Ill keep you safe. (1/2)

Seoul, South Korea; A while ago in late October.

Thunderstorms and rain in an average fall night: the best way to pass it by was just to sit in front of the burning fireplace, doing nothing, or at least studying or reading.

Wearing my old Adidas hoodie and a pair of large, gray sweatpants, I was lying on the couch;

Podo - my black and white, hairy cat - was soundly sleeping in the crook left between my elbow and the edge of the sofa, snoring almost like me in my sleep.

"What if i kicked you out in the pouring rain right about now, you fat cat?" I smiled, scratching the cat's head with a finger. He slowly turned to me and blinking it's big yellow eyes, he let an annoyed "meow" leave his mouth.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, Continuous and angry ringings, so I supposed it must have been someone really impatient to enter; my mind wandered off to who might have been on the other side of the door, as I kicked the cat from the couch and almost jumped on him in the rush to get to the door as the ringing continued.

"....Jae?" I immediately recognized the small figure in front of my eyes. Youngjae was standing there in the rain, without an umbrella or something to cover himself. His usually soft and neatly styled hair was now a single, compact and water dripping mass of dark color, he was wrapped in a trench coat that must have been of a creamy color, originally, but which was now as gray as the pavement behind him and the coat only covered just half of his thighs so the remaining parts of his legs were humid and wet, just like his sneakers.

My heart ached when I saw him rattling and tightening in his arms, looking down. My best friend was there, hugging himself, looking like a picture of misery and I couldn't help but feeling an intense pain at that sight.

"D-Dae" he mumbled, with a feeble voice, gathering up all of his straighten to look me directly in the eyes. "C-Can I ent-ter?" Something inside of me broke as I heard him speaking. "For God's sake, what kind of a fuckin' stupid question is that?" I grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside, worried and concerned about him.

Youngjae let himself being dragged and as we were both back in my house, I closed the front door with a slam. Youngjae quickly kicked off his shoes and looked so scared.

"Wait here! Don't move!" I ran to the bathroom and grabbed one of my shower towels, which should have been big enough to cover my best friends entire self.

Once I came back, I made him unbutton his trench so that now he was just in his black long sleeve shirt and skinny fit jeans. Quickly I wrapped the towel around him, pulling him into my body and rubbing his shoulders with my hands, trying to warm him up.

"Th-thanks" he said in a soft voice, talking into my chest "So-sorry that I st-stormed in here like a hur-hurricane.." Youngjae stuttered again, still shivering and with agitation in his voice. "...B-but I had nowhere t-to go and y-yours was the clo-closest place within r-reach..." I held him even tighter, wrapping my arms around him.

I wished that he would just stop shivering like a leaf.

"Mi casa es tu casa, Jaejae." I said to him, trying to calm him down and to ease the tension; gently gripping his shoulder then, pushing him just a few inches away from me. I looked at my best friend, his big chocolate brown eyes looking as sad as the could be.

"I'll rememb-ber that..." he replied, trying to look at me and once again, his expression made me worry even more about him.

"You're soaking wet, you're rattling and your eyes are so..." I pushed a wet strand of hair away from his forehead, running my fingers along the side of his face "..red and puffy. The last time I saw them like this was when I broke your bike as we were playing in your dad's garage like ten years ago." I tried to make him smile but didn't really succeeded at it.

He turned his head away and looked to the side, avoiding my eyes. I carefully cupped his chin with my thumb and index finger and gently forced him to look back at me. Something was definitely wrong. "Jae." I whispered, stroking his cheek "Just tell me what the hell is wrong, I'm getting more and more worried!"

Yoo Youngjae's eyes went all wet again and suddenly they were filled with tears.

"That son of a bitch."

"Jongup?" Oh, his so-called boyfriend who just seemed to be the most perfect guy in the world. In my words: arrogant and stupid, like all dancers. I clenched my jaw at him saying his name.

"He ch-cheated on me." He looked down at his feet, playing around with the hem of his shirt. My heart wouldn't stop aching at the sight of tears running down that beautiful face, which I loved too much to see it like that.

"I found o-out with my own e-eyes."

His crying was now accompanied by sobs, getting louder by every second passing by. He buried his face in his hands as if he was trying to hide from me. Me who was looking at him with an intense sorrow carving my heart and soul.

I pulled him towards me, crushing his fragile body covered in the white towel into mine, wrapping my arms around him as tightly as I could.

Then I lifted him up as if he was a toddler, his arms thrown around my neck and his legs around my waist as I carried him in front of the fireplace.

Carefully I placed him down on the huge, square plush carpet on the floor, grabbing two or three pillows that were disorderly lying on the couch and made sure that he lied down with his head on one of them.

He adjusted himself on his side, facing the burning fire, crouching like a baby in the womb. Still sobbing, still crying.