Caught In The Rain
Caught In The RainRain pelted the side of the house, coming down hard while thunder roared and lightning shot across the sky. The weather channel had predicted rain, but not a full on storm with thirty-mile winds that made debris fly in the air. I winced at the clatter of fallen garbage cans and rustle of clothes that had gotten loose from their lines. Everyone’s things would be scattered all over town tomorrow. It being just after eight at night, most adults were heading home from work and students would be walking from school, but the storm was probably keeping everyone inside. I wondered if they would be stuck all night. Thankfully I was home, sheltered from the harsh weather, but by the looks of this rainstorm it wouldn’t be long before the power went out.
A knock at the door startled me so much I jumped, freezing for a moment to try and shrug it off as something hitting the door because of the wind. The banging started again, three pattered raps, so I stood from the couch, wrapping my fluffy white house coat tighter around my body and shuffled across the floor in my kitten slippers. Whoever was at the door was sure to get an eyeful if they expected me to look my best just before night fell.
I cracked opened the door, keeping the dead bolt in place just in case. It wasn't the first time I wished we had a peep hole, but there wasn't much I could do about it now.
A man stood huddled under the small awning over my door, trying to avoid the icy raindrops but I could tell he was soaked through his clothes. His height shocked me a little, because even though he was hunched under his jacket he was still taller than me, probably taller than Hangeng, too.
"Yes?" I asked cautiously, trying to figure out what this man could possibly want.
He looked up at the sound of my voice and I had to cut off a sound in the back of my throat that I just knew would be embarrassing if I let it loose. A groan, moan, or something far less manly would have forced me to slam the door in the handsome man's face to avoid being laughed at.
Short, cropped black hair hung in strands over his forehead, water drops sliding over a chiseled face. My eyes lingered, focusing on the broad nose, plump, Cupid’s bow lips, then up looking into dark eyes rimmed with long eyelashes and framed by thick eyebrows. My eyes darted down to break the gaze, flashing over his clothes, plastered to his body thanks to the rain, and what a sight it was. I could see the muscled outlined under the damp black jacket and if it hadn't been zipped up I would have been able to see everything under, for he wore a white, button-up, collared shirt that did little to hide his chest. I gulped and broke off that trail before I could get a look at anything lower.
"Yes?" I asked again, my voice gruffer than before. This man was very good looking, sure, but if he continued to stand there staring at me through the thin line not blocked by the door, I wouldn't hesitate to call the police.
He seemed to jerk out of his thoughts, eyes meeting mine again as he shuddered from the cold. "M-my name is Choi Siwon, member of Korea's Presbyterian Church in Seoul. I live around his neighborhood and wanted t-to invite you to service this Sunday, hopefully you will enjoy the warm atmosphere we provide and if you have not b-been touched by God's word will be softened by the service our preacher conducts. I hope to become closer to those in the church as well, and by inviting more men and women I believe our relationship will become friendlier."
I stared at him as he spoke, my mind having gone blank after he mentioned the church. Of all things I had expected, an invitation to church was at the far, far end of the list. I didn't go to church. I wasn't religious. I didn't believe in God, Allah, or Buddha for that matter. I'd taken my freedom as an adult to express my right not to go to church and here this guy was, standing outside my door in the rain trying to invite me to his.
I sighed exasperatedly. All the good ones were straight, taken, or Christian.
"I'm sorry, I don't go to church. I suggest you get back in your car and head home before this storm gets really bad."
He looked disheartened at my denial, as though he'd been rejected time and time again and was hanging on a last thread of hope before I'd snapped it.
At that moment, it seemed like someone had heard me up in the sky because the winds picked up, the rain suddenly pushing against my door, spraying the man's back hard as he gasped and huddled in front of me. Lightning cracked and thunder boomed, so loud it hurt my ears. Then the storm sirens went off.
"," I cursed.
"Excuse me," he—Siwon—said, before I could tell him to run back to his car again, "but I didn't take my car. I live in the neighborhood so I didn't expect—"
I bit my tongue from saying he should run back home then, because though he had tried to get me to go to his church, it wasn't like he had done me any wrong. "Come in," I relented, unhooking the chain and opening the door wider.
Siwon shuffled in and I had to shove the door hard against the strong wind to get it to close. Relocking it, I turned towards the tall figure I'd let in my home. He was dripping all over the entrance-way, trying to peel off his shoes. My eyes slid over his back, the jacket he wore accentuation his wide set shoulders that tampered into a narrow waist and a firm backside. My mind started to wander into a dangerous place before a deafening crack of thunder shook the house, my body instinctively gravitating towards Siwon for protection—something I would never admit to later. Siwon jumped, too, either because of the weather or because he had me pressing up against him, I wasn't sure. The lights flickered and the sirens outside intensified, making my heart pound and my mind race.
