Almost There...!
Tell Me You ExistIndex:
(YJ) – Young Jae speaking
(DH) – Daehyun speaking
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The bath had been rather lovely and Young Jae may eventually take another one, but for the time being, he would just take his usual showers. It was much less awkward if someone walked in on him and he would at least be able to pull the towel to himself if he needed it. Plus, he had a feeling that baths wasted much more water than showers, but he wasn’t entirely certain about it.
Stepping out of the bedroom, Young Jae had just begun drying his hair with his towel when he suddenly found himself assaulted by all sorts of delicious scents. He didn’t recognize any of the scents, though it may have been because the scents were intermingling with one another. Either way, they were each good scents and it was enough to make his stomach rumble.
Walking into the living room, he was about to turn into the kitchen, but Daehyun had popped up with a sort of exhausted but rushed look on his face. Well, there was a mix of surprise in there as well the second they made eye contact, but Daehyun chuckled a bit as he blocked Young Jae’s path. “Woah there! No peeking just yet! Let me set up the table first before you go in there.” (DH)
“O-Oh… okay.” (YJ) It was a little disappointing, but maybe it would be alright. Making his way over to the couch, he had just sat down when he shivered a little. Looking over to the kitchen archway, he noticed that Daehyun was still standing there, staring at him with a smile. Young Jae turned a little red as he quickly pulled the towel a little to cover his face a bit. “W-What is it…?” (YJ)
“Huh? Oh! Uh, nothing. I’ll be right back. No peeking!” (DH) Once he heard the sound of footsteps, Young Jae lifted the towel enough to see that Daehyun had left the room. Letting out a small sigh, Young Jae leaned back as he went back to drying his hair.
There was nothing he had to worry about. Daehyun couldn’t have been imagining him … right? Just the very thought of that being a possibility caused Young Jae to become flustered, causing him to pull the towel a little once again in an attempt to hide his face. Maybe it would be alright. If Daehyun was a ert, then he would have tried to do something… right?
Meanwhile, Daehyun was in their room, trying to figure out what to wear. Since he was limited on clothing choices, he didn’t exactly have much to choose from. Though… he did take note of what Young Jae was wearing. All he was wearing was their couple sweater, knee-high shorts… or pants, whichever they were, and slippers. Should he dress the same way? Technically, he did have the same ensemble, so maybe it would be alright to copy him a bit.
Without any hesitance, Daehyun quickly began changing his clothes. Well, he didn’t really have to change much. He already had his sweater on, so all he had to change were his jeans. Once he had changed his pants, Daehyun quickly rushed over to the vanity and quickly messed with his hair a bit. Sure, they weren’t going outside or anything, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t look good for Young Jae.
Though… he did take a moment to realize that there was a difference to his appearance. His hair looked a little longer, which confused him a little. His hair hadn’t grown while he was in this state, so he couldn’t exactly tell if it really had grown or if he was seeing things. Shaking his head a little, he decided that it really was just him seeing things. With a small sigh, Daehyun made certain that his hair was to his liking before he made his way out of the room.
Stumbling a little, Daehyun quickly caught himself before straightening out his position. Looking up, he smiled a little when he saw Young Jae watching television at the moment. The towel that had once been over his head was now hanging on his shoulders, which meant that it was definitely a good time for them to eat. “Hey! Let’s eat now.” (DH)
Young Jae looked up, slightly surprised by Daehyun’s voice, but he smiled and nodded in response. Getting up to his feet, he made his way over to the archway, to which Daehyun motioned for Young Jae to go first. Once the two were in the kitchen, Young Jae’s gaze instantly transfixed onto the table, his eyes widening when he saw just how much food there was. “W-Wow… You made all this? B-But… how are we going to finish it by ourselves…?” (YJ)
Daehyun looked at the food, but that thought hadn’t exactly crossed his mind. He just wanted to make as much delicious foods that he could think of and, well… maybe he went a little over board with it. At least they were set for a few days, right? “It’s alright! We can just save whatever we don’t finish.” (DH)
“Oh… okay.” (YJ) As Young Jae made his way over to the table, Daehyun quickly went over to the kitchen’s light switch and flipped it off. Young Jae gasped a bit, quickly turning around to look at Daehyun. He was about to say something as he slid into his seat, but he saw Daehyun pull out a box of matches from one of the drawers before lighting three candles that were currently set up on a candelabra. Soon enough, Daehyun had set the candelabra in the middle of the table before sitting directly across from Young Jae.
