“So I’m guessing you do love chocolate fudge?”

Donghae set his bag on the carpeted floor and turned to glare “Excuse me?”

Hyukjae sighed, his gaze flickering all over Donghae, before they travelled up to meet donghae’s eyes “In case you’re going to try denying that you liked the cake, please don’t, there are cake crumbs in your hair, which brings me to the next point, whats the rush that you didn’t even spot the crumbs in your hair? Got someone to get back to?” he asked pointedly.

Donghae stared; self-consciously his hand went up to his hair which he ruffled and huffed. Having had enough from Hyukjae he shrugged and peered straight at him “Yeah I liked it, I happen to be crazy about chocolate and you know what? Thanks for the cake.”

“You’re very welcome, pleasure’s all mine” Hyukjae instantly grinned

“Right, now that you feel like some sort of a winner, I’ll be leaving.” Donghae moved to pick his bag when Hyukjae suddenly comes in his way “Look, I think we need to talk, donghae.”

Donghae raised a brow at that unusual serious expression as he shook his head “ Nope, I don’t think so.”

“Can you please stay a while longer?”

“Not happening, I have other important  things do.”

“ Oh come on handsome, hear me ou-“

Donghae brushed past, jaw clenched and head held high as he made his way to the car. They had unknowingly made their way out to the porch where the cars of guests were parked, Hyukjae stopped following as he glued his eyes on that broad back of Donghae’s.

“Wow seems you got yourself a tough one.” Hyukjae turned to grin at Kyuhyun who had emerged from somewhere and then he turned around to watch Donghae throw him a glance before entering his car.

“Ah, he loves me” Hyukjae cooed, snorting as the car’s window rolled down and Donghae flipped him the bird.

Kyuhyun and Hyukjae burst into laughter.

--

Hardly twenty minutes later Donghae’s car splutters and stops.

“No!” he wailed in despair as he scrambled out, carefully popping the hood open and peering in through the steam, coughing he narrowed his eyes and covered his face.

“ noooo!” he groaned, the road he was on was rather isolated, and not a vehicle in sight.

He was near to kicking himself for not checking on the car before leaving when he saw a small dot on the road coming at him. The dot grew larger and took the shape of a van and with hope surging through, Donghae stepped forth, waving both his arms above his head. Thankfully the van stopped and much to his surprise, Kyuhyun jumped out

“Oh hey, nice to see you again, I mean, it’s not nice to see you stranded but oh well, problems?”

Donghae nodded, suddenly liking Kyuhyun very much “Yes and I’m not as well versed in cars as I wish I was”

Next Donghae saw a curious Hyukjae appear, who peered at the car curiously and shook his head. Donghae decided not to pay any attention to him and then he noticed a middle-aged  man coming out of the driver’s side. Hyukjae quickly introduced him to be his father and Donghae greeted him  politely.

“Son, your car looks like it will need some work” the man spoke thoughtfully and donghae bit his lip, “make it lots of work, you know what? Come with us, we are all heading to our place which is just 45 minutes away from here”

“OH no sir, thank you so much, but I really would not want to burden-“

“Oh don’t be silly son, you are just like my son to me, now come along” Hyukjae’s father was already leading him to the big family van. Donghae didn’t miss the looks Kyuhyun and Hyukjae shared and he inwardly groaned.

“Ah, so you’ve known Jungsu since childhood?”

“Yes, ma’am” donghae responded respectfully and the Hyukjae’s mother gushed “ Oh call me aunty! My, what a lovely boy! Have you met my Hyukjae?”

Donghae swallowed and he maintained a polite smile, throwing a glance at Hyukjae who actually waved at him with that little smile of his “Ah yes, Jungsu-hyung had introduced us, he was the secondbest man…” donghae trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

Mrs.Lee laughed and pressed a hand on her forehead “ Oh of course, of course! How could I forget, so you two must have gotten along very well?!” she blinked at him happily and donghae could feel his whole body grow stiff, he stalled only for a second but just when he opened his mouth to reply, Hyukjae spoke up

“Oh yeah, mum, we had lots of fun!”

Donghae’s eyes hesitantly roamed over to Hyukjae who relaxed back in his seat, a content smile on his face while beside him, Kyuhyun hid his smile in his hand and began to gaze out the window of the car.

Soon Donghae was being introduced to everyone in the van; Hyukjae’s sister and her husband, along with their two little children, Hyukjae’s aunt and uncle, another cousin and an old lady  who was fast asleep and was introduced as Hyukjae’s Granny. Boy did Donghae feel out of place, sure he was used to meeting new people and socializing but right now he felt like he was intruding in their personal space, the odd one out. Even though Mr and Mrs. Lee were being absolute sweethearts and Donghae began to like them instantly, his thoughts roamed about just could such a nice couple have a son like Hyukjae, who played with feelings as if it was nothing.

