The days between colliding paths with Donghae and their Saturday meet-up had come to an end, and it was already two hours prior to Donghae picking up Hyukjae. Throughout the week both boys had been texting each other back-to-back, planning out their Saturday get together. At one point Donghae had called Hyukjae after the latter didn't reply to three of his texts, thinking only about the worse case-scenarios. The call had surprised Hyukjae, but even so, the older told Donghae that he had replied to all three texts and even read aloud whatever he sent when the younger didn't believe him. You could say they went off on a tangent, discussing about what could've happened to Donghae's phone, and somehow ending with a conversation about the weather. 

But back to present day speaking.

Hyukjae had just stepped out of the bath tub, having just finished taking a warm shower. He hated taking baths at the thought of lying on your own pool of dirt and only took baths if his kids wanted him to go with them, which was getting less frequent as they got older. 

With the towel wrapped around his waist, the boy slipped on his boxers before unwrapping the towel, now using the opposite side of the cloth to dry his hair. After thinking that his towel had dried as much as it could, Hyukjae threw it over his right shoulder, proceeding towards the sink.

The bathroom door was made ajar when Hyukjae opened it, wanting some of the warm air from the shower to go away. He then took three cuts of toilet paper from the roll, folding it in thirds before wiping away the fog on the mirror in front of him. When he wiped enough fog to expose his upper body, Hyukjae then threw away the toilet paper and proceeded to putting on his contact lenses.

A few seconds after applying his lenses, Hyukjae heard light footsteps making its way to the bathroom. Turning his head, his eyes met with Henry's in the narrow opening of the door. "Appa," the little boy said, and Hyukjae opened the door wider to see his son in full view.

"Yes, baby?" Hyukjae asked, now applying lotion on his milky-skinned arms.

Henry walked a few steps closer to his dad and held onto his maroon boxers, looking up at the other with a pout. "You really gonna be gone all day?" He questioned, and Hyukjae couldn't help but feel bad about it.

Ever since he and his ex-wife had divorced, Hyukjae never left his kids during the weekends. The only time he leaves them is when they have school, but that is another story. The father made it his priority to spend as much time with his kids on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in return for not being able to go to a lot of places during the weekdays. Today was the first time Hyukjae would be gone for most of the day, and though his mature Kyuhyun was rather nonchalant, he still had his younger baby to think about. Yes, a one year made a lot of differences personality-wise.

Picking up his son, Hyukjae sat him down on the counter by the sink. "Yes, I will. But you love Teukie-hyung and Kangin-hyung, too, right?" Henry feebly nodded. "You'll have so much fun with them that when I come back, you won't realize I was gone!"

"I will miss appa," Henry mumbled, his eyes that were looking down at his dangling feet now meeting gazes with Hyukjae. "Does appa really have to leave?" When the latter saw his son's now glassy eyes, Hyukjae felt weight added onto his heart, feeling very guilty about Henry's actions.

"Appa will come back, baby," Hyukjae replied, and kissed the top of the other boy's head. "I promise to take you and your brother to the park tomorrow. Then we can buy ice cream!" When Henry widened his eyes in disbelief, Hyukjae chuckled, knowing too well that his son gets excited way too quickly.

"Really, appa? Really?" The boy cheerfully asked, his sadness exchanged for excitement. The other nodded, and gave his son a peck on the lips before carrying him back down.

Before Hyukjae can tell Henry to go back to whatever he was doing, Kyuhyun appeared by the entrance. "Appa, someone's knocking on the door," He informed the other. Hyukjae didn't let his sons answer the door at all costs, and even set a rule for them to not speak if they ask if anyone was present.

"It's probably Teukie-hyung and Kangin-hyung," Hyukjae said to no one in particular, now walking with the two boys out to the living room. Kyuhyun went back to lying down on the sofa, watching SpongeBob Squarepants, otherwise known as his "super-all-time-favorite-show-of-all-cartoon-shows-in-forever."

Henry followed his older sibling and sat on the space between Kyuhyun's feet and the vacant arm rest for the older boy did not reach as long as the sofa's width just yet.

Hyukjae proceeded to opening the door, and his mental assumption of the guest being Leeteuk and Kangin were proven right. "Hi, hyungs," He greeted, shutting the door when the two made their way inside.

