He was immobile in front of her, but he didn't want to seem like he was worried so he tried to loosen up the tension "miss Park, what do you want to say to me?" he asked smiling a bit.

She looked down at her feet for a moment and moving her hands from the folder she muttered "I…I checked the rooms director" she was blushing even more.

"Oh…ok well, something to report?" he asked stepping back, not wanting her to notice his state. She kept moving her hands nervously and she wasn't able to look at him. He was getting nervous too and he started to feel his throat getting dry.

"Ah…the locks…they work fine…and…" her voice wasn't clear and the situation was getting impossibly awkward, he didn't like it because seeing from outside they would have looked in a bad situation so he decided that he needed to keep it under control.

"Ok, come inside for a moment…this is getting ridiculous" he said stepping back in the room and waiting for her to follow, scratching his head nervously. The girl looked at him with surprise and blinked twice before nodding and following him inside "close the door"

"Yes" she replied. Once she turned around she saw him, he was standing in front of her, his arms crossed.

"What's the problem?" he asked quickly looking directly in her eyes. She didn't reply and looked down again "ok then…please let's not be awkward, this is my personal life and you don't have to feel embarrassed. We are both adults here" he said placing his hands on his waist.

She breathed deeply before looking up at him, he eyes changed, she looked more relaxed "you are right director, this has nothing to do with me, I was only surprised you two…"

"We're not dating" he explained, he didn't even know why, but he felt like doing it "but still what I do in my room doesn't have to concern you…he is my friend and he can come visit when he wants, especially if I'm not working in that particular moment" he was feeling less weird than before, but still he was a bit worried.

"You don't have to explain anything to me…I was just embarrassed because it was so obvious and I felt like an intruder…what if I knocked five minutes before? That's what I thought.." she said calmly, then she smiled "it would have been even worse for me in my position"

"Obvious? Was it so obvious? Why? He went away quickly and…" he was asking, he was so surprised, but she interrupted him reaching out an hand and caressing his hair. Actually she was fixing them.

"Director…your hair…you have a standing strand here, and your lips are red too…it's quite easy to notice, is not like I have no eyes and you weren't alone in your room…plus your guest walked away quickly. I'm young but I'm not stupid" she explained, she fixed his hair gently and after searching in her pocket he gave him a small bottle. It was like a lip gloss but it was a light brown color. He looked up at her even more surprised than before.

"What's this?"

"Concealer. You have a darker mark near the bottom lip, you can cover it up for few days with that" she explained pointing at his face. He covered his lips immediately with his hand and blushed furiously. This girl, why is she so straightforward? It's making me look so stupid.

"Wha…what? Is it that bad?" he asked then he walked quickly closer to a mirror and looked at his reflection. He looked like someone just beat him up. Stupid Donghae…why did he have to bite? The girl giggled covering and her hair gently fell down covering her cheeks, she was still a bit embarrassed. "don’t laugh miss Park, this isn't funny at all" he was looking at his lips closely and he really needed to cover it up, at least before going to have dinner with his mother.

"I'm sorry, I won't laugh anymore. You can call me Minyoon, I feel so old every time the director calls me miss Park" she said, still not able to stop giggling. "If you want I can go now, I'll leave the file here on the desk" she placed the folder on the dark wood and she was ready to go out of the room.

"Stop!" he said reaching out and arm in front of her. She looked at him and waited "help me put this on" he muttered, not being able to look at her but still showing the concealer "how am I supposed to know how to put make up on? I am a man" she smiled again, then grabbed the small bottle and nodded bowing lightly.

"Please sit down, so that I can see it better" she said and walked towards the armchair, sitting right away. He covered his face and breathed deeply. It was one of the most embarrassing moments of his entire life. It was so weird and awkward that if someone decided to tell him the story he wouldn't have been able  to believe it. He sat down at her side, but still he couldn't face the fact he was going to let her apply make up…on a love bite…after he and Donghae were exposed. . "If you don't turn around your head I can't put it. Don't worry I apply it always with my finger not directly on the skin and this is an almost new pack" she said showing him the small bottle once more.

