Hyukjae’s POV 

 

Damn you, Changmin! 

 

The car jerked harshly as I slammed on the brakes. Glaring at the truck in front of me, I flashed Changmin the middle finger, knowing he could see it from his rearview mirror. I saw him laugh before his truck was speeding up the street headed god knows where. For an old truck, that thing sure does drive fast. 

 

I glanced to the side to see Donghae looking shaken up with Changmin’s little stunt. 

 

“You ok?” I asked and he glanced at me before looking back out the windshield.

 

“Yeah. I’m fine,” he said a little breathlessly and I spared him an apologetic look before easing my foot off the brake to continue driving. 

 

“B-But where are they going? Aren’t they supposed to be coming with us?” Donghae asked nervously, watching Changmin’s truck speed off into another direction. 

 

Uh oh. What do I say? Yeah, sorry, but I kinda lied to you so that I could get you alone? Score one for Hyuk. 

 

“Uh…” When in doubt, lie. At least that’s what Sungmin believed. But glancing over at Donghae still worriedly fidgeting around, guilt punched me hard in the face and I sighed miserably. 

 

“We sorta… planned this out…” I didn't dare look at him and kept my eyes focused on the road. 

 

Oh god, please don’t be too angry. I didn't even get to kiss you again. Wait, what? Focus, Hyuk. Now’s not the time. But seriously, all afternoon, I just wanted to reach over and pull him into a kiss, one that was longer than yesterday, although that one was just perfect too. His lips were so soft and delicate. And he was absolutely beautiful when I had pulled away. The flushed look on his face and the dazed gleam in his big brown eyes was entrancing. 

 

“Planned out?” 

 

I blinked as I was pulled out of my fantasy. He sounded more curious than upset, which surprised me. I snuck a glance at him and he was watching me with that little head tilt he always did when he was confused. Geez, there was absolutely no way I could ever lie to him. It was like dealing at a puppy. There was no way you could ever do something like that to a puppy. 

 

“Ha ha yeah…  I just um, wanted to… take you on a date…like a real one, just the two of us. So yeahhhhh.” I wanted to blurt out that it was all Changmin’s idea and say that he’d forced me to, but that would just be pathetic. 

 

He didn't say anything and I worriedly tapped the steering wheel, trying to focus on the road. 

 

“O-oh,” he said softly after a while and I did a double take at him, almost swerving into a bicycle. 

 

“Really? You’re not mad or anything?” I asked, too stunned to worry about how direct I was being. He blushed and kept his eyes shyly on the dashboard. 

 

“I… I don’t mind,” he murmured quietly. He bit his lip and it took everything in me not to shout out any cheerful exclamations. I ended up smiling like an idiot as I continued to the movie theater. 

 

It wasn't very far away, and in under ten minutes, I was pulling into the theater’s parking lot. It was a gigantic place that was usually filled with people, but no one was crowding around right now because of the weather. 

 

When was the last time I’d been to the movies? I’d never come here with a date before. My past girlfriends were just usually into fine dining and expensive shopping trips. But now I was going with Donghae and it was a first time experience for me, which made this all the more special.

 

I parked the car close to the entrance and didn't hesitate to jump out excitedly. Donghae followed right behind and soon we were walking side by side into the theater. 

 

As soon as we stepped in, the first thing that drew my attention was a gigantic poster hung from the ceiling. It was advertising a romance film that was in all the papers and magazines around the office because it was apparently ‘the must see movie of the decade’. Seriously? Must see movie of the year I could believe, but of the decade? Now that was pushing it. 

 

“Do you want to watch that one?” Donghae asked from beside me, having caught me eyeing the poster. I snapped my head to look down at him. He had a playful glint in his eyes like it was amusing to see me so intrigued by a romance drama and I shook my head rapidly. 

 

“No!” I shouted a little too loudly and some people turned to raise an eyebrow at me. I grimaced and offered them a forced smile. Donghae giggled and I looked down at him to see him biting his lip to stop any more giggling at my embarrassing outburst. I laughed sheepishly and ran a hand through my hair. I’m just one big box of charms, aren't I. 

 

“I mean, if you want to… but maybe we could watch something else?” I asked hopefully and he laughed, nodding his head before turning his attention to the movie board. 

