“Hyukjae, Sungmin hyung… went back to his hiding routine this week.” Donghae said, staring at the table before him.

Eunhyuk cringed a little at Donghae addressing him by his name. Donghae had always called him by Hyukkie or other nicknames.
“I know, I heard about it. Maybe I should arrange my schedules and visit Sungmin hyung.”

“It first happened about five months ago.”

Eunhyuk nodded, waiting for Donghae to continue.

“It was because of some love problems.” Donghae instinctively stuck out his tongue, his lips in the process – a habit whenever he was nervous.

“Sungmin hyung was dating? How did I not know about that?” Eunhyuk raised his voice in surprise. “I must have neglected him for quite a bit since we debuted…”

“It was a crush.”

“Oh… So it didn’t work out?”

“Yes…” Donghae’s eyes met Eunhyuk’s. “Hyukjae-ah, we got together about five months ago.”

“Mmh… so? Weren’t we talking about Sungmin hyung?”

“Yes… His crush ended when we got together.”

Eunhyuk’s eyes widened. “Sungmin hyung… liked you?”

“No no no!” Donghae almost jumped out of his seat.

“Then—No… It can’t be.”

“Sungmin hyung… had feelings for you all these years.” Donghae ended with a whisper.

“You – Is this a hidden camera prank or something?” Eunhyuk let out a few dry laughs. “Stop playing around, all of you!” His eyes flickered from Donghae to the rest, hoping for them to burst out in laughter and stop the prank. However, everyone was serious and there was no hint of it being a prank.

Donghae leaned back on the sofa, tilting his head up to prevent the tears from falling. He had no idea why his tears were coming. Sungmin was the one getting hurt in this whole process; he had nothing to lose but gained a relationship. Instead, he felt guilty. Guilty that he was the reason for Sungmin’s misery. And he couldn’t control the fear that was growing in his heart – the fear that he might lose Eunhyuk. The larger the fear grew, the guiltier he felt.

“Hyukjae, this is not a prank and nobody is joking. Dong and I promised to keep it a secret for Sungmin, but Kyuhyun accidentally came across the song Ming wrote for you. Sungmin assumed you would realize after overhearing your conversation with Kyuhyun.” Leeteuk explained.

“Song? That demo?” Eunhyuk glanced helplessly at Kyuhyun.

“I didn’t know it was written for you at first…” Kyuhyun muttered.

Eunhyuk propped his elbows on his knees, rubbing his face in frustration with his right hand.

“But-but why tell me this now?”

He stood up suddenly. “How do you all expect me to believe this?!”

“Hyuk, calm down.” Shindong stood up and tilted his head towards Donghae. He put his hand on Eunhyuk’s shoulder, pressing him to sit down.

Eunhyuk threw a look at his boyfriend, who was staring blankly out of the window, his eyes glistening with tears.

“Donghae just found out a few hours ago. It was his decision to tell you.” Leeteuk said.

“We can’t let—” Donghae swallowed a cry. “Sungmin hyung… be like that.”

“Hae…” Eunhyuk frowned. “This is… ugh.” Eunhyuk shook his head, hoping to stop the sudden headache.

“Hello?” Leeteuk whipped his phone to his ear after seeing the name on the caller display.

“Hyung! Yunho hyung called to say that Sungmin hyung is dead drunk again at his bar. Can you pick him up please? I’m still caught up at this recording.”

“Okay, I’ll go pick him up now. Concentrate on your recording, Ryeowook-ah.”

Leeteuk shoved his phone back into his pocket. “Ming is drunk at Yunho’s bar. Dong, let’s go get him.”

“I’ll go too!” Kyuhyun jumped up from his seat.

Shindong stood up to follow Leeteuk when Eunhyuk stopped them.

“I’m going too.” Leeteuk turned to look at Eunhyuk. “We have to get this cleared somehow. I need to talk to Sungmin hyung.” Eunhyuk bit into his lower lip.

“You sure about this?”

Eunhyuk nodded and reached out to Donghae.

“Let’s go together.”

“I—I” Donghae tried to look for an excuse. He wasn’t ready to face whatever possibility was coming.

Eunhyuk pulled Donghae up from the sofa and wrapped his arms around him tightly.

“Sungmin hyung will forever be my family. But you’re my only one, Hae.” Eunhyuk felt the tears wetting his shirt. He pulled away from Donghae and brushed the tears off Donghae’s face.

“Don’t worry, Hae. I’ll set everything right again. You trust me, right?”

Donghae looked up at Eunhyuk with his teary eyes and nodded.

“I love you, Hae.” Eunhyuk planted a deep kiss on Donghae’s forehead.

“Me too.”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Eunhyuk spaced out on the car as the scenery outside flew past. The shock and regret that came from the reveal was now settling in after Donghae decided to take a different car from him. Without Donghae by his side,