Chapter 22

What is it about you?

 (Donghae POV)

“Please don’t do this…”

“I have to”

“Umma please… This is so embarrassing!”

“It’s fine Hae, honestly”

“It’s not!”

I sighed as my Umma made her way into the kitchen with Hyukjae in tow. Honestly, I was nervous as hell. My Umma is the nicest person I know… But she’s also the scariest. So I was actually pretty nervous about what she was going to say to Hyukkie…

 

(Hyukjae POV)

“Sit” Donghae’s Umma said as we entered the kitchen. I took in a deep breath and sat down on one of the stools. She on the other hand, walked to stand in front of me before folding her arms across her chest.

“I…”

“Let me talk first Hyukjae” she said sternly. I nodded and she continued. “I like you Hyukjae-ah, you’re a nice boy and I can see that my son is very fond of you. However, I’m not blind. I saw how much pain you caused my son and I don’t want to see him like that again.

 “I don’t know if you know this or not, but I’ve only ever seen my son cry four times since his Appa left us. One of those times was over his Appa. The other three times… they were because of you. Now, I know my Donghae is a strong boy who is becoming a strong young man, and there is a lot that I’ve probably missed out on when it comes to his life because of work and trying to support us both, but I know my son. I know that you mean a lot to him and because of that, I won’t get in the way of whatever it is you two have right now.

 “You know, he was the one who took care of me when I was in a dark place because of my husband’s...” She took a deep breath and I could see the tears glistening in her eyes, “death. And I regret it so much that it wasn’t the other way around because I should have been the one to take care of him.  I don’t know your life and I don’t know anything that you’ve dealt with, but I’m pretty sure you’ve not had to be as strong as my son, as heartless as that sounds, I really doubt you have. And so help me god, if you ever, ever, hurt him again, I will hunt you down and kill you myself”

I bit my lip, knowing how serious she was before letting out the breath I was unaware that I was holding. “Ms.Lee, I have no intention of ever hurting your son again. Believe me when I say I wish that I could go back and undo everything I did to cause him pain because it was the worst mistake I ever made.” I told her sincerely.

She shook her head lightly as a tear rolled down her aged cheek “I know you don’t intend to hurt him, if you did, do you think you’d be sitting here now?”

“Then… why?”

“Because there are things that happen in this world that are so far beyond our control. And you may not mean to, but there is a chance that you’ll hurt him again. And it will be the last thing you do, because seeing my son cry… it kills me. I know how much he hates what happened with his Appa and our family. There is so much you don’t know about him Hyukjae-ah, and there is so much that you won’t be able to understand about him. So I’ll tell you this one thing… He may put on a brave face and he may smile all the time and laugh and joke and act like he’s fine, but it’s all an act. He thinks that I can’t see through this mask he wears, but I can. I can see how much he refuses to let people in and how much he refuses to let people see the real him. So you have to promise me something…”

“Anything”

“You need to promise me that if… No, when, he opens up to you and lets you in, you can’t run away. You can’t get scared and you can’t hurt him. As horrible as this may sound, I don’t care about anything you have to do to make him happy, as long as my son is okay, then so am I”

I could feel my lip trembling as I took in everything that she said. At the start, I assumed this would be a general ‘look after my kid’ speech, but now… Now I know how much more this is. Donghae only has his Umma, and vice versa. And then here was me, coming in and disrupting their world. But after what she said… I couldn’t just walk away now. I wouldn’t.

“I promise” I whispered. Not realising how much the words had affected me.

“There is one more thing though” she said softly.

“And that is?” I hesitated…

“Although there is a lot you’ve done to hurt my son… I’ve also not seen him smile so genuinely in so long… And then you came along and he was actually happy. So I want to thank you for that. And please, just make sure my son stays happy” she said with a small smile before gesturing me over.

I stood up and closed the small distance between us, giving her a warm hug before pulling back and asking the question that had been nagging at me.