The two returned the greeting before Leeteuk's eyebrows shot up upon becoming aware of the boy's attire. "Yah! Who opens the door with nothing but boxers on? What if I was Donghae?" He lightheartedly scolded, "Or did you wish I was Donghae?" The older added on suggestively.

Hyukjae looked down at his body, suddenly realizing that he was, in fact, just wearing one piece of clothing. "Oh..." The boy mumbled, but it wasn't for long until his head shot up, registering the last question Leeteuk had asked. "WHAT? NO!" He exclaimed, feeling scandalized.

Leeteuk chuckled and took hold of Kangin's hand before leading him to the vacant sofa near the one the children were occupying. "Whatever you say, Hyukkie," he hummed, sitting down with his lover as the latter wrapped his arms around his shoulders. "Hi, my lovely Kyu and Henry!" He greeted.

Hyukjae watched as the boys cheerfully greeted the male. Henry shot up from the sofa and ran to Leeteuk, and he was soon carried up onto his lap. Kyuhyun, however, made his way to Kangin, who he looked up to very much (mainly because the older liked to play a lot of video games with him), after his father, of course.

"Hyung! I can beat you now, I promise!" Kyuhyun exclaimed, climbing to the empty spot next to Kangin. The latter chuckled, and although he did like playing with the younger, he exaggerated his emotions to make himself look very interested.

"Oh, yeah? How about loser makes dinner later?" He jokingly asked, and much to everyone's amusement Kyuhyun nodded excitedly, running over to the TV to set up his Xbox.

"I'm going to kick your , hyung!" The boy exclaimed, and the three adults chuckled at his rushing way of setting up the device. "Appa, I'm not going to burn down the house because Kangin-hyung will do that!"

"Have fun with that," Hyukjae chuckled. "So I'm going to continue getting ready now...." Turning was the furthest he went until a knocking on the main door was heard once again.

Hyukjae felt his heart freeze for a second. Leeteuk and Kangin has already arrived, so did that mean the person on the other side of the door was Donghae? Widening his eyes at that thought, Hyukjae quickly ran to his room. "Teukie-hyung, can you open it? Tell Donghae I'm still not ready!" He yelled loud enough for the radio host to hear. "Why the hell is he so early??" He hissed quietly.

Hyukjae shut the door of his room, not exactly getting ready. He was just standing, waiting to hear Donghae speak. Once a voice spoke, Hyukjae scrunched his eyebrows in a confused manner. "Yah! Hyukkie-ah! You show such great hospitality!" A voice he had known for much longer than Donghae's had sarcastically said.

"Sungmin-hyung?" The boy asked in disbelief, opening his bedroom door.

Said person greeted the others in the living room before walking to the hallway, where Hyukjae was dumfoundedly standing. "....You're only wearing boxers," the feminine looking male pointed out.

"I know, I know; Teukie-hyung already pointed it out," Hyukjae replied, hugging his high school friend once they were close by each other. "Why are you here?"

Sungmin faked hurt and pouted. "You don't want to see your old friend? Aish, and to think that we were always going to be as close as we were back then," Hyukjae shook his hands in front of himself, signaling for the other to stop because he didn't mean it that way. Laughing at his friend's quick reactions, Sungmin patted the younger's cheeks.

"I heard you were going on a date~" He hummed, now smiling. Before Hyukjae could deny that it's a date, the male went on. "It's been years since you've gone out with someone. And unfortunately, the last time was with that of an ex-wife of yours." 

"Firstly, it is not a date, hyung," Hyukjae stated, although he knew Sungmin was definitely not going to keep that in mind, "and secondly, I can't completely hate her, even if it's just by the tiniest bit."

"Why?" Sungmin asked. "I think you have the right to have no respect in her after all she's put you through." 

Hyukjae couldn't help but feel his heart get weighed down as he recalled the shared past between his ex and him. "Because despite all that's happened between us two, she's still the one who left me the most valuable treasures in my world..." The younger said, trying to assure himself more than the other. When Sungmin's eyes were fixed on him, Hyukjae continued. "Kyuhyun and Henry. And as long as I have them, I don't need someone to fill the empty space of our family to make us happy. They may seem unimportant to her, but they're everything to me."

Sungmin gave a soft smile, admiring the other's dignity. "So your outing with that Donghae guy really isn't a date?" He asked, half teasing with a hint of apology. Hyukjae nodded. "But you know, if you two start feeling something serious blooming.... Go for it."

