Donghae’s POV 

My head felt light as I slowly opened my eyes to Hyukjae’s tank top a couple inches from my face. His hands were still resting on my hips and we were so close that I could practically see the vein in his neck pulsing rapidly with the beat of his heart. 

It was like the world had slowed down. I couldn't get over the feel of our lips moving together just a few seconds ago. It wasn't a movie kiss, but it was amazing. His lips were so soft and skillful that it made me blush just thinking about it. I blushed darker when I realized that I was completely the opposite— awkward and unsure, I didn't know what I was doing. But apparently, I did something right because Hyukjae was smiling down at me with a blissful look on his face.

I couldn't hold his gaze for long and dropped my head shyly. Hyukjae seemed to misread my actions, though, because he pulled his hands away and took a step back quickly as if rushing to give me space. 

“S-Sorry. I… you, uh… sorry,” he said, his face scrunching into a scowl like he was mentally reprimanding himself. 

“Don’t apologize… I liked it,” I said slowly, too embarrassed to meet his eyes. I heard him let out a sigh of relief.

“That’s good to hear,” he said, rubbing his jaw absentmindedly. He flashed me a smile when his eyes wondered down to my shirt. “Come on. I’ll get you something to change into.” I had almost forgotten about how messy our clothes had gotten while we were baking. Before I could even manage a nod, he took hold of my hand and started leading me into his room. 

Inside, he pulled me over to the middle of the room and left me there to go dig through his drawers. 

“This should work,” he said, passing me a clean shirt. He was avoiding my eyes, tossing another shirt he had picked for himself back and forth in his hands like he didn't know what else to do. Unfortunately for him, I didn't know what to say either so we ended up in an awkward silence before he sheepishly left the room to give me some privacy. 

As soon as the door closed behind him, I brought a hand up and slapped my forehead a couple of times. I needed to stop acting so weird. If not, he’d break up with me before I found out if we were even dating. I pouted as that thought crossed my mind. We’d never get to go on any more dates, or spend our first anniversary together, or buy each other cheesy gifts and do all that couple stuff I’d seen in movies. I got lost in thinking about all the things we could do together, wondering if real people acted like that and wondering if we would be like that.  

A knock on the door made me jump. 

“Are you done?” Hyukjae asked, and I looked down at the shirt still laying in my hands before looking back up at the door. 

“O-One minute,” I said as I hustled to tear off the one I was wearing. The new shirt he had given me was a simple white t-shirt so it slipped on easily. It was still a bit baggy, but at least it wasn't falling off my shoulders like the last one. I rushed over to the door and threw it open, only to find that Hyukjae had been leaning against it. 

When the door flung out from under him, his eyes widened in surprise and he stumbled right into me, causing both of us to take tumbling steps backwards before we crashed down. 

Thank goodness his bedroom was carpeted. 

I ended up on my with Hyukjae sprawled out in front of me. I blinked at him laying face first on the ground, and when I realized he wasn't moving, I hustled up on my knees and hesitantly poked him in the head. 

I jumped when he groaned into the carpet and I could see the tips of his ears turning pink. 

“Hyukie?” I asked, blushing. I don’t now when I decided to start calling him that, but it happened. He rolled himself over onto his back so that he was looking up at me. His face was red with embarrassment, but he was trying to laugh it off. 

“Ha ha, sorry about that. I, uh…eh,” he said lamely, and offered me an apologetic smile when he couldn't think of anything to say. 

“Are you ok?” I asked, still leaning over him upside down. He nodded before slowly pushing himself up off the floor so that his back was to me. I dropped down on my hands and crawled in front of him to see if he was really ok. 

He was rubbing his face dramatically and when I called his name again, he looked up at me sheepishly, embarrassment still visible on his face. 

“I’m so clumsy it hurts. Literally,” he groaned. I laughed, making him glance up at me. I shifted to sit down crosslegged in front of him.

“Then we can be clumsy together because I’m not the most graceful person out there either,” I said, giving him a smile, hoping it would make him feel better. Apparently it did because he laughed and then nodded his head as if agreeing. 

“Good to know that my boyfriend is a klutz,” he joked, and I blushed at him calling me his boyfriend. All afternoon Changmin had been teasing us with the word, but hearing Hyukjae say it made it seem more official.

“Are we dating?” I asked suddenly. My eyes widened and Hyukjae’s eyebrows shot up a bit. 

