Kyuhyun ran through the rain, breathing harshly and fighting against the urge to rip his own hair out. Bangs were plastered to his forehead, obscuring his already heavily obscured vision. Cursing over and over again, he skidded around a corner, hurrying through the grey of early evening.

“Ryeowook!” he shouted, clothes weighed down by water. Shoes squeaked with every step, heaving out buckets of water with every shuddering step. “Ryeowook, where are you?” Kyuhyun screamed.

Suddenly, his phone was buzzing and he reached into his pocket, pulling it out.

“Go away,” the voice said.

Kyuhyun slowed down, finding shelter beneath the lip of a store front. “Where are you? Just tell me and I won’t tell your dad.”

“I don’t want you,” Ryeowook croaked, the sound of rain breaking up the connection.

“Shut up and tell me where you are,” Kyuhyun raked fingers through his drenched locks. “Tell me or I’ll never stop searching. I’ll look for you until I die and you’ll be responsible.”

There was no reply, but then Ryeowook was crying – sobbing, really. Kyuhyun’s heart quickened as he slowly stepped out into the rain again, barely hearing the thunderous downpour. Turning around, he peered through the haze of drops towards the dead end alley.

Closing the phone, Kyuhyun strode with measured steps. He dropped his arm, face expressionless as he approached the boy huddled near some trashcans. Tears were lost in nature’s wails on his soft, smooth skin.

Too much anguish…loneliness…desperation bubbled in his wet eyes. Those gently speaking lips trembled, knees pulled up to his skinny body. Arms wrapped protectively around his knees, hair dripping down the slopes of his face. Kyuhyun felt that image engrave itself into his mind – not because it was tragically beautiful. No, rather, it was because he only then realized how closely he related with a boy so different.

Falling to his knees, he pried Ryeowook’s arms aside, wrapping him in a tight hug. There was no fight left as sobs wracked the slender boy and he clung onto the chilled body trying to warm him. “Don’t worry,” Kyuhyun whispered into his damp neck, fingers curled into Ryeowook’s shirt, “I understand…so I’ll be here…I promise.”

“I hate…I hate it…,” he shut his eyes, words broken in stutters, “I-I don’t want to b-be alone anymore. He’s n-never there…no o-one is ever there.”

Kyuhyun pulled back, leaning his forehead against Ryeowook’s. Their lips touched in the cold rain, brief and absent. “I’ll be around,” he promised, “Even if he’s not there, I’ll keep you company, so don’t cry anymore…I can find you even when you run away.”

Ryeowook sniffled, shutting his eyes as the tears continued to fall. He said nothing, only nodding and pulling himself against Kyuhyun’s body again.

Opening his eyes, Ryeowook gazed out at the landscape. There were stars twinkling above and a quiet haven below. He let the blanket slip from his shoulders, pooling around his waist. In the other room, Donghae slumbered soundly, content after such a long night.

Dawn would be breaking soon, and Ryeowook hadn’t been able to sleep much with all his thoughts jumbled together. Deciding to stay up and watch it, he had found himself dropping in and out of dreams, fantasies, and wonderings. He had been keeping himself busy with work, avoiding any opportunity that arose to talk in depth about his unfortunate reunion with Kyuhyun.

All that had been going through his mind was how to get through the next few days. When their eyes locked in that dealer’s room of all places, Ryeowook had felt all systems shut down. It was a reflex meant to stop anything from falling out of his hands, but now, as he absorbed the idea of losing Kyuhyun again, it seemed that the reflex was losing effectiveness.

Seeing him again changed the game.

Ryeowook let his head fall back, a heavy sigh slipping past his lips. Thinking back, Kyuhyun had been there since the night of the incident. It was only a build-up of stress and frustration, but it had led to a stupid stunt while Ryeowook’s father was working.

Always being the good kid hadn’t helped his decision. And so, Ryeowook left home with nothing. He hadn’t thought it all through, which was why by the time he figured out what a stupid mistake it was to run away, pride wouldn’t let him go back.

Yet…Kyuhyun showed up. He had a way of inching his way into someone’s heart and that was the day Ryeowook realized why.

“It was the start of something so dangerous,” he muttered, smiling subconsciously.

They rarely spoke of the incident, having buried it beneath many conflicts and changes to come in the next few years of high school. Kyuhyun never broke his promise though. That was the painfully irritating part. If he had even once failed to show up when Ryeowook needed him, it would be thousands of times easier to feel fewer emotions towards him.

Even now, as Ryeowook truly made himself an outcast, Kyuhyun was still pursuing him. It was boundless and perhaps foolish.

In the end though, it had a way of pressing on that certain soft spot. Ryeowook wouldn’t dare explore those emotions again, but somehow they were crawling out of the confines of a tightly built mental box and roaming freely in his mind.

“I don’t want you involved,” he whispered inaudibly, resting his head against the window pane, “so stop following…please stop…” Ryeowook closed his eyes, pulling his legs up, “…It’s already unnecessary now.”