An entire week had gone by since the whole incident of "The Chaser"; as much as Hyukjae tried to deny it, the idea of that same pair of dark demeaning eyes and bulky coated body haunted him within the confounds and corners of his townhouse.

But nontheless, the brunette concoction of smiles from a certain Lee Donghae kept his mind at ease and all the more relaxed as he began to fall even deeper into the mystery and love of this other man that Hyukjae was, by now, impossibly even more fond of.

The little things Donghae did on a daily basis were enough to make Hyukjae smile and laugh more than he would've thought possible.

At the end of the day after everything was said and done, an act so simple such as a peck on the chest or back hugs from the brunette would end up in a tickle fight and hugging domination competition between the two hysterically blissful males.

Donghae was strange, but in a sense, Hyukjae thought of him as nothing short of beautiful.

◊

It was reaching dawn and Hyukjae had just purchased a bundle of assorted origami paper from the closest office supply store and set them flat on the coffee table before closing the door and locking it.

The blonde removed his shoes in time only to be almost toppled over by an excited Donghae who rapidly wrapped his warm arms around the older's form and held him securely, the brunette pressing his nose in-between Hyukjae's shoulder blades and leaving himself there; stuck to his best friend like a piece of gum.

Turning around to face the younger, Hyukjae nuzzled his own nose into the brunette's strawberry scented hair and inhaled the sweet aroma of his lovely Donghae, cherishing the fresh smell of his favorite fruit on his favorite set of brown locks;

"I missed you too Hae." Hyukjae said tenderly before finally succeeding in taking off both of his shoes and moving into the living room with Donghae right behind him.

"Let's order Chinese," the blonde male proposed, garnering an excited nod from the younger.

Donghae picked up the Chinese brochure menu that Hyukjae kept around specifically for ordering from the small family-owned restaurant down the street; Donghae had grown quite fond of the place due to their full service and generous servings of moo goo gai pan every time Hyukjae picked up the phone.

"Moo goo gai pan and let me guess..." teased Hyukjae, pressing his index finger of the tip of Donghae's nose before the brunette tried to playfully bite it, "chow mein and wonton soup?" he finished.

Donghae nodded, holding onto the older's elbow as Hyukjae dialed the number and heard the familiar resounding tone of a connected landline.

As the blonde voiced the order for the employee on the other line to hear, Donghae curiously slipped away and made way towards the stack of origami paper and pens that Hyukjae had bought for the past two hours he was out and around.

Examining the paper, the brunette singularly started to fold one assorted colored slip into a diamond before flipping it over and closing the folds over the back, all while the blonde was turned around distracted by the voice on the other end of the line.

Lastly, Donghae finished by writing a note in it with colored pen, bending it back down and enclosing the writing inside of it secretly.

Hyukjae hung up after placing the order; turning around only to be met with Donghae who immediately shoved his creation into the older's pocket, again wrapping his arms around the blonde as if his life depended on it.

Hyukjae broke into a fit of smiles and giggles before wrapping one arm back around the brunette and placing the other one in his pocket, pulling the meticulously folded three-demensional heart up between his fingertips, having it fall open perfectly to reveal the message Donghae wrote in red ink;

Hyukkie is my anchovy.

He thinks I smell like strawberries.

I can't write poems Hyukkie.

But your smile is amazing.

-Hae

"Idiot!" Hyukjae teased, playfully hitting the side of Donghae's head to which the younger only reacted with a light smile,

"Your smile is amazing."

Donghae blushed, surprised that the older actually liked it, shoving his face deeper into Hyukjae's chest and laughing softly.

"What's up with you today? I swear I was gone for only two hours." the blonde carefully said, paying close attention to the newfound Lee Donghae who was sticking onto him like a gigantic piece of chewing gum.

Hyukjae didn't mind though; it was unbareably cute seeing Donghae show this kind of affection towards him rather than his usual shy behavior that the blonde had grown also fond of the past few months of knowing the younger; he just assumed Donghae was growing more attached to him, regaurding the amount of time the two spent together.

There was a ring on the doorbell minutes after; the Chinese delivery man was there.

◊

"You fold it like this, and then fold the flaps down like this," Hyukjae said, a good bit of chow mein spilling out from his mouth embarassingly as he tried to teach the younger how to fold paper cranes.

Donghae was fast at picking up to Hyukjae's lessons, obviously intellegent and able to see the world differently than most people, which was only one of the things that fed to Hyukjae's mental list of 'Things I love the most about Lee Donghae'.

Shaking his head, the blonde tried to push those fluttery butterfly feelings aside and remind himself that Donghae was strictly off limits; as a best friend he was okay, but anything romatically involved would consider him a laughing-stock of pointed fingers and disapproved glares.

Hyukjae didn't know what to feel anymore; the fact that his parents were obviously open to having the blonde date whoever he wanted to was there, but still, Hyukjae was afraid to venture into the unknown, well-aware of how badly homouals were perceived and treated, deciding to push his feelings aside with the mindset that ignoring it would somehow make it go away.

He never wanted to admit it to himself, but Hyukjae was falling deeper and deeper in love every time he even just looked at the brunette.