“Yes!” he answered quickly and blushed at his own outburst. I blushed too and we ended up quiet, still sitting on the floor. 

“I thought it was obvious,” he said after a moment and I pouted. 

“Sorry… I’m just new to… all of this,” I said waving my hands at him to emphasis what exactly ‘this’ was. Hyukjae lifted an eyebrow at the gesture and I immediately retracted my hands and clasped them in my lap. “S-Sorry.” Hyukjae chuckled, reaching over to lean in closely to my face. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll teach you all there is to know,” he whispered, his breath fanning over my lips, making my head a little dizzy. I though he was going to kiss me again, but he pulled away quickly and grinned, although there was a faint blush on his cheeks. 

We sat in silence for a moment, Hyukjae drawing curly patterns on the carpet while I played with my fingernails. Hyukjae looked like he wanted to say something so I stayed put on the floor, waiting as he thought things over in his head. I didn't know what he wanted to say, but I had an itching feel it was going to be about the situation with my mother. I was hoping not because he might take things the wrong way and overreact like Kyu always did. I sighed, making Hyukjae look at me. 

“Donghae? About what happened in the car…” His voice trailed off.

“That was nothing. I made it sound dramatic when it’s really nothing,” I replied quickly, trying to laugh it off. But Hyukjae wasn't having any of it because he looked at me sternly.  

“We still have to talk about,” he pressed on and I shifted uncomfortably. 

“Just forget it. I told you it’s nothing,” I said. Hyukjae let out a sigh and I chewed on the inside of my cheek nervously thinking he was mad at me.

“I can’t just forget something like that. My boyfriend tells me that he’s having a hard life at home, and I’m supposed to ignore that?” he said, but then went quiet. Although this was supposed to be a serious discussion, I bit back a shy smile. He called me his boyfriend again. 

“Look,” Hyukjae started out slowly. “I… I really like you Donghae. And part of liking someone means helping them out when they’re dealing with something rough.” I blushed ridiculously at his confession and found myself agreeing to continue our talk from before in the car. 

All Hyukjae had to ask was, “What’s your mother like?” before the ball started rolling and I ended up telling him everything I could think of. He listened tentatively, and at some points looked like he wanted to interrupt, but he kept quiet and listened to me go on and on about all sorts of things. 

At some point, I wasn't even aware of Hyukjae anymore. 

“I don’t know why she… hates me. I mean, I try to cling to some hope that maybe she does care for me, but she’s always looking at me like I’m a disappointment. I try my best— I really do! She’s always been more nicer to Teukie than me, but she’s gotten… meaner ever since he said he had no intention of taking over her company. That leaves me and I can tell she rather pull someone off the street and give them the company rather than hand it to me, but to keep up family appearances, she has no choice but to choose me.”

“All I’ve ever wanted was for her to look at me with some kind of love, but it’s never there. And I can’t hate her for it,” I said, taking a deep breath when I realized that I had been rambling on. I didn't mean to, but I got carried away, like everything that I’ve been bottling up was spilling over the top. I’d never talked to Kyuhyun or anyone else too much about it because I never wanted to worry them. 

I heard Hyukjae shift in front me, and I felt him cup my face with his hands, lifting my face to look at him. 

“Donghae, are you crying?” He asked, eyes wide, his thumbs brushing the few tears that dripped from my eyes. Although he looked surprised, he also had a look of understanding in his eyes, like he understood my reason for crying. 

I felt embarrassed and tried to pull my face away. He let me go, still looking at me with concern. I let out a little laugh, reaching up to rub at my eyes. 

“Sorry about that… I just got carried away,” I said, patting my cheeks with my palms. Hyukjae stayed watching me for a moment longer before he gave me a small smile. 

“Did you ever do anything about this? Like talk to her?” he asked. I peeked at him through my hair and shook my head. I suddenly remembered Kyu and how he was always telling me to stand up for myself against my mother and how he most of the time threatened to do it himself, and I laughed. 

“What’s so funny?” Hyukjae asked, lifting an eyebrow, probably because of my sudden change in mood. 

“Kyu says the same thing. You guys are so alike,” I said with a smile and Hyukjae screwed up his face in displeasure, making me laugh again. He smiled warmly at that and we settled into another moment of silence. 

