Over the past few weeks, Hyukjae and Donghae had been doing their best to talk or even just simply text each other a few times a day. Donghae had always fought the urge to call the redhead first, not wanting to pester him when he knew he was probably really busy.

                 They had talked a handful of times using video calls, but it only made things worse. During the video calls, neither of them could see each other clearly- all they could see was a blur. It was very, very hard, since they could barely make out the face features, and it only made them grave seeing each other more clearly.

                  Donghae had also sent Hyukjae a couple of videos of him and the others, just talking about what has been going on; or simply fooling around. As he watched the videos, Hyukjae felt so warm inside and his heart practically melted with all of the love and care shown in them.

                   Hyukjae was on his empty desk in the corner of his bedroom, his eyes glued to the books in front of him, and also some paperwork he had done. He had taken a few classes for the first semester, which included the 'History of Art', Design, Graphics, Mathematics, and Material construction.

                  He did enjoy those subjects, he really did, but sometimes things would get stressed out to the point that he wouldn't get any sleep for days. He wanted to do perfect in his career, even though he was just studying for now, but all he wanted was to be perfect, even if it meant that he wouldn't ear nor sleep for several days. Even Donghae could see the tiredness through his voice.

                The redhead started scribbling down some notes from his last lecture on a random notebook, when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He smiled to himself- Donghae. He hastily dug his phone out with somewhat tired grin and pressed the green button before shoving the phone against his ear, "Hey Baby."

                  "Hyukkie!~ How are you?" He heard Donghae ask in a high pitched voice- making him sound oddly adorable, "I'm fine, Hae. You know, we just talked about five hours ago." He chuckled playfully, "I just couldn't help it!" Donghae said in a whiny tone- and Hyukjae could practically hear the pout through his voice.

                A few minutes of endless talking had past, when both had finally decided to hand up. Donghae smiled to himself and slowly sat up from bed. He walked to the bathroom and stripped himself into the hot shower and shivered at the warmth.

                 He was going to meet with Heechul and Kyuhyun in an hour. He slowly pushed himself against the cold wall of the shower and shuddered at the sensation. Closing his eyes, he let the hot water fall to his face and body, warming him up. His mind drifted off to Hyukjae's gummy smile. He really missed seeing it.

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                    Donghae walked down the street until he reached their spot on one of the benches near an isolated park. He walked up to Kyuhyun and wrapped his arms around his stomach, resting his chin on his shoulder. Kyuhyun was startled and jumped in the air, receiving quiet laughs in response.

                    Heechul wrapped an arm around Donghae's side, "How are you feeling, Baby?" The younger let out a small, yet quite forced smile, "I'm fine." Heechul rolled his eyes, "Stop lying, would you? Hae, I've known you for years, and it's kind of insulting on my part when you lie to my face and expect me to believe you."

                    Donghae suddenly felt ashamed and looked down, "I-I'm sorry." He inhaled sharply before slowly speaking up, "I can't sleep at night. I'm too worried about him. Even though he tells me he's okay, I can't seem to calm my heart.  I always end up imagining bad things, like him getting robbed, beaten up, getting into accidents, and even worse. I just don't know what to do; I can't seem to stop worrying so much."

                   Heechul sighed and gathered the smaller boy to his arms, "Sweety, you know nothing can happen to Hyukjae. Besides, he's with his family, remember?" Donghae sighed and curled his numb fingers into his jacket sleeve to warm up. He was scared for Hyukjae, very scared."

              He slowly look up and Kyuhyun, who had his hands in his pockets and staring off into space. He let out a small smile, "Kyu? Where's your PSP?" He asked softly. Kyuhyun smiled back and chuckled, "I didn't bring it. I wanted to just…kind of be there with you guys today instead of playing games." Donghae laughed quietly and pinched the younger's nose lovingly, and only succeeding in making Heechul roll his eyes with irritation, "Hey, stop spoiling the brat more than he already is." Kyuhyun stuck his tongue out childishly, "You're just jealous I get more attention than you do, Heechul."

                 Heechul smacked the back of Kyuhyun's head roughly, "Call me Hyung you disrespectful little-" Donghae just shook his head and giggled at the pair's bickering. At times when he was down, only they knew how to cheer him up, and for that, he was immensely thankful.

                  Ever since Hyukjae had left, almost everyone noticed the drastic change within Donghae, even though he himself wouldn't admit it. The usually playful, childlike, and happy Donghae had changed into a somewhat more uneasy, saddened, and tense one.

                  However, they all knew that he was trying very hard to stay the same. He wouldn't admit that he was slowly changing and becoming the person he was before Hyukjae had come along. He assured everyone that he hadn't changed, and he never would; oblivious of the fact that he was already starting to.

                   But then again, no one could really blame him. After half a year with Hyukjae, the two had become utterly inseparable, and God knows how hard it must be for both of them to be in two different countries.

                    Deep inside, Donghae missed Hyukjae's touches more than anything. The way the redhead held him, kissed him, hugged him, cuddled him, his hair, or even just holds his hand, was just too hard to let go of. The younger craved for feeling Hyukjae's lips smash against his in passionate, yet loving kisses. Those four weeks were just too hard without him.

