CHAPTER 6

Donghae rubs his eyes, the light reflecting past the window blinding him a bit.

He turns to his side and finds his three year old son almost on the opposite far end of the bed with his little frame all tangled up with the blanket. Small limbs still possessively wrapped around a pillow he recognized as Hyukjae’s.

Donghae smiles and brings his hand to gently pat Jihyukkie’s soft brown hair. Jihyukkie’s peaceful sleeping face never fails to diminish all his worries away.

He takes a good look of Hyukjae’s room. Nothing changed over the past years he’s been gone. Hyukjae is a really clean person, and his room has always been a justification of it. Everything is organized and neat.

Donghae rose up to his feet and takes quiet strides across the room. The first one to catch his attention is the large poster of the favorite anime that Hyukjae’s been so obsessed with. It’s still pasted over the same place. 

Donghae chuckled to himself, remembering how Hyukjae would whine whenever Donghae about it.

Beside it is Hyukjae’s study table. Donghae takes a few steps and let his fingers trail over the wood of the desk, a small smile forming his lips as he remembered all the times he used to study with Hyukjae there. His hands stopped over a small carving in the left-side corner. The letters are small and old, but definitely still readable. Donghae traces his fingers over it several times as he feels something in his chest tightens with every .

He forced himself to look away, his gaze returning back to the sleeping Jihyukkie on the bed. Too many memories, he tells himself. Most are really precious, but some are just too painful to think.

Donghae wondered how Hyukjae endured it all. Being left by the person whom he used to tell about his life thinking he’s the one he’d spend it with. Staying in the same room where there are just too much memories of that one person he most probably wanted to forget.

It’s all because of him, the one who left Hyukjae without any explanation whatsoever. And now he’s here again, forcing himself upon Hyukjae after suddenly disappearing. Donghae wipes the tears in his eyes. Why can’t he just tell the truth to Hyukjae once and for all? Why is he a coward? Jihyukkie and Hyukjae deserve to know the truth as much as they deserve to be together.

Because you promised, something on the back of his mind told him.

You don’t want him to throw away his life…Donghae stares at the plaque of certificate hanged beside the dresser…and be with a failure like you.

---

Donghae closed the door to Hyukjae’s room as quiet as he can. The clock in the hallway says ten in the morning. He plans to raid the kitchen, thinking of preparing late breakfast for Hyukjae and his son but then he stops when he’s about to pass the living room.

Donghae smiles at Hyukjae’s sleeping state, body sprawled over the couch. His left leg is carelessly slung on the headrest while his upper body is twisted on the other side, his other leg dangling with his toes barely settled on the floor. So like Jihyukkie, he shakes his head.

He stays there, watching as Hyukjae’s chest heaved while taking his time to observe the changes on Hyukjae’s features after the past three years.

He still has those single-lidded almond eyes, that cute pointed nose, those plump red lips. Hyukjae had definitely gained weight, his arms have become toned and firm. The jawline is still there, angled and prominent, but the skin has gained some flabs beneath.

He bends down, carefully moving Hyukjae’s legs so it won’t get all of his muscles strained when he wakes up. He brushed a few strands messily splayed over Hyukjae’s forehead.

 “Yah, why did you have to flick my head when you could have just wakened me up instead?”

Hyukjae complains, rubbing the reddened skin on his forehead while he half-heartedly glared at the giggling Donghae beside him.

Donghae laughs, reaching out to sooth the skin on his lover’s forehead, “Mianhe Hyukkie-yah, you look like a baby when you sleep.”

He pinched the button nose, “neomu neomu kyeopta~!”

“I’m not cute! I’m handsome!” Hyukjae deliberately whines like a kid, exaggeratingly jutting his lower lip out while he blows his cheeks on a mocking pout.

“Yes you are!” Donghae counters, falling into fits of giggles again.

He jerks in surprise when a pair of arms had made its way on his hips. He eventually relaxed when he feels his body being pulled closer to Hyukjae’s warmth.

He looks up, deep brown eyes meeting almond ones.

Hyukjae stares at him fondly, “Next time you find me cute, wake me up…” he breathed, bringing their heads closer together until their noses touched.

“…with a kiss like this”

Donghae blinks.

A blush creeps up his cheeks and he has to look away. He fans his face, feeling the temperature inside the room gets warm all of a sudden.

Yah Lee Donghae, stop thinking inappropriate things! He mentally scolds himself and decides that he better go to the kitchen before Hyukjae finds him looking like a reddened tomato standing there beside the couch.

When he entered the kitchen the first thing he did was to check for Hyukjae’s fridge. But the first object that actually caught his eyes was the lone carton of strawberry milk shoved on the side.

“Why do you like strawberries so much?”

Donghae cutely wrinkled his nose, scrutinizing the pink sweet liquid-filled carton that was peacefully seated on the table.

He hears the chair being pulled by his side but he made no attempt to raise his head from where it was settled between his folded arms.

