A month and a half went by faster than a blink of an eye. Jinyoung followed Jaebum to work everyday and was actually a big help, impressing not only his co-workers, but his boss as well. He was still a dick to Jaebum, no doubt, but to customers and people they passed on the street, Jinyoung was a full on sweetheart. Jaebum's never seen anyone more two faced in his life.
Though that sounded like a bad thing, it was actually a bit charming. Jinyoung had a way with his demeanor and words that had people instantly liking him; it was interesting to watch from Jaebum's perspective. Every time he would point out the other's nice side, Jinyoung would deny it with all his heart despite the countless amount of evidence that was stacked against him. And when he'd switch back to his mean side, his insults had grown pretty weak, and rather than annoyed Jaebum, they were more amusing than anything.
It was weird how fast he'd gotten used to an angel living with him. He thought it would just be an awkward two weeks or so of endless bickering and empty threats at one another, but it turned out to be much easier to deal with than he thought, despite the stay being way longer than first expected.
He actually briefly considered buying Jinyoung a bed, considering he'd been sleeping on the couch for all this time with surprisingly no complaints. He didn't mind converting part of his bedroom into Jinyoung's space, especially since his time left on earth was unknown. He could leave as soon as the next day, or he could be stuck there for years to come; the least Jaebum could do was provide him with a comfortable place to rest his head.
Things ended up working out differently though in question of their sleeping arrangements, all due to one stormy night that happened to be the first time really bad weather had came during Jinyoung's stay.
Jaebum was fast asleep in his bed, awoken not by the thunder outside, but a distant yelp from the living room. He laid there, ignoring the noise and passing it off as Jinyoung flipping through the numerous TV channels late at night with no consideration of the volume, only to hear the same startled yelp again and footsteps quickly travelling across the floor.
Jaebum sat up, listening for more of the strange noises. He was somewhat of a chicken in these situations, usually if he heard a weird sound he'd lock his door and stay in his room, only to wake up the next morning and find out it was a water bottle falling to the floor. But this time was a bit different, he'd always pass those noises off as Jinyoung doing something, since sometimes the angel does use the bathroom late at night or raid the cabinets for snacks. It didn't sound that way though, it sounded as if something were wrong, and those tiny yelps had to belong to Jinyoung.
He couldn't just lock his door and ignore it, he would feel awful if something happened that he could've prevented. Jaebum took in a breath of courage, finally urging himself to get out of bed and check on his guest. He slowly opened his bedroom door, peering out into the living room. His eyes immediately locked on the empty couch, his heart thumping hard against his chest as he tried to locate the missing angel.
"Jinyoung?"
He stepped out of his room, slowly walking along the wooden floor that creaked under his weight. A quick scan of the living room came up with no sign of Jinyoung, and the bathroom door was open, so it was easy to see he wasn't in there either.
"Jinyoung where are you?" He called again, for a moment wondering if he should arm himself with something just in case someone popped out of nowhere. He reached for the television remote that sat atop the coffee table. Wasn't the best weapon, but better than nothing. "Jin-"
A flash of light filled the apartment, a loud roll of thunder following. Another yelp came from from the kitchen, startling Jaebum who truly didn't want to go in there, but knew that if he didn't check on the mysterious noise he would be too terrified to go back to sleep, especially with Jinyoung missing.
Jaebum inched his way to the kitchen, hearing heavy breaths emanate from somewhere in the room. He didn't really pay attention to whether they were his own or someone else's, nor did he have the time to think about it since he was startled by another loud roll of thunder.
Or, maybe it was the fact that he was suddenly tackled by an unknown being in the dark that scared the crap out of him and caused him to let out a high pitched scream. He soon found out that figure was Jinyoung, the angel trembling against him with arms wrapped tightly around his waist.
"Jaebum!" He called, burying his face in the other's chest.
It took a moment to register, but Jaebum's brain finally realized it was Jinyoung, his arms slowly returning the tight embrace. He could tell Jinyoung wasn't alright, considering the fact that he'd never seen him in such a frazzled state. "Hey, hey what's wrong, you're shaking like a leaf..."
"Why is it so loud?" Jinyoung muttered, his labored breaths heating up Jaebum's chest wherever his mouth resided.
"What's loud?" Jaebum asked, the question a bit dumb when taking into consideration the loud cracks of lighting and thunder that traversed the area. Jinyoung tried to hide further into Jaebum; if he could, Jaebum was sure Jinyoung would try to climb into him and hide there, but he just had to settle with their current position.
"Oh, that's just thunder and lighting. I thought you'd know how weather works down here..." Jaebum trailed off, finding it weird how much of Earth's happenings he's had to explain to someone who's job apparently was to watch over Earth and it's inhabitants.
To hopefully make things a bit better, Jaebum waddled over to the light switch with Jinyoung still clinging to him, clumsily flipping it on. The room filled with yellow light, exposing the two in their close position.
"I know about it, just never experienced it." Jinyoung confessed.
Jaebum frowned, finding it a bit peculiar how clueless Jinyoung seemed to be on such basic things that happen on Earth. "It doesn't rain in heaven?"
"No-?"
Another flash of white intruded the windows, a booming sound following soon after. Jinyoung jolted, his knees nearly buckling under him.
