He’s lovely, he thinks, watching from the other side of the room.

He thinks he’s lovely in the way his hair is curled around the curve of his neck like fluffy frosting on a cake, the way his eyes have a golden flame in them that sparkles like sunlight on the ocean waves, the way he reminds Donghae of melted sugar and marshmallows, roasting over a campfire.

It’s a well-known fact that Kyuhyun’s beautiful, but to Donghae, he’s so much more than that.

The way his smile can put the Sun out of its job, and the way his giggles make the stars twinkle.

He’s lovely.

Like toffee, or hot chocolate.

Kyuhyun catches him staring, and smiles, and Donghae thinks he’s possibly smitten, and ever so in love.

Kyuhyun stares back at him for a moment, a lovely glow to his look, the rays of a late afternoon sunset shining down on him, before blushing as the moment goes on too long, one of his sweet laughs slipping past his rosy lips as he finishes dinner.

Donghae rests his head on his hand, leaning on the dining table, watching as Kyuhyun plates up tonight’s food, and carrying it over with a shy but proud smile.

“Smells delicious.” He says, as if he hasn’t commented it a million times already.

Kyuhyun still smiles at the compliment, nervously playing with the thread of his sleeves. “Hopefully it tastes just as good.”

He waits for Kyuhyun to sit down before picking up his fork and digging in, grinning at the incredible flavours that hit his taste buds. “This is ing incredible, Kyuhyun.”

Kyuhyun grins up at him, swallowing a sip of his tea. “Incredible? Isn’t that too kind?”

“I don’t think incredible’s kind enough.”

Kyuhyun shuffles in his seat as he laughs, flushed from the compliment, and Donghae blinks, just watching him.

“Well thank you, but maybe I should see some of Chef Donghae to find out if your judgement’s really that trustworthy?”

Kyuhyun giggles at the expected blank look he receives.

“You’re not that bad at cooking, Donghae.”

“I really am.”

“You’re not, and I can always teach you some things if you really need-”

Donghae leans over, steals a kiss from Kyuhyun’s tea-stained lips, feels the smile that’s pressed against him as Kyuhyun leans in.

He's always loved how Kyuhyun leans into kisses, how his body goes limp, settling in being comfy and small in Donghae’s arms. They use kisses to say goodnight, good morning, hello, goodbye – and kissing Kyuhyun is slow, sometimes silly, sometimes sloppy and rushed, but always freely given and received.

The soft pitter patter of the rain can be heard as they part, washing across the windows of Donghae’s apartment, and it reminds him of the first day they had met.

It had been raining then, and Kyuhyun had looked ever so small, he still looks so small, especially in the ways he still looks to Donghae for encouragement and praise, always having been his little shadow that he was happy to have following him around.

Kyuhyun blinks up at him when he doesn’t move away, and his eyes soften when Donghae pulls his chair closer, linking their arms, and Kyuhyun’s head falls to Donghae’s shoulder perfectly.

“Is your knee getting any better?” Kyuhyun asks, picking up his fork again.

They both know it’s going to be a long recovery, but he knows it comforts Kyuhyun that he talks about it and proves to him that he is listening to the doctors. “Hopefully, it mainly needs a lot of rest.”

Kyuhyun rubs his arm at that, knowing how much it’s pained him to not perform.

All he’s wanted since he was young is to perform, and it sometimes feels like his whole life is performing, so the knee injury had been a startling, painful surprise.

All he’s learned to love has come from him performing, and without it he honestly had no idea where he’d be.

As if reading his mind, Kyuhyun says, smiling: “Remember your dreams to open a zoo? Do you still wanna do something like that when you’re older?”

Donghae hums softly around a mouthful of food, tilting his neck so his head rests on Kyuhyun’s. “It was definitely one of my other biggest dreams when I was a child. To be surrounded by animals, helping them on a daily basis…it really does sound like a dream.”

He feels the slight nod of Kyuhyun’s head beneath him. “I’m sure you’ll do that one day, Donghae…”

Donghae smiles gently at the promise, closing his eyes as a feeling of contentment filled him. “I do want music to always be part of my life though, we’re gonna sing so many songs to our children they’ll get sick of us.”

Kyuhyun laughs, the sound vibrating through his chest and sending a lovesick hum through Donghae’s heart. “They won’t get sick of my singing, yours on the other hand…”

Donghae pinches Kyuhyun’s side, startling him and making him drop his fork as Donghae tickles him, waves of giggles flowing past his lips.

“Ok, ok,” Kyuhyun gasped at a particularly harsh pinch before giggling as Donghae tickled around the area. “Fine, I’m sure they’ll love your voice too, Donghae.”

The older brunette nodded in agreement, laughing himself at how contagious Kyuhyun’s giggles are, and wrapping an arm around Kyuhyun’s waist.

He can feel Kyuhyun’s laughs like this, just like he can feel the softness to those brown curls, and the soft easy thump of both of their hearts.

“They’re gonna think I have the voice of a God.” He said, mainly to himself, but also to prove Kyuhyun wrong.

“Yes, of course, Donghae,” Kyuhyun shifted and looked up at him, his roseate lips smiling beautifully. “They’ll think you have a voice of the Heavens.”

A content chatter filled the room after that as they finished eating, and Donghae carefully stacked all of the plates and drinks together as he stood up, walking over to the sink.

The hot spray of the water splashed up his hands and wrists as the cheap, blue plastic washing-up bowl filled with clean water. He squeezed a drop or two of washing-up liquid in too as it filled up.

Donghae looked up as Kyuhyun helpfully brought over the last of the dishes used to make dinner.

However, he playfully swatted Kyuhyun away when the younger tried to help him with washing up.

“Nuh-uh, not tonight,” Donghae watched as Kyuhyun moved aside, making sure that he didn’t try to sneak back over. “Tonight, you’re relaxing.”

