The drive back to Hyukjae's apartment was quiet. Donghae glanced at Hyukjae who's eyes has remained outside the window ever since they left his parents' place.

After dinner, Hyukjae was separated and pulled away from Doghae by his mom to coo over him and get all the juicy details about how he and Donghae got together. He was never much of a storyteller so he got creative when he was bending the truth about their "love story."

"There's really nothing much to say, Mrs.-"

"Umma," she corrected immediately. 

Hyukjae chuckled awkwardly and rephrased himself. "Y-Yeah...Um-Umma..." Hyukjae cleared his throat and looked towards the kitchen to see if Donghae was on his way out but the latter was nowhere to be seen. Looking back to see Sehyun still giving him that expectant look, Hyukjae racked his brain for something to say. 

"Well, like Donghae said, we-uhm-we met in college.and then recently he found me again and then he said he wanted to marry me." Hyukjae remembered their time back at the restaurant and chuckled at the ridiculous memory. "He just sort-of blurted it out of the blue so I called him crazy and he got mad at me."

Sehyun laughed along with Hyukjae as she could picture her son's crazy impulses in her head. "Yeah, Donghae has always been an emotional kid. He never uses his brain when it involves his heart so I got really worried when he started to bury himself with work like that." She smiled fondly at Hyukjae and covered his hands with her own. "I'm really glad that he hasn't been alone all this time."

Seeing such a sincere and honest gratitude from her, Hyukjae felt guilty that she was part of deceiving such a sweet woman. Not trusting his voice to crack under pressure, Hyukjae just smiled back at her before looking down and away from those eyes that could see right through him. Sehyun giggled and thought that Hyukjae was just being shy. She found it extremely adorable and thought that this must be one of the reasons why Donghae fell for him. Afterall, no matter how tough Donghae may look on the outside, he's always been a er for anything he considered cute. 

"Umma, please tell me you haven't been torturing Hyukjae," Donghae interrupted as he walked in to the living room to join them. 

Sehyun's smile quickly changed into a frown as she gave Donghae a disapproving look. "Is that how you talk to your mother? I'm surprised Hyukjae's able to put up with your attitude at all."

Donghae just rolled his eyes at her but did check on Hyukjae. "Are you alright? She hasn't said anything weird to you has she?"

"No, she hasn't." Hyukjae laughed and even more when Sehyun pulled him in for a hug to snuggle at his delightful personality. 

Donghae groaned out loud at his mother's clinginess and exagerrated his body language to look away just so he could hide the smile that was playing over his lips upon seeing the interaction between the two of them. Just because he and Hyukjae were fake dating doesn't mean he can't enjoy the perk of joy that it brings to his mother. Swiftly turning around, Donghae pretended to look at his watch before declaring their departure. 

"It's getting late, Umma. We have to go. We'll see you next week."

"I miss you already," Sehyun whined and pulled Hyukjae in for another tight hug. 

Donghwa chuckled at his wife's affection for Hyukjae but did place a loving hand on Donghae's shoulder. "We look forward to seeing you two again."

"Oh! Make sure you invite your parents, okay, Hyukjae?" Sehyun reminded before letting Hyukjae go with Donghae. Her glee overlooked the uncomfortable gaze Hyukjae sported at the reminder. "I can't wait to meet the woman that raised such an angel to tame this evil son of mine."

Donghae glowered at being called "evil" but didn't say much else. Saying their final goodbyes, Donghae and Hyukjae left the Lee household on a high and happy note. The atmosphere between the two of them quickly changed, however, as soon as they were in Donghae's car and drove off. The warm and happy air shifted into the uncomfortable silence they currently were in right now with Hyukjae staring aimlessly out to the streets with Donghae glancing over at him every two minutes; trying to figure out what was going on in his mind. It took Donghae all of ten minutes before he finally couldn't take the silence anymore and prodded into Hyukjae's space. 

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Without looking at him, Hyukjae answered. "Nothing."

Donghae sighed at the nonchalant response and kept trying. "You're quiet."

"I've got nothing to say."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Donghae pouted to himself thinking back to Hyukjae's upbeat personality with his parents (mostly towards his mother) earlier and compared him to the emo guy sitting next to him. Even though they have a strict business relationship, is it too much to ask for the latter to warm up to him even when they're alone. 

"Your mother..." Donghae heard Hyukjae say and quickly looked at him when he they stopped at a red light to give him his full attention. "She's really nice."

"Of course," Donghae found himself agreeing. "Were you expecting her not to be?"

Donghae saw Hyukjae's lips turn up and couldn't help but admire his side profile for a second. Contract and marriage aside, Hyukjae might be one of the best looking people he's ever met in his life. He almost wished that they had met under different circumstances so that he could see if he could have had a real chance with the latter. 

"I don't want to hurt her."

Donghae was surprised to hear that. "How would you?"

Hyukjae didn't answer Donghae's question but did shift his head to look ahead. "The light's green."

As soon as he said that, Donghae heard someone honk their car behind him causing him to immediately turn his attention back on the road to keep driving. No more words were exchanged between the two of them for the rest of the drive with only music from a random station that Donghae chose in his car to fill the silence. 

Arriving at Hyukjae's apartment, Donghae parked his car right in front of his building. Hyukjae removed his seatbelt and was about to get out of the car when Donghae grabbed his arm to stop him from getting out. Surprised at the sudden action, Hyukjae gave Donghae a questioning look. 

"Uhm...I-I'm sorry..."

"For what?"

"For...putting you in such a weird position."

Realizing that Donghae has misunderstood his quietness, Hyukjae settled himself back in his seat and released a heavy sigh. Sensing that Hyukjae was about to tell him what he was really thinking, Donghae released his hold on his arm but kept his eyes on him. 

"I...envy you."

"Envy me?"

"Not because you're rich or handsome or anything like that," Hyukjae quickly informed before Donghae could misunderstand himself further. Ignoring the chortle that came out of Donghae, he continued. "I'm jealous because you and your parents are close. Your mom and dad...they seem to love you a lot and they're happy for you no matter what you do or who you love."

Then it clicked. 

"You're worried that your parents wouldn't be the same?" Donghae asked. 

Hyukjae doesn't know why but he laughed. Out of all the hardships and struggles he's had to face in his life, this was the one thing he can't seem to overcome. 

"I always wondered if it was possible for me to keep that part myself hidden for life. I mean, I'm 35 years old and they haven't met a single person I've dated. Not that there's a lot because I only really dated two people and one of them's an ."

Donghae snorted as he remembered reading that file. "The fact that you lasted more than three months was beyond me. He deserves to rot in jail."

Hyukjae looked at him perplexed but then remembered Donghae's "sources." He doesn't even know why he still gets surprised at this point. 

"How did you even know he's in jail?"

"Cause I put him there." Okay that was a surprise and Hyukjae quickly turned his entire body to face him - shock evident on his face. Donghae casually looked at him and almost laughed see