Solid GrounD (MxM)

When the Storm Shifts

It was driving him crazy. Roh-Ahn hadn't come home after his normal lectures that evening so Austin, like the stalker that he swore he wasn't, went to the college on his day off. At first, he'd just walked around a bit, greeting anyone who happened to recognize him, but when it began to drizzle, as it often did in Florida completely out of nowhere with the sky as clear as can be, he used it as an excuse to seek shelter... right beneath the overhang that connected the Business Education Center with the Languages lecture halls. 

Smooth, idiot. Real smooth. 

As the rain began coming down harder, Austin backed up, eventually deciding to just get it over with and go inside. His wet shoes squeaked on the bright white tile floor as he made his way through the quiet building. It was right between night classes, so there was barely anyone outside of the lecture halls, and those who were were busy typing away on laptops and drinking coffee, likely in the hopes that it would keep them awake through their evening labs. 

He wanted to go look for Roh-Ahn's office, but instead, he bought himself a coffee at the little concession cubicle tucked into a corner on the upper floor, then took a seat in one of the armchairs that gave him an embarrassingly good view of anyone coming and going from the lower and upper hallways. 

Stupid idiot stalker. 

Right as he thought that a loud boom of thunder echoed through the building, vibrating the floor beneath his feet before dissipating into the thrumming of rain picking up against the roof. He relaxed there until the current classes dismissed their tired captives. Still no Roh-Ahn... Grudgingly, he pushed himself up and tossed his empty cup, then headed down the stairs and into one of the halls. 

He actually wasn't sure which office was Roh-Ahn's, but thankfully there weren't too many languages at the college, so the amount of teachers, and thus, offices, couldn't be too high. After checking the name bars near each door and not finding Roh-Ahn's, he turned on his heels and headed for the other hallway. 

Before he was able to start looking at the name plates in that area there was another loud crack of thunder, then the lights flickered. Three. Two. One. The entire area went pitch black for a second before the emergency floor lights switched on. 

Not the greatest, but at least I can see a little. 

To read the plates, he pulled out his phone and switched on the flashlight. About six rooms down, near the back corner, he finally found the name plate he was looking for. The door swung open at that exact moment, a student he didn't recognize stepping out as he looked back into the room. 

"Thanks a lot for the help, professor. See you in class." 

When the girl turned back around to leave, she jumped seeing Austin standing right there in the dim light. 

"Sorry, excuse me." She said, not recognizing him. 

As soon as she was out of sight, Austin, having held the door open, stepped inside of the small office. He couldn't see Roh-Ahn at first, but after lifting his phone's flashlight and scanning the room, he found the young man sitting on an worn dark red sofa against the left side wall. 

He seemed surprised to see him there, but Austin just smiled and dropped down onto the sofa beside him. "I had to pick up something and thought I'd swing over here real quick before heading out." He said, drawing one of Roh-Ahn's eyebrows up. 

"What did you come to pick up?" He asked. 

You. 

"I'm a terrible liar." Austin mumbled, looking away for a moment before hearing Roh-Ahn's quiet laughter, drawing his attention back to him.