“W-Why did you tell me all of that?” I asked slowly

She sighed but smiled none the less, “Because I can tell you’re different. And for some reason, I think I trust you”

“Thank you Ms.Lee… Believe me, I want nothing more than for Donghae to be happy. He’s really important to me, and I’ll do anything to prove that” I smiled a little.

“Alright, well I’m glad we had thi- wait… It’s Wednesday… What time is it?!” she said suddenly.

“Um, five-thirty?”

“Oh no! I have to go! I’m going to be late for work!” she said before making her way back into the living room. I followed after her in time to hear her saying a brief goodbye to Hae and then leaving the house in a flash.

Donghae looked up at me with a concerned face… we just stood there for a little while, just looking a one another until I made my way over to him and pulled him into a warm hug.

He hesitated a little before wrapping his arms around my waist and holding me back. With a small smile on my face, I nuzzled into his hair, holding him a little tighter.

It’d been three days, yup, three days since he was last able to hold him like this. Because, well when they got to school on Monday, Kyuhyun and Sungmin stole Hae away for ‘important business’ or something. Tuesday, he was taken away by Sunny and Hae said he couldn’t object because he still felt bad. And then all day today, he was with Henry whilst I was stuck with Sungmin complaining about how I never make time for him anymore! Like, seriously, he’s the one that is ALWAYS with Kyu!

But even on the way back here from school, Hae didn’t want to hold my hand, saying he didn’t want to provoke his Umma into killing me or whatever. And to be honest, I kind of thought she would when she started that conversation, she looked scary! But after hearing her out, I understood why she was that way and honestly, it was nice to see how loved Hae was by his Umma. Not that I wasn’t of course, it was just, after losing his Appa, he needs that from his Umma.

“So… how did it go?” Hae asked as he pulled away from me.

I sighed, a little disappointed at the loss of contact but smiled anyway “Fine” I said, walking over and sitting down on the couch.

“So she didn’t hit you or anything?!” he said, looking almost relieved. Not going to lie, that scares me a little… would she really have hit me?!

“What? No! Why would she have hit me? She just told me to be good to you and stuff” I said, not really wanting to go into full detail of what his Umma and I talked about. I didn’t really want him to feel upset because his Umma realises how sad he can be.

“N-No reason. Erm, do you mind just staying here whilst I shower and then we can watch a movie or something?” he said, biting his lip slightly.

“Sure. Take your time” I said, grabbing the remote and flicking on the TV.

“Okay. Oh, Hyukkie? Are you staying over tonight?” he asked as he paused at the door.

“Would you like me to?” I asked, glancing over at him.

“I don’t mind either way, think about it and let me know when I come back” he smiled and with that left the room.

 

(Donghae POV)

I didn’t really do much other that just stand there and let the hot water run over me. My eyes were closed and my arms were stretched out in front of me as my hands were against the wall. I didn’t really know why I was in such an odd mood. But something felt different and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Honestly, I just felt… weird.

Maybe I was just working myself up because this thing – whatever it was – between me and Hyukkie was actually real. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was glad it was, but at the same time… I just didn’t know how to react. This was the first time I’d ever felt this way about somebody and I didn’t know the first thing about dating.

Dating… I have a date on Friday night with him. I didn’t know where we were going, not only because I asked him to surprise me, but also because we hadn’t spent so much as ten minutes together since he’d confessed to me. Which was rather frustrating, but I couldn’t really do anything about it. I was practically kidnapped by my friends on Monday. I’d promised Sunny that we’d hang you Tuesday, which was actually a lot of fun. We went to the arcade and played games. She beat me on a lot of things, but I kicked her on the dance machine! Oh yeah! Then today me and Henry were hanging out. Because I’d gotten to know him a little better and honestly it was fun to spend time with him. We’d spent all of break and lunch with Leeteuk hyung and his friend – though there is quite clearly something going on there – Kangin, who I learnt was like super protective of Sungmin. Haha, he was like an Appa to him. It was cute really. Teukkie hyung told me that it took him all his strength to make sure that Kangin hyung didn’t go and beat up Kyuhyun for trying to steal Sungminnie’s innocence. Kekeke. And then they started bickering because Teukkie hyung said that he wouldn’t allow his baby get hurt, meaning Kyuhyunnie, and Kangin hyung got all jealous. Henry and I had to bite back our laughter because honestly, Kangin hyung can be scary…

Smiling to myself a little, I regained my composure and quickly washed my hair.