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                    Hyukjae was yet again in his bedroom, drowning himself into his books. He didn't talk to Donghae in about two days, and he was growing so tired of looking into his textbooks. He needed sleep, but he refused to go easy on himself, he needed to push himself until he was the best at what he does.

                    The redhead looked down into the pages of his Mathematics book. He closed his eyes when he realized that the words seemed to be in a blur and each letter mixed with the other. He reopened his eyes, but still, he couldn't read any word. His head started to ache immensely and his chest tightened in fear. This never happened to him.

                   His clenched his eyes shut and lifted his knees up to his chest and started his hair, trying to soothe his throbbing head. He finally let out the strangled sob that he kept on swallowing for the past few hours. His body began to tremble in fear and anxiety of his condition, and he found himself letting out another sob and rocking his body back and forth, trying to calm himself down.

                   Soon, his sobs grew louder and his headache only intensified. Upon hearing the heart-wrenching noises, Sora frowned and gently knocked on his door, "Hyukjae?" Hyukjae couldn't hear her. He was too scared. She slowly opened the door and gasped at the sight of her younger brother. He had never seemed so vulnerable before.

                 She hastily went over to hug him in an effort to soothe his pain and his hair, "Shh, calm down." She bit her lip, thinking endlessly about what to do to relieve his pain. Not knowing much about basic medical matters, Sora helped him over to his bed and lay him down.

                She ran over to the bathroom and grabbed all the towels she could hold in her two hands, soaked them in hot water, and then rushed back to the know writhing Hyukjae. She gently placed on of the towels onto his forehead and cradled him to get him to calm down, "I-I don't know what happened." He choked out.

                Sora shook her head, "Hyukjae, you haven't been sleeping or eating well in days. Your room is always dark and your laptop screen always shines into your face, you never let your eyes leave those books of yours. This is the result of overworking yourself."

                Hyukjae gripped onto his hair once more, only to have his hands brushed off and into his sides, "Stop it. It won't get any better." She said softly. She was enraged with him. How he could do this to his own body was a mystery to her. She sighed before poking his chest with her index finger, "How do you think Donghae would feel about this?" She said, deliberately opening up a sensitive topic.

                 The redhead froze and tears welled up in his eyes, "He m-must not know about this. I don't want to worry him." He gasped out. Sora sent him a glare, "You can't do this, Hyukjae. We both know how badly you want this, but this is no way to treat yourself! Besides, knowing Donghae, this would affect him more than it'll ever affect you." Hyukjae nodded weakly, "I'm sorry…"

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                 Donghae couldn't sleep that night; he kept tossing and turning on his bed in a desperate attempt to fall asleep. He so badly wanted to talk to Hyukjae, but it was already past midnight in New York. He whimpered and finally gave up, tossing himself around so that he lay on his back, staring pointlessly at the ceiling.

                 A few minutes later, he almost jumped out of his skin when his phone vibrated next to his head and the screen lightened up so brightly in the dark room that it was blinding his eyes. He grabbed the phone and without checking the ID of the caller, immediately answered, "H-Hello?"

                There was a moment of silence before that all too familiar voice of an angel spoke up, "Baby…" Donghae swallowed dryly. Something was wrong, "Hyukkie? What's wrong?" He reluctantly asked. He swore he heard a whimper from the other line, "Hyukjae, tell me, what's the matter?" He probed softly.

                  He heard a sniffle before Hyukjae spoke up, "Hae, you know I love you, right?" Donghae frowned, "Y-Yes. I love you, too, Hyukkie." He whispered. Hyukjae let out an exasperated exhale, "I-I never mean to worry you. I just don't want to lose you…" He trailed off and let out another sniffle.

                   Donghae was getting all the more confused, "Hyukjae, what happened? Tell me." He heard a sob from the end of the line, startling him completely, "Hyukjae!" He whispered, "D-Don't cry. Tell me, talk to me…" He felt so anxious and scared that he was on the verge of tears himself.

                   "Hae, promise me…promise me to take care of yourself until I'm back. P-Promise me to never-" He was cut off by his own sobs before he immediately continued, almost choking on his own tears, "Promise me to n-never give up on me. Please…please be patient with me, Baby. Please…" Hyukjae broke down into more sobs.

                  Donghae felt tears stream down the sides of his face and wetting his pillow, "I-I promise, but in return, you have to do the s-same. You have to always stay safe in there, g-got it, Hyukkie?" Donghae's only response was more sobs. He wanted to just go over to Hyukjae and hug all his worries away, he wanted to wipe away the other's tears and kiss him to sleep.

                  Donghae let out a shaky breath, "Sweety, calm down." He whispered. In a few seconds, Hyukjae's sobs decreased as he breathed heavily in an attempt to calm himself. Donghae sniffled, "Now close your eyes." He knew Hyukjae did so immediately, so he continued, barely above a whisper, "I love you, Hyukkie." He heard a hiccup from the other line, making him smile sadly.

                  Slowly, Donghae sang Hyukjae to sleep. His voice was gentle, soft, and soothing, yet still trembling and shaky from the emotions.

"There's a road inside your heart made just for you

Don't be scared, take your first step, and then take two

Pain will come but I believe you can endure

Further down that road, just trust a little more…"

"Good night, Hyukkie…I love you."