“But seriously, why did you never say anything to her? At least to ask her why she treats you like that.”

“Because I thought I could endure it long enough until I went away to college,” I admitted, making Hyukjae nod slowly in understanding. “But I stupidly forgot about the housing form and now Kyu and I won’t be able to stay together. And if we can’t room together, I don’t really want to stay in the dorms. But I also don’t want to stay home. I told him we could rent a place off campus, but he won’t be able to hold up his share of the rent and he refuses to accept my help,” I said, sighing miserably. 

“Well why not stay with Kyuhyun then in his apartment?” Hyukjae suggested, and I frowned. 

“Kyu's bearly holding onto that, too. His landlord keeps unfairly jacking up the rent. I told him to tell Heechul because Heechul won’t hesitate to raise his pay, but Kyu won’t hear it. Kyu’s stubborn like that. He wants to prove that he can take care of himself and doesn't want to depend on anyone,” I said. 

Hyukjae looked like he didn't know what to say. 

“We’ll figure it out,” he said eventually. I gave him a grateful smile at him saying ‘we’. 

I blinked up at him when he pushed himself onto his feet. He stretched a hand down to help me up and I shyly took it, letting him gently pull me up. His hand lingered on mine for a moment before he let go to rub the back of his neck. 

“Wanna watch tv?” he asked, sounding unsure of his suggestion. 

“Sure,” I answered and he smiled at me. He beckoned me to follow him to the living room where we had to sidestep the pillows piled in front of the couch, Hyukjae grabbing the remote from the tv stand on his way. Hyukjae sat down first and I hesitated. Should I sit next to him? Would that be too weird? 

Hyukjae seemed to realize my dilemma because he chuckled and patted the space next to him. I gave him a shy smile before crawling onto the couch and settling next to him. He grinned, averting his attention to the tv as he pointed the remote forward. 

When the screen lit up with colors, I recognized it as a mob show that Kyuhyun was obsessed with. Unfortunately, his obsession had turned into my obsession. 

“I know this!” I blurted out. Hyukjae turned to look at me like he wasn't expecting that. 

“You watch this kind of thing?” he asked. I blushed at the amused look he was giving me. 

“Y-Yeah. I, uh… it has a really good plot line,” I said, shrugging at the tv. I heard Hyukjae chuckle again. 

“Alright,” was all he said before he slumped down to make himself more comfortable, resting a hand leisurely in between us with his palm turned up like he was hoping I would take it. But I didn't because my hands were starting to feel clammy. Instead, I drew my legs up on the couch and focused on the blinking lights of the tv. 

It turned out to be the perfect distraction from our serious talk just now. 

When someone’s head got severed off, Hyukjae winced and shut one eye as if he couldn't watch the fight playing out onscreen. But I was too engrossed in the show to notice. 

“No, no, no! Behind you! Gah!” I shrieked at the tv, now sitting on my knees. My hands flew up to cover my eyes when the main character came face to face with his nemesis, but I heard laughter from beside me and I turned to Hyukjae and peeked at him through my fingers. The back of his hand was over his mouth as he tried to keep his laughing to himself as he watched me.  

“W-What?” I stammered. He was still stifling bursts of laughter and I pouted when I realized I had just missed what happened on tv.

“Nothing. I was just thinking how much I’m still learning about you,” he admitted and I blushed when he grinned at me. The way he was looking at me made me want to lean over and kiss him like he’d done before, but just as I was mustering up some courage, my cellphone rang, making both of us jump. 

The phone was buzzing from somewhere in the kitchen where I had left it and I got up to stumble over some pillows to get to it before it stopped ringing. 

“Hello?”

“Oh, thank god. I thought you weren't going to pick up,” Kyu’s voice spoke into my ear. I glanced at the clock on Hyukjae’s stove and saw that it was almost touching ten o’clock. 

“Kyu? Hey. Are you still with Changmin?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow when I heard a scoff. 

“That big oaf is in the truck waiting for me to go inside my building, but I… can’t,” he said, his voice trailing off, and I frowned. 

“What do you mean you can’t?” I asked suspiciously, then gasped when I put two and two together. “Don’t tell me you locked yourself out again?” Kyu had a habit of forgetting his keys, and he would go back all the way home only to find his keys not on him. When it was late at night, Matthew would always to go pick him up and Kyu secretly stayed in my room. He would have to call his landlord the next day to unlock the door.

