All at once, the lights disappeared, leaving the idols in complete and utter darkness.

"." Minho muttered and turned his attention to a piercing bright light that flashed across the sky with a dreading crack of lightning following after.

"I'll find the candles." Onew blindly searched the idols' dorm counters and Key sighed and whipped out his phone.

"Does that help?" Key asked sarcastically.

"As soon as I find those candles, shut your phone. No need to waste your battery." Onew replied, grateful for the light.

Jonghyun, in the meantime, felt around the kitchen counters until he found a specific drawer. Pulling out a lighter, Jonghyun smiled as the small flame flickered just making his light face visible.  Onew and Key hovered over the counters on the other side of the kitchen and Minho stood slipping on a light sweatshirt, probably knowing the heat would soon leave their small room. But something seemed odd, out of place..

“Key, where is Taemin-ah?” Jonghyun questioned. Key’s eyes became wide and hair stood on end.

“Where is MY BABY?!” he shrieked.

Minho sighed and ran his long slender fingers through his long black locks.

“Let’s just look around, Key. Don’t assume the worst and freak out.”

Jonghyun grabbed a candle from the counter and lit it before searching for the younger in the smaller bedrooms. Pushing open the door, he poked his head in and knocked on the wall.

“Taemin? Are you in here? I know the power’s out but there’s candles and Minho’s looking for a flashlight…” Jonghyun called out. Hearing a whimper, he ventured into the younger’s room and squatted down by the bed and cocked his head sideways to see Taemin underneath the bunk bed.

“What are you doing under there?” Jonghyun asked with a chuckle, “Get out from under there, you dork.”

Taemin slowly crawled out from under the bed and hung his head so that his long bangs covered his eyes. Jonghyun frowned and tipped the dancer’s chin up to see tears building up in his big brown eyes.

“What’s the matter, Taeminnie?” Jonghyun asked softly.

The brunette quickly shook his head but inhaled sharply and bit his lip—hard.

Suddenly another crack of thunder rang through the air and Jonghyun felt a hard push propel him across the floor onto his back, causing him to drop his candle in the process. Now the room was pitch dark. When he tried to sit up, he felt that the younger had tried to bury his face in Jonghyun’s baggy sweatshirt. He could feel Taemin’s whole body trembling in his lap and reached his strong arms around him for comfort.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you were afraid of thunderstorms?” Jonghyun mumbled gently into his soft hair.

“I- *hiccup* thought you would make fun of *hiccup* me.”  Taemin quietly whimpered into his sweatshirt and his clenched it tightly.

“Awh, you know I’m not that mean, Taemin.” Jonghyun smiled and kissed his forehead softly. “Come on, let’s go find another candle for you, okay?” he lifted Taemin’s head up and wiped the small tears from the corner of his eye. After a bit of blindly searching around for the candle he dropped, Jonghyun lit it with the lighter he had kept in his pocket, light brightening the room a bit.

“You won’t tell the others, will you? ...about my... problem?” Taemin looked up at his hyung worryingly. Jonghyun chuckled and ruffled the idol’s hair.

“Do you always think the worst of me?” Jonghyun smiled and took his hand, leading him into the main room where Key was still in “mother bear” mode, searching for his precious child. Key’s eyes lit up with relief when he saw Jonghyun lead Taemin into his sight.

“OMGOSH! Where have you been?!”  Key cried as he squeezed the breath out of his band mate.

“Umm..I—”

“He was searching for another flashlight in his room.” Jonghyun interrupted as Taemin smiled gratefully.

"That's good," Onew sighed in relief as he sat at the kitchen table with four lit candles. "We also found another lighter and some more candles. I think they should work just as well as flashlights until morning. It's weird though... I swear I thought we had flashlights..." he contemplated as he ruffled his head in thought.

“Well, since we’re all okay and we have some light,” Minho yawned, “I’m going to get some sleep. We still have rehearsal tomorrow with or without power.” Grabbing his candle, the rapper ruffled Taemin’s hair and left the group for the night.

“Why does everyone always touch my hair?” Taemin fixed his hair flustered. Onew stood up and stretched before picking up a light of his own.

“Because you’re cute,” he retorted as he ruffled the younger’s hair even more and chuckled as he headed off to his own bed.

“Ugh!” Taemin blushed furiously and Key didn’t give him any favors by hugging him hard and breaking his personal space bubble more than he could stand.

“Goodnight, my baby,” Key cooed, “Don’t forget to take a candle.” Key blew a kiss to the dancer as he skipped to his room with a pink glowing light. Taemin slowly turned to his hyung in horror,

“You’re not going to—”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Jonghyun smiled in amusement as he passed the younger a candle and motion him off in his bed’s direction. “Get off to bed, manager-hyung’s not going to care if we got any sleep tonight or not.”

Jonghyun walked Taemin to his bedroom and said goodnight but just as he turned to go back to his own room, he felt a small tug on the back of his sweatshirt.

“Can..can I sleep with you tonight?” Taemin asked timidly as he buried his red face into the soft fabric.

Jonghyun smiled, “Of course.”

Taemin followed his hyung to his room and set his candle down before snuggled into the covers like a mouse. The singer laughed softly and blew out his candle, leaving Taemin's light flickering.

“You know, Onew’s right, you’re pretty damn cute.” Taemin blushed furiously as Jonghyun lied down next to him and kissed his forehead.

“Goodnight.” Jonghyun wrapped his toned arms around the dancer's back and pulled him in close. Suddenly, another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky and a deafening boom followed after it. Jonghyun felt the body tense a little in his arms but not as violent as before. Taemin wriggled closer to his hyung and another light flashed past the window. But he smiled as he closed his eyes.

“Maybe thunderstorms aren’t so bad after all..” he thought.