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Thunder crashed outside as Seokjin looked at his phone anxiously.
Fifteen minutes later, no new notifications.
The doorbell rang and he sprang up to his feet, mind racing faster than his legs could, scenarios of all kinds spiking his anxiety. He opened the door and there he was. Drenched clothes, red-rimmed eyes, trembling figure. Seokjin’s heart squeezed and he opened his arms.
“I am proud of you, no matter what,” he whispered, even as Taehyung clung to him, water seeping through his clothes and dripping onto the floor below. But Seokjin didn’t care about anything, Taehyung was here and he was going to protect him.
When Taehyung moved back to look into his eyes, his face was dry but his eyes were swollen, clear evidence that he had cried all the way there.
“They said they needed time to process it, I’m not sure what that means but the look in their eyes, it—I have never seen them look so disappointed in me,” he blabbered even as fresh tears sprung up in his eyes. Seokjin’s heart hurt; he pulled him back into his arms in the hope that it would soothe their pain.
“I know, love, it’s not your fault. You are so brave for telling them in the first place, and whatever they do about it is not your fault at all,” he paused and glanced at the clock on the wall. “Did you eat anything?” Taehyung shook his head against Seokjin’s shirt. “Let’s get you fed first, yeah?” He locked the door before helping Taehyung out of his jacket and shoes and leading him to the bathroom.
Taehyung stayed close to Seokjin as the other undressed him and helped him into dry clothes, eyes not once meeting the other’s. Seokjin, on the other hand, kept his gaze firm on the younger, on the slight tremble in his shoulder, on the tears that won’t stop streaming down his face no matter how much Seokjin wiped them away. Inside, his heart beat furiously against his rib cage, wondering how the world could be so cruel to someone as pure as the boy in front of him. Outside, lightning and thunder continued crashing, as if the universe was resonating with his own fury.
Seokjin had been reluctant when Taehyung had told him a few days ago that he wanted to come out to his parents. I don’t want to keep us a secret anymore, he had said to him just as they were about to fall asleep. But Seokjin knew his parents, childhood friends as they were. He saw the sharp glint in Taehyung’s mother’s eyes whenever she would spot them together. Stay away from my son, words unsaid but loud enough to understand. And yet, he saw the hope in Taehyung’s eyes. What’s the worse that can happen, the younger had said. No matter what they say, at least I’ll have you. Seokjin had smiled at that. Always, he had reassured him. Presently, he said it again. “You are not alone, Tae,” he whispered as he dried the other’s hair with a towel. Taehyung nodded. The tears had finally stopped, but he was far from being okay. Seokjin knew he couldn’t fill up the void in Taehyung’s heart just on his own, but he would try anyway.
When Taehyung was warmed up again, Seokjin walked with him to their kitchenette. Taehyung sat at the table watching him as he worked on their dinner. The rain was falling harder now, the forecast said it would stay like that all week. Every once in a while, he would look up from the pot at Taehyung, to find him fiddling with his sleeve or tapping at the table, or gazing at a spot on the wall, eyes empty and face emotionless. Seokjin willed himself to stay put only till the food was ready because Taehyung needed to eat. As soon as he was done, he scooped some of the fried rice into a bowl and brought it over to the table. Instead of sitting in the chair opposite to Taehyung’s, he dragged it over beside the other and sat close to him, spooning out a bit of the rice and bringing it near Taehyung’s lips after blowing at it. Taehyung smiled at the gesture and opened up. As he chewed, Seokjin brought his arm around Taehyung’s frame and Taehyung leaned against his shoulder out of habit. “Thank you, hyung,” he said after he had finished eating. “I don’t know what I’d do without you,”
“Me neither,” Seokjin said, dropping a kiss on the other’s head.
When Seokjin brought the next spoonful up to Taehyung’s mouth, he glided it around and made a wheee sound like one would do while feeding babies, making Taehyung giggle. He grinned as Taehyung accepted the food and nudged Seokjin to eat too. Seokjin brushed it way saying he would eat later, but Taehyung urged him, going so far as to shoving the next spoonful in his mouth. They smiled and laughed together and for a few minutes, it was like nothing had even happened. Taehyung looked at him and laughed heartily, making silly faces as Seokjin grumbled and pouted. When they quieted down and the only sounds audible were the slight clang of the spoon against the bowl and the rain showers outside, Taehyung sighed and looked at Seokjin with a sincere smile. Seokjin smiled back at him, taking his hand and bringing it to his lips.
“I love you, Tae,” he said as he kissed his palm. Taehyung gazed at him like it was the first time he had said it and smiled happily, “I love you too. So much,” he whispered, knocking their foreheads together.
Even as the storm raged outside, Seokjin’s own heart now beat in a soft rhythm. At the end of the day, the one thing he was sure about was his love for Taehyung. And with love, he knew they’d be okay, no matter what.