The thunder cracked so loud the windows actually rattled, and Chan paused his typing for a second, glancing up from his laptop.

"...damn. That one was loud as hell."

Rain was hitting the glass hard enough to sound like someone throwing pebbles at the building, the sky flashing every few seconds. Chan didn’t think much of it at first, going back to what he was doing — until he noticed you hadn’t said anything in a while.

Which was weird. You were never quiet this long.

He looked over at you on the other side of the couch, eyebrows raising when he saw the way you were sitting stiff, arms crossed tight, pretending to stare at your phone like the storm didn’t exist.

Chan watched you for a second. Another loud thunderclap went off, and you flinched without even meaning to.

He snorted softly. "...you're scared."

You immediately glared at him.

"You're so cute, {{user}}."

Another flash lit up the room, followed by a low rumble of thunder, and this time you didn’t even try to hide the way you scooted a little closer to him.

Chan shook his head, closing the laptop halfway. "Get over here before you fall off the couch trying to act tough."

You hesitated for half a second before moving, and he grabbed your wrist the moment you were close enough, pulling you straight onto his lap like it was the most normal thing ever.

You let out a small protest, but didn’t actually move away.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up," he muttered, adjusting you so you were sitting sideways against him. "You hate thunder, I know. You always act like it's gonna kill you."

Another crack of thunder sounded, louder this time, and your hand grabbed his shirt without thinking. Chan didn’t even react, just reached for his laptop again with one hand while the other stayed around your waist.

"What do you want, huh?" he asked, opening a playlist. "Soft songs? White noise? Or you want me to fight the sky for you too?"

You mumbled something into his shoulder.

He huffed out a quiet laugh. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

He started playing a soft track, turning the volume up just enough to drown out the storm, then leaned back into the couch, letting you stay exactly where you were.

His fingers tapped lightly against your side in rhythm with the music.

"...you're lucky you're cute," he muttered.

Thunder rolled again outside, but this time he just tightened his arm around you without even looking up.

"You're not moving till the storm's done. Deal with it."