Thunderstorms.

Tao hated – no, detested them.

They would come all of a sudden, making the poor boy jump in fright due to the loud booms and crackles of thunder and lightning.

Tao detested thunderstorms.

   Then again, when there were thunderstorms, it gave Tao more of a reason to be enveloped in Minseok’s arms, as the older sang him a lullaby, making sure Tao wouldn’t get scared of the thunder. Sure, Minseok got annoyed whenever he found an almost tearing panda lightly shaking him, awakening him from his slumber. Nevertheless, Minseok would never deny Tao from his embrace, always making sure that the younger slept soundly despite the thunderstorm.

   Minseok never did complain about Tao, nor has Minseok ever felt like blowing up upon looking at the younger’s helpless and clearly afraid face. Tao would always look at Minseok with a face even their fans couldn’t imagine, hence Minseok felt as if he really needed to take care of the younger. Tao wasn’t uncomfortable when the both of them had their arms around each other, their foreheads almost touching. There were times when Tao rested his head near Minseok’s chest, hearing the heartbeat that would always calm the poor boy down and distract him from the loud noises out the window.

   Minseok would sometimes hum or even sing a lullaby, patting the younger’s back and trying to get the younger to fall asleep. Neither of them would realize that they fell for each other, their hearts sinking into a pillow full of saccharine feelings. Tao was the first to stumble into that pillow, so he admit he did feel a sense of shyness whenever the both of them would cuddle and just lay in silence, either listening to each other’s heartbeats or the subtle creaks of the tree branch against their dorm window.

   Tao really liked the scent Minseok gave out, it reminded him of rose petals, but sometimes it would remind him of Aloe-Vera. Nonetheless, yes, Tao enjoyed being in Minseok’s arms. Even if the elder didn’t know his feelings, or if it was a one-sided love, Tao felt fuzzy and warm.

   Tao didn’t ask Minseok to cuddle him during thunderstorms; it just came so naturally for Minseok upon seeing the younger huddled in thick blankets, eyes shut while cradling his legs. Minseok noticed how Tao was about to cry when he hear the loud rumble of thunder. He watched how Tao covered his ears and let out a small whimper. As an elder member, Minseok carefully went up to the younger and placed his arms around Tao, causing the younger to look up at him.

   “You should have just told me you were afraid, you idiot.” Minseok whispered, clutching the younger closer to him. Tao just nodded, understanding a little bit of the Korean words he spoke.

    “Thank you, Xiumin gege.” Tao replied, shivering slightly at the contact both of them had. Minseok smiled, and then pulled Tao over to the bed, making sure he felt safe and protected.

    “Gege, stay with me, please?” Tao said, tugging on Minseok’s sleeve and clutching the blanket. Minseok, who gave in to Tao’s begging, just slid into the bed, bringing the both of them together, just hugging.

    Since then, Tao fell hard for Minseok. Till the point Tao would feel depressed without a regular hug from Minseok. You could say it was the only thing that kept him sane, from all the work he had from being an idol. Tao tried to distance himself from Minseok, to ensure he wouldn’t fall even more for the elder. Of course, the oblivious Minseok would always make sure Tao was somehow by his side, be it behind, in front, beside, a space away. Even way before Minseok and Tao debuted; Tao would hug Minseok whenever he felt alone, since he was away from his family.

    Minseok would listen whenever Tao had to rant, but of course, not understanding a word since Tao usually spoke in mandarin. Tao himself knew that Minseok hardly understood a word he said, but he felt much more comfortable talking to the Korean boy rather than his other members. He might have been slightly awkward around Jongdae, but Minseok? Tao felt an instant pull upon meeting him. As if the both of them had met somewhere, or knew each other. They were comfortable around each other, which sometimes led the other members into thinking they knew each other long before EXO came together.

    Of course, Minseok was oblivious, like I said, about Tao’s feelings. This led the ‘XiuHan’ couple to be formed. Minseok didn’t know that Tao would always be watching the both of them interact with sad eyes, sometimes full of jealousy. Tao had asked Luhan how he felt about Minseok, and the answer he got made his heart malfunction.

    “Minseok? I love him.” Luhan answered bravely, a big smile on his face. Tao stuttered to find words, but eventually just nodded, looking down.