"Do you have a basement?" Siwon's deep, soothing voice sounded so calm, while I was sure mine would be octaves higher from the stress.
"I—I, yes." I was right.
I pointed toward a door in the kitchen that opened to some stairs; leading down into the crawlspace of an extra room I hardly considered a basement. But I knew what Siwon had meant, a place with no windows or doors, just wall.
His big hand curled around my side, gently but hurriedly pulling me with him to the door, and my slippers shuffled against the tile as I followed him. The lights quivered again, the power fading for a moment before giving us a few more precious minutes of light. My body curled into Siwon's large form and we dashed down the small flight of steps quickly, clicking the door shut behind us.
The room was only fifteen by twenty feet, and had a small twin bed in the corner for any unlucky guests who ended up staying the night at my home if they didn't care for the couch. I often found myself sulking down here if Hangeng and I had a fight or if I was upset because Hangeng was busy...sometimes I came down here to vent on twitter alone before realizing that Hangeng actually followed me and that he was probably reading everything. Then I spent more time deleting the tweets before slowly climbing back upstairs to end right back up in his lap, apologizing in my own way.
The storm boomed outside again, jerking me out of my memories and into darkness as the lights shut off. I cursed again, loudly—including God in a very not-so-nice way—and pulled out my cell phone. I hoped Hangeng wasn't on his way; I didn't know how bad the storm was, but with the gust of wind I'd felt earlier and the close claps of thunder did not bode well. The call connected, though it was full of static.
"Heechul?" Hangeng's voice seemed far away.
"Hangeng? Are you okay?"
"What? I'm sorry—Chul. Can't hear—storm is—I'll be home lat—Careful."
"Hangeng? I can't hear you." My voice rose, trying to force the cell phone to get my message across better.
"I said—" But the call died, and the bars on my phone dropped to zero. I almost threw the stupid device, but I ended up tossing it onto the small bed. I might need it later, and breaking it wouldn't be smart.
"Who were you trying to call?" Siwon asked, surprising me again, because for a minute I'd forgotten he was there. I turned, barely able to make out his large form in the darkness.
"My boyfriend. He's at work, and was supposed to be coming home soon before the storm hit."
"Boyfriend?" His tone was sharp and confused, and I rolled my eyes when I remembered why it would have been such a big deal. I surrounded myself with so many other homouals or others who were accepting, that I sometimes forgot when to watch how I went about the subject.
"Yes, boyfriend. Gonna retake my invitation to your church now? I don't think I'd be so welcome."
Siwon grunted, and I took that as the line being drawn between us. I sat on the bed and checked the time, it was almost nine, and I wondered how long I'd be down here with this man.
Aside from the rolling thunder outside and the sounds of our breathing, it was quiet for a long time. Time passed slowly, though, when you had nothing to do and were trapped in a room with a stranger whose views differed from yours in a complete one-eighty.
The bed dipped as Siwon sat beside me, leaning against the wall and actually not sitting as far away as possible. He sat close, but not close enough to touch. I think he was trying to send a message that he wasn't disgusted by my uality. I didn't trust it for a minute.
Then the praying started.
"Dear Lord, please let this storm pass quickly without causing much damage or harm to anyone in the area. I pray that you'll protect those who are driving in this weather and who were outside when it hit. I know you're choices are almighty and that you'll have mercy on your people. Look over my father and mother, my sister, too. Thank you for bringing me here to this shelter, even if it is owned by one of your children who have not accepted your love and care..."
I stared at this idiot as he rambled on in his conversation to no one. I knew it would be incredibly rude to interrupt, but wasn’t it rude for him to openly go on like that? Can't God read your mind? What happened to praying silently?
"Would you please—" But I was cut off, a loud crash, the sound of class shattering upstairs made me jump about an inch off the bed. I could hear the rain more now, obviously blowing in through the broken window. Had that been the wind or something worse? , , ...
"God, Lord, Jesus, whoever's ing up there! Please don't let me die! If you let me live I promise I'll do anything. I'll go to this fool's church on Sunday, even! Let me live to see Hangeng's face tomorrow and to buy that new Macbook I've been wanting!"
---
Hangeng opened the door to the house he shares with Heechul, glad that, even though it was morning, he was finally home. Slipping off his shoes he made his way into the kitchen, calling out for his boyfriend.
No one answered, and while that wasn't uncommon, it did make Hangeng pause uncertainly. The storm last night had been bad, with tree limbs and debris scattered all over town, and he wasn't surprised to discover that his house had been affected. Discovering that the power had been taken out wasn't too shocking.
However, finding broken glass and a thick tree branch sticking out from his living room widow was one of the last things he expected.
"Heechul?" He called again, rushing into their shared bedroom, only to find the sheets were still rumpled from the morning before, their clothes still scattered on the floor just as they had been when they were tossed there that night.