Kyuhyun smiled at the gesture. “I’m really not tired, Donghae, and I thought you said yourself that you needed to rest.”

Donghae only hmmed, starting on the first dish. “This will hardly take me long.”

“Which is exactly why I could have just as easily of done that.”

Albeit, Kyuhyun settled on the sofa quickly, wrapping himself up in one of Donghae’s fluffy grey blankets with one hand as he picked up the remote with the other, lazily flicking through the channels.

“What’s on?” Donghae asked, voice echoing slightly from the kitchen.

“Same that’s on every Sunday,” Kyuhyun mumbled, shivering slightly from how cold the fabric of the sofa was from having no-one sat on it recently. He tucked himself in more. “Do you know if there are any good movies that’ve come out?”

He flicked through the different movie sections with disinterest.

“No, not recently…” A faint hum rang from the kitchen as Donghae thought. “Maybe there’s a new series on Netflix we can start?”

“Mmmm, maybe,” Kyuhyun switched onto the app. “Bring that new ice-cream I brought when you’re done.”

It was one Seokmin had recommended to him on many an occasion, so when he’d seen it in the shop on his way home, he’d practically had to buy it.

“This one?” Kyuhyun jumped as something beyond freezing touched his cheek, his leg and half of his torso falling off of the sofa as he fell with a scream.

He blinked up at his attacker, cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he struggled to pull himself up.

Luckily, Donghae was kind enough to reach a hand out, though with a mocking laugh. “I didn’t,” Donghae stopped for a moment, clearly trying to stop himself from laughing from the wobbly smile he was struggling to contain. “I didn’t mean to scare you that badly.”

He looks down at Kyuhyun as the younger pouts up at him, heart warm with so much uncontainable pure joy he’s afraid it’s about to burst.

Kyuhyun rubs his attacked cheek, looking away with an endlessly endearing blush and smile, and Donghae gently sits down beside him, heart warming impossibly further when Kyuhyun shyly lets him join him under the blanket.

Kyuhyun’s skin is cold to touch, and goose bumps have spread down his bare legs from the shock. Donghae knocks their feet together playfully, and it’s worth it for the smile-that-threatens-the-sun sent his way.

They take turns spooning mouthfuls of ice-cream past their lips, until eventually they agree that they need to ask Seokmin for more recommendations.

“Could you find anything to watch?” Donghae asks, unable to get rid of the grin on his lips.

“No,” Kyuhyun looks back at the TV, picking up the remote again. “I don’t really feel like watching anything tonight.”

Kyuhyun finished his sentence with a yawn, head falling to Donghae’s chest.

Donghae gazed down at the male with a knowing smile.

“So I was right, you are tired.”

Kyuhyun blinked up at him, before remembering their earlier discussion about the dishes and shaking his head defiantly.

Another yawn quickly proved him otherwise.

“I don’t mind going to bed, already,” Donghae said, sitting up. “You’re clearly tired and an early sleep would do us both some good.”

Kyuhyun nods tiredly, rubbing his exhausted eyes. “Mkay.”

Donghae smiled at the cute sight.

It was rare that Kyuhyun showed just how young he was, but his cuteness was often one of the biggest giveaways.

Easily picking up the younger who was still wrapped up in his fluffy blanket like a little burrito, Donghae walked around the sofa and placed the ice-cream back in the freezer before walking towards his bedroom, turning the door handle quietly and shutting the door behind them.

There was a little, sleepy grin on Kyuhyun’s face as he carried him, and the first tendrils of moonlight reflected beautifully down on Kyuhyun’s pale skin.

Kyuhyun had always been lighter than a feather, and the bed hardly made a sound as Donghae laid him gently down on it, sliding in beside him under the bed covers.

He made a mental note to ask Kyuhyun if he was eating properly.

“Donghae?”

Kyuhyun’s hand reached out searchingly for his, fumbling through the layers of sheets before finding Donghae in the darkness.

“Hmm?”

Kyuhyun’s hand ran up his arm and his chest, leaving a trail of warmth across his body, before wandering up his neck, gently holding his jaw to encourage him to looks his way.

Donghae’s mouth opened in question, but he was cut off by the lazy sealing of Kyuhyun’s lips with his. Their faces were so close that Donghae could smell the sweet tint of his earlier tea that still remained on his lips, to the soft fragrance that Kyuhyun had sprayed on his neck. He always smelt sweet, almost bubbly, like a young ray of sunshine or the definition of everything wonderful in this world.

Kissing Kyuhyun was thrilling, and his favourite part would always be the way Kyuhyun simply blossomed under the touch of his lips.

A soft moan escaped Kyuhyun as contentment and warmth oozed through them like a drug.

It was a lazy kiss, but Kyuhyun’s lips were wet and sweet, always more perfect than he could ever imagine.

A hand traced a languorous path through Kyuhyun’s hair as they slowly parted, completely out of breath as they leant their foreheads together.

“Goodnight, Donghae.”

Tease.

Kyuhyun had and always would be, a terrible, terrible tease.

But Donghae had learnt one or two things from the younger.

He darts forward, nearly knocking his head against Kyuhyun’s, and pulls him back into a kiss, but this time he makes it short, leaves Kyuhyun gasping for it, makes it quick, and says: “Goodnight, Kyuhyun.”

Kyuhyun punches his arm weakly for it after a moment, as if the kiss had completely thrown him off, but he still snuggles into Donghae’s chest, pulling the covers up to their necks in the kitten like way that he loves, and it’s only then, with his bundle of warmth and joy resting on his chest, that Donghae can peacefully fall asleep.

Their fingers tangle under the sheets, easy, natural, perfect, and with their eyes closed, it was easier to feel their love like this than in any other way.