“Well? What do you think? Romantic, right?” (DH) Young Jae stared for a moment before he looked down at the table, then at the candle. Was he referring to the setup? Had… Daehyun wanted it to be romantic this entire time? Since it was currently Christmas Eve, Young Jae had just assumed that Daehyun was cooking so much because they were celebrating the holiday. Now, though… he understood that Daehyun was actually trying to woo him. Oddly enough, it was… kind of exciting to experience.
“U-Uh huh…” (YJ) Daehyun slightly frowned as his posture slouched a bit.
“That wasn’t very convincing…” (DH) Young Jae’s eyes widened as he quickly sat forward.
“Y-You really are romantic! Really romantic! Very romantic! I-I really love it a lot! Really!” (YJ) Daehyun smiled, a bit amused by Young Jae’s overreaction. Getting up from his seat, Daehyun stood by the middle of the table, looking around at everything before his eyes settled upon Young Jae.
“Hey! Let me serve you. What would you like?” (DH) Young Jae bit his bottom lip before looking back at the food laid out in front of him. With just the candle light and the dim light from outside, Young Jae couldn’t clearly see everything that was displayed for him. However, he didn’t exactly let that stop him. Since everything seemed so delicious, he wanted to try everything. So... might as well cheat a little, right?
“I want… to try all of it!” (YJ) Daehyun chuckled before looking back at the food. What would be good for Young Jae to try first? He wanted to serve Young Jae the appetizers first, which luckily, shouldn’t be enough to fill either one of them so easily. He wanted to build up from the smaller stuff, to the main course, then to the dessert once they were ready for it. So… with that in mind, he had a bit of an idea as to where they should start.
“Well… Alright. Let’s start with… this.” (DH)
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They ate quietly, though they would both constantly glance up at one another from time to time. Whenever they made eye contact, Daehyun would let out a slight chuckle while Young Jae turned red and looked away. There were a few times when they did speak, but it was usually either about the food or what their day had been like. It may have been a little awkward, but both males were just happy to be in one another’s company.
Still, despite how delicious the food has been, Young Jae wanted to break the silence. It seemed a little unfair if Daehyun ended up doing all the work, but how was he supposed to do that? Should he… talk about the food again? No… He’s already praised it about four or five times already. He needed to figure out something else. “U-Um… I-I… really like your cooking.” (YJ)
Daehyun chuckled a bit as he nodded. “Yeah, I know. You told me about three times already.” (DH)
Young Jae resisted the urge to let out a small whine as he mentally kicked himself for repeating what he told himself not to repeat. Was there really nothing else that he could talk about without making things even more awkward than they already are? “Hey! Let’s watch the snow fall after we’re done eating. That’s romantic too, right?” (DH)
“U-Um… okay.” (YJ) Since he hasn’t been out today, Young Jae wasn’t exactly certain how cold it would be outside. Still, if the weather did end up being nice enough, maybe it really would be romantic to watch the snowfall. Though… why was Daehyun trying so hard to be romantic? It’s not like they were on some sort of date or anything… right?
“Hey, uh… I also heard that my family’s supposed to be coming to visit you soon.” (DH) Young Jae was a bit curious how Daehyun knew that. Though, as he took another bite out of his food, his memory instantly sparked, causing him to sit up in surprise. Noticing this, Daehyun looked up at Young Jae, a bit confused as to whether he should be worried or not. “What?” (DH)
“I, um… I forgot that your parents already came. They dropped off a really big bundle of food. I forgot to put it in the fridge…” (YJ) Daehyun tilted his head slightly, a bit confused as to how he hadn’t seen the bundle this entire time. If Young Jae had put the bundle in the kitchen, he definitely would’ve seen it. Maybe he had placed it in a different room, but why would he do that? “I-I’ll go do it now.” (YJ)
Without waiting for another answer, Young Jae quickly got up before he shuffled out of the kitchen. Daehyun leaned back in his seat, rubbing the back of his head a bit as he watched Young Jae disappear around the corner. So the bundle was in their bedroom? Well, it’s not like it mattered why it was there, he just… wondered why it was there.
