Youngjae stood in the hall, listening to everything Himchan and Daehyun said, a smiled on his face. He would have to buy something for Himchan later as a thank you gift for helping him.

 

So then he wouldn't embarrass the older boy, Youngjae 'accidentally' walked into the door and gave out a groan before walking into the kitchen. He immediately saw the red blush on Daehyun's face.

 

"Do you want a hand?" Youngjae asked.

 

"You can dry up," Himchan said, handing him the towel. "I don't want to get my hands dirty."

 

"Hyung! They're clean!" Daehyun sighed, passing a washed plate to Youngjae to be dried.

 

"Not with the way you're washing them!" Himchan said, defending himself.

 

"Daehyunnie, why don't you sit down while I do this? You need your rest," Youngjae said, putting the towel down and pushing the slightly shorter male down into a chair, before returning to the sink.

 

"OK," Daehyun said, hoping that the other two couldn't see the blush decorating his cheeks. 

 

"Right, I'm going to help Gukkie with the boys, so I'll leave you two alone," Himchan said, almost skipping out of the room. 

 

Daehyun sighed at his weird hyung and turned to look at the younger who was almost finished washing up. He stared at him, wondering everything he possibly could about him: his favourite colour, film, food, his hobbies, whether he preferred jumpers or cardigans, and the more pressing questions: how did he become friends with the younger? Were they ever more? Youngjae already said they did everything together... does that mean they were together? Could they become more? Was he even single? Why had they not seen each other for over five years?

 

"Jae?"

 

"Yeah?" Youngjae asked, putting away the last plate.

 

"I- ermmm... I-I-I... ..." Daehyun started.

 

"What's wrong? Does something hurt? Are you OK?" Youngjae asked, running to Daehyun's side and taking his face in his hands as he looked him up and down.

 

"I'm fine, Jae. I was just wondering something."

 

Youngjae laughed and sat down on the chair next to Daehyun. "What are you wondering about?"

 

"How did we... ermm... were we ever... how did we become friends?" Daehyun asked, giving up on asking if they were ever 'together'. 

 

Youngjae laughed. "You want to know?"

 

"Yeah," Daehyun said nodding.

 

"Well, you moved from Busan to Seoul when you were 10 and stayed with your aunt." Daehyun nodded, already knowing this from what Himchan had told him. "You were bullied at school because of your accent, by my friends, no less." Youngjae paused when he saw the shocked expression on Daehyun's face. "We became friends in class since we got to sit next to each other, but you kept the fact that you were bullied from me. I can remember feeling so angry at everything when I found you one day with your head down the toilet. So from then on I never let you out of my sight and you didn't stray from it either." Youngjae laughed at the memory, but then suddenly stopped, making Daehyun confused. "I started making deals with them to make them leave you alone. When we were 14, I ended up making a deal for them to beat me up instead of you. You found me battered and bruised, but instead of taking care of me like I did for you, you yelled at me, saying that I shouldn't sacrifice myself for you. I remember you using incredibly colourful language," Youngjae said, laughing a bit. "And then you stayed clear of me for the next two weeks, as if you were trying to prove to me that you could look after yourself, and you didn't even get a dirty look, but it was because I was actually the one getting bullied because of the deal. And then you came running to me, crying, saying sorry and you promised to take me out for food, so you did, and that's it!" Youngjae rushed the ending, not wanting to say that it was that night when eating when Daehyun let it slip that he loved Youngjae and he didn't want to see him hurt because of him.

 

Daehyun just stared at the younger, not even thinking of anything, apart from how much he owed him. How could he yell at him when he was the one hurting? How could he ignore him?

 

Daehyun started to sniffle. "I'm so sorry, Jae!" he cried. He rushed to him and sat himself on his lap, hugging him, his head in his neck and silently crying. "I'm so sorry!"

 

"It's OK, Dae. It's OK," Youngjae said, hugging the boy back, loving having him in his arms again, but still worried about the sudden childish outburst.

 

---

 

Not pleased at all with this chapter...

But here you go!

Sorry!