Another clap of lightning and rumble of thunder followed by another strange noise from the neighbour’s apartment caused Himchan to stir in his sleep, opening his eyes knowing that he wasn't going to be getting back to sleep anytime soon.

On and on the thunder and lightning clapped in the nights sky, the lightning illuminating his dark room for only the briefest of moments before the thunder could be heard and just like clockwork the bedroom next to his, only separated by a thin wall, made peculiar sounds.

The thunderstorms weren't all that common but whenever they hit at night Himchan could be sure that his neighbour’s apartment would be making some sort of noise, it always did. His neighbour was called Yongguk, only a few months older than Himchan but that was the extent of Himchan's knowledge of the mysterious man. Yongguk had kept to himself the whole time he had moved into the apartment and even the other neighbours couldn't shed any more light on him. Himchan was curious about his next door neighbour. He didn't like not knowing what was going on around him and when he had talked to the others in the building about this matter he was met with shrugs and shaking heads. More so when Himchan brought up the thunderstorms he was met with more puzzled expressions. Apparently he was the only one who heard them, but he wasn't crazy. He was sure of that much. 

After the first few thunderstorms Himchan had assumed that they may have been some sort of ual for his neighbour. Meeting him in the hallway the night after a thunderstorm had him leaning more towards that idea, Yongguk would be wearing the same clothes he'd seen on him the morning before and his eyes would barely be able to stay open. It was obvious to Himchan that they both lost out on sleep during those stormy nights.

But then after a while he noticed that no one but Yongguk came in or out of his flat. That was when he started to wonder if Yongguk lead a thugs life, his previous theory had been flung out of the window. He started to wonder if maybe Yongguk was in some sort of gang, terrorising the streets during the day and at night getting high in his room. It could account for the noises and also for why he was keeping such a low profile in his building. But that thought was quickly swept away when he had walked by a coffee shop one day.

 

 

---

 

 

It had just been like any other day for Himchan. He'd just finished his shift in the toy store, he didn't particularly like the children but they seemed to like him and it was pretty good money, Himchan would have been a fool to say no to the job. They had had a thunderstorm that night so he was in dire need of caffeine thanks to his neighbour making a detour to his favourite coffee shop just down the road from the toy shop. To make his day worse once he had set foot into the coffee shop and had nodded to he noticed his usual spot at the back of the store had been taken. He loved that spot, in the dark and away from everyone else, he could sit there all day and unwind without a care in the world by himself with no interruptions. But that day there were a group of people sat around his table, young teenage girls with their IPads and IPods. Himchan scoffed at the sight and almost turned to leave again until he remembered, he really needed that coffee.
 
Scanning the rest of the shop he realised just how crowded it was, nearly all of the tables were full and the few that weren't were at the front of the store with empty coffee cups littered over them, spills on the tables and even the remains of food. Dejectedly Himchan chose the better of the cluttered tables and pushed a few of the cups to the other side of a table and sat down on the chair finding a napkin to try and wipe away the coffee spills on his side of the table.

As soon as he was happy he looked towards the counter to make eye contact with the employee he knew so well. As a matter of fact he knew all of the employees well, being a regular to the establishment done that to him, but he had taken a shine to this one particular employee. She was only a few years older than him and she always seemed to give him a reasonable discount whenever she served him, she was considerate enough to know when Himchan wanted conversation and when he didn't and for that reason alone, she was his favourite.

Of course as soon as he looked over in her direction he was greeted with her dazzling smile and he simply nodded his head to her before she started getting to work on his coffee. He was the only customer that he had seen to get this special treatment, everyone else had to go up to the counter to order, but he saw it as something he deserved because of the amount of money he spent there. 

As Himchan was waiting for his coffee to be placed in front of him, along with the girls number as well he was guessing, he looked out the window across the street to another coffee shop. Himchan was all about the label so he always came to the coffee shop that had stores all over the world, but the coffee shop he was looking at was a local one. It didn't look as modern as the one he was sat in and the off coloured paint had him feeling slightly uncomfortable, but he guessed that it might have a more homely feel to it that appealed to the older or those who didn't care about where they went to get their coffee. 

