STORM CHASING [Love in the Air | PayuxRain]

eleven

The lights were dancing right before his eyes. It was to the beat of the music, the bass pounding through the floors and walls right to Rain's chest.

He lifted a hand and massaged the part right where his heart was. The continuous beat was fun in the first few minutes. But now, it was beginning to make him uncomfortable. As though someone was beating him with an invisible bat from in front and the back and his ribs were constricting, caging his heart into suffocation.

Rain shook his head and tried to make his way, zigzagging into the throng of people bouncing and swaying with the loud sound blasting in all directions. 

When he found a little open space at the corner of the massive, dim but eye-straining dance floor, he expelled a sigh of relief.

He stared at his sneakers for a few minutes before slowly lifting his gaze back up. The red, blue, green, and yellow lights blinked on and off. The white sharp beams of light from the ceiling swept the floor, showing smiling, euphoric faces in seconds before moving to another side of the room. 

"..."

Rain watched them. These people. The atmosphere. Their faces. They looked so alive. Having fun. Yet he felt a disconnect inside him. An uncontentment as he watched pairs gyrate into the sultry but rabid songs playing one after the other. 

"..."

Rain bit his bottom lip, telling himself that he was alright. Telling himself that this was okay. That he was doing better. 

It wasn't like this was the first time he went to a club. To be fair, he'd been in a number of clubs even wilder than this. But all those times Payu was there. Payu was his wall, his buffer, his shield. His rest in this tiring playground when it got a bit too overwhelming. 

"..."

Rain sighed and zoned out, just staring into the people but not seeing them. Letting the sound pass by his ears but not really hearing them.

After a few minutes, Rain felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw a face glowing in yellow underlights from the walls. 

"I have been looking all over for you."

Rain stood a bit straighter, trying to place the face in front of him. It was one of the faces that was introduced to him earlier. Rain smiled a bit although he couldn't remember the man's name.

"Are you not having fun?" the man continued to ask. "I noticed you're just retreating away from everybody else."

"Uh... it's been a long time since I visited this scene. It's a bit too much," Rain replied, raising his voice to be heard over the pounding noises.

"Ahh. It can be overwhelming sometimes. I can relate."

The man stepped a bit closer to Rain, their arms almost brushing. Rain stepped closer to the wall to his right to make a distance.