On some insignificant night, Cho Kyuhyun and Lee Donghae laid together on top of the former’s prized antique sheets without a single care for any sort of meaning. Moonlight poured through a small window and bathed the bare room in a cold blue wash, rinsing away any trace of shadow. With Kyuhyun’s arm draped over his body, Donghae once again brought Kyuhyun’s wrist up towards his face. He stared at the little ink lines and even smaller numbers that stained the other man’s skin, studying it as if he could decipher them himself. Kyuhyun was somewhat asleep and vaguely aware of what Donghae was doing to him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

Kyuhyun felt the same soft kiss that usually came after Donghae read his wrist, but this time, his lips didn’t leave. He felt the older man’s lips move against the sensitive skin, his faint whispers caressing it with every warm, shallow breath. That same warmth seemed to travel up his arm and throughout his body, reaching his cheeks and the tips of his ears. Kyuhyun struggled to remain in his half-sleep as a gentle smile played across his own lips. Finally hearing some of the older man’s words, he snuggled into Donghae’s chocolate hair, trying to will the heat in his face away. There were many things he could not stand about Lee Donghae, and the ability to make him flush like a al schoolgirl without fail was certainly one of them.

No sooner had he whispered, “I love you” did he feel Donghae’s tongue gently part his lips and trace the tattooed lines. His kisses seemed to move in time with Kyuhyun’s pulse, his mouth languidly the skin with every rush of blood through his lover’s veins. Donghae released Kyuhyun’s wrist to tangle his fingers in the other’s, deepening his kisses as he did so. Kyuhyun let out an audible gasp as he tightened his fingers and shifted his body even closer to the smaller man’s own, desperately fighting the warmth he felt pooling inside.

Donghae couldn’t help but chuckle as he felt Kyuhyun shift against him. “I knew you weren’t asleep,” he murmured, his low voice reverberating throughout Kyuhyun’s body, setting his nerves alight. He continued with his ministrations, pausing only to brush the pad of his thumb against the side of Kyuhyun’s hand.

“Well, you certainly didn’t help,” Kyuhyun whined softly, “Especially with all of those cheesy things you were whispering there.”

Donghae pulled away from his current obsession and turned over in Kyuhyun’s arms, his lips at last locking with the other’s as he pushed his back to the mattress and eased himself on top of his lover’s slighter frame. He released him as soon as he felt the younger man relax underneath him, caging him comfortably within his much stronger arms. “Cheesy? I’ll have you know that I meant every word that I said. Part of that was also a beautiful song,” he mockingly complained. “You’re a jerk, Hyunnie; can’t even appreciate something nice.”

Kyuhyun locked his eyes onto Donghae’s, playing along with his lover’s game. “It’s a song, huh? Well, sing it to me. I’ll even stop being a jerk long enough to hear it. Promise.”

With that, Donghae started delivering small kisses down the other man’s jawline and up to his earlobe; his breath hot on the shell of Kyuhyun’s ear. He then nuzzled his cheek against the other’s as he hummed a few notes. One hand ran up his side while the other came up to cradle the opposite side of his neck. His fingertips gently the edge of Kyuhyun’s spinal port, massaging the sensitive skin surrounding it. Then, as he reached his ear, he sighed,”Baby, I’m yours; and I’ll be yours until the stars fall from the sky. Yours until the rivers all run dry – in other words, until I die.” He felt Kyuhyun shiver beneath him, his hands clutching at Donghae’s shirt in half-pleasure, half-shock. He softly sang a few more lines, never ceasing his touches or kisses. Kyuhyun’s voice joined in, finally recognizing the song from an old radio station that still played songs from centuries past. They finished the song together, both somewhat breathless even though their voices never rose much above a whisper.

With the removal of all the bedding and other types of fabrics, much louder gasps and moans replaced innocent whispers. Together, they took joy in each other’s bodies, teasing and reveling in the inherent beauty they held. Songs in the language that only lovers understand filled the night air as the moonlight dissipated more and more with each passing hour. In those moments, their entire world was nothing but tangled limbs, interlaced fingers, and heated skin. Nothing else existed or mattered beyond that bare mattress – no dirty strip joints, no stupid desk jobs. They clung to each other desperately, riding their shared highs and lows out until they had nothing left to give. Completely spent, the pair basked in the afterglow; the waning light barely glinting off the perspiration gathered on their skin. Kyuhyun’s head rested on Donghae’s chest, moving with every intake of air that expanded his broad chest; his long fingers drummed out a rhythm to match the one that beat so strongly beneath him.

“Tell me something, Hae,” Kyuhyun murmured in his exhaustion. “Why do you always stare at my barcode like that? I mean, it’s nothing special; almost everyone has them nowadays.”

Donghae used the last of his strength to pull the taller man closer to his body. “I guess it’s because it makes you look kinda like a robot,” he sighed in defeat. “That weird port in your neck isn’t much help. Sometimes it feels like I’m going to lose you to those computers while I’m here in the real world. And then sometimes I wonder if I’m just not living in the real world and I’m just holding myself back. I guess it’s just my paranoia or something, but it worries me.”

For a moment, Kyuhyun stared at him in disbelief – it never once occurred to him just how artificial he seemed to someone like Donghae. He lifted himself up off the mattress to lock his eyes with Donghae’s, a hint of concern lacing his stare. “Hae, you never have to worry about that. I mean, sure, parts of me are quite unnatural,” he said with a hint of a smirk curling his lips. “That doesn’t mean that you’re going to lose me. It’s really easy to let yourself get lost in the uncanny valley – I’ve seen it happen to good friends of mine – and you’re right; humanity doesn’t seem to compare to virtual reality.

“But the thing is, I have no reason to lose myself in the ether. See, you can simulate all kinds of sensations with total immersion – nearly everything you can think of, really,” he mused, his hand reaching up to cradle Donghae’s face this time. “But this – your skin, your laugh, your uncontrollable tongue? The perfect rises and dips of your body? Those sad, weary eyes of yours? No computer can perfectly recreate those, and they certainly can’t recreate what we have. Hae, you don’t have to worry about losing me because you keep me here. You make me more than enough human.”

With that, Kyuhyun kissed him gently, leaving Donghae completely speechless for the rest of the night. They curled up into each other yet again, being significantly insignificant and as real as real can be.