 

I think I was supposed to be looking at the board too, but I couldn't help staring at Donghae from the corner of my eye. His eyes wandered the board before his gaze landed on something in particular that made his nose twitch excitedly. 

 

“Found one?” I asked, smiling at him as he turned to me with an excited look. I bit harshly on my tongue to avoid blurting out something stupid about how adorable he was, because that was the only thing on my mind right now. 

 

“What about Down Under?” he asked and I agreed without really knowing what movie he was talking about. 

 

“You can just wait here and I’ll go get the tickets,” I told him, and he blushed, giving me a nod, not meeting my eyes. I made my way over to the short line to buy the tickets, and all the while, I couldn't keep my head still as I kept looking over at him. He was walking along the wall where I had left him, looking at movie posters, checking his phone every now and then. I eventually bought the tickets and headed back to him. Our theater was on the second floor so we took the escalator upstairs. 

 

As expected, the theater wasn’t filled and I let Donghae lead the way, choosing our seats midway from the screen. The lights in the theater were still on because there was about ten minutes left before the movie actually began, and when we took our seats, a silence fell between us as Donghae fixated his attention to the trailers playing on screen. I sighed as I settled further into my seat. 

 

I blankly stared at the screen as the trailers kept rolling. When the lights started to dim around the theater, Donghae turned his head to me and offered me a smile. I returned it, desperately wanting to just lean over the armrest and kiss him, but then he turned away and I was left staring gloomily at the screen again.

 

The movie had barely begun, but there was already so much unnecessary drama going on. Apparently it was about a fish who was obsessed with finding a twin brother he never knew he had, and even better, he was a dancing fish that had to attend some dancing fish competition in order to have one wish granted, which he planned to use to ask where his brother was. I couldn’t help but screw my face up. Who makes a movie like this? Seriously, the guy could’ve just let the whole long-lost-brother thing go and his life would be so much easier. Or he could’ve tried looking up his brother on the internet. Or does technology not apply to animated dancing fish that can talk and figure out how the take down a human submarine? I’m not following…

 

Just then, a bubble of laughter erupted from next to me and I looked over to see Donghae truly enjoying himself. And I found myself unable to take my eyes off my date for the rest of the movie. That was probably going to come back and bite me in the later when Donghae wanted to talk about the movie, but I found him more intriguing than the dancing fish onscreen. 

 

Donghae’s laughter continued to ring quietly in my ears and I can’t help but fall in love with the sound. It was a unique little cackle that was different from his shy giggles and soft chuckles. These were much more loose and carefree and I loved seeing this side of him. 

 

Sure enough, when the lights were coming back on, Donghae turned to me, his big brown eyes blinking up at me gleefully. 

 

“Did you like it?” he asked and I could do nothing but nod my head stupidly because I had no idea what had transpired on screen. Did the fish get to find his brother? Did he win the competition? I guess I would never know. 

 

Donghae giggled as we got up to follow the small crowd out into the hall. 

 

“I like Grady,” he said, talking about the comical sidekick in the movie. “He reminds me of Kyu.” 

 

I listened to him talk about his favorite parts and a wonderful feeling of happiness fell over me. It’s been a while since I’ve felt so at ease and it was something I could definitely get used to. 

 

As we got on the escalator, Donghae turned to me and smiled expectantly. “What was your favorite part?”

 

Oh, karma.

 

“Uh, you know… the end.” Because you were laughing the most at the end and it was the most adorable thing. 

 

 It was the lamest answer I could’ve given him, but Donghae looked content either way and I smiled whole heartedly at him. 

 

But as we stepped off the escalator and into the lobby, nothing could dampen the mood like the petrified look that crossed Donghae’s face as we caught sight of what was taking place outside. 

 

The clouds from all afternoon were now emptying themselves as heavy buckets of rain spilled out of the sky. Flashes of lightening lit up the sky, the wind pushed the rain to fall sideways, and there was an angry cry of thunder far off in the distance every now and then. 