But it wasn't because of its 'homely feel' that he spent longer than necessary staring at it. It was the strangely content employee that was talking to a woman sat at one of the tables outside the shop. She started bowing profusely before she got up and set off quickly down the street while the man sat in her place. Only when he bent down towards something did he realise that the woman had left him alone with her child who couldn't have been any older than three. The kid was in his pushchair and was holding out a robot toy towards the guy as he was jumping up and down as much as he could in his chair, the little boy was all gums, food and snot, even Himchan could notice this from his spot across the street, but the man didn't seem to care, sending a big gummy smile back to the little boy, this smile was filled with more teeth and less snot though. 

They played with the toy robot for a while longer before the little kid started to complain and even threw the robot on the ground as he started thrashing around, adding tears to the list of things that was on his face. The man nervously looked down the street in the direction the woman had run off in and with a sigh said man unbuckled the straps around the kid and lifted him up onto his knee and started bouncing him, picking up the kids robot at the same time. Then as the little boy and man were facing each other, so Himchan couldn't see the kid's reactions, the guy started making continuous funny faces at the kid, even making Himchan chuckle at some of the faces that contorted his once handsome face into looks of pain and constipation. 

A poke to his arm tore his gaze away from the man across the road as he looked up into the eyes of a woman who wore such a smile he thought her cheeks would split from the stretch. He quickly looked down to the ice cold coffee on the table and noted the napkin that had something white poking out from underneath it with the tell tale sign of a kiss written on it. 

"Your iced americano!" She said all too happily. Himchan mindlessly reached into his pocket and drew out the money he had placed in there for that exact reason and handed it to her without even looking away from his coffee. "I hope you enjoy it!" She said, yet again all too happily as she bounced away from his table back to her place behind the counter. But Himchan wasn't listening.

He held the iced americano in his hand and brought the straw up to his mouth as his gaze slowly wandered back over to the man across the road who was now talking to the kids mother who had just returned as he handed the kid back over to her. She seemed to be thanking him over and over again as a small blush covered his cheeks and he ducked his head and scratched the back of his head, saying something to her at the same time. They made their final nods to one another before the woman put the child back into the pushchair, much to his annoyance, and she packed up her stuff and started strolling down the path to who knows where.  

The smile may have gone from the man's face but the blush was still there and even as he was cleaning up the woman's table the smile would reappear on his face, smaller than before but still there nonetheless.

From that moment on, that table at the front of the shop became Himchan's favourite, and instead of looking forward to his coffee he started looking forward to watching the guy he had previously only known as Yongguk, now he knew him as Yongguk, the guy who worked in the local coffee shop.

 

 

---

 

 

But one night Himchan had finally had enough.

He'd had enough of the noises, the sleepless night, the anger and most of all the constant questioning as to what was really going on in that apartment next to his. 

That was how he found himself outside his neighbour’s door around two in the morning in his pyjamas and pink bunny slippers waiting for the other man to open the door and explain himself for the constant noise that had been keeping Himchan awake for too long, but no one answered. 

"Maybe he's gone out for the night." Himchan tried to reason, but another clap of lightning and a low rumble produced yet another noise from the apartment. "Maybe he just has a pet... Although pets are against the rules in here." He tried knocking on the door again but still no response.

Then the lightning struck again and the thunder clapped louder than ever, closer to their building, the dark hallway lit up for the briefest of moments and all of a sudden Himchan started to panic. He felt like he had just jumped out of his skin, the noise from the thunder catching him off guard and his mind went into overdrive as it started worrying. 

That was when he heard the yelp that put his brain into autopilot coming from beyond the door in front of him. 

"He must be hurting those animals." Himchan thought he had it all figured out as he knocked on the door again for a third time, this time harder than the others and waiting all of two seconds before turning the door handle to find that the place was unlocked anyway. He didn't think it through too long as he weighed up his options and decided to step inside of this unfamiliar apartment. 

