened him.

Standing in the hallway now, Minghao felt a little kid again, heart beating a little faster. OK, maybe he was afraid of lightening, Minghao admitted to himself. He stood there, seriously considering Jun’s offer earlier, when another crack and flash jolted him.  Before he stopped to think about what he was doing, Minghao walked up to Jun’s door and knocked.

In the moment that followed, Minghao inwardly berated himself for being scared of a little thunder and lightning. Jun was surely asleep by now, and it wasn’t worth waking up him or Wonwoo to talk about fears. He bit his lip to smother a sound akin to a whimper, thinking that Jun was indeed asleep and wasn’t going to open the door. He was just about to flee back into his room when suddenly there was the sound of a door knob turning, and a sleepy looking Jun opened the door, surprise lighting his face that was no doubt reflected on Minghao’s.

“Hao?”

... it. Too late to go back now.

“Hurry up and let me in,” Minghao muttered, and he slipped past Jun into the room. “And turn on the light please.”

Jun stared at Minghao, a little open-mouthed in surprise. He closed the door before realization dawned on him and he smirked. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of thunder?”

“Turn on the light... please .”

“You are scared.”

“I am not!” Minghao hissed. But another rumble made Minghao jump, proving Jun’s point. Junhui saw the agitation on Minghao’s face and his teasing smile fell away into a concerned look.  

“Hey, calm down. I’m sorry. I’ll turn on the light.” Jun reached for the lamp on the bedside table  in between his and Wonwoo’s beds and turned it on. Light illuminated the room, and Wonwoo, who had been sleeping undisturbed, stirred and blinked blearily.

“Uumph… wuzzgoinon?” Wonwoo slurred, clearly not conscious enough to fully process what was happening.

“It’s just Minghao. Go back to sleep.” Jun replied.

“Mmmkay…”  And Wonwoo rolled over in his sleep to do just that, snoring lightly.   

Junhui shook his head in an annoyed but fond way, before going to lay back down on his own bed and replacing the sheets over himself. He looked up at Minghao, who was wringing his hands nervously and staring at the ground, and his gaze softened.

“Hey…”

Minghao looked up to meet Junhui’s gaze. Jun was smiling comfortingly, and he patted the left space next to him.

They stared at each other, a little longer than they should have. Energy sparked in between them, as thunder rumbled outside. Minghao inhaled sharply and decided to take a chance. So he went forward to lie down in the space next to Junhui so that they were face to face.    

Minghao couldn’t help it as he snuggled closer as thunder clapped again. Junhui chuckled softly, closing his eyes, saving Minghao from having to look into the elder’s mesmerizing cat-like eyes.

“Who could believe it. Xu Minghao, the only one who can kill spiders out of the 13 of us, is afraid of thunder.” Jun whispered in Chinese, a little gleefully much to Minghao’s chagrin.

“Shut up gē. I mean it.” Minghao murmured in kind, now regretting his request to turn on a light, feeling his face flushing red.

There was a brief silence for a moment, the two Chinese members laid together, one who was seeking refuge from the elements and the other providing it in the form of body heat and a comforting presence. Minghao had thought Jun had fallen asleep when the elder spoke again in a hushed tone without opening his eyes.  

“You wanna talk about anything?”

Minghao shifted a little.  

“What is there to talk about?”

Junhui opened his eyes then, and hummed before answering. “Well if you can’t sleep, maybe unloading some thoughts can help. Either that or you can talk until you fall asleep. That’s what me and Wonwoo do when either of us can’t fall asleep right away or have something on our minds that we want to express and want at least someone to know.”

Minghao felt a pang of envy, and he wished not for the first time that he and Junhui were roommates instead. He loved Mingyu, don’t get him wrong, but Mingyu sometimes wasn’t serious enough to discuss anything. Gyu was a great comforter though, just not great in giving advice.

In answer to Junhui’s suggestion, Minghao inhaled and exhaled loudly, before saying softly, “I don’t really think I can talk about anything, other than the fact I don’t like thunder very much.”   

“Shenlong and Yinglong are doing their work awfully then. Making my Xiǎobā scared enough to come to me at 2:00 in the morning.” Jun gave a playful jab at Minghao, who shoved him without force in return.