"That's not what I'm worried about" he shrugged and finally looked at her. She giggled again "yah…do I look that funny?" he asked furrowing and trying to sound as masculine as possible.

"Actually yes, you are more embarrassed for the make up than for the make out ahahah" this girl, I'm going to fire you…what kind of joke is this.

"Yah!"

"Sorry sorry director…" she said closing her eyes and putting her hands together, brushing them one on the other "please feel more comfortable or I'll be embarrassed too. We are both adults like you said before, so let's be cool about It, and after I put make up for you I'll go out" she said smiling nervously and opening the tiny bottle. It was a strange device, just like a lip gloss it had a long stick with a small sponge at the end, he had never saw something like that, so he was looking at the girl's hands with widened eyes. She shyly reached up and hand and lifted his chin a bit "sorry I can't see". He let her do it, after all he couldn't simply walk out with a bruise under his lip. She patted gently the product on his skin, she was looking so closely at that particular spot that she didn't realize he was looking at her. She was quite pretty, and she looked smart, she was young and her skin was clear, her eyes had long natural lashes, even if she was wearing a bit of make up anyway. Her hair looked quite soft and she had a cute forehead. If he was into girls that would have been such a great opportunity to kiss her. She finished to apply the amount of cream in her hand but she looked like she needed a bit more. He was free to talk for a  bit then.

"You are quite a beauty, why did you decide to work here?" he asked smiling at her. She looked up and furrowed.

"Thank you, but pretty girls can have jobs with responsibilities too, I am the face of the hotel both with my colleague, but we need a certain brain to work at such a position director. Now please look up again that I need to fix it a bit" she said. Wow this girl is spicy. He smiled, he was trying hard not to smile wide but it was impossible. She was funny, and she was offended by his compliment.

"Usually girls scream when I tell them they are pretty" he muttered as she looked for something else in her pocket. She chuckled.

"I'm not any girl. It's funny…I had a crush on you director…till ten minutes ago…and now my dreamy future as the wife of the director is crushed. How can I accept a compliment from you?" she smiled again. Wow I would have been lucky.

"Wait…what's that?" he said pointing to what she had now in her hand. It was a small round box. Girl's make up looked all the same for him.

"Don't worry is not blush, is colorless…it's just a face powder that fixes the creamy products…you want it to last no?" yes indeed, he wanted it to last for at least the dinner, but he didn't like make up at all. He nodded and reached out his face a bit.  "Close your eyes please" she asked, she looked like she was having a lot of fun putting that thing on his face. Damn Donghae, I'm going to make you pay for this. If I'll look like an unicorn I'll kill you. She patted gently the sponge on the concealer and then quickly on the rest of the face. "You look pretty too director. There you go, all done" she giggled again.

"Really?" he asked opening his eyes. She nodded, so he decided to run towards the mirror to see the result. That was miraculous there was no sign of bruises but he still looked quite normal. "wow, you did a pretty good job"

"Now, if you excuse me…I would go" she said standing up again.

"Miss Minyoon" he called her, the name slipping out of his mouth as if he knew her for a long time. Weird.

She looked at him and nodded "Yes director" she wasn’t surprised? No…she looked just fine, and she didn't giggle or complain the moment he used her name. It was a nice feeling.

"Thank you…" he muttered scratching the back of his head.

"Oh don’t worry, this is probably part of my work too" she replied waving her hand and smiling again.

"No, thank you for your reaction and discretion, I believe you'll keep this matter for yourself right? I don't want rumors to spread around…maybe I can handle them but not him, and surely not the hotel. We need to be extra careful" he explained getting closer to her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You don't need to convince me, I know…but be more careful director…for example the bed…you should close it, and be sure your hair is looking fine…for the lips I don't…" she was explaining but she suddenly was speechless, she probably couldn't bring herself to tell him to be careful on how he kissed his friend.

"I need concealer?" he asked giggling.

