Hyukjae stirred lightly, sunshine shining brightly on his eyelids and making them burn bright orange as he buried his face into his pillow to escape the light. Gripping the pillowcase tightly in his fist, he yawned and tried to regain the unconsciousness that was leaving him rapidly, not entirely registering the motion of something tightening around him, but feeling inexplicable comfort at the gesture. Sighing heavily, he released his grip on the pillow case and spread his fingers out, slightly puzzled to find that his pillow was so flat and hard. His senses started to get sharper and he all at once could distinguish the cotton texture of a t-shirt, the familiar smell of cologne, and the way his ‘pillow’ was rising and falling.
  He sat up at a speed that should’ve not have been possible so early in the morning, but there Hyukjae was pressed entirely against the back of the couch and staring wide-eyed at a calmly sleeping Donghae.
  ‘Oh my god, oh my god,’ he chanted silently as he checked his clothes to make sure they were in place, and then blushed furiously and smacked himself in the head for even thinking that that was a possibility. He remembered falling asleep on the couch the previous night, but he also remembered there being two sleeping kids and two cushions between them. He tried to get up quietly and remove himself from this embarrassing and highly inappropriate position but groaned in exasperation when he found that he and Donghae’s legs were tangled together.
  Silently thanking all his dancing years for his flexibility and body control, he began to move as smoothly as possible to get away without waking Donghae. He had managed to get a full leg out and place it firmly on the ground.
  ‘Almost there,’ he thought, working on his other leg.
  “Hyukkie hyung, I’m hungry!” Kyuhyun called, running into the living room and startling Hyukjae so bad that he fell face-first back into Donghae’s chest.
  “Oof,” Donghae let out a soft grunt and opened his eyes slightly to meet Hyukjae’s wide eyes and red face. “Well, good morning to you Hyukkie,” he said with a small chuckle, voice thick with sleep. Hyukjae shot up again, hands balancing himself on Donghae as the other slowly woke up.
  “Oh my god, I am so sorry,” Hyukjae fussed. “Did I hurt you?”
  “Actually, this is one of my more pleasant wake-up calls. Usually it’s a sticky stuffed animal or an overly-hyper toddler on my chest,” Donghae grinned, and Hyukjae was suddenly aware of just how close they were. “Are you alright?” he asked, gently poking Hyukjae’s nose that had turned red from its encounter with his chest. Hyukjae completely pulled away, untangling himself from Donghae and nearly falling on the floor in his haste. Of course Donghae had to catch him and pull him back up.
  “Are you always this clumsy when you first wake up?” Donghae asked in amusement. Hyukjae spluttered in embarrassment for a few seconds before Kyuhyun made his presence known again.
  “Hyung, I want breakfast,” he whined, walking up and pulling at Hyukjae’s hand.
  “S-sure Kyu. Come on, I’ll make you something,” Hyukjae said, quickly climbing out of Donghae’s embrace and grabbing Kyuhyun, dragging him into the kitchen.
  “I want breakfast too, Hyukkie,” Donghae called at his back, smiling happily when he saw how bright the tips of his ears were.
  “Cook your own breakfast,” Hyukjae grumbled, much to Donghae’s amusement. The latter always seemed to snap at Donghae when he got really embarrassed. It only made Donghae want to more.

---

  Hyukjae was zipping up Jino’s coat while Kyuhyun tied his shoelaces. Since it was Hyukjae’s day off, Kangin was going to drive the two to spend the day with their grandparents.
  “You two have fun, okay? And be good. Don’t bother your grandpa too much, Kyu,” Hyukjae said, giving the other a look.
  “Okay, okay,” he said, frowning a little while Hyukjae playfully poked his side and ruffled his hair. He kneeled down so that Jino could place a kiss on his cheek and grinned happily when the other hugged his neck.
  “Bye-bye!” he said as Kyuhyun grabbed his hand and waved excitedly, following Kangin out the door.
  “Bye! And Kyuhyun, don’t annoy Kangin hyung while he’s driving again!” he shouted after Kyuhyun.
  He closed the door after they left and walked back to his room, about to get dressed to leave himself when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He figured it was Ryeowook, since the two had plans later that day.