“Shenlong and Yinglong? Aren’t those the-”

“The Chinese mythical dragons in charge of rain and storms? Yeah.”

“Nerd,” Minghao laughed breathily. Jun gave a small gasp of mock offense.

“Well ex cuse me, but you can’t blame me for being curious one day and looking up old legends of our motherland.”

“Why were you looking up old mythical legends anyways?”

“‘Cuz I was bored,” Jun eloquently replied, rolling his eyes as if it were obvious.

“Wow, I am impressed. And I thought I was the one who liked books and all things literature,” Minghao said wryly.

“Yes but you aren’t really curious about the world when reading it. You’re absorbed in the world inside the book you’re holding. You may learn things when reading, but it’s better experiencing it on your own.” Jun lectured Minghao, who honestly tuned out most of what he said, tuning back in at the end of Jun’s sentence.

“Ok but what does that have to do with the myths you oh so curiously looked up?” Minghao shot back.

Jun paused for a moment to come up with an answer, but came up blank. “...Nevermind what I said then.”

“Fine, if you looked up old myths, did you look up the one about the Chinese zodiac?” Minghao asked.

“Well aren’t you a Chinese person,” Jun rolled his eyes again. “Yes I did. But why that one? It’s literally one of the most basic ones.”

Minghao grinned, “Which is why I want you to tell me the story. In your way.”

Jun sighed. “What is this, a late night bedtime story?”

“Yep,” Minghao answered, still smiling cheekily.

Jun sighed once more before smiling fondly. Then, to Minghao’s shock, Junhui pulled the younger closer so that his head was tucked into the crook of Jun’s neck. His face flared up red again, but he made no move back to his original spot which, already, was pretty close. Not that he wanted to, anyways.  

Minghao couldn’t see Jun’s face but could feel his Adam's apple bob and hear him clear his throat softly a little more than necessary, probably as flustered as he was by the bold move. Then he began his version of the tale, the rhythmic cadence of his murmured voice lulling Minghao to close his eyes and listen, and he no longer paid any attention to the clashing elements outside. 

“Long, long ago in China, there was no calendar. There was no way to count the endless days that went by. The villagers down on Earth based their days either on the days that rained, or the rate at which their crops grew. So one day, the Jade Emperor decided to make a Zodiac consisting of twelve animals, each representing not only the year it was, but each representative month of the year itself. He sent an immortal being into man's world to spread the message that when one went through the Heavenly Gate, the number which the animal placed would be the month the animal represented. So the next day after the message was spread throughout China, 13 known animals set off. The rat, the cat, the dog, the pig, the ox, the dragon, the tiger, the rabbit, the monkey, the horse, the snake, the goat and the rooster. The rat and the cat were close friends, so they decided to work together to win the race. But Rat wanted all the glory to himself, so the morning everyone set off, Rat didn’t wake Cat up. In the race, there was a river. It was a vast and treacherous one, so all the animals could easily be swept away if they weren’t careful. As each animal began their journey across the river, Rat knew that he himself could not cross the river without aid. Just then, he noticed that the Ox was preparing to swim across. So without the Ox or anyone else noticing, he jumped into the ear of the Ox and waited as the Ox swam strongly against the current…”

Jun wasn’t sure exactly when Minghao fell asleep after he finished his tale, but when he looked down, the younger was fast asleep, his even breathing tickling his neck. He fought down the urge to coo at the sight and instead rested his chin gently on the soft halo that was Minghao’s hair. Before long, he too, fell asleep.

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆

Soft rays of sunlight and warmth gently woke up Junhui the next morning, making him become aware of the brightness behind his closed eyelids. He blinked slowly awake, shifting as if to stretch, when he discovered that he couldn’t move his legs very much. Then he became aware of something distinctly soft that was lodged against him. As gently as he could, he shifted back a little, and what he saw made memories flood back and his face break out into a wide smile.