After a few seconds had passed, Young Jae finally came back into the kitchen carrying the all too familiar bundle. Daehyun was rather curious what was in the bundle, but he decided that it was probably not all that different from what he’s already seen his parents create at the bakery.
Once Young Jae had stored the bundle safely into the fridge, he returned to his seat across from Daehyun. With a sort of happy smile, Young Jae picked up his chopsticks and was about to resume eating, but the second he looked up at Daehyun, he paused. Turning a little red, Young Jae turned his gaze away as he lowered his hand a little. “U-Um… w-what is it…?” (YJ)
“Hm? Oh! I wanna see you again.” (DH) Young Jae’s eyes widened as his gaze instantly shot towards Daehyun. His face was now a deep shade of red as he found himself staring with his mouth slightly agape. Did Daehyun really just… say what he thinks he just said? Daehyun, on the other hand, chuckled a little from Young Jae’s reaction. “Sorry, sorry! I was just kidding!” (DH)
“Y-You saw e-everything?! E-Even my…” (YJ) Young Jae waited, but when Daehyun gave a small nod, Young Jae gasped a little bit as he quickly turned away, resting his elbow on the table while using his hand in an attempt to cover his face. His worst fears had ended up coming true! Daehyun had ended up seeing him and what made it worse was the fact that he was that... at the time... he had been… ...! Young Jae couldn’t believe that that had happened, but it wasn’t his fault! It’s not like he had invited Daehyun into the bathroom or anything during that time!
“Hey! Come on… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to see anything! I mean… it was an accident and I did try not to look, but I couldn’t help it! I had to catch you and it just happened!” (DH) Young Jae hesitated, but he slowly lifted his head before making eye contact with Daehyun. He could see the sincerity in Daehyun’s eyes, though it wasn’t all that clear to see since the only light source came from outside and from the candle. Slowly lowering his hand, Young Jae pursed his lips as he turned his body forward. His face was still a deep red and he was still uncomfortable knowing that Daehyun had seen everything, but… he decided that it was okay. After all… it was an accident and they are dating, so… it should be alright… right? Though, with that way of thinking, Young Jae’s thought pattern had changed a bit.
“I-It’s okay… Just um… be more… careful…?” (YJ) Daehyun raised a single brow as he thought on Young Jae’s words for a moment. What did he mean by be more careful? If he recalled, Young Jae had been the one to slip in the bathtub, though… if he hadn’t of walked in on Young Jae in the first place, then maybe Young Jae wouldn’t have slipped either. With a small smile, Daehyun nodded, which caused Young Jae to smile in return.
“Hey! You should try this one too.” (DH) Young Jae would have said something, but Daehyun had already begun putting more food on his plate. Now, it would have been nice to eat a little more, but he was already starting to get full. If anything, Young Jae just wanted to move onto dessert already so that he could taste what Daehyun had created. Sadly, it seemed like he was going to have to try and make more room in his tummy. “Here! Try this one too!” (DH)
“I-It’s a little too much…” (YJ)
“Ah, nonsense! I want you to be as well fed as possible. I’ll cook more often, okay?” (DH) Young Jae gave a nervous laugh as he gave a hesitant nod. As nice as well fed sounded, Young Jae didn’t exactly want to end up like a stuffed turkey. Maybe Daehyun was just in this kind of mood because it was Christmas Eve. If that was the case, then Young Jae didn’t mind having to deal with it for the time being. He just hoped that it didn’t stay like this constantly.
