A/N: I would just like to thank kiwicolada again for pointing out something that I completely overlooked. Haha - so, just to clear some things up, Hankyung and Hangeng are two different people here in this story. Hangeng is their friend from China (restaurant owner) and Hankyung is Donghae's brother who is now living in China. ^^; sorry for the confusion 

Hyukjae stirred in his sleep as he slowly gained consciousness. A groan slipped out of his mouth as he felt the hardness of the floor against his side and promptly squeezed the warm body he was hugging in order to release some morning tension. He took a deep breathe and upon receiving the wonderful scent of autumn, there was nothing more he wanted than to snuggle closer to it and fall back in his dream.

Wait a second...

Hyukjae's eyes snapped open and immediately unwraped his arms away from Donghae as he scampered away from the other. His face was bright red while his heart pounded against its ribcage. He prayed to every single deity in the sky that he could think of for Donghae to still be fast asleep and for the other to not know that he had his arms wrapped him around like a snake. Hyukjae had no such luck, however, as he saw the other sit up straight not even three seconds after he let him go. 

"Did you sleep well?" Donghae asked with a teasing smile. 

Hyukjae didn't think his face could get any redder but the heat he felt around his ears and neck told him otherwise. Not wanting to squeak or stutter in front of the other, Hyukjae ignored Donghae's question and scrambled to get up on his feet and ran his way to the bathroom. Donghae was left to watch after him, the smile on his face slowly turning into short bursts of chuckle. 

Once Donghae heard the bathroom door slam shut and was absolutely sure Hyukjae was out of earshot, his grin slowly changed from an amused one to a bittersweet realization. He placed one hand on his head and shook his head at his actions helplessly. 

Donghae has always been an early riser. Whether it was for work or for exercise or even just to see the sun rise, Donghae liked to wake up early. Therefore, when he opened his eyes at dawn to see Hyukjae's face inches away from his, he couldn't help but freeze at what he saw. He didn't dare to move a muscle, too afraid that even breathing loudly could wake the other up. 

Donghae took that moment to admire and just look at Hyukjae. The other looked so pure and innocent with his eyes closed and lips formed into a small pout. His face automatically breaking into a smile half believing Hyukjae's pout may just be his automatic response to everything. Carefully, he brought his hands up to Hyukjae's face and traced his finger over his cheeks. Not quite touching him but close enough that he could get a sense of how they would feel. 

"D-Donghae..."

His finger stilled over his lips and stared at Hyukjae with mild surprise thinking he'd been caught red handed but the other's closed eyes and soft snoring was all he needed to know that the other was still fast asleep.

Coming back to his own senses, Donghae physically pulled away from Hyukjae and turned his body to face the other way so he could have some space and think about his feelings for the other properly. All the while, an unknowing coy proud smile started to play around his lips the more he thought about Hyukjae uttering his name in his sleep. 

A faint whimper and soft groan from behind him made Donghae glance back to where Hyukjae was sleeping but before he could fully flip himself over, he was surprised by the feel of Hyukjae's arms wrapping themselves around his waist. Not knowing what else to do, Donghae stayed completely still and just allowed Hyukjae's arms to drape over him. His heartbeat raised to a thousand beats per minute as he didn't dare to move a muscle. The heat of Hyukjae's arms around him and the feel of his breath on his nape was enough to light his senses on fire. One too many emotions running through him all at once as he decided to maintain that position just to see how long Hyukjae would hold him for. It turns out...for quite a while.

Hyukjae didn't release Donghae until he opened his eyes which to Donghae's delight had him acting all flustered and shy. He knows it shouldn't have affected him seeing Hyukjae act all flabbergasted but he couldn't help but celebrate a little inside. The amused smile and elated feeling inside his chest was inevitable the more he thought about Hyukjae. 

The ding of the dumbwaiter snapped him out of his reverie and gradually forced him to stand up on his feet. The creek on his neck and the soreness he felt on his left shoulder was too much to handle but it still didn't sway the satisfied grin on his face from being held by the other for a few hours. It didn't matter to him that Hyukjae probably didn't mean to do it, and probably only did it out of reflex, because he hadn't felt that kind of happiness in years.

A small technicality wasn't going to burst his bubble. 

Donghae grabbed the tray of food from the dumbwaiter and brought it over to the small coffee table where they had dinner the night before. He took the pot of tea and placed it at the center followed by the plate of oranges, rolled eggs and porridge. Once he was done setting the table up, he sat criss-cross on the floor and waited anxiously for Hyukjae to return. No doubt to rub his face on the fact that he was snuggling him like a teddybear that morning just to see him blushing again. 

Inside the bathroom, where Hyukjae ran to hide from Donghae, the other was once again trying to drown himself by splashing his face with cold water nonstop to the point where he could barely breathe. After his brain registered what he was trying to do, Hyukjae gasped and grabbed both sides of the sink while his face dripped from how much water he had splashed himself with. His body temperature had gone back to normal now but his heart was still beating quite fast. 