"It's a relief mission Hae," the blonde started, finishing folding the paper crane he was currently on before writing a note inside it carefully, "the horror that was Hiroshima happened two days ago according to the anniversary date, so it's a little something I thought we should keep around the townhouse as a tribute to those who were injured or died at the hands of the bomb many years ago."

Donghae remembered Hiroshima, having learned about it back in grade school was starting to come back to him piece by piece, although, aside from that memory, everything that happened before waking up on the older's doorstep remained completely blurry and somewhat scattered.

They had run through finishing two sets of four origami cranes that were hung down by a string from the ceiling, a unique note and fresh reminder of tribute inside the heart of each one.

Reaching for a new set of thin paper, Hyukjae moved his hand over to the whole bunch, feeling Donghae's fingers under his own; both grabbing at exactly the same time.

Hyukjae chuckled awkwardly, "Well then..." he began uneasily, retracting his fingers and scratching the back of his head; Donghae looked at him intently, eyes filled with nothing but innocent cuteness and admiration for the older male.

◊

"Why the is the doorbell so broken and hideous?!" came a booming voice from outside, preceeded by the tone of the doorbell ringing over and over again.

The blonde piqued his interest to the front door, relief suddenly taking over mixed with slight annoyance as he already knew who was standing behind the peephole.

Jongwoon's move was overdue for a week now; he had said earlier that he would be right at the townhouses after Hyukjae and Donghae arrived back home the following day a whole seven days before, so it was only a wonder of time before the blonde knew he would finally show.

Standing up quickly, Hyukjae nearly sprinted towards the door and swung it widely, exposing a pissed off looking Yesung with more plastic bags in his hands to help with the relief project.

"You said you'd be here days ago." Hyukjae deadpanned, letting the black headed male in before closing the door shut.

Jongwoon snorted incredulously, "That was before you texted me your address only two days ago little mister brunette lover!"

Hyukjae blushed, hiding his face before the older could see;

"Hey, where's my favorite finger-biting little freakish brunette anyway?" Yesung said teasingly, making his way passed the foyer and seeing Donghae sitting down criss-crossed beside the living room coffee table, scribbling a note inside an almost-ready paper crane.

"Hae baby!" the black headed male screeched, startling Donghae, making him sit bolt upright as the paper crane slipped from his fingertips and into the air like an upward bungee jump before being engulfed in a loving and playful hug by the eldest.

Donghae did nothing more but wrap his fingers around Jongwoon's neck, hugging him sincerely and closely for a few seconds.

"Okay that's it, the end." Hyukjae spoke up, removing Donghae's fingers from Yesung's neck in accordance to his own jealousy and insecurities when being around the eldest.

The blonde loved Jongwoon and he knew it, but seeing him hug Donghae so intimately had struck a forbidden cord deep within his jealous mindset and it hurt.

A lot.

It was irrational and stupid, but something that Hyukjae now considered second nature when it came to anything revolving around his Donghae.

Donghae immideately pulled up and wrapped his fingers around Hyukjae in a much more affectionate and loving hug, inhaling the side of his neck while giggling and taking in the blonde's forever sweet and tangy strawberry scent.

"...Okay well, while you two get it on, I'll work on these cranes." Jongwoon played, throwing an unfinished paper crane straight at Hyukjae's gigantic and fluttering head.

◊

The three worked on the cranes together, managing about one-hundred personally noted and delicately folded birds by the time the hour hand hit twelve.

Midnight struck much sooner than later, but with the completion of the paper cranes before the rising sun, everyone could agree that mission was indeed accomplished.

Donghae had fallen asleep only minutes before the dead of early morning, resting his head on Hyukjae's shoulder as the older played with his hair carefully, enjoying the small moments when he got to hold the younger in his arms just like this.

"So have you two heard anything about The Chaser yet?" Jongwoon asked curiously, careful to keep his voice down for the sake of the beautifully sleeping youngest male.

"Not yet," Hyukjae answered truthfully, bending down to press his nose against the younger's scalp, "I prefer to just let it go for now, until something bothers us again."

"I can look into it back at the investigations unit and tell you if anything comes up." the black-headed male finished, stretching out and lying flat on his back, admiring the multitude of paper cranes they had hung by strings on the ceiling;

"God bless all who were injured and passed due to the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki..." Yesung drifted off, closing his eyes gently and falling asleep under the first cracks of light from the early morning.
 

Hyukjae began to lay down as well, gingerly embracing Donghae along with him whilst lying him down carefully before the blonde closed his eyes, entranced by the first slivers of dark grey light.

Just like this; together forever.

Donghae was completely strange but somehow beautiful.

The last thing Hyukjae remembered was a pair of warm lips slowly landing a mildly soft kiss on the middle of his cheek.

For the first time, he thought that maybe liking Donghae wasn't bad.

In fact, maybe he shouldn't;

Maybe he wouldn't mind it at all.
 

A/N: I started typing this on the day of Hiroshima's 68th anniversary four days ago, so this chapter is all in homage to that.

Addicted to Strange and Beautiful by Aqualung which is also what inspired this chapter and title.

Strange and Beautiful