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“Aish… another stomachache… Why do you force yourself to eat too much?” (DH) Young Jae let out a quiet whine as he lay on his side, holding his poor tummy in an attempt to soothe it. Since he had forced himself to eat all of the food that Daehyun had given him, he had ended up with a stomachache. Still… he didn’t want to disappoint Daehyun and let the food sit there. “What can I do to help?” (DH)
“I-I don’t know…” (YJ) Young Jae took a moment to think as he rubbed his poor belly every now and then. He knew that there was something that his grandmother would always do in order to help him with his stomachache, but he also knew that they rarely ever bought it since he was usually more careful with avoiding this kind of situation. If he could just remember what it was, then he could at least tell Daehyun what to get.
“Oh! Hold on.” (DH) Getting to his feet, Daehyun quickly ran into the kitchen. Making his way up to the fridge, Daehyun opened it up and looked inside. He remembered that when they had gone grocery shopping the other day, he had picked out a bottle of ginger ale. Whenever Jongup had a stomachache, which had been rather often, his mother would usually give him some ginger ale to drink. So, it was the only thing he could think of that would help Young Jae out.
The second he spotted the ginger ale, Daehyun smiled happily before taking the bottle out of the fridge. Walking over to the counter, he quickly pulled out a cup and poured a decent amount of the ginger ale into the cup before putting the ginger ale back into the fridge. Once he had the cup in his hand, Daehyun made his way into the living room and over to Young Jae. Kneeling down next to him, Daehyun held the glass out to Young Jae, whom looked at it with a bit of confusion. “Here. Some ginger ale might help with your stomachache.” (DH)
Young Jae stared at the glass for a brief moment before looking back up at Daehyun. He wasn’t necessarily certain if ginger ale would be of any help. In fact, he wasn’t even sure if he had enough room in his tummy to let anything else enter it. “Will… it work?” (YJ)
“It worked for Jongup loads of times, so maybe it’ll help here.” (DH) Young Jae was a little skeptical, but he gave a small nod as he pushed himself up to a sitting position. Taking the cup into his hands, Young Jae stared at the liquid within before looking up to see Daehyun smiling with hope in his eyes. When he motioned for Young Jae to go ahead and drink, Young Jae gave a nervous smile before turning his gaze back to the liquid within. With a small whine, Young Jae shut his eyes tight before raising the cup up to his lips and tilting his head backwards.
He took his time, Young Jae made certain of that, but it did feel like the aching in his stomach had lightened up a bit. Once he was done with the drink, he was about to put the cup on the coffee table, but Daehyun had taken it out of his hands before getting up. Young Jae looked up at Daehyun, noting the grin on his face. “So? How do you feel?” (DH)
“I-I feel a little better…” (YJ)
“Great! Wait ‘til you see what I got prepared for you.” (DH) Young Jae blinked a few times out of curiosity as he watched Daehyun walk into the kitchen. After a second or so had passed, he heard the sound of the cup coming into contact with the sink before footsteps were heard once more. Daehyun then reemerged from the kitchen, only to disappear down the hallway and into their bedroom. Despite his tummy ache, Young Jae couldn’t help but wonder what Daehyun had prepared for him. “Are you ready?!” (DH)
“Y-Yes…!” (YJ) Seconds later, Daehyun emerged from the bedroom holding a present of sorts. Young Jae’s eyes widened, a light gasp escaping from his lips as he watched Daehyun walked up to him with the present carefully cradled within his arms. Once he was close enough, Daehyun looked over at the clock on the wall before grinning. He looked back at Young Jae, holding that grin of his as he held the present out to Young Jae.
“It’s not really something that I bought, but… I think you’ll like it anyway. Merry Christmas.” (DH) What did he mean by something that it wasn’t something he bought? Did he mean that he… stole it…? Young Jae really hoped that that didn’t end up becoming the case. The very possibility that the present could be a stolen item got Young Jae nervous, but he forced a smile on his face anyway as he took the present into his hands. “Be careful. It’s fragile.” (DH)
“O-Okay…” (YJ) Fragile? Was it a vase from a museum? No, that couldn’t be it. A vase wouldn’t be able to fit into something this skinny. It was in a rather slim box, that much he knew, so it couldn’t be some sort of skeleton or a mummy… right…? O-Of course not! It was far too small to be concealing anything of the sort. Wait. Why was he even thinking that something illegal had occurred anyway? This was Daehyun! He hasn’t done anything illegal… at least, nothing on that big of a scale. He just had to trust that Daehyun had gotten him something legally.