 

Donghae stopped short when we stepped off the escalator as if he refused to go anywhere closer to the rampaging storm outside. A heavy feeling of concern fired through me as I turned to look down at him worriedly. To avoid causing a hold up at the foot of the escalator, I gently took his hand and lead him over to an empty space not too far from the doors, but not too close either. He didn't seem to realize that I was still gripping his hand softly. Honestly, neither did I. All afternoon I had been hesitant to do it, but now it came easily.  

 

“Donghae,” I called gently and his attention shifted very slowly from outside to look at me with big doe eyes. 

 

“Are you ok?” 

 

He glanced back out and began to shake his head, but then had second thoughts. 

 

“I-I’m fine.” He tried to say, but his eyes still flickered nervously outside. I couldn’t think of anything else to do to calm his nerves down so I took both his hands in mine and rubbed soothing circles on the back of his hands. 

 

“You can stay here and I’ll bring the car up front,” I told him and started pulling away, but he caught my hand fast and gave it a desperate tug like he didn't want me to leave him and my heart dropped in my chest. I offered him a small smile. 

 

“Alright, how about we make a run for it? Can you do that?” His eyes drifted down to our intertwined hands and he nodded. 

 

“Ok.” I fished out my cars keys, jingling them uneasily as I glanced back down at Donghae. 

 

“Ready?” He gave another nod and I squeezed his hand before I started pulling him towards the doors. There was already hesitation in Donghae’s steps, but I couldn’t let him stand here and let his fears take over. I firmly pulled him along into the rain and started into a hurried jog, which he quickly caught on to. 

 

Geez, I though we had parked up close. But now it felt like forever having to run through the rain.

 

By the time we made it to the car, there was a thrill going through me. For all the bad that the storm brought on, it was exhilarating to run through the rain. It brought back a childish feeling, one the reminded me of how much I used to adore the rain as a toddler, especially playing in it, which got me scolded a lot. 

 

I had unlocked the car as we jogged, so that when we got there, we immediately dived into the car, rejoicing at the dry feeling of the interior. As I jumped in, a laugh left me at how it felt to carelessly run through the rain. 

 

I glanced over to check on Donghae, remembering his reaction to the storm. His hair had collected a good amount of water that was now dripping down his face. Tiny trembles ran up and down his body from the wet feeling. His eye were warily watching the scene outside and he was surprisingly calmer than I expected. I touched his arm to get his attention and he looked over. 

 

“You ok?” I asked and his eyes flicked down to my hand still lightly ghosting over his arm and he smiled lightly. 

 

“Yes.” He bit his lip as he ran the back of his hand around his face where the running streaks of water were tickling him. “I just… don’t like storms,” he said, looking at me apologetically as if all of this was causing me trouble. 

 

I reached up and brushed his wet bangs to the side so that they wouldn't drip in his face anymore. I was about to playfully ask him if he was afraid of getting wet, but I was suddenly assaulted with an image of Donghae trembling under the bus shed that night during a storm— the night I had picked him up off the road as he had been sitting in the rain, soaked to the bone, crying, trembling, and obviously not wanting to be there.

 

I blinked out of the image and my eyes focused on a different Donghae, one that was still trembling and soaked to the bone, but this time with a sense of security in his eyes.  

 

I can’t believe I had forgotten about that night. I remembered when I had tried asking Donghae about it, but he looked uncomfortable and uneasy so I didn't push him, but now it worried me to the core and I couldn't help the concern that creased my brow. 

 

“Donghae, why were you outside that night in the storm?” I asked, and he titled his head in confusion. “The night I took you to my apartment because you were in the middle of the storm crying under the bus shed. What were you doing?” There was a sternest to my voice, but I couldn't help it. I had to know. No one just sits outside in that kind of weather without a reason. 

 

Donghae flinched at the memory and immediately dropped his eyes to his fidgeting hands in his lap. 

 

“…T-that wasn’t… It’s no big deal, r-really.”

 

“I’m having none of this right now. You’re going to tell me,” Donghae winced at the tone, and I melted, lowering my voice to a gentle murmur. “Donghae, please, tell me what happened. It may be nothing and I might be worrying for no reason, but I have to know.”

 

He still kept his eyes on his hands that were now twisting restlessly in his lap. He shrugged helplessly. 