    “What’s wrong, Zitao? Did I say something wrong?” Luhan continued, his face innocent and curious. Tao just shook his head, managing to pull out a smile and escape into his room.

Tao was alone.

Alone and afraid.

There was yet another thunderstorm, but this time, he was alone.

Minseok wasn’t around to comfort him.

No, he thinks Minseok doesn’t even give a damn about him.

Here he was again, huddled into a ball with a blanket around him.

    Tao felt warm tears dripping down from his eyes, down his cheeks and jawbone, his lower lip quivering ever so slightly. He tried to hide the loud sobs coming out from his mouth, but anyone could tell he was clearly bawling. His body shook, full of fear, but also the feeling of sadness. The only person he roomed with was Minseok, and Tao refused any of the other members coaxing him to stay in their rooms since the Korean members went back to Seoul to visit their families. Kris asked if Tao wanted to sleep over in his room, since the leader roomed with Jongdae, but of course, Tao just declined, scattering into his room.

    Tao knew he had to get some sleep. But he couldn’t without Minseok’s arms around him during the thunderstorm. “Gege…” he would utter, shielding his ears from the loud noises. He looked over at Minseok’s empty bed, trying to stabilize his breathing. Of course, he would let out a whimper whenever the loud sounds came back. Tao looked up again, his eyes now swollen red and his cheeks stained with tears. He heard the soft tune playing from his mobile phone, as he turned to its direction slowly.

    He stood slowly, grasping onto his blanket and walking over to his phone, the sound echoing perfectly around the room. As soon as Tao reached for it, the ringing stopped. He was confused, but as it rang again, he answered it, noticing the caller ID.

    “Tao-ah! Are you okay? Kris told me there was a thunderstorm.” Tao heard Minseok’s worried voice from the other line. Tao smiled slightly to himself, but felt his knees turn weak.

    “Huang Zitao? Hey, can you hear me? Listen, I know you’re afraid, but you need to sleep.” Minseok said, nibbling on his fingers slightly.

    “… Gege.” Tao responded softly, Minseok had to strain slightly to hear, but he held the phone away from his ear as soon as he heard Tao let out a whimper and a loud boom.

    Tao’s knees gave way, hence he was back on the floor, tears threatening to come out yet again. He felt better after hearing Minseok’s voice, but he still felt afraid and alone.

   “Tao, listen to me. Get on the bed. Relax, calm down. I’m here for you.” Minseok stated clearly, hearing the soft footsteps Tao made as he walked towards the bed, more precisely, Minseok’s bed.

    “Okay, lie down, but don’t hang up on me. You’re probably on my bed, no?”

    Tao chuckled slightly, curling himself up into a ball. He winced again, as he heard lightning clash and creating a loud sound. He almost cried out loud to Minseok on the phone, but started to calm down as Minseok sang to him through the telephone.

    Tao nibbled on his lower lip, listening to the melody streaming out from the telephone. Minseok’s voice was extremely soothing to him, and he always wondered why Minseok had so little lines in their debut album thus far. Tao felt as if the thunder and lightning were long gone as he listened to Minseok’s singing. Though he did whimper when loud crashes of thunder were heard, Minseok remained calm and asked Tao to focus on his voice.

Eventually, Tao drifted into a slumber. Minseok heard the calm breathing of Tao and chuckled slightly.

“I love you Tao, good night, sleep tight.”

With that, Minseok hung up, and fell asleep as well.

Tao didn’t hear Minseok’s little confession, but a small smile tugged up the younger’s lips.

Yes, thunderstorms sure can bring two people together, and who knows, they can fall in love in the weirdest way possible.

That is, thanks to Minseok’s saccharine lullaby, Tao slept like a newborn baby.

He wasn’t alone and afraid anymore.

 

and, voila. c:
it was raining when I was writing so, why not.
it's not exactly 'romance' in like, kissing and blahblah,
but still,
it's cute. to me. ;AA;
btw.
i ship xiuhan too. * ^ *
and when Luhan said "I love him", he meant it in a brotherly way,
but Tao misunderstood it, get it? c:

thanks for reading! ^^

because baozi and xiutao with jealous luhan.