Hello~ In this chapter, you guys will be able to understand a little bit more about why Hyukjae is the way he is. :) Hope it makes sense to you. :P         

            As Hyukjae sat in the backseat of the car, he kept thinking of words to say to his husband. He didn’t know if he should scold the boy for running away like he did or pretend nothing happened at all, but one thing was for sure – he would never apologize.

            To Hyukjae, apologizing was weakness, something he wouldn’t show to anyone, not even his own husband. Neither did he feel like he did anything wrong. He hugged and kissed Donghae because he needed to make him stop crying, otherwise Heechul would have accused him of being a bad husband – and possible start some rumour, damaging his image.

            Maybe kissing him was a bit too much? Hyukjae was mentally debating with himself. He knew that that kiss was Donghae’s first kiss – well, second if you include their wedding kiss. But that was the only other time Hyukjae had kissed Donghae and he was pretty sure Donghae had never kissed another person.

            No, of course not. It was just a kiss anyway. His stubborn self just wouldn’t allow him to be soft-hearted just this once.

            “Sir, we’re here.” His driver, Kangin said, interrupting his train of thought and inner debate.

            Hyukjae nodded and then sighed, still not having any idea as to what he should say to his supposed lover.

            Kangin saw the look on Hyukjae’s face in the mirror and sighed as well. After many years of being of service to the Lee family, he knew the troubles that Hyukjae faced. He’d seen and experienced enough attitude of rich people to know and understand why Hyukjae was the way he was.

He didn’t particularly like the current Hyukjae, since Hyukjae was about as cold as someone could get, yet at the same time, he couldn’t bring himself to hate Hyukjae because he knew exactly why he became this way. He remembered the young and innocent Hyukjae that was adorable, kind and sweet. That loved going for car rides and loved to hang out with friends and even go with Kangin to pick them up to go to his house to play. But after being betrayed so many times by “friends” that were just interested in his money, Hyukjae began to change because of the hurt and pain they put him through. It didn’t help that his grandfather constantly told him that in the business world, there were no such things as friends. There was only determination, discipline and success. Everything else was child’s play and irrelevant to their company’s goal.

After years of being exposed to this kind of lifestyle, Hyukjae had gotten accustomed to it. He lived by the same principles as his grandfather because it hurt less and gained him more profits. The young Hyukjae that Kangin once knew was gone.

“Sir, if I may, maybe you should apologize to Mr Donghae?” Kangin decided to help after a minute had passed and Hyukjae made no move to get down from the vehicle.

Startled, Hyukjae looked at Kangin through the rear-view mirror, “What do you mean? What makes you think I did anything wrong?”

“Maybe it’s just me, but I highly doubt Mr Donghae would just run off like that unless you did something really drastic. He’s never done anything to rebel against you, so…”

Hyukjae sighed. He knew Kangin was right. Donghae always did everything he was told. This was the first time he’s seen him so hurt that he’d do something so reckless. “Maybe you’re right.”

When Hyukjae still made no move to get down, Kangin added, “Your pride isn’t letting you apologize, is it Sir?”

“You should know your place, Kangin. I’m only allowing you to speak this way because of your many years of service, don’t push it.”

“I apologize if I went too far, Sir. But just this once, please take my advice. Mr Donghae is a good man and a loyal husband to you. Would it be too much for you to be nice to him just this once?”

Hyukjae remained silent. He’s right. Donghae’s been so loyal to me. He never asked for this marriage, he was forced into it the same as I was. He didn’t need to stay by my side through everything, he could have just taken the money I give him as allowance and not care about me, but he chose to take care of me anyway. Fine then, just this once.

With his mind made up, Hyukjae got down from the car and walked up the path leading to the small single-story house - which looked like a shack in his opinion (rich bastard).

Ding dong. He heard the doorbell ring from the inside and took a deep breath, mentally coming up with his apology.

The door slowly opened, revealing a sleepy looking Kyuhyun.

“Took you long enough.” Kyuhyun leaned against the door frame. He was dressed in a t-shirt and sweatpants and his hair was messy, as if he’d just waken up. The thought of him and his Donghae sleeping together made him clench his fist.

“Where’s Donghae?” Hyukjae had no idea why his voice came out lower than his usual voice. Or why it made him sound like a jealous lover.

Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow. “Hae’s sleeping. He’s exhausted from crying for the past hour. My ears hurt from listening.”

Hyukjae didn’t understand why the thought of Donghae running to another man to cry made him feel like punching Kyuhyun, he’d never felt that way before. “Well, can you get him? I don’t have all night.”

Kyuhyun scoffed. “You made my best friend bawl his eyes out over you over reasons I don’t know because he refused to tell me – thinking he’s be bad-mouthing you, but you can’t even make time to at least ask if he’s okay now?”

Hyukjae felt his stomach clench in guilt. Even after his selfish and stupid act, Donghae still thought about his image over his own feelings, not even willing to spill Hyukjae’s bad points to his best friend. But of course, Hyukjae couldn’t show that to Kyuhyun.

“Well, how would you feel if your husband ran off from a party in the middle of the night, was unable to be contacted until he finally texted you using another man’s phone to tell you he was at another man’s house?”

