Waterfalls || Yeonbin

chapter 18: thunder

May 12, 1940

Yeonjun made a fire for us. Even though it's finally spring, a cold front came in along with a load of rain, so it's quite chilly at the moment. And of course, as soon as I said I was cold, he made a fire for me. I kept telling him how he didn't need to, but he insisted. Going out in the cold rain to get wood for the fire. He was freezing when he came back inside, seeing the tremble in his hands even though he said he was fine. I had rolled my eyes at him, but he still ended up making a fire for us to keep warm.

He wrapped his arm around me, securely holding me as I read my book. I leaned towards him, sinking so far and comfortably in the couch that I could rest my head lightly on his shoulder. Yeonjun turned his head, pressing his soft lips against my temple. We could hear the rain and the crackling of the fire, almost so loud that I couldn't focus on what I was reading. But it got even louder when a lightning strike came through, the loud bang of the thunder making me flinch. Yeonjun screamed from the noise, scaring him more than it scared me.

I giggled lightly when the noise went away, finding it funny how we both got scared, "It's just the thunder."

His grip on my shoulder loosened, not even realizing how hard he was holding onto me until he loosened the tension. He moved his other hand away from my chest, not noticing that he put it there in the first place. He gave me a little chuckle back, but it seemed fake, "Right... Sorry."

I went back to reading, but I could feel the anxiousness coming off him. His shoulders were stiff, and he kept bobbing his leg up and down, gripping his thigh with his free hand. I scrunched my eyebrows at his action, confused and curious by it. Am I the one who made him so anxious?

I turned to him, his eyes looking terrified, "Dan? Are you al—"

I was cut off when another loud bang came from outside; another lightning strike. He screamed again, flinching away from me and moving to the edge of the couch. He frantically looked around the room, like he just woke up in an unknown place. His chest kept inflating and deflating, easy to see since he was only wearing his undershirt, and easy to hear because every other sound was cut off. Yeonjun was my focus. Quickly putting my book down on the coffee table and moving closer to him, I didn't even bother to mark what page I was on. Yeonjun is a million times more important to me than a leisure book.

"Everything's alright." I softly said, reaching out and placing my hand on his thigh. He still looked so lost, not even acknowledging me and staring at empty space. He was still breathing heavy, which was just one of the things that was making me concerned at the moment.

I reached out and grabbed his hand, gently so I didn't startle him too much. I brought my other hand to his jaw, caressing his cheek while I positioned my head to be in his eyesight, "Hey, Yeonjun? It's me... I'm here."

He finally moved his head a little bit, looking around the room quickly before looking back at me. He had the same fear in his eyes, but at least I snapped him out of his little trance. He opened his mouth to say something, but I saw a flash come from the window. His anxiety must be coming from the thunderstorm outside, based off what happened the first two times. Knowing there was going to be another loud thunder wave right after, I instantly covered his ears with my hands. I got to him just in time because the loud bang occurred right after I muffed his ears, trying to drown out the sound.

He whimpered, making me terrified. I've never seen him so vulnerable before, never even seen tears in his eyes. But when he hugged me, burying his head into my chest and feeling his hands trembling on my back, I didn't hesitate to hug him back. I placed a hand on his nape, softly playing with his hair to try and replicate what he does for me, knowing how soothing it is. I started slowly gliding my hand across his back as well, trying to give him the maximum amount of comfort I could.