"You should have it if you can't avoid this" she said pointing at his lower lip and making a deadly serious face, her forehead all furrowed. Cute.

"Buy it of me miss Minyoon, yes? You buy one of those things for me so that I can be more careful…ahahaha" he replied.

"I can give you mine if you don’t want to spend money on it…but I can't give you the powder, that's quite expensive and it took me so much work to buy it" oh that was cute.

"Buy me both, how much is it? I'll give you the money" he said becoming serious all at once and taking out his wallet.

"Oh…I didn't mean to…you don’t have to…I can help you when you need it. Buying them may be bothersome for you…" she replied blushing slightly.

"I am quite rich you know…let's do it differently. Since you were this kind with me…use these 100'000 won to buy yourself something and leave me the concealer we used before" he said giving her one of the checks he had, then he stopped and put it back in, to change it with two bills "no, let's do it like this, two bills with a pretty and smart lady on will suit you better" he said smiling and handing her two bills of 50'000 won instead.

"I can't…"

"Take them…is not a bribe, I'm genuinely offering you my thanks, but the only thing I have is money right now. Next time I'll congratulate you on your work" he said blinking and placing the money in her hands.

She smiled and bowed "I'll take them then, here is your life saver…call me whenever you need, and thank you for your trust. I'll go back to work now" she bowed again and went out. He chuckled the moment the door was closed. Unbelievable, at least she didn't seem to notice my …that luckily is gone now.

~

He arrived home just in time for dinner, he checked his face twice before jumping out of the car, the bruise was still covered, so he only needed to be careful while eating. He picked up his bag from the other seat and went out walking quickly towards the front door, he was starting to feel quite hungry. When he entered the room his family was already sitting around the table.

"Welcome back Hyukjae" his mother said smiling "how was your day of work?"

He smiled, then, letting the bag drop near his feet, he sat down at his place breathing heavily "Good evening! It was a bit hard, but we did it quite well" he replied.

"Your mother told me you organized the work…how much of it is already done? And did you have an idea on when we'll be able to open the hotel to the public?" his father asked, he sounded calm, during the past week he looked every day less bothered by his presence and he didn't scold him at all. He surely wasn't ready to praise him, but he wasn't making him feel bad, he looked like he was waiting before deciding the final response.

"Yes, I prepared a schedule so that I know which worker or technician is coming every day and I arranged it so that they won't get in each other's way. I don't know if I can actually say when…but I'm quite sure we are going to be open for this year's Christmas vacation" he said smiling. He felt so proud of himself. There was a small change of expression on his father's face, it was as if for a short moment he hinted at a smile, but it was almost imperceptible. He felt his heart skipping a beat, did his father really smile? Oh well maybe he imagined it, but still…

"Good…let's eat now" he was proud, just a tiny bit maybe, but he was…for sure, he said good, so that had to mean something.

He ate everything happily and before going to his room he greeted his parents politely.

~

Once he was in his room he decided to take a shower, a quick one before going to bed was needed. The warm water made his whole body relax; while he was washing his face he felt something was weird, it wasn't as smooth as always…it's sticky. Then he remembered and smiled. That thing…I hope it goes away with some soap.

He went out of the shower in the foggy bathroom, he cleaned the mirror a bit with his hand and looked at his reflection. The love bites were well visible again, the one on his chest looked quite y while the one under his lip made him smile again. It was so stupid at his age to still get something like that. I was careless. He decided to shave because he needed to put that thing on the day after too, and he was afraid that it could have been noticeable with a short beard, it was better to have perfectly smooth skin instead.

 Once he was done he looked again in the mirror, "ah so handsome" then he giggled. He wanted to call Donghae, he needed to tell him what happened in the office after he went away.

He sat on his bed and dialed the number, his heart was pounding while waiting for his friend to answer, he didn't know why, maybe he was excited to tell him the story…or maybe just happy to hear his voice.

"Hyuk…hi" Donghae replied after a while "Sorry I was having a shower" uh y…so he was too?