The apartment looked just like his, it wasn't as floral and flowing more of a manly black and white look about it but the layout was identical to his. 

But Himchan hadn't just basically broken into his neighbour’s house to analyse its layout and he was quick to search the ground for an injured creature. After finding nothing in the living room, even going as far to check under the black rug in front of the sofa, he wandered into the kitchen to carry on his search but stopped in his tracks.

The kitchen was almost completely neat and tidy, it wouldn't even look like anyone cooked in it if it wasn't for the clear spillage on the counter and shards of glass on the floor, someone had certianly been in there recently. As Himchan made his way cautiously further into the room and looked into the pan on the stove to see uncooked ramen and nothing else, not even the water that needed to be added to cook it, he started trying to piece things together.

There had been a glass of water on the side at one point, someone was in that kitchen most likely making ramen for their dinner, but something must have happened for the glass to have been smashed to pieces on the floor and whoever was in there to have mysteriously vanished. But what Himchan still didn't understand was what they done to the animal.

Then as if on queue another bolt of lightning coupled with the thunder flashed throughout the house, this time the strange noise was easier to pinpoint. If the apartments layout was exactly like his own then the sound came from the bedroom. Himchan stole a quick few glances around the parts of the apartment he could see and deemed it safe enough so  he moved forward to the bedroom door. 

Once the door was opened he pushed it as far open as it could go while he was still stood outside of the room, cautiously looking in. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary and it wasn't until another flash of lightning lit up the room that he noticed the circular shape under the bed covers, it was quivering.

Himchan was quick to make his way across the room and knelt down by the side of the bed getting ready to uncover the clearly frightened animal, all thoughts of the animals owner had vanished from his mind and he was solely focused on looked after the animal.

When he pulled the covers back however he was greeted by flesh and bone just like him, dressed in only a pair of sweats, curled up in the foetal position. Even though he was facing the persons back he could clearly make out the mess of hair that was sticking up in all directions that he knew all too well. He had gotten used to seeing the hair neatly combed for his work but he knew anywhere that the person who was hiding in fear under his covers was none other than Yongguk, his manly next door neighbour.

 

 

---

 

 

Every time Himchan was in his usual coffee shop after work he would make a point to stare out across the road, no longer staring longingly at his coffee as if it was his lover. He would watch Yongguk like a hawk, eyeing his every little thing he done, after a couple of weeks he had figured out the others working hours and somehow he found that it was during those hours that he would find himself in the well established coffee shop across the road,  just so happening to watch the others ever movement. 

He had only gone back to the coffee store the day after the first initial sighting to see the others smile again, so contradicting to the rest of his manly features, it had sparked something of an interest from Himchan. To his disappointment however he never saw it again. The only thing the other man had to offer was a steely gaze, straight back and his lips set in a thin line. Gone was that adorable man Himchan had seen, replaced by someone who looked like he had just stepped out of his military service, still stuck in the tights strung ways. 

After a few more visits he still had yet to see the other smile again. Nothing seemed to make him smile let alone blush like he had that one time so long ago in Himchan's mind but he wanted to do anything to see that smile again. Himchan had never been so infuriated with someone else's features before and as much as the feeling scared him he just couldn't stop himself from turning up to the coffee shop everyday. 

He vowed that he would keep on watching Yongguk from across the road until he finally got to see that unique smile of his again.

 

 

---

 
How long had Yongguk been lying there? Himchan had started hearing him that night hours ago. If he had been crying all that time then no wonder his face looked the way it did.

The time between the flashes of thunder and lightning was getting shorter and Yongguk's body was now violently shaking in its place in the centre of the bed, shaky breathes escaping his lips. The silence between them stretched on for a long while before Yongguk quickly rolled over to face Himchan.

"Plea-SE! PLEASE!" Yongguk had started off quietly but the thunder had hit yet again and his voice had risen in pure fear.