 

“My… mother,” he said quietly and I frowned as he continued reluctantly. “She got-mad at me that night and she… k-kicked me out.” His voice was strained and it was like he was holding back tears the more he spoke. “I didn't do it, but she didn't listen to me,” he confessed.

 

“She never listens to me,” he added sorrowfully, whispering more to himself now. There was a tense pause as I tried to come to terms with what I had just heard. 

 

“W-What?” I couldn’t believe my ears. His mother kicked him out? In the middle of a storm when it was clear that he was terrified of them? 

 

“But that doesn't mean she’s a bad person,” he blurted out suddenly. “It’s just because she’s having a lot of stress with work. She didn't mean to do it.” I frowned deeper.

 

“Stress or not, that doesn’t mean she can to take it out on you, Donghae.” He shook his head desperately and I reached over and took hold of his chin, making him look at me with confused and hurt eyes. 

 

“And how long has this stress been going on for?” I asked. He bit his lip nervously. His silence spoke loud enough and I felt like I needed to hit something. But I don’t know the full story.

 

“Does this happen frequently? Are you being abused? Neglected? Donghae?” My eyes unconsciously started roaming over his body, looking for any scars or signs of mistreatment. 

 

Donghae’s eyes got wide at my heated questions and he shook his head and my hand went with him as I was still cupping his chin. 

 

“No! Nothing like that!”

 

“Then what?” I pressed. 

 

“It’s nothing serious. She’s just… doesn't really pay attention to me…” His voice sounded sad, but he tried to shrug it off, and I let go of his chin to rest my hands on the steering wheel. 

 

That only calmed me slightly, but I still had a million questions. Obviously there was more to it than that. But just then, a clap of thunder sounded and Donghae jumped so I decided to tuck away my questions for later. 

 

“Where to now?” I asked, looking out the windshield. I had originally decided to take him home after the movie, but now I didn't want to knowing what could possibly happen. 

 

“I was going to stay with Kyu, but…” His voice trailed as he thought about the problem with that arrangement. Changmin had taken Kyuhyun somewhere and apparently, Kyuhyun wasn't picking up his phone when Donghae had called him earlier as he was waiting for me to buy the movie tickets. 

 

“Why Kyuhyun’s place?” 

 

“…Because I don’t like being alone during storms. I don’t know why… It’s just always been that way.”

 

“Then you’re staying with me,” I said firmly and he looked like he wanted to protest, but I stopped him. “At least let me do this for you,” I pleaded, and he dropped his gaze again, not answering me. I took that as an agreement and the ignition. 

 

The drive to my apartment complex was about fifteen minutes. When we pulled into the underground parking lot, Donghae climbed out silently after me, and followed behind without a word. I sighed at the quietness in the elevator. This was going to be a long night.

 

When I pushed open the door to my apartment, I let Donghae in first. He took off his shoes and then hesitantly twiddled his fingers, looking out of place. We were still dripping water everywhere and I’m guessing he was afraid to walk into the apartment like that. 

 

“Come on,” I said gently, gesturing for him to follow me. I led him to the bathroom in my room. 

 

“You can take a shower. I’ll leave some clothes in my room for you to change into. You can come out when you’re done,” I told him, turning to see him nervously watching anywhere but me. I showed him where the bath towels were and then left him to pick out some of my clothes for him. 

 

It took quite a while as I fished through my drawers and closet for something that would fit him. I finally comprised for a pair of grey sweatpants with an adjustable drawstring and a long sleeved black shirt. It might still be big for him, but I had nothing smaller. 

 

After setting them out on the bed, along with a pair of boxers that I blushed at, I grabbed some clothes for myself and then left to shower in the guest bathroom. 

 

Just as the first time he’d been to my apartment, I finished before him. The rain had given me a nostalgic feeling and if I was by myself, I would’ve chosen for walking around without a shirt. But I couldn't go walking around half when I had a guest over, so I settled for a tank top and baggy Hello Kitty pajama pants that Sungmin had gotten me for Christmas. They were embarrassing, but surprisingly very comfortable.