“Well? Go ahead and open it! I think you’ll like it.” (DH) Young Jae nodded as he carefully began unwrapping the gift. He was a little nervous to see what it was, especially since he hadn’t gotten Daehyun anything. Should he get Daehyun something in return? Sure, Daehyun said that he didn’t need anything since he didn’t know how long he was going to be like this, but it would be rather sad and somewhat rude not to return a gift to him. Was it rude? Young Jae wasn’t really certain, but it felt like it.
With the gift wrap now unfolded, Young Jae stuck his tongue out as he slipped the present out from its confines. Setting the gift wrap to the side, Young Jae laid the box across his lap before he began undoing the tape. His curiosity seemed to continually rise and was probably starting to show with how quickly he was getting each piece of tape off. Once that was done, an excited grin showed up on his face as Young Jae quickly began to pull out whatever was inside the box.
The second he saw what it was, a gasp escaped his lips as the look on his face turned into an awestruck one, mixed with a bit of sadness and happiness. This gift that Daehyun had managed to provide just seemed to fill him with so many emotions that Young Jae just didn’t really know how he was supposed to react. “D-Daehyun… This is… H-How did you… get it…?” (YJ)
“Remember? She asked us to get a framed picture of it and… well, she gave me the money to surprise you with it. And… well, I guess… this is technically a present from her.” (DH) Young Jae’s eyes began to tear up as he set the gift wrap off to the side. With the framed picture firmly held by one hand, Young Jae gently ran his fingers along the surface of the picture, though the glass was keeping him from actually touching it. “Well…? What do you think? It’s good, right?” (DH)
“It’s… C-Can I… hang it…?” (YJ) Young Jae didn’t want to look away from the picture, but he finally lifted his gaze to look up at Daehyun. Daehyun gave a warm smile, giving a slight nod in the process as he turned around and looked around for a brief moment. Young Jae looked around as well, though unlike Daehyun, he didn’t really know what they were supposed to be looking for. “Um…” (YJ)
“Hm… What if we take that mirror down? The picture and the mirror are about the same size, right? Should we hang it there?” (DH) Daehyun pointed at the mirror, though it was the only one in the room anyway, so it was relatively easy to figure out which mirror Daehyun was talking about. Looking over at the mirror, Young Jae thought for a moment before biting his bottom lip a bit.
“I-I don’t know… Grandma really likes that mirror…” (YJ)
“Then… what about that painting?” (DH) Daehyun pointed at the painting hanging over the television, which Young Jae instantly looked over at. He thought for a moment before humming a bit. He really wasn’t sure how his grandmother felt about the painting, but maybe it would be alright.
“Okay… I think it would be okay…” (YJ)
“Great! I’ll go take it down and you hang that.” (DH) As Young Jae got to his feet, Daehyun made his way over to the painting before carefully lifting and pulling the painting off of the nail in the wall. While he set the painting carefully onto the floor, making sure that it leaned against the nearest wall as well, Young Jae took hold of the cord on the back of the picture in his hand and hung the picture up as well as he could. The two males stepped back a bit, looking at the picture for a brief moment before Daehyun adjusted the picture here and there. When he stepped back once more, he grinned happily before looking at Young Jae and wrapping his arm around Young Jae’s shoulders. “It looks great, right?” (DH)
“M-Mhm.” (YJ) Young Jae turned his head to look at Daehyun, but the second they made eye contact, Young Jae turned red before he looked away. He couldn’t really help himself. Daehyun just looked really nice and with his smile, it seemed to brighten his features much more than usual.
“Hey…” (DH)
“H-Hm…?” (YJ) A slight gasp escaped Young Jae’s lips as he felt a hand take hold of his jawline and turn his gaze back towards Daehyun. The two stared at one another, Young Jae’s eyes wide as he found himself forced to take in every single detail that Daehyun’s eyes had to offer. His eyes just had that sort of ability to grab his attention tightly, giving off a sense of warmth and… possibly even love, but something felt off for some reason. There was also a sense of… hollowness within his eyes and Young Jae just couldn’t figure out why that was.