"... What is it?" Himchan asked warily, not understanding what Yongguk was actually pleading for.

"D-Don't... Don't go." His voice was so small and unlike him.

Himchan did the only thing he could think of, he stood up from his kneeling position next to the bed and held out his hand for the other to take, with what he hoped was a friendly smile on his face. 

Yongguk seemed wary at first but wearily lifted his arm and slid his palm into the others and slowly sat up in his place, making his was slowly to his feet.

He had shuffled to the edge of his bed, still gripping onto Himchan's hand as if it was his life support, he placed one foot firmly onto the ground and with a shaky breath he attempted to finally leave his bed when,

"!" 

"... Ow..."

The high pitched clap and low rumble of thunder had caught them both off guard, Yongguk had gone flying into Himchan in search of safety but had succeeded in knocking him to the floor at the same time.

Somewhere in the pile of limbs Himchan had managed to free one of his arms which he used to pat the elders back reassuringly.

"I know you're pretty freaked out right now Yongguk, but can we please try to get up off this floor? I have an idea on how to help you but we need to get to the living room."

They awkwardly made their way to their feet, Yongguk refusing to let go of Himchan's hand, and managed to shuffle their way out into the living room without another interference from the weather. Himchan led the elder to his sofa and gently pushed him down while fumbling around trying to find the item he knew was on the table next to them. Finally Himchan had located the object and placed it in Yongguk's lap before carefully lifting Yongguk's headphones and placing them over his ears.

Yongguk had been staring at Himchan's face ever since he had been pushed down onto the sofa and even when his headphones were placed on his head he refused to look away from Himchan. Himchan sighed and crouched down in front of Yongguk and clicked the device to life. Staring at the bright screen he thanked the heavens that it hadn't been password protected and he made a bee line for the music. He made sure that the volume was quiet before he began searching, first going to the playlist section and quickly finding one filled with reggae that he decided to play on random.

"Yongguk I need you to let go of my hand now, okay? I need to go and get a few things that will make you feel better and I can't do that when you're holding onto my hand." 

Himchan had remembered that not too long ago he had compared the elder to someone who had 'just stepped out of his military service' because of his strong and confident features. The man in front of him at that moment reminded him more of a child.

More specifically he reminded him of his nine year old nephew, the only child he had actually taken a liking to. He didn't get to see him much but when he did they would have their own little sleepovers which would mostly end in his nephew becoming scared of something, monsters under the bed, the noises he hears outside, the dark, there was almost a different fear every night that kept them up for hours after the agreed bedtime.

After sitting down with his sister and making a game plan Himchan started trying to help his little nephew with his fears. They would sit in the kitchen just before bed time, each with a glass of warm milk in their hands, and talk about what they would do the next time Himchan was there. Once they had finished their drinks they would go upstairs and make themselves comfortable on the mass of blankets that Himchan had placed on the floor before hand. They would lay next to each other and take turns in making up funny stories for the other and once the little one was out cold Himchan would try to get some sleep as well.

But there were some nights when the little one would toss and turn, too frightened to go to sleep, and Himchan would be forced to pull out his IPod and give his nephew the headphones who would take them gladly. Not even five minutes later the kid would be fast asleep and Himchan would take the headphones out with a satisfied smirk on his face.


Of course Himchan and his sister had different ways to go about bed time with the boy and because Himchan didn't get to see his nephew that often he found that his nights were the easiest, his sister would only lay in his room when he really couldn't fall asleep and even then he would be in his own bed and she would leave as soon as he was asleep, which was probably one of the reasons why his nephew was always so happy to see him.

"Hi- Himchan? That is your na-name right?" Himchan was brought out of his thoughts as he looked up at the man who had let go of his hand a while ago.

"Yes, that is my name. Now I just want you to turn up the volume really loud and I will be back in a minute." Himchan done a thumbs up as he heard the music slowly getting louder to the point that he could hear the music himself.