 

I wandered into the living room and went for the sofa when a flash of lightning lit up the sky outside. I changed course and went over to the windows, pulling all of the curtains so that Donghae wouldn't see outside when he was done with his shower. That being done, I plopped down heavily onto the sofa. I stretched my arms to lay out behind me on the back of the sofa and I let my head fall back. I couldn't stop thinking about Donghae and what he said in the car. I’d met his mother a number of times and I never thought she would be capable of something like that. But I guess that proves you can’t judge a book by its cover. And what about Donghae? Was he suffering? I sighed heavily as I felt myself getting worked up. 

 

About ten minutes later, I heard the shuffling of feet and I straightened up to see Donghae standing there, looking unsure of himself. He blushed as I raked my eyes over his body, taking in how the clothes made him look smaller and adorable. 

 

The shirt had a large rounded neck and it was slipping off Donghae’s thin shoulders, which he had to keep adjusting when they slipped dangerously lowly. The sleeves were too long, but Donghae had pushed them up so that they collected in large bunches around his elbows. The sweatpants fit better as they stayed snug on his waist, but the legs still pooled around his bare feet as he padded over slowly to stand next to me. I rose off the sofa.

 

“You can sleep in my room. I’ll take the couch,” I said and he immediately began shaking his head. 

 

“No, I can’t take your room,” he said, refusing the offer. “And don’t you have a guest room? I could just sleep there,” he said, his eye trailing down my torso and exposed arms then quickly snapping back up to my face. The blush on his cheeks was noticeable, but I pretended like I didn't see it and coughed awkwardly. 

 

“The bed in there is just a bare mattress with pillows and I don’t feel like searching for linens right now,” I confessed. “So I’ll be taking the couch,” I stated, but Donghae still looked ready to fight me for it. 

 

“I’ll sleep on the couch,” he said again. 

 

“My house, my rules,” I retaliated and stuck my tongue out childishly. Donghae pouted angrily and I almost caved in, but there was no way I was letting him sleep on the couch. That thing gives you a serious crick in your neck and he’ll end up with a back ache for the rest of the day tomorrow. 

 

I folded my arms over my chest challengingly and Donghae’s pout got sulkier. 

 

“W-What about we both sleep in the living room?” he asked timidly after a minute, a bright blush flooding his cheeks. I raised an eyebrow at him and he rushed to clarify himself. “Kinda like a sleepover.” He nibbled on his bottom lip as he waited for some kind of reaction. 

 

I blinked a couple of times, then broke out into a silly grin at how cute he was. The idea didn't sound bad so I agreed and he brightened instantly, smiling up at me with excitement swimming in his eyes, both of us forgetting the serious conversation in the car not too long ago. 

 

“We’ll take the blankets off my bed,” I told him and he nodded. We ended up hauling off the pillows, too, and even fetched some from the guest room. I found a few extra blankets in the back of my closet and brought them out as well. I pushed to heavy coffee table out of the way and then we set to working. By the time we were done, there was a massive nest of blankets and pillows on the floor that looked more like a laundry pile instead of a makeshift bed. But it looked inviting and knowing that I was going to be rolled up in there next to Donghae had me turning my head away from him to hide my blush. 

 

Although I had brought up the idea of sleeping, it was still pretty early. Too early to go to sleep, but I didn't know what else to do. 

 

Donghae had squatted down to adjust one of the pillows that was spilling out of the nest, and I turned to glance around the room, trying to find something we could do. 

 

There was always the movie option, but we just came from a movie so that was no good. Um, I don’t know. Board games? Yeah, real romantic, Hyuk. Woo him over with your nerdy Scrabble skills. 

 

Donghae stood back up again and his eyes examined the nest happily before an extremely loud burst of thunder caused him to almost jumped ten feet in the air. I didn't want him to be tense and on edge anymore so I acted on instinct and grabbed his hand, dragging him away from all the windows in the living room where the sound was loudest. 

 

The farthest place I could get in the apartment without ending up at the front door was the kitchen, and when I turned around to him, he was blushing as his gaze fixed on our hands. I instantly let go and the tiniest of pouts formed on his face before he looked up at me, curious as to why I had hauled him into the kitchen. 

 

Well, I guess I’d found our activity for the night. 

 

“How about some cooking?” I asked him in the most normal voice I could manage, but it wavered. I’m pretty sure he caught on to my pathetic attempt of distracting him from the storm because his smiled gratefully at me. 

