Author's note:

SPOILERS ALERT. It is recommended that readers take Seven's route (and preferably secret end 2) before reading. Special thanks to my best friend for letting me borrow her MC (Kia), Seven's girlfriend in this one-shot :) For plot purposes, I give my MC a name I used in his Christmas DLC, Jess.

You bite your lower lip. This won't do – you're doubting yourself again. It has not even been thirty minutes since you left the house. Is this really the right thing to do?

You glance to the person next to you nervously. Saeran is not saying anything. But then again, he rarely does. The last conversation you two exchanged was at the house. Well, that is… if you talking and him nodding with a simple yes could be counted as such. Still… lying is the only thing Saeran would never do. At least not to you. He agreed to this. You just have to believe in yourself – and him – and proceed with it.

Your eyes move to his free hands, swinging slightly at his sides as he walks next to you. Despite him being close enough for you to feel his warmth, you two are not touching, and that adds up to your worry. Is it a good idea to be the one taking the initiative this time? You're not sure; it's always a guessing game with him. After a moment of conflicting with your own thoughts, you give up, letting out a sigh.

"You okay?"

Saeran! Finally! But it was too sudden, and you're getting flustered. "Y-yeah… I-I'm fine! Lovely weather today, isn't it?"

He glances at the sky and takes his time enjoying the fluffy clouds above. It is as if you can hear him. It is a beautiful day, he says through his agreeing smile.

That helps… you're calming down. It's going to be okay… it's going to be okay…

As you repeat the words to yourself like a chant, you can't help remembering what happened a few nights ago.

The slight but repetitive shake of the bed wakes you up.

Half-awake, you whisper his name. "Saeran…?"

Instead of an answer, you hear him groaning, writhing in pain. He is shaking… sweating… That wakes you up completely. You turn your body to his side and touch his wet, tear-stained cheek, shaking his body slightly to wake him up. While doing so, you repeatedly call his name, gently and pressingly at the same time. You can feel your chest tighten painfully…

He has been crying, you realize.

After a while, his eyelids are opening up, too painfully slowly. You two lock eyes and he seems… scared, before sighing in relief, finally realizing it was only a nightmare.

"Hey…," you whisper gently, stroking his cheek. "It's alright… you're alright…"

His lips finally curve a smile when suddenly a teardrop falls to his cheek… and you realize that you, too, have started crying. Before you could do anything, he pulls you to him. It doesn't take a long time for the sweat and tears to make your whole body sticky. But it is not the time to worry about that. His sudden move only lowers your defenses, and you start sobbing into his bare chest.

"I'm sorry…" he said gently, repeatedly, while stroking your hair until you go back to sleep.

You wake up in the morning to find him still asleep on his spot next to you. This time, however, he looks much more peaceful that you can't help but smile.

Regardless, it doesn't stop you from thinking about what happened last night. It was a mistake on your part to cry… but more than that, you think there must be something you can do to help if he is still having nightmares. At least to soothe the pain… to make everything a little better. So you make up your mind and get up the bed, being very careful not to wake him up. The closer you get to the kitchen, the more you can actually smell breakfast – pancakes and maple syrup, you can't help thinking. Kia must be cooking, and Saeyoung is probably with her.

And you were right. Kia is pouring some more batter into the pan while telling Saeyoung to stop teasing her by swinging the ladle she is holding to his way once in a while. That actually entertains him more, though, despite the fact that the ladle splashes little bits of the batter all over his body and face.

Of course, you feel bad that you have to get between them… but you need Saeyoung's advice on this.

"Um, Saeyoung?" Both of them look your way, surprised. "Can I talk to you for a second? Kia, you can come as well."

Kia turns off the stove and takes off her apron. Meanwhile, Saeran's older brother can't stop teasing you, knowing that it must be something about your relationship with Saeran. Usually, your face would get all red and the three of you would eventually laugh together. Them at you, and you at your own awkwardness.

But not this time. "It is… Can you two help me, please?"

"Jess… Jess…" Saeran is calling you, waking you up from your reverie. His worried pair of eyes say the rest. Are you okay?

Taking a deep breath, you take the courage of holding his hand. You are going to do it sooner or later anyways. "I'm fine, Saeran," you reply, smiling. "Whatever happens… don't let go of my hand, okay?"

He nods and turns his eyes back to the front. A moment later, you hear a brief announcement that the show is starting soon. By reflex, you tighten your grip on his hand. Before you have the chance to look at his reaction, the seats start reclining and the whole theatre goes dark.

Here goes…

Unfortunately, you don't know this, but Saeran turns to look at you as soon as darkness envelopes the whole room for a mere few seconds.

"A planetarium…?"

Saeran freezes at his spot behind the door as he hears this. It was Saeyoung's voice. What is he talking about?

He recognizes Kia's voice as well. "Is there a particular reason?"

"Well…" His heart skips a beat at your voice. And he stands there, listening. "Saeran… he… he still has nightmares."

You are talking about last night. But he still doesn't understand… why would you tell Saeyoung and Kia about that? Did he scare you? Or did he hurt you? Probably so… since, for the first time, you were crying. You were crying and he couldn't do anything…

"You must understand this, Saeyoung." He hears your voice again. It sounds more urgent. "Saeran… he loves looking at the blue sky. He always smiles whenever he's outside during the day, but I've never seen him smiling in the dark." What…? "He… he told me once that he is accustomed to the dark."

Yes… I remember that, Saeran thinks to himself. It was only a few weeks ago. You were trying to take him to the movies. But for some reasons, despite him telling you over and over he was okay, you were overly worried about the darkness of the theatre. True, he never actually went to the movies before, but surely there was nothing wrong with little darkness. So that was his answer that time.

But you were not convinced… and you two never went. Until now.

You are still talking. "But I know better. He is accustomed to it… for all the wrong reasons!"

During that moment of brief darkness, the warmth of your hand in his… the words you said… they are all he could remember.

And they are enough… for he is smiling as he looks at the infinite number of lights – stars – reflected on your smiling face. Right then, he truly feels that he does not need anything else in the world… as long as he could be here, finding the unexpected beauty of darkness through you. Something he – who spent nearly all his life in darkness – never thought existed.

He could hear your voice in his head. I want to show him… that there are beautiful things in darkness, too!