“Hae…”

“Don’t touch me!!”

“Hae please, just –”

“STAY AWAY!!!”

Hyukjae ignored the last sentence and took one small step closer to his seething boyfriend, intending to calm him down. Donghae immediately tensed up even more and inched his way to the door, one hand already resting on the doorknob.

“DON’T COME ANY NEARER OR I’LL LEAVE!!”

“Please, Hae.”

“NO!! GO AWAY!!”

Hyukjae sighed, rubbing his forehead and looking sadly at Donghae.

“I’m sorry.”

Donghae didn’t reply him at all, but stared back at Hyukjae, hand gripping the doorknob firmly.

“I said, I’m sorry, Hae.”

“I h-heard you the first time.”

“It isn’t what you think it is, Hae,” Hyukjae sighed, choosing his words carefully now that he had gotten Donghae to listen. “It’s… a misunderstanding.”

“What did I misunderstand??” Donghae asked fiercely. “You clearly had your arms around her and you even pecked her on the cheek!!”

“She’s just a colleague of mine. Haven’t you seen her before?”

“WHAT WAS SHE DOING IN YOUR ARMS??”

“She… We… Um…”

“Lee Hyukjae. I’m waiting.”

“It was a goodbye kiss. A friendly goodbye kiss. I swear there’s nothing more to that.”

Donghae suspiciously eyed his boyfriend who suddenly found the polished floor of their shared apartment more interesting than him. He didn’t even dare to look Donghae in the eye.

“You’re lying,” Donghae said through gritted teeth, clenching and unclenching his fists besides his body. He took in a deep breath, holding himself in for a little while longer. He hissed. “It was more than a friendly goodbye kiss. Stop lying to me.”

“I’m not ly—”

“SHUT UP, LEE HYUKJAE!!! YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW WHEN YOU’RE LYING TO ME?? I’VE LIVED WITH YOU FOR MORE THAN FIVE YEARS ALREADY AND YOU STILL THINK YOU CAN LIE TO ME???”

“Hae—”

“NO. SHUT UP. SHUT UP!!!!!!” Donghae screamed, covering his ears with both his hands and slowly slumping to the floor. He felt wetness around his cheeks and realized that his tears were free-falling like the Niagara Falls onto the polished wood. He sobbed brokenly on the floor, not wanting to believe that he’d just caught his best friend and boyfriend cheating on him.

“I’m sorry—”

“I HATE YOU, LEE HYUKJAE!! I HATE YOU SO MUCH!!!”

Hyukjae flinched at the shrill, harsh tone and watched helplessly as Donghae got up on his feet and wrenched the door open, fleeing down the corridor towards the stairs.

He stood there stunned, rooted to the ground. The automatic door started closing, and he found himself staring blankly at the door five minutes later. Tears began rolling down his face and he brought up a dirty hand to rub them away, smudging dirt onto his otherwise flawless white skin, realization hitting him hard.

Donghae didn’t believe him. At all.

* * *

Donghae made his way out of the apartment building after descending three flights of stairs, heading towards nowhere in particular. Anger and disappointment clouded his brain, and he couldn’t think straight. He just walked towards wherever his feet took him, not paying much attention to his surroundings. Twice he walked off the sidewalk without knowing and nearly got hit by the cars on the road, but luckily they managed to swerve and avoid him in time. Donghae couldn’t even remember what insults were thrown at him by the angry drivers for jaywalking, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to run away from the thoughts of Hyukjae, and anywhere was good, as long as it never reminded him of his cheating boyfriend.

His stomach rumbled after a while and he patted his growling tummy, sighing and looking around for a place to eat. He saw a coffee shop open nearby and strode into it without even looking up at the name, and sat down at the farthest booth away from the window, tucked behind a corner.

Before Donghae was even seated properly, a waiter came up to serve him.

“What can I get for you today, sir?”

“Hot chocolate and strawberry cheesecake, please.”

The answer rolled off Donghae’s tongue really naturally and he never even realized it. It wasn’t until his food arrived that he realized what he ordered.

Strawberry cheesecake… Hyukkie’s favourite...

“Nehh Hyukkie, what do you want to eat?” Donghae asked, popping his head above Hyukjae’s menu propped on the table. Hyukjae smiled and poked Donghae lightly on the nose, making the younger scrunch up his nose and giggle.

“I think I’ll have a cappuccino and a strawberry cheesecake please, thank you,” Hyukjae said politely to their waitress. “How about you, baby?”

“Hmm… I want a hot chocolate and a double chocolate fudge brownie please,” Donghae said cutely to the waitress, batting his long eyelashes and making her blush as red as her lipstick. Hyukjae reached over to interlace their fingers after she left, toying with each digit before kissing them. Donghae giggled again at the sweet gesture. “Hyukkie… What are you doing?”

“Hmm?” Hyukjae looked dreamily into Donghae’s sparkling eyes. “Don’t you like it?”

“It’s kinda ticklish,” the other said, squealing in surprise when Hyukjae blew a raspberry against his fingers. “HYUKKIE!!!”

Hyukjae was laughing again. “Oh my, that was so precious of you!!”

Donghae pouted and withdrew his fingers, his face growing red with embarrassment. He was about to say something back when the waitress appeared again with their orders.

“Your orders, gentlemen. Please enjoy your meal,” she said, bowing slightly and keeping a lingering gaze on Donghae, who noticed and winked back at her. Hyukjae frowned slightly but didn’t say anything, instead he began poking at his cheesecake with the tiny fork.

“Can I taste yours, Hyukkie?”

Hyukjae looked up surprised, and couldn’t help grinning at his boyfriend’s cute face. He was giving him the puppy eyes he couldn’t resist, and so he fed Donghae a generous bite of his cheesecake.

He couldn’t forget the happy look that blossomed immediately on the younger’s face. “It’s absolutely delicious, Hyukkie!! I think I’m gonna order that next time too!!”

“You got some crumbs on your face, baby. Here, let me clean that up…” Hyukjae whispered, leaning in to capture Donghae’s lips in a slow kiss. At first Donghae was reluctant and kept his mouth closed, but with Hyukjae’s gentle prodding he was finally coaxed to part his lips, letting the strawberry and chocolate cake fusion dance merrily on their tongues. Donghae had then whined and pulled away with a red face, burying it in the soft crook of Hyukjae’s neck. “Hyukkie… we’re in public…”

“Baby, you know I don’t care. I want the whole world to know that you’re mine…”

“Hyukkie…”

“Hyukkie…”

Donghae up his tears and finished the cake with much difficulty. Every single bite had reminded him of Hyukjae and he was desperately trying to forget him. He quickly downed his hot chocolate, perhaps burning his tongue a little but he didn’t care, left the correct change on the table and nearly ran out of the coffee shop, wanting to shrug that no-good liar off his shoulders.

He continued wandering aimlessly around town, still pissed off at Hyukjae but at least he wasn’t seeing that much of red anymore. He strolled along the path and found himself on the edge of the Han River. The sun w