  “It’s a little early for you to be up on a Saturday isn’t it, Wook-ah?” he said into the receiver.
  “Yah, you should check your caller ID before you answer the phone, Hyukkie,” Donghae’s voice said.
  “Oh, Donghae? Sorry, I wasn’t expecting you to call me. What’s wrong?” he asked as he walked into his room.
  “Nothing. I was just wondering if you had any plans today.”
  “Oh. Yeah, I do, but not until later though. Why?” Hyukjae asked.
  “Can you meet me somewhere in about 30 minutes?”
  “Sure. But what for?”
  “You’ll find out when you get here. I’ll text you the information. See you soon,” Donghae said teasingly before hanging up the phone.
  Hyukjae looked at his phone, wondering what Donghae could possibly have planned. They didn’t actually spend that much time together unless one of the kids were with them, and even less frequently did they go out together by themselves. Maybe he just needed some help picking out a present for Jino’s birthday that was coming up. Nodding to himself, he agreed that it was probably nothing to get anxious or excited about.
  He conveniently ignored the fact that he had picked out a totally different outfit than what he had originally laid out and was almost late because he spent almost 20 minutes messing with his hair.
  He walked into the quaint little café Donghae described in his text message only about 15 minutes late, and spotted Donghae sitting at one of the booths towards the back.
  “Sorry I’m late, I er… couldn’t  find my… shoe?” Hyukjae said, frowning at himself, and then at the laugh Donghae let out.
  “Don’t worry about it. It was rather short notice. You look nice,” Donghae said.
  “Oh, t-thank you,” Hyukjae said, quickly sipping the cup of water that was on the table waiting as a distraction.
  “Do you want anything?” Donghae asked.
  “Uh…” Hyukjae trailed off and a widely smiling young man walked over to their table.
  “Hey, Jinki,” Donghae greeted.
  “Hi hyung. Are you and your ‘friend’ ready to order?” Jinki asked, a mysterious smile on his face.
  “I’ll take another coffee thanks. What do you want, Hyukkie?” Donghae asked, discreetly nudging Jinki with his foot when the other chuckled at the nickname.
  “Er,” Hyukjae said, glancing at the menu quickly and picking the first thing he saw. “I’ll try the strawberry shortcake muffin, thanks,” he told Jinki, who jotted down his order with a smile.
  “I should’ve known,” Donghae said, and Hyukjae shot him a less-than-threatening glare.
  “Yah! It was the first thing I saw!” Hyukjae defended.
  “But you really want to try it, don’t you?”
  “So what if I do?” Hyukjae huffed.
  “Nothing, nothing at all,” Donghae said, holding his hands up in surrender.
  “I’ll bring your orders right out,” he said with another huge grin and moved to slip his pen behind his ear, only he missed and poked himself in the eye.
  “Ow,” he yelped and Hyukjae politely covered his mouth to snicker quietly, unlike Donghae who had his mouth wide open and was banging on the table with one hand and pointing with the other.
  “I’m alright, I’m alright,” he said, and turned around only to nearly trip over a chair since his vision was only half-working.
  “Are you sure it’s okay for him to bring our things out? I wouldn’t want him to break a plate or spill hot coffee on himself,” Hyukjae asked while Donghae tried to compose himself.
  “Ah, don’t worry about it. He may be severely coordinately challenged, but he’s oddly good at balancing things,” Donghae said, the last bit of chuckles leaving his system.
  “You guys seem pretty friendly. How do you know him?”
  “I come here often, and he’s also a trainee at the company I work for. He’s hiding an extremely amazing voice behind that slightly graceless demeanor.”
  “Wow, really? I’d love to hear him sing sometime.”
  “He’s a little shy, but I’m sure I could arrange for him to sing you a little something,” Donghae said, just as Jinki walked back over with their things. Hyukjae eyed him warily and jumped a little when he set their things on the table, but it was a really smooth pass off.
  “Told you,” Donghae said as he blew on his coffee.
  “Would you like anything else?” Jinki asked.
  “I’m fine thank you,” Hyukjae said, pinching off a piece of his muffin and biting into it. “Mmm. On second thought, could you bring me another one of these? It’s delicious,” Hyukjae practically moaned in between bites.
