The safest place in the world

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Yoo Kihyun wasn't someone easily scared. In fact, he was pretty chill out compared to some people like his little brother-Jooheon. Jooheon could literally be scared of his own shadow, and Kihyun would always take a bit sadistically at heart to laugh at him. Though, if there was something needing to be admitted, it was that he hated woods usually. Or, not woods per se, but strange noises in them. He would nope the fuck out as soon as possible as soon as he heard the faintest weird noise. There was something, however, that he hated even more than any frightening noise in the woods: Thunderstorms. Or well, just storms in general. He had never loved them, always running to his mother's bed, or more often, Jooheon's one as the boy was scared of them too. Which wasn't difficult since he was scared of everything, but anyway. 
 
Still, Kihyun absolutely hated storms. There was something terrifying about nature seeming so mad, big sounds and lightning ripping the sky apart. It was as beautiful as scary, and the artist hated to feel so vulnerable. He always felt like someone or something could hurt him in the very moment, and nobody would ever see it or know it. He really didn't like that.
 
The man looked at the hour. 2h30 AM. It was way too early, he was tired, and quite frankly a bit cold, but he was stuck in a cold bed alone. Sure, there was Hyunwoo, but he still had a bit of dignity left in him to not immediately go see him...
 
That dignity, however, quickly died down as the thunder doubled in intensity. Kihyun really felt unsafe for some dumb reasons, and as he got up, he felt like a kid again. Luckily, the taller man always left his door open, and Kihyun didn't really know what to do now that he was in front of him. He was still sleeping soundly, peacefully, and the smaller man didn't know if he should bother him or not. Wouldn't it be wrong to wake him up like this for something so childish?
 
The thunder roared again, and Kihyun felt his feet move on its own accord. At the same time, Hyunwoo woke up slightly. He could feel a presence with him, in the room, coming toward him. He wasn't dumb and knew who it was, or who it was supposed to be, and was quickly greeted with the sight of an obviously embarrassed but scared Kihyun. He was fidgeting with the edge of his long sleep shirt. 
 
"What's up?" Hyunwoo's voice was groggy with sleep, confused, and Kihyun felt horrible to wake him up for that. The boy always worked so hard, was so kind, and bothering him in the middle of the night was something Kihyun felt he shouldn't do. Yet, every nerve of his body felt on fire with fear, and he knew he had to get it out of his chest. No matter how embarrassing it would be.
 
"S-Sorry hyung...U-Uhm...M-Maybe I should go back to sleep. Sorry for bothering." Of course, the artist would chicken out. He felt too bad about waking Hyunwoo up and didn't want to make him mad for that. It was just a storm, a harmless storm that he would come out alive for sure, but no matter how many times he told his brain that, it still didn't listen. Every time the noise outside got more aggressive, his body would flinch and tense almost painfully.
 
However, Hyunwoo wasn't dumb. He could hear the thunder roaring, lightning ripping the sky appart, and the trees swinging violently outside. It was an atmosphere he personally really liked, something he was used to and liked to listen to. There was something weirdly calming about storms to him; it was as if he felt like he was in his own bubble, his own world for a few moments, and that nothing could come to bother him. He would even usually write during storms, but now was not the time obviously, and Kihyun seemed very scared. It was probably because of it.
 
"It's the storm, isn't it?" The writer's voice was still raspy, a bit cut to the edge, but there was no aggressivity in his tone, not one ounce of judgment. That was something expected in Hyunwoo, and Kihyun felt a little smile appear on his face at the thought before he jumped in fear at another lightning. Then, looking back at his friend, he shyly nodded. His eyes were quick to watch the ground again as if scared of what would come out of the teller's mouth.
 
"Come here, then. Sleep with me."
 
When Hyunwoo did the motion of patting softly on the side next to him on the bed, Kihyun's jaw fell open. He wasn't expecting that answer for sure. "B-But hyung, are you sure, I mean-"
 
"Yeah, just come here Kihyunnie." There was something honest about Hyunwoo's tone, also maybe a bit hastening involuntary because the boy obviously wanted to sleep. Kihyun couldn't say he didn't understand and was glad enough that the older man was nice to that point. Enough to let him sleep with him.
 
So, that night, Kihyun slid under Hyunwoo's cover shyly and quickly felt a strong pair of arms around his frail and petite body. Two strong but warm arms that encircled him, kept him close and weirdly safe under the thunder. The storm was far from over that night, the artist knew it, but he weirdly didn't feel as afraid as before. He felt at home, even if that didn't make too much sense. He felt safe, warm, and comfortable, like the thunder and lightning or any other bad creature of this world could never reach him even if it tried.
 
The thought brought a smile to his face, one he truly couldn't help, and Hyunwoo was quick to fall back asleep against him after that. No words truly were needed, just Hyunwoo's close presence made Kihyun feel a new (good) type of safe, one that he was glad to experience. And, for the first time, the boy understood what the writer felt about storms. How appeasing it could be, even soothing like a melody, if you were in the right place. Tonight, Hyunwoo's arms were the right place, and Kihyun fell asleep yet another time with a smile on his face because of his elder.

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