Hyukjae listened to what Sungmin said and nibbled on his lower lip. "Maybe," was the only word he could think of at that moment. Sungmin chuckled and pulled the other for a hug prior to remembering Hyukjae's current attire.

"Aish, we need to pick out your outfit, pronto," Sungmin stated, looking at Hyukjae's body from top to bottom. "You don't want to dress badly when you're going to be spending the day with an attractive guy like Donghae."

"Are you trying to say I dress badly on a regular basis?" Hyukjae pouted, and Sungmin giggled, pinching the other's cheek because of how cute he was unconsciously being. "And how do you know how Donghae looks like? Do you know him, too?"

The older followed Hyukjae as he started sauntering back to his room. "Of course not, my cutie of a dongsaeng. But it won't hurt to tweak your style a bit~" Sungmin replied calmly, now walking over to the younger's closet. "As for Donghae, I don't know him, but judging from the picture Teukie-hyung and him took together, he looks very... Interesting."

"I don't even remember tiny details about his appearance," Hyukjae responded, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. Checking his phone that was on top of his nightstand, the boy held back a smile as he read an unopened text from Donghae.

From: Donghae
Message: My dog Bada threw up on me, and now my clothes are smelly ;A; 

To: Donghae
Message: I suggest you change, or else I'm canceling our meet-up ^o^

From: Donghae
Message: Because I so didn't plan on doing that in the first place :P

To: Donghae
Message: Why are you giving me such interesting info, anyways? :3 /sarcastic smile/

From: Donghae
Message: I just wanted to let you know. Now you know one more fact than you did yesterday! c:

To: Donghae
Message: Correction—One more useless fact than yesterday (:

From: Donghae
Message: No. One more interesting fact! ): You even said so.

Hyukjae rolled his eyes at the other's text, though a discreet smile was exposing itself on his face. Already texting a reply, Hyukjae was caught off guard when Sungmin had thrown a dark navy blue cardigan at him. "What?" He dumbfoundedly asked, now holding up the piece of clothing.

"Don't think I didn't see you smiling like an idiot," Sungmin teased, and Hyukjae stuck his tongue out at him, causing the latter to laugh. "But yeah, you're going to wear that cardigan with this shirt." Not long after Sungmin threw a low white crewneck with a few blue stripes running horizontal through the torso area. After doing so, he turned back to the closet to pick out a pair of dark denim skinny jeans.

The shirt landed perfectly on Hyukjae's lap, but the latter was busy texting a quick reply to Donghae to even notice.

To: Donghae
Message: I'd keep backfiring your texts, but I have to start getting ready now :p see you later!

When the boy placed his phone on on the spot next to him, Hyukjae inspected the two pieces of clothing before shrugging. He decided not to go against his hyung when it came to clothing, because he was, in fact, a very stylish person.

The next few minutes or so was spent on Hyukjae putting on his clothes and Sungmin nagging him to also wear a few accessories. Just when Hyukjae thought he was finished with preparations, Sungmin pulled his wrist and dragged him out of his bedroom and into the bathroom. "We're not quite finished yet!" The more cheerful of the two exclaimed. Hyukjae could only groan in response.


Donghae walked a few flights of staircases before arriving on Hyukjae's apartment floor. He turned left from the diagonal staircase entrance after noticing a number pattern with the units— the right side took over units 680 through 700 while the left path had rooms 701 up to 721.

After breezing by sixteen doors, Donghae finally stopped in front of apartment unit 718. He let out a soft sigh before pressing the doorbell adjacent to the maroon door, and in a few seconds he was greeted by Leeteuk. "Donghae's here!" The eldest of the group informed the people inside the house before pulling the newly arrived guest for a hug.

The two shared their greetings before Leeteuk brought him inside the apartment. Donghae gave a friendly smile to Kangin, who was now playing against Kyuhyun in some sort of ship-crashing video game, and gave a short wave towards the kids.

Donghae thought the kids were pretty polite, considering the fact that they waved back at him instead of just staring him down like how other children do. When Henry jumped off the sofa to give him a hug (mostly his leg because really, the boy was very short), Donghae chuckled and squatted down to reach his level. "Hey Inch—Henry, you still remember me?" He asked. For some odd reason he remembered the little boy as Inchan and not Henry.

The child nodded. "Hae-hyung makes fun dances," He beamed, and Donghae was glad to hear that. He then stood up and let the little boy lead him to the sofa, which was now unoccupied because Kangin and Kyuhyun were back to playing their game. Leeteuk briefly excused himself to get Donghae a drink, much to the latter's polite rejection.

