myungsoo rubs away the last dregs of sleep from his eyes, scanning the dark room for the source of disturbance that had niggled him awake from a deep slumber that would normally have him sleeping through the worst typhoon without even a single flinch.

eyes still adjusting to the darkness around him, myungsoo’s gaze travels over the faint outline of sunggyu’s body curled under his blanket, moving up to a very much empty bunk where sungyeol should be sleeping.

myungsoo blinks in confusion, mind still muddled by sleep, as he stares blankly at the lack of human occupying sungyeol’s bed.

myungsoo blinks, and blinks some more, the cogs in his brain slowly shifting into gear.

where is sungyeol?

kicking off his blanket, myungsoo drags himself out of his warm, comfortable bed and tiptoes across the room to find that the door is already slightly ajar.

myungsoo cringes as the door squeaks open, sounding more like banshees screeching bloody murder in his ears in the quiet of the night. he glances over his shoulder to find sunggyu in the exact same position as he’d been in the last time myungsoo had checked, and sighs in relief, stepping out into the darkened living room.

but no sungyeol there either.

myungsoo is frowning now, trying to squash down the slight anxiety and panic simmering in his stomach.

no need for concern.

there is probably a very good explanation for sungyeol’s absence. in the middle of the night. cellphone and wallet left behind. nothing on him but the clothes on his back.

yeah, no. this is not okay.

even though the room is clearly empty, myungsoo quickly checks the couch anyways, and then the kitchen, and then the bathroom. and then he takes a quick peek in each members’ rooms.

no sungyeol in sight.

without wasting any time, myungsoo grabs his keys and sprints toward the front door, slipping on his sneakers without socks and throwing himself out of the dorm, in his haste, completely forgetting to hold the door before it slams shut.

not too concerned about whether the noise had woken anyone else up, myungsoo impatiently pushes at the down arrow for the elevator, pressing it nonstop until the elevator door pings open. once inside, he taps his foot nervously, chewing on his thumb nail until he finally reaches ground floor.

myungsoo bolts for the dorm entrance, zipping passed the security guard, and runs out into the cold, crisp night, shivering as the icy cool air raises goosebumps on his arms. in his rush, he’d forgotten to grab a jacket.

but once outside, myungsoo realizes he doesn’t exactly know what to do, his thoughts racing and colliding in a train wreck of confusion, any semblance of logic and coherency flying out the window.

rubbing his arms for warmth and stamping his foot in frustration, myungsoo huffs, throwing his head back and staring up at the moon above.

think, think, think.

myungsoo tries to calm himself down, taking a deep breath and forcing his brain back into orderly conduct, when his squinted gaze zeroes in on a shadow on the rooftop, silhouetted against the moonlight.

body springing into action with his brain about five seconds slow in the uptake, myungsoo lurches forward, nearly tripping on his own feet, and dashes back into the complex, leaving a confused security guard behind in his wake.

myungsoo hurls himself inside the elevator again, repeatedly hitting the button for the uppermost floor, scrabbling up the stairs the rest of the way as soon as the doors slide open.

hunched over and gasping for air, myungsoo shuffles through the open door onto the roof, spotting sunggyeol on the other side, leaning against the rails with a cloud of smoke swirling around him and drifting up into the night sky.

relief spreads throughout his body as myungsoo finally catches his breath, silently making his way towards sungyeol and pausing beside him to stare out into the dim world below, twinkling lights from neighboring apartments breaking the darkness here and there.

“you shouldn’t be smoking,” myungsoo says quietly, placing both hands on the rails and pushing his weight back to look up into the night sky dotted with brilliant stars above.

“there’s a lot of things i shouldn’t be doing,” sungyeol replies, taking another drag before stubbing out the butt and tossing it over the edge. myungsoo wrinkles his nose as sungyeol exhales a puff of smoke, waving his hand to bat away the smell.

“you stink.”

sungyeol turns to face myungsoo with an amused smile, and myunsoo smiles back. but to myungsoo’s surprise, sungyeol’s expression immediately turns into a frown.

“idiot, where’s your jacket?” sungyeol demands, smacking myungsoo on the arm before quickly moving to unzip his parka.

“no, don’t,” myungsoo tries to stop sungyeol from removing his jacket any further, wrestling sungyeol’s hands away from the zipper. “i’m not cold, really.”

they struggle like this for a few minutes before sungyeol gives up.

“okay fine,” he rolls his eyes, waiting for myungsoo to let go of his hands before swiftly pulling down the zipper.

“hey!” myungsoo shouts, trying to force the zipper back on. but sungyeol yanks both ends of his parka away from myungsoo’s grasp and wraps his arms around the shivering boy.

“there,” sungyeol says, zipping up the jacket as a surprised myungsoo nestles in and melts into the warmth of sungyeol’s chest. myungsoo buries his face into sungyeol’s shirt, taking a deep breath and slipping his arms around sungyeol’s waist.

“i thought you said i smell,” sungyeol teases, resting his chin on top of myungsoo’s head.

“you do,” comes myungsoo’s muffled response, inhaling another deep breath of the stale cigarette smoke clinging to the fabric of sungyeol’s shirt, mingled with the light scent of detergent and a whiff of peppermint body wash. “i guess it’s not so bad.”

sungyeol laughs, and myungsoo makes him promise not to do it again.

“which one?” sungyeol asks, shifting from foot to foot and swaying their bodies side to side. “smoking or disappearing ?”

“both,” myungsoo mumbles, already halfway to dreamland, tucked away into the comfort and warmth of sungyeol’s embrace.