“Why not?” Hyukjae’s mutters as he lifts the pink carton and puncture it with the straw. He brings it to his mouth and takes a sip of his favorite drink. “Ah~so good!”

Donghae pouts, “Hyukkie…”

“Neh?”

“Do you like strawberries more than me?”

Hyukjae choked on his drink.

He coughs and turned to his boyfriend who only gives him a dejected look.

“What made you say that?”

Donghae shyly ducks his head beneath his folded arms, “Because you always have that satisfied look on your face whenever you eat or drink them.” He blushed and buried his face even deeper,

“You look like you just ed.”

The tip of Hyukjae’s ears visibly reddened as he doesn’t know if he should be embarrassed from what his lover has said. Without a coherent word to respond with that...description, Hyukjae just gaped at his lover.

Seeing his boyfriend’s baffled reaction, Donghae blushed even more,

“S-sorry Hyukkie! I would not talk about it anymore.”

He stammered and plans to quickly run away to brood over his stupid mouth but Hyukjae suddenly holds his shirt, the force making Donghae accidentally fall on his lap.

“Hae,” Hyukjae speaks, his breath fanning the side of Donghae’s cheeks.

“N-neh…Hyukkie” Donghae chewed his lower lip. His fingers fiddle on the hem of his shirt. Damn, he’s so nervous.

“You know I like strawberries,”

Hyukjae pushes his face to his cute, nervous lover’s soft and lemon-scented hair and nuzzle against it as he brings his hands to restless ones of Donghae’s. He caressed the tensed skin, uncurling it and entwining with his own,

“but I love you the most, please always remember that.”

“Mother of—“

.

.

THUD!

.

.

“MOMMMMMMMMMMMMY!”

Donghae almost drops the strawberry milk on his hands. With a hundred thoughts of what wrong could possibly happen with his three years old and Hyukjae running through his mind he runs to the living room.

He finds Jihyukkie poking an unconscious Hyukjae on the floor

“Jihyukkie, what happened?” he rushed to his son’s side.

The three-year old raised his head with wide teary eyes,

“Mommy!I think I killed Daddy.”

---

ing hell—Hyukjae winced, abruptly opening his eyes when something annoyingly cold was pressed on his forehead. It stung like a .

Donghae sends him an apologetic smile as he dabs the cold packs on his forehead once again.

Hyukjae has no time to organize his disoriented head though, because someone has already flung his entire weight on him.

“DADDDDY!” the three year-old Jihyukkie exclaimed, lips quivering and looking all like a guilty puppy, “JIHYUKKIE IS SORRRRYYYYY!”

Hyukjae grunts, falling on the soft cushion of—he’s in his bed?—and tries his best to grasp for air because Jihyukkie is practically sitting on his ribs and squashing his lungs. Donghae attempts to remove his son but Jihyukkie is stubborn, only hugging Hyukjae’s torso like a koala even more.

Realization hits him as he remembered waking up with an excited Jihyukkie sitting on his stomach, he doesn’t even want to know how the kid had managed to crawl there it’s just giving him a headache, how he got so startled making the three years old lost his balance. He managed to secure the kid close to his body but ends up planking the cold floor and hitting his poor head.

He grimaced and tries reaching for the three-year old before he really dies from lack of oxygen. Thankfully, this time Jihyukkie decided to listen and move to his side, of course not completely detaching himself from his Daddy.

Thank goodness, Hyukjae sighs in relief.

Small hands are pressed against his face, “Do not worry Daddy, Jihyukkie will make the pain go away.”

The three year-old, says with eyes all sparkly and full of determination. He brings his head close to his Daddy’s face placing sloppy kisses against Hyukjae’s skin. Hyukjae groans and flinched when Jihyukkie made contact with the swelled bump. If it was anybody he would have thrown a fit, but this is a kid, this is Jihyuk. Not having the heart to complain, Hyukjae concedes and let the three year old smooch his face.

"Err...Jihyukkie has this tendency to be hyper." He hears Donghae awkwardly mutters, "Especially during morning whenever he slept well."

Hyukjae could only nod, he was too engrossed watching how Jihyukkie looked so happy placing feathery kisses on his nose and cheeks.

It would’ve been nice, Hyukjae thought, because it’s been a long time since he received so much skinship from somebody he refuse to acknowledge the fact that the somebody we are all talking about here is none other than Lee Donghae. Hell, he even has this tendency to kick his brother whenever the crazy bunny tries to molest him.

He just wished all of these are worth it. Because seriously, it’s been less than twenty-four hours together with his ex-lover and his son and he already managed to get a bruise on his head. How is he going to live like this?

Hyukjae sighs, sending secret glances towards the brunette beside him.

 What have he gotten himself into?

A/N: It's been a long time ^__^" *tries to bribe you with candies /getsbricked/

Tries to bribe you with this hottie instead,