After breakfast, Jongup insisted on washing the dishes without Daehyun’s help, leaving him feeling mildly useless. Pouting, Daehyun back hugged the other man, peeking around him at the soapy water. Poking at Jongup’s sides, he bit his shoulder gently.

“Let me help~~~” Daehyun prodded his sides again, resting his chin on Jongup’s shoulder. “I want to help~ You’ve been so nice to me, let me pay you back.”

“Nope. That’s exactly why I’m not letting you help.” Smiling, Jongup turned slightly to kiss Daehyun’s cheek. “You think that you have to repay me for treating you well and you don’t and if I let you help it will only reinforce your idea that I need paid back when I don’t.”

“You’re a brat.” Daehyun reached out with one hand a scooped up a large dollop of soapy foam, holding it up to blow on it, watching as it flew through the air and got all over Jongup and the counter. “Oops.” Laughing, he retrieved the hand towel and began wiping the bubbles off of the other man’s face.

“Feeling better now that you’ve made a mess?” Chuckling, Jongup shook his head to dislodge some soap from his hair.

“Yeah, a little.” Admitting with a shrug, Daehyun finished cleaning up the bubbles and went back to pestering Jongup, playfully kissing his cheek and tugging at his hair lightly. “I still want to help, though.”

“No.” Sticking his tongue out, Jongup flicked some soap bubbles at Daehyun with a laugh. “If you want to help, you can get my phone from the coffee table so I can see if my mom has tried to message me or anything.”

“Of course!” Finally, with a task to accomplish, Daehyun half skipped into the living room, snatching the device quickly to return to Jongup’s side. “Got it~”

“Mind turning it on? My hands are all wet.” Jongup smiled, nodding toward the sink. Scoffing playfully, Daehyun batted at him.

“Oh sure. You’ll touch me with wet pee hands but you wont touch your phone with wet sink hands.” Giggling, he turned the phone on and sat it on the counter far enough away from the sink that he was confident it wouldn’t be damaged.

”Lets be fair, Daehyun...” Jongup washed a bowl and placed it in a drying rack, smirking slightly. “I would do a lot of things to you that I wouldn’t do to my phone.” With a flirty wink and a scandalized gasp from Daehyun, the duo dissolved into a fit of laughter.

“You are such a ert.” Leaning against the counter, Daehyun closed his eyes and threw his head back happily as he continued to chuckle, enjoying the moment.

“What? I’m not going to feed rice to my phone. Could you imagine the kind of damage that could do?” Daehyun felt arms wrap around him, pulling him closer to the other man, kisses peppering his cheek and shoulder. “Moldy rice dropping out of the charger port at random. It’d be gross.”

“I would have you know that I am made up of seventy-five percent moldy rice, thank you.” Laughing, Daehyun wrapped his arms around Jongup’s neck, playing with his hair. “I’m insulted that you think I’m gross.”

“I can’t really complain, can I? Pee Hands and Moldy Rice for the win.” Jongup rubbed his hips gently and Daehyun opened his eyes, pulling the other man into a soft kiss.

“Never refer to us as that ever again, Moon Jongup.” Shaking his head, Daehyun smiled and ruffled Jongup’s hair, laughing when he messed it up enough for his liking. “You look like a hedgehog.”

“Brat.” Smacking at Daehyun’s hip, their comfortable flirting was cut short by Lu blaring through the kitchen. Amused by Jongup’s heavy sigh, Daehyun laughed and answered it, aware that the hands on his hips were still too damp to hold the phone.

“Jongup will be with you in one moment. Please hold.” Chuckling into the speaker, he watched as Jongup let him go to dry his hands on the kitchen towel.

“Thanks, Dae.” Kissing his cheek, Jongup took the phone and was frowning a moment later as a loud voice sounded through the speaker.

Excusing himself with a frustrated look, Jongup left the room and Daehyun watched the kitchen door for a moment, nervous. Whoever had called sounded angry and he just hoped that everything was okay, especially with Jongup’s mom. Biting his lip, he decided to distract himself by washing what remained of the dishes. Whatever it was, if Jongup needed him then Daehyun would be there.

Growling in frustration, Jongup took the call to his bedroom, careful to keep his voice low as to not distress Daehyun. All of this drama was really starting to get old and he was incredibly sick of it. Himchan’s voice on the other end ranted at him about having Daehyun answer his phone, how inappropriate it was, what would his mother think, any protest the other man could think of.

“Himchan... Shut up...” Finally having enough, he interrupted his friend with a quiet snarl. “I will hang up on you. I’ll block your number if I have to. You will not insult Jung Daehyun, do you understand?”

“Whatever. I’m only calling because Youngjae and I are on our way up.” Himchan hissed back, clearly not enjoying the usually mild mannered Jongup’s attitude toward him.

“You’re what now?” Gripping his phone, Jongup left his bedroom as a knock sounded on his front door.

”Tadah. Open up.” Giving a harsh laugh, Himchan hung up the phone as Jongup strode across the room, livid at the sudden invasion.

“Were you expecting company?” Daehyun met him in the living room, drying his hands, a look of confusion on his face.

