rating: PG-13

genre: romance, fluff

word count: approx. 1,000+

The house was still; its hallways completely silent, and its rooms seemingly devoid of any and all human existence. Several drops of rain pitter-pattered against the windows, making the glass appear broken and fractured as they streaked downwards, leaving thin traces of water behind them. The gray, smoky clouds rolled across the sky, random bouts of roaring thunder coming and going at varying intervals and strikes of white lightning shooting out from the clouds' underbellies.

Kai pressed his palms against his eyes, head bent low as he counted slowly to himself.

Eighty-eight. Eighty-nine. Ninety...

His mind nearly drowned in the sound of the erupting thunder, but nevertheless, Kai kept counting.

Ninety-four. Ninety-five. Ninety-six . . .

He cautiously peered into the space before him as the storm outside sent tiny tremors throughout the house. Everything seemed frozen and still, but he knew that that definitely wasn't the case.

Ninety-eight. Ninety-nine... One hundred.

Kai stood upright, cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting, “Ready or not, here I come!”

A mischievous smile spread across Krystal's face. It took all of her willpower – and both of her hands – to keep herself from laughing. She bit the inside of her cheek, holding her breath as she heard Kai's footfalls against the floorboards.

“Where are you...?” she heard him muse. He was still searching downstairs.

Closing the pantry door behind him, Kai shuffled out of the kitchen and rushed upstairs. “If I don't find you within the next five minutes, I'm gonna start singing Michael Jackson songs until you come out and force me to stop.”

No reply.

Krystal sank deeper into her hiding place, hugging her knees close to her chest and pressing her back against the interior of their closet. She felt the sleeves of his dress shirts and sweaters fall over her head, the smell of them almost overwhelming her nose. It was a nice smell; it was distinctly him. But she knew that if she inhaled any deeper, she wouldn't want to leave. And she had to leave if she didn't want him to find her.

Sliding the closet door open just a crack, Krystal peeked into their bedroom and found Kai wandering out inside the hall. She assumed he had gone looking for her in the bathroom, and after a few moments, she quickly crawled out of the closet. As quiet as she tried to be, it felt as if her heart was pounding loudly against her ears, overshadowing the sound of thunder cracking overhead. Krystal paused at the doorway, her eyes wide as she listened to determine whether or not Kai was near.

There was no sound.

Krystal shot up to her feet and started for downstairs. Now's my chance –

“Not so fast!”

Catching her by the waist, Kai laughed as he tucked Krystal under his chin, feeling her swear against his chest as he pulled her closer. She eventually leaned into him, swearing at herself now, and buried her cheeks into his shirt as they reddened – the typical reaction whenever he affectionately kissed any part of her face.

“I found you,” Kai said, his shoulders still shaking with laughter.

“You're kidding,” Krystal huffed. Her heart was still pounding, incessant and almost annoying, but nevertheless welcomed. “I thought you were looking for me in the bathroom.”

“I was. But then I remembered that's where I hid last time – and you know how well that went.”

Krystal raised her head, suddenly breaking into a fit of laughter at the look of utter regret painted on Kai's face. “It was just a sprinkle of water!” she said.

“It becomes way more than 'just a sprinkle of water' when it lands on your pants and gives other people the impression that you've had an inconvenient accident. Had I known we would be having unexpected visitors, I would've hidden somewhere else,” Kai muttered.

“I thought it was funny.”

“Says the only person who laughed.”

“My poor baby,” Krystal cooed, obviously teasing as she held the sides of Kai's face between her hands. “It wasn't that bad. They understood once we explained.”

“As if anyone would believe two adults playing hide-and-seek.”

“Who said we were adults? I thought we agreed on living as perpetual children in a really big house.”

“Ah, but children aren't allowed to do this.”

Kai pressed his lips against Krystal's, closing the distance between them and completely ignoring frenzy of the storm outside. Krystal slid her hands from his face to his chest, turning her chin up so he would kiss her harder, something which Kai was more than happy to oblige. In a way, it felt like they were having their own storm inside. The thrill of having his lips on hers, one of his hands on her hips and the other tangled in her hair, made Krystal's heart rattle inside her ribcage. If Kai was the storm, she was the tree; his love moving her as the strong wind moved the branches, fervently falling all over and within her, absolutely relentless.

At least, in that point in time.

A round of giggles got tangled in Krystal's throat as Kai abruptly pulled away, startled by the sudden wave of thunder roaring over their heads. The shock on his face was evident and he swore under his breath.

“I guess Mother Nature disapproves of our child's play,” Krystal breathed out, biting down on her lower lip as she smiled.

“Like I care about what Mother Nature thinks,” Kai scoffed. He pressed his forehead against Krystal's, his eyelashes casting shadows across his eyes. “She should learn to leave her children to their own devices.”

“Hmm,” Krystal hummed, playfully inquisitive. “I think what concerns her most is whether or not her children will behave.”

“I'll behave if you will.”

“Oh, but I never behave. Not since I started dating you.”

Kai smirked, the breath of his laughter tickling the sides of Krystal's face as he said, “I don't remember hearing you say anything in protest.”

Krystal pecked the corner of his mouth, smiling even though her cheeks were beginning to hurt, and replied. “That's because I never did.”

author's note: OKAY I HAVE A COUPLE OF THINGS TO SPAZZ ABOUT RIGHT NOW SO READ ON AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.

1. HAPPY 100+ SUBSCRIBERS!!1!1!!!1 Thank you guys so, so much for your subscriptions, your feedback, and your general sweetness <3 /throws cookies everywhere/ I haven't shared any of my writing in a while before this collection, so your comments are a real encouragement to me.

2. KRYSTAL AND SM THE BALLAD OMG OMG OMG OMG I CAN'T BREATHE SOMEONE HOLD ME PLEASE ;AAAAAA; Super excited to see SM putting the sub-unit to use again after what feels like TEN THOUSAND YEARS ( when really it was only like, what, five? ) and I can't wait to hear the full songs and the voices and my bby and - /screams/ I'm just so excited ;A;

Also, I've been thinking about changing my username. I probably will since it isn't like I'm gonna use the karma points for anything else, but this is just a heads up so you don't forget me xD I hope you guys enjoyed my cheesy, fluffy drabble! I had fun writing this. It initially started with a single-sentence prompt "The hallway was completely silent..." and I imagined them playing hide-and-seek. The smoochay-smoochay part just came to me as I was finishing it, but hopefully it doesn't look too misplaced LOL. Not sure if I have anything specifically planned for Valentine's Day - a small drabble spam of 2-3 pieces, maybe? They'll probably be reposts .. Still not sure, but I'll let you guys know when if it happens. Until the next update, everyone! - Ella