VIII

It was a gentle and nice sound that Eunhyuk heard first when his mind slowly left his world made of dreams. He kept his eyes shut and listened, thought that it was calming and incredibly peaceful. It sounded like giggling, the laughter of children who were playing only a few steps away from him. Eunhyuk felt like he was sitting on a bench close to a playground and when he would open his eyes, he expected seeing a bunch of children chasing each other. Listening to the sound gave him a strangely nice feeling and he couldn’t help but to smile because he knew that those kids were happy.

Eunhyuk's eyes slowly fluttered open and he had to shut them right after because it was so bright around him. It wasn’t a blending light however and so he opened his eyes again, noticed that this strange light gave him the same calm feeling as the laughter. It wasn’t like looking into the sun, more like looking at an occurrence, at something so pretty that you can't tear your gaze away. And Eunhyuk indeed couldn’t do that. He stared without seeing anything but this warm light that filled his body and soul.

Slowly he blinked his eyes and noticed outlines in the middle of the light. Every time he blinked they got clearer, until he thought that there was someone sitting in front of him. It was too bright to see a face, he just saw a shadow. The light around the shadow moved slightly, almost as if that person was able to control it and Eunhyuk felt a soft breeze in his face that came out of nowhere. He smiled and watched how the picture in front of him slowly became clearer and clearer.

Indeed, it was a person that sat there cross-legged; he saw hands resting on bare knees, slender arms and a smile so beautiful that it made his eyes flutter shut again. Now Eunhyuk was grinning as well, completely sure that he was still dreaming.

"Don’t fall back asleep, Hyukkie", he heard someone chuckle.

Eunhyuk hid his face in his pillow, still grinning.

Ah, that's Donghae…

His brain needed a moment for this information to sink in and as it did, a lightning bolt shot through his body and made him sit in his bed, wide awake and as straight as a die.

It really was Donghae who was sitting on his bed, dressed in Eunhyuk's clothes and wearing a smile on his lips that brought Eunhyuk close to a heart attack. The bright light was gone, also the childish laughter, but Donghae's presence alone was enough to make him gasp for air. He had totally forgotten that the younger had spent the night with him.

"Donghae", he deadpanned and only then became aware of the fact that he was only wearing boxer shorts and a shirt. Quickly he pulled the blanket up to his chin and stared at him with wide eyes. Donghae however just smiled at him and with this increased Eunhyuk's heart rate even more.

"Good morning, Hyukkie", he beamed and was looking all cute with his tousled hair. "Did you sleep well?"

Heat shot up into Eunhyuk's face and made it as red as a tomato. Donghae sounded and looked so adorable that his heart almost couldn’t take it anymore. How was it possible that the person in front of him was the same person that had danced so sinfully the night before?

Wait a minute.

Last night Eunhyuk had brought Donghae home because he hadn't been feeling alright; he had been close to crying, had thrown up – now he looked like a ray of sunshine.

"Y-Yes, I did, thank you", he said, still a bit flustered. "But… What's with you?"

Donghae pulled his shoulders up. "I slept well too", he said and giggled.

The sound crashed over Eunhyuk's mind like a mighty wave and washed away his words. He was left behind with the remnants. "Um- Well… I- Um…"

"You look cute when you stammer like this", Donghae chirped and tilted his head to the side.

Eunhyuk shut his eyes. His heart was pounding against his ribcage and every beat was so loud that he could barely hear Donghae's laughter. That his body reacted like this… Did that mean that he-

Surely not!

He tried to remember the important things.         
The night before… The night before… Donghae hadn't been alright at all. His worries kicked back in and as soon as he saw Donghae in front of him again, he lurched forward, touched the other's face with both of his hands.

"Are you sure that you're alright?! Last night you looked like you're about to faint and Jesus you did! I was so worried and then you had to puke; I even put a bucket with water next to the bed and then I stayed awake for so long because you were mumbling in your sleep! I was going crazy-"

Donghae's lips stretched into another beautiful smile and cut Eunhyuk's train of thought. He only then noticed that he was touching him and quickly pulled his hands back.

"I'm really alright, Hyukkie", he reassured him.