When Donghae was properly seated on the sofa with Henry next to him, an unfamiliar male walked out of the nearby hallway. He was somewhat short in height, and his dark colored hair covered most of his forehead as well as part of his left eye. His looks were rather feminine, almost as feminine as Heechul-hyung.

"Hello, you must be Donghae!" The boy smiled widely, and Donghae figured he should stand up to bow slightly at him. When he did, the petite male laughed heartily and did the same. "I think formalities are so awkward, so don't bother to do all these stuff. I'm Sungmin."

Donghae chuckled and shook the hand that was offered to him. "I like you, already," He lightheartedly replied before Sungmin laughed. "Where's Hyukjae-sshi?"

  "Oh, he's—" Before Sungmin could complete his sentence, a voice yelled from one of the rooms inside the hallway.

"SUNGMIN-HYUNG, EYELINER IS SO HARD TO PUT ON!" A frustrated voice hollered.

An eyebrow arched upwards as Donghae shared a glance with Sungmin. "If there's anyone in this world who could work eyeliner, it's Hyukjae," Sungmin promised. "He thinks he at applying it, and therefore takes forever, but the result is always perfect."

"So he's a perfectionist?" Donghae asked with his lip curved upward at the amusement of hearing Hyukjae yell once again. The two laughed and Sungmin nodded.

"Basically," He shrugged. "I should check up on him, now." The shorter of the two then excused himself before going back to where he came from. Donghae's eyes widened in surprise when he heard Sungmin yell back to Hyukjae. "CALM YOUR TATAS."

Leeteuk came back into the room with a glass of Thai Iced Tea with boba and passed it to Donghae. "Hyukkie has a thing for making random drinks such as that," The older said, and Donghae chuckled. "He's really good at it though, so I mixed the milk and sugar with the tea in a way he would."

Donghae nodded in understanding before sipping the drink from the given straw. "Oh. This is good," Hyukjae's 'date' for the day said in awe, looking at the drink. Leeteuk chuckled.

Three-fourths into his bubble tea and when conversations started to get repetitive, Donghae started to get a bit sleepy until Hyukjae made his way out of the bathroom and into the hallway before finally arriving inside the living room. Donghae stood up from his seat once again, suddenly feeling himself speechless.

Hyukjae wore such casual yet stylish clothing, and the grey fedora hat he wore made him ten times more attractive, not that he already was. But! The eyeliner made his almond eyes stand out very much. And yes, Donghae wanted a piece of that. When Hyukjae coughed aloud to get his attention, Donghae snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the other's face. "If only I knew how much of a creeper you were, I would've declined the offer to hang out with you," Hyukjae jokingly said, approaching closer to Donghae.

Donghae chuckled. "To think I was going to compliment your appearance, your Thai Tea making, and the way you applied your eyeliner," He sighed lightheartedly. Hyukjae laughed—oh, god, that gummy smile was beautiful—but put his right hand on Donghae's left cheek only to push it the opposite direction.

"I'll take your comment as the compliment," The other said, sticking his tongue out. Donghae laughed. "Oh, and I like your outfit, by the way...." He added, causing Donghae to smile.

The latter was wearing a brown cardigan over a white v-neck and a cream colored button vest. Along with that, he wore dark grey skinny jeans with black canvas shoes that have white laces and soles. Hyukjae didn't voice it out, but he also loved how the other's hair looked very soft and framed his nice face well.

"Why thank you," Donghae gave a joking bow, and Hyukjae laughed once more.

"Gosh, you guys laugh too much," Kangin muttered, though there was a little hint in his voice telling them that he meant it lightheartedly. His eyes were kept on the tv screen as he continued to move his sitting body from left to right just like Kyuhyun was due to being greatly absorbed in the video game.

"You guys should go now," Leeteuk said, smiling at the two. He got up from his spot next to Sungmin to take Donghae's nearly empty glass. "I'll take care of this," he assured.

Donghae and Hyukjae eyed each other, silently asking if the other wanted to leave now. When they both had mutual answers of 'sure,' Hyukjae went on over to the front of the tv, now blocking Kangin and Kyuhyun from seeing the screen. The adults aside from Kangin shared a laugh as Kyuhyun and Kangin both made whining sounds, especially when Hyukjae turned off the tv.