Minghao was lying next to him in Jun’s embrace, his eyes closed in blissful unconsciousness. The rays of sunshine which were coming from the window fell onto him, softly lighting up his face to make him look angelic. His pretty pink lips were parted slightly, and strands of hair had fallen into his face. Junhui watched in adoring fascination as Hao’s chest rose and fell as he breathed. Then Junhui realized another thing, one which made him blush.

His and Minghao’s legs became entangled overnight, bringing them even closer than they were when they fell asleep. Jun could now count the little freckles on Minghao’s face. He made a quiet noise of endearment, and before he could stop himself, he reached to gently brush the hair away from Hao’s face.

Jun watched as Minghao stirred and wrinkled his nose cutely, before he blinked once, two times before raising his eyes to meet Junhui's. He started slightly when he realized Junhui was already awake, but he too gave a smile. They studied each other for a moment, before Minghao spoke.

“Hey,” He said quietly, not wanting to disturb the soft atmosphere that surrounded the two.

“Hi,” Jun breathed back, equally as softly. “How’d you sleep?”

Minghao blushed, feeling the color spread (prettily, Jun thought) across his cheeks.  

“If I’m being completely honest, I slept better than I had in ages,” He admitted, looking down at Jun’s chest so that he didn’t have to directly into that soft gaze that would definitely drag him under and melt him into a pile of putty in the elder’s arms.  

He heard a soft chuckle, and felt the pair of said arms pull him closer again.

“I’m glad.”

They lay there, just as they did the only several hours ago, reveling in each other’s warmth and comfort. But that was ultimately broken when Jun decided to jab Minghao in the side, causing the latter to yelp and protect his sensitive sides. A tickle fest began, both scrabbling and poking at each other at an attempt to render each other defenseless. Suppressed laughter became louder and louder until finally it was ringing in the air, happy and unbroken.

It has been a while since both had been able to be so carefree like this, too busy or too tired to have fun together with just the two of them. It kept going for a while, until a deep raspy voice interrupted them.

“Can you two cut it out or can you just not stop touching each other?”

Both almost got whiplash looking to right where the voice came from. Wonwoo was sitting up, hair in an unkempt state. He looked a bit grouchy, squinting through his glare at them.

“Oops, sorry Won,” Junhui grinned, “Got a bit carried away.”

“Could tell,” the rapper grumbled. “Well since I was so rudely awakened, might as well get up anyways.”

So the two watched as Wonwoo got up to leave the room, presumably to use the bathroom and get ready for the long day they had ahead of them.

While Minghao was distracted, Jun got some more jabs in, making the younger shriek with laughter. They rolled over so that Junhui was on top and Minghao was shaking underneath, breathless with giggles.

“Okay okay, stop! I surrender, gē! Gē! STOPPIT!”  

Jun grinned and finally relented, placing his hands on either side of Minghao’s head. When their heaving breaths subsided, they were suddenly aware of the position they were in. Blushes returned, red and high, but they couldn’t stop smiling at each other. Jun, with his head lowered, bent even closer to Minghao, who gave a sharp intake of breath at the proximity. But he couldn’t move away, didn’t move away, as Junhui brushed his lips with his own, exhaling shakily as they finally kissed, soft flesh sliding against each other in perfect harmony and barely audible sighs coming from the both of them, minds hazy with absolute bliss.

They broke apart from the lack of air, but wide smiles on their faces were prominent as they bent toward each again and again. They finally stopped after a few (more like a dozen) kisses, content with just looking at each other, when Minghao voiced something that he had kept in his heart ever since Junhui comforted him on a past night and rain 3 years ago.

“Wǒ ài nǐ.”

Minghao swore the entire world glowed brighter with Jun’s smile. The elder gave him one last kiss, a brief but with no less significance, before answering simply.

“Wǒ zhīdào.”

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆

Later at breakfast when they were eating at the table with the rest of the members, Mingyu asked Minghao where he went, as Gyu had woken up and saw that Minghao's bed was cold and vacant. 

In response, Minghao raised his and Junhui's clasped hands from underneath the table before kissing them, causing Junhui to blush, surprised.

But Minghao's satisfied smirk quickly dropped to a flustered blush as Jun pulled him in for an unexpected kiss.  

Needless to say both Chinese members' eardrums were absolutely shattered from the cacophony of screeches that followed.