  “Sure thing,” Jinki said, returning to Hyukjae with another muffin and placing the treat on the table.
  “Thank you,” Hyukjae beamed up at him, before going back to his muffin.
  “What about you, hyung?” Jinki asked Donghae, who was watching Hyukjae attack his muffin with a smile.
  “I’m fine, thanks Jinki.”
  “Well, just call me if you need anything else,” he said, and left the two alone.
  “Hmm, so why did you lure me outside so early today?” Hyukjae asked, picking at the remains in the pink wrapper.
  “No real reason. I just… well, was talking to a friend of mine and he made me realize that I don’t really know that much about you,” Donghae said as he pulled out some glasses and adjusted them on his face. “So, I had the brilliant idea to give you a job interview!” he exclaimed as he pulled out a notepad. “But you already work for me so, it’s more of a ‘post-interview to find out my nanny’s favorite color, food and if he maybe has a criminal record…. Interview’,” Donghae said, smiling at Hyukjae.
  “…. Are those… are those even real?” Hyukjae snickered, pointing at Donghae’s glasses.
  “They’re supposed to make me look more serious,” Donghae said with a sulky frown.
  “Hae, I’ve seen you chase the kids around pretending to be a dinosaur with green mittens on your feet with oatmeal and glitter in your hair. You have to do a lot more than wear fake glasses to look serious to me,” Hyukjae grinned.
  “Hey! It’s not my fault they have an active imagination,” Donghae pouted.
  “No one’s imagination is as active as yours,” Hyukjae said, sticking his finger through the glasses on Donghae’s face and hooking a finger around the frame, chuckling at the way Donghae’s eyes crossed. “A post-job interview, huh? What, did you finally see my mug shot?” Hyukjae joked, withdrawing his finger.
  “You have a mug shot?!”
  “Yeah. I was arrested for robbing a mini-mart for its entire stock of strawberry milk,” Hyukjae dead-panned.
  “…Are you being sarcastic?” Donghae asked, pleasantly amused.
  “No, of course not. I did some hard time for that one. Nearly a whole twenty minutes,” Hyukjae said in mock seriousness, only cracking a smile when Donghae laughed out loud.
  “You think you’re funny, huh?”
  “I’m just trying to impress you, Mr. Lee,” Hyukjae winked before laughing, oblivious to the fluttering it did to Donghae’s stomach.
  “Ah, yes well,” Donghae said, fixing his glasses on his face. “Should we get started?”
  “I’m ready when you are,” Hyukjae said.
  “First: Your full name?” Donghae asked, flipping through the papers in his hands.
  “…. Is there even anything written on those papers?”
  “….Next question: Your date of birth?” Hyukjae laughed silently, but tried to compose himself so he could answer the question seriously.
  “Oh, today actually.”
  “What? Seriously?!  Why didn’t you tell me?”
  “Hmm, it just kinda slipped my mind,” Hyukjae shrugged, picking at his second muffin.
  “How could it slip your mind?”
  “I guess I was too preoccupied with getting ready for Jino’s birthday.”  
  “Seems like it going to be a joint-party now.”
  “I don’t know about that. I don’t think I’d like to have a little blue penguin on my birthday cake. Besides, I’ve never been all that into celebrating my birthday, so it’s no big deal,” Hyukjae said.
  “How could you not want to celebrate your birthday?”
  “I’ve just never had anything to celebrate. Anyway, don’t worry about it. Next question.”
  “But Hyuk-“
  “Next.”
  “Fine. Hmm, ?”
  Hyukjae gasped. “Mr. Lee, we’re in public!” Hyukjae exclaimed and Donghae furiously blushed in mortification.
  “What?! Yah! What are you talking about?! I meant your gender!” Donghae said, glancing around to make sure no one heard them.
  “Serves you right, idiot! What kind of a dumb question is that?” Hyukjae said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.
  “Moving on!” Donghae quickly announced.
  They spent the next 45 minutes going back and forth with questions, some serious, some funny, and some really, really random.
  “Why would you need to know that?”
  “Are you avoiding the question?”
  “No, but what does that have to do with anything?”
  “I’m curious,” Donghae said simply as he enjoyed the last few bites of Hyukjae’s muffin, that he may or may not have had to use his puppy eyes to get.