Just then he felt eyes on him so he glanced around, some occupants of the van were trying to sleep while others chatted in hushed tones however; a pair of small black eyes watched Donghae intently. It was a cute little girl seated on Hyukjae’s lap who had been observing Donghae with great interest. Donghae flashed her a sweet smile, sending her a silent wave. She saw it as an open invitation to approach donghae so she wiggled out of Hyukjae’s lap, who curiously watched her walk over to Donghae.

“Hi, I’m Annie. Who are you?”

“Aniie, honey..” Hyukjae reached for her, sheepishly apologizing to Donghae as he tried to coax her back. Donghae could not but help blink at Hyukjae in wonder; wow this haughty brat actually knew how to pronounce a word of apology.

Donghae simply shook his head, muttering a “no problem” he proceeded to sweetly introduce himself, after a while of  talking, Annie decided to go back to Hyukjae, who had been watching their interaction all the while. Donghae arched a brow and Hyukjae began to look out a window while he snuggled Annie to his chest.

--

Donghae was promptly led to one of the guest rooms, once Donghae’s eyes landed on the bed he felt his eyelids grow heavy instantly. Falling onto the bed he dozed off and woke up upon hearing a knock at the door. Taking a while to register where he was and feeling amazingly refreshed he threaded his fingers through his unruly hair as he pulled the door open to reveal that one face Donghae would prefer not seeing this often.

“Uh, looks like I disturbed your nap.” Hyukjae pursed his lips and Donghae shook his head

Nah you just generally disturb me, a lot.

“I woke up before you knocked, I think, but I feel totally refreshed to its fine.”

There was a moment of silence and Donghae stared at him inquisitively

“Ah actually, mother wanted me to show you around, since you will be staying here a few days she said you should at least know your way around.”

Oh yeah, that’s right, Mr.Lee had notified Donghae about his car needing a through check-up, which Donghae knew was over-due now and he just could not manage to get it done before leaving for Jungsu’s place. Besides knowing his way around the place would be much better than constantly seeking Hyukjae’s help.

“Sure, let’s go.” He nodded, keeping his expressions and tone neutral.

Donghae could not help but feel something was up with Hyukjae, from his body language to his tone, there was something different about him. The flirty and conceited aura seemed to have nearly vanished. Instead of the trademark smirk, there was a barely-there smile on his lips. The tour actually turned out to be pleasant, Hyukjae talked as much as necessary ‘this is the living room’ ‘the kitchen connects to the main hall’ and donghae simply hummed or nodded in understanding.

The tour ended with their arrival in the garden where they spotted Annie playing with some other children. Hyukjae had only begun to talk about who those kids were when suddenly the kids noticed Hyukjae and they all ran over to him, clinging to his pants and pulling and Hyukjae holds onto them while he tries to coax the over-enthusiastic kids to let go. Donghae had to take a step back, watching with interest as the children began to pester Hyukjae to play with them and Monty. Monty turned out to be a big fluffy Australian Shepherd who pretty much switched to puppy-mode while playing with the he kids. Hyukjae relented, as long as the kids did not try to pull off his pants anymore.

Donghae thought of going back inside, but the squeals and laughter had him stopping to watch. He saw how the kids kept on trying to divide themselves into two teams, each team wanting Hyukjae on their side and while Hyukjae tried to sweetly come to a mutual agreement, the kids seemed like they were ready to wage war for claiming their rights over their Hyukjae-hyung/oppa. Donghae automatically snorted as he watched Hyukjae being tackled onto the ground, he laughed and withered as the kids piled onto him and began to mercilessly tickle him everywhere. To top that Monty wanted a share in the fun and relentlessly began to at Hyukjae face that looked pitiable at the moment. Mouth gaped as he hollered and cried out pleas for ‘help! Anyone!’ , the children continued the tickle-torture him. Donghae didn’t know it but his lips were parted in a highly amused smile. Hyukjae’s watery eyes met Donghae’s in a silent plea as he laughed breathlessly, the look on Donghae’s face however had Hyukjae faltering.

Was it just him or was Donghae watching him with fondness?

Nah can’t be.

“Enjoying the view?”

Donghae gasped  and jumped in his spot, swiveling around to witness Kyuhyun smiling at him innocently. Donghae tried to calm the accelerated heart beat as he tried to act composed “Yeah, it’s kind of fun seeing him being tortured like this by kids and a dog.”

Kyuhyun snorted as he watched the entertaining scene too “Yeah, that brat of a hyung deserves it. Everyone loves Hyukkie though.”

Donghae smirked at the nickname ‘Hyukkie’ and shook his head, he could not actually accept that statement, and everyone loves Hyukkie? Hm, odd.

Then again, as donghae continued to look on at the view, he felt that the Hyukjae he was looking at right then was a different Hyukjae. This Hyukjae unlike the flirty, flaunting bratty Hyukjae he had met earlier was doubling over in laughter with arms full of kids as he tried to playfully wrestle with them. This side of Hyukjae was new to him and his mind began to wonder, perhaps this was how Hyukjae truly was, as a person.