 

“Sure,” he said, running his fingers lightly against the edge of the kitchen island. “But what are we making?”

 

“We could pull up something random online and try it,” I suggested, not really sure how that was going to work out. 

 

“Ok!” He beamed up at me, and I smiled. 

 

“Alright, just let me get my laptop.” I went to retrieve the device from the nightstand table next to my bed where I had left it this morning. Coming back out of the room, I saw Donghae had pulled himself a seat at the island, his legs swinging from atop the stool as they didn't quite reach the ground. I chuckled at the sight. Still holding onto the laptop, I went over to the living room to turn off the lights, leaving only the soft yellow glow from the kitchen’s hanging lights to illuminate the place. The atmosphere was cozy now, all thoughts of the raging storm outside forgotten. 

 

In the warm glow of the kitchen lights, Donghae looked like the epitome of innocence as he watched me with big brown eyes, feet still kicking lightly as he adjusted his shirt yet again.

 

As I stalked over to him, he flashed me another excited look that had me mentally swooning. He just couldn't get any more perfect, could he?

 

 I took a seat next to him and carefully set the laptop down, opening it as it booted up. 

 

I heard a giggle from beside me and I turn my head questioningly at Donghae. He bit his lip in an attempt to stop. 

 

“Nice wallpaper,” he commented, still trying to stifle giggles as I turned back to the computer screen with a heavy blush. Embarrassment had me hurriedly trying to explain the sleeping kittens on the screen. 

 

“Haha that— it’s not mine. Sungmin did it,” I said and he quirked up an eyebrow like he didn't believe me. 

 

“I’m serious. He was messing around with my laptop and I was just too lazy to change it back…” 

 

“Ok,” was all he said and I sighed because he obviously didn't believe me. He poked me lightly in the arm and I looked over. He had a cute grin etched on his face. “It’s nice,” he said, trying to comfort me, and I laughed at his attempt. Turning back to the screen, I opened up a new webpage, tapping the edge of the computer thoughtfully. 

 

“What should I type in?” I asked and Donghae tilted his head, his eyebrows scrunched up. 

 

“Maybe we could make cookies…. or brownies!”

 

I chuckled and nodded, typing in the command. 

 

About a million different brownie recipes came up. There were peanut fudge brownies, cappuccino brownies, mint chocolate brownies, and even pumpkin swirl brownies. Geez, I never knew you could do so much with brownies. 

 

Donghae wisely advised that we stick to something simple, and I ended up on Martha Stewart’s website. 

 

Donghae leaned out of his seat to poke his head over my shoulder to get a better look at the recipe and my breath hitched at the closeness. If I turned my head, I would end up in a dark head of hair. I could smell the sweet vanilla shampoo whenever he titled his head at a step he didn’t quite understand. There was another scent that was uniquely Donghae’s and I was tempted to lean over and sniff him, but I restrained myself and tried to concentrate on the screen.

 

“That doesn't look too hard. And look! It comes with a video. We can’t mess up if there’s a video,” he exclaimed with confidence. I laughed at his strong faith in my cooking skills.

 

“I’m pretty sure I burn water so a video probably won’t do much help,” I said, watching him adorably crinkle his nose. 

 

“Is that even possible?” he asked. I laughed again and shrugged. 

 

“Apparently. At least that’s what Sungmin once told me.”

 

He giggled. “That sounds like Sungmin hyung.”

 

“So this one?” I asked, pointing loosely to the recipe onscreen. Donghae nodded happily and before I knew it, my hand was sinking into his unbelievably soft hair, ruffling it up into a cute bedhead look. Donghae blushed and to avoid makings things uncomfortable, I quickly got up and headed around the island to stick my head in the fridge.

 

After a minute, I heard the stool scraping against the floorboards before bare feet came into my view, and I smiled as I continued the raid the fridge. 

 

Donghae helped read out the ingredients we needed. As I pulled the necessary items out of the fridge, I passed them over to Donghae who gathered them on the counter top.

 

“Uh… it says unsalted butter,” he said, reading out the last ingredient. I made a face at the the egg tray I was looking at. 

 

Why the heck unsalted butter? I guess our brownies are going to be salty because I only had regular butter that I bought on sale last week. 