"My baby Kyu~" Hyukjae almost teasingly cooed out, knowing how much Kyuhyun didn't like being directed like that. Kyuhyun puffed out his cheeks and pouted, staring down his appa with narrowed eyebrows. But holding a grudge wasn't his thing, either, so he let himself be carried by his father nonetheless. "I'm leaving now, okay? Be good to your hyungs and Henry, arasso?"

"Okay, appa," The boy replied, kissing his dad's lips when he asked for a 'bbobbo.' Donghae noticed the look of so much love in Hyukjae's actions, and it was made much more obvious when he approached his youngest son Henry. When he did, Kyuhyun started talking to Kangin, telling him that the game was not over yet.

The twenty-six year old father went close to Sungmin and Henry. "Remember our promise, okay?" Hyukjae asked his son, carrying the four-year-old off Sungmin's lap.

The child nodded cheerfully and started squealing with laughter when his dad carried him high up, to the point where he had to look down at him while Hyukjae bent his head back and looked up. "If I hear that you cried because appa wasn't here, appa will cry, too."

"Henry no cry!" The little boy promised, and gave in to the puckered lips of Hyukjae. Both father and son shared a chaste family 'bbobbo' before Henry hugged the other once more. "Bye bye, appa." Hyukjae smiled and returned to goodbye.

"Both of you say bye-bye to Donghae-sshi,"  Hyukjae said, now walking towards Donghae with Henry in his arms. Kyuhyun stood up and followed behind.

"Bye, hyung~" Henry waved at said person. Donghae smiled, ruffling his hair and bidding a goodbye as well.

Kyuhyun stared blankly at Donghae, who stared back in an awkward confusion. "Um... Bye, Kyuhyun!" The twenty-six year old said at an attempt to make the boy stop staring at him like that. But he failed.

"Kyuhyun-ah, it's bad to stare," Hyukjae stated, and Kyuhyun turned to look at his dad. Donghae let out a mental sigh of relief.

"Appa," Kyuhyun started to say, "is this the guy you said was 'very handsome' to Teukie-hyung?"  He asked. Hyukjae widened his eyes, much to everyone's amusement, and gaped at his son.

"Why do you think it's him, Kyu?" Hyukjae asked, trying to have Kyuhyun believe he was mistaken.

"Why shouldn't he think it's me?" Donghae teasingly asked Hyukjae, and from that Kyuhyun giggled. Both the father and the guest stared at Kyuhyun in either awe or shock. "I guess he's starting to like me," Donghae happily said, high-fiving the five-year-old.

"No, he's laughing at how ugly you are," Hyukjae replied, sticking his tongue out as Donghae did the same.

"I'm pretty handsome, according to what you told Teukie-hyung," Donghae cheekily said, causing Hyukjae to stifle a blush. "Don't worry~ will you feel better if I said I think you are very handsome? Because you are~"

This time Hyukjae couldn't help but show his smile as he let out a laugh due to how bashful he felt. His eyes were looking down on the floor, not having the guts to look at Donghae at that moment. "But you look more handsome...." He sheepishly replied.

"So you admit I'm handsome?" Donghae teased, just wanting to see Hyukjae feel much more embarrassed; he thought it was such a cute thing.

Hyukjae sighed at an attempt to sound annoyed. "Yeah, yeah. You're handsome," He replied, but as he spoke, his attempt faltered and instead he shared a soft smile with Donghae.

"Gosh, guys," Leeteuk said. "Stop flirting and get going!"

"Arasso," Donghae defeatedly said with a short chuckle, his hand rising as a gesture to say he didn't need anymore comments. "Let's go?" He asked Hyukjae, who nodded and put down Henry.

"Bye, guys," The father said, turning to wave back at the guests and his sons. Donghae simply waved at them before both got a goodbye in return.

---

a/n: next chapter will be the date hang-out ^^ yes, as a close second to Eunhae I love the Eunhyuk x Eyeliner pairing, ahaha c; thank you guys for the comments on the last two chapters; I like feedback :D

on side note, DID YOU GUYS READ THE FANACCOUNT OF THE GIRL WHO MET EUNHYUK IN PRAGUE? SGBJSFBGFSJOBJVLSFBJV SHE'S SO LUCKY OMG. & Considering the fact that Eunhyuk's my bias, too, jkdncsjckjnsd. I would've died of spazzing too much if I were her x)