  “I mean, can’t you tell? You’ve never seen anything sticking out from under my clothes right?”
  “No, but it could just be small. People have small ones, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’re not ashamed, right?”
  “NO. Oh my god. I have an innie. Are you happy now?”
  “Yes. Now, this one may be a little sensitive, but I won’t judge you at all, no matter what your answer is, so don't worry.” Hyukjae nodded, fairly certain what the question was.
  “Let’s just say, I would ask out Jinki-sshi, before I would ask that cashier who keeps winking at me,” Hyukjae answered, subtly gesturing to the light-haired girl who had been staring at their table for the last 20 minutes.
  “Oh,” Donghae said.
  “Don’t tell me you’re surprised. I mean, I haven’t exactly been parading girls through the house, but come on, you’ve met my roommates.”
  “Well, we never talk about that kind of stuff, so… you know,” Donghae said, suddenly very interested in his cold coffee.
  “It’s no big deal. Unless you’re uncomfortable about it. I mean, I know how some people are and I understand completely if you don’t want me watching the kids from now on. I-“
  “No, no. It doesn’t bother me at all. I can… appreciate your preference.”
  “Appreciate? You mean…”
  “I’ve dabbled on both sides of the fence myself. But I rarely have time for dating nowadays, anyway,” Donghae said.
  “That’s surprising, to say the least.”
  “Why do you say that?”
  “Well, don’t get me wrong, but you totally seem like the playboy type.”
  “How so?”
  “You just give off that vibe. I can picture all the girls at your office floating around you and shoving their bosoms in your face. And you’re such a flirt, too. You probably encourage them,” Hyukjae said, smirking at the scoff Donghae let out.
  “That does not happen… much. And I am not a flirt.”
  “Oh, yes you are. And if you don’t realize that, then you’re just all the more dangerous for those poor people you unwittingly seduce.”
  “I do not seduce people. And for your information, I take my relationships very seriously,” Donghae said, crossing his arms on the table and leaning towards Hyukjae.
  “I would hope so,” Hyukjae said, flicking his long empty muffin wrapper at Donghae and laughing when the latter dipped his fingers in his water and flicked them at Hyukjae.
  “So, have I passed my interview Mr. Lee?” Hyukjae asked sweetly.
  “Well, I definitely learned a lot about you, and I have to say I like what I heard so far. You can definitely expect a call back so we can do this again,” Donghae said, taking his glasses off.
  “I’d love to,” Hyukjae said, smiling that smile that was all sparkles and bells and choirs singing, and Donghae’s heart may have missed a beat or two.
  He was unconsciously staring at the other and Hyukjae’s smile slowly fell from his face.
  “Donghae? What’s wrong?”
  “Oh, nothing. Nothing. I was just-“ he was cut off by Hyukjae’s ringtone.
  “Sorry,” Hyukjae said as he searched his pockets for his phone. He pulled it out and examined the screen, smile completely gone and eyes slowly turning downcast as time ticked by. He scoffed once, a bitter sound, and shook his head slowly, eyes looking far away and misty.
  “Hyukjae? Everything ok?” Donghae asked.
  “Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Actually, I have to get going,” Hyukjae said, stuffing his phone back into his pocket and pulling out his wallet.
  “Don’t worry about it. It’s my treat,” Donghae said, stilling Hyukjae’s hands.
  “Thanks.”
  “Are you sure you’re ok?” Donghae asked again, unsettled by that look on Hyukjae’s face.
  “Yeah. I don’t think I’ll be back until later on today, so kiss the kids goodnight for me, ok?” he said, standing up and putting on his jacket.
  “Sure. And Hyukjae?”
  “Yeah?”
  “…Call me if you need me. For anything. Okay?” Donghae said seriously. Hyukjae nodded and gave Donghae a faint smile before waving and leaving the café.
  Jinki walked over a few seconds later looking concerned.
  “Everything ok? Your date looked kind of upset,”
  “I don’t know,” Donghae said, watching Hyukjae’s figure walk down the street through the window. “And I told you, this wasn’t a date,” he told Jinki as an afterthought.
  “Sure, sure. Whatever you say, hyung,” Jinki said as he cleared the table. “Whatever you say.”