Donghae woke up with a heavy heart as he remembers what has happened last night. Shortly after the call with his Teuki hyung, he washed up and got ready for bed. He laid on his bed thinking of what has happenedJaehyuk, Hyuk’s manager came to pick him up. The other was still too intoxicated to even be aware of his surroundings. Jaehyuk apologized to him on behalf of Hyuk. He explained that they were having drinks with the crew in a nearby shop and Hyuk said he’d be going out to get some fresh air but never came back.

“Hyung.. Hyung” Hyuk can hear faint calling of his name together with a knock on his door. It’s already morning. He woke up with a headache and a little memory of what happened the night before.

He’s having a hard time opening his eyes as he can feel his head like it’s being split open. Did he drink too much last night? Hyuk’s wondering. He’s trying his best to recall what happened as the last thing he can remember was going out and walking towards Donghae’s apartment and the next thing is now waking up with hangover.

“Hyung, I’m coming in.” Hyuk heard followed by door opening and footsteps going to the bedroom. He was just lying there waiting for Jaehyuk to arrive.

“Hyung, I brought you medicine for your hangover. I also brought honey. I knew you’d have a bad hangover today. You were so wasted last night”

“What happened last night? The last thing I can remember is going out and going to—” he can’t tell Jaehyuk he went to Donghae’s apartment.

“Yes, hyung, I know you went to Donghae hyung’s apartment last night. I picked you up in his apartment” Hyuk was surprised to hear this. Then suddenly some bits of memories are surfacing in his mind. He can remember telling the other he misses him. He remembers caressing the other’s face.

“Ughh. What have I done? Did Donghae tell you anything?”

“He didn’t tell me anything. He just told me to be careful on our way home.” Jaehyuk answered from outside as he prepares hot water and honey for the other.

Hyuk picked up his phone to check for any messages and there is one from his Leeteuk hyung.

From: Leeteuk-hyung

Let’s talk when you’re free.

He suddenly felt cold water has been poured on him. He’s dead. He’s sure. He’s sure Leeteuk knew what he did.

“Ughh!!” Hyuk grunted in frustration as he lied back down on his bed.

“Eunhyuk hyung! Your drink is ready. And you have to get up now. You have shoot in an hour and a half. I’ll be back by then.”

“Hmm” Hyuk just hummed in response. Still lying in bed. Trying to recall the things he did last night.

Donghae went on with his day. He decided to just go to the gym to work out and relieve stress. He’ll do anything to distract himself from everything. He refrained from going near the shooting site or even his own café. He’s afraid he might bump into the other. He didn’t want another encounter. But at the same time he is thinking if he should properly talk to the other. He’s thinking about having an honest conversation. It’s not that he hasn’t been honest, but more like careful to not hurt the other. But he realizes that the more he tries to be careful, the more he is hurting the other.

Donghae took a deep breath. He took out his phone and typed in his message for the other.

To: Lee Hyukjae

Let’s talk tomorrow after your shoot. Let’s meet in my apartment.

-Donghae

Donghae immediately locked his phone and kept it in his pocket. He didn’t want to see the response of the other if there’d be any. He knew tomorrow would be their last day of shoot. And he figured they’d probably leave the next morning after that.

Hyukjae tried his best to focus on the shoot. He didn’t want to cause trouble just because of the things running through his mind. They still have another day of shoot. He badly wants the shoot to end so he could visit the coffee shop hoping Hae would be there. He wanted to talk to Donghae and clear things up. But then again, what is there to clear up? Or maybe just to apologize? Or is he just making excuses to see the other?

“… and cut!” Finally, their shoot for the day has ended. The first thing he asked for was his phone from Jaehyuk. There were a few messages from friends and some notifications but what caught his attention was a message from an unknown number. He opened the message.

From: Unknown number

Let’s talk tomorrow after your shoot. Let’s meet in my apartment.

-Donghae

He suddenly felt nervous for some reason. But at least now he has an opportunity to talk to the other. He decided to head straight to their accommodation to rest. He still feels tired after everything that has happened since yesterday.

Hyuk suddenly remembered he has to call Leeteuk hyung. Even though he doesn’t want to. He knows he has to. He dialed Leeteuk’s number and after a few rings, the other answered.

“Hyung.”

“Hm. How was your shoot?”

“It’s—It was good. We just finished our 2nd day of shoot. Last one’s tomorrow.”

“Oh. That’s good. Did you… did you meet Donghae?” Hyuk was sitting on the couch playing with the hem of his shirt. Nervous. Feeling like he has done something wrong, but he isn’t sure what it was.

“Y-yeah. I—uh. I met him by chance at his café. Did you know he has a café, hyung? It was amazing.” Hyuk was trying to talk his way out. As he feels like he was in some kind of trouble.

“Yea. We have been keeping in touch. He did mention to me that he started a café there in Mokpo.”

“Oh. Uh. You could have told me hyung. I… never heard anything about him since he left. No one told me anything.” Leeteuk could hear the sadness in Hyuk’s voice. He felt a bit guilty about keeping everything from Hyuk. But that wasn’t his decision. It was Hae’s. He just respected the decision of the other.

“I’m sorry, Hyuk. It wasn’t my decision. I just respected his decision” Hyuk knew who this “his” his Leeteuk hyung was talking about.