“Don’t even bother giving me a lecture,” Kyu deadpanned. “I’m too tired for that. Long story short, I’m going tell Changmin to drop me off at your place. I just wanted to call and let you know.”

“Uhhhh, that might not work out so well,” I said, wincing when I could imagine the glare he would’ve given me if I was there. “I’m staying over at Hyukjae’s place for the night,” I said slowly, glancing back over to the living room where I could see Hyukjae watching me as if wanting to know what was going on. I heard a disapproving noise on the other end of the line. 

“Are you serious? What the hell, Hae?” Kyu demanded and I pouted as I moved to lean against the kitchen island. From the corner of my eye, I could see Hyukjae tiptoeing his way around the blanket nest to come over here. 

“Never mind that. What are you going to do? Are you going to stay over at Changmin’s place?” I asked. By now, Hyukjae had made it over to me and leaned against the island next to me. He gave me a questioning look as if to ask what was going on.

“God no!” Kyuhyun shouted and I cringed at the sound splitting my eardrum. Apparently Kyu had been loud enough for Hyukjae to hear because Hyukjae lifted an eyebrow. “There’s no way in hell I’m staying alone with that sneaky devil for the night. He’d probably jump me in my sleep! You can’t let that happen! Let me stay with you!” he pleaded.

“Ahhh,” Hyukjae said from beside me, now understanding the situation. He stretched his palm out and I stared at it while I listened to Kyu shouting in the background for Changmin to get back in the truck and ‘leave him alone for one god damned minute’. 

“Phone,” Hyukjae commanded when I didn't get the hint, and I frowned. “Don’t worry. I’ll be nice,” he promised, leaning down to get really close to my face with a smirk. I ended up hesitantly handing my cellphone over and watched him worriedly as he tried to get Kyu’s attention. 

“Kyuhyun? It’s me, Hyukj— Jesus Christ,” Hyukjae exclaimed, holding the phone away from his ear so we both could hear Kyuhyun yelling for me to get back on the line. I went to grab the phone from him, but he stepped out of my reach, smirking again. 

“What were you saying now about needing a place to sleep? What? No, I just wanted to let you know that you can stay at my place with Donghae. Are you serious? No, I’m not going to drug you two,” Hyukjae said in disbelief, but then flashed me an awkward smile. There was a pause on the other end of the line and Hyukjae smiled. 

“Ok then,” he said simply, ending the call and handing me back the phone with a grin. I pouted at him, confused as to why he was being so nice to Kyu. I mean, sure he promised to be nice, but I thought he didn't like Kyu. Hyukjae seemed to catch onto my confusion and cleared his throat, leaving the kitchen with me trailing behind him, still waiting for an explanation. 

“He’s you friend,” he said simply, and I squinted my eyes at him, still not understanding his thought pattern, but shrugged it off when he motioned for me to sit on the couch again. 

We ended up watching some more tv as we waited for Kyu to arrive. 

When the doorbell started ringing in a fast ‘ding’ noise, Hyukjae rolled his eyes because it was obviously Kyu jabbing at the doorbell obnoxiously. But when we pulled the door open, Kyu’s annoyed face wasn't the only one hustling to peer into the apartment nosily. Hyukjae snorted a noise of irritation. 

“I didn't invite you for the night,” Hyukjae said, glaring and folding his arms over his chest challengingly. 

“Ah, don’t be like that, buddy. Besides, Kyuhunnie here practically begged me to come along,” Changmin said, snickering and avoiding Kyu’s hand when he went to swat at Changmin’s face. 

“Oh, please,” Kyu huffed, shoving his way past Hyukjae, coming at me. I couldn't quite grasp why Kyuhyun was only in his boxers with nothing but a thick heavy blanket wrapped around him like a cocoon. All I could do was open my arms and hug him back as he latched onto me like he hadn't seen a sane person in days. 

“Tell you boyfriend not to cling to my wifey too much. It’s making me jealous,” Changmin mused, laughing when Hyukjae snorted again. Kyu grumbled into my shoulder about how he regretted not throwing Changmin over the cliffside. I just blushed at the still confusing situation. 

“This is gonna be a long night,” Hyukjae said, raking his hands down his face. 

“I’ll say. You got any tequila?” Changmin asked, laughing as he dodged a karate chop Hyukjae aimed for him.