Nodding to himself that Yongguk would be fine by without his presense for a while he walked back into the bedroom and quickly scooped up the duvet in his arms and headed back for the living room, trying to be as quick as possible.

Passing a mirror though he couldn't help but turn to look at his reflection, wondering how bad he looked at two in the morning when he knew he had work the next day. His hair was a mess, nothing like he was used to, and he could see the red marks from threatening spots dotted around his face, thanks to the extra caffeine intake and lack of sleep, that he would normally cover with some form of makeup. 

Shuddering at his own appearance he made it back into the living room where Yongguk was still mindlessly listening to his music, his eyes wide and solely focused on Himchan.

Himchan placed the duvet over Yongguk until the only part of Yongguk he could see was his head. He seemed to look somewhat calmer and even though the white flashes of light indicated that it was still stormy outside he looked to be less fazed by it.

Himchan made an okay sign with his hand and raised a questioning eyebrow towards the elder who happily nodded his head before Himchan started walking off in the direction of the kitchen.

In the kitchen he carefully made his way around the broken glass remains on the floor as he made his way towards the stove, knowing that the pans would be around there somewhere. Once he had found a pan he set to warming up some milk, he was concerned however about the presence of the thunder, wondering if he should have left his neighbour in the toom by himself.

"Himchan..." The words were so quiet they may as well had been whispered, but Himchan heard them clearly. Poking his head round the corner he looked towards Yongguk to see his watery eyes, the bottom half of his face now encased in the duvet wrapped around him. Himchan could do nothing but hold up a finger to him, indicating that he would only be a minute, and turn back to the pan, switching it off and pouring the milk into the two glasses that he had placed on the side before he walked back over to the quivering older male.

"Here." He said holding out the milk to the human duvet, the man who was once Yongguk, now fully concealed by the duet, failed to hear him because of his music. "Tsh, big baby." He set their milk glasses on the table beside them and sat down next to Yongguk, slowly pulling away the duvet to reveal the elders face.

They stayed that way for a while, both just staring at each other, Himchan trying to figure out Yongguk and the other probably doing the same. "Here, have your milk before it goes cold." Himchan knew that Yongguk couldnt hear him but it was the only thing he could think of while he was looking into the elders watery eyes.  He leanded over to grab the glass and held it out infront of Yongguks face, the others hands instantly popping up out of the duvet and practically pawing to get at the drink. Yongguk instantly encased Himchan's hand in his own as he brought the warm drink closer to his face and started to guzzle it down, drinking it as if it would end the storm. "Sorry." Yongguk muttered once he was finished drinking, letting go of Himchan's hands and smiling sheepishly.

 

Himchan warmly smiled in return and put the now empty glass back down on the table next to Yongguk.

 

"Better?" He asked the man who was starting to create space between himself and his duvet.

 

"Better." Yongguk confirmed. "Have you done this before?"

 

"What? Breaking into someones house to take care of them? No I haven't."

 

"I meant just taking care of someone. You seem experienced."

 

"That's not the first time someone has said that to me." Himchan said, humor lacing his voice with a stupid smile on his face. His face turned serious however when he noticed Yongguk's unamused expression. "My nephew doesn't like this weather either."

 

Himchan got a simple 'ahhhh' in return before they landed themselves in an awkward silence. The thunder and lightning was now in the back of their minds, their company enough for each other.

 

"I'm sorry for barging into your home so late at night."

 

"I'm sorry for not locking my front door."

 

It was a few minutes of awkward silence before Yongguk lifted his duvet and ushered Himchan closer to him, beckoning him under the warmth, to which Himchan agreed to without a second thought. 

 

Somehow they ended up laying down side by side on the sofa under the comfort of the duvet completely at ease and inches from sleep.

 

Yongguk inhaled Himchan's scent, that man now snoring softly, the comfort of someone else being next to him calming him to no end. 

 

"I was looking for someone to save me. Be my protector. Hold me when I need to be held. Maybe that someone is you. The weird guy who watches me from across the street in the coffee house."