Though, that thought process instantly left his mind as Young Jae finally noticed that Daehyun was inching closer. His face turned a deep shade of red, his ears were on fire and he was certain that he could hear his heart beating through his own ears now. Was… it really going to happen now? Were they finally going to have their first kiss?
Out of sheer confusion and because it was their first time, Daehyun accidentally bumped their noses together. Both males took a step back, rubbing their noses as they briefly glanced at one another. Daehyun turned a slight shade of pink as he quickly looked away, trying to ignore his embarrassment at messing up something as simple as a kiss. Although a bit disappointed, Young Jae couldn’t help but let out a slight laugh as he lowered his hand. “Daehyun? Can we… visit grandma’s grave tomorrow?” (YJ)
“Huh? Oh… uh… yeah, sure! Let’s do that.” (DH) Daehyun grinned as he rubbed the back of his head a bit. Okay, so he messed up a bit, but at least he was able to make Young Jae laugh. That was always a good thing, right? He just needed to figure out how to make Young Jae laugh without constantly bumping their noses together. That would probably be a preferable route.
After some time had passed, the two were finally getting tired. After they made sure that whatever didn't need to be on was off, they made their way into the bedroom where they got ready for bed. As Young Jae got changed in his closet, Daehyun merely stripped his shirt away before slipping into bed. Just as he started to get comfortable, he looked around for a brief moment before quickly taking the majority of the pillows and tossing it on the ground behind him, leaving just one comfortably for him to use. Clearing his throat a bit with a satisfied smile on his face, Daehyun laid down with his back to the closet door, pretending to look as if he was trying to sleep already.
A minute or so later, Young Jae finally emerged from the closet before making his way over to the hamper. Once he had placed his used clothes into the hamper, he turned towards the bed to notice that the majority of the pillows were missing. Scratching his head a bit, Young Jae made his way over to the bed before looking around a little more. “Daehyun…? Are you awake…?” (YJ)
“… Hm? What is it?” (DH) Daehyun turned just enough to see a confused Young Jae looking around. He was trying hard not to smile, especially when Young Jae turned his full attention onto him. Young Jae lifted the covers, allowing his body to slip underneath as he now sat there.
“Um… Where are all the pillows…?” (YJ)
“Huh? Oh… I don’t know. Hey! Why don’t you just rest your head on my chest? That’ll work, right?” (DH) Young Jae turned a deep shade of red as he turned his head away. Sure, they’ve hugged while they slept, but he wasn’t certain if he’s ever actually used Daehyun in such a way. He wanted to say something, preferably something that would be a solution, but he soon found himself being eased into lying down before he felt his head being gently pressed onto Daehyun's smooth, warm skin. His face was a deep shade of red as his hand unintentionally rested on top of Daehyun’s stomach. It felt foreign to him and he didn’t know how to handle it, but if Daehyun was alright with it, then… maybe he should just accept it for now. “Comfy?” (DH)
“I-I… I think so…” (YJ)
“Great! Good night.” (DH)
“U-Um… g-good… night…” (YJ) Young Jae was glad that the lamp was on, but at the same time, he almost would have preferred to have the nighttime around to at least allow him not to be constantly staring at Daehyun’s skin. He tensed up as he felt an arm wrap around him before gently caressing his hair. Young Jae wouldn’t admit it, but… he kind of liked this feeling. Okay, so his heart was beating far too fast and too loudly for him to fall asleep, but… at least it wasn’t too much of a bad thing… right?
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[[ My Own Thoughts:
Sorry for taking so long to update ;;
I’ve been sick for a while and haven’t had the drive to do anything ._.
But I am better now and will be working hard to update again >3<
On a side note, I hope you’re liking the fanfic thus far!
It will be ending soon, but it’ll end nicely… maybe.
I haven’t decided yet. xD
Comments are loved >3<
I love talking with everyone. X3
It’s also nice to know how I’m doing with each chapter. ]]
So... I don't know if I should edit Ch. 18 & 19 or not. It's pretty angst and I cry.
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