"I think I'm falling for you."

Hyukjae snapped his eyes shut at the memory of his dreams and put his hands underneath the still flowing water again and splashed himself with it some more. How could he have dreamt something like that? Why would he dream something like that!? It didn't help that he literally woke up clinging to the other like his life depended on it.

Hyukjae was completely mortified at having to face Donghae after doing that in his sleep but even moreso, for the dream that he had. He has no idea why or how he could even dream up something like that. Hyukjae realized that he was trudging around dangerous territory with the other and needed to pull back a bit before he falls down the rabbit hole. 

He looked at himself seriously at the mirror and took a deep breathe. 

"Get your head together, Lee Hyukjae." He scolded and scowled when he saw the forlorn look he had when saying it. "Don't forget the contract. This is a business. Just business."

After slapping his cheeks several times over, Hyukjae mustered up enough courage to dry his face off before coming out of the bathroom. He could hear his heartbeat echoing in his head the second he opened the door trying to force himself to act as though he was completely unaffected by the other. 

Swallowing down the lump he felt in his throat, Hyukjae peered behind the life size vase first to see what Donghae was up to. He saw the other sitting in front of the table munching on something. Seeing the food Donghae was eating from afar, Hyukjae felt his stomach rumble which made him pout and furrow his brows together. He didn't really want to eat with Donghae right now but he was hungry and he's not so sure if he could wait until lunch to eat.

His stomach grumbled again and this time it forced Hyukjae to ignore whatever feelings he was having for Donghae and to march on over and eat whatever food Donghae was gobbling down. Despite his reluctance, Hyukjae twaddled over to him and upon closer inspection his eyes widened and immediately hit Donghae's shoulder as hard as he could.

"Yah!"

"Ow!"

Donghae almost choked on the egg he put inside his mouth and turned to see Hyukjae glaring at him.

"Why did you hit me!?"

"Why did you eat all of the food!?" Hyukjae scolded and looked at the small plate where only one piece of the egg roll remained. 

Donghae didn't even look remorseful and just swallowed the piece that he was eating.

"Well, what were you doing in the bathroom anyways? Why'd you take so goddamn long?"

"I was-" Hyukjae started then stopped not knowing how to phrase it without outing himself. So instead, he screamed, "Shut up!" Then proceeded to take the metal chopsticks out of Donghae's hand and shoved the last end piece of the egg in his mouth, and even though the piece was not big enough to fill his cheeks, Hyukjae still managed to puff them out as he huffed with annoyance at Donghae. 

"What's wrong with you? Did you wake up on the wrong side or something?"

Hyukjae glared at him and took two pieces of orange and exaggeratedly munched on it to show Donghae how irritated he was. 

"Anyone will be in a bad mood when they wake up to your face!"

Donghae raised an inquiring brow before it was followed by a smirk. "Sure didn't feel like it."

Hyukjae tensed up but maintained his glare on Donghae. His chewing slowed down a little in his attempt to be more intimidating. 

"Actually," Donghae continued in a more teasing manner obviously trying to provoke a more prominent reaction from Hyukjae. "From the way you were hugging me," his smirk growing when he saw Hyukjae's eyes flicker, "I'd say you were having a really really good dream. Is that why you're so grumpy? Cause you woke up and wished you were doing that for real?"

Hyukjae knows he was blushing at that point but he didn't care and just screamed at Donghae. 

"Yah! Stop talking such nonsense!"

Donghae wasn't fazed and kept going. "What was it, huh? Were you hugging me or was I hugging you?"

"I said shut up!" Hyukjae was getting annoyed and his heart was fluttering in ways that it really shouldn't.

Donghae continued to ignore his warnings and kept provoking Hyukjae. "Or maybe I was doing something more? Did we kiss, huh?"

Hyukjae's breath hitched and opened his mouth to yell at him some more but didn't quite know what to say so instead, he closed his mouth and opted to just intensely glare at him. Donghae grinned thinking he had guessed the source of Hyukjae's turmoil correctly. 

"Was I good?" He asked like a child. Hyukjae didn't say anything and just looked away from him. Hoping that by ignoring Donghae's childish ways the other would just give up and leave him alone; but then again, he really should have known better by now. 

"I bet I was. Afterall, why else would you have woken up like a grouch." Donghae said and when Hyukjae still refused to react, he leaned a little closer inside Hyukjae's personal bubble and poked his sides, making Hyukjae jump and glare at him again. "Come on, Hyukjae-ah. Tell me. How did it feel? It's okay if you liked it. I am a great kisser afterall." He proudly boasted before bursting into fits of laughter. "I bet you're curious to know. Well, you know, I'm a pretty easy guy to read. Just ask m