Once out of the shower and dressed, I happily made my way down the stairs and plopped down on the sofa beside Hyukkie.

Finally noticing I was there, he looked up and flashed me that gummy smile of his that I loved so much.

“So I decided that I will stay over” he said, grinning like an idiot.

“Good, I feel like I haven’t seen you the past few days” I sighed, resting my head on his shoulder, causing my hair to stick to his face a little because it was still wet.

“And whose fault is that?” he laughed slightly, making me pout.

“I didn’t mean to leave you, but I have other friends too you know” I whined. Lightly hitting him in the chest.

“I know, I know. I was just playing” he chuckled.

“Jerk”

“A jerk you looooove~” he teased.

“Aish… don’t get ahead of yourself” I rolled my eyes and sat up again. “So, what movie do you want to watch?”

“Doesn’t matter” he smirked… “We won’t be watching it”

“And what is that supposed to m- oh… oh god, would you get your mind out of the gutter for five second? We ARE watching the movie, so whatever you’re thinking, stop” I glared and walked over to where me Umma and I kept the DVDs.

And because I am super amazing at choosing what to watch… I went with – drum roll please – Peter Pan. Because who doesn’t love Peter Pan?!

I popped in the DVD before returning to sit down next to Hyukkie. As soon as the movie started though, he pulled me onto his lap. I smiled and leant back against his chest, letting my head fall to rest in the arch between his neck and shoulder.

“So, what did you do today?” he asked as the opening music started.

“Not much, just spent time with Mochi, Teukkie and Kangin hyung” I shrugged, “You?”

“Got scolded by Sungmin for not spending enough time with him” he chuckled, but I pouted.

“Is it because you’re always with me? You know you really should spend more time with your friends, I feel like I’m taking you away from them”

He laughed before poking my bottom lip “Stop pouting, it’s my choice to spend time with you. Besides, he’s always with Kyu”

“Still…”

“Shush. I thought you wanted to watch the movie?” he rolled his eyes…

“But… you were the one that started talking!” I argued only to get laughed at again.

He didn’t say anything to that, he just nodded to the TV, silently telling me to watch.

It was now on the part where Peter was chasing his shadow around the room, and then he catches it and wake up Wendy and as she’s talking he tries to stick it back onto his feet with soap. That always makes me laugh.

But what I will never understand his how Wendy sows it back on. Because right after when he’s trying it out again, you clearly see that it isn’t attached to his foot!? And more to the point, how do you lose a shadow?!

Okay, maybe I’m just over thinking it… but come on Disney, at least TRY to make sense!

Hyukjae laughed at me as I sang along to the songs that played in the movie. And although my eyes were on the television the entire time, I could still feel him watching me.

The weird thing was that I didn’t mind it though. It was like he was watching my every move but I couldn’t find it in me to worry or care about it, as though it were the most natural thing ever. I didn’t even flinch when his arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

It was like second nature to me when my hands unconsciously moved up to cover his and began to play with his long fingers.

Then I felt his breath against my neck before his lips made contact with my skin, not kissing me, just letting them rest there. One of my fingers then began to draw patterns on the back of his hand and as I did, I felt him smile against my neck, making me smile in return.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get used to him being like this. Being so forward to me about his feelings. It’s like I’m going to wake up and it’ll all be a dream.

“Is this real?” I whispered, more to myself than him.

“What do you mean?” he asked, softly pressing a kiss against my cheek.