Eunhyuk lowered his gaze and stared at the sheets. Donghae could tell him whatever he wanted: he knew that the brunet wasn’t alright. Some hours ago he had carefully stripped Donghae to wash all traces of his last costumer off his body – he had covered his crotch with a towel, of course – and while being there hadn't been the chance to hide anything. Donghae's body was covered all over with bruises, some of them so huge and dark that Eunhyuk assumed he had been kicked by someone. There were countless cuts and crusted wounds; the water running down the bathtub had had a reddish hue. Without make-up his face revealed even more bruises, a cut eyebrow and the bleeding lip that Eunhyuk had already seen before. Not all of those wounds had been caused by his last costumer, some were older. Now Eunhyuk knew why Donghae had avoided him for a while: he surely had been ashamed.

"Can you… tell me what that guy did to you?" Eunhyuk asked lowly. "The one I saw sitting next to you, I mean."

The smile on Donghae's lips faltered for a second, but he was good at maintaining it. "He didn’t do anything special-"

"When you came back you were pale, shaking and had to throw up."

Eunhyuk let their gazes meet and had to bite the inside of his cheek as he saw that Donghae's face was still slightly swollen. The other got more serious now and the smile disappeared.

"He gave me some of those pills, but I don’t like them... I always feel bad after taking them."

"That guy gave you drugs?!"

Donghae's eyes darted to the side for a second. "If you want to call them like that…"

Eunhyuk took a deep breath. Maybe he should stop asking questions. The less he knew about Donghae's world, the better he was able to sleep at night.

"After going to the restroom I felt better, though", Donghae explained and found his smile again. "And I felt even better when I slept next to you."

Someone call the fire department!

Eunhyuk laughed dumbly and rocked himself back and forth, hugging his legs and all worries once again blown out of his mind. He was a helpless fool when Donghae showed him his sweet side and even if Donghae would never take advantage of this: he had him wrapped around his finger.

Donghae turned his head and looked around. His eyes were open wide as he inspected Eunhyuk's spacious bedroom. "Your house is very pretty", he said, accompanied by giggles. "It's the most beautiful house I've ever seen."

And that was true. Compared to his own scabby apartment Eunhyuk's penthouse was a palace. Even for someone with a normal income it was nearly impossible to live like this, with designer furniture, open rooms and walls of glass. Donghae almost looked like he was in that toy store again, that's how amazed he was. He craned his neck and looked out of the window; the view over Seoul was amazing.

"Ah, this is nothing", Eunhyuk said shyly and rubbed a hand over his nape. "I only live here because my parents pay the rent…"

"Your parents must be rich", Donghae said with audible amazement in his voice.

Eunhyuk only hummed. "Sometimes I think that it would be better if they wouldn’t be."

"Why?"

"They own a big company and well… My parents always had high expectations. I didn’t want to be part of the company and wanted to study something else, then they found out that I'm more interested in guys and wouldn’t marry the girl they had picked for me when I was like three years old… All in all they aren’t satisfied with me. My father surely has already disinherited me, only my mother still helps me. She pays for the flat and if the store shouldn’t run well she will most likely pay my bills as well. I told her that I don’t want her help but she doesn’t stop. And I don’t want to snub her. She would be hurt if I move out just like that, that's why I'm still here."

"Why does she still help you?" Donghae wanted to know.

"She's my mom… I guess she loves me too much to just stop caring about me."

Suddenly Donghae seemed to be in deep thought, played with the hem of Eunhyuk's shirt that was way too big for him. "Love, huh?" he asked under his breath. For a short while he was caught in his thoughts before he looked back up to the other. "Can you tell me what love actually is?"

Eunhyuk was a bit confused to hear a question like this. "You want a definition?" he asked and saw Donghae nodding his head. "Hmm… It's not easy to explain. There are many different kinds of love and everyone loves in a different way. My grandma always said that you'll know when you're in love. You'll feel it. But I think that it's more complicated."

Donghae hummed. "But you have to tell someone when you're in love, right?"

"Well, you don't have to. Sometimes it's better to keep it a secret, but that depends on the situation."

"And in our situation?"

Mayday, mayday! Brain overheating!

Eunhyuk laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Y-Yeah, um… Ehe, well… I wouldn’t mind! You can tell me whatever you want, there's no need to keep secrets between us."

More nervous laughter and a smile played with the corners of Donghae's mouth. Eunhyuk waited for a moment, but the brunet didn’t say anything. No confession of love… Maybe it was too early for that.

"What do you want to do today?" Eunhyuk asked to change the topic before it got embarrassing.

"Hm… I have to go back soon, right?" Donghae's voice sounded sad again and Eunhyuk had to do something to change that.