"Are you sitting?" he asked quickly. The other was silent for a bit then he replied that yes, he was sitting "drinking something?" he asked again.

"No…but why are you asking me weird things?" the other asked with a worried voice.

He laughed "sorry, I wanted to make sure you weren't going to spill something again…then are you ready for what I have to tell you?" he mocked him, he wanted to create some suspense after all.

"Ok…I am" Donghae said firmly from the other side.

"We got caught" he said all in one breath. His face getting red till his ears and his heart pounding. Now he knew why he was so agitated before, saying something like that…was like admitting something was going on between them. If someone else knew, it was like they were in some sort of relationship a bit different from a normal friendship. He was a bit afraid his friend wasn't going to take it well, but he still couldn't hide it, it wasn't something a friend would do. Donghae was silent for some long seconds, that felt like years and that silence made him hold his breath the whole time.

"Ah…" he said suddenly before pausing again "how?" he was talking with monosyllables, was he angry?

"Eh…actually when you went out…the receptionist was there…and she noticed my state" he whispered, now his excitement was already fear. He didn't like that about himself, he was so insecure about everything.

"WHAT? THE GIRL SAW YOUR ?" Donghae shouted so high that he had to move away from the phone for fear of becoming deaf.

"No…ahaha no oh my God Hae…no! She only saw that my hair was messy and that I had…a bruise under my lower lip" he explained trying not to laugh too much. Donghae was silent again then he exploded in fragrant laughter too.

"Oh my…really? And what happened?"

"Don't laugh" he hissed " it's all your fault, you didn't check me properly…and you really had to bite me? Damn I was so ing embarrassed" he said. Donghae chuckled again.

"Is not my fault if you are so tasty. And then what happened? She run away?" he asked.

"No…actually, I told her clearly that…it's my private life and that we are both adults, so I'm free to do what I want with my friends" Hyukjae said, not sure if Hae was going to be happy with his decision.

"Ah…you explained it to her? You admitted it?"

"Yes…why?"

"Damn…Hyuk I'm gonna be so embarrassed next time I see her" ah that's all? So you aren't mad?

"It's ok with you?" he asked.

"Oh...yeah sure, I'm ok with people knowing I'm gay…I never hid it, just people aren't interested in it" the guy admitted, his sweet and calm voice was back, it was so comforting.

"Ah…for me it would be a problem actually, because of my father…I just don't want him to discover it now and not by hearing a rumor for sure. I'm just starting to make him like me bit by bit" he replied; it was sad to say it, but he wasn't sure he was ready for the world to know about his uality, he was in the middle of so many scandals…and he didn't want the press to ruin what he had now. For him Donghae was important and he wanted to keep seeing him.

"I see…oh well. What did she say?" Donghae asked with a lower tone.

"She said she is going to keep the secret…and she even helped me with the bruise…she covered it for me with some sort of beige cream for face…I even have it now so that I can hide it from my parents…" he brought it from the office, it was in his bag because he needed it more at home than in the office, his mother wasn't ready to see him having love bites for sure.

"She applied makeup on you? Wow…this is weird. Maybe she was trying to hit on you" the other said, he sounded strange, it wasn't clear if he was angry, amused, or worried or disappointed…what are you really thinking Hae?

"Actually she told me I'm handsome" or was it pretty?  "and she said she liked me before knowing that you and I were in that kind of relationship…" he said all proud.

"What kind of relationship?" Donghae asked suddenly. He widened his eyes and looked in front of him, it was like everything was blurred out. What kind of question was that? He wasn't sure what to reply, because he didn't even know the answer and surely he didn't know what the other wanted to hear.

"We are friends…but since we are both gay…we have some fun once in a while" was that the right answer? Maybe…but surely it wasn't what he wanted to say. He was more for an I want to be your boyfriend please date me answer, but that was too hard to say, not on the phone, not like that, not without knowing well what his feelings were.

"Yeah. That's true" Donghae said quickly "so now…I can't come to visit you anymore or what?" he asked, trying to talk about something else.