“I mean… this. Me, you, this whole thing. I feel like it’s all some kind of dream, you know?” I laughed slightly, feeling a little stupid…

I opened my eyes to look at his face, happy that I was greeted with his warm smile. He blinked slowly before shaking his head “No, I know what you mean. When I’m with you it’s like my dreams have all come true”

“I didn’t realise that you could be so cheesy, Hyukkie” I giggled and turned around on his lap so that I had my legs either side of his, making it easier to look at him.

“Only when it comes to my baby Hae~” he cooed.

“Ah, but there’s the thing you see, I’m not yours” I winked.

“Not yet, but you will be” he smirked, making me roll my eyes in response.

“You seem so confident about that…” I rolled my eyes, scoffing slightly.

He smirked as he leaned towards me, obviously with the intention of letting our lips meet, but just as he was about to press his lips to mine I quickly stood up and made my way into the kitchen.

“YAH!” he called after me.

I couldn’t help but giggle as I walked to the fridge to get me some orange juice. I pulled out the jug and placed it on the counter as I closed the fridge and then went to get two glasses out of the cupboard. Humming a song as I did.

After pouring myself and Hyukkie a glass each of juice, I put away the jug.

I almost jumped out of my skin when I turned to see Hyukkie standing behind me!

“Gosh! Don’t do that! How long were you standing there?!” I said, placing a hand over my heart as if that would slow it back to normal.

He laughed at me then made his way over to where I stood, trapping me against the counter as he did.

“Well, let’s think of it as payback” he smirked, “Oh, is this for me?” he said as he lifted one of the glasses and took a sip, still keeping me trapped against the work top.

“You didn’t even let me answer that, what if it wasn’t for you?” I raised an eyebrow

“It is now~” he grinned, pecking me on the lips.

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A/N: sorry it's late guys TT^TT

I'm not completely happy with this chapter, but I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer.
I would re-write it, but tbh I've been having a bit of writers block at the minute so this was the best I could come up with :/ Sorry again.

Never the less, I hope you enjoyed it and whatnot.

Leave me a comment to let me know what you thought~
Love you guys ^.^
Until next time~

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Tegwi_Panda
Hey guys, I just want to say, Sorry if I don't reply to your comment, sometimes I just really don't know what to say~ But thank youuu ^.^ Enjoy le fic~

Comments

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LeeLenaMx #1
Chapter 29: Thank you for this story! I really enjoyed it... I’m so glad Hyuk followed his feelings instead of keep being in denial.
I also love the songs you picked for this story... they were perfectly chosen.
yolohyuk
#2
Chapter 29: what a ride HAHAHA omg thank goodness theyre able to overcome all of it and together at last!<3<33 thanks for sharing~
CassieELFInspiShaw #3
Chapter 29: They kissed before they confessed and started dating. They made love first before becoming official. Gahd. Hahaha.
ayawani #4
Chapter 10: If I Donghae,I'll give Hyukjae punches first..
vince1108 #5
Chapter 29: wait they had 'it' in the end right? lol XD well gj on the story. =x
briecheese0488
#6
Chapter 29: I think I like this more than 'Fix You' - SO GOOD!!! =D
VIEIRA
#7
Chapter 29: LOVED SO MUCH THIS FIC
ITS SO AKMKLMlwfrb<

awesome
eunnahaela
#8
Chapter 29: Woah!!! I love how hyuk in denial at first and then just started to accept his feeling towards hae. Well done author-nim. Thanks for writing.
^.^
lovesiwonie
#9
Chapter 29: finally... EunHae couple... ^^
thanks, nice story
CookieBear16
#10
Chapter 29: I just HAD to finish this story today. You cant even IMAGINE what time it is right now. *cough* 5 *cough* o'clock.... *choke*.
Anyways, this was such a great story! I loved all elements, and the ending was so great. I couldn't have agreed more! LOL.
Please continue writing, because me liked this mucho. C: EunHae!! <33