“Dae, stay calm, alright?” Jongup looked him over, biting his lip. “That idiot, Himchan, brought your ex over. I don’t know why but I promise I wont let anything happen to you.” Watching the happiness drain out of Daehyun’s eyes only managed to make him angrier as he wrenched the door open to glare down the uninvited pair.

“Took you long enough.” Pushing past Jongup, Himchan gave Daehyun a disgusted look as he entered the living room, Youngjae following after him.

“Why the did you bring him here?” Snapping, Jongup kept himself between Youngjae and Daehyun, seeing the way Daehyun tensed up, rubbing his still bruised wrist.

“He has the right to speak to his boyfriend, Jongup.” Shrugging, Himchan flipped through the channels on Jongup’s television. “He wanted to bring him clean clothes and his phone. He was worried.”

“Dae, baby please.” The pleading in Youngjae’s voice sounded fake, a mandatory tone he felt he needed to take on just to get what he wanted. And what he wanted was Daehyun. Shaking, hands gripped his arm and Jongup moved to hold Daehyun against him, doing his best to shield him from Youngjae and Himchan.

“He doesn’t want to be with you.” His own voice was hard and angry, holding an edge he very rarely had. “Pretty sure he made that clear before I punched you in the face.”

“You don’t know anything.” Youngjae waved a dismissive hand at him, proceeding to reach out for Daehyun who flinched away and hid himself behind Jongup.

“Touch him and I’ll knock your out this time.” Threatening, he took a step toward Youngjae.

“Daehyun’s his boyfriend, Jongup.” Himchan shouted from the couch, peering over the back of it at the chaos. “Let them talk about .”

“I was his boyfriend.” Voice small and unusually timid for Daehyun, the man held onto Jongup tightly. “And then he slept with Junhong... Youngjae, we’re over.” Seeming to gain confidence, Daehyun stepped around him to face his ex head on, bringing on a wave of concern from Jongup. “I don’t want to be with you anymore. I’ll come get my things tomorrow.”

“What? ing this now so you don’t need me anymore?” Before Jongup could react, Youngjae’s palm met the side of Daehyun’s face, leaving a mark on his cheek in its wake. “You dirty .” Without thinking, Jongup struck out, his fist colliding with Youngjae’s nose with a loud crunch, sending him to the floor, blood cascading onto his shirt.

“Oh ...” Himchan was jumping over the couch in an attempt to steer Youngjae away from Jongup’s wrath as Jongup himself moved Daehyun back behind him.

“What did you just call him?!” Hands balled so tightly into fists that his nails dug into his palm, Jongup shook with rage and Youngjae staggered to his feet, holding his clearly broken nose.

“A . He’s a dirty .” Sneering, Youngjae resisted Himchan’s urging to leave despite his injury.

“Really funny coming from the guy with the side es.” Jongup took a step closer. “If you don’t want your kicked too, Himchan, you better get out of my way.”

“Damn it, Youngjae.” Finally, tugging as hard as he could, Himchan got the other man to the apartment door and into the hallway. Slamming the door behind them, his anger was calmed almost instantly by the soft sound from within his apartment. Heart dropping, he turned to face Daehyun who was holding his reddened cheek, tears dripping down his face.

“Dae...” Returning to his side, he wrapped his arms around him, kissing his forehead gently, Jongup felt nothing but guilt. “I’m so sorry... I’m so sorry I didn’t get to him in time to stop him.... I promised to keep you safe...”

“I... I’m not a ...” Sobbing, Daehyun gripped Jongup’s shirt, looking at him with his lower lip quivering. “I-I’m not, am I?”

“No. No, Daehyun.” Sighing, Jongup kissed him deeply, running his fingers through the crying man’s hair. “You’re not. You’re nothing like that. He only said those lies to hurt you because he couldn’t have you anymore. You have done nothing wrong.”

“You broke his nose...” Sniffling, Daehyun hid his face against Jongup’s collarbone, still shaking against Jongup’s chest.

“I did. He’s lucky that was the worst he left here with.” Rubbing Daehyun’s back a moment, Jongup finally moved to lift the other man into his arms. “Lets get some ice on that cheek, okay? If that bruises I really will knock him out.” The blush on Daehyun’s cheeks at being carried was so precious he couldn’t help but kiss him. “You’re beautiful, you know.”

”Thanks, Pee Hands.” Daehyun smiled, lopsided and still more than a little sad but a smile none the less. “And you’re just... You’re really handsome, Jongup.”

“I know.” Smiling, he kissed Daehyun again before sitting him on the counter, going to retrieve the ice from the freezer. “You’re the one who needs to be told it more often. You are gorgeous, Daehyun. You deserve to see what I see when I look at you.”

“Maybe you just need your eyes checked.” Voice hallow, Daehyun looked down at the floor between his dangling legs as Jongup pressed the towel full of ice to Daehyun’s cheek.

“Nope. Every time I look at you, I know they work just fine.” Rubbing Daehyun’s uninjured cheek, Jongup pressed their foreheads together, eyes closed. “You just don’t know how amazing you are. But you will. I’ll make sure of it.” It didn’t matter what it took, he would stop at nothing to help Daehyun see how much he was truly worth. That, to Jongup, he was worth more than the whole rest of the universe had to offer.