"Oh no, you can…just try not to bite me where I'm exposed…just fill my chest with bruises instead…I don't like to put makeup on…" he said in embarrassment; it seemed a funny thing to say but then once it came out of his mouth it sounded so ual he couldn't help but blush. Fill my chest with bruises…am I crazy?

"Hey, you talk to me as if I'm the only one that needs to be careful…you know I've found a red spot under my ear while I was shaving and I have a perfectly visible mark near the clavicle…next time I'll make sure to have the shirt all closed till last button" he sounded angry, but he was joking, most important…he had marks on his skin. That sounded y, and he knew that it wasn't a good idea to start such a conversation when both of them were probably half . But yeah…his brain wasn't always well functioning.

"So you have my mark on your y neck? That's fair then. Is it showing with what you are wearing right now?" he asked mischievously.

But the other wasn't surely embarrassed by him and was ready to reply with the same verve "I'm …so yes it is, totally" Hyukjae felt his whole body react to him. Was he serious? That was quite hot to say, Donghae are you sure?

"You are mocking me" he replied when he was able to speak again.

"Oh well till two seconds ago I was wearing my towel…but since you reacted like that…do you want me to take a pic?" his eyes widened in surprise and he gulped soundly. Why was the room so hot suddenly?

"You…" Donghae giggled "you moron I was almost believing you…know what? I don’t have time to waste with you anymore…I have to wake up early for work tomorrow…so good night" he hissed.

"ahaha ok…good night" Donghae replied and since he wasn't stopping to laugh he closed. Stupid, every time I call you I end up being the embarrassed one, what are you? A rock? He snorted and covered his face with his arm, his phone still in his hand. His heart was racing and there was no way to make it stop. Oh well actually…there was one. His phone rang again, making him skip a beat and almost choke on his own saliva.

A message.

-Do you believe me now? ♥-

He jumped on the bed, not believing his eyes, on his screen, clear as the sky, there was a picture…Donghae laying on his bed, smiling, he was definitely but the picture was cut at his hips height more or less. His mouth was hanging open, how could a guy be so ing hot and still cute and more than that, how could he send such a picture? It was like an epiphany for his senses, there on his phone, for him to watch it whenever he wanted…half Donghae. One of his fantasies was reality now… he wanted a picture of him on his phone, but one like that, with all the hair messed up and the light blush on the cheeks, and that smile. Damn I'll make you pay.

He looked down at himself, the towel was loose on his hips already, his was still covered but it could be perfectly imagined. He sat straight and reached up an hand with his phone, he poked out his tongue and showed his middle finger, making a spoiled brat face. Then he took a pic. He looked at it all satisfied before attaching it to a message and sending it to Donghae.

- I'm too you moron…and now good night!  ♥-

- Ok, I guess you win…y pose Hyuk. I like the marks I left on you, next time I'll bite harder ^-^-

Look at this guy, making me even more excited, oh next time…next time you won't be able to keep your clothes on.

- I'll punish you for this, be sure of it. Love ya!- he typed quickly. When he sent it he realized that maybe the last part was too much, but come on Donghae wasn't going to notice it for sure.

- ahahaha ok, Love you too sleep well - no, actually he noticed, but he took it as if it was normal.

He smiled brightly at the screen and then he looked again at the picture. So gorgeous, I can survive with this for at least a lifetime. He rolled over and hugged the pillow to his face, his heart beating fast once again; he was so happy he wanted to scream. He adored their relationship, he wanted more, but that…that was so intimate he had never felt like that seeing a picture, and it wasn't even a picture of his whole body. But yeah he felt so blessed and contented with just that. He hoped that his picture made Hae feel a bit like him, just a tiny bit would have been enough, just a bit of racing heart, or a dirty thought… he was fine even with just a smile.

Love you too, sleep well…Love you too…Love you… I know I shouldn't but I'm falling every day more, I'm afraid I won't be able to get up anymore.

~

*chough* the pic