“Extremely jealous.” Kyuhyun smirked.

“Exact--.” Hyukjae cleared his throat. “I was thinking frustrated. But we are different, I suppose.”

“Clearly.” Kyuhyun sighed, “Look, Hae is known for never bothering with electronics, it isn’t exactly a shock that his phone ran out of battery. And as to why he came to find me, I’m his best friend and I’m who he needed at the time. You’re lucky he had enough money to even get here and not end up stranded somewhere.”

Hyukjae sighed (again), “It’s been a long night, can I please just get my husband so I can go home?”

“If I refuse?”

Hyukjae was shocked; he didn’t think Kyuhyun would respond that way. He opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off by Donghae.

“I’m here, Hyukjae. We can go.”

Hyukjae looked at Donghae. His voice sounded a bit off, as if it had been strained. His appearance was dishevelled, crumpled shirt and pants, messy hair and slightly swollen, red eyes. He felt the guilt he felt moments ago coming back.

“Hae, are you feeling better now?” Kyuhyun’s voice sounded gentler and concerned, Hyukjae noticed.

Donghae nodded, “Thanks for everything, Kyu.” Donghae gave Kyuhyun a brief hug. “I’ll see you soon?”

“Yeah. I’ll go visit your bakery on Monday. Been craving for some red velvet cake lately and yours is by far still the best.” Kyuhyun ruffled Donghae’s already messy hair, making the latter frown slightly.

“Yah! I’m still your hyung, you know.”

Kyuhyun scoffed, “You don’t act like one.”

Donghae pouted and smacked Kyuhyun’s arm.

Hyukjae cleared his throat to get their attention. He’d never seen the childish side of Donghae before, it made him feel funny but he decided he was just tired so he interrupted their moment, hoping they’d stop chatting so he and Donghae could go home.

“Kyuhyun, thank you for taking care of my husband.” Kyuhyun nodded once. Then Hyukjae turned to Donghae, who had his head lowered, too scared to look at his husband. “Donghae, let’s go.” With that, he turned and walked towards the car.

Donghae sighed (they sigh a lot), “Bye, Kyu. I’ll text you tomorrow, if Hyukjae doesn’t kill me tonight.” He whispered.

“He wouldn’t. I’d hunt him down and kill him for you if he does.” Kyuhyun tried to reassure his best friend, and then nudged him forward a bit. “Go on, before he loses his temper. See you on Monday.”

Donghae nodded and ran towards the car.

-In the car-

The atmosphere was very awkward for Donghae. He wanted to apologize, but didn’t know how to start. But he knew it was inevitable.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered so softly, Hyukjae almost didn’t hear it. But he did, and he turned to face him.

“What for?”

“For  slapping you, for running away like that, for possibly making you look bad, for not charging my phone and for making you go all the way to Kyuhyun’s house to pick me up.” Donghae had wanted to add that he was also sorry for making Hyukjae worried, but then thought better and realized that Hyukjae would never worry over him.

Hyukjae remain silent for a moment, thinking about it all. He looked up and caught the look Kangin was giving him.

He cleared his throat, feeling extremely uncomfortable to be put in this position. “Listen carefully, because I’m only going to say this once. You don’t have to be sorry, I should be.”

Donghae looked up instantly. Is The Lee Hyukjae apologizing?

Hyukjae took a deep breath and continued, “I was a cold and inconsiderate bastard and I was out of line to kiss you like that.”

“Donghae was too stunned to respond. Even if it wasn’t a direct apology, this was something that Donghae never expected - Hyukjae actually felt like he was the wrong one.

“But I will accept your apology for not being contactable, slapping me - that hurt, and making me go to Kyuhyun’s house to look for you. Even if he is your best friend, Donghae, he is another man. The media will not take such matters lightly. They’ll come up with hundreds of rumours that will easily get out of control.” Hyujae added.

Donghae continued to stare at Hyukjae. Of course he had to ruin that somewhat sweet moment.

After a few more moments of silence, Hyukjae couldn’t take it anymore. “Well?”

“Huh?”

“I accepted your apology. Aren’t you going to accept mine?”

“Oh! Yeah. Sure.” Donghae wasn’t used to Hyukjae apologizing to him, and therefore didn’t really know how to respond.

“Well, as a sign that I’m truly sorry, how about we go on a date?”

That made Donghae even more shocked. He never thought that Hyukjae would ever suggest something like that. “A date?”

“Yes, a date. Haven’t you always wanted to go on one?” Hyukjae frowned. He had been so sure this would work.

“Yes, I have. But you always declined.”

“Hence, this will be the perfect way to show my sincerity, no?”

Donghae thought about it for a moment. Then figured why the heck not. He’ll probably never get this chance again if he turned this offer down. He smiled, “Yeah, I guess it is. Of course I’d go on a date with you!”

Donghae was beyond excited. He would finally get a date with Hyukjae. He smiled so wide he thought his jaw would be tired by the time they reached home. Hyukjae watched him smile and unknowingly smiled a little as well.

Kangin, who witnessed the entire exchange, smiled along with them.

 Hyukjae is finally being kinda nice? Haha... Let me know how you guys think the story is going so far? Comments are always appreciated and loved! Thanks for reading~