“It’s okay, hyung. I understand. We’re going to talk tomorrow by the way.”

“Talk? Did you ask him to talk?” Leeteuk was surprised.

“No, hyung! It’s Donghae. He sent me a text message to meet him after our last shoot tomorrow.”

“Really? Hmm. Okay. Just don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“Hyung! I’m not like that.”

“Yah Lee Hyukjae, I know what you did last nigh—”

“Oh hyung! Jaehyuk is calling me now.”

“Yah! Hyukjae-yah hahaha. Behave your—”

“Yes, hyung. Bye!”

Hyuk let out a sigh of relief. He suddenly realized that he did not really hear any news about Donghae for the past year since he left. He didn’t really ask the members. But, a part of him knew that the members still kept in touch with the other. It’s just that, he believed that if Donghae did want him to know, he would reach out to him. He always held on to Donghae’s promise that he will come back. He was willing to wait no matter how long it would take.

He knows. Hyukjae knows that it was selfish of him to still want to continue his friendship with Donghae. That’s why he patiently waited for Donghae. But a part of him wants the other to come back sooner. And now, he is given an opportunity to talk to the other or even just ask how he has been, he can’t let go of that opportunity. Because he knows, that once he leaves Mokpo, he doesn’t know when he’ll see the other again.

Hyuk decided to rest for the night. He’s looking forward to his meeting with Donghae. He’s hoping to have more answers than questions after their talk.

“Thank you for your hard work. Thank you. Thank you.” Hyuk thanked and bowed to the production staff as their final shoot has ended. The sun is already setting when they wrapped up their shoot. He asked for his phone from his manager to check if there’s any message from Donghae. And there is.

From: Lee Donghaek

Tell me when you’re done shooting and when you’re coming over.

To: Lee Donghaek

We wrapped up the shoot just now. I’ll just wash up and be there in an hour or two.

Hyuk put his phone in his pocket as he walked with Jaehyuk to the car. He told Jaehyuk to bring him back to the accommodation and he mentioned that he will meet Donghae after. There is supposed to be a get together with the cast and production staff, but Hyuk made an excuse that he isn’t feeling well. Of course he’ll choose his meeting with Donghae over their get together.

Donghae saw the message that they have wrapped up their shoot. He just replied, “Okay. Just come up and knock. Unit 1015” He wasn’t in the mood to cook so when he received the text, he ordered chicken and pizza. Hopefully to arrive before the other does, and it did. After 30 mins or so, the food arrived. He already had some beer in his fridge that he bought earlier. It’s not like they’re gonna get drunk. It’s just to loosen them both as he’s pretty sure that he’ll need it to be able to say everything he wanted to say.

He admits that he hasn’t been completely honest with the other. He wants to take this opportunity to tell him how he really feels.

A few moments later, he heard a knock on the door. It’s probably Hyuk as he is not expecting anybody else tonight. He opened the door and there is Hyukjae, wearing a hoodie and shorts.

“Hi” Hyuk shyly greeted. It made Donghae giggle.

“Oh now you’re shy? After what you did the other night? Come in”

“Yah. I—I was drunk, okay?” Donghae just laughed at him again.

He let the other in. Gave him slippers he can wear inside the house. Donghae went straight to the kitchen to set up the dinner table.

“Sorry I didn’t have time to cook. I just ordered pizza and chicken. I hope that is fine with you.” Donghae explained as he brought out the food he ordered.

“It’s fine. I’d eat anything you serve, even if it’s ramyeon” Hyuk responded as he looked around the house. He has been there the other night, but he wasn’t sober and can’t remember much.

“I was gonna say that you can look around, but you already are.” Donghae said as he saw Hyukjae looking around his house. Like he was checking every detail he can see.

“Oh. Sorry. I was enticed by these photos in your shelves.” Hyukjae was pertaining to those photos in frames displayed by the shelves in Donghae’s living area. He also has some bigger photos hanging in the wall.

“Did you take all of these?” Hyukjae asked as he was amazed how good his photos are.

“Yea. I did. I went back to photography when I got here. It’s one of the things that keeps me busy here.”

“I do know you love photography. You love to take pictures whenever we were out of the country on our concert tours. I’m glad you went back to pursue your passion.”

“Thanks” For Donghae it wasn’t just going back to pursue his passion. Photography became one of Donghae’s escape whenever he’s feeling down. From taking photos of Hyukjae to taking photos of random sceneries he finds beautiful.

Donghae let the other roam around. He indulged to the curiosity of the other with the things around his house. He would tell the stories of the random stuff found in Donghae’s house.

“Yah. Enough wandering around. There’s nothing much to see. Let’s eat. The food will get cold” Donghae invited the other to eat.

Donghae sat in the dining table and Hyuk followed him and sat across from him. Donghae opened the box of pizza and chicken and signaled Hyuk to eat. Both got slices of their own and started chomping on the food.

There was a bit of awkward silence as they eat. It has been a while since they sat across from each other like this. Donghae wasn’t sure where to look. But he was sure that Hyuk was looking at him.

“So, how have you been, Hae?” Hyuk decided to break the silence. He can’t take it anymore.

“Hmm. I think I answered that already.” Donghae answered as he looked down on his food and