"I'm scared." He whimpered against Jaebum's chest.
"I know, let's get you back to the couch." Jaebum knew there were people out there afraid of thunderstorms and sensitive to loud noises, but he's never seen it so severe. Jinyoung was like a terrified puppy in his arms seeking comfort and shelter. All Jaebum could provide him with was some soothing back rubs as they made their way to the couch, but that couldn't stop the raging storm outside. Once Jinyoung sat on the couch, Jaebum quickly went to power up a large speaker he kept in the corner of the room. "Maybe some music will help drown it out..."
Jaebum had to fiddle with cords to hook up the speaker, then power up his laptop and connect it as well which would take some time. He tried to work fast, but mother nature seemed angry that night and constantly filled the skies with flashes of lightning and bone rattling thunder.
Jaebum heard a hard thud from behind him, just moments later feeling something press against his back. He glanced back, finding Jinyoung on the floor along with him instead of where he'd originally been sitting on the couch, face pressed against Jaebum's back seeking comfort from the startling noises.
Jaebum could feel Jinyoung's vibrations; the combination of hard rain, whipping winds, bright lighting followed by deafening thunder, along with the lack of knowledge about such weather all mixed together probably being way too much for him to handle. Jaebum didn't know what else to do, and he couldn't just leave Jinyoung alone to get through the storm by himself.
The angel seemed to be the most comfortable when tightly squeezing Jaebum, which now mentioning it, was really the first time Jinyoung's voluntarily touched Jaebum ever. The only way they could both get through the night peacefully seemed to be if they stayed with one another until the morning, and hopefully by then the storm would have cleared.
"Um... just... come on." Jaebum wrapped his arms around Jinyoung, hoisting him up from the floor.
"Where?" He asked, clutching onto Jaebum tightly as if the elder planned on leaving.
"Come on." Jaebum urged, walking Jinyoung back towards his bedroom.
Another loud spell of thunder rumbled through the sky, making Jinyoung halt in his tracks.
"Just hold on to me okay? Don't be so afraid, I'm right here." Jaebum rested his hand on the small of Jinyoung's back, gently pushing him along.
He lead the angel into his room, pushing the door closed with the heel of his foot, the noise startling Jinyoung who at that point was jumpy at anything. Jaebum guided Jinyoung over to his bed, pushing him by the shoulders to lay down while receiving a puzzled expression from the other. He ignored it, tugging the covers over Jinyoung's body and making sure he was tucked in comfortably.
Jaebum pulled back, beginning to walk away once Jinyoung was settled in his bed.
"Wait, where will you sleep?" Jinyoung asked, eyes glued to Jaebum's every movement.
Jaebum continued walking, making his way around the bed to the vacant space next to Jinyoung, pulling the covers back to slot himself under. "Right here."
Jinyoung watched him slip under the sheets, at first seeming a bit put off by sleeping on the same mattress. Jaebum wasn't used to it either, but if it was the only way they both could get some sleep, then he was willing to deal with it for the time being. Though the awkwardness didn't last long, as more raging thunder filled the sky, and in just seconds Jinyoung was cuddling up against Jaebum for safety.
Jaebum wrapped his arms around Jinyoung's waist, keeping him close in hopes that he'll soon drift off. He ran his hands down Jinyoung's back, rubbing him like a mother would rub her crying baby to soothe it, soon feeling the angel relax just a bit in his arms. "Shh, I'm right here, nothing's gonna happen. Just go to sleep, okay?"
"You're n-not going anywhere, right?" Jinyoung asked through shaky breaths.
"No. I'm staying right here." Jaebum assured.
Jinyoung nodded, resting his head on Jaebum's shoulder. "O-Okay..."
It still felt a bit awkward holding Jinyoung so close, since all this time there had been an invisible barrier between them set by Jinyoung himself to keep them apart. But in this case, Jinyoung seemed to temporarily ignore that barrier, needing someone to be there for him while he was still trying to navigate a place he wasn't used to.
Jaebum was sure that the longer they stayed together, this wouldn't be the only time he'd have to hold Jinyoung in his time of need. And if he were honest, it felt like he fell back to sleep faster with Jinyoung pressed against him opposed to being alone. Though, that was just something Jaebum would never admit aloud.
Jinyoung wouldn't admit it either, but there was no denying that his best night of sleep happened to be one where he was wrapped snugly in Jaebum's embrace, which he much better preferred than being left alone on that couch.
They both had their own respective amounts of pride, yet when it came down to clutching onto one another for support, it was easy to say that the two molded perfectly together like long lost puzzle pieces. And they truly did enjoy that night of sleeping so close together, but unfortunately due to those prideful egos and constantly clashing heads, neither of them would even for a moment express the immense amount of comfort and safety they got from holding each other so close.
Though, just because it wasn't said, didn't mean the feelings that had sparked ceased to exist.
Maybe suppressing them only made them grow stronger.
🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊
(*ahhhh wasn't expecting vulnerable Jinyoung, were you??? Or maybe you were, but not in the case of thunder and lightning! Just thought it was super cute to have Jinyoung with such a strong personality have a fear of something like sudden loud noises and need Jaebum to comfort him sksshslsks ah my jjp heart <3 ~~~*)