 

When I had gotten everything, I straightened up and closed the fridge. Looking over, I saw that Donghae had lined up the ingredients in an orderly fashion, everything turned to a neat angle, labels facing one direction. I laughed at his choice of organization before I was bending down again to get a baking pan out from the cupboard below. 

 

Donghae stood off to the side and watched me as various pots and pans clanked together in my epic search for the one specified in the recipe. Who knew you had to have specific pans for different things. I just thought it was according to how much food you made. 

 

After I found the right one, I set it aside and went to stand next to Donghae, both of us staring at the items lining the counter as if unsure where to begin. 

 

Donghae went over to the laptop, reading the recipe over. “First it says to melt the chocolate and butter together. And after that, there’s a lot of whisking and mixing.” 

 

I went to read over his shoulder and sure enough, everything had to be mixed together in separate steps before being put together. Too much work for brownies.

 

“Ok,” I said, grabbing a small pot, resting it over the stove. “Let’s get started.”

 

Our melted chocolate turned out pretty good. Then we had to start mixing the ingredients together, but instead of doing it step by step like Martha Stewart’s video, we just dumped everything into one giant mixing bowl, hoping that would work. 

 

Donghae was put on mixing duty and he was adorably terrible at it. He managed to send chunks of flour, egg, and melted chocolate flying at my face. He busted out laughing until I attacked by dipping my finger into the bowl and marked a chocolatey line across his cheek. We went back to work after that and soon we found out the source of Donghae’s messy handy work. Apparently the type of utensil you use also matters. 

 

I was shifting things through the kitchen drawers looking for a spatula when I found something.  

 

“Hey, look,” I exclaimed, pulling out a small bag, which I held up for Donghae to see. “Candy hearts. Want to add them to the brownies just to experiment?” I asked, thinking of all those brownie recipes that came up before. If they could add pumpkin to dessert and make it taste good, I’m sure candy hearts won’t be so terrible. 

 

Donghae abandoned the mixing bowl to stand next to me. He took the bag with nimble finger and turned it over a couple of times. 

 

“I guess,” he said, although he looked uneasy at deviating away from the recipe. 

 

“Relax,” I teased. “Nothing can go wrong in Chef Hyukjae’s kitchen.” 

 

“Especially when the chef is talented enough to burn water,” he said, stifling a giggle. I mocked a scowl, reaching to grab the candy hearts, but Donghae quickly moved the bag behind his back. 

 

He stuck his tongue out and I smirked as I reached around him for the bag. But he spun out of the way and backed up into the island. I came up close to him and he leaned back to peer up at my face.

 

“What’s the magic word?” he demanded playfully and I laughed. 

 

“Uh… Unicorn!” 

 

His laughed before flicking me on the arm. “Fair enough,” he said, pushing the bag against my chest. I laughed and took the bag, going back over the mixing bowl and emptying the contents inside. Hopefully this doesn't blow up my kitchen.

 

When we had a decently mixed batter, we poured it into the pan and shoved it away in the oven. 

 

I went over to check the recipe and groaned. 

 

“Thirty to forty minutes,” I turned to inform Donghae. “What are we going to do for thirty minutes?” I asked in distress. Donghae pouted as he glanced around the kitchen.  

 

“Maybe we could clean up… We did make quite a mess,” he said surveying the area. I looked around, and realized he was right. 

 

He turned back to look at me with a chuckle. “And maybe we could get cleaned up, too,” he said. 

 

I looked at him and then glanced down at myself, laughing when I noticed for the first time just how dirty we were. We were both baring the battle scars of our brownie struggle: chocolate smears on our cheeks and white splatters on our shirts because apparently we weren't so good at sifting flour and sugar. 

 

“Alright, cleaning it is,” I exclaimed and he laughed. I went over to the sink and wetted a piece of paper towel, wringing it out before stepping close to Donghae. 

 

“Close your eyes,” I instructed softly and he hesitated for a moment before he eyes fluttered close. I gentled started wiping away at the chocolate on his face, making sure not the miss the chocolate on his right eyebrow. I chuckled. How did he manage to get chocolate there?

 

When I was done, his eyes opened again and he smiled at me, reaching for the damp paper towel. 