Hangeng felt his heart pounding in his chest as his anxiety raised, his eyes scanning over every room of the house again and again, as though Heechul would magically appear out of no where and start yelling at him for not coming home.
Bursting into the kitchen again, the door to the downstairs guest room caught his eye. Of course! The room had no windows, so obviously it would be the natural place to go during a bad storm. Hangeng smiled, opening the door and clambering down the stairs, imagining Heechul curled up on the small bed next to his laptop and cell phone. Maybe wearing one of Hangeng's too large t-shirts…
"Heechul~ I'm hom—"
He froze, his eyes getting big as he stared at the scene he had walked in on. Heechul, not with a laptop or a cell phone, and not in his t-shirt, had his head on the lap of a stranger, wrapped up in his large robe and not much else as far as Hangeng could see, his cat slippers having had fallen off the edge of the bed and onto the floor.
Rage built up in him as he looked at the handsome stranger who was sleeping with his boyfriend. Dressed in an expensive suit that looked just rumpled enough to be suspicious, he rested with his back against the wall, one hand resting on Heechul's head in a gentle way that made Hangeng's blood boil.
He was handsome, too. That was the worst part, considering Hangeng's lack of confidence in his own appearance. This guy looked like the type of guy he imagined Heechul ending up with. Rich, handsome, probably a complete gentleman. Someone Heechul deserved.
He had never expected HanChul to happen, though from the moment he had seen Heechul he had fallen in love. He wondered if it had been like that for his boyfriend as well, because their relationship—which was now closing in on five years—had always been rocky. Their personalities clashed, stubborn against stubborn, while Heechul's outgoing nature had Hangeng's quiet charm hadn't exactly mixed either.
But they had managed it, and Hangeng was grateful everyday when he was able to wake up next to such a beautiful man. He was grateful when they made love, when they fought then cuddled in apology. He was grateful he had someone to come home to in this foreign country.
But maybe he wasn't enough. Maybe Heechul had found someone else during the storm. Maybe this guy had been around for longer than that.
Heechul grumbled in his sleep, shifting and stretching out his legs. Hangeng froze once more, waiting to see if he would wake up. "Chul?"
That seemed to do it. "Geng?" Heechul questioned sleepily, his eyes fluttering open, still blurry with sleep. His pale hands came up to rub at them, trying to focus on his figure.
"Oh, thank God," Heechul murmured breathlessly, scrambling to get of the bed and stumbled into Hangeng's arms. His face buried itself into the warm chest of his boyfriend, arms wrapped tightly around his waist. But Hangeng didn't move yet. Though he ached to wrap himself into Heechul, to kiss him and hold him and tell him everything was fine, he couldn't. His gaze was still stuck on the sleeping man across the room.
"Heechul, what's this?"
"What's what?" He asked, gazing up at Hangeng's face. He followed the direction of Hangeng's eyes, and jerked, startled once again by the man he’d let into his home last night. Then it clicked.
"No, no, Hangeng. It's not what you think. He came knocking on the door last night, trying to get me to do something with his church, but then the storm sirens when off and he didn't have a car, so I couldn't make him walk all the way home in the rain. I had to let him in, okay? Then the storm got worse, so... So I brought him down here! But the power went out and we couldn't do anything. I tried calling you, but it cut out and I lost bars. I didn't mean to fall asleep like I did, but we weren't doing anything I swear! He doesn't like men, he's a Christian." He took a large breath, catching up on the air he had lost during the entire spell.
His voice had woken up the stranger. His eyes squinted from the overhead light, making it harder for him to comprehend what he was seeing for a moment.
"Ah...I don't know your name," he muttered, looking at Heechul.
Heechul's head turned, his arm still latched around Hangeng. "Heechul. This is Hangeng, my boyfriend. Hangeng, this is Choi Siwon."
Siwon nodded, his eyes glancing over their embrace quickly, and his mouth seemed to tighten in contempt. Somehow, that simple unconscious gesture made Hangeng relax.
"Thank you, for letting me stay in your home during the storm."
"No problem. Sorry for...denying your invitation to Church."
Siwon almost started to say that it was fine, that he understood that not everyone believed in his God, but then paused, a grin curling his lips, showing off his pearly white teeth. "Oh but, you are coming."
"Excuse me?" Heechul sneered, his grip tightening on Hangeng's torso.
"You prayed to God last night that you would go to church with me if He let you live."
Heechul's jaw dropped.
"I did not!"
"Hangeng can come, too."
"No he won't!"
"Actually, I wouldn't mind going..."
"Yes you would!"
"That's great! The Church is always looking for new members."
"I'm not going!"
"I'll make sure Heechul's on his best behavior."
"Best behavior my ! God doesn't exist! I don't believe in that fairytale and I'm a raving homoual. Do you want me to have with Hangeng against the podium? I'll all over a Bible if I have to! You can't make me go!"
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