Yun didn't expect the feeling to follow him inside.
He lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, the room dim except for the soft glow of the streetlight outside his window. The quiet pressed in—but instead of loneliness, it carried warmth.
Anytime.
Aran's voice lingered in his thoughts, calm and steady.
Yun turned onto his side, hugging a pillow to his chest. He felt ridiculous for smiling at nothing.
"You barely know him," Yun murmured to himself.
Yet his heart didn't agree.
The next afternoon, rain surprised the city.
It started light—barely more than a mist—then quickly deepened, tapping insistently against umbrellas and pavement alike. Yun stood under the café's awning, staring at the gray sky with a small frown.
He hadn't brought an umbrella.
"Here."
The word came softly, close.
Yun turned.
Aran stood beside him, holding out a black umbrella. Rain dotted his coat, darkening the fabric at the shoulders. He looked entirely unbothered by it.
"You'll get wet," Yun said.
"I already am."
Yun hesitated. "Then we'll both—"
"We can share," Aran said gently, already opening it above them.
The space beneath the umbrella felt suddenly small.
Too small.
Yun could feel Aran's warmth through the thin layer of fabric separating them, could hear his breathing—slow, even. Their steps fell into rhythm without effort as they walked.
For a while, neither spoke.
"Do you mind?" Aran asked quietly.
"Mind what?"
Aran tilted the umbrella slightly, shielding Yun more fully from the rain. Their hands brushed—just barely.
Yun froze.
Aran stopped immediately. "I'm sorry."
"No," Yun said quickly, then paused. "It's fine. I just—"
He didn't know how to explain the way his heart had jumped, not in fear but in recognition.
They continued walking.
This time, Yun didn't pull away when their hands brushed again.
Aran noticed.
He didn't react.
Didn't grab.
Didn't push.
He simply let their fingers rest side by side, the smallest point of contact between them.
The rain softened around them, the city blurring into a muted backdrop.
When they reached Yun's building, Yun lingered under the umbrella.
"…Do you want to come up?" he asked before he could stop himself.
Aran's breath caught—just once.
Then he smiled, warm and careful. "Not today."
Yun blinked. "Oh."
"Not because I don't want to," Aran added softly. "But because I don't want to rush you."
Something in Yun's chest loosened.
"Okay," he said, surprising himself with how much he meant it.
As Yun stepped inside, he glanced back once more.
Aran stood there in the rain, watching him—not with hunger, not with desperation.
With devotion.
Yun pressed his palm lightly to his chest as the door closed behind him.
His heart was racing.
And for the first time, he didn't tell it to calm down.
To be continued....