 

“Your turn,” he said in a sign song voice and I smiled as he repeated the process on me. 

 

We got to serious cleaning after that. I offered to do the dishes and Donghae agreed to wipe down the counter tops. 

 

Donghae’s job didn't take too long and he went over to sit at the island once he was done. After thirty minutes, Donghae piped up, saying we should probably check on our candy heart brownies now. 

 

“I’ll do it since you’re not done yet,” he said, and I was about to protest, but he had already pulled on the oven mitts. I settled for watching him worriedly as he took out the brownie pan and set it on the countertop next to the stove. When I was content that he wasn’t in danger of getting hurt anymore, I focused on washing the spatula. 

 

“Uh, Hyukie? This doesn’t look like what Martha Stewart has,” Donghae said. 

 

I stiffened for a second and peered over my shoulder in shock to look at Donghae, but he didn't seem to have noticed the nickname slip up, and I burst into a hundred watt grin, almost having the spatula slip out of my hand. I tried to act nonchalant as I turned my head in his direction absentmindedly, sparing the pan a quick, uninterested glance. “It has some similarities.”

 

“It looks wrong,” he pointed out uneasily as he eyed the pan suspiciously then glanced back at the picture on the computer. He pouted and looked up at me. “Ours is all gooey and lumpy and… too pink?” he asked as if baffled by the horrible outcome of our unskilled cooking. Ok so maybe we added too much candy hearts. 

 

I laughed at him, still on a high from him calling me ‘Hyukie’. No one’s ever called me that before. And surprisingly, it suited Donghae. Hyukie. I like it. 

 

I was grinning like an idiot and apparently Donghae caught on that something was up because he came to stand beside me. He peered up at my face confusedly. 

 

“Why are you so happy?They look awful,” he said, dropping his gaze to watch me finishing up the last of the dishes. 

 

“They look fine,” I said, still smiling brightly. Donghae just pouted and didn't say anything, but he stuck next to me until the dishes were done. As soon as I was shutting off the water, Donghae grabbed onto two of my fingers and led my over to the pan. I couldn’t even think straight as he fed me a piece of the pink desert. 

 

He pouted when I just stared at him with a piece of brownie stupidly sitting in my mouth. 

 

“Chew,” he commanded and I automatically compiled. Hm, they actually tasted pretty good. Or maybe that was the high Donghae was causing, I couldn’t tell. 

 

He was watching me expectantly and I smiled down at him. 

 

“They taste good,” I assured him and his eyes fluttered down the the brownie he was holding. He frowned for a second before shrugging. I tried to contain myself as Donghae took a bite from the piece he just fed me. Is this what they call a candy kiss? Or was it a brownie kiss?

 

His eyes widened in surprise. “Whoa, they do taste good,” he exclaimed and took another bite before offering it to me again. 

 

We ended up sharing the entire piece, and I couldn’t focus on anything else besides the fact that Donghae kept on feeding me without giving it much thought. As he the crumbs of his fingers from the last bite, my eyes couldn't leave his mouth. I was too busy wondering if he would taste like candy hearts and chocolate if I were to kiss him right now. 

 

Well, the only way to know is to try. 

 

I leaned forward and planted a kiss on his lips. I obviously caught him by surprise because his breath hitched and I could feel his eyelashes blinking rapidly against mine. 

 

I pulled away, just barely taking my lips off his, keeping our faces close so that his breath tickled me softly. 

 

His eyes found mine and there was uncertainty and panic, but I didn't miss the excited glint. That was all I needed before I was diving forward again, this time our lips meeting in an open-mouthed kiss. All that pent up desire from this afternoon got the better of me and I grabbed hold of his hips gently pulling him closer. This was an upgrade from yesterday’s kiss. Whereas our first kiss was short and accidental on my part, this one was more purposeful. 

 

Donghae didn't know what to do with his hands and they hung limp at his sides. But he was responding to the kiss nonetheless. He gasped when my tongue ghosted over his lips and I pulled away shortly after, not wanting to scare him by going too fast. He looked in a daze and I smiled at him, giving him another soft peck on the lips. 

 

And god damn did he